Naomi the puppy (Or, the Non-Adventure of Hedgie)

Coordinating outfits, all in
the same picture!

Everyone has their thing, and especially 1-year-olds. For Kalina, it was always animals (preferably kittens or cows for the longest time). For Elise, we had the color purple. And now, for Naomi, we have dogs. Also known as woof-woofs and puppies.

What causes this phenomenon of latching on to something so specific at such a young age? It always happens between the ages of 1 and 2, and can make for some very unique second birthday parties.

Should Naomi really even know what a dog is, and what it says? In truth, she's an expert, as she'll gladly show you. She can find any doggy (or near-doggy, such as a goat or bunny) on any page of a book. She remembers which books have the best doggy pictures and will flip to her favorite pages. Naomi frequently mentions that doggies say "woof-woof." She perks up when she hears them outside, and emphatically points them out when we are lucky enough to actually see a real one. She walks around the house tuning into anything that looks like a dog (even a pattern in a pillow), and then points in the general direction of her crib to let us know that she, too, has a couple stuffed doggies. But perhaps most endearing of all, Naomi regularly gets down on all fours and crawls around woofing like a sweet little puppy. Once she pointed at herself, said woof-woof, then crawled around to demonstrate. She has also been known to do this with regards to bears (which kind of look like dogs, to a toddler). Cuteness overload.

Naomi really wanted to feed Poky
a bottle. Her own idea.

Over Thanksgiving, Naomi was particularly thankful to have a real, live dog visiting us! In our house! All the time! A dog to pet whenever she can get a hold of it--so long as the dog didn't get too annoyed and try to slip away unnoticed. In her defense, Naomi was actually a phenomenally gentle petter, something that I think surprised the dog as well as the rest of us.

The pooch in question was Poky, Aunt Nancy's sweet little doggie, and she endured Naomi's (soft) pats and the big sisters' constant willingness to help feed the dog very well. Actually, Poky may have wanted to go along a bit more with the big sisters' helpfulness, but was not allowed due to a recently discovered allergy.

Although Poky is, of course, a star in all our lives, when it comes to her dogs, Naomi is not picky and unafraid. She will toddle quickly up to a large, intimidating one as readily as a small yappy one. Will we have a puppy party for birthday number two, which is fortunately a long way off still? The big sisters are making predictions in that direction.

My two little Native
Americans and their
"Thankful Mayflower."

[As an aside, why do we teach our kids animal noises first? Why not U.S. presidents? (George Washington--white hair! See? Big white hair! Abraham Lincoln. Taallll. Any takers for president flashcards for 1-year-olds?) We fritter away some of their most receptive months burning brain cells on "oink oink" and "mooooo." It's cute--but at what price? Shouldn't Naomi be saying E=MC squared instead of "woof, woof" all the time? I mean, if it's all the same?

A librarian once informed the "babies and books" group that animal noises encourage early literacy. Unfortunately, Naomi doesn't actually speak "Farmyard," or "Jungle," for that matter. But I suppose from "Baaaa...." it's an easy leap to "Baaaach" and from "Mooooo..." to "Moooon." "Oink" still seems irrelevant, but we would hate for piggies to be left out, wouldn't we?]

In fact, I had recently been thinking that Naomi's beloved Hedgie was a bit of a misfit among the stuffed doggie toys Naomi had wrestled away from her big sisters, and the one she desperately covets but has not yet been able to secure--to the extent that Kalina is keeping that particular stuffie on a leash at all times.

Aunt Debbie and Uncle David
visited for Thanksgiving!

And then we had an adventure, or actually an un-adventure, that set me straight. It being close to the end of the calendar year, Matt is using up some of his generously apportioned "use-it-or-lose-it" vacation days to spend some quality holiday time with family, and get a few projects done, too. And so on Friday morning, he accomplished both by taking all three kiddos to Lowe's and Petco in the pouring rain (when you're Matt, those two stores go together: build a cage, but a pet in it, build a bigger cage, repeat--or something like that). In the meantime, I cleaned the girls' rooms reaaallllyyy well just in time for Christmas, a chore that works better without an audience.

The group arrived home, we had lunch and put Naomi down for a nap, at which point we realized that Hedgie was missing. While not as much as a tragedy as missing Pink Bear would be at this point (none of us would sleep), we were concerned. We grilled the big sisters, one of whom had a motive (Naomi had splashed fish water all over her), and learned that most likely Hedgie was lost at Petco. we called. I went out and searched, putting three store employees on the job, too. No luck. Had she been left in the cart? Tossed somewhere obscure in the store? Thrown out of the van just before the door closed? Kalina and I both bemoaned sweet little Hedgie lying wet and dirty in a parking lot somewhere, as I still can't shake the feeling that stuffed animals are alive, and she lives by the idea.

Kalina lost a tooth! On
Thanksgiving! The Tooth
Fairy brought her a $1 coin,
a tiny note and a sweet
tooth-fairy pillow she'd made
herself, because the Tooth
Fairy is just that amazing.

Fortunately, Naomi seemed content with her pups, and the big girls are really, really good at not saying words that are "triggers" for Naomi--things like "strawberries" and "outside." Mum was the word as far as Hedgie was concerned, and if we really needed to, we could refer to it as it's code name of "Bushpig," which Kalina enjoys doing anyway.

So, what to do? Do we hope Naomi will forget about the sweet toy that was her snuggle buddy for so many months? What about the picture displayed in our house of Naomi with Hedgie, that Naomi enjoys pointing to? What about long into the future when Naomi asks, "I really loved that hedgehog puppet. Where is that now?" Or worse, when she has to endure years of therapy as an adult because she was prematurely separated from her special lovey. No, thank you. We must track it down, in any way we can.

As luck would have it, my sister and I had discovered a nearly identical hedgehog puppet out when we were shopping during her visit. I dashed off to the store as fast as holiday parking could carry me. An hour later, I was nearing the front of the checkout line. This shinier, nicer-smelling, softer, slightly pointer-nosed version cost a small fortune, but I reasoned I would keep the tag on until we really needed it so I could return it (after the holidays) if Hedgie #1 turned up.

Elise and Pink Bear got married. This
was their wedding cake, including some
wedding treats that Pink Bear could eat,
so she could celebrate, too. Pink, of
course.

Naomi only seemed to want Hedgie at one point during the day, just before bedtime, at which time Matt explained to her that Hedgie was missing. I'm sure things wouldn't have gone well if I had been the one to break the news, but Naomi took it stoically and consented to go to sleep without it.

The next day Matt again scoured the parking lot and visited Petco, possibly as much to prove himself innocent of letting Hedgie get lost as out of love for his daughter. No Hedgie. Back at home, just as we were going out to get our Christmas tree, the moment we were waiting for actually happened: Elise accidentally said the magic name in front of Naomi. Naomi perked up, pointed, and screwed up her face in preparation for a wail. I knew the time had come: I grabbed Shiny Hedgie and snipped the tags, presenting the animal to Naomi with its characteristic prickle-effect fur first--after all, the nose really was a bit pointy.

Naomi and her Hedgie, together
again, kinda.

And what a reunion! Considering Naomi was actually doing okay up until that point, she sure  was thrilled to have her favorite stuffie back in her arms (and her mouth). And then she took a good look at Hedgie, particularly the pointy-ish nose, and then another look, and another hug, and another look, and fortunately accepted the toy as her own, with lots more hugs and cuddles. So much that we all waited a bit before loading her into the car because we didn't want to interrupt her sweet reunion.

Then, Matt went to put on his hat and found Hedgie #1 tucked safely inside. What?!? A mass of confusion followed as Kalina and I laughed, Elise gleefully tried to stuff Hedgie #1 into Naomi's arms, Naomi looked a bit bewildered ("I knew that nose was too pointy!") and Matt managed to get Hedgie #1 back into the hat and away before Naomi, at her tender young age, could really clue in. Kalina and I both agreed we had tears in our eyes when we realized sweet Hedgie #1 was safe at home.

Naomi fixing herself a snack.

All this begs the question: how in the world did Hedgie make it into Matt's hat? Matt certainly hadn't put it there and even Kalina can't imagine Hedgie alive enough to crawl in by herself. Our next query was directed at Elise--the younger of the two bigs, and the only one who'd had any kind of a motive around the time when Hedgie went missing. But it was not her, she insisted--and she would've admitted even a harsh truth. As Naomi couldn't have reached the hat on the shelf, there was only one person left to ask.

Me: Kalina, did you put Hedgie in the hat?
Kalina, smilling: Yes.

She even gets a bowl and puts
her snack in. All by herself.

An outright confession! But why??? She just bundled Hedgie into the hat--an explanation that makes perfect sense to those of us who get teary-eyed imagining stuffed critters, no matter how un-alive, in wet parking lots. That still left us wondering: why can a 6-year-old suggest to look in Lowe's and Petco, but not in the hat that she put the missing object into? She had simply forgotten. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best one.

Since then, I have carefully explained to both big girls why it's very important Naomi never know that she has two Hedgies. Because what if one gets lost again? And because Mommy would go crazy taking care of twin Hedgies in addition to her other fluffy charges.

Meanwhile, Hedgie #1 will enjoy a good bath, and Shiny Hedgie is already on her way to becoming a little less shiny after being mouthed, grimed up during mealtime and dropped on the floor in public places. May we never lose either one again. Everybody is happy, duo-Hedgies included (neither of which has been relegated to wet-parking-lot status), and the whole experience sure did make for a good story, didn't it?

Tricks and treats!

Halloween has come to our house, and brought out the mischief in a couple of little girls. That is okay. It's just one day of the year, right? And in truth, the "tricks" couldn't be much sweeter.

My tricky trio!

I should start by saying that I've never met anyone quite as tuned into treats as my middle child. (She, um, takes after her mommy.) Elise remembers treats for years, and commonly throws up in anticipation when expecting one ("Oh good, now I get Sprite!"). This backfires by delaying the treat until we can be sure she doesn't have a stomach virus, but the occurrence is common enough that we really only put off normal activity for about 15 minutes now.

Elise is soooo tuned into treats, in fact, that I bought a bag of candy corn and am doling them out in pairs once a day per big girl just so I don't have to answer, "Can I have a treat?" a hundred different ways every day. I'm not sure what we'll do when the candy corn runs out, but now we have hoards of Halloween candy so I'm sure we'll muddle through. While Kalina often saves her treats until afternoon, or forgets about them altogether, Elise's are generally gone shortly after breakfast.

Our pumpkins this year were from
Grandpa's garden! We have a unicorn
(Elise), a hedgehog (Naomi) and a
smiley face with hair (Kalina, who
adored playing in punpkin goop!).

For Naomi, of course, a treat is also known as a Ritz cracker or a raspberry, but the fun for the big girls started on Tuesday when all the girls in Elise's ballet class exchanged goodies. Oh, goody. 

As a treat for the parents, the girls were allowed to wear their costumes, and then performed a Halloween dance. I was distinguished as the only parent who was greeted by an exuberant and loud, "Mommy!!! You're here!!! We're going to do a dance for you!!!" upon entering the room with the other parents. Aw!

Elise, before the class and with great excitement: "And all the girls will say, 'Look at the princess! It's princess Sofia!'" Fortunately, it didn't cross the girl's mind that only two girls in class weren't princesses for Halloween (Elise, however, was the only Sofia!). "And then, if they know Sofia's name, but don't know what she looks like, they can just look at me! And if they do know what Sofia looks like, they can still look at me and say look, Sofia is here!" Elise was too distracted by the treats she was receiving to realize no one except her adoring mommy and sisters were watching her--but we really were watching her very adoringly. 

Princess Sofia was soooo
ready for trick-or-treating!

And all this time, Kalina is the patient, indulgent big sister, even though she started asking the tough questions of, "But what about when Elise eats her treats, will I get any?" I assured her everything would be fine, and my trusting Kalina trusted me. 

I was counting on the fact that Elise is usually generous, so after I called her attention to the fact that her big sis didn't bring home a bagful of treats, she kindly shared equally every time she indulged (once a day, plus the two candy corns--this was really adding up!). Elise may have also noticed that Mommy might just allow a tiny bit more "yumming" when sharing is happening at the same time. She has started to attempt to use this to her advantage but the concept does have its limits.

Also:

Elise: Mommy, is popcorn healthy?
Me: Sure, it's pretty healthy.

Elise: Then do you mind if I just have this popcorn ball?
Me: No, Sweetie, you just had your treat!

Elise: but remember, it's healthy.
She copies the earnestness and inflection I use to convince everyone to finish their green beans.

Our sweet butterfly! I love
her resourcefulness!

Poor girl asked so nicely! But the answer was still no. 

Throughout the day, all three took advantage of my promise that they could jump out and scare me as much as they wanted on Halloween. "Boo! Boo! Boo!" I'm hoping it's out of their little systems for a while. On the plus side, we didn't spend a dime on our costumes this year. Yay, us!

Elise also had a Halloween party and costume parade at preschool. Kalina enjoyed spotting and waving to Elise, as did we all. Fortunately, the treats sent home were on the slightly healthier side, and Elise didn't seem to notice as she again shared equally with Kalina. I should also note that Elise made most of our Halloween decorations this year, including a very serious-mouthed ghost and a serious-mouthed monster. They were seriously cute/scary. Thanks, Elise!

But the holiday isn't all about Elise, of course. Sweet Kalina pieced together her costume all by herself, and a lovely one it was. She changed her mind a couple times, but settled on butterfly wings given to her for her birthday, a "pixie pigtail" headband for antenna and pink pants, pink shirt and pink socks for the body of the butterfly. Although we had to cover up the pink shirt with a purple coat, it matched wonderfully. Lisa, her stuffed lamb, also dressed up in a pink fairy outfit.

Naomi wanted her picture
taken by the door, too.

But poor Kalina! Mere hours before trick-or-treating, she spiked a fever and hit the couch. We debated a bit, then perked her up with ibuprofen and took her out to a few house, cautioning her to be careful who she breathed on. 

And Naomi! We snuggled her into a warm bunny costume (Princess Sofia happens to have a pet bunny named Clover, although Naomi would've been a bunny regardless) and gave her a glow stick.  She also insisted on raiding our own candy bowl, and held a Twix bar in her little fist during the entirety of our trick-or-treating. It was shaped funny when we finally pried it away (thankfully, still wrapped!) for her bath.

Naomi wanted a glow stick,
too.

It was a coooollld Halloween, but we managed our usual route. Elise rang the doorbells she could reach, and launched into her joke without hesitation (jokes are an area tradition). Elise had been practicing her joke, "What's a vampire's favorite game? Meatballs!" and delivering it rapid-fire for about 11 1/2 months. Kalina hadn't yet thought of one, and we were too sick to push her, but people get kind of frowny when you don't tell them a joke (weird, right?) so we encouraged her to just use the "panda ghost" joke from last year ("What's a panda ghost's favorite food? Bam--BOO!"). She delivered it perfectly every time and got lots of smiles. 

Naomi's joke, as created by Matt: "What's a bunny's favorite kind of music? Hip-hop!" And he'd bounce Naomi as he said it, which made her smile. Sheer preciousness. Naomi, for her part, never seemed too jealous of the treats, possibly because she had a shiny gold-wrappered treat already clutched in her hot little paw.

Upon arriving home, Elise practically ran into the family room to dump out and sort through her pumpkin full of treats, to which she added the others she'd collected throughout the week. I think I actually heard her complain, "We'll never get through all these treats!" more than once, but I assured her we'd manage.

Naomi's trick: raiding the treat bowl!

And so the tricks were not too tricky, and the treats were very sweet this year. Happy Halloween!

The view from the back of the head

Our beautiful fall hike!

It's a strange perspective, being a mommy. Part launchpad, part coach, part shelter, and part Mama Bear, our role is nearly always behind the scenes. Literally. It's nothing you'd snap a photo of because they're always on their way to do something exciting. Over there. Because they spent the first year of their lives in Mommy's arms, and are ready to branch out (mostly). And when they do go off into the world (even if it's just the living room with their siblings), the view we get is rarely the smiley, confident front. We look down on their sweet little scalps, we see their ears, we see the back of their heads and the sides--all as they're on their way to something else.This is a good thing, of course.

As mommies, we see our kids at their best and their worst--and know that the real child is the best one, of course. Whenever they sleep a little better, whine a little less or eat those veggies, we decide that this must be the new normal, and anything less is the result of a "rough day," or "going through something." Naturally.

But we certainly don't always see our kids head-on, ready to perform. Instead, we see what goes in to making "the best" happen. "The best" sometimes takes a lot of coaxing--we know it's in there, but how do we get them to shine? Virtually always by standing next to them while they practice, walking behind them because they're a bit nervous to go on their own, and literally propping them up

Doesn't every hedgehog love
stroller rides from a cute
1-year-old? This was all
Naomi's doing!

In fact, it's only when they're very tiny, and not yet upright, that we get to see their actual faces a good portion of the time. In fact, for a good month, that's all they want to see. Cute! But all too soon, they have memorized us, just as they have the coat rack, front door and wall, and are ready for something new. Soon, they like being on their tummies--and we kneel beside them as they stare at the toys in front of them. Then they sit, and we sit behind them to keep them from topping over. Next they're pulling up, and we hover over, helping them and occasionally holding them back, but virtually never seeing the pride register on their sweet little faces. And once they begin to learn to walk, holding our hands, we look down on them from our great heights, and can only guess at their expressions. This view doesn't change until they're finally ready to take their first steps--and who better to step toward than Mommy? And for the first time in months, we see their pride and joy--which is, of course, ours as well. And from then on out, we chase. And backseat drive. And chase some more.

Back in August, we had matching outfits
and finally got to show them off!

That's not to say we don't know generally what they're thinking--most of the time, anyway (except when they're pointing emphatically to a crowded counter across the room--"Uh, uh!" and we keep guessing wrong, or refusing to acknowledge the fact that they actually want the large jar of grape jam, which is clearly off-limits).  Plus, I've gotten very good at telling by the backs of the girls' cheekbones whether their expression is delighted or serious.

Elise and I on her
field trip!

I suppose the view from the back makes the times we get to see their eyes all that more exciting. And we certainly talk face-to-face. When we're pleading with them to please stay put for a diaper change, pick up their jackets, put the lid on the glue and whatnot. We hear from others about the time they helped a young 2-year-old feel right at home at Sunday School, for instance (thank you, Elise!), or how they're the "star student" at preschool (yay, Kalina!) and all the rest. And it's not like we don't see those moments in our own homes, but they're often camouflaged by the fact that right before they hugged and agreed to marry each other, they were snatching toys, screaming and attempting to maim their sister. (You don't believe me, do you?). I love getting the whole package, but there are times I wouldn't mind the best-behavior, edited versions the rest of the world sees. But I supposed if they have to act like hyenas for someone, I'd want to have that particular honor.

At the Omaha Zoo
Aquarium!

In fact, if it weren't for impromptu family room ballet recitals, magic shows and various "tricks" they decide to perform, we might miss out on all the cool things our kids can do. And instead be trapped in our current endless loop of them jumping out from behind corners and shouting "boo" at us until we're about ready to scream ourselves. Even Naomi, although at least her little voice isn't quite loud enough to damage our hearing yet. As a side note, I've started to twitch.

Of course, a lot of the daily life is amazing and I sometimes get a sideways or motion-blurred view. The bigs run off on imaginary escapades (most often with one of them pretending to be a pet, and the other pretending to be the owner), stopping in every so often to tickle Naomi and tell her how cute she is, and then borrow all her toys. My eyes don't even know where to focus, it's such a whirlwind sometimes. With the big sisters fully engaged, Naomi and I have plenty of time together. She has taken to sitting in my lap for stories, a classic top-back view, but a very sweet one. What I can see is her little pointer finger, as eager as it is tiny, that seems to be directly wired to her brain. She is not only able to point and woof at every single dog, but also points out that the little girl in the story is like her (she points to herself), that has a bear that's like Hedgie (she points to her stuffed hedgehog). The baby will score well on standardized tests, I imagine. In a month or so, by the looks of things.

Most of the things I do see are the little things, but classic wisdom tells me (and I know it's true) that the little things are the big things. From my viewpoint,

In August, Naomi
appreciates the help!

The youngest twirls, matches animals in books to real-live stuffed versions, "talks," "cooks," gets her own snacks and generally charms us all, most of the time. Naomi still refuses to ever self-feed herself a veggie (or meat, for that matter), but will occasionally consent to eat them if they're well-mashed and, preferably, mixed with applesauce so she doesn't know they're there. She has not yet learned the rule of heights (they are not for walking off), but seems to know that the book sitting on the piano has something to do with which buttons to push. The baby definitely knows where her shoes, my shoes and the "vortex to places far cooler than indoors" is (a.k.a., the front door).

Elise's twirling dress.

The middle one likes to get all fancied up like a princess and is a serious, yet joyful ballet student. She's really into bouncy balls right now and continues in her affinity for ocean inhabitants. She's learning to pump herself on the swing (and could probably do it if her big sister weren't so sweet and helpful) and go down slides face-first. Indoors, the phrase "Elise, yogurt/applesauce/green beans/milk isn't finger food!" gets tossed around a lot, as her favorite way to eat is to take tiny pinches of her food and nibble it off her fingers. Elise delights in "mischief," but at least occasionally has the good sense to know when to ignore the urging of her big sis. Although that smile could get away with almost anything....

On vacation, Kalina petitioned for a
tri-sister sleepover. 

The oldest is proud of taking on bigger responsibilities. Putting away laundry and cleaning her room are now simple jobs (do you know how many years of nagging that took me? Or maybe she just needed to be 6...), and she'd tried her hand at vacuuming (still a bit heavy), vacuuming the stairs (she likes this one!), making PBJ for all of us (she enjoys it, but is occasionally a bit heavy on the jelly), and more. She recently astounded me by hanging in there for a 1 1/2-hour shift packing food for children overseas. Kalina has lots of good ideas, sometimes trumping Mommy for her practical innovations and even more good questions that occasionally have me stumped.


Any way you look at it, the view at our house is a good one.

Now can we open presents? How about now?

A princess under the sea.

On the night before Elise's birthday, it was not my pre-4-year-old I was chatting with far into the night (so, 8:30), but the 6-year-old. We were talking about the one, and the only, Elise. It was Kalina who initiated the conversation. "Isn't Elise just hilarious, Mommy? She could be on a TV show!" the big sister commented proudly of her little sister. "She's so funny, she would make everyone laugh. She could even be the star of a movie, and everyone would just love her!" I wholeheartedly agreed. "I'm so glad we have Elise!" Kalina continued and we both went on in the same vein for a bit.

Because it's true: we're just so glad we have Elise! With her cheerful demeanor, her unedited quips and her kind heart (that doesn't always want worms to fall on Daddy's head, and even then in only the nicest way), Elise never ceases to amaze us. She keeps us laughing and smiling all day long--who couldn't when faced with the mischievous glint that so often finds its way into her eyes, or her offers (demands) to share, or her best "princess face," or baby-kitten/clownfish meow/click, or the silly songs she makes up, or her unfailing insistence on purple, or her excited squeals, or her Really Loud And Sometimes High Pitched expressions, her pride in the various new tricks she can perform, her wacky dancing, her enthusiastic and detailed stories or a million other facets of this sweet girl.

Elise is very loved!

And then there's the fact that if you give Elise a lollipop or sparkly shoes, she will show and tell anyone who glances her way. She makes friends easily, even occasionally with boys though she would rarely admit it, and even volunteered to perform a solo on her first day of preschool music class. The girl thinks every food is a finger food, except fish sticks, which she wants cut up even though I would allow her to eat them with her fingers. She laughs when others laugh and (usually) saddens when others are sad and is happy to run to their rescue. She still refuses to let herself be called "little," she can swing higher on her tummy than anyone I've known and she can clean her room quickly and well, but only if she's motivated for some reason.

Two favorite gifts: the
trampoline and the sparkle
kitty purse like Kalina's,
except Elise's is, of course,
purple.

At four, Elise is making the step from bouncy and imaginative three-year-old to a four-year-old who is really proud of being able to write the "s" in her name, "read" parts of stories--and even sound out the occasional word with lots of help, count to 20 or higher without even needing pesky 15 or annoying 18, and almost skip. She has been known on several occasions to say no to Kalina when the big sister is asking her to break a rule. Not bad for a fun-loving four-year-old!

Elise's dearest dream at the moment is to swim out to a coral reef and nab her own pet clownfish and seahorse, and she believes it is possible, especially since she can now "swim." (This means she can paddle around with floaties--but that didn't stop her from telling her swim instructor, "You can go home now, I don't need any more lessons--I can swim!") She also believes she is a princess, which fortunately for us, often means princess manners and princess kindness every bit as much as plastic-beaded bracelets.

Me and my middlest, as captured by
photographer Kalina.

The party for Elise started a couple weeks ago in Des Moines, with a purple Princess Sofia dress from her Grandma and Grandpa. From that moment, she decided she was not only four years old a bit early, but also Princess Sofia herself. This has been fun and cute, and Kalina has enjoyed playing along, too.

Elise's actual birthday dawned bright and sunny and perfect--and with not a germ in the house. She spotted her first present when she came downstairs: a trampoline from Mommy and Daddy. Elise could jump before she could walk, and loves to do so. On couches, beds--you name it, despite many admonishing from her mommy. And now, on her trampoline! It's big enough for two if they're careful, and has only caused minor injuries so far. She loves it--and I should record for posterity the fact that she loves it exactly as much as the present Kalina picked out for her.

If you're the birthday girl, you
get to take a preliminary nibble.
Especially if you just can't wait.

Which happens to be a Sofia sea castle thing. Kalina, I should note, chose the sea castle over another gift that she herself would've had more fun with because she thought Elise would like the castle better. And Elise does, indeed, love it. The girls bounced and played and ate birthday cereal (Lucky Charms) as long as I could let them before it was time for Elise to go to preschool.

As an extra-special gift, Matt took the day off of work, so just Elise and I loaded up her purple-frosted, sprinkled chocolate cake to bring as a preschool treat and headed to her classroom, where she was probably treated like royalty all morning.

Kalina came with me to pick Elise up so we could surprise her with a big-girls-only trip to McDonald's. Look, we're celebrating and no one is throwing up! (Not this day, anyway--but possibly a couple days ago out of sheer excitement, we assume...it is good that we know Elise's mood affects her stomach...)

A birthday girl waiting for her
guests to arrive.

And of course, we wouldn't make Elise have "downtime" on her birthday, so the big girls watched Sofia on TV while we all got a little rest. What a fun birthday!

Shortly afterward, Grandpa arrived and we had more gifts (a stuffed coral reef! A sparkly kitty purse! Treasure drawers! Princess Legos! An under-the-sea sandbox! A zoo game! And more!), then Elise's birthday supper of hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, of which she ate a few bites, probably to save room for the cupcakes she'd gotten to pick out at the grocery store. Elise had been unsure whether or not she needed to sing to herself, but decided to on this occasion.

On heading to bed that night, Elise asked when her real birthday would be. Um.... But she meant her party with friends, which would be held two days later in the morning, assuming, of course, no one came down with a fever or threw up.

The guests are here!

To ward off that possibility, we did end up giving Elise her treat bag early. Also in preparation for the party, we made various types of fish to decorate the walls and ceilings. Kalina, with some help from Elise, made "seaweed wands" out of grapes and skewers, Grandpa blew up a bunch of tiny balloons (bubbles), I twisted seaweed streamers, Matt put together a fishing game and the big girls adorned themselves in princess dresses, and soon we had ourselves a princess-fairy-under-the-sea party! Our guests began to arrive--also in their princess best, plus one ballerina.

We started by decorating clownfish beach balls with markers, an activity that managed to work just fine even with princess dresses (I had smocks available). Then we had playtime and next the fishing game--which, unbeknownst to Elise, was stocked with colorful stuffed clownfish. Elise got to be the first fisherprincess, and Matt did an excellent job of playing "fish," tugging the line just right and even allowing a few to "get away" before any fish were actually "hooked." Our birthday girl was surprised when she reeled in a purple-striped fish, and the other girls quickly stepped up to give it a try.

There were better pictures of
the fishing game, but in this
one you can see the delight
on Elise's face. Aw!

Soon it was time for snacks and cake. Elise consented to go through the routine of singing and blowing out the candles instead of immediately snatching the princess Sofia topper right off and licking the frosting, not to mention digging into a chunk of cake. "Now can I have the Sofia? How about now?" The cake, which Elise helped make, managed to be purple-marble, and quite good. Elise was the first  and last one eating, as her favorite method is to pinch off little pieces of frosting and lick her fingers. Maybe by birthday #5 we'll stick to a fork.

I managed to lure Elise away from her cake with the promise of presents. She'd already opened one before I could stop her, but enthusiastically dug into the rest. Poor girl has seen this routine all summer, and was finally glad for her own opportunity to take center stage. She unwrapped a couple Sofia things, a purple jewelry box she could decorate with jeweled stickers, a Tinkerbell movie and a really cool looking game that I'm itching to try with her. What a happy birthday!

"Seaweed wands," princess
Goldfish and string cheese
octopuses, inspired by the
way Kalina turned dandelions
into octopuses this summer.

"Now can we do goody bags?" Elise asked again (I'd been deflecting the question for nearly a week already). It was finally time to answer yes, and the 4-year-old helped everyone get the right bag. The kids all played a bit longer, and then headed for home. Elise had had a wonderful day thanks to her friends and, admittedly, cake, presents and goody bags--the trifecta of a perfect party. Hmm...

In fact, it was a pretty perfect birthday for our middle-sized princess/baby clownfish/baby kitten/sea diver. Here's looking forward to another perfect, and at times "perfect," year with our sweet Elise. Happy birthday, 4-year-old! As Kalina has said many times, we're so glad we have you!

Birthdays are always happier
with your sister next to you.

A stuffed hedgehog puppet
and a balloon. What more
could a 1-year-old ask?

The presents. Elise's patience was well
rewarded

Mini-Vacationing

Vacation is a funny word. It implies relaxation, excitement, a change from the ordinary, and getting away from "it all." This was not entirely us last weekend, but we had a lovely time vacationing with our mini's anyway to see friends and family a state away. Yay! Vacation!

We took it all with us, didn't relax a whit, continued in our efforts to get kids to eat vegetables and meat and sleep at the right times and spent many long hours in the car, but the other stuff, the true "change of pace," did us all good.

You never know ahead of time how a trip will go, and that it will all be worth it (and by all, I mean the tremendous amount of prep, the drive, the late nights and early mornings and the week's worth of recovery), so even leaving the regular supply of diapers, healthfully stocked refrigerator and clean clothes in the first place takes a good deal of courage--no matter how much you decide to pack. Which was a lot.

Fortunately for my nerves, we were venturing to the known--a well-stocked, comfy house with a baby already living in it, and not far from a Target, so we knew we'd survive. As it turned out, the Target came in handy.

We left on a hot, humid 90-degree Friday morning. I'd eyed the weather forecast and decided that even though we would be trekking north, there's no way that the low 70s predicted could could actually be chilly. Chilly was not, in fact, in my vocabulary at the time. I contented myself with tossing in sweatshirts and tennis shoes for everybody, along with all the adorable, and even matching, summer outfits.

We'd moved Elise's carseat to the back, so that she and Kalina could talk to each other easily and share toys. Naomi could watch both of them.

What I pictured: Kalina reading sweetly to Elise for hours on end, while making funny faces every so often at Naomi as we sped happily toward a fun, family vacation.

What really happened: Kalina became super-absorbed in the various vacation activities and barely noticed her sisters; Elise quickly took up sucking her thumb, a habit she'd dropped in the daytime; and Naomi napped. Then, Elise asked every three seconds for snacks and Naomi fidgeted and fussed a lot. Then Naomi all-out wailed and we stopped for a while at a rest stop, found a cool caterpillar and had a tickle fight with cattails.

If nothing else, I reasoned, at least we had a cool caterpillar and a cattail tickle fight at a rest stop.

The stop cheered everyone up, and then I could justify yet another snack, and so we pulled into our friends' house in relative peace. We weren't yet at our destination, but we were able to play for a good while with the kids we were visiting and all their neat toys. Naomi could not stop smiling about the double-joy of being out of the car and exploring a new place. She played with not much more than air for an hour or so.

A catnap for Naomi later and we were at our "bed and breakfast," a friend's house with a new baby, a sweet dog and plenty of room to spread out. The big girls must have believed me when I said it was time for bed, and seemed to settle right off. Naomi did alright, too.

The temperature had taken a 30-degree nosedive during our journey so I found myself sorting through summer clothes in dismay, and heading to Target with my friend to stock the kids for the rest of the trip. Cold hands do not make for warm hearts, after all, and we needed warm hearts!

And now, the pictures will do the rest of the talking. See all those warm hearts? Warm arms, warm legs, warm hearts and warm smiles.

Who doesn't want their picture
taken in a giant egg at the zoo?

Watching the wallabies. The girls were not nearly as impressed
as I was about the fact that we could walk around in their cage.
In their cage, girls!!! Soak it in.

The closest we got to a picture
with Grandma and Grandpa.
If you look carefully, you can
see Naomi in back of her big
sisters.

Naomi desperately wanted to touch
every animal in the petting zoo.
Desperately. Missed-nap, strange place,
poor sleep desperately.

What did you like best about the apple orchard with Uncle David
and Aunt Debbie? The caramel apples! And donuts! Not the
giant slide or bouncy thing or corn pool, apparently. But those
were great, too.

Then: pump water and we might survive the
winter.
Now: Pump water, and the duck swims.

Then: with all this corn, we and our
animals night survive the winter.
Now: Geronimo!

The kids braved the tractor-train ride. Also, the giant slide in
the distance. The green thing is not the slide--it's where you
walk up. It starts about halfway up the slide. We are all brave,
and Mommy was the only one who screamed on the way down.

Naomi and her new best friend! Yes, they're dressed alike. And
so are the big girls. We love twinning!

Princess "Sofia" at her "princess
birthday party" with Grandma and
Grandpa. The princess ordered
perfect weather, and for everyone
to call her by her princess name.

The princesses in their castle (Kalina
got to be Cinderella!)

The princesses consult with the
queen herself!

A ride fit for a king!