Monday, February 29, 2016
Finding Lego
One morning, Simon inexplicably dumped the Lego space shuttle that was broken in pieces into the trash can. Zac sent him to time-out, then fished out as many pieces as he could find. However, he realized one tiny part was missing, but he didn't look for it until a day or two later, when much more trash was piled on. One has to admire his commitment.
Sunday, February 28, 2016
That's All, Folks!
Harris Teeter online shopping didn't have the organic carrots I'd requested, so they gave us these, with the long carrot leaves still attached. Alice and Simon loved it. Alice said the leaves smelled like "fresh air."
Umstead Forest
For Sunday morning, the weather was forecast to be beautiful and warm, so on Thursday I e-mailed the mother of one of Alice's good friends from school:
Hi Megan,
She responded with "Yes Yes Yes!" and we then arranged to meet at the Harrison Ave entrance.
I only included the e-mail above because that is exactly what happened. We went down the trail just a bit, and Rye was being a little whiny, so we stopped to have a snack. Even although I had stuffed both of our kids full of food before leaving, they still managed to eat more snack.
One of the fun things in being around Alice when she's around other people is to see how they interact. Generally what I notice is that we have a lot of inside jokes and references that outsiders can't possibly get, but Alice doesn't know that, and must just sound weird. For example, Alice did something that prompted Megan to say, "Oh, you're so smart, Alice!" and Alice replied, "Yeah, I don't want to be like those foolish Molboes!" This was a reference to a book that I had as a child, that I bought online to read with Alice. She liked the stories, apparently. A few moments later, when she dropped a goldfish on the ground and picked it up, she said, "It's ok, it has more flavor that way!" This is something we say, with mild sarcasm, all the time.
The area we had pulled of the trail had some fallen down trees and a little creek, so it gave the kids lots to play on. Unfortunately, Rye was having some bowel problems and the portapotties weren't helping, so they left after about an hour (and I had failed to take any pictures yet!). But Simon and Alice continued to have fun "fishing" in the river.
After a while, we wandered off the trail and into the woods. The trail was pretty crowded anyway, since nobody passes up a warm February Sunday. We wandered in the peace and quiet, and eventually found another log to have another snack on, then Zac and the kids built a "squirrel fort."
Hi Megan,
I know it's short notice, but any chance you guys would like to join us for a hike at Umstead on Sunday morning? And by "hike" I mean a slow, destinationless meander through the woods, perhaps stopping to pull bark off a dead tree or poke sticks in a creek for 20 minutes at a time, fueled by a long snack break after probably a mere 10 minutes of walking. And by "morning" I mean somewhere between 10 and 10:30ish.
She responded with "Yes Yes Yes!" and we then arranged to meet at the Harrison Ave entrance.
I only included the e-mail above because that is exactly what happened. We went down the trail just a bit, and Rye was being a little whiny, so we stopped to have a snack. Even although I had stuffed both of our kids full of food before leaving, they still managed to eat more snack.
One of the fun things in being around Alice when she's around other people is to see how they interact. Generally what I notice is that we have a lot of inside jokes and references that outsiders can't possibly get, but Alice doesn't know that, and must just sound weird. For example, Alice did something that prompted Megan to say, "Oh, you're so smart, Alice!" and Alice replied, "Yeah, I don't want to be like those foolish Molboes!" This was a reference to a book that I had as a child, that I bought online to read with Alice. She liked the stories, apparently. A few moments later, when she dropped a goldfish on the ground and picked it up, she said, "It's ok, it has more flavor that way!" This is something we say, with mild sarcasm, all the time.
The area we had pulled of the trail had some fallen down trees and a little creek, so it gave the kids lots to play on. Unfortunately, Rye was having some bowel problems and the portapotties weren't helping, so they left after about an hour (and I had failed to take any pictures yet!). But Simon and Alice continued to have fun "fishing" in the river.
After a while, we wandered off the trail and into the woods. The trail was pretty crowded anyway, since nobody passes up a warm February Sunday. We wandered in the peace and quiet, and eventually found another log to have another snack on, then Zac and the kids built a "squirrel fort."
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Alice's $5 Lesson
We needed to go to Trader Joe's to get more of Simon's yogurt and Zac's wine, so our plan for Saturday morning was to go there after first stopping at the nearby toy store and the fish store. The toy store is called Science Safari and it has tons of cool science-themed toys. It's where we bought Alice her first dinosaurs. A brief history of the store: It is small and family-owned, and used to be owned by the parents of one of the few well-behaved students at my old school. Zac and I wandered in there one day, way before we even had kids, and loved it. Since having kids of our own, we stop there a couple times a year, and Simon always plays with the trains while Alice examines nearly everything in the store. In the past, if we bought something there for a Christmas or birthday present, we would sneak the purchase so the kids wouldn't get any ideas and start whining for us to buy stuff. Although we weren't in need of any toys, it is always fun to go there and look around and get ideas.
This time, Zac had a new idea: we would give Alice five dollars to spend. The idea was that she would start learning about numbers and money and choices. We were influenced by a great article about how to do allowance. The article basically argues that at a fairly young age, you need to give kids an allowance so they can gain experience making bad choices and wasting their money, so that later on, they'll know how to manage money. We plan to start Alice on an allowance once she gets a bit better at math, probably next year in kindergarten. But we thought it would be fun to try it today.
So we pull into the parking lot, and Zac says, "Alice, do you want to learn a lesson?"
It sounds ominous to me, but Alice is game, and instantly says, "Yes!"
So Zac explains the lesson: "Alice, we're going to give you five dollars that you can spend in the store. You can buy anything you want, but it can't cost more than five dollars." Then he hands her the bill.
She was thrilled. As she examined the money, she saw the picture of Abraham Lincoln and said, "That's a peacemaker!" She couldn't remember his name off the top of her head, but when I supplied it, she said, "Yes, Abraham Lincoln! He was a president. I love him." So, she's getting some sort of education at daycare.
We went into the store, and I taught Alice how to look for price tags, but it was still a little too tricky, so usually she would just ask me how much stuff cost. She quickly learned that $5 didn't get her very far in this store. She went into the rock cave, and she picked out a small geode that cost about $2. I was so proud. She figured out she had $3 left, and I advised her to pick a toy for Simon. She selected a wand thingy with a green ball on the end that lights up. Mission accomplished.
But then, she kept looking around, asking the prices on things. I told her she couldn't afford anything else, but that she could trade what she had already selected for something if she wanted. The bows and arrows were too expensive, as was the space shuttle and the pogo stick. But then, she found a little Frozen coloring book, the kind where you scribble with a special marker that magically turns the pages colors. It was just under $5. So she put the geode back and she put the wand back, and this was the thing she wanted. I told her to wait a few minutes and make sure, so here she is just outside the store (we'll work on the rules of shopping more later) contemplating if this is really what she wants to purchase. I tried to sell her on a bag of cool little air rockets, but ultimately, to my chagrin, she chose to buy the princess coloring book that you don't even have to color.
After the fish store, we went to Trader Joes, where Alice was quite happy to have a little shopping cart to push. The kids were also thrilled to eat a macaroni and cheese sample.
This time, Zac had a new idea: we would give Alice five dollars to spend. The idea was that she would start learning about numbers and money and choices. We were influenced by a great article about how to do allowance. The article basically argues that at a fairly young age, you need to give kids an allowance so they can gain experience making bad choices and wasting their money, so that later on, they'll know how to manage money. We plan to start Alice on an allowance once she gets a bit better at math, probably next year in kindergarten. But we thought it would be fun to try it today.
So we pull into the parking lot, and Zac says, "Alice, do you want to learn a lesson?"
It sounds ominous to me, but Alice is game, and instantly says, "Yes!"
So Zac explains the lesson: "Alice, we're going to give you five dollars that you can spend in the store. You can buy anything you want, but it can't cost more than five dollars." Then he hands her the bill.
She was thrilled. As she examined the money, she saw the picture of Abraham Lincoln and said, "That's a peacemaker!" She couldn't remember his name off the top of her head, but when I supplied it, she said, "Yes, Abraham Lincoln! He was a president. I love him." So, she's getting some sort of education at daycare.
We went into the store, and I taught Alice how to look for price tags, but it was still a little too tricky, so usually she would just ask me how much stuff cost. She quickly learned that $5 didn't get her very far in this store. She went into the rock cave, and she picked out a small geode that cost about $2. I was so proud. She figured out she had $3 left, and I advised her to pick a toy for Simon. She selected a wand thingy with a green ball on the end that lights up. Mission accomplished.
But then, she kept looking around, asking the prices on things. I told her she couldn't afford anything else, but that she could trade what she had already selected for something if she wanted. The bows and arrows were too expensive, as was the space shuttle and the pogo stick. But then, she found a little Frozen coloring book, the kind where you scribble with a special marker that magically turns the pages colors. It was just under $5. So she put the geode back and she put the wand back, and this was the thing she wanted. I told her to wait a few minutes and make sure, so here she is just outside the store (we'll work on the rules of shopping more later) contemplating if this is really what she wants to purchase. I tried to sell her on a bag of cool little air rockets, but ultimately, to my chagrin, she chose to buy the princess coloring book that you don't even have to color.
There is some irony in that we took her to a cool science-themed toy store, and she managed to come out buying the most banal thing that we probably could have gotten at any dollar store or Target, which was princess-themed, no less. Sigh. I guess part of the lesson was for me to realize that handing money over to Alice means she's not going to buy what I want her to buy, and I have to be OK with that. Overall, I think she had a good lesson. It will of course be more meaningful when she is managing her own stash of cash, rather than being handed $5 out of the blue, but she did learn about having to make choices and that there were a lot of things she couldn't afford. And, to her credit, she did use the coloring book all afternoon.
Next, we headed to the fancy fish store next door. It's fairly big and has a lot of beautiful aquariums, so we just take the kids there to see all the cool fish, while Zac dreams about having a tank like these some day.
After the fish store, we went to Trader Joes, where Alice was quite happy to have a little shopping cart to push. The kids were also thrilled to eat a macaroni and cheese sample.
Sunday, February 21, 2016
Playdate with Grayson at Kids Together Park
Sunday was 70 degrees. We had arranged to meet Grayson's family at Kids Together Park (what we also call dragon park because of the large green dragon embedded in a hill). I told Alice in the van on the way there that the whole point of a playdate was to play with Grayson, so she should stay with him. This was important, because although close together, this particular park has three separate playgrounds and the playdate would be pointless if they kept going their separate ways.
To her credit, Alice did a pretty good job staying with Grayson most of the time. Zac stayed with Simon, and I visited with Lindsey and Brent while Grayson and Alice ran around. It was the first time that I was just able to visit and not worry about the kids too much, since Alice and Grayson stayed together and we stationed ourselves at a picnic table where we could easily see if they left the vicinity. I still dream of a day when I can sit on a park bench and read a book while the kids play, and today made me think that dream might just come true in the not so distant future.
To her credit, Alice did a pretty good job staying with Grayson most of the time. Zac stayed with Simon, and I visited with Lindsey and Brent while Grayson and Alice ran around. It was the first time that I was just able to visit and not worry about the kids too much, since Alice and Grayson stayed together and we stationed ourselves at a picnic table where we could easily see if they left the vicinity. I still dream of a day when I can sit on a park bench and read a book while the kids play, and today made me think that dream might just come true in the not so distant future.
Simon in the sand (above). Can you spot him?
After the kids grew tired of the playground, we took a short walk up the greenway, where they played in a ditch for a while.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Yard Work Day
We're tried to scale back the weekend chaos a bit by staying home on Saturday. Since the day was unseasonably warm, we all just spent the morning outside in our yard. There had been a big wind and ice storm earlier in the week, and the yard was in desperate need of some attention. Zac did most of the work cleaning up the branches and pine cones, with a little "help" from Alice. We still need to improve her work ethic and get her to stay focused on a task from more than a minute or two. The kids also rode their bikes and other wheeled vehicles a little bit.
After the yard work was done, we gave the kids a snack and then Alice and I went to get her hair cut at Supercuts. You know the movie trailer for Zootopia about the sloths working at the DMV? That's what the haircutting shop felt like this morning. The three employees could not possibly have been any slower. When it was finally Alice's turn, she chattered happily with her stylist about the rats that make nests in her hair at night and how we're going to have to call the pied piper soon. All our inside jokes suddenly seem so weird when Alice is earnestly talking about them with strangers.
After the haircut was finally done, we walked next door to Harris Teeter to get a few things (and of course partake of the free samples--Alice's favorite activity). I like our little mother-daughter outings, and view them as good opportunities for a break from the constant reprimands. That's the only way I can explain coming home with Chinese food from the "Asian Bar" a container of powdered donut holes that Alice requested. Sometimes it's just fun to be able to say "yes" instead of "no" all the time. When I confessed my sins to Zac, he said, "As long as you didn't buy anything for her from the checkout line, there probably hasn't been too much damage."
While we were gone, Zac also gave Simon a haircut. He does this on the porch with the clippers. Simon still screams bloody-murder the whole time (we wonder what the neighbors think is going on). But he seems completely untraumatized once the ordeal is over.
After naps, since I just cannot let good weather go unenjoyed, I walked with the kids to our neighborhood park to play for a bit while Zac finished supper. The park was crowded, which was annoying for me personally, but definitely good for childhood in general to see lots of families getting out to enjoy the fine weather.
That evening, Alice used some chairs to hang a blanket, and spent a lot of time wrapping up "presents" (stuffed animals rolled inside blankets) and training her employee (Simon) for the "Grand Opening." As always, it was way cuter than this, but by the time I got the camera rolling, things were winding down.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Alice's bad choice at school
Alice had been looking forward to being the line-leader at school for weeks (pretty much since her last turn). She'd planned her outfit (sweater-dress with pink sparkly hearts) and her show-and-share toy (Frozen wand with the snow globe on the end that she got for Valentine's Day).
When she got home that evening, and I asked her how her day was, she said, "Great! I didn't make any bad choices!"
But then later, when I was asking her who her helper for line-leader day was, she accidentally revealed that "Genevieve was the line leader while I was in the baby room."
"Alice, why were you in the baby room? Did you make a bad choice?"
She hung her head. "Yeah, I took apart some work."
"What do you mean?"
"I took apart a ten."
I had no idea what she meant, but Zac figured out that she must have taken apart the wire with ten beads on it for the counting work.
It was just sad that she'd missed part of her day that she had been so looking forward to. I do worry a lot about her getting in trouble, because while she is not mean, she is devious and she does get lots of ideas in her head that probably wouldn't occur to other kids (based on our experience with how much easier Simon is). The world is just full of temptation for Alice.
***
Update #1: On Monday morning, Alice kept saying she was scared to go to school. They must have come down pretty hard on her for messing up the work, because she's never said something about being scared about going to school before. I tried explaining to her that if she just makes good choices all day, she won't get into any trouble.
Update #2: When I picked the kids up on Wednesday, I mentioned this incident to Alice's teachers, and it was hard to get a clear story from them, but it seems that Alice was caught stealing the beads, not merely taking them apart. The teacher even said they'd seen her trying to do it for a couple of days and had warned her.
When she got home that evening, and I asked her how her day was, she said, "Great! I didn't make any bad choices!"
But then later, when I was asking her who her helper for line-leader day was, she accidentally revealed that "Genevieve was the line leader while I was in the baby room."
"Alice, why were you in the baby room? Did you make a bad choice?"
She hung her head. "Yeah, I took apart some work."
"What do you mean?"
"I took apart a ten."
I had no idea what she meant, but Zac figured out that she must have taken apart the wire with ten beads on it for the counting work.
It was just sad that she'd missed part of her day that she had been so looking forward to. I do worry a lot about her getting in trouble, because while she is not mean, she is devious and she does get lots of ideas in her head that probably wouldn't occur to other kids (based on our experience with how much easier Simon is). The world is just full of temptation for Alice.
***
Update #1: On Monday morning, Alice kept saying she was scared to go to school. They must have come down pretty hard on her for messing up the work, because she's never said something about being scared about going to school before. I tried explaining to her that if she just makes good choices all day, she won't get into any trouble.
Update #2: When I picked the kids up on Wednesday, I mentioned this incident to Alice's teachers, and it was hard to get a clear story from them, but it seems that Alice was caught stealing the beads, not merely taking them apart. The teacher even said they'd seen her trying to do it for a couple of days and had warned her.
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Zac picking up Simon from his class
Notice how well-trained Simon is because even although he is so excited to see Zac, he puts his work away first! Although Simon didn't discover the tongs until the end, my guess is this work is focusing on the motor skills to use to the tongs and move the little balls from one dish to another. We never really know what Simon does at school all day, because whenever we ask him, he just says he "plays trains." When we pick him up, he is usually sitting calmly doing some work or playing outside.
Monday, February 15, 2016
A day of play
We had some sleet and freezing rain this morning, so the kids' school and my school closed for the day. Zac went to work. I actually always really enjoy these days with no plans and no chores. They're like magical bonus days. I took this opportunity to document some of the activities and snippets of conversation from the day.
***
Alice was in my bathroom this morning while I was putting on my makeup. As I applied cover-up to my perpetual pimples, Alice inquired, "Mom, when are your boo-boos going to heal?"
"Good question, Alice. I don't know," I said with a resigned sigh, as I glanced at the couple of scraggly gray hairs sprouting from the part in my hair.
"I know, mom! They'll go away when you're in the cemetery and the worms eat everything!"
I'm starting to be slightly unnerved by how often Alice solves problems by having me be in the cemetery.
***
At breakfast, Simon picked up a sausage bite and declared, "When this sausage gets bigger, it will run around the living room with me!" Then he stuck it in his mouth and chewed it up.
***
Simon knows we are watching carefully every time he jumps, as we're still waiting for a proper two-footed landing.
***
***
Simon put on this scarf and was running around the house declaring, "I'm a reindeer!" I have no idea why, unless he thinks it looks like a reindeer harness.
***
Alice first jumped off the couch and yelled, "Cannonball!" Simon misheard, and it became "Dinoball!"
***
Simon put his hand on his head and asked Alice, "Do you like my hat?" It's this game we always play, but Alice was not in the mood.
With true big-sister exasperation, she said, "No! That's just your hand."
It is with this reminder of Alice's literal-mindedness that one must appreciate the next video, where she really acts like the blue vinegar is lava.
***
We got this volcano from Grayson for Alice's birthday in the summer, but we'd only used it once, and it was during Simon's nap, so he had never seen it before. Notice his reaction when it first erupts, and then how he warms up to it.
After the kids splashed their hands in the volcano, and Simon cried for five minutes because I wiped his hands and threw the napkin in trash (he wanted to do it himself--his favorite refrain these days is, "I want to do it myself. Me! Not you!"), I decided volcano time was over and we poured it down my bath drain.
***
A while later, the next activity was one I'd been saving for just such a day. When Alice was two, we got her this marble-run present for Christmas, I think, but after a few months we had to pack it up because we were worried Simon would try to eat the marbles. It's been residing in Alice's closet, unbeknownst to her, for nearly two years. The kids loved it. But it was getting late, so Alice got frustrated easily and we soon had to move on to lunch and naptime.
Alice: But mom, where are we going to go today?
Sera: Nowhere.
Alice: But mom, we have to go somewhere.
Sera: Ok, you're right. I think we're going to go to the kitchen, and go to the bathroom, and go to the living room, and maybe even go to your bedroom, if we're feeling extra adventurous.
Alice: Grrr. Huff. Mo-om. I want to go somewhere outside our house. We have to drive on the roads or walk to the park.
Sera: Really, Alice, since daddy is at work today and it's just me, it's hard to go places. Plus it's wet and cold outside. We're just going to stay home and play.
Alice: You mean you're going to play with me? You're not going to be busy?
Sera: Yes, Alice. I'm just going to play with you and Simon today.
Alice: Yippee! This is going to be fun.
***
That night, while getting tucked into bed Alice said, while yawning, "I just like being awake so much, mommy."
"I know," I said, "but you need to sleep to rest your little brain so you'll be ready for the next day."
"Actually, mom, you should say big brain. We humans have big brains and we're really smart."
"You're right, Alice. Goodnight. Sweet dreams."
***
Alice was in my bathroom this morning while I was putting on my makeup. As I applied cover-up to my perpetual pimples, Alice inquired, "Mom, when are your boo-boos going to heal?"
"Good question, Alice. I don't know," I said with a resigned sigh, as I glanced at the couple of scraggly gray hairs sprouting from the part in my hair.
"I know, mom! They'll go away when you're in the cemetery and the worms eat everything!"
I'm starting to be slightly unnerved by how often Alice solves problems by having me be in the cemetery.
***
At breakfast, Simon picked up a sausage bite and declared, "When this sausage gets bigger, it will run around the living room with me!" Then he stuck it in his mouth and chewed it up.
***
Simon knows we are watching carefully every time he jumps, as we're still waiting for a proper two-footed landing.
***
Alice had a lot of fun in her princess costume. She always wears an undershirt under it because the dress is scratchy. She is completely unaware of how weird this looks.
***
Simon put on this scarf and was running around the house declaring, "I'm a reindeer!" I have no idea why, unless he thinks it looks like a reindeer harness.
***
Alice first jumped off the couch and yelled, "Cannonball!" Simon misheard, and it became "Dinoball!"
***
Simon put his hand on his head and asked Alice, "Do you like my hat?" It's this game we always play, but Alice was not in the mood.
With true big-sister exasperation, she said, "No! That's just your hand."
It is with this reminder of Alice's literal-mindedness that one must appreciate the next video, where she really acts like the blue vinegar is lava.
***
We got this volcano from Grayson for Alice's birthday in the summer, but we'd only used it once, and it was during Simon's nap, so he had never seen it before. Notice his reaction when it first erupts, and then how he warms up to it.
After the kids splashed their hands in the volcano, and Simon cried for five minutes because I wiped his hands and threw the napkin in trash (he wanted to do it himself--his favorite refrain these days is, "I want to do it myself. Me! Not you!"), I decided volcano time was over and we poured it down my bath drain.
***
A while later, the next activity was one I'd been saving for just such a day. When Alice was two, we got her this marble-run present for Christmas, I think, but after a few months we had to pack it up because we were worried Simon would try to eat the marbles. It's been residing in Alice's closet, unbeknownst to her, for nearly two years. The kids loved it. But it was getting late, so Alice got frustrated easily and we soon had to move on to lunch and naptime.
***
After nap, I made the kids some popcorn to eat while watching Octonauts, so I could get supper ready unhindered.
***
While supper was cooking and we were waiting for Zac to get home, we painted. Alice painted her fingernails blue. It's just a matter of time...
***
After supper, I built some new marble towers for the kids to play with. Alice said, "Mom, I like it when you play with me. Then I don't feel lonely."
It reminded me of a conversation with Alice in the morning on our last stay-home snow day several weeks ago. Alice kept asking what we were going to do that day, I was trying to explain to her the concept of staying home and staying indoors all day. It went something like this:
Alice: But mom, where are we going to go today?
Sera: Nowhere.
Alice: But mom, we have to go somewhere.
Sera: Ok, you're right. I think we're going to go to the kitchen, and go to the bathroom, and go to the living room, and maybe even go to your bedroom, if we're feeling extra adventurous.
Alice: Grrr. Huff. Mo-om. I want to go somewhere outside our house. We have to drive on the roads or walk to the park.
Sera: Really, Alice, since daddy is at work today and it's just me, it's hard to go places. Plus it's wet and cold outside. We're just going to stay home and play.
Alice: You mean you're going to play with me? You're not going to be busy?
Sera: Yes, Alice. I'm just going to play with you and Simon today.
Alice: Yippee! This is going to be fun.
***
That night, while getting tucked into bed Alice said, while yawning, "I just like being awake so much, mommy."
"I know," I said, "but you need to sleep to rest your little brain so you'll be ready for the next day."
"Actually, mom, you should say big brain. We humans have big brains and we're really smart."
"You're right, Alice. Goodnight. Sweet dreams."
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Valentine's Day
Zac and I awoke Valentine's morning to the wonderful sound of our kids playing together. We have Alice very well trained to read books in her room on weekend mornings, until she hears Simon, then she can go in his room and play with him. Their happy playing is what usually wakes us up on weekends, but sometimes Alice will do something to make Simon upset or cry.
This morning, the kids were both singing the "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" song, and I could watch them on the spy camera and see that Simon was using his owls as the monkeys. Then, when the song lyrics indicated that the monkey fell out of bed and bumped his head, he would hurl the owl out of his crib. Then he would say, "How many left?" and he and Alice would say, "Two!" or whatever the right answer was, then go on with the song. Once all the owls/monkeys were out of the bed, Alice would conduct surgery on them, repair their broken heads, and send them flying back into Simon's crib, where the song would begin again. I tried to make a movie of this, but unfortunately the sound did not record for some reason, and I didn't realize this until I'd already uploaded the four minute video. Also, as always, by the time it occurs to me to make a video of something, the activity is winding down anyway. You just have to trust me that it was the cutest thing ever.
This morning, the kids were both singing the "5 Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" song, and I could watch them on the spy camera and see that Simon was using his owls as the monkeys. Then, when the song lyrics indicated that the monkey fell out of bed and bumped his head, he would hurl the owl out of his crib. Then he would say, "How many left?" and he and Alice would say, "Two!" or whatever the right answer was, then go on with the song. Once all the owls/monkeys were out of the bed, Alice would conduct surgery on them, repair their broken heads, and send them flying back into Simon's crib, where the song would begin again. I tried to make a movie of this, but unfortunately the sound did not record for some reason, and I didn't realize this until I'd already uploaded the four minute video. Also, as always, by the time it occurs to me to make a video of something, the activity is winding down anyway. You just have to trust me that it was the cutest thing ever.
Once everybody was up, we let the kids open their "Valentine's Surprises" as we called them.
After they opened their presents, we had pink scrambled eggs for breakfast.
Then, soon, Grayson came over for a playdate. We got out the bouncy house, which the kids took to a new level when Alice figured out they could elevate it on the couch and have a slide. Sliding didn't work, of course, by they soon figured out that rolling did.
It's always fun to have Grayson over and imagine what it would be like to have three kids. It's really not much more work than two, for a three-hour playdate, anyway. If I could magically have another four year old right now, I'd probably say yes, but there's no way I'm voluntarily going through pregnancy and those first few years again.
For the most part, the kids did a great job playing together. Whenever there were disputes, I tried to urge them towards solving the problems themselves rather than figuring it out for them. My favorite part was where Alice and Grayson invented a game where he, wearing her superhero cape, was taken by Alice to each closet and room in the house where he had to fight the "bad guys" and be her "saver." It was a fun activity that kept them busy for a while, but at the same time I was surprised she was already so aware of the role of damsel in distress. Why couldn't they fight the bad guys together? Maybe I need to get more than one superhero cape.
After lunch, Grayson went home and we gave our kids naps. When they woke up, they got to eat apple halves and watch videos for a while. Alice's current favorite program is the Octonauts.
After they'd played for a bit, Zac revealed Valentine Surprise #2: Their first real lego sets!
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Window-cling progress
My parents have been sending the kids holiday-themed window-clings for as long as we can remember. In the beginning, they mostly ended up on the floor, balled up, collecting debris from the carpet. So it's been fun to see Alice progress over the years, to finally being able to make patterns and decorate with them.
This creation, below, she calls her "Heart Castle."
Simple Saturday, with cupcakes
On Saturday, it was sunny but very cold by North Carolina standards (high of 30). So we kept it simple. After breakfast and a morning snack, Zac and Simon went to Kroger to get groceries, while Alice and I went to the library to get a fresh batch of books.Alice is really into the Avengers right now, so she was super excited that I had requested two Avengers books. Usually I just pick books off the shelf (a long and arduous process) but every once in a while, I will use the library search engine and request a bunch of books. It saves time, but since I can't personally vet the books (pictures, storyline, words-per-page) it can be kind of hit or miss. I have to say I'm getting better at judging a book by its cover, though, and I'm also able to find authors of other books that we've enjoyed, so there is a way to increase my chances of getting decent books.
After we got back from the library, Alice and I made a batch of cupcakes. Then after lunch and naps, Zac and the kids put frosting on them.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Bath masks
The kids had fun playing in the bath with their masks on tonight. Alice bravely even practiced putting her face in the water. It's good to know she finally has the idea of holding her breath!
School Valentine's Party
Alice had been looking forward to her school Valentine's day party for weeks, and she'd been planning to wear this outfit (note her "superpowers" around her wrists) for just as long. What was interesting was that in the weeks preceding the party, every time we picked out clothes, she would think out loud about whether or not she could wear this dress and have it washed again in time to wear for her party. I like that she knows she needs to plan things out, since I'm always on the lookout for emerging executive function skills.
When the kids got home from school, we made them wait until after supper to open their loot.
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