The baby animal stage

Naomi, following directly
after her big sister's footsteps,
holds a "poetry" reading. She
can actually recite significant
chunks of The Poky Little
Puppy and several other not-
easy stories. Yes, the book is
upside-down.

Naomi is getting older, but is she getting bigger? The fact that my tiny girl is still sporting last-year's styles aside, the jury is out, namely because it's hard to set an age for the child. The fact of the matter is, Naomi is solidly in the baby-animal phase of development, which means that, a chronic newborn, any given day she's assuming the identity of a baby polar bear, a baby fish, a baby penguin, a baby meow-meow and much more, and expecting me to know how to parent each of these. Fortunately, having done the baby-animal phase before, I'm totally onto this game. But then again, so is Naomi.

It started with woof-woofs. Naomi's major puppy "phase" (it's only a phase if they ever come out of it, right?) induced her to want to become a puppy, and thanks to her imagination and my apparent adeptness at playing the part of a mommy puppy, she was able to. Her puppy licks at times might be a little too real, but they're no less sweet.

Then she branched into kittens, penguins and sea turtles and shortly after could assume the toddlerish identity of any animal she had ever heard of, although she occasionally mixed up giraffes and zebras (understandable). It's interesting to note that Elise followed a similar pattern: puppies and kittens, penguins and then clownfish, which lasted for about a year.

Naomi can be fairly convincing, if only out of persistence. And I can tell that not only is she learning about important familial relationships (mommy-baby, baby-mommy, sisters-baby, Grandpa-baby, and occasionally even Daddy-baby), but also about the animals themselves.

See, she's almost as proud as
her mommy! She could've
continued all night, fueled
by the enthusiastic cheers
of her family.

The sounds: From miniature to emphatic, Naomi roars, squeaks, woofs, quacks, honks and ribbits to express her emotion as a baby animal. Sometimes she feels teeny-tiny, a mere newborn who can make only a tiny squeak. Sometimes she's a starving polar bear cub that can roar with a fierceness that makes the mommy polar bear forget about the real dinner she was making and jump into action finding some pretend morsel for her cub. Often she's a playful puppy or kitten, or a baby bird calling for its mommy bird. Other times she feels ignored as I'm talking to her sisters, and feels as though increasing her volume will ensure her survival, or at least that of her ego. Roar. Roar. ROAR!!! Silent animals stymie her for a while, but she always finds a way around their muteness. Baby bunnies vocalize their hops, for instance. Baby spiders spin their webs (literally, spin around the room in circles while saying "spin"). Etc. And she's not above making up a sound for the truly soundless, activity-less animals. The baby sloth, for instance, says something like "glurp." Did you not know that?

The sights: Not only does Naomi sound like an animal baby, she also mimics their movements and activities. She hops just like a frog--back legs in between front ones, even though this position looks fairly uncomfortable. She'll walk on all fours, or crawl; she'll flap her wings or curl up into a little ball like a newborn fawn. As a bird, she appreciates a nest as a prop, for added realism. Today she climbed onto a mounded-up brown blanket and declared herself a baby muskrat. Does she know that muskrats live in brown mounds? She really might.

Naomi likes to help me fold
washcloths. She does a
fantastic job, too, and has
branched out to other chores
as well. I think she's the only
person in the family who
likes housework.

The tastes: Naomi seems to instinctively know that all baby animals are after food, and she'll happily-yet-agitatedly baa, chirp, chatter or roar until I grab a handful of air, tell her it's grass or a bug, and put it in front of her mouth. Then she'll sweetly gulp it up, or slurp it if we're being especially silly ("Naomi, you don't slurp grass!" "Yes I do!"). If she's a puppy, she knows to ask for a bone. For unfamiliar animals, she'll cheerfully clarify before asking to be fed (What does a porcupine eat?). Sometimes the answer is, unhelpfully, "porcupine food," which she readily accepts even if she doesn't learn anything by it.

The life cycle: Never mind the fact that Naomi may or may not quite understand that baby frogs are actually tadpoles (and she takes on the identity of a baby frog fairly frequently). She's clearly internalized the fact that birds hatch from eggs and in fact, often takes on the identity of a baby bird that hasn't hatched yet. In this case she walks around in a slightly constricted manner until she proudly announces, "I hatched!" and we all congratulate her as though it actually is her birthday. Then I proactively grab her a handful of air-worms to ward off newborn hunger. I know how it works. Shortly thereafter, she learns to fly, a real-world feat Elise is still earnestly working on (but she found two goose feathers last night, and so feels one step closer--but that's another story).

Blowing her mind: We own a book on animal families, with lots of great photos, that we hadn't looked at in a long time. I pulled it out the other evening, and I'm surprised Naomi got any sleep at all that night. Any given page presented her with multiple pictures of mommy-baby pairs of dolphins, zebras, lions, rhinoceroses, penguins, raccoons and much, much more, with some sisters and daddies around as well. "I'm a baby giraffe, no I'm a baby lamb, no I'm a baby deer, no I'm a baby duckling! I'm this one, no I'm this one." Every turn of the page, Naomi was in baby-animal paradise. If only they were real--except for the big or creepy ones, of course.

Now, Naomi enjoys occasionally becoming specific animals from favorite stories. She's been Biscuit the puppy; Pete the puppy (from a library book); Pal and Penny the puppies (Pete's siblings); and the Poky Little Puppy. She insists, however, that she does not dig holes under fences, and we did, in fact, indulge in some strawberry shortcake not too long ago, just like her namesake almost did. (After all, she really doesn't dig holes under fences--and doesn't that deserve a reward?) Tonight during storytime, she took it another step and acted out the part of the Poky Little Puppy, including sniffing the ground and pretending to sleep.

This cuteness can't last forever, but I'm certain Naomi be up to something just as adorable next. And with any luck, it'll involve some more strawberry shortcake. Or at least a handful of bugs.

The independent phase

I climbed a ladder all by
myself!

While I'm pretty sure Kalina and Elise went through similar phases, albeit short-lived, Naomi's declaration of two-year-old independence caught all of us off guard. It happened overnight, and led to lots of shrieking before it was fully understood (most Naomi's, some mine).

All of a sudden, Naomi wanted to do certain tasks herself. "Self, self!" she'd chant. I've documented her experiments with independence and our collective results for your reading pleasure:

Stair-climbing. Swatting away my hands as I tried desperately to hold one of hers up and down the stairs, Naomi instead opted to steady herself solely with the too-high banister. She would not consent to be carried, either, and liked to savor her independent stair-climbing, with the result that descending or ascending would take 10 minutes each way and I cringed at the thought of changing levels in our house. Diaper changes became a ground-floor endeavor, as it's much easier to haul diapers up and down than it is to escort a toddler. For her safety, I insisted on remaining one step ahead or behind, ready to catch, which Naomi seemed okay with for now, as long as there's no physical contact. She'll also occasionally let me carry things for her if she has "a big load," as she calls it. Of course, I only figured out this system after lots of panicked protests as Mommy got it wrong time and time again.

Proud in pigtails!

Cereal pouring. Kalina and Elise pour their own cereal, so why shouldn't I? Naomi wondered as she fetched a plastic bowl from the plastic-bowl cupboard at breakfast time. She was soon merrily dumping raisin bran into her bowl and all over the floor (a two-year-old's table), and I could only watch, because it's bad luck to fight any non-essentials with a two-year-old before breakfast. Instead, I simply cleaned up and planned strategies to better divert Naomi in the future. The next morning, after a bit of a tussle, she poured her cereal while I directed the back corner of the box a bit. If she noticed, she didn't seem to mind, but pouring cereal takes a lot of focus when you're two, so she might not have detected my guidance.

Shoe management. Naomi decided that she should be the one to manage the onning and offing of shoes, and as nothing more than a schedule can be hurt or mussed when she takes charge or her footwear, I embraced this streak of independence. After some frustration, Naomi managed fairly well. I decided that as long as she can take her shoes off and put them on, she can also put them away by herself. It's a work in progress (independence is only fun if it's on her terms).

Carseat entering and exiting. This is all fine and good, until we're in a hurry, and then we can't hear the radio over Naomi's protests that she wanted to "get in carseat self!"

Practicing for the real thing.

Egg breaking. Naomi loves to choose the egg and help me break it, preferably by squeezing it until it explodes in her hand. Mommy only learned this lesson the hard way once. Naomi, however, would be happy to do it "all by self" again. Fortunately, she has accepted that this is a together-task.

Turning on and off lights. To be completely independent, Naomi needs to find a stool or chair, drag it across multiple types of flooring and position it close enough to the light switch that she'll be able to access it. As it turns out, the task can be insanely frustrating. I've learned not to jump in until Naomi asks for help, lest I get my head bitten off in toddler-ese, and sometimes she can manage surprisingly well. Other times she ends up a puddle of tears. And still other times, she nicely comes and asks for help, and doesn't resent me for providing it.

Dressing. At first I thought, "poor Naomi, she's not even close to having the skills she needs to dress herself! As it turns out, she is close to having the skills she needs to dress herself when she's motivated enough and when Mommy lines everything up perfectly without her noticing. But still not there yet.

Pottying. While it's only an occasional hobby at this point, at least she can do it and is proud of it.

Gluing, cutting, taping. Thanks to so much insistent practice, Naomi's not half-bad at these skills and also likes to hang her pictures up on the fridge and the walls so she can admire them later. She also has an excellent pencil grip that I'm never going to let her lose.

And lots more tiny, random, things that mean a whole lot to a young two-year-old but not much to anyone else: "Naomi put diaper in trraaaashhh!!!" she sobbed not long ago after I tossed a particularly stinky one. Insignificant as they are, these bouts of independence take me completely off guard, especially when I can't understand her through her raging emotions.

The best part is, Naomi is so proud about some of her pint-sized accomplishments, bolstered by the fact that her big sisters are usually more than willing to cheer her on. "Yay, Naomi!!! You got in your carseat!!! What a big girl!!!"

Unfortunately, however, Naomi soon picked up on the fact that it's much easier to have Mommy take off your shoes than to do it yourself. Same goes with cleaning up your spills and picking up your trash, and much of the rest. *sigh*

Other cute things Naomi does:
- Repeats everything I say as a question, as though whatever I've stated is incredible. Me: "I'm going to go wash dishes." Naomi: "Wash dishes?!" Me: "There's the brown stool if you want to help." Naomi: "The brown stool?!" Me: "Let's put on an apron so you don't get all wet." Naomi: "Get all wet?!" And so it goes. It's really cute, but sometimes it annoys Elise ("Naomi always repeats everything I say!")
-Pretends to be a baby kitten, baby bird, baby bunny and all the rest. Either way, she crawls around, and I'm the parent kitten/bird/bunny, and I must pick her up and feed her imaginary food. Even if it's just a ploy to get me to pay attention to her more, I'm totally fine with that.
-Makes jokes. "Daddy, you're an alligator!" When clearly he's not. Most of them are super-obvious, but goofy just the same.
-Enjoys pigtails.

Despite, or perhaps because
of, Naomi's blossoming
independence, she wasn't
allowed near the caramel
apples her big sisters were
making!

And what are the big sisters up to? Elise is close to riding her bike without training wheels, plus she can read (a little), write (a little) and add and subtract better than many kindergarteners. She's learning piano, learning how to tie her shoes, learning everything that her big sister is learning (it seems) and creating a fairy kingdom behind the landscaping in the front yard (one of these days she's certain to trap a fairy!). Kalina quickly learned how to play the tin whistle all by herself and has discovered she has perfect pitch. She's enjoying nature, also learning to ride without training wheels (albeit reluctantly) and still preferring to read about fairies rather than anything else (although she's also happy to dig into books about ancient China, talking animals from 100 years ago and Helen Keller). Kalina enthusiastically picked up sign language, and happily tags along on or spearheads lots of Elise's fairy and/or kitten adventures. She and Elise are fascinated by Laura Ingalls Wilder and leaf piles. I would blog about all of it if I weren't busy raising kids. Maybe some of it, sometime.

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?

A very happy Naomi birthday!

Happy first birthday, Naomi!

The baby is 1? Really? Now? It's true: Naomi is 1. A toddling, babbling, bouncing, splashing 1-year-old who loves her big sisters, elevators and being bounced on the bed or patted on the back. She dances by wagging her head back and forth, prays and even initiates prayer (I know this routine!), hugs sweetly and generally wraps us all around her sweet little finger--as long as she's not high-tailing it toward her sisters' rooms in an attempt to get there before they can close the door, that is.

At a bleary-eyed 6:04 (a great improvement over last week, nonetheless), I have to admit that the fact that it was the baby/toddler's birthday slipped past me. But less than an hour and a half later we were all singing the birthday song, much to Naomi's delight.

Knowing that the 1-year-old's favorite thing is fruit, the big girls insisted she have it early and often throughout the day. And so we did! At least six different kinds--seven, if you count tomato. Whether the extra helpings of fruit contributed to the fact or not, Naomi was in high spirits virtually until bedtime, at which point she utterly collapsed. We received a visit from Grandpa, and a whole stack of cards in the mail--in fact, nothing but cards; no junk mail or bills whatsoever. Some of the cards may have been for Mommy, too.

Naomi at the frozen
yogurt store.

We had a lot to celebrate this week, it being our first official week of homeschooling (more later), so we decided that everyone could find something they liked at the frozen yogurt store. I piled colorful yogurt and even more vibrant toppings into the big girls' cups, and three types of fruit into Naomi's, along with a little vanilla yogurt. It was love at first bite. Whereas the other girls were a bit more tentative and surprised with regards to their first frozen treats, Naomi was begging for more. "That stuff--right there! I'll have more of that!" I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream! Fortunately, no screams were necessary--there was plenty.

Among other things, Mommy celebrated the fact that Naomi is fully toddling around on her own! She had been taking steps for months, but still preferring the speed she could gain by pulling me around with her. Not that I don't enjoy accompanying her on her adventures, I just sometimes miss being able to stand in one place and wash the breakfast dishes before lunchtime--or dinner. It's taken the toddler a while to accept the fact that she can, indeed, toddle on her own, but now that she has, we're both proud and content. Content is a wonderful thing to be, and truly grounds for celebration.

And who better to lead the way than a couple of sweet big sisters? Kalina and Elise did an excellent job helping make sure Naomi had a lovely day. While big sisters sometimes take the spotlight off of you, hide away your coolest toys and wake you during naptime, they are also great for making sure you get your fair share of spoiling before you're old enough to demand it for yourself. Hence all the fruit.

Although we all enjoyed Naomi's actual birthday, we saved the party for the weekend when Daddy could attend. We love birthday parties. As such, Kalina and Elise began planning an elaborate woodland-animal-themed party for their baby sister. We got the idea because Naomi has attached to a hedgehog puppet, and once I scaled down the grandiose plans to only include a craft, some decorations and a little imaginative play, along with pizza, fruit and a hedgehog cake, of course, we ended up with a very nice party! By the skin of our teeth....

Saturday was my birthday, too. For my birthday, I wanted to have my friends over to celebrate my baby's birthday. Who wouldn't? I also wanted a restaurant meal and some cake. Instead, as our efforts to shield Kalina and Naomi from our raging head colds failed, we postponed until Sunday. This was fine: in some ways, it worked out better.

We decided to make this the big present-opening day, and Naomi had a field day toddling around from one colorful gift (and bow) to the next. Although she only made short stops to see her actual presents, she loved the activity, and especially seeing Grandpa. The big sisters appreciated the new influx of toys, and we spent the whole day telling them, "Be sure to let Naomi play, too," which they would've if she could've settled down long enough to.


In fact, Naomi just loved toddling, being now, officially, a toddler. Toddle, toddle, toddle. She pulled along a small puppy pull-toy she'd received, she paused to toy around with her new gifts, she opened her books and carried around some bows, but mostly she toddled from one interesting sight or person to the next. In her own way, she had a very enjoyable day. I only wish we could've gone outside more--she loves the outdoors--but we would've melted her like a birthday candle.

And did I mention Naomi received a ball pit? She can climb in and out, and seemed gratified to finally, finally get to taste any ball pit ball she wanted--a forbidden privilege in the ball pit at the kids' museum. From her big sisters she got a peg toy, which they picked out with her help at a toy store.

The next day, I forged ahead on the hedgehog cake and the big girls helped me put the finishing touches on the decor. We'd only invited a couple guests (after all, Naomi is just a little one!), and they started arriving. As Grandpa patiently held Naomi up to enthusiastically bat at the balloons, the bigs donned forest animal masks with a friend and started crawling around the house (cute! The masks worked!), and soon Elise was rushing into the bathroom to throw up. Shortly before the final guests pulled into our driveway.

The good news? Elise gets so excited sometimes that she just has to throw up. Once it happened when she ate three slices of bacon (and she refuses to eat that many ever again), another time over Thanksgiving. And we love her for it. In this case, as we later realized, the culprit was the treat box she was anticipating at the end of the party, and especially the gummy bunnies. It happened several more times (upstairs, with our guests fully warned and graciously deciding to stay anyway) until Matt finally got the bright idea to hand over the box and let her dig into the gummies. Fully cured, she soon returned to the party and was hopping around again in her role as Bunny.

It was really hard to convince the
hoppity bunny to stay still for the
picture.

Naomi enjoys seeing new faces, watching big kids play and being part of the activity, so she was not traumatized by her party--and I suppose at age 1, that's what we're going for. In fact, the cake was probably the hardest part. While she was thrilled to be given a slice of watermelon ahead of time (the pizza order not having gone through--eek!!), she wasn't so sure about the cake itself. So that she wouldn't shriek and scream and demand to be out of her chair (like most mealtimes), I let her have a small taste as we were all getting ready for the candle lighting. She liked it. So much that she wanted to grab the whole baby hedgehog cupcake away from me, lit candle and all. We tugged of war, and I won--actually, I suppose you could say we all won. She enjoyed the cake, but in the end preferred the blueberries she received afterward: the ultimate treat.

Naomi consented to sit in her chair for
cake, but only once she tasted it (she
didn't believe me that it was tasty,
having been fed meat and veggies
before on the very same tray).

I should mention that Kalina and Elise spearheaded the party effort. I won't pretend that the promise of cake and goody boxes at the end didn't fuel some of the good-natured energy, but if there's one thing those two have learned over the years, it's how to celebrate a birthday. Plenty of treats, favorite guests, a festive attitude and lots of fun.

In many ways, Naomi is still the mixture of sweet and serious we saw in her earliest weeks, and it's been delightful to watch her personality start to shine. Relational and studious, she's more than happy to involve you in whatever she's learning (like how to flip open Mommy's Kindle), but drag her away too soon and she's less than thrilled. Naomi is certainly a happy baby, but one constantly on a mission. She gets really excited about them ("I'm going to bring you all the stuffed animals from that corner! Look, there's more! I'll bring those too, don't even try to stop me!" or, "Here are my shoes, now we're going outside.")

Naomi and her good-natured party
guests!

The baby/toddler loves balls (as most 1-year-olds do), and is more likely to kick or throw a ball around with Daddy than either of her big sisters. She enjoys peekaboo, hugs and pens, and she loves playing the piano, especially if you can hold her up on the bench rather than simply putting her in your lap. Naomi likes books, and even seems to have favorites: The Big Red Barn, Sleepy Time, Pat the Bunny, Where is Baby's Belly Button and one that has a dog with a squeaky nose. She especially likes, however, flipping through a thicker book or magazine to feel the pages as they flip past her fingers.

Naomi has started to mimic (she loves to "write lists" in Daddy's listing notebook, just like Daddy, and put on makeup just like Mommy), and is amazing at sharing--offering toys unprompted, and at times to complete strangers, no less. Will it last? She'll certainly get lots of practice around here, and she'll be learning from the best.

Naomi has been known to say ball, ma and hi (and lots of other things, according to her big sisters: "I think she kind of said 'outside!'" and the like), but is more likely to prattle her emotions without saying the actual words. Nevertheless, we're pretty good at distinguishing her, "I'm really annoyed about the situation I'm in" feelings from her, "I'm doing exactly what I want to be doing" feelings. With all the chatter we hear, I'm certain Naomi will be filling us in a bit more specifically soon.

Naomi gives the best hugs!

The girl still doesn't like sitting in her high chair or carseat any longer than she absolutely must, and detests diaper changes ("I have to lay here for two whole minutes???"). She does, however, enjoy her crib and can run back and forth in it.

None of us can believe we've had the baby/toddler for a year now, but we're all excited about the next one with our sweet girl! Happy birthday, Naomi! We love you!


At the pediatrician on Monday, Naomi weighed 16 lbs., 10 ounces, and was in the 42nd percentile for height. Tall and thin, once again! She also held up surprisingly well to her shots and finger prick, having missed her nap but caught a head cold, poor thing.

A very popular toy they could
all pay with at the same time!

An Interview

We raised a luna moth!

The kids have so many great things to say, every hour of every day, that I thought I'd see what they do in an actual interview. I had to interview them separately so they wouldn't give all the same answers/fight over answers. I also occasionally tried to get more clarification, but, perhaps because of the pressure, the girls were a bit less prolific than usual. Here's the transcript:

Elise:
If you could be any animal, what would you be? A penguin. Because I like penguins. Because they're black and white, some of my favorite colors. Because they go in water.
What would you like to be when you grow up? A mommy penguin that has baby penguins in her tummy. Anything else? No. [Previously, she'd wanted to be an astronaut mommy--the person who cooks for all the astronauts. Because even astronauts need mommies, right?]
What does Mommy do all day? Work.
What does Daddy do all day? Work.
What would you do if you could do anything you wanted for a day? Play and do work. Fix dinner, play with toys. Go to the Magic House, and the places where we go and I ride in my carseat. The Magic House, the grocery store.
Where are your favorite places? The Magic House, the mall
If you could do anything right now, what would you do? Go to the mall and bring this snack. [Goldfish]
What makes a rainbow?  The sky
What's your favorite holiday?  All of them. I just like holidays.

Sometimes the girls make me take
pictures of all their stuffed animal
setups. Cute!

What makes you the happiest? Ice cream. What's your favorite flavor? Chocolate.
What makes you the saddest? Being hurt
When are you the most scared? Because of the woods. What are you scared of about the woods? Bears. Sometimes I'm brave. If I was by myself I would be brave. And I would take a flashlight!
What do you do when you're afraid? Pray. Does it help: No. Only being inside.
What will you be doing one year from now? Going to preschool.
What would you do to make the world a better place? I don't want to talk anymore.
[At this point, we took a little break. I managed to get her started again, though:]
What's the funniest thing you can think of? Jokes. A pig having no home! [smiles--this is a classic joke from a few months ago] When Kalina gets hurt I'll think of some jokes. [To cheer her up]
What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Ice cream
What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Read and eat ice cream.
What do you love about Kalina? Playing with her.
What are your favorite foods? Goldfish, eating strawberries and chocolate and fruit bits and cooked carrots if you give me them, and Feta cheese.

Matt and the girls like to dig for
worms in the compost pile.

Kalina:
If you could be any animal, what would you be? A kitten. Because I love them.
What would you like to be when you grow up? A mommy. Anything else? No. [Just a couple weeks ago she told me she wanted to be a piano teacher for kids ages 3 through 7 1/2.]
What does Mommy do all day? Work and play with the kids.
What does Daddy do all day? Work on the fish tank and sometimes play with the kids. Today he went to Lowe's with me and Elise stayed home. [Matt has been building an aquarium stand!]
What would you do if you could do anything you wanted for a day? Eat ice cream, go to Grandpa's, have all the treats I wanted, and then take some naps, and then play with Legos. [Elise was listening in and mentioned that she would do that too.]
If you could do anything right now, what would you do? Play with Legos.
Where are your favorite places? Piano lessons, the Magic House, Home, Anna's house. Have you ever been to Anna's house? No. Why do you like these places? They're so fun!
What makes a rainbow? When it rains, there's a rainbow!
What's your favorite holiday? Easter and Christmas and Valentine's Day. Why? On Valentine's Day we get treats, and people love us. Christmas, because there's snow to play in sometimes and a lot of people come over, and there's a Christmas tree!! And Easter, because we get to search for Easter eggs.

Look how big I'm (not!)
getting! 37 weeks.

What makes you happiest? When I'm eating treats!!! What kinds are your favorite? All of them! Except the really spicy ones.
What makes you saddest? When I get hurt.
What makes you the most scared? When I go to bed, because I'm afraid that monsters or something scary will come into my room.
What do you do when you're scared? Pray. Does it help? No, but a little. What helps? Being with Mommy, or Daddy.
What will you be doing one year from now? Playing with Barbies if you allow me, I don't know. I hope to be learning how to sew, and sewing a bunch of stuffed animals for me and Elise. [Sure, she can play with Barbies, just not at my house if at all possible. Blech.]
What would you do to make the world a better place? Eat treats more often. How does that make the world better? Just because treats taste good.
What's the funniest thing you can think of? If a giraffe went running around in the hallways.
What's your favorite thing to do with Daddy? Do Dashy and Mountain King. [This is where we play two specific classical music pieces, and the girls run around in circles on the rug. There's some choreography to it, too.]
What's your favorite thing to do with Mommy? Build with Legos and play the zoo game.
What do you love about Elise? That she's my little sister, and that she is a baby penguin. I love that she is a penguin.
[Kalina got a few extra questions because her attention span was a bit longer.]
What's your favorite memory? When I was in my wedding. What did you like about it? That I looked pretty. [She's referring to being a flower girl in Aunt Laura's wedding, just before she turned two. Not sure if she remembers the wedding or the photos from it...]
What do you like to do with your friends? Play fairies and look for black rocks.
What would you do if you had a million dollars? Buy treats. Buy stuffed animals. That's all.
What are your favorite foods? Applesauce, beans, strawberries, watermelon, pancakes. Favorite for snack is Goldfish.

My observations:

1. Treats make quite the impression.
2. So if both my girls want to be mommies (even if a different species), and mommies work all/much of the day, then why is it so hard to get them to help clean up? Sheesh.
3. If we're ever relying on my girls to make the world a better place, we're probably out of luck. But we will have plenty of ice cream.
4. My children could stand to dream a bit bigger. You could do anything you want for a day and you'd work and fix dinner? And you could do anything you want right now and you'd play with Legos? Or, maybe, they're being raised with realistic expectations? At least their dreams are achievable?

We'll keep up with them as they grow. Stay tuned.

Ballet and lessons

Kalina in dance class.

The other day Kalina and I were listening to some lovely classical music while coloring. "Just a second, Mommy, I have to go dance," she told me before twirling around on the rug. I've posted about ballet before (see January), so you can probably already picture this.

Kalina was soon placed just left of center in the line of dancers for her class's performance piece (Bippidi Boppidi Boo from Cinderella, which happens to be the only Disney princess movie suitable for a 4-year-old)--a fact that I interpreted to mean she's really good. Which she is. She watches her teacher and can generally follow along, and in Predance 1, you don't really need more than that to stand out (other girls chose more negative methods, which I would sneakily ask Kalina about after every class).

At the dress rehearsal, waiting for
their turn.

Soon, Bippidi Boppidi Boo was running through my head day and night, and apparently Kalina's and Elise's, too, because they've both been singing it frequently. And getting the lyrics wrong, I might add--it's pretty cute. They have also each independently asked me for their own fairy godmother. I am not one, so, much to their disappointment, I couldn't grant this wish.

I got to watch Kalina make progress each month during observation, and then sometimes every day as she practiced. I also learned the dance, as did Elise, who learned the hard way not to get in the way of Kalina's wand. For some reason Matt never did (or at least never admitted to).

Isn't she great?

We did have at least one mishap: the ribbon from Kalina's wand unraveled in the middle of their routine one time during an observation class. I didn't notice the wand--I only saw my girl barely succeeding in choking back tears (a skill I have to commend her for, honestly, because she certainly never did that in the first 3 1/2 or 4 years of her life). As I rushed to her side, I did notice the wand and as I consoled her, her teacher noticed too. Soon a triumphant Kalina was being upheld as an example for what to do if something goes wrong on stage: just keep dancing! This became a mantra of sorts at our house.

Kalina's excited audience!

Kalina's success has been due to her own hard work--but we should give at least a little credit to an enthusiastically supportive little sister, who mimics her every move (or tries her best to) and encourages her big sister in every way a 2 1/2-year-old can. It had been strongly recommended to me that I not attempt to bring Elise to the performance--"it's just too long for little ones! Take her to the dress rehearsal instead!" But the girls were adamant: this arrangement would break both of their little hearts. Elise desperately wanted to see her sister dance in the real performance, and Kalina desperately wanted her sister to be there. We arranged a system in which Grandpa Tom would take Elise out when she needed to go home for bed.

The star of the show and her
flowers!

The last month or so of class time was devoted mostly to recital happenings (to my minor annoyance), and Kalina moved gradually from quite nervous ("What if I mess up?") to mostly excited. All the moms learned, more or less, how to do a high bun in an unwilling 3- or 4-year-old's hair (not sure who enjoyed that experience less--the moms or the girls). And then, after a "dress parade" and a dress rehearsal, it was performance time.

Grandpa Les and Grandma, who didn't want to miss the show, traveled down from Minnesota for a long weekend (and a happy 10th anniversary for Mommy and Daddy, and a happy Father's Day!). We all, along with Grandpa Tom, found seats in the front row of the balcony--which turned out to be a good thing as Elise had plenty of room to squirm, and wasn't the only one who occasionally forgot to whisper.

I'd gotten Kalina prepared in the large dressing room earlier, and torn myself away from my slightly nervous--but mostly brave--little ballerina, having been on vacation when the signup sheet for "helper mommy" was posted. What was she most scared about now? That Mommy and family wouldn't be in the audience watching her! Poor thing, I think it's hard for her to comprehend how much it'd take to get us to miss it. I think we both blinked back a tear or two, but another kind mother had given Kalina a Mento, and in the midst of all the chaos, she placidly watched me leave. We've come a long, long, long, long way, haven't we? I have been traded for a Mento.

Early birthday brownies!

Shortly afterward, Elise was perched on my lap and we were counting down the minutes until the show started. Fortunately, Kalina's class was third on the program, because Elise carefully searched for her sister in each piece (whispering frequently: "But I don't see Kalina!"), and probably wouldn't have lasted long if she hadn't spotted her soon. Thank goodness the little girl could pick her big sister out in an identical high-bun Cinderella crowd, from the balcony. Or at least she thought she could--good enough.

It's quite a feeling when your tiny little 4 1/2 (nearly 5)-year-old marches onto the stage, adorable and confident, and gives it her all. Her actions were confident and enthusiastic, the mishap of having her wand accidentally stick to another Cinderella's was quickly fixed, and by her own admission, she belted out the "Bippidi boppidi boos" louder than any other girl (I think we really could hear her even from the balcony). She seemed to be quite enjoying herself, and she was quite good.

Birthday Girl's Sister gets a
present, too--a purple pony
she will love forever (she told
us).

There were more than 2 hours of performances, with dozens and dozens of dancers. But my mommy bias has rationalized that Kalina herself--my own little girl--was the star of the show (a truth I can justify logically, just ask me sometime! I dare you.).

But the second star was sitting far from the stage (only because we weren't crazy enough to get in the line for seats an hour before the performance). Almost as important as a star of the show is a star of the audience. From the beginning of the performance, I enjoyed watching Elise almost as much as Kalina. The girl was riveted for nearly the first hour. I caught a whispered, dreamy: "I just love ballet! I wish I could take ballet lessons!" "You may, when you're a bit bigger," I whispered back. "Oh, good!" she beamed at me before turning back to the show. Her favorite part, other than Kalina? The music, she said. But I imagine she also liked the colorful lights and costumes.

Kalina and Grandma work on her
fairy house craft.

Elise sat on my lap almost the whole time, switching to Grandpa Tom for a portion (to Mommy's lap's relief--it's a little crowded there nowadays, especially when both little girls are fidgety). We kept asking her if she wanted Grandpa Tom to take her home, or if she'd rather stay--the answer was always the same. But after the last dance was danced, and they'd started in on the loooong credits, Elise happily allowed herself to be carried off by Grandpa, and then put to bed, long after her usual bedtime, but still earlier--and drier (they very narrowly avoided a massive downpour on the walk to the car)--than the rest of us. The rest of us yearned to join them, Kalina included, I'm sure.

Finally, we were rushing toward the stage to scoop up our own little Cinderella and help her enjoy her success. She was overjoyed at the beautiful flowers Daddy and Grandpa Les had picked out for her (including a couple purple blooms for Elise to see when she woke up the next morning), and not at all whiny about the looong wait she'd had to endure after her performance (she wasn't allowed to see the rest of the show, but did have to appear in the finale). What a trooper!

And what a success! When you consider she had to not only remember her dance routine (with a little help from her teacher), but also appear on a bright stage to an audience of hundreds, with virtually only strangers for support--I'm not sure I could've done it! But if you ask her, she'll tell you she loved it.

Will she continue? She's not sure--she doesn't like changing clothes and the fact that her hair feels funny when I take her ponytail out after class. Hmmm. Do I tell her that those aren't exactly real reasons, or do I let them conveniently excuse us from next year's high bun (or whatever they think up for us?).

Although there won't be a high bun next year in any case--we've potentially located a simpler place that we'd take her to instead. Several other moms from her current ballet class have asked for the number--it turns out that many moms share my dread of bobby pins and hair gel on their little girls, and  would rather focus on simple fun than stardom. I'm pretty sure Kalina will agree.

Meanwhile, Kalina has started piano lessons with her preschool music teacher for the summer, and perhaps the fall, and then eventually full-time (once Mommy has her energy back from the impending newborn). She loves it, as evidenced by her 35- or 40-minute attention span at her first lesson, a feat that barely surprised her mommy, but I believe astounded her teacher.

It fascinates me that Kalina is already making good progress. She's a lovely little student: she soaks up the one-on-one attention, engages and participates, and incorporates her vivid imagination. She loves her lessons, and even willingly practices--for now.

But again, we'd be remiss not to mention Elise, who has taken it upon herself to begin piano lessons, and has already successfully copied Kalina's finger positioning. When do you start a 2 1/2-year-old who has already started herself? During Kalina's lessons she watches intently, participates in conversation and munches her snack. "Un-involved" is simply not part of Elise's vocabulary. One of these days, I imagine, she'll sit down and play us a song.

And finally, a lesson that I didn't attend, but heard about later and thought was well worth noting. Grandpa Les used to coach girls' softball! So with my girls practicing their throwing, he pitched right in (pun intended).

Elise had the habit of throwing a ball at about a 45-degree angle from where she intended it to go. So Grandpa Les carefully showed Elise how to step with one foot and throw with the other. They practiced, and sure enough, the ball went straighter!

But some things are lost on a 2-year-old, who does not yet know the value of throwing straight. The girl looked straight at Grandpa and said, "Now I'm going to do it without all that stuff." And she happily went back to her original methods.

You can teach, they can learn, but will they use what they learn? I'll tell you in 20 years.

Elise-isms

At the Botanical Garden,
outshining the flowers.

It must be remarkably fun to be a 2-year-old. The line between real and imaginary is constantly blurred, so that not only are you a purple baby kitten, but wishes really do come true, because, poof, as soon as you wish on a dandelion seed and let it float away, an imaginary green stuffed bear appears in your hands, out of thin air! Wow! If only we could all be 2!

And the things Elise says or talks about usually reflect exactly what's going on in her mind, whether that's, "I changed our old house into a purple hotel!" or "When I close my eyes, I see purple!" It's a combination of a massive vocabulary with a minimal filter, and it's hilarious (and usually purple).

Elise's new big-girl bed! She wanted
to be sucking her thumb in the picture
since that's how she sleeps.

The ice-cream flavors she comes up with, for example, would put even Willy Wonka to shame. "Chocolate vanilla marshmallow M&M chocolate ice cream with purple sprinkles and chocolate chips and peanut butter to keep the chocolate chips on." Yes, please, says the pregnant mommy.

And then there are the random revelations along the lines of: "I do not like sticky milk. I do not like sticky Cheerios. Write that down, Mommy," and, "I have a great idea! Let's have a boy party!" (presumably for Daddy), and, "When I clean house, my pups lick the house clean!"

We have intriguing questions: "Why do people color?" or,
Elise: "What if an elephant picks me up by my shirt?"
Me: "What would you do?"
Elise: "Just hang there."

Kalina's new big-girl bed!

Elise loves to be a baby kitten--a purple one, of course. As she's naturally happy and curious, this suits her. Plus, it can be remarkably convenient at times. For one, it gets her extra cuddling--who can refuse to pick up a baby kitten nuzzling their knee? Even Kalina can't. Plus, if there's a question she doesn't want to answer, she can respond with a simple, "Meow." And then there are the side perks: "I have a rainbow tail! I painted it rainbow!" Wouldn't we all like a rainbow tail? When she's in kitten mode, she refers to herself in third person: "It wants its pink bear," which sounds a little strange coming from a 2-year-old, but can work in my favor, too. She's more likely to cooperate if I address my request to a baby kitten ("Does the baby kitten want to wear its purple shirt?"), and especially if her big sister dangles imaginary catnip in front of her as motivation.

And if you've been in Elise's vicinity lately, you've undoubtedly heard the big news: "We're having a girl baby, and we went to a seal show!" They are both true, and entirely unrelated. But she tells everyone.

Renee came to visit!

But my favorite has to be the random insights Elise has had on first waking up in the morning. Since she's started to sleep in, sometimes I wake her up--and the very first words out of her mouth have me smiling all day ("I want to eat at a restaurant, and I will be a helper and help carry the food," and, "My feet need a drink!" and of course, "I dreamed about making purple marshmallows. I know how to make them. You need purple food coloring. You can get it at a purple grocery store. I have a purple grocery store! They have purple carts.") What in the world was she dreaming of? Sometimes I greet her in the middle of morning playtime with her stuffed animals: "We were just making a lemon meringue pie and a juice pie!"

We made porcupines! And more
porcupines! And food for the
porcupines! And then we had to
squish them, but they'll be back
again someday (like Frosty) 

I could go on--and often, so could Elise. Let's hope she does, because the world really could use more purple, couldn't it?

What do we do with winter?

Although Elise doesn't like
cold weather, she sure does
look cute prepared for it!
And she knows it.

Before I had kids, I loved winter. The fresh, deep snow, mugs of hot chocolate, cozy indoor activities and an excuse to more or less hibernate. Plus, the memories of giant snow tunnels, sledding and snowmen of childhood--what a season!

Loving winter, as Matt often reminds me, is not to be confused with loving going out into it as an adult. Sometimes I do--don't get me wrong--but the refrigerated sections of the grocery store can give me enough of a chill to send me as quickly into the canned goods aisle as possible, so you can imagine what actual sub-freezing temperatures do to me.

Now that I have kids, and young, easily chilled, whiny ones at that (hmm, do you think they take after their mother?), winter is no longer the wonderland it used to be. Instead, we need strategies to manage winter. Otherwise, we all end up stir-crazy and not very nice to each other.

Winter always starts off well enough: we have Christmas to kick it off. Besides, we've spent Fall playing outside in the beautiful weather, and are ready to hole up and bake something. But then there's January, and February, and occasionally even March.

What to do? Don't let boredom get the best of you! There's plenty of fun to be had indoors! Or so the magazines tell me.

Kalina cut out paper heart valentines
for all of the princesses in the house!
And their horses, ponies, prince, etc.

Crafts will keep away the winter blues! Pinterest practically shouts at me: You should be making snowflakes out of melted crayons! And snowmen out of old socks! Haven't you made play snow yet?!? The possibilities are endless, but the energy and supplies are not. 

But sometimes we get brave and we do attempt something more than coloring, or painting or stamps. It goes like this:

Finding a project that doesn't require a trip to the store, let alone expensive, hard-to-find materials, and that doesn't require 8-year-old skills: 30 minutes.

Gathering materials: 15 minutes.

Prepping project: 5-20 minutes.

Helping both kids do the project at the same time: 15 minutes working at a frantic pace as glue gets waved in my face, scissors get misused by the 2-year-old and components nearly get smashed, even while they're begging me to "Help me put this on!" or "Oops, I messed it up, waaaahhhh, Mommy fix it!" and the like.

Cleanup: 20 minutes.

Now the kids have the rest of the afternoon to fight/play/fight while I try to catch my breath for a minute before starting dinner.

And believe me, the final product is nowhere near Pinterest-worthy. But, in my defense, those kids are probably all spoiled.

I'm not, actually, a craft hater--I rather enjoy them--but I think an "I'll grab this, and this, and this" 2-year-old and an "I want mine to be as perfect as yours, Mommy, so can you just do it for me?" 4-year-old can make any craft more chore than charming.

And yet, the amazing thing is, sometimes we do crafts. 

Elise had been dreaming of this
cupcake all day, and nearly
exploded from anticipation. The
girls helped me bake, but not
frost. I am only human.

Baking. When Kalina was 2 or 3 and Elise didn't yet know how to say, "Let me help!," Kalina and I did a lot of baking. That winter, we each probably put on five pounds, because even homemade granola bars add up. Then, Elise started helping and the pressure of having a kid on each side of me, somewhat precariously balanced on a stool or chair, fighting over raw eggs and full bottles of oil seemed to ruin my appetite for oat muffins. Now, baking is a pretty special treat--as it should be.

Other moms make sure every snack his balanced and in the shape of an animal or smiley face. Those kids, too, are spoiled.

And yet, the amazing thing is, sometimes we bake. 

Our Valentine's party! 

Celebrate the mediocre, because at least then you're smiling. Groundhog Day has never been bigger than in the houses of preschoolers. In all fairness, sometimes it's hard to get them to care, despite the fact that kids will generally celebrate anything. "Why does the groundhog come out?" "How does it know what the weather will be?" "So if it sees its shadow, that means more winter? Or spring?" These are all legitimate questions. And while Mommy is about ready for either a really good snow or spring, the kids don't seem to care as much. But that's all we've got until mid-February, when it's finally Valentine's Day, an entirely Hallmark-created holiday (and so far, Hallmark has barely touched Groundhog Day, with good reason. Because what do you put on the card? "Hope it's spring for you soon?"). We go all out for Valentine's Day, because it's bright and cheery--everything we need. Kalina has cut out about four dozen hearts (which means I've drawn about six dozen as Kalina improves her scissor skills--which I'm very proud of her for, by the way), and stuck jewels and stickers on a dozen more. Elise has glue-sticked her way through quite a few herself (it's her favorite writing utensil). Look, we're doing crafts! Heart crafts are about the easiest, so we do a lot of them. Then, for lack of anything better to do, we plan a Valentine's Day party. And look, we're all smiling! Love is in the freezing cold air.

With cousins Hailey and Teagan!
Since Teagan kept escaping unless
she was held, Kalina and Elise
decided that Elise needed to be
held, too.

Getting energy out. Elise already knows the meaning of this phrase. In fact, sometimes she'll run circles on the rug, telling onlookers that she's "getting her energy out." If my poor toddler has to run circles on the rug, however, it's a sign we need to go to a park! Except, usually, it's too cold for any of us to tolerate that for more than 10 minutes, and that's not worth the fight to get everyone's shoes and coats and hats on. So we go other places, but there's nothing like the park--either running is barely tolerated (although I think even the harshest employees know that it is, in fact, winter) or a hundred other moms had the same idea, which means there are two hundred other children competing with yours for floor space.

And yet, the amazing thing is, sometimes we go out anyway and temporarily remove a portion of the pent-up energy. 

Why not just go outside? And why not, really? It might be cold, but it also might be fun. Especially in St. Louis, where the temperature sometimes gets above 40! In all fairness, it also has gotten up to 60 once or twice, at which point we borrow any necessary groceries from the neighbors so we can play outside instead of spend a sunny afternoon at the store. These are the good days, because the neighbor kids are out too and all of a sudden Mommy is not the most popular playmate. On the 40-degree days, if it's sunny, we still might try to play outside in the afternoon, but it's a forced play. Elise is usually ready to head inside within 10 seconds (yet refuses all offers of mittens). Kalina does seem to have fun, and sometimes they even have a little fun on their own so I can sit on a short, cold cement step and watch them and shiver and dream of the day, kind of, when I'll be inside folding laundry while they're outside. Not that I don't like the outdoors, and all the whimsical good-mommy things we can do out there, but we've done all of them already and my motivation to be outside is too weak to do anything but grin and bear it. Creativity will wait for warmer temperatures.

And I agree that we're rather weak when it comes to temperatures, by the way. I blame it entirely on North Carolina. And yet, sometimes we play outside anyway.

Of course, snow is a special case. I've noticed that for the most part, it snows on weekends and holidays when Daddy's around. I'm not sure to what I owe this phenomenon, but I appreciate it, because Daddy likes the outdoors even more than the girls do, so I don't feel too bad sending the three musketeers out together and sitting inside with a mug of hot chocolate, or even a pile of laundry, I don't really care, because I'm warm and the kids are getting lots of good-quality outdoor play. Plus, Daddy is MUCH more fun than Mommy outside, trust me. 

Who wants to watch TV? The real question is, who wants to watch it more than Mommy does? No one! Nevertheless, while other good parents allow as much as 1-2 hours a day, I feel guilty if mine see that in a week. Even in the winter. Because they should be outside, or doing crafts, or getting their energy out! But sometimes I relax my standards and we turn on the tube. I'm just grateful they both enjoy it, because when we're all cranky with each other after the little one hasn't napped the past six days, and yet no one would ever consider willingly playing alone in their room because that would mean being out of sight, hearing and grabbing distance of Mommy, we just need to tune each other out for a bit. 

Hot chocolate, anyone? And of course, there's hot chocolate. Hot chocolate that's always a little too hot if it's a degree over lukewarm, so I end up blowing on theirs while mine cools down to a not-so-cozy room temperature. Not that I serve it to them as anything more than medium-warm, I just harbor a strange notion that hot chocolate should, actually, be a bit warmer than slightly chilled (or, in my case, nearly boiling). It must just be me. They've also discovered that marshmallows often go with hot chocolate, so it's no longer a nearly innocent treat (the way I make it involves only a spoonful of sugar for several servings). It always gets dripped on clothes, tablecloth, floors, you name it, finding its way even out of a sippy cup.

And yet, sometimes we have hot chocolate anyway.

No, not everything about winter is miserable. Nevertheless, I think we'll all welcome Spring with open arms.