Tricks and treats!

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

My tricky trio!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Also:

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

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

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

Our sweet butterfly! I love
her resourcefulness!

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

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

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

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

Naomi wanted her picture
taken by the door, too.

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

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

Naomi wanted a glow stick,
too.

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

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

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

Naomi's trick: raiding the treat bowl!

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

The view from the back of the head

Our beautiful fall hike!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Elise and I on her
field trip!

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

At the Omaha Zoo
Aquarium!

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

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

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

In August, Naomi
appreciates the help!

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

Elise's twirling dress.

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

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

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


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

Now can we open presents? How about now?

A princess under the sea.

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

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

Elise is very loved!

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

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

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

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

Me and my middlest, as captured by
photographer Kalina.

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

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

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

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

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

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

A birthday girl waiting for her
guests to arrive.

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

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

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

The guests are here!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Birthdays are always happier
with your sister next to you.

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

The presents. Elise's patience was well
rewarded

Mini-Vacationing

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The princesses consult with the
queen herself!

A ride fit for a king!

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!