Happy 6th, Naomi!

Happy birthday, sweet Naomi! I'm a bit late with this blog--but we've been doing other big things!

Naomi turned 6! We celebrated early by taking a couple friends to Build-a-Bear on a Saturday morning. And the store did its part by conveniently holding a really nice sale!

We met first thing in the morning, before the rush--although another birthday party was happening at the same time. Naomi had invited her two besties, both of which happen to live in the neighborhood. The older sisters tagged along, too. Elise decided she actually didn't want a Build-a-Bear, and she and Kalina visited the Lego store with Matt shortly after the mini-party got underway. They had a nice, time. :)

Back at Build-a-Bear, each girl hemmed and hawed over the various stuffed animals, and then over the outfits and accessories, of which they were limited to one, and please not, like, a light-up princess dress that costs easily as much as two human-girl Target dresses. Naomi picked a colorful bunny, which she aptly named Cotton Candy, and her friends both chose mer-bears. Naturally, we hammed it up and drew it out, giving the animals "baths" and trying on a few different clothing items.

I'd realized this could get quickly out of hand, possibly even with tears, so I mentally prepared for various scenarios the day before. I didn't mean to obsess about the price, but having spent other birthdays at Build-a-Bear, I know how fast the money flies in that store. That being said, I was prepared to spend what I needed to to avoid any guest returning home teary-eyed. I needn't have worried: one, a fairly practical girl, had her heart set on a relatively small accessory and the other had her down-to-earth mom in tow helping facilitate. And Naomi had been prepped ahead of time. So we all had fun, even the one holding the wallet.


After our bear/bunny-building fun, we headed to the food court for a mini unicorn party, complete with unicorn-horn hats and decorate-your-own cupcakes I'd devised that morning with the help of a large convenience store (and I wasn't the only party person last-minute-shopping, either!). The best was when we got creative with the horns (see pictures).

So much fun, and I didn't even have to clean my house!

Naomi had counted down the days to her "actual" birthday for weeks, and when the day finally arrived, she was all business. She knew the routine: new birthday dress (sometimes--not always), birthday sisters making a big deal of things, birthday cereal, and, of course, presents! She soaked it all in and enjoyed herself all day.

High on her wish list were Calico Critters, which Naomi can't seem to get enough of right now. True to form, she played with them nearly all day, taking breaks for games and crafts and a quick trip to the pool, seeing as this was set to be about the last hot day we'd be available and in town during the summer season. She's still playing with them virtually all day, whenever she has free time.

Part of the day's fun was watching the unicorn cake come together. Watching Mommy try to make the unicorn cake come together, anyway. In the end, it all worked out, although the cake ended up not nearly as Pinterest-worthy as all the other "easy unicorn cake" examples I Googled.

We had a birthday meal at Jason's Deli with Grandpa, followed by their free ice cream, so by the time we actually cut the cake, appetites had dwindled. Especially since we'd just celebrated my birthday a few days before. Still, objectively speaking, the cherry cake was delicious and Naomi felt truly celebrated.

At six, Naomi is still my sweet, silly and sensitive little girl. In no hurry to grow up, she nevertheless has taken big strides over the past year. Yesterday she swallowed some baked potato, for instance, and she seems to be resigned to learning to ride a bike--protesting at first and enjoying herself some time later. And she's gained weight and height, much to my relief.

Naomi pumps her swing high, puts her face under water, takes care of Andy bunny, does her share of chores (actually, probably more than her share if you really consider their ages), reads many words, wants to get things spelled correctly, manages monkey bars, imitates her sisters, rides a scooter well, takes off Band-Aids without a fuss, can make a PBJ sandwich, is nearly through her primer piano books, learns math facts without even trying, and lives in a world of pretend. She's heading toward a crossroads of big and little but, no matter what we tell her when she's "learning to swim," she's still more little than big!

I'm pretty sure Elise wouldn't have stood being the "baby" of the family at six, but Naomi seems to embrace the position--although of course we don't actually call her a baby. Her voice sounds so little (even when she's not pretending to be younger or more bunnyish), and life often just seems bigger than she is. Especially the parts of life in which she's cleaning up toys, losing at games, and not getting her way. She clearly plays the role of damsel in distress--however, not always insincerely. She's always been more sensitive than most, so many times, the emotion is real. If, however, you need a dozen bunny babies fed, bathed and put to bed, Naomi will be all over it, and she'll help them handle their emotions, too.


Naomi's currently a little bit obsessed with Laura, Mary and Carrie Ingalls (Naomi's Carrie, of course--the youngest of the three), which works well, because whenever we have conflict, Laura usually takes my side. I'm hoping Naomi doesn't grow tired of, "Do you think Laura would have even been allowed to complain about cleaning up a mess?" Because it sort of works, sometimes.

She still enjoys arts and crafts--often making things out of popsicle sticks, string, sequins and the like. And Naomi still occasionally makes crafts inspired by books--for instance, she made a tree from the Lorax out of a popsicle stick, which she colored, and a large pom-pom. We don't get quite the proliferation of drawings anymore, but I imagine they'll come and go in stages. In the meantime, the trees of the world are breathing a sigh of relief.

Naomi is often an orderly, rules-following, box-checking little soul--except when her youngest-child wild streak overrules. She certainly likes things a certain way, but if everyone else is making good decisions and being relatively amiable, she'll stir the pot with a big mischievous grin on her face. Especially if she has an audience. Case in point, the girl is virtually impossible to photograph unless you want her bizarre poses pictured. Which sometimes we do! Sometimes. On the other hand, if you give her a list of things to do, for instance a morning routine or a worksheet, she will often finish sooner than her sisters.

It's Mount Stuffmore, made by Naomi!
"Mom, you know those big statues
made of rock...?" This was before our
trip to South Dakota!

Naomi gets the giggles whenever she sees dogs, and sometimes babies, and any baby animals. And she loves younger kids, with whom she plays so sweetly and attentively. One of her favorite things to do to her sisters, however, is to give them big, uninvited hugs. It drives them no end of crazy. Naomi is also loving tag--or at least her version of it, with bases never out of arms' reach, and occasionally the person who's "it" also being "base." Her sisters now flat-out refuse to engage; however, sometimes a sympathetic parent (okay, me) will occasionally chase her around.

I experimented with my
new camera, and Naomi
was super patient. But she's
still only 6. :)

As for fears, some of her intense ones (wolves, bears, bugs, being alone in the bathroom, etc.) are dwindling. She has virtually no fear of wasps, as we were all but infested with them in the late spring and early summer. They've never hurt us. While grown workmen working on our house ducked and swatted, Naomi would stand, cool as a cucumber, making us proud. She now likes to rescue bugs.

Naomi sweetly makes up little songs sometimes, humming or singing. When she grows up, she currently wants to be a story writer, or a missionary, and/or a mommy. She adores her friends and family, but is fine playing alone, too. He bright smile and personality are totally irresistible, wearing down even the sometimes-annoyed sisters, and we couldn't imagine a nicer, more imaginative, or more up-and-coming little 6-year-old. Here's to the best year yet!

Not 4 1/2 anymore!

Elise wrote birthday messages
on Naomi's chair balloons.

Four and a half rolls off the tongue so nicely when you're four and a half. Because when you're four and a half, you know exactly how much that half year counts. "When I was only four..." Naomi might say, beginning an anecdote about how juvenile she used to be. And in all fairness, she's right: When you're four and a half, that extra half year amounts to a full 10th of your life. That's significant.

Which is maybe why Naomi handled her transition to age 5 with such solemnity. After all, if you've been four and a half for all of your mature life, what will 5 be like? Another leap, like the leap from four to four and a half? Or a smooth continuum of the big-girl life to which you've grown accustomed? Or is it a actually more of a step back, since you don't get to add that all-important "and-a-half" to your age?

What's a birthday without sisters?
Not much!!!

All this seemed to weight heavily on Naomi as she breezed through her birthday morning, rejecting her birthday bunny dress because it's "too big" (it's not), enjoying chocolate Lucky Charms for breakfast (birthday cereal, which we only buy three times a year, thank goodness, and rarely finish--but don't tell the girls that) and unwrapping a few gifts.

The awesome playmat for
Naomi's bunnies Elise
put together.

Her sisters outdid themselves this year--they adore doting on their little sister. Kalina picked out a mommy and baby puppy from Target (Naomi's favorite place for stuffies) and created a treasure hunt for Naomi to find the littler puppy. Elise spent many evening and quiettime hours piecing together a bunny playmat for Naomi out of felt (guess who else donated time to that project!). Naomi felt loved, and I was proud of my big girls for their gifts from the heart.

Then we whisked Naomi off for her big birthday gift from Daddy and Mommy: the trip to Build-a-Bear she's been asking for pretty much ever since the last one. Naomi quietly put on her shoes and hopped in the car, not cracking a smile but excited all the same.

If you look closely, you can
see the purple sparkly shoes.

We entered the store and the salesperson gave her a special birthday sticker upon arrival. We found, to my relief, the bunny she'd had her eye on two weeks ago when we visited just to look. Naomi later assured me she would've been just fine with any number of animals, but considering "I'm fine" isn't always in Naomi's vocabulary, I was still relieved. We stuffed the bunny and brushed it, picked out clothes (and shoes, and a headband, thank you big sisters), and then worked on a name, which took a surprising number of suggestions considering usually Lily or Bella will do. She settled on Hope, though, which really is a better name.

Then Naomi got to ring the birthday bell and have her picture taken with a special cake prop. I have to give BAB credit for making her day special--and even better, we even got her to smile! Then someone suggested the merry-go-round, and how could I say no? Naomi and I spun in a teacup, while Elise rode a dolphin and Kalina picked a rabbit beside her in honor of Naomi.

Despite fun presents that she definitely enjoyed, and possibly partly because she had to tag along to piano lessons, Naomi didn't get her big burst of energy until right before dinner, when Grandpa arrived. She spent the rest of the day being downright crazy--in the pizza restaurant, at home, you name it! But she enjoyed her pizza and breadsticks, cake and even more presents, even cheering for a couple she'd been extra-specially hoping for. I admit it was nice to see some enthusiasm!

Naomi and friends!

Since I'm a sucker for sweet little parties, I let Naomi have a friends birthday the Saturday after her birthday. In truth, I was also gratified that she had friends to invite. With her love of bunnies, she settled on a woodland animal theme, heavy on the bunnies ("Can I have my bunny now? How about now?"). I stocked up on supplies, thanks in large part to Oriental Trading's Easter section, and we invited a crowd. Of which nearly half were "maybes." And then one family arrived 20 minutes early, having to knock extra loudly because I was still vacuuming.


Me, planning the party: Naomi, after the craft, we'll play some games!
Naomi: What, like, Candyland?

Adopt-A-Bunny with Kalina
drumming up enthusiasm!

Kalina and Elise provided fantastic support to the party effort by blowing up balloons, cleaning, decorating, tearing endless pieces of tape, fetching, arranging, suggesting and so much more. But their most valuable efforts came during the party, when Kalina jumped immediately to help anyone, anywhere, who needed help, and Elise frequently volunteered to choose or go last so all the guests could have exactly what they wanted. They totally earned their cupcakes, many times over.

None of the maybes showed up, but we had a great time with our six guests. Naomi enjoyed seeing her friends and "adopting" a bunny. We made collars out of beads, played pin-the-tail-on-the-Easter-bunny and did a woodland animal walk (a variation on our famous rainbow walk, which the girls will never forget). Everyone enjoyed woodland berries and "twigs" (pretzel sticks), plus cute pink and purple cupcakes that I totally lucked into, as I'd forgotten to order them and had to simply stop at a store on my way home from a meeting this morning.

Naomi pinned the tail on
the bunny...just not quite at
the right spot!

Naomi then dove into her gifts, barely pausing to actually look at the presents. Details, right? On the other hand, she expertly handled opening a Mousetrap game, knowing full well we have the same thing in our basement. In fact, Mousetrap carried us out to the end of the party.

Cake, craft, decorations, goody boxes:
it's officially a party!

The only surprise was that the several of the other girls were not as enthusiastic about picking out bunnies and making collars for them (and even playing the games, even with prizes) as Naomi was. But maybe I shouldn't be surprised--after all, she is our unique little Naomi!

Our sweet little five-year-old is certainly big in many ways, but thankfully not all of them. Naomi has no trouble switching back and forth between the real world and her pretend one. And frankly, many times I'd prefer her pretend world where although young bunnies are whiny and quite mischievous at times, they're cute and nothing too bad happens. Her stuffies still often wear dresses, as does Naomi, and the more accessories, the better.

Elise and I spent many happy
hours together after
bedtime in the sewing
room. 

Naomi is so very, very into bunnies right now, and has invented names ages and personalities for all of hers. Although the ages change frequently, as usually someone has a birthday any given day. She raises them on cupcakes, ice cream, cookies and donuts, and of course the occasional carrot because we want them to be healthy, right? They still sometimes get hurt or sick, but fortunately, the vet is nearby. They youngest ones never want to take their naps, but Naomi makes sure they do, often paired up with an older bunny. She's kind, but firm with them.

Naomi says "pencil" for "pretzel," "chopstick" for "chapstick," and "constructions" for "instructions," although I'm mildly working on correcting her. Her visual skills are excellent, and she easily learned a 100-piece puzzle on her birthday, plus she can hold her own at Memory when she focuses. She really enjoys games--more than her sisters at that age--and has been tinkering around on the piano.

Eighty percent of the time, Naomi agreeably plays or follows along with what we're doing. Nineteen percent of the time she's either super goofy or fairly sensitive ("This dress feels too big."). And the remaining 1 percent? Well, let's just say she has spirit.... you'd never guess by looking at her or interacting with her, but it's totally there.

Naomi can sing on-key, kind of almost ride with training wheels a little (but with no motivation to actually make it work), hop across the room, NOT pump herself in the swing for more than 30 seconds despite a year or two's worth of work, make a diagram of the Mousetrap board (not kidding!!), crack an egg, carry on a decent phone conversation, dance, run fast, follow Lego instructions, put away all the laundry she can reach (and even put her own dresses on hangers), empty about half of the dishwasher, complete the entire Band-Aid process all by herself (as long as the Band-Aids are cute) and retell all the main parts of a story.

She's developed a nice bond with the pet bunny, Andy, who doesn't run away from her even though she sometimes pets him a bit harder than the rest of us do. She held a hissing cockroach last week at a museum, which stunned all of us.

Naomi had her tongue bump
removed! She recovered like
a pro, and was so brave going
in all by herself that even the
doctor was impressed. The
nurses told her that much
older girls cry sometimes.

No one would have predicted
this, or that it actually lasted
for full minutes.

But she's often braver than you'd think, as long as you give her time to get used to the idea of being brave. In the past year she allowed herself to be rowed around in an inflatable kayak, learned to swim with a floatie on, had surgery like a pro, tried pasta (and liked it for a couple days!) and many more tiny things that wouldn't take much courage from the rest of us, but sure do from her.
Naomi is learning to read, write lowercase and play with numbers. She loves school, but possibly only because her big sisters don't (always). She likes to be different from them, except when she enjoys going along with whatever they're doing. And actually, she's well positioned for either of those options.

Particular is one word we use to describe Naomi, as she's ultra-conscious of how her dresses fit (yes, still mostly dresses, or at least skirts), how her hair is arranged, how her socks don't match (and are usually the wrong season), and virtually everything regarding food. And at the same time, whenever she's feeling particularly big, she's easy, breezy and go-with-the-flow.

Not pictured: All the little
flecks of chocolate cake it
was impossible to keep out
of the icing. Fortunately,
the addition of more icing
covered a lot of them.

Naomi gets along well with both of her sisters, enjoying littler playtimes with patient Elise, who also reads her stories, and imaginative adventures with Kalina, who creatively guides and directs her. And yet, they clash--especially, lately, Kalina and Naomi, who occasionally irritate each other both on purpose and not.

You'll usually find Naomi crafting/drawing (and she comes up with her own crafts!!), nurturing her stuffies, playing a game,  playing with play-dough, playing with a sister, building a little with Legos, or chatting with me. She will venture outside, but is generally a homebody.

As a rule, Naomi follows rules unless everyone else is. In this case, she'll deviate. At heart, though, I'm pretty sure she's a rules-follower, and the free-spirited youngest-child side is probably good for her.

She's classically cute, at a very 5-year-old little girl level, losing herself in her imagination, making up songs and stories, dressing to the nines even for the most mundane days, giggling adorably at mischief, silliness and tickles and managing her own little world quite nicely. As bonus, she manages to roll her p's and b's at the beginnings of words to give them an extra flourish sometimes. Because sometimes you need an extra flourish. And sprinkles.

Naomi adores her friends and schedules playdates with them as often as she can possibly convince me. One neighbor girl likes sweet little girl playtime as much as she does, and they enjoy tea parties, princess dresses, stuffed animals and more together (although Naomi's now saying she's too old for princesses. Because, 5.).

She's super proud of her maturity, and loves to speculate about what a 2-year-old, 3-year-old, 4-year-old and now, 4-and-a-half-year-old would do in any given situation. And yet, she's still tiny--"Mommy, why does it seem like all the dresses are made for bigger people?"

Frankly, Naomi is plenty big for this mommy! Happy birthday, Little Bunny!

She's two.

It's a puppy picnic that Naomi set up
all by herself!

She's two! She's two. She's two...

This is our mantra lately when it comes to sweet, dear, opinionated Naomi. She is dear and sweet--but some of her moods are dearer and more sweet than others. Naomi monitors Biscuit's frequent fevers, "reads," bakes for pretend and for real (kind of), "writes" thank-you notes unprompted ("Dear Elise, thank you for playing." "Dear Mommy, thank you for the cookie,") sings all the words of Twinkle Twinkle and other songs, and generally does all the other things a two-year-old is supposed to do, and looks cute doing it.

But she's two. And when you're two, everything matters, from the socks you're wearing to the toothpaste you squeeze all by yourself onto your toothbrush, with absolutely no help. They matter a lot. And while sometimes Naomi's bluffing when she launches into a major meltdown about one expectation or another not being met, other times she's every bit as upset at not getting to play with the iron as she lets on. Mommy gets to play, why not me?

While Kalina and Elise were away one
day, Naomi and I brought snow inside
and painted it, complete with mittens!

The whole house is wondering things like that as we watch Naomi's demands and emotions at times run wild:
"I want Mommy to put my plate on the table! I don't want Daddy to do it!"
"Where's that thing I was playing with two weeks ago? No really, where is it?"
"I want to keep doing this light switch, and possibly others, for the next ten minutes, whether or not it makes us late to ballet class."
"I want Mommy's lap all to myself."
"Hey, I was planning to ride on that toy car!"
"Read me this. Now read me this. Now read this. And this. And this. And this. And this. You can fix dinner tomorrow. Read."
"Whatever you do, don't read THAT book!!!"
"I can't get this glue open."
"I really, really, really want a cookie for snack."
"I don't want water, I want milk."
"I can't do my zipper!"
"I wanted the purple bowl, not the pink one."
"I want Mommy to put me into the bathtub, not Daddy."
"I wanted to squeeze the toothpaste onto my brush all by myself with no help."
"Biscuit's diaper keeps falling off."
"I finished all the raisins in my cereal and now I want you to get me more, but I don't want to finish the rest of the cereal first."
And so on.

Naomi can cut, paste and
toddler-write like a 3-
year old.

It's exhausting for her; it's exhausting for us. But she's two--so what can you do? We all have our coping strategies. Sometimes I offer hugs. Or if my sympathy is used up for the day, I simply let her be. Elise will often give in and let Naomi have the coveted toy if Naomi simply says please (or "please cheese louise," which Elise will also accept and makes us all smile). Kalina often tries to cheer Naomi up and distract her with humor. I pick my battles very carefully to try to avoid these episodes in the first place. [Rule of thumb: if you're going to give in, do it immediately and make it look like your idea.] And we all might simply put our hands over our ears and try to get on with our lives. Mostly, though, we shrug and tell each other "she's two." And that is enough to explain everything, and also the only explanation we're likely to get.

Once Naomi calms down, which always happens, she's usually pretty reasonable and if we can simply forget that Daddy put the plate on the table instead of Mommy, she might even get some dinner in her.

And I admit that the sadist in me has enjoyed subjecting the big sisters to the odd reasoning skills, emotions and preferences of their two-year-old sister. "You did that when you were her age, except you screamed louder and more shrilly," I patiently remind Elise. "And Kalina, you didn't scream as much, but you did walk across the room and turn your back to me, which sometimes speaks louder than screaming." We've all been two once, and looking back, it's pretty cute. And we all survived the injustice of a cracker with the corner broken off, not being allowed to handle every free sample in the grocery-store tray and the especially fiery torture of Daddy buckling us into our carseat instead of Mommy. Oh the misery!

Fortunately, Kalina and Elise (or should we call her Summer?) are mature enough to reason that a toddler can't be reasoned with very well, as long as I catch their eye and give them an exaggerated wink that means, "Nope, she doesn't make any sense. She's two," before they start freaking out that she's freaking out. Then we share a secret "I'm glad I don't tantrum anymore--most of the time, anyway" smirk and together wait for the storm to pass and the sun to shine again.

It's only fair to point out, though, that although the big sisters don't really tantrum anymore, they certainly aren't past fueling the fire of Naomi's fits, whether they know it or not. Life is hard enough when you're two, and it doesn't get any easier when you have to remember to stay out of one sister's beads and when another one thinks the stuffed puppy you love belongs to her.

But even when Naomi is insisting that the torn-off crayon wrappers be put back on the crayons, trying to walk in the street without holding anyone's hand, frustrated that she can't make a white colored pencil show up on white paper, or annoyed that she can't play the bottom half of the piano while her big sister practices the top half, we wouldn't trade this life with a two-year-old for anything.

Naomi is anything from a happy distraction from school ("But she's just so cute!") to a sweet little person who is increasingly fun to talk to and play with, especially as she follows our social Elise around like a puppy sometimes. And most importantly, she's our little two-year-old, and there's nothing terrible about that!

Say woof if you love birthdays!

A woof-woof cake!

For two years now, Naomi has graced us with big smiles, big laughs and a big heart (she even knows how to share!). Plus, she no longer actively throws food on the floor and laughs about it. Time to celebrate a big birthday!

As the toddler has been an avid dog lover for about most of her life, it was easy to choose the theme: puppies. And it was easy to choose the guests, too--everyone in the house and grandpa. In fact, unless you count cutting a cake into two perfectly-shaped ears difficult (kinda), there wasn't much that was tricky about Naomi's birthday, and it was lots of fun.

The celebrating committee!

It started, as most things do, in the morning. When Naomi and her big sisters convened in the parents' bedroom for the usual morning playtime on the bed, Naomi was immediately showered with hugs and happy birthdays--no reminders required. And that was the first present--two of her own personal expert birthday celebraters to make sure the day was cheery and special. 

The big girls insisted on a special breakfast in Naomi's honor, so we cooked up some instant oatmeal (normal to you, birthday-worthy to us). Kalina and Elise both happily made sure Naomi had her favorite cup and bowl to use, which also totally made Mommy's day ("discussions" over breakfast dishes could at times wake the neighbors). And as Naomi had lots of little gifts to look forward to, we went ahead and opened a couple. One didn't work (eek!), so we opened another.

Naomi only requested a few specific things for her birthday--shaky eggs like they have at the library, and a dog. And when we opened the shaky eggs, the girl knew just what she wanted to do with them. She made sure everyone had one (thank goodness there were four in the package, and Matt was at work!), requested her favorite song on the CD player, and started running around shaking her egg, inviting us to do the same.

Birthday morning

So we did. Who wouldn't? We played with shaky eggs for a while, and after a bit it was time to go to the park. Naomi loves parks, it was a beautiful day, and we happened to find one that she could pretty much run loose in without me freaking out over her the whole time (something neither of us enjoy). It was fun to say yes to everything, specifically when she wanted me to run inside a couple of times to track down various stuffed animals as we were pulling out of the driveway. I love not making my kids cry. And it was fun to be able to cave without making the bigs jealous, because if there's one thing they understand, it's birthdays.

After the park, Naomi took a nap (after all, she personally doesn't understand birthdays quite enough to protest one yet). When she woke up, Daddy was home, Grandpa was on his way and her favorite snack (Goldfish and raisins) was being served. Things couldn't be better.

With help only on the technical stuff,
Kalina made Naomi a board book of
pictures of all her stuffies!

Naomi quickly caught on to the delights of cards and presents, and after intently and excitedly playing with each one, she quickly requested the next. "Another present! Another!" For the most part, the big girls did well at letting Naomi enjoy her cards and presents herself, and Kalina kindly fell into the role of card reader (even the hand-written notes!). But Kalina also found herself feeling jealous, and she and Elise mentally made notes (I could tell) to sneak off later with Naomi's new things to try them out without pesky toddler-birthday-girl hands interfering. After all, they're not so much bigger than the birthday girl that it's inconceivable for them to think this way sometimes.

Naomi knew exactly what to
do.

Although Naomi kept joking (I hope) and saying she wanted a "meow meow" cake, I made a "woof woof" one for her,  based on everything I know about my girl. It turned out adorable. The bigs had decorated the table and Naomi's chair with various dogs and other stuffies from home, plus a few decorations we'd picked up at the party store, and we ended up with a festive taco dinner (a rare dinner food Naomi will actually eat!) and celebration. While she needed help blowing out the candles (and received plenty), she knew just what to do with cake: use her fingers to lick off the frosting, and occasionally attack it with a fork.

As Part 2 of Naomi's birthday, the next morning we drove through a downpour to meet Grandpa at Purina Farms. Although the car ride was a bit longer than she wanted, she soon found herself surrounded by friendly doggies and kitties, and wearing a puppy shirt, no less. We pointed and petted to our hearts' contents, and the rain let up enough for us to watch a dog show, too. "Look!!" Naomi would exclaim. "Dog jump in water!!" She was in her element.

Just me and these dogs and my doggie
shirt!

Of course, Kalina and Elise, enriched by their allowance, couldn't resist the gift shop, and each picked out a tiny stuffy or two. Could we let the birthday girl go home empty handed? No one is that cruel. She got a tiny puppy and confirmed it was to "Keep!"

And so ended the birthday, but it was certainly a sweet memory, and Naomi is certainly two.

Naomi may be a tiny two-year-old, but there's nothing little about her personality. She loves dogs (woof-woofs), and can spot them from across a playground. We draw them all the time, and then we draw her, and then we draw her holding doggies, and then we draw Poky, and Aunt Nancy, and Daddy and all the rest. Naomi adds lines and circles and dots sometimes. But it always comes back to doggies. 

If you click on this, you'll see how
Naomi is making an actual tractor
noise.

She also loves her play kitchen, and making food for various babies and doggies. She adores going outside, reading books (even long ones, and often the fairy books Kalina likes), dancing with her big sisters and helping me sweep. The girl detests the vacuum, and occasionally my hair dryer. Naomi makes lots of jokes and sings songs, and is the first in the family to actually take an interest in doing pattycake the right way, and all by herself, no less. In fact, she can make her way through several nursery rhymes, with or without motions. 

Possibly even more startling for our family is the fact that Naomi loves playing with other kids, and does so seamlessly with social skills far beyond her age. She'll happily share with other kids (not as often in her own home--it figures!), engage in games and generally participate pleasantly. She puts up with the constant mothering of four-year-old friends, sometimes for hours at a time, and even drew a very shy 3-year-old out of her shell. I believe she's surpassed all the rest of us in peer socialization, with flying colors and a big smile on her face. 

Watching doggies dive, jump, catch and
look cute!

Except for the pushing: she pushes random small children on the playground, but in the cutest, most playful way possible. We will eventually learn that except for with the neighbor boy next door, playing doesn't mean pushing. It used to be worse--mere weeks ago she was pinching everyone smaller than her and even making them cry. Yikes!

Naomi can count a bit, wait her turn (for a teeny toddler amount of time, anyway), and continues to grow her vocabulary of animal sounds. Her actual vocabulary is certainly not far behind. She can say something hurts "very badly" in the cutest way, she'll good-naturedly attempt to repeat almost anything you toss at her and she can carefully and pretty understandably string together short sentences. The littlest is smart enough to tune into her big sisters, and knows that whenever they get a treat, she has grounds to demand one as well. If Naomi had a favorite color, it'd be purple. Elise seems okay with that, as long as Naomi doesn't claim the purple plate at lunchtime (which sometimes happens anyway).

We all love our Naomi and enjoyed wishing her the happiest of birthdays!

Every picture Elise poses for
nowadays includes this ballet
flourish. (Kalina diverted
Naomi while Elise sneaked
away with a popular toy to
make this creation!)

Elise adores blowing up balloons. There
were a lot at the party.

Big sisters

Prettier than Grandpa's roses!

We recently started Elise on an allowance. It's a bit crazy--a 3 1/2-year-old getting an allowance--but neither of us really feel up to the task of explaining to her that she's younger than Kalina. It would take a lot of tears and a lot of convincing (especially when Kalina brings home a new toy every so often just because she's older), and we're pretty sure she would never forgive us. So we just give her a couple quarters a week, and consider it an investment in family peace.

[That being said, maybe we should give Kalina more credit--she's spent a good portion of her allowance on Elise and seems to enjoy indulging her little sister (or once, by her own admission, being able to play with her own toys without her little sister constantly asking to play with them). Elise has received small plastic Care Bears, a stuffed grey kitten, gum and more from her big sister's generosity.]

Elise's favorite activity at
Grandpa's house.

In this and other ways, Elise has been a "big sister" for almost as long as Kalina has. For example, Elise the Brave is usually the one who doesn't mind going down to the basement, or to the "scary" part of the basement, to retrieve the forgotten toy. Or to the neighbor's house alone without asking permission to knock on their door and ask the neighbor girl to play with both of them while Kalina watches from our yard. Kalina lets me call her "little Kalina," but Elise insists on "big," or at least "middle." And I'm pretty sure Kalina learned some of the nuances of bike riding from little Elise (don't tell her I called her that).

It does sometimes seem to confuse and frustrate Elise when she feels out of place among Kalina's friends, or can't run quite as fast as Kalina ("She always gets the swing first!"). But being a mere 3 1/2, poor thing, is never reason enough for her to give herself a break.

A pair of scientists.

Of course, we're still watching Elise unfold as an actual big sister. As Naomi has learned to scoot and crawl and become a real threat to Pink Bear and other treasured possessions (such as Mommy, who is still walking Naomi around in all her free time), Elise has, as you'd expect, sensed a tiny bit of competition. But Elise's natural generosity and easygoing spirit also shine through: "It's okay if Naomi puts Pink Bear in her mouth." What 3 1/2-year-old ever says that? Granted, Naomi is cuter than most babies.

Meanwhile, Kalina, who was a bit younger than Elise (at only 3 instead of 5 1/2, as Elise seems to be now) when Elise was Naomi's current age (did you follow that?), has settled quite naturally into the roll of substitute mommy. Although she occasionally gets it wrong (stop tickling the baby right before naptime!!!), she's occasionally almost on par with Daddy for quality of caretaking (stop tickling the baby right before naptime!!!). She patiently and sweetly plays with the baby, often stepping in without being asked, and winning some of the best grins of the household.

Naomi could do this all day!

Elise, by the way, has her own style of playing with Naomi, which often includes plain old silliness. I imagine Naomi will better understand the humor behind, "Look, Naomi, there's a giraffe on my head!" with a few months' experience ("Wait a second...giraffes don't belong on peoples' heads! Hahahaha!"), but the two are already forming their own sweet relationship.

Both big girls are ultra protective of their little sister. Sometimes more protective than is entirely convenient.
Kalina or Elise, panicking: "Mommy, the baby is playing with a napkin!!!"
Me, the hypocrite: "Um, I know, it's okay, I'm watching her."
Kalina or Elise: "But she's not supposed to play with napkins! She might tear off little pieces and eat them!!!"
Me, fully recognizing the very valid point and countering with what feels like a very valid point of my own: "Thank you, Sweetie, but this is the only way I'm going to be able to make lunch for us, and she's not trying to eat the napkin right now. If she does I'll take it away, I promise."
And so the big sisters are learning that all rules are relative and at the mercy of convenience. Bad mommy! I will have to undo all of this down the road, but for now, we need to eat lunch.

Kalina and Naomi playing happily.

Speaking of choking hazards, it's been made painfully obvious that girls as a species gravitate toward tiny objects. The big girls love miniature animals and shiny beads, and the baby loves them just as much. Beyond this, the big girls love building pet cages and landscapes out of blocks, and the baby has no problem with knocking them down as she explores their creations. We have navigated this territory before with the two big girls and everyone survived, but only through a  miserable combination of baby gates (which nobody really likes), new rules, sadness and mad grabs.

Tiny treasures aside, for the most part, the girls are actually helpful. They are happy to fetch Naomi's comfort animal--a hedgehog puppet that she attached to all by herself--attempt to distract her during fussy diaper changes or carseat transitions, feed her, read her naptime story and pile around her more toys than she could possibly play with at one sitting (partly because she doesn't like to sit still). I used to worry that Naomi would be alternately neglected and picked on; now I am pretty certain she'll be spoiled no end, never so much as having to tie her own shoes until she's eight years old.

One of Elise's favorite jobs
is to swing the baby.

I maintain that every baby should come with a 5-year-old and 3-year-old girl. Life is crazy, but more often than not, it's a fun kind of crazy. Many times a day I'm very thankful to have a couple of "big sisters" around, whether they're haphazardly trying to drag her away from potential choking hazards (which almost always provokes a rushed, "Thank you for helping, but please don't drag the baby!" from me) or pretending to sneeze on her (Kalina: "But she likes it!"). And I'm pretty sure Naomi is, too.

_____________

Some cute things the big girls have said lately:

Me: Wow, clouds and wind. What do we think of that?
Kalina: Clouds plus wind make rain!
Elise: And rain plus sun make a rainbow! And a rainbow makes colors! And colors make love! (Big, sweet smile.)
Kalina: And love makes imagination, and imagination makes fun, and fun makes happy!
Leave it to my girls to turn the possibility of rain into happiness.

We raised tadpoles! And are about to
release them.

Kalina: I want to be a queen for my birthday.
Elise: And then you can marry Jesus!

Elise: If I ever poof up and start to float away, just tell me to let out some of that air, and I will float back down.

Elise, every so often: Am I magic?
She's pretty convinced she is. When asked what her super powers are:
"I'm super-strong. I can lift my bike. And I can talk without talking." (She means thinking.) What's her favorite thing to say without saying it? "I love you."

Squish, squish, yum!

All about Naomi:

In her 9th month, Naomi worked her hardest on half a dozen different milestones. I think she might say "ma-ma-ma and almost mean it," and possibly even "ball," and her pincer grasp can easily get Cheerios, peas and other small bits of food into her mouth, a process she relishes. In fact, her favorite way to eat her food is by squishing it first. Squish, squish, yum...squish, squish, yum. And in this way, she actually works up a pretty decent appetite, even while extinguishing ours.

All the rest of the developments have been gross motor skills that have nothing to do with squishing macaroni and cheese. Naomi waved at Kalina on Wednesday, and at Daddy today. She can pull up to standing, sometimes bend down and keep her balance, stand for a few seconds by herself, walk one-handed and dance. She can crawl, too, but she still prefers walking unless she has proper motivation. And my personal favorite, she gives hugs on command--but only if she loves you. :)

We sold a couple cups of lemonade
during a neighborhood garage sale!
Thank goodness everyone let us
keep the change...

The baby continues to love studying things and freaking out if you pull her away too early. Her personality is very interactive--she occasionally tries to engage her big sisters in play, enjoys "showing off" and wavers back and forth between quite cheerful and furious, depending on whether or not she is doing something she wants to be doing. Naomi is not mellow, but is happy to be distracted for reasonable periods of time as long as the distraction is worth her time.

All the girls in Kalina's preschool
class on "graduation" day!

The kids' museum carts in a beach and
my girls could've played all day.

Naomi's, "This is a
fascinating new substance!"
face. She's also mad at me
for not letting her sit in a
sandy stream. Sorry baby!

So far, so good: Naomi likes
swinging. Will it last?

A tea party with pretend tea
(juice) but real teacups.

Friends from Durham visited!