Family vacation!

Vacation time! Unfortunately, the beach was out of the question for a weekend family getaway, despite Kalina's best efforts to convince us that it would be entirely doable. I love her spirit, if not her logic. The next best thing was an indoor waterpark called Great Wolf Lodge. We settled on the location because it fit our criteria of being kid-friendly and relatively easy, without requiring us to constantly negotiate traffic and search for parking spots to do fun stuff. In the end, what really sold me was its woodland animal theme--there's not better way to guarantee a good time to my children than to put bears and squirrels and such in the picture.

We left for Kansas City Saturday as naptime approached. No matter: no one slept on the way. The trip was pleasant, nonetheless, and we enjoyed the scenery, whether we were counting cows or spotting the skyline:
Us: Look at the tall buildings!
Elise: Knock! (them down)
Us: Look at the pretty buildling!
Elise: Knock!
Us: Look at the tall tower!
Elise: Knock! Giggles.
Upon arrival, Kalina immediately glued herself to a friendly wolf statue, and a tired/cranky, yet enthusiastic, Elise immediately wanted to do so as well. Which she couldn't, so she screamed through turn-taking while Matt checked us in. We're here, Great Wolf Lodge! Hear us howl.

Kalina and one of her new
best friends.

We visited all the stuffed animals throughout the lobby, trying to teach Elise to say, "hooowwwlll" instead of "woof" when we asked her what a wolf said, and fumbled our way to our room.  It was large and nice and clean, and we couldn't wait to get to the pool. The toddler has been begging to play in every fountain she sees for the past month or so. I'm ready! an eager Elise insisted. I have shoes on! Actually, you need a suit, Hon.

Once we arrived, both girls waded. And waded, and waded, until the littler, tireder one settled on being held. Don't you want to play in the fountain, Elise? No. Try a slide, Kalina? No. But we had lots of fun wading, and eventually floating down the lazy river and wandering through the activity pool. The biggest hit was the giant bucket that dumped 1,000 gallons of water onto anyone below every three minutes or so. Kalina still misses that bucket.

We then gorged ourselves at the dinner buffet because we were on vacation  and starving and, after all, we weren't planning on swimming again until the next morning. Both girls were given souvenir wolf ears at the restaurant, and left them on the rest of the night, much to the delight of anyone who saw them.

Almost cuter than fuzzy wolf ears was the sounds coming from the bedroom half of the hotel room as the girls settled themselves, and each other, down for the night:

Elise in her pack-n-play: Gah, deh, fwh. Goo! (Rustle, rustle rustle)
Kalina: Shhh, Elise, it's time to sleep!
Elise: (Rustle, swish, rustle--standing up, no doubt) Boo! *giggles*
Kalina: *giggles* Elise, shh!
Elise: Boo! *giggles* [It's now a game of peekaboo.]
Kalina: [Silence]
Elise: Boo! *giggles* (Rustle, rustle)
Kalina: (Rustle)
Elise: (Rustle) *Giggle* Coo, gah, deh.
Kalina: Shhh!
And so forth.

Elise woke the room at 5:45, despite her late-night settling. Good thing the pool opens at 9:00. But what to do before then? We scrounged through my snack supply for breakfast before heading out to explore the hotel and its environs. We caught a "clock tower show" at 8:00, with (really annoying) talking and singing animals (off-key, but what do you expect from a moose?), and then walked across the parking lot to the majestic Cabela's just across the way. Kalina and Matt both drooled at the boats ("Let's get this nice red and white one for Daddy for Father's Day!"). Elise, on the other hand, couldn't get over the giant deer statue, nor could she get enough of mock 4-wheeling. And Kalina would like it to be known that she found a spider in the paddleboat. We chased a pair of rather compliant ducks halfway back, and were at the pool shortly after it opened.

This second day at the water park, Kalina tried a blue kiddie slide, and Elise insisted on going down, too. Kalina uncharacteristically went once more--Elise, on the other hand, slid down with eyes wide open and teeth gritted shut into Matt's waiting arms. She, also uncharacteristically, was done. Matt and I both took turns trying some slides, too, and the girls enjoyed watching for us to pop out the bottom almost as much as sliding themselves.

One of our ulterior motives for choosing an indoor waterpark as our vacation destination was to get Kalina used to having water splashed in her face, and possibly coach her a bit in swimming. Somewhat reluctantly, the girl eventually consented to paddling and kicking around the pool while being held up by a life jacket and/or our arms. Elise happily followed along with her cute little version of a puppy paddle. Overall, our efforts paid off: in the bath, lately, Kalina has been wiping off her wet face with her wet hands. This is a very big deal.

We braved a hotel naptime with both girls, and a weary Kalina even consented to being tucked into her bed and lay quiet while her sister fell asleep. When it became apparent, however, that the bigger girl wasn't going to doze, I got her up to read whispered stories by a thin strip of light coming from the mostly closed bathroom door. We didn't want to wake up her sister at all costs, and Kalina both understood and complied.

Elise loved sitting on this
caterpillar.

Matt had found his way back to Cabela's during naptime, but returned just as Kalina and I were itching to go explore more of the lodge. We enjoyed a lovely Kalina/Mommy date, complete with the treat of her choice from the sweet shop (involving two chocolate chip cookies and waaayyy too much frosting, if there is such a thing) that we munched on while watching the giant bucket dump on people (her favorite pastime), browsing toys in the gift shop and setting up a pretend campfire on the campfire rug in the playroom with all the stuffed animals there.

Kalina's pretending to be a spider!

And when Elise awoke, we all set out for the brand-new aquarium in the Crown Center area. Only to find that the line was prohibitive. Hoping to make the best of our adventure, however, we explored the Crown Center and arrived at a really neat animal-themed play area that was on its last day of operation, after being extended a week, before being closed for a few weeks and then replaced by a not-quite-as-cool dinosaur play area. What luck! The girls bounced like kangaroos, rode a lion, slid down a penguin's slide, tunneled like ants, bear-hugged bears, and much more. Matt and I briefly discussed redoing our basement in similar form.

Me holding Elise's cup properly this
time.

A train-themed restaurant, complete with trains that actually delivered your meal using a lift system, couldn't be ignored by any of us: it became our dinner plans. Everything but the meal was a success--while Matt and I enjoyed the food, Elise spilled milk all over (my fault for not holding her cup properly) and the girls only nibbled at their hot dogs. But on the plus side, everything but the meal was a success.

We exited the building and saw that after our two-hour hiatus, the line to the aquarium had cleared out--not to mention the fact that we had a good two hours or so before we felt like we needed to be back at the hotel for storytime and bedtime. In we went.

Who can resist the touch tank? Not
my three. (Elise insists on wearing
a hat, sometimes.)

The aquarium proved to be almost too exciting for our over-stimulated, ultra-enthusiastic youngest child. She alternated between adamantly running ahead, or persistently turning back, to demanding to be held so she could suck her thumb in peace. But she loved the fish, as did our oldest. Kalina astonished onlookers (her parents, anyway) by asking a question of a keeper: "How do the fish get out?" The keeper, who had probably never had that question before, did a nice job of expanding on the fact that while the fish are put in from the top, which is open, they don't jump out, nor does anyone take them out. The tank is their home. Kalina seemed satisfied, as were we.

There's a seahorse in there, I promise.

Both girls loved the seahorses and, as such, returned home with identical stuffed seahorse key rings. We could not convince Elise to pick something different, although we tried (and persuading Kalina to would be like asking a tree to uproot itself and move next door). Now, we often wonder, "Is this my seahorse or Elise's?" Someday I'll get around to tagging them somehow--right now, it's just easier to say, "It's yours, Sweetie." To Kalina's credit, she never asked for another souvenir.

Back at the hotel, and it being our last night, we decided to completely run the girls into the ground by attending storytime. It was great: all the kids wore their pajamas, Elise sat happily and watched, and Kalina participated--something Matt had never seen before. Before the story, the reader asked everyone what they'd done that day: had they been to the Cub Club? The arcade? Eaten at Camp Critter? Kalina raised her hand at all the wrong times and none of the right times until I poked her in the back. Elise didn't appear to be listening until they got to, "How about the waterpark?" The little girl ecstatically jumped to her feet, faced the crowd, and performed her signature, "Deh, deh!" with a tummy-pat that means, "Elise too! Me!" I guess she was following along after all.

After the story, character wolf, Violet, made her appearance to a raving crowd/Kalina/Elise. Kalina nicely lined up for a hug, and Elise joined her at the last minute, just as Kalina was wrongly answering questions the leader asked about where she'd gotten her seahorse (the leader believe Kalina won it in the arcade). Ever the caretaker, Kalina held Elise's hand the whole time, leading her up to the pretend wolf when it was her turn. They posed for a photo, and raved all the way up to our room. While storytime did nothing to get the kids drowsy for bed, it sure was a fun 20 minutes.

An hour or so later, after lots and lots of cute, but eventually tiresome, settling, both kids were asleep. The next morning started far too early for our tired girls, but we made the best of the yawns so we could have a bit more fun before hitting the road for home. The mood was quieter this Monday morning after a bustling weekend, and Kalina was the only one in attendance at the "wolf walk," a tour of the lobby animals, but that was okay, as she was a bit young for it anyway. The leader helped her make an origami wolf, and then we went to the pool one last time.

On this third day, both girls tried the red waterslide. Less steep, but more turbulence. Kalina admitted it was fun, but declined the opportunity to try a second time. Elise, again, demonstrated her "deer in the headlights" look. During our "swim lessons," I convinced Kalina to stick her ear in the water to hear what the fish were saying about her: only good things, of course! We all waded and splashed some more before dashing up to the room for a quick cleanup before checkout.

The return trip wasn't all bad!

Kalina was sad to say goodbye to the giant bucket, as were we all, I imagine. We also voiced our reluctant goodbyes to the lobby animals, virtually dragging the kids to the car. Back on the road, Elise was asleep within 10 minutes, and most of us avoided getting cranky with each other until the last hour or so. At home, the children entertained themselves for a good hour while Mommy and Daddy unpacked and unwound. Either that, or they repeatedly mentioned how sad they were that vacation was over. Us too, Sweetie!

The week following our trip has been anything but restful, and at least one of us misses Great Wolf Lodge several times a day. We've mentioned the possibility to Kalina that we might be back. And who knows, maybe we will!

Yes, Elise would've climbed in if she could've.

It didn't take much convincing
to get Elise to pose for this shot.

Me too!

Me too! I'll help!
Like magic, Daddy can mix
two loaves of bread without
even giving his hands dirty.

Poor Elise. The lost, ignored, neglected second child. The mere shadow of her big sister. Not so! The "me too" epidemic has set in: Elise will be included in everything Kalina does, or explode in her enthusiastic endeavors to do so. It's really cute.

"We went fishing the other day," I'll mention to a friend. "Me too!!!" insists Elise. Holding up one figure, she tells us that she touched the fish, and then cries a little and points out the door to let us know that Daddy was along too, but has since disappeared (assuming Daddy's at work at the time).

 Kalina's kittens are packing a suitcase to go on vacation. "Me too!!!" insists Elise, barreling over to me. Don't worry, Sweetie, we won't leave you behind when we take our family trip!

Other times, when we happen to be talking about trikes or painting or playgrounds, Elise will drop everything to come charging into the room and let us know, through various exclamations and vigorous pats on her own tummy, that she has been/will be participating.

Me too! I want to sit on a frog, too!

Sometimes, we see this simply in the form of copycatting. Kalina is twirling around the room with a stuffed animal on her head, and Elise dives for her stuffed bear to do the same. Kalina is coloring with markers, so Elise grabs her own piece of paper, and expertly uncaps a marker to join in. Or less desirable, Kalina is patiently and effectively teaching Elise to climb up the stairs on the wrong side of the railing, so Elise readily learns, much to Mommy's dismay, which probably sounded too much like this: "Oops. Kalina, wow, what a great job of teaching you did! Um, Elise probably shouldn't do that, it's really not safe. Let's all go play with blocks."

Kalina brave enough to ride
her coveted puffin, which
goes up and down!

Kalina more often than not seems proud of her mini-entourage, and is happy to include Elise among Lamby and Dolphin and the farm animals. Or at other times, she's blessedly oblivious. They've worked out an arrangement, it seems, in that Kalina is willing to play with Elise, as long as they do mostly what Kalina wants to and Elise follows orders. Elise seems willing to follow orders as long as she can be included in her big sister's amazing adventures (usually involving kittens, and sometimes flying). 

Me too! I'll ride the carousel!

I know that this means Elise is getting more independent and more aware of her world all the time. And, in fact, maybe I can use this to my advantage when it comes to potty training. But it does get difficult to continually break the news to Elise that she won't be going to preschool for at least another year (and besides, she'd still freak out when I left), she hasn't yet developed her sister's skill and self control that would enable her to open all the pots of paint at the same time, and she definitely may not be allowed to run loose in the grocery store yet, no matter how much she promises she'll walk nicely and helpfully like Kalina does.

Fortunately, Kalina understands at greater than her 3 1/2-year-old level, when she's well-rested, at least, that some activities are for doing during Elise's naptime, only. She's happy to help me distract Elise ("Bubbles! Goose! Duck!" she calls out--three of the littler girl's favorite things), and patiently endures the recent development of the tantrum.

Still wearing the Easter hat.
We're always the talk of the
playground in this one.

And Elise's skills and intellect are advanced enough that she really can keep up with Kalina, as long as they're not holding a footrace or an oratory competition. Now if I could only keep up with the two of them!

Easter! Eggs! Excellent.

If you ask Elise what Easter's all about, she'll drag you over to our much acclaimed tray of plastic eggs, point emphatically and tell you, "Eesh! Eesh!" Then she'll point outside, stabbing at the air to represent a variety of different hiding places, and finally she'll point to her feet to indicate her need for shoes in order to be prepared to go find these treasures. If you allow this act to continue, you'll soon find yourself outside with an enthusiastic toddler and a tray full of plastic eggs, trekking all over the yard. This, apparently, is Easter.

If you ask Kalina, she'll probably explain how one kitten is helping another put on an Easter dress, while a third is sitting quietly in church and a fourth is dying Easter eggs for a fifth to play with. Or something. But she does know the rest of the story. Breaking it to her was hard, and she almost cried when she learned that Jesus died, and didn't quite see how being raised back to life solved the world's problems, but she'll process it over time in her own way. In fact, her gray stuffed kitten died recently, but I'm happy to report it came back to life shortly thereafter.

But no matter which girl you ask, you'll be assured that Easter was wonderful--whether in Elise's wide-eyed, emphatic enthusiasm that needs no words to communicate its depth, or in Kalina's stream of play-by-play detailing how her animals celebrated the season.

The three techniques in action.

Chocolate bunnies aside, the holiday was made much more exciting by the arrival of Grandpa, Uncle Tom and Angela, whose birthday we also celebrated (not to mention the fact that Grandpa closed on a house here this week--celebrations all around!).

On Saturday morning, we dyed Easter eggs. Elise, Kalina and Uncle Tom were the eager workers, and each had their own particular style.

Elise, who had never seen such a thing but thought it sounded just great. She eagerly adopted the idea, grabbed one egg after the other, dropping and cracking them on the table (accidentally) before placing them into a cup of dye. She worked quickly and intently, and probably would've kept going all morning if only we'd had enough eggs. But none of this without eating one first. The final product wasn't nearly as interesting to Elise as the process, although I have a feeling that will change in future dying episodes.

Kalina, an old pro at this, dyed many beautiful eggs, and cracked hardly any at all, before deciding to create some "fancy" eggs like Uncle Tom. These special eggs of Kalina's are carefully dyed and redyed, from only the most select colors, until they each become their own special shade of brownish-something. Brownish-green, brownish-purple, brownish-orange, you name it. Other fancy eggs would get a scribble from a wax crayon before the dying treatment. The most elaborate/garish were her favorite, and she enjoyed letting her inner artist shine as she confidently decorated each egg to the utmost of its potential.

It's just not as fun if you can't
eat the eggs.

Uncle Tom patiently and artistically dyed three lovely fancy eggs, and cringed visibly every time another of Kalina's beautiful creations was plopped into the mud-green dye cup that used to be sunshine yellow. He later admitted, though, that her techniques had produced some unusually striking eggs. Some of which weren't, actually, as brownish as you'd think, considering they'd made the circuit from teal to orange to purple to pink to red to mud-green and back again. Mommy thought they were quite beautiful, in fact.

The next morning was Easter! Kalina made sure to greet everyone in the house, which was a lot of people, with a delighted, "Happy Easter!" We had not, however, talked much about the Easter Bunny and Easter baskets, so all she knew was that she'd get to wear her special Easter dress to church, and that there would be treats sometime during the day.

In fact, treats started early: Grandpa had a special present for each girl. For Elise, it was a bunny not unlike those in the children's museum that she loves to carry around. It's been tucked under Elise's arm pretty much ever since. For Kalina, it was her own copy of an Easter library book that she'd loved and I accidentally returned too soon. Oops!

We'd chosen the early service (9:00) so that we could get back in time for Easter baskets and dinner before Uncle Tom and Angela had to take off. I forgot: to put the ham in the oven, to change Elise's diaper, and to put the girls in their cute Easter hats (which Elise still likes to wear as often as possible). Two of those were easily remedied by turning the car around in the plenty of time I'd allowed before church, but the hats remained forgotten. Oh well.

Pleased with her conquest:
a peepy chick Elise has
been coveting for months.

Both kids behaved wonderfully at church, thanks to snacks and probably being a bit tired from all the activity. A few family photos later, and we were ready to go in and see if the Easter bunny had, indeed, visited.

Yup! Elise found her basket all too quickly in the shopping cart, and was soon hugging the peepy chick in it. Kalina found hers with a little help (and lots of practice from Hide the Thimble with Grandpa), and dug out a stuffed rabbit ("Can the Easter bunny sew, Mommy?" Um....).

Kalina most likely expected to keep the Easter bunny in a cage, and feed it carrots, and all that (she asked if it was still in our house), but couldn't be disappointed for long after uncovering her basket.

Always focused on animals, of which there were several in the basket, and never having been exposed to much candy, it took a while (and some prodding) for Kalina to discover that the plastic eggs that shake contained candy. She carefully sampled one jelly bean, or chocolate egg, or whatnot, from each one before asking me nicely if she could have another. I let her, of course. You would've, too.

Elise immediately caught on to the fact that the shaky eggs held treats. Distracting her tender eyes from the view of Kalina's delicacies, we helped her open up animal crackers, dried cranberries, and the like, which she devoured without thinking of asking permission. I let her. It was only later that she discovered Kalina's stash, and fortunately the bigger girl wasn't around to see me sneak Elise a tiny robin's egg.

Then, the girls played with their bunnies and a few other treasures, but mostly with the fake grass from their baskets.

Easter dinner! Ham, veggie sides, rolls, a special lemon jello salad! And the girls ate: rolls. But at least they enjoyed them.

Kalina passed this by the first
time around. A chocolate
rabbit!

After naptime/downtime, which lasted a blessedly long time, we welcomed some friends for a big Easter egg hunt in our yard. "Eesh, Eesh!" Elise exclaimed, and then dashed off to get her shoes. Kalina, still suffering the effects of having only eaten a roll for lunch, but refusing any food but candy (which wasn't an option at this point) dragged behind. She perked up, nonetheless, as she expertly dashed around the yard, schooling the two one-year-olds and one two-year-old at finding hidden eggs.

Notice the bunny ears: plastic
bunny loves to ride in the
Easter basket.

Kind-hearted soul that Kalina is, though, she was readily convinced to slow down and help the other girls find eggs. She turned her attention to pointing Elise and Lucy (age 2) within one inch of several hidden eggs, before abandoning the hunt altogether and dashing off toward her coveted swingset swing, to the frustrated dismay of Elise who is always, always the last one to get there and therefore never the first to swing.

Elise and Lucy stuck it out a bit longer, however (the other 1-year-old was still too little), and then we took a few impromptu pictures of the girls. Lucy was the first to figure out that the shaky eggs contained candy, and Elise eventually caught on. Then Kalina did, but by then most of the jelly beans had disappeared. Each girl methodically shook the rest of the eggs, just in case, and we headed inside to play when no more treats were to be found.

Sometimes I feel like a
charging station.

And then once our guests left, the girls fixed themselves dinner, tidied up the family room and headed off to bed with a cheerful wave in our direction. Not really, but somehow we weary adults made it through until we could consider Easter celebrated and traditions passed down for one more year.

Here's hoping every Easter finds us this blessed, by good company and good fun in addition to the good news of Jesus, our living hope.

Sweet spring (and pediatrician visit!)

We had an informal photo shoot!

We recently endured Elise's 18-month pediatrician appointment, but I forgot to bring home her information sheet and it was mostly a normal visit, so after a brief run-down, we'll talk about how much fun it is to have a toddler (and a 3 1/2-year-old) in the springtime.

It's funny how despite the fact that there were no shots at Elise's appointment, because the doctor recognizes that kids start to develop a memory at this age, the child managed to hate it anyway. I don't think there's any getting around the fact that doctors are scary, and nurses are sometimes worse. Kalina will learn this anew at her 4-year-old checkup, where she'll be tested unnecessarily for tuberculosis ("But it's not a shot!" the doctor will insist, to no avail.). *sigh*

Elise's first fishing trip! She got
distracted by the playground and
caught nothing.

Anyway, Elise hated being weighed and measured, hated having her tummy prodded, but didn't mind too much having her heartbeat checked. Everything was fine: she's in the 75th percentile for height, and up to the 25th for weight, which the doctor congratulated me on. Her head circumference is in the 50th.

Despite two blood draws and comments about Elise's glowing health, the doctor wants to extract some more to keep testing her iron. Her levels were low, and hadn't improved into the middle of the normal category, only the lower end of it. Matt's theory: the doctor is seeing her as a pincushion that can pad her wallet. My theory: leukemia. Why are we always at such extremes? Elise is fine.

The doctor was duly astonished that Elise seems to be recognizing some colors, and that she'd invented her own sign language and was pairing words and ideas with it. For instance, every morning at breakfast:

The neighbor girl helped Kalina
strip the bush almost clean of blooms.
Then, Kalina brought them inside
to be my pets. I was required to water
them every day.

Elise points to a finger-painted picture behind her. "Uh!"
Me: Who made that picture?
Elise: "Deh!" (Proudly pointing at herself.) Then she holds up one finger.
Me: With your finger?
Elise: Smiles and nods. Then pats her tray.
Me: Sitting at your high chair?
Elise: More proud smiles and nods.

She's used the same techniques to regale me with stories about riding the trike (with a helmet!) and how much she misses Daddy while he's at work.

In short, Elise is healthy and bright. She's also enjoying spring, as is Kalina, as is Matt, as am I. Here's how:

When you're 18 months old, life is magical. You wave "bye-bye" to merry-go-rounds, garbage cans and delivery trucks. You can make some amazing sounds with your mouth, and jump quite well and are learning to gallop. Your cheeks are delightfully chubby, and you can fit into any shoes on the rug. Add to this the magic of spring, and life has never been better.


The weather has been so glorious lately that the house is a mess and dinner is always late: we never stay in long enough to take care of our mundane tasks. How can we, when there are flowering bushes to strip free of their blooms (thank goodness we left town for a couple days or else the poor thing wouldn't have a chance at pollination), and yards to run across just for the sake of running, and swings to actually swing in.

That's right: both girls swing now, for just about the first time ever. However, there are rules: don't push Kalina more than a fraction of an inch, and don't imagine that Elise would prefer a baby swing to a big-girl version. As Matt figured out without me around one day to disallow him from doing so, Elise sits nicely all by herself in a real swing, even with some mild pushes, even from her big sister as she patiently waits for her own turn. In fact, she loves it. So much that it's a problem we only have one swing. Who would've guessed?


Kalina has joined the ranks of kids who could swing all day, albeit her feet hardly leave the ground. She's learned a fairly effective type of kick-pump, and sings made-up songs about swinging and shadows and rainbows, and usually clutches a kitten or two, and often wears dresses, and once pigtails, and is humanity's zenith of cuteness with the exception, of course, of a certain 18-month-old learning to gallop.

Look! Pigtails! And real
bubbles!

Every time we venture outside, whether to throw out the garbage or head to Target or play, Elise heads for the bubble bucket, hauls it out, and begins blowing. Lots of practice has rendered her only one or two mouthfuls of bubble fluid (every child has to ingest a certain amount before they figure it out), but lots of successful bubbles. We've discovered that they stick around longer on the grass than the pavement, and that they're marvelously fun to pop with the touch of a finger. Kalina has known this a while, but as I couldn't find bubble fluid last fall, this is Elise's first real bubble season.

Elise insists on a hat even for
indoor gardening. And wearing
her sister's shorts over her own.

We've also been gardening, both for real and pretend. As Matt helped the girls plant seeds, water them, and all that (Kalina knows better than I do), I initiated an indoor craft garden effort that was almost as well received. Now, the girls can dig, water and extract flowers and vegetables indoors and out, all of which we do on a regular basis. Both are working on blowing the seeds off dandelions, with Elise using a vigorous wave as her best strategy, and Kalina honing her force and her aim, and the force of her aim.

Easter egg hunting!

Beyond that, we've been enjoying the neighbors and their kids and their yards. We're so fortunate as to have half a dozen girls roughly Kalina's age living within a few stones' throws of our front door--and a couple even next door. She's now old enough to be thrilled with all of her playmates--even if she's not quite caught on to the idea of actually playing together. Springtime has brought everyone out of doors, which means lots of running back and forth between yards (for Kalina, that must means to our next-door neighbor's) and impromptu games of tag. And then I brought out a wagonful of Easter eggs (a week and a half early), and half the neighborhood, it seemed, joined in to hide and hunt. While Elise loves watching the kids (and finding an Easter egg or two of her own) and covets the neighbor's swingset, she hasn't yet joined in the fray. 

The little line on Kalina's hand
is her caterpillar.

And finally, yesterday afternoon we welcomed into the family two new pets: Hungry and Pet the caterpillars. (Actually, these are our second set of caterpillars: the first Hungry and Pet were squished nearly beyond recognition as Kalina toured them around the yard.) She caught them herself, expertly, as her daddy had taught her. But as he was not yet home from work, it fell to met to agree she could keep them, find a jar and help her outfit it with items from their natural environment to help them feel more at home, despite the fact that they will never again escape the lingering smell of spaghetti sauce. It was also my job to locate and sneak two new, live caterpillars into the jar, while attempting to discard the carcasses of the first two, while sending Kalina off to look for "more leaves, we need more leaves."

For the rest of the evening, Kalina paraded her caterpillars around: they joined us at dinner and slept on her nightstand. She held one while Daddy carefully poked holes in the lid, and carried it all around the yard while they enjoyed some pre-bedtime playtime. 

I have no idea what will become of the caterpillars in the next few days and weeks, I can only hope there's a rather endless supply of them near the swingset where we found the first four, as I have a feeling we may need them.

I will admit that I could use a rainy day or two to catch up on housework, errands, and all the rest. But until then, I'll simply enjoy our beautiful spring days with my two beautiful springy girls. 

Adventures with Two: Road Trip

Somehow, the kids lined
themselves up for this shot.
Notice all the pink and white
polka dots!

The craziness in our house has started to subside. The girls have settled nicely into 1 1/2 and 3 1/2. They sleep, and are no longer sick all the time. The edges of rubbed off of the sibling relationship, for now, anyway. They're eating their veggies. And they both seem to know they need to hold my hand in parking lots. We can all paint together, and other fun things. And the newness of the move has worn off, so we all feel plenty settled.

When life gives me moments of relative peace, after a short (too short?) rest, I generally feel the need to disturb it. Sometimes this means taking on massive sewing projects, or freezing meals. But this time, it meant embarking a road trip with the girls to visit my good friend Sara.

I chose my destination well: not only is Sara a good friend, but I knew her house would be stocked and kid-friendly to the utmost, as she's Mommy to Ethan (4) and Lilly (nearly 2). If I could simply survive the 3-hour drive and convince the girls to sleep while they're there, I could forget anything at home and I'd be fine. 

Slowly unfolding ourselves from our
car-riding positions.

Most of what I packed, therefore, fit into the category of road entertainment. My passenger seat, when we set off, was therefore littered with books, CDs, toys, surprise toys, a DVD player for emergencies and the tastiest of snacks, all meant to keep the crying down from the backseat.

As such, the drive was as uneventful as I'd hoped and we were rewarded for our 3+ cramped hours with a large yard to play in, beautiful weather, and good friends. The kids immediately hit it off, and Sara and I began the process of catching up.

Once inside the house, both girls were enthralled with their new surroundings. Kalina couldn't have been happier to see an air mattress just for her, nor could she resist giving it a few test bounces (as did the other kids). Elise was not as happy to see the crib I told her she'd be sleeping in, but later did consent to give it a few test bounces of her own.

We played, we had dinner, we played some more. By this time, Kalina had grown tired of her "big brother's" tendencies to want to play with her stuffed animals, and had claimed the guest room as her own. We let her: it's tough to be a 3-year-old guest (although good-natured Ethan certainly meant no harm!). She made sure all of her animals--she'd narrowed her stash down to six kittens, Lamby, Sleep Penguin and little Farmyard Cow for the trip--were comfortable and that none of them were too nervous about her surroundings. Elise, meanwhile, dug into all the toys and carefully observed and imitated the bigger kids.

Bedtime, admittedly, made me nervous. As expected, Elise cried hysterically when placed in the crib. After some soothing on Kalina's and my part, however, she drifted off and was barely heard from until 7:00 the next morning.

Kalina, however, was another story. After falling asleep rather nicely in the guest room that we shared, she apparently got confused in the middle of the night and thought that 11:52 p.m. was close enough to morning to begin playing. She dragged her sleeping bag off of her air mattress, lined up her kittens, and began sweetly whispering to them. Twenty minutes later, she still was--and at this point, convinced she wouldn't go back to sleep on her own, I somewhat guiltily, and very gently, intervened (after all, she was playing so sweetly!).

Look, we're all playing together!

I don't know if she was simply surprised by the fact that I was in the same room as her (even though I'd told her multiple times) or if maybe she had actually been sleep-playing and I'd woken her up, but lots of tears and yawns ensued, poor thing. We snuggled her into her bed again, and she fell back asleep much sooner than I did.

I was awakened by a happy 3-year-old staring me in the face at 6:45--perfection! The morning brought a flurry of activity as Sara and I worked to get four kids dressed, washed, brushed, fed, etc. 

Then, much to my surprise and joy, I was able to leave a content Elise under the watchful eye of Sara while I showered. This might not come across as revolutionary to those of you who haven't dealt with the intense stranger/separation anxiety of my kids, but it was a really big deal to me. I'm trying to decide whether to attribute it to Elise growing out of her anxieties or a sixth sense about Sara. 

After a short preschool conference for Ethan, we headed to a riverfront park. The day was beautiful and the kids were excited. We did swings and slides and lots of climbing before taking a short walk along the river. It was cute to watch the kids enjoy being together, sometimes to their delight, and sometimes to their irritation--but it was all good.

Then we treated ourselves and the kids to McDonald's. As we were on a trip, I let Kalina order chocolate milk. Both received Happy Meals, as the toy was a My Little Pony with a comb. I can't imagine a better fit, and to only let Kalina have one would be cruel. However, please don't anyone tell Kalina that our home McDonald's has Happy Meals and chocolate milk, or I'll be relegated to saying, "No, not now," every time we drive by.

After lunch and a little grimy playtime, we made a beeline for home and naps. Both of mine settled fairly happily for 2-hour naps. Hooray!

The afternoon was gorgeous, but before we went out to play again, we let the kids paint and play-doh. Preschool style, I manned the Play-doh table while Sara supervised painting. We let the big ones paint first, then the little ones paint over what the big ones had painted (no one minded)

While all the children enjoyed making masterpieces, I was impressed by Elise's painting stamina. Although occasionally she'd wander off with the paintbrush, the task held her interest and she'd always return. She managed to keep most of the paint on the paper, and good-naturedly watched while Lilly "helped" her with her picture.

Elise in her paint shirt
examining Lilly's work.

When we went out to play with sidewalk chalk, Elise again impressed us with her coloring capabilities. This time, the palette was herself--she enjoyed sitting in the chalk bin. Who wouldn't? Most of the rest of the kids followed suit, and Sara will forever be dealing with this annoying new habit. Sorry!

By this time, Kalina was bemoaning the fact that we had to go home the next day. "I want to stay here forever!" she'd say, or, "I wish they lived next door to us!" Sara promised to come visit, and that helped.

We pulled some dinner together while Ethan goofed around at the table and Kalina laughed, and Lilly wandered around while Elise followed her for a few games of peekaboo and toddler chase (which is like a slow-motion version of tag, with no winner and no loser and only cuteness).

Ethan did a great job of showing Kalina
how to play, and making sure everyone
did everything right. A very helpful
4-year-old!

Afterward, we decided to try Candyland. Kalina had never played, but caught on quickly, only occasionally moving the wrong direction. However, our fun was short-lived--the younger siblings were neither content to pursue other activities nor capable of joining in without ruining everything, plus the older ones found it hard to concentrate. Sara and I may have been able to finish the game, but what's the point? We headed down to the playroom instead.

As Ethan and Lilly enjoyed their bath, Kalina wondered when we were going to finish the game. With one curious toddler being easier to manage than two, we were able to start over. A careful stacking of the deck sent the bigger girl forwards and backwards and, finally, rocketing to the Candy Castle in first place. Kalina won, can you believe it?!

After an uneventful evening, we were ready for more fun the next morning. But first, a trip to Kohl's--all our kids needed summer shoes and Sara had a coupon.

I do feel that there's a conspiracy regarding children's shoes, and especially my kids. If I don't purchase sandals in January and snowboots in July, they will run out of our sizes. What's more, while most girls' sandals are undeniably cute, their tread often resembles a linoleum floor. Would you want your still occasionally accident-prone little girl climbing playground equipment with shoes like that? Neither would I. Of the two styles that seemed reasonable for actual everyday play, we managed to find, after much digging, exactly one pair in Kalina's size. Elise has none, with no good prospects in sight. (She will be wearing size 6 this summer, in case anyone sees any Carter's summer sandals at Kohl's and wants to pick them up for me--I will pay you their weight in gold.)

It's hard to get a really good picture in a
dark, active gym. This one at least
has all four kids in it.

Then, for our final activity of the trip, we headed to a gymnastics gym for open play. Although both girls had wilted after our Kohl's excursion, they perked up mightily at the squishy mats, rings, trampolines, hula hoops and more. Both seemed to know exactly what to do. I hardly heard from Kalina for a full 20 minutes as she tested everything out. Elise, who refused to take off her socks, needed a little extra supervision. I sorely regretted bouncing on the trampoline with her for so long (when...will...the...floor...stop...bouncing...?), but she loved every moment, and who can argue with that smile? Eventually she learned to bounce on her own. After a solid 45 minutes of rambunctious play, I knew I could count on at least one nap on the way home.

And finally, it was time for our sad goodbyes. "But I'll miss them!" Kalina protested (as did I!). The parting was sweetened by the fact that Sara had packed copious amounts of their favorite veggie chips in lunches for us, and the girls covered their sorrows in crunchy snacks on the way home. Elise fell asleep before we'd made it out of town, and Kalina happily chattered about kittens, considerately whispering for the full hour that Elise slept.

I'd packed half a dozen new, or newish, little toys for the trip and had prided myself that I had only pulled out one for each girl on the way in. But the return trip was, well, a return trip. We were all tired and antsy, and rush hour traffic on our way into town didn't help. And so, within 20 minutes of home, three more toys for each were handed out in quick succession, with inquiries for more being called out toward the general direction of the front seat even as we pulled into the driveway. I considered unloading the car before unloading the kids, but thought it unfair: instead, I convinced a whiny (tired) Kalina to introduce her Happy Meal My Little Pony to all of the animals in her room, and the girl emerged 45 minutes later much happier and asking for a snack (I knew she would--Kalina's animal-filled room always cheers her up!). Elise was mostly content to wander the house and re-discover all her toys.

One of the best parts of the trip, besides catching up with Sara and adventuring with my kids, was  watching all the children interact. The two toddlers sat side by side brushing teeth with duplicate toothbrushes (Sara and I both shop at Target), and the older kids overcame their frustrations ("He keeps coming into my room!"/"She won't let me come into the room!") to giggle at each other and occasionally play together. I agree with Kalina: I wish they lived next door.

What have we learned?

Look! Kalina "reading" to Elise
on her lap!

We've recently discovered that Kalina is a rather abstract thinker. Looking back, we've known this for quite some time (after all, we've spent much of the last 3 1/2 years conversing with blocks instead of stacking them). But there's just something about an official personality description from a real book Matt recently finished that drives the point home.

Abstract thinking informs much of what Kalina does. And although she's very concrete about the precise way in which Lamby and Rudolph must be bathed before their bedtime, she'll also toss them into an imaginary dryer when they're finished and reassure them that no raccoons will come into the room in the middle of the night.

Of course, the last thing I want to do is pigeonhole Kalina at such a tender age. And all young kids tend toward the abstract--just look at their artwork. But understanding the girl's tendencies really explains a lot. And particularly, for this post, anyway, about how she learns.

Matching outfits from Grandma!

I've noticed that Kalina, for the most part, only likes to learn about what she wants to learn about, when she wants to learn about it. She is, therefore, a veritable expert on the sewer system, the planting of seeds and various family members' favorite animals and colors, while she flat-out refuses to even try to write her name, and would much rather spell words than attempt to read them. For a good six months of her 2s she showed a strong hostility toward numbers.

If I can pretend I'm not actually trying to prepare her for kindergarten or real life or anything, it can be fun to observe Kalina in the process of traditional learning:

Me, in my best enthusiastic teacher voice, trying to copy preschool's Ms. Dorie, who as yet has been the only one successful in this particular task: Hey, Kalina, wouldn't it be fun to write a K? Look, you can connect the dots!
Kalina: You do it, Mommy.
Me: Why don't you try? Wouldn't it be fun to write a K for Kalina? Look, just draw a line from this dot to this one! (I show her and trace it with my finger.)
Kalina: But I don't want to.
Me, imitating the voice of a K, because sometimes this works: Write me, Kalina! Please, I'd love to be written!
Kalina: (smile)
Me: Should we use pink? Here, I'll help you!
Kalina, allowing herself to be helped, but as we near the end of the K, scribbling over the whole thing: And the K went into the sewer! Now it's getting hooked up to the balloon, and the balloon is pulling it out. They go onto the houseboat for a ride, and now they're going fishing! More scribbles follow.

Grandpa Tom visited and we
took him out for ice cream
and bunnies at the museum!

Or maybe we're trying to do phonics flashcards (yes, we picked up a set for $1).
Me: Hey, Kalina, U is for umbrella! Uh, uh, umbrella! (Holding the flashcard over my head.)
Kalina, finding other flashcards: The kitten needs an umbrella because it's raining. The horse gets dressed up in its rainboots and they go splashing in puddles together. Splash, splash, splash (bouncing on the rug)! The chick wants to come too! And now off they go in an airplane! (Flying the cards around the room.)

Sometimes, learning just doesn't work very well with an abstract thinker. But wouldn't I be a fun teacher for any other kid? Sometimes I try educational toys on Kalina, but the kittens don't usually like them so we quit, or turn them into rocketships so the kittens can fly to the moon instead. You may say that other kids are like this, too, but I have seen other kids, and they enjoy writing their names--mine has only done it once for her preschool teacher, whom she adores, but definitely not for Mommy, whom she also adores.

Who's teaching who how to "fix" that car?

The amazing thing, to me, is that Kalina at 3 1/2, even with her aversion to studying anything that's not soft and fuzzy (or mucky and gross, like the sewer system), has learned to legitimately read a tiny bit, spell decently well, write a teeny tiny bit, count to 100 (with ambitions of counting to a trillion) and even add a little, all in 30-second increments of teaching, with a glimmer of a promise to continue. Yay, Kalina! I honestly don't know how you did it.

Honestly, our best success has come from educational placemats. Do they make them for advanced English composition or world history?

Learning, itself, is such a tender topic. Do you start flashcards at 18 months, or wait until they beg you for a set because all their friends have them? Do you enroll them in programs and watch educational TV, or cross your fingers and hope nature takes its course and your child learns through thin air? Do you worry or not?

I've got a kitten on my shoulder!

I remind myself all the time that it's certainly not a competition. Each child learns at their own pace and their own way. But then why, when we get ready to sign them up for preschool, do we feel the sudden rush to make sure they know their planets, in order, not to mention deliver a full princess education, so that we can be positive they'll keep up and not be laughed at?

And then there are the playground comments to the tune of: "My child loves flashcards!" or "Watch my 1-year-old count to 10!" Which are all fine and good, until you notice your own child detests flashcards, except as plates for her animals, and was extremely adverse to numbers for just the longest time. Then, you miserably smile and congratulate the happy counting toddler while your own sits just as miserably on the bench beside you at the park, begging to go home, and you can hardly blame her.

Not that I mind bragging--I think it's great when parents are proud of their kids, and I've probably had my moments. But they're more to the tune of, "After Kalina bathed all her animals last night, she put them down for bed so sweetly and sang them all little songs!" Which is certainly brag-worthy in its own right--it just won't get her into college.

[The truly ironic part of all this is that I'm pretty sure Elise will love flashcards, and with her older sister to teach her, she will probably be counting to 10 by this time next year. A great imitator, she already knows how to do her sister's jack-in-the-box dance from music class, change a poopy diaper on her doll (including carefully and proudly shaking the "poop" into the toilet from the diaper), and that 3-year-olds who happen to clean their plate receive what's known as a "treat," which must be delicious but is unfortunately never offered to 1-year-olds. She can also mime just about anything she wants done--"That cookie into my mouth, please," or, "Those balloons, yes, the ones tied to the real estate sign, in my hand, please."]

Possibly the most infuriating part of educating kids is that almost everything you do for them is wrong, depending on the context. Research shows that toys make kids smarter--it also shows that toys spoil them. Do you go along with the wise advice that you shouldn't fill your house with toys, or the wise advice that kids need lots of fun things to expand their minds? Shouldn't a stick and a rock be enough for any kid? So why isn't it, so often? And did you really have to take them to the museum? Shouldn't they be content in their own backyard? I don't pretend to know the answers, but either way I'm visited by mommy guilt. Sometimes I throw caution to the wind and just have fun with the little tykes before they're shipped off to kindergarten. For this reason, we're "only" enrolling Kalina in 2-day-a-week preschool next fall, and I take the girls out for ice cream more than I probably should.

Any way I look at it, however, both Kalina and I are both learning a lot. Her that by counting her kittens she can better assess how many servings of brownie a la mode she'll need, and me that by not forcing Kalina to count her kittens, she's more likely to actually do it. And in the end, I still believe my child is brilliant. In her own abstract way.