P.S.

Ahhh, lest anyone (including future me) think that we are too good to be true, I thought I should point out that the wonderful and fun planting happened before and after a serious Nellie fit that ended with me pinning her down and forcibly removing her bathing suit so that we could leave for the store. Hence the napping in the car. Then today when I planted the flowers, she spent the whole time looking at the cat in the window next door, refusing to come inside when I had to get Annie (who was refusing to take a nap), then doing some strange whining fake-cry (a real winning combo) in the front doorway. She also learned the art of sulking this weekend. Seriously, where do kids learn this stuff? It's really an unattractive kid habit, in my opinion, so we're going to have to figure out how to nip that one in the bud. I did pull out my grandma's line, "if you stick out that lip a little bird is going to come poop on it." Oi.

So there's that.

In the garden

We are just sitting down after a long weekend of work on the yard and garden. We started slow Friday night with dinner at the new Michigan Brewing Co. restaurant. We went back and forth about whether it would be trashy to take the girls, finally calling the restaurant to ask. No, they told us, it would not be trashy, they had real high chairs and kids' menus and crayons. It was nice! Loud, but nice, and good beer of course!

Saturday, we bought all of our flowers, soil, and supplies, and put in a couple of hours of prep work before heading out to another restaurant--this time, Macaroni Grill for Grandma Carolyn's 80th birthday party. I want to personally apologize to all the wait staff and other patrons at the 28th Street Macaroni Grill for all the toddler antics--there were four girls under three at one table, for goodness sake. Messy. Loud.

Anyway, we started working right after church today, and "finished" around 10:00 tonight. We raked and weeded, replaced the window boxes, planted and watered. It was HOT, so Nellie spent a good part of the day in her kiddie pool and the sprinkler. Annie, who won't dare to set her feet in the grass, loves the sprinkler! Icy water spraying everywhere--she couldn't get enough. Looks like we have another water baby on our hands! We took one break to pick up more flowers and some chicken wire (and delicious iced cappuccinos at 5:00, which is probably why I'm wide awake), more so that Nellie would finally take a nap than anything else.

When we got back, it was time to do some serious seed planting, which Nellie really, really wanted to help with. On one hand, I knew we were running out of daylight and needed to hurry, on the other, she was so cute! And not bad at planting...it was fun to see her putting seeds in the trenches and cover them with soil--or tuck them into bed, as we called it. If she found a worm, we'd bury him in the dirt and say, "thanks for helping our plants grow, little worm! Maybe we'll take you fishing later!" She dutifully watered each tomato and pepper plant. All the seeds on the edges of the garden probably drown, and time will tell what actually grows, but it was worth it! We had so much fun doing it together. Hopefully, in the next couple months we'll have peas, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli, basil, spinach, cilantro, lettuce, parsley, carrots, beans, zucchini, and two kinds of squash.

Some other cute moments: after we'd planted one row of the garden, Nellie stood up and said, "well, it looks like our work here is done. I'm going scuba diving in my pool."

While planting with Kevin, "Daddy, you're so strong! You're as strong as the sky!"

Right before bed, I asked Nellie what Kevin had showed her in the living room. "A funny thing called a bat." Kevin shook his head. "Um...a moustache." Kevin, trying not to laugh--"no, a moth."

It was a lot of work for a Sunday, but there is something very satisfying about taking a shower and drinking a beer after hard work in the sun. I'm not complaining!

Chatty Cathy

In a letter to Nellie that I wrote in her baby book, I said "I can't wait until she can start talking so I know what she's thinking!" It was before she turned a year old, so it's been a couple of (short, fast) years since then. But I remembered that last night, when the following one-sided conversation took place in the span of maybe one minute.

Hey mommy, the heater turned off. Which one is left? Is this left? Oh that feels good on my feet! Big Bird, feel this on your feet, doesn't that feel good? Sit up Big Bird. Sit. Sit. Hey, Big Bird is sitting up by me! I think I can use this [plastic bin] as a stool. Hey, I used it as a stool! Mommy, this can be my new stool! Oops, sorry baby bear. I stepped on my baby bear a little bit. I'M ALL NAKIE! [Bouncing on the bed] nakie baby, nakie baby, nakie baby, nakie baby! Mommy, what'cha doing? I need my towel. I want to wrap up in my towel. Mooooo, I'm a baby cow! Hey Mommy remember when I was a baby and you got me this towel? Whobody got me this towel?

So that is what she was thinking.

Annie-bannie

Little Annie is getting to be so much fun. Not that she wasn't fun before, but this is a good age (10 months). Some of her tricks include: clapping, waving, giving "five", saying "hi", "mama", "dada", and "nene" (okay, at least that's what we like to think that's what she's saying), putting her blankie over her face for peek-a-boo, standing supported, flipping the pages on books, and scooting the teensiest little bit--if she can grab onto our new fluffy rug. She can put blocks into our farm toy and likes opening and closing the doors on the little kitchen. Annie is great at feeding herself, and eats just about everything we put in front of her. Which often includes stuff we're not supposed to feed her but forget, like honey. (Really--what is botulism anyway?) She has two teeth, finally!

There are still a good many things she doesn't do. She doesn't crawl. Or roll over. Or pull herself up. Or sleep at night. Actually, I shouldn't say that. Since my last complaint about sleeping, Annie started sleeping for 4-5 hour blocks. It lasted about 3 nights, and now she's back to getting up every 2 hours or so. But something tells me it's going to get better soon. Just a hunch.

The especially fun part has been watching Nellie and Annie figure out what it means to be sisters. Nellie is getting better about sharing, and helping. Today I was rubbing Nellie's back and Annie started rubbing it, too. They lay in bed together and giggle. I catch them holding hands across the backseat.

Of course, there's also plenty of hair-pulling, pushing, hitting, and "NO ANNIE"s, too. I'm not really expecting that to end anytime soon!

Potty training....grrr....

Nellie has been potty trained for #1 since she turned 2. She spent one weekend with her 3-year-old cousin, came home, wanted underpants, and never went back. She wore Pull-Ups during nap time and nighttime for a couple of months, but then it was all underpants, all the time.

So. We just spent another weekend with said cousins, who both wear Pull-Ups at bed time.

Note: Both also poop in the potty. Nellie does not. After one horrific 3-hour ordeal several months ago that I won't get into here, which ended with her throwing up on me once and peeing on Kevin once that night when she just looked at the toilet, we are letting Nellie set her own agenda on that one. She has gone in the potty, we know she can do it, but she told us she is waiting until she's three. Fine.

Anyway, Nellie came home and informed me that she needs to wear a Pull-Up to bed. Kevin and I discussed this with her calmly, but inside I was thinking "Ohno ohno ohno ohno what do I do we are not regressing do I let her wear one what if it lasts what do I do she is never going to be fully potty trained oh geez this is not happening." Overly dramatic? Maybe. In the end, I decided to let her try it. She put on the Pull-Up, put on the pajama pants.

I asked, "how does that feel?"

"Squishy. I want my underpants."

HUGE. SIGH. OF RELIEF.