Aiming Low

During the Jewish New Year, some of us think lofty thoughts about the year ahead. We sit in temple and think about what we hope for in the year ahead...health, happiness, love, peace, a new President...

Not so for Mia. Today we took her to services with us. She was in a good mood and also eager to move around. So, we obliged and put her on the floor. She immediately spent her time crawling away from us...under other people's chairs...to play with their feet. We would get down on the floor and make efforts to gently and gracefully pull her out from other people's chairs, and put her down about 20 feet away. Moments later she was tugging on their shoelaces again. 

Yuck and Fun

After a good week of much reduced spitting up, Mia decided to make up for lost time today. While at the bookstore, surrounded by people, Mia projectile vomited out of my arms about a foot or so away onto a pile of lovely books. Faaantastic. A big puddle remained solely on the pile of books ("Oh The Places You Will Go!"), and I was left completely unscathed as were the onlookers. So, I, as gracefully as possible, accumulated a massive pile of wet and dry paper towels, wiped up the mass, and then rubbed the whole thing down with Purrell. I felt bad about it but not bad enough to buy several books I didn't need. When going to the restroom to throw the paper towels away, I saw a few moms in there with their kids who were attempting to use the toilet. Each kid was holding a train from the communal bookstore train table. I think that is nearly as gross as what Mia did. Note to self: think twice before purchasing bookstore books in the kid section.

Totally unrelated, later that night, I was feeding Mia while we ate Chinese food for dinner. I learned to eat with chopsticks left-handed in order to hold/feed her at the same time. Neat trick for a righty.

On the Zoe front, she is having soooo much fun! She was introduced to the game of hide and go seek which we've been playing nonstop. In our world, the game goes kind of like this: I count to three, she runs about 10 feet away and stands somewhere completely visible, I come to find her, she giggles hysterically like a lunatic.  

She was also introduced to football in a more significant way after hearing some people cheering wildly while watching the Redskins/Cowboy game today. She kinda gets it and LOVES cheering. She kept clapping and making up little chants. 

And, Scott's back in town which is terrific. It means that I'm still going to bed too late and still waking up too early and still highly engaged during wake up and bed time routines, but it's all a lot more fun.

Weird Kid Radar

Tonight, we're out to dinner. We're in a booth at PF Changs and both kids are happy at the same time. And, they are both engaged and eating at the same time. Ahhh...moment of Zen. 

Then, out of nowhere Zoe starts to wail, crying that she doesn't want "the man" to come near her. I start looking around wildly to see what the hell she's talking about and realize that she's noticed a waiter by the hostess stand walking towards the table next to ours to greet a new pair of guests. This guy was totally nondescript. Nothing unique or disturbing about his appearance. He wasn't making any moves or sounds to draw attention either. I didn't recognize him from any of American's Most Wanted ads either.  

Zoe was inconsolable. Until he actually greeted the table and began an exchange with them at which point she simply stopped crying and moaning and went back to her dinner. What did I miss?

Flying solo

When Scott travels for work, I tally the time away by the number of morning and bedtime routines I'll need to manage alone. The day time, with or without Ruth, is pretty smooth sailing. But Zoe, Mia and Chloe all seem to wake up (needy) at about the same time. So I'm usually in some manner nursing, walking a dog and coaxing a kid on/off the potty with/without milk at once. Night time also comes on fast and furious at our house. Basically, once Mia decides she's done with the day, the girl means business. She wants out of the highchair, into her bath/pajamas, and in bed as fast as possible. The silver lining is that after an intense 10-20 minutes in the morning/evening, everyone is in decent shape. Both girls went easy on me tonight though. Mia tolerated extra books in Zoe's room while I nursed her and they both went to sleep (I think) by 7:30 pm. (I'm blocking out the ant swarm and the cat that killed a bird in my front yard and focusing on this instead.) Two mornings down, two nights down, one to go.

Penguin Steps

Today, I was a little confused why Zoe was walking the way she was when I picked her up from the Hippo House. She was taking tiny dainty steps and when the parent helper went to put her in her car seat, she kept her legs close together and we could hardly buckle her in. When we got home, again, she just toddled along moving quickly with short little steps. 

Then, it hit me! She wore a skort to school today. At school they go to the bathroom independently, which means they also dress themselves after using the toilet independently. It appears that Zoe used the bathroom right before coming home and put both legs in the same hole. No one noticed from the outside because it looks like a skirt and she didn't complain. The staff she had little opportunity to see her walking before I picked her up. We had a silly conversation about how each leg has it's own hole. She thought the whole thing was very funny.

New Tricks Continued (woops)

And then, Mia learned to wave. This is the best. Zoe kept encouraging her by waving at her, and Mia did not disappoint. Way to go Mia. You're well on your way...

New Tricks

In the past 24 hours, Mia has decided that she's ready for more action. Her crawling has become much more organized and has morphed to something between an army crawl with elbows and feet and knees all touching to something more of a traditional crawl. She has also managed to pull herself up. The location was not ideal...the bathtub. She simply reached up to the edge of the tub and stood up. And then, 

I take it back

Zoe informed me that she does not like lizards and she does not want to go to the Hippo House. She didn't cry but she was definitely not enthusiastic about going in to class this morning. I think a major part of the issue is that the parking lot is too small for parents to get out and bring their kids in. Instead "greeters" (aka other moms and dads) get the kids out of the cars and bring them in. A bit of a tuck and roll situation. I don't blame her for not wanting some other random parent to be taking her out of the car and in to class. Stay tuned...

Relief

After 2 days of preschool, Zoe seems to be doing well. She's engaging in the class activities, following other kids as well (vs. clinging to the teacher/directress), and generally mixing in. She likes getting her own snacks and drinks and using the bathroom on her own. And, she loves their playground. 

I had continued to have some worries but many were alleviated after a chat with the directress tonight. She called to check in and talk about how things were going so far. I was able to tell her that two of the things I cared about were (1) making sure that there was joy, lightness and curiousity in Zoe's day (vs. heavy work and serious concentration all morning) and (2) finding a way to be involved vs. excluded while not violating any Montessori principles. I was more than satisfied with her responses to all my questions. We also agreed that it would be ok for us to have a project in the class together or for me to come in and read which I appreciated. She is also considering getting a class pet which I totally love and know Zoe would too. She's leaning towards a lizard. Not sure I'd call that a pet, but it will do. 

Beginnings, and Endings

Zoe started preschool today. She has been talking about the "Hippo House" for some time now, and when the day was finally upon us, she seemed pretty excited. It was "preschool light" on Monday where she went for one hour. Scott and I were upstairs with the office staff getting a make-up briefing since we missed the back to school night (bad parents!), and she was down stairs getting a taste of the new surroundings.

She was generally acclimated to the class. She saw the room lay out again including where her cubby and the bathrooms were located, she met the other kids again and spent more time with the 'directress'.  Today, she is there for a full day which is from about 8:45am until 11:45 ish.

Both days she was completely at ease about the whole thing.  I don't know if she fully understands yet that this is a daily event though. Yesterday was bolstered by her coming home to a birthday cake we were making for Aimee. So, all in all, she was very happy.  This morning we went out to play before school so she could get her wiggles out before hand and she saw 5 cats, 1 dog, and a baby squirrel on our walk. Today started out on a good foot too.

I was nostalgic. Normally, I eagerly await the nanny or the sitter's arrival. I've never had a huge problem running out the door for a little "me" time. But there is something about dropping her off, even for  just a few hours, that signals the end of a very special time for us. That phase of her life where she (and me and her dad) learned something new every 5 minutes. This also begins the process of her not only growing up, but growing away and towards new, exciting things. (big sigh) As a child and later as a teenager, my mom used to implore me to "promise never to grow up." I never liked that. The first thing I wanted to do each day was grow up a little more so I could go where and when I wanted, drive, choose my friends, etc. Now, while I still don't like that saying, I can certainly understand the yearning behind it. 

Below are 2 more photos of fun recent "beginnings" for Zoe. She rode her first horse (not a pony). Another afternoon, when we went to the farm to dig for potato's, she went down the big slide. 

Code Brown

While Scott is bathing the girls, I am usually putting stuff away and getting their bedtime gear together. Tonight, during this routine, I at first hear a tentative voice calling  "...uh, Laurie...I think Mia is working on something"  Followed by "OH NO! CODE BROWN, CODE BROWN!"

Our sweet, adorable Mia, while bathing with sister Zoe, infected the bath water in the worst way. Scott and I airlifted the two girls to our bathroom for a 2nd scrub down. Afterwards, my poor germaphobe husband spent the next hour scouring the bathtub.

Lesson #6,423: Trust your instincts. If the kid looks like they're working on "something", they probably are! Abandon ship!

Tid Bits

What is she about to do with that cup of water? Hmmm....

Anyway, this week has been a little "heavy" in our house, but we had a few cute moments this morning that I wanted to note.

This morning I was putting clean sheets on the bed. I put Zoe and Mia in the middle of the bed while I waved the sheets up and down to get air under them like a sail. The girls were giggling and playing. Afterwards, Zoe said "Mommy, air bubbles really hit the spot."

Later, Zoe was playing with her animals and I needed to run upstairs to get something. She asked me, "Mommy, when you come back will you please join us?"

Mia meanwhile is moving EVERYWHERE! This morning I put her down at one end of the hallway upstairs and put toys every foot or so leading in to our bedroom. It took her maybe 3 minutes to squirm her way in to our room doing the army crawl (knees and elbows) with the occasional roll over. She is still spitting up but it doesn't seem to be bothering her. New diet entrees include: tofu, Oatio's, green beans, asparagus, lentils...

The Beach

Just a few photos of our recent trip to the beach. We stayed with our friends Michelle and Julie who have 2 large dogs, Hallie and Payton. With Chloe there too, the house was full! Zoe continues to be a big fan of the ocean, and Mia surprised us all by playing in the sand without eating it. There was also an area called "Funland" with all kinds of rides. Even Mia was able to get in on some of the action. Zoe showed no fear in going on any and every ride at her disposal. In this photo, she's in a little airplane that goes up off the ground a decent amount. I tried to ignore the fake guns on the planes. What were they thinking?!

A little train ride. Mia couldn't keep her hands off the steering wheel.