I am always fascinated by the way kids take what we tell them and what they observe and make sense out of it all.
Today, Nellie decided first thing this morning that she wanted to play dress-up. This has never happened before, and I was shamefully unprepared. I let her pick out some of my jewelry, a pair of sandals with heels, then gave her a--well, let's just call it a nightie--to wear as a wedding dress, because she told me she wanted to pretend to get married.
(A small digression here. Just recently, Nellie has become more interested in girly things. She's been such good buddies with Kevin lately, she usually just talks about how much she loves hunting, asked for binoculars for her birthday, likes to investigate bugs and frogs, get dirty, etc. But more and more, Nellie wants to look at wedding pictures, watch the romantic scene in Aladdin, and play with this "big girl" doll that used to be Aunt Pam's when she was a little girl. Not a baby doll, mind you, because she is wearing underpants and that is the very definition of big girl.")
Well, the next thing I knew, she was stuffing a little monkey under her shirt and uttered the funniest, most shocking statement I have ever heard and had to NOT laugh at--
"I am getting married because I have a baby in my tummy and I need a fahver [father]."
She meant husband.
What I realized over the course of the day, since we played "pregnant" (what she called it) all day, was that she believes that all women give birth at their wedding. I am certain she thinks this because whenever she asks about how you get a baby in your tummy and so on, we tell her something like, "well, when you're a grown up you get married and then you can have a baby." I wasn't exactly sure how to approach this misconception, so I just kind of went with it. By the time Kevin came home she had three babies ("triblets") and was asking to play dress-up again tomorrow. Kevin said I should take her to Goodwill for some proper dress-up clothes.
This afternoon, I took out a small album of wedding photos to show Nellie. We looked through all the pictures and I explained every one. She asked if she was in my tummy at the wedding, and I told her that no, she wasn't born until a few years later. When we were done, she asked to read it again.
It was just a different kind of day--I had plenty to do, but I didn't particularly feel like doing any of it, so we just played all morning. The three of us, since Annie seems to be giving up her morning nap. My Little Ponies, "camping girls", and dress-up/pregnant. Who knows what we'll be playing tomorrow!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Long days, short years
I want to add to/amend my earlier birthday post that I ended talking about how fast time goes, but how that's okay and we're having fun. It is okay--I mean, there's no stopping it, right?--and we are having fun. But there's also something about it that is just the tiniest bit heart-wrenching.
The title of this post captures it exactly, I think. (I'm not sure where I got this saying; I think it's something I picked up from one of my mom's mother-at-home organizations.) I mean, how many times have I watched the clock in that painful hour before dinner with a whining girl hanging from my legs and I'm trying to cook dinner and pick up the house with one hand while holding a baby with the other and the dogs are spinning circles and it's 4:03, then 4:09, 4:17, 4:22, 4:31, 4:33, 4:40, 4:46, 4:57, and YES! FINALLY! 5:00! So that when Kevin comes in at 5:09 I'm shrieking "where have you been?" with a crazed look in my eye? Answer--a lot.
But then I wake up one morning and Nellie is three, the "baby" is one, and I'm putting the Jumparoo in storage (a.k.a. a shelf that Kevin built in the basement), wondering if/when we'll ever be taking it back out, and throwing out the last bottle of baby soap that we received at Nellie's baby showers. (Huh. Three bottles of soap lasted us over three years. This may confirm what my mom has been hinting at not-so-subtly, that I do not bathe my children enough.) Anyway, I'm reminded of the momentum of time, of it's weightiness, how it just keeps passing and there's no going back.
Most days I don't think about such things, I just revel in the new things the girls can do and the new happenings just around the corner, and breathe sighs of relief that we survived another infant stage.
But there are time when my arms ache to hold a newborn baby Nellie or Annie just for a moment, when I wish time would just slow down already.
The title of this post captures it exactly, I think. (I'm not sure where I got this saying; I think it's something I picked up from one of my mom's mother-at-home organizations.) I mean, how many times have I watched the clock in that painful hour before dinner with a whining girl hanging from my legs and I'm trying to cook dinner and pick up the house with one hand while holding a baby with the other and the dogs are spinning circles and it's 4:03, then 4:09, 4:17, 4:22, 4:31, 4:33, 4:40, 4:46, 4:57, and YES! FINALLY! 5:00! So that when Kevin comes in at 5:09 I'm shrieking "where have you been?" with a crazed look in my eye? Answer--a lot.
But then I wake up one morning and Nellie is three, the "baby" is one, and I'm putting the Jumparoo in storage (a.k.a. a shelf that Kevin built in the basement), wondering if/when we'll ever be taking it back out, and throwing out the last bottle of baby soap that we received at Nellie's baby showers. (Huh. Three bottles of soap lasted us over three years. This may confirm what my mom has been hinting at not-so-subtly, that I do not bathe my children enough.) Anyway, I'm reminded of the momentum of time, of it's weightiness, how it just keeps passing and there's no going back.
Most days I don't think about such things, I just revel in the new things the girls can do and the new happenings just around the corner, and breathe sighs of relief that we survived another infant stage.
But there are time when my arms ache to hold a newborn baby Nellie or Annie just for a moment, when I wish time would just slow down already.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Nellie
I got the idea from a friend's blog to interview the kids on their birthdays (thanks, Lisa!). Nellie is going through a phase where she automatically answers every question "I don't know," so I tried to ask her questions over the course of a few days.
Are you excited to be three?
Yes.
What kinds of things do three-year-olds do?
Go poopy on the potty. Go to school.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
A firefighter. (This is what she's said for the past year or so.)
What do firefighters do?
They drive fire trucks. And wear seat belts.
What is your favorite color?
Brown. Like chocolate ice cream. (Normally she would say her favorite color is blue, but I happened to ask this while we were eating ice cream.)
Who's your best friend?
Daddy
What's your favorite book?
The big Winnie-the-Pooh book where you find things.
What's your favorite movie?
Aladdin
Are you excited to be three?
Yes.
What kinds of things do three-year-olds do?
Go poopy on the potty. Go to school.
What do you want to be when you grow up?
A firefighter. (This is what she's said for the past year or so.)
What do firefighters do?
They drive fire trucks. And wear seat belts.
What is your favorite color?
Brown. Like chocolate ice cream. (Normally she would say her favorite color is blue, but I happened to ask this while we were eating ice cream.)
Who's your best friend?
Daddy
What's your favorite book?
The big Winnie-the-Pooh book where you find things.
What's your favorite movie?
Aladdin
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Friday, July 16, 2010
Annie is One, Nellie is Three
The party was last weekend, but I'm pretty sure we're still recovering. It came on us quickly the Saturday after 4th of July weekend (our third weekend in a row at the lake) and a whirlwind trip to Charlevoix with mom, Dave and Laurel, and Steve, Erin, and Xander. It was a blur of grocery shopping, cleaning, cooking and baking, yard work, balloons, wrapping paper, cupcakes, squirt guns, and toddlers. We left the party mess at the house to go to a Lugnuts game, and got home late. In fact, as I was putting Nellie to bed, she said, "I'm finally three!" I told her she wasn't officially three until midnight, but when I looked at my phone it was 12:02!
It was fun, but the day after, I told Kevin to remind me next year not to throw a party. So much work. So many presents. But he pointed out that it's fun to have everyone over, and it's the perfect time of year for it. It gives us a good excuse to clean house and yard. So the girls are in luck; birthdays aren't canceled.
Nellie's actual birthday was relaxing in comparison! We all slept until 9:00. The girls played with the new toys and read the new books and ate Cocoa Krispies for breakfast (we're continuing the Wacyk "birthday cereal" tradition.) Mom and Dad had us over for a wonderful lunch to say good-bye to Dave and Laurel--well, the food was wonderful; the good-bye was horrid as usual. The girls both fell asleep on the way home, we had leftover hot dogs for supper, and Kevin took Nellie for a bike ride after Annie went to bed.
The girls went to see Dr. Dave the next morning for their check-ups. They were very good (so I was very relieved!) Here are the stats--
Annie's height: 30.5 inches
Annie's weight: 18 lbs.
Head circumference: 17.5 inches
Chest circumference: 16.5
75th percentile for height, 5th percentile for weight!
Nellie's height: 38.5 inches
Nellie's weight: 32 lbs.
Over the span of just a couple of weeks, Annie learned to crawl, pull herself up, cruise furniture, stand on her own, and walk holding our hands or a push toy. She doesn't sit still anymore, that's for sure! We're amazed every day by the new things she can do and the things she understands. She has a top tooth, too. Just today Annie started telling us what a doggy says and what a lion says, playing in the sandbox, and copying Nellie's fake burping noises. So sophisticated, our girls.
Nellie loves Disney princesses (her new Snow White movie is a huge hit. Along with the princess sleeping bag and Cinderella doll from Grandma Cathy, and the Belle doll from us,) the movie Annie, and Dora. She's still crazy about Sesame Street and Curious George. Kevin found a kid-sized guitar at Woldumar and is teaching Nellie to play it. She makes up stories and songs and games (though all the games are "like hide-and-seek." As in, she'll give us a choice of Beepo, Bonko, or Borka, and you pick Beepo, and she tells you it's like hide-and-seek, but it really is exactly hide-and-seek.) She likes to write letters that sound more like prayers. "Dear Emmy, thank you for this day. Thank you for Nellie and Annie. Love, Emmy."
I know I've said it before, but one of the best parts of life right now is watching Nellie and Annie learn about being sisters. Nellie climbs in the crib with Annie and they sing songs and dance around. Though that also means they can't nap in the same room. They hug and kiss and play "bonky sisters" where they bump heads and laugh wildly. Again, very sophisticated. Nellie blames her transgressions on Annie, which is bad of course, but also part of growing up. They steal each others' toys and always want to play with the same thing. They keep each other company and entertain one another.
Their birthdays remind me of their births, and how quickly they are growing up. But that's okay; every day is an adventure and teaches us new things. We're having fun.
It was fun, but the day after, I told Kevin to remind me next year not to throw a party. So much work. So many presents. But he pointed out that it's fun to have everyone over, and it's the perfect time of year for it. It gives us a good excuse to clean house and yard. So the girls are in luck; birthdays aren't canceled.
Nellie's actual birthday was relaxing in comparison! We all slept until 9:00. The girls played with the new toys and read the new books and ate Cocoa Krispies for breakfast (we're continuing the Wacyk "birthday cereal" tradition.) Mom and Dad had us over for a wonderful lunch to say good-bye to Dave and Laurel--well, the food was wonderful; the good-bye was horrid as usual. The girls both fell asleep on the way home, we had leftover hot dogs for supper, and Kevin took Nellie for a bike ride after Annie went to bed.
The girls went to see Dr. Dave the next morning for their check-ups. They were very good (so I was very relieved!) Here are the stats--
Annie's height: 30.5 inches
Annie's weight: 18 lbs.
Head circumference: 17.5 inches
Chest circumference: 16.5
75th percentile for height, 5th percentile for weight!
Nellie's height: 38.5 inches
Nellie's weight: 32 lbs.
Over the span of just a couple of weeks, Annie learned to crawl, pull herself up, cruise furniture, stand on her own, and walk holding our hands or a push toy. She doesn't sit still anymore, that's for sure! We're amazed every day by the new things she can do and the things she understands. She has a top tooth, too. Just today Annie started telling us what a doggy says and what a lion says, playing in the sandbox, and copying Nellie's fake burping noises. So sophisticated, our girls.
Nellie loves Disney princesses (her new Snow White movie is a huge hit. Along with the princess sleeping bag and Cinderella doll from Grandma Cathy, and the Belle doll from us,) the movie Annie, and Dora. She's still crazy about Sesame Street and Curious George. Kevin found a kid-sized guitar at Woldumar and is teaching Nellie to play it. She makes up stories and songs and games (though all the games are "like hide-and-seek." As in, she'll give us a choice of Beepo, Bonko, or Borka, and you pick Beepo, and she tells you it's like hide-and-seek, but it really is exactly hide-and-seek.) She likes to write letters that sound more like prayers. "Dear Emmy, thank you for this day. Thank you for Nellie and Annie. Love, Emmy."
I know I've said it before, but one of the best parts of life right now is watching Nellie and Annie learn about being sisters. Nellie climbs in the crib with Annie and they sing songs and dance around. Though that also means they can't nap in the same room. They hug and kiss and play "bonky sisters" where they bump heads and laugh wildly. Again, very sophisticated. Nellie blames her transgressions on Annie, which is bad of course, but also part of growing up. They steal each others' toys and always want to play with the same thing. They keep each other company and entertain one another.
Their birthdays remind me of their births, and how quickly they are growing up. But that's okay; every day is an adventure and teaches us new things. We're having fun.
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