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!

Who came first?

Anyone want this stick?
Naomi and her favorite
hedgehog toy.

Many times during the day, I'm glad that Naomi is a firstborn. Confident, somewhat adventurous, strong-willed, relational and smart, she'll be a great leader of her sisters. She knows what she wants and how to get it--and has a lot of wants. Always preferring to walk through her toys rather than around them, and monopolize as much of Mommy's attention as possible, she clearly takes the lead. Naomi loves to learn new things and play with others. Which is why it's a shame that the baby of the family wasn't actually born first.

Kalina and her very, very detailed zoo!
They then proceeded to let each of
their people take home pets from it.

Then there's Kalina, my middle child. She's often needed someone to go ahead of her to face the giants (preschool teachers and other adults), and let her know they're not actually ogres, someone to reassure her that the backyard and basement are unscary places to play, even without a grownup, and someone to bike and swim before she does so she knows it's totally doable. And yet she's so lovely with younger kids (when she's not chasing the neighbor boy with a baseball bat, that is), it'd be a loss if she didn't have a little sibling to dote on. Now if only she'd managed to wedge herself between her two sisters in birth order when she was born.

For breakfast on her
birthday, Pink Bear was
served cake and chocolate
ice cream. Yum!

And finally, my youngest child, Elise. Cheerful, easygoing, a little goofy and able to keep up with kids twice her age (yet still needing Mommy snuggles on occasion), she's the perfect caboose to our train. She makes her sisters laugh and keeps us all in high spirits, plus she's always happy to be the "kid" or "kitten" when playing "Mom/Kid" or "Owner/Kitten." She never holds grudges very long, and was the easiest baby. Clearly, she's the ideal youngest child--happy to go along with whatever her big sisters have dreamed up, and make it even more fun. Too bad she's stuck in the middle instead.

It would seem that mistakes have been made, but I'm sure it's all in order somehow. Still, the point remains: who messed up my kids' birth order? And what do we do now? Maximize strengths? Minimize difficulties? Merely survive?

Happy 34th, Matt!

As I've learned over my 3+ years of intense sleep deprivation (nearing an end! Really!), what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger--or at least able to endure more of it. Which means that it probably does Kalina good to have to forge her own way, and Naomi good to go with the flow and Elise good to...well...honestly, Elise could make anything work. Elise will, however, never consent to be the ignored middle child--or she would voice her concerns at a very high decibel level.

Seeing as this shakeup will mean our family's dynamics will be quite different from the way either Matt or I grew up, we'll be looking forward to seeing how everyone gets along. That's putting it rather mildly. For instance, take Kalina. A rules-following firstborn, she leads her sisters in All That's Right. Yes, she laughs when Elise says poop (a million times a day). She is, after all, only 6. But she warns Elise not to do so when I'm around (I overhear). Thanks--I think? And she exercises caution in all things, encouraging anyone within earshot to do the same. Plus, with Big Sister Kalina at the helm, her little sisters will always feel heard and appreciated. Kalina is also happy to occasionally let them take the lead, especially when deeply engrossed in imagining birthday parties for stuffed animals and whatnot.  I imagine she'll bring a combination of good sense and imagination to all their troubles over the years, too.

Uncle Brian visited! And
Naomi let him hold her!

And then there's Naomi. What if she actually were my oldest child? Case in point--here's how Naomi is learning to walk:

1. Grab Mommy's hands and contort my body such that I'm standing, and Mommy has no choice but to be pulled along behind. Whew, I'm on my feet.

2. Writhe, flail, scream, whatever, whenever Mommy sits me down. Whew, we're walking again.

3. Walk everywhere, all the time. With Mommy. Because I must.

4. Run everywhere, all, the time, with Mommy.

5. Run to Mommy and collapse in her arms. Then to Daddy. Keep doing this to practice.

6. Run, collapse, run, collapse. I'm walking!

7. Run, don't walk, everywhere I go. Have a Big Person near me at all times to make sure I don't splat on my face, or worse. 

It's tough to be on the inside
looking out!

Naomi will conquer the world, as long as someone's there to catch her when the world occasionally conquers her.

As the oldest child, the baby could teach her sisters a thing or two about "taking the plunge" if she'd let them (I'm thinking of swim lessons...). Naomi would certainly be a fun big sister to Kalina and Elise, and Kalina need never fear even the darkest corner of the basement with Naomi in the lead, but who knows where the three of them would end up, or how far they could get at a run under Naomi's direction? 

Elise as an oldest child would also be lots of fun, but maybe a little too much, unless her position brought out rules-following capabilities that I'm as yet unaware of. Actually, considering her sense of humor, Elise does a good job of going along with the rules, which may be partially attributable to her positive nature and positive role model. But she loves mischief (fortunately, only mischief and not actually trouble) a bit too much for my sanity, and if she were at the lead, I would never be able to find my shoes.

We had a pre-bedtime "sleepover!"

And it's probably a good thing that Kalina isn't "stuck" in the middle, as her ability to lose herself to other worlds (in daydreaming-meets-dawdling style) could get her lost between her sisters, too. We would miss our Kalina! 

Naomi in the middle, as the strongest willed of the three (as far as I can tell) could overrule both her sisters, unless she settled down a bit in toddlerhood (and she may). It might take her big sisters as a united front, in fact, to not get plowed over. 

Elise is no slouch to play with either, though, and her usually cheerful disposition, emotional intuition and relational nature will smooth over a myriad of troubled emotions over the years, whether they come from her big sister or her little one. And as our guaranteed extrovert (the jury is still out on Naomi), she'll find it a relief to virtually always have someone around to talk to.

At Grandpa's house.

As youngest child, however, Elise would easily get babied and fussed over, and with two older sisters to follow might never come into her own. But wouldn't she be adorable? She'd enjoy the attention and would happily go along with whatever games and ideas her sisters could dream up. "Let's dress Elise up like a Christmas tree and then decorate her!" Sure! "Let's pretend Elise is a baby bird and sit on her until she hatches!" Why not?

Kalina as youngest would never, ever, ever get her way, save through major threats from me directed at her elders. She'd be very well protected, however, and that may be worth it to her in the end.

Staying up late for fireworks!

But who could survive the "youngest" role better than Naomi? Babyhood aside, she has a need to learn--and a talent for study, too. Most content when she's "working" on something, she'll enjoy the endless parade of newness her big sisters present to her. And rest assured, she will find a way to have her say, even overruling the two "bigs," being the strongest willed and a very shrill, loud screamer to boot (and mighty cute!). She's also charismatic and engaging, coercing us to play with her even from across the room. "Here's a toy for you, and a giant smile to go with it! But you'll have to come to me to get it, I won't come to you!" And we virtually always do. Because, after all, she's our baby.

A Fairy Happy Birthday After All!

The other day, as Kalina and I were talking about the fact that she would soon be six years old (something we've discussed a lot lately), I told her that a lot of times, people act all the different ages at different times. So a 100-year-old might act like a 0-year-old if she screams and whines and fusses like a baby, or a 5-year-old might act like a 100-year-old if she shows wisdom and patience. And everything in between. (Never mind that Mommy sometimes acts much closer to 0 than 100. But I am closer to 0 than 100!)


And on Kalina's birthday, she not only turned six, but also 100 if you take into account her positive attitude when the big fairy birthday party we had planned for the day had to get postponed due to a particularly virulent stomach virus that visited her mom overnight. If there's anything worse than missing your oldest's sixth birthday and causing her party to be rescheduled, it's being that six-year-old. Poor Kalina! We'd worked on it, planned for it and looked forward to it all month and in a broader sense, since Christmas! But I saw nothing but smiles on my sweet girl's face as she celebrated anyway and made the best of her day.

Thank goodness Kalina had Elise to
help her celebrate! Elise put a lot of
thought into the gift, wrapping and
card. But I'm pretty sure that Elise,
herself, is the best gift.

I think when you're six, having it be your own special day might be all you need to put a smile on your face, but we came up with a few special things that helped. Gifts, for one! By the end of the day, Kalina was surrounded by plenty of new favorites: an enchanting Lego castle and an adorable Lego puppy, the Playmobil penguins she'd been asking for for months, a lovely fairy set from Elise, a Kirsten American Girl doll she adores and plenty more. Sometimes we wonder if she's spoiled (probably) but judging by her sincere, ecstatic, unprompted thank-yous all around, for everything from beautiful, sparkly cards to every gift, she's not so spoiled that she takes it for granted. Kalina even went the extra step to ask who each gift was from so she could say thank-you to that person. Par for the course if you're 100, I imagine, but above-and-beyond the six-year-old crowd.

Daddy also picked up McDonald's for lunch and made his special pancakes for supper. He allowed lots of sweets for both big girls, and let them help him construct a praying mantis cage for all his baby praying mantises that magically hatched on Kalina's special day (seriously, everything natural Matt touches turns to gold!). The true hero, he did this while managing the baby and doing the dishes, seeing as I was completely, painfully useless and napped on and off for several hours--probably my first nap in years.

Opening penguins from
Aunt Nancy

A true picture of graciousness, Kalina let her little sisters help with her presents (and play with them), even downplaying her own new Littlest Pet Shop set so that Elise would feel better about her own, and not be so jealous. I never heard a word about rescheduling the party, or about how I could only make a short appearances throughout the day, even when Kalina blew out six candles on her celebratory ice-cream sundae (having had a cupcake earlier in the day).

Six!!! How did it happen? As all good things, very slowly. At times I'm astounded at the sweet, smart, confident, imaginative, patient, attentive and responsible person Kalina has become. She's utterly devoted to her little sisters (although she can barely keep herself from tickling them to pieces), she builds Lego creations far more creative than anything I've ever put together and all last week she walked happily into VBS without looking back--no anxiety, no problems. She follows rules (often) and is still able to be quite silly, just as a six-year-old should. Kalina tries new things with more confidence than she's ever had, makes new friends, and  is beginning to really think beyond herself to help out and do the right thing. Case in point:

Kalina and the newest
member of our family.

At the library the other day:
Kalina: Mommy, can one of us hold the DVD on the way home?
Me, while holding my breath: If you two can reach an agreement about who gets to hold it, then sure. If not, I'll hold it. (Knowing that stakes are high--last time someone wanted to hold a DVD the results were disastrous, albeit very educational for both girls.)
Kalina and Elise square off, and I can sense Elise tensing (I am, too).
Kalina: Elise, you can hold the DVD on the way home. I want to do the nice thing.
Librarian, whispering to me: Is she for real?
And after that, I of course let them watch some of it while I made lunch.

In fact, I've noticed that when Kalina is in a good mood--and I'd say that's most of the time, unless she's sick or stressed--the whole household is sunnier. She can, and usually does, make our whole day.

Kalina wanted an ice-cream sundae
for her birthday treat. Thank goodness
she's "only" turning six or it would've
been ice-cream soup!

At six, Kalina is reading simple easy readers (and birthday cards!), manipulating numbers in her head, telling time to the half hour, counting small amounts of change and identifying all the coins, very knowledgeable about the world around her (the other day the girls were discussing the difference between a damselfly and a dragonfly), beginning to understand her place in history and asking great questions to learn more. She can mostly recite Psalm 23 and she knows the details many Bible stories better than I do. Her memory is astounding--she can remember events from her toddlerhood, and remembers details I don't about events that happened years ago. And she does not feel six yet, but I imagine she will by this time next year.

Kalina still adores crafts, drawing without hesitation (this was a long time coming, but we are there!), cutting, gluing and generally creating whatever her heart desires. She can sew buttons, make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and feed the baby. She's proud of the fact that she can climb a tree on the golf course, she'll happily perform on the piano for you (a song she's made up or one from her music books) and she's really good at digging for, and finding, worms and other critters, showing little fear except toward bees (and she's been stung twice, so I can't really blame her). She is still much, much, much more likely to pretend that a soccer ball is an egg about to hatch than to kick it back and forth, but she does enjoy her scooter.

Lisa (a.k.a. Lamby) is still Kalina's best friend, and now usually gets to wear clothes, which are changed for all the big occasions and especially the lamb's own birthday, which is celebrated at least weekly. And so Kalina, as with most kids at this age, thrives on keeping one foot firmly in the imaginary even while taking on more of the "real." May it ever be so.

_______

Julia, Lilly, Lily, Madeline, Lydia,
Molly, Kalina, Hayley, Elise, Choe.
Not pictured: Lucy, Anna

The fairy party finally happened, and it was everything we'd hoped it would be! Kalina and I had spent several really fun late bedtimes (her bedtime, not mine) creating paper mushrooms, a giant sunflower and "fairy bread" together, in addition to invitations I wish I'd taken pictures of because they garnered more compliments than I'd ever heard of an invitation receiving. Kalina stenciled a fairy on the front of each, and we filled in the information on the back. According to several moms at different times and places, the guests thought Kalina's stenciled fairies were very inspiring. And I have to agree.

Sometimes I do wonder if
they're for real. Other times,
not so much.

Despite all of Kalina's help, or possibly because of it, I wanted to be sure the party had some magic in store for her. And it did! First, the fairies arrived: Kalina got her own set of six pretty plastic fairies to live in the fairy house she would be painting. Meanwhile, the guests got to each search for their own fairy in the front yard on their way in. Elise, being the Birthday Girl's Sister (and mostly since I didn't want to try to monitor her outside and finish the party setup inside at the same time), got to search ahead of time and, to her utter delight, managed to find one of the fairy queens. Yay for Elise, who held up relatively well considering the peculiar combination of activity and jealousy that meet at an older sibling's birthday party.

Everybody arrived at the same time, pretty much, about 15 seconds after I deemed myself "ready enough for a party." That was a close one, possibly because Miss Naomi decided it'd be a great day to have trouble falling asleep for afternoon nap, and then short-napping (in all fairness, she's had an otherwise easy week).

We dove right in to painting fairy houses, which Matt had crafted out of wood weeks before. They were every bit as much of a hit as he'd hoped--the fairies fit in perfectly (each girl tested) and they painted up beautifully.

Next, we had face painting, a fairy dress-up, a photo booth, and a mini "fairyland" for the kids to play in, with and around. Which pretty much resulted in a constant stream of high-decibel, high-volume chatter for the next 30-ish minutes, and girls with various combinations of wings, tutus, wands and flowery crowns running back and forth. Cute.

Can fairies grant their own
wishes or do they need
candles?

 Then it was time for food. Our little fairies had worked up quite an appetite, and wolfed down "fruit wands," "fairy bread" and "magic mushrooms" in a matter of minutes. Maybe they were just excited about the cupcakes--which truly were something to be excited about, as they were fancy and from a store since I just didn't have a fresh batch of cupcakes in me (after all, I was recovering from a nasty stomach virus).

Being fancy and from a store, the cupcakes were stacked with purple icing, much to Elise's delight. What was not so great, however, is that shortly after her first bite, her icing managed to slide off the rest of her cupcake, taking the top portion of the cake itself with it. Not cool to a tired, jealous Birthday Girl Sister who had been fixated on birthday treats all day long. Not cool at all. In a quick, easy solution, the broken cupcake became mine and a new treat was dished up to the nearly hysterical child. Whew, solved that problem!

Elise's best fairy face.

Until her second cupcake somehow landed top-down on the chair next to her. Another mom was already kindly handing the again hysterical child a third cupcake (and who knows how that one would have met its demise?) when I managed to convince Elise that a spoon would, in fact, be a good idea. I also somehow managed to get her back onto the first cupcake, and she ate up every bite. Poor girl.

And finally, it was time for presents! A huddle of girls watched in rapt attention as Kalina opened everything from real fabric butterfly wings she could wear, to various craft activities, to a kitty purse. Kalina, nearly beside herself with delight at each gift, managed lots of unprompted, enthusiastic thank-yous. The difference a year makes!

After a little playtime with the new gifts, it was time for all the fairies to fly home. Kalina spent the next full 24 hours not quite sure what she wanted to do next, faced with so many options she even remarked at one point, "I'm bored" (she actually wasn't, just crippled by indecision).

Elise's ego is healing up nicely, aided by the generosity of Big Sister, who would often rather make new craft and Lego projects for her little sister than for herself, and who gave her a baby fairy left over from the party.

Naomi, by the way, spent the duration of the party safely with Grandpa, who worked his darndest to make sure she never felt the need for Mommy the entire time. In support of Big Sister, however, she wore her tutu and matching rainbow shirt.

The "behind-the-scenes" work
that made this party possible!

Big sisters

Prettier than Grandpa's roses!

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

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

Elise's favorite activity at
Grandpa's house.

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

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

A pair of scientists.

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

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

Naomi could do this all day!

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

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

Kalina and Naomi playing happily.

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

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

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

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

_____________

Some cute things the big girls have said lately:

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

We raised tadpoles! And are about to
release them.

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

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

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

Squish, squish, yum!

All about Naomi:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Friends from Durham visited!