The "Beach" Trip

Lake Michigan. Ballet pose.

Elise does not keep it a secret that she would like to visit a beach someday  immediately. And she means the real thing--the pool won't do. "But I want to collect shells there, Mommy!" And she knows the difference between a lake and an ocean. She wants the real deal.

"Mommy, can we please go to the beach tomorrow?"
"For my birthday, I want to go to the beach!"
"Oops, Mommy, turn around! The beach is that way!"
"Oh no, Mommy! You left your purse at the beach!"

Lighthouse. Can you spot
Uncle Tom at the top? All
three girls were okay with
Uncle Tom while Matt and I
dashed to the top as well!

Elise used to believe that once she'd arrived at the beach she could swim out with a net and capture a pet clownfish and a pet seahorse to bring home and keep, an idea that is farfetched not only because seahorses and clownfish don't typically venture to the surf--the child can't swim (she kind of thinks she can, though).

[She also thinks she can fly: The other day, "Mommy, I flew a little!" she exclaimed after running and flapping her arms. And she's convinced she can catch a fairy if only her plan is elaborate enough. But I digress...]

We are not going to the real ocean this summer (maybe next, or the one after?), but we got about as close as you can when we visited Uncle Tom in Wisconsin last weekend when we all went to Lake Michigan. The Great Lake didn't disappoint--although it can be docile, it gave Elise quite the show with ocean-like waves underneath sunny skies. She even found a shell! Just one, and it broke (we won't mention any names, but rest assured, she remembers...), but there were more at the lighthouse we visited later, and any prior shell accidents were well compensated. The beach day ended with chocolate milk and lots of fried things. Yum.

Hiking!

Of course, the rest of the Wisconsin trip was nothing to sneeze at (an expression that can send all three girls into a fit of giggles). We visited a windmill and a cute coffee shop where the big girls got their own table, we hiked at a state park, we swam at a lesser beach that was still tons of fun, we visited some friends, we played games and we even survived the loss of power on our first night in due to a violent thunderstorm.

And we saw Uncle Tom! His house was the most beautiful the girls had ever seen, his food the tastiest (he has chocolate milk, too!), his jokes the funniest. Plus he'd do just about anything the girls thought to dare him to, a discovery that will not be lost on them during future visits. It was magical.

The car rides were not magical, but they were mostly livable, and Naomi took her first nap of the trip on the way home. That particular part of the journey would've been much less livable if she hadn't.

Back at home, the girls still perk up every time they hear the word "lake" or "Michigan," and they're dying to go back. Mommy and Daddy kind of are, too...

Ballet pose again, on a hike.

It was really bright at the top of the
windmill!

This is Kalina's "I'm having lots of fun!" look.

Really bright up here, and yes, Elise was actually allowed to stand on the blade.

Windmill! And Naomi is letting Uncle Tom hold her!

This is why the kids have an uncle: so they can pummel him. He was a good
sport. This was our Saturday beach--not Lake Michigan but almost as fun.

Elise learns that she can actually put her feet in
the giant lake/ocean thing in front of her. Whoah!

We found a cool "tide pool," as Elise decided. Almost the ocean!

Somebody stacked all these rocks, and Naomi only knocked down a couple!

We had a table by the lake, and Kalina dared Uncle Tom to climb a tree. He almost made it!

Do you think she'll float?

Chasing Lake Michigan's
rather impressive waves!

Naomi was scared of the sand and the surf and probably just tired at naptime on her third day with no nap. I was totally content to veg with her a while.

Somehow we managed to get this shot without the hoards of people who are also enjoying Lake Michigan on this beautiful day.

The land bridge to the lighthouse. Great views and handfuls of tiny shells, plus it was cool that we had to wade through in the middle.

Sighting danger, or surveying
the future? Either way, Uncle
Tom is on top of the world.

Say woof if you love birthdays!

A woof-woof cake!

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

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

The celebrating committee!

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

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

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

Birthday morning

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

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

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

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

Naomi knew exactly what to
do.

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

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

Just me and these dogs and my doggie
shirt!

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

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

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

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

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

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

Watching doggies dive, jump, catch and
look cute!

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

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

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

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

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

She's seven: Kalina's birthday journey!

"Best birthday ever!" Kalina decided.

One way you can tell your child is growing up is by their birthday plans. Last year, we enjoyed a fun and fantastical fairy party with Kalina. This year, Kalina didn't want a party, and wanted few gifts. She simply hoped to spend time with family and enjoy a treat or two on her special day. Possibly a trip to the zoo for the family, and a Mommy-Kalina date, and she'd kindly send Elise to the candy store so she'd get to celebrate separately, but equally. How thoughtful! How lovely! How...seven? Are they all this grown up?

Although Kalina had admitted she was "starting to get excited about presents," they weren't her focus. Case in point:
Me: Elise, would you rather be rich or famous?
Elise: Famous, so then everyone would look at me! (And Elise flashes one of her dazzling, "life is grand and a bit funny, isn't it?" smiles.)
Me: Kalina, how about you? Rich or famous?
Kalina: Neither. I feel like I already have too much stuff, and I don't want people to look at me.

Whoah. I didn't try to argue her out of it, of course ("But if you were rich, you could give all the money away!"), and instead marveled at the amazing girl growing up in my house.

The paper-making kit looks
really fun!

But Kalina did have a few "wants" for her birthday--namely, a pinata and a pet. She really wants a dog or a cat, but understands, in her seven-year-old way, that dream will have to wait.(The pinata, however, is planned for Uncle Tom's visit, because what's more fun than Uncle Tom and a pinata?)

Her most favorite want, however, was to see Grandma and Grandpa for her birthday. And sometimes in life, things just work out. As it happened, we were already planning a trip to meet Grandma and Grandpa in Iowa, and one day that happened to work perfectly was June 28: Kalina's special day. How could we not? We made the plan, and then made the journey with our ecstatic still-six-year-old.

The bigs packed their own suitcases, and also helped as gopher, finder, checker, baby watcher and many other odd jobs as we got ready for the big day. Mommy was inspired by the Laura Ingalls Wilder books we'd been reading (if Laura and Mary can do it, so can my girls!), and the girls were actually happy to help. Setting off on a Saturday morning, Matt and I discussed in the first hour how we could picture taking more, and longer trips soon. What fun we were having! Kids happily entertaining themselves, new scenery all around, and a rare opportunity to actually converse with few distractions.

Rainbow Magic books hand-picked by
an attentive Elise!

The rest of the six-hour drive, however, Naomi and I spent in intense negotiations deciding how much time, exactly, Mommy would spend sitting beside her in the backseat. She won. Naomi at this time also started chanting "Home, home" and never really stopped until we pulled into the driveway once again (she did have a fun trip, though). Kalina, on the other hand, happily dug into a stack of Rainbow Magic books we checked out from the library, and Elise led the cheer for "Snack! Snack!" every thirty minutes, and occasionally busied herself with an activity book or general Elise chatter.

We arrived with plenty of time to play: we were staying with some friends, including a sweet one-year-old who was a bit afraid of us. By the end of the trip, gentle Kalina had patiently and kindly coaxed the girl into a little friendship. In the meantime, Naomi claimed all the toys, Kalina doted on the dog and Elise did the monkey bars in the backyard all by herself for the first time! Go Elise! And although Naomi wasn't thrilled with our delicious dinner ("If it's not blueberries, I won't eat it.") and even less so with her pack and play, she went right to sleep, being about as tired as a one-year-old who missed a nap.

Kalina's birthday dawned through thunderclouds, but the whole family woke with sunshine in our eyes as we dove right in to celebrations. Our hosts were kind enough to supply Kalina with "birthday cereal" (Lucky Charms), and the birthday girl opened a bejeweled yellow dress that was almost as radiant as our little seven-year-old herself. Kalina and Elise happily chattered about their marshmallow charms, even donating a couple to Naomi (who somehow knew they wouldn't taste like cauliflower) as they eagerly anticipated seeing Grandma and Grandpa within the next hour or two and swimming in their hotel pool.

After the pool. If you look
closely, you can see that
Naomi's eyes are actually
open. They will remain that
until bedtime.

Soon enough, we were there! We spent the morning paddling around (Kalina even tried the hot tub), playing with a favorite game from Kalina's preschool days (Don't Break the Ice) and generally having a lovely birthday. Then we picked up sandwiches and headed to Living History Farms, where Kalina hoped to milk a cow or hold a baby chick.

Next to Grandma and Grandpa, sheep
were some of the most exciting
parts of Kalina's birthday.

The farm always has surprises in store, and rarely disappoints. No cows needed milking and no baby chicks needed cuddling, but a couple half-grown lambs were willing to be chased and petted, much to Kalina's delight. She and Elise did that for a while and fed chickens grass, and those activities did the trick to make it a lovely day on the farm. Kalina also had the privilege of performing her current piano favorite on a pump organ.

Dairy Queen, at the birthday girl's
request!

Our next stop was Dairy Queen (Kalina's choice) where the bigs both confidently and immediately ordered chocolate ice cream with M&Ms (Elise) or Oreo's (Kalina). And then we were off to a favorite park for presents and playtime.

Despite the fact that Kalina was more excited about spending a special day than unwrapping gifts, she was plenty happy with the craft activities, books, scooter and pet coupon she received for her birthday. Special thanks to Elise, who had thoughtfully remembered and chosen the exact Pet Fairies books Kalina was hoping for.

After a farewell to the grandparents, who were making the trek home that night, we brought weary and weepy kids to the nearest McDonald's and ordered a trio of Happy Meals. Somewhat tragically, the meal that Kalina was most looking forward to all day proved to be almost too much. Too tired (and sad, already missing Grandma and Grandpa, and full, having stuffed herself with ice cream) to eat much more than a few fries and a solitary chicken nugget, she contented herself with putting together her toy. The Happy Meal was much more of a Melancholy Meal, but it still counted.

Kalina was cheered up by the sweet little toddler awaiting her at the house, and we were soon calling it a birthday night. No-Nap Naomi fell asleep almost as soon as her head nestled into the pack-and-play mattress, and her big sisters soon followed her to dreamland.

Elise is a little bit scared of the buffalo,
but Kalina is more concerned with
making sure her kitten is in the picture.

The next day dawned sunny all around, and we were quickly off to meet Uncle David and Aunt Debbie at a prairie reserve nature center. The highlight of our visit was Kalina's series of impromptu prairie puppet shows, which had just the right balance of prairie wildlife and humor (a bird busily babysitting three nestfuls of hungry birds while the parents were at a party, a frog jumping away from a coyote, a buffalo and a coyote duking it out, and more!). The girls enjoyed spotting real buffalo out the picture window, and seeing some of the wildlife we'd been reading about in Little House on the Prairie.

A happy birthday cake
from Aunt Debbie!

We had lunch at a beautiful park where Kalina detected and uncovered a nest of squeaking baby rodents (mice? gophers?), and then we visited Uncle David and Aunt Debbie's apartment. After a brief rest time (even Naomi, who managed to sleep for 30 minutes alongside Matt!), Aunt Debbie served Kalina a lovely birthday cake and we celebrated once more.

Then another park, dinner, another park and it was time for bed. Our trip was mostly over, and we headed for home the next day, Kalina contentedly digging into the dozens of Rainbow Magic fairy stories she had at her fingertips, Elise continuing to remind us about snacks and Naomi utterly refusing to nap, but not crying too much. All in all, it was a lovely birthday vacation!

And what a lovely birthday girl! Kalina is growing sweeter and more responsible by the day, although she retains just enough mischief and forgetfulness to remind us that she's still a kid--and thank goodness!

Kalina's two favorite
puppet-show characters.

Kalina can pick out a tune by ear on the piano, add and subtract two-digit numbers (usually), make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and scrambled eggs, doggie paddle, get to know new acquaintances, recite verses from memory, find her way home from across the neighborhood and sometimes across town, point out homonyms, talk knowledgeably about plants and geography, sew an entire project all by herself and write a letter to her penpal, with only a little help with spelling. She loves the arts and continues to make up songs, in addition to humming along with the Sound of Music and other favorites. She also makes up her own craft projects alongside Elise, and dances lovely ballet even though she only had a few months of lessons. She keeps her bed neatly made (most of the time) and knows how to clean much of the bathroom, although I only make her and Elise do it when I'm both short on time and in possession of plenty of patience (which sounds like an oxymoron, but it doesn't have to be).

Kalina played a pump
organ!

Our seven-year-old still resides in her own little world much of the time, but still doesn't like to be too far away from the inhabitants of this world. Lisa, the lamb that's been with her forever, is her best friend. She thinks that snorting like a pig is funny, as are mooing and sneezing, which I really don't get. Kalina has developed the ability to do things she doesn't want to without (much) complaining, handle disappointment, tackle challenges like drawing a panda, push through frustration without coming completely undone (sometimes), see the bigger picture and delay gratification. She's a pro at waiting patiently, and thinks her little sisters are absolutely adorable, pointing out cute photos of Elise and Naomi rather than herself when we go through the album. She enjoys being the oldest, sometimes in secretive cahoots with Mommy to help make sure the littles are taken care of, and she giggles importantly whenever we're developing an elaborate plan to distract Naomi from the pincushion she's been eyeing, for example, or make sure Elise doesn't feel upset when she can't draw a person quite as well as Kalina can. She thinks it's hilarious (and rightly so) to make up a "moral of the story" for the board books she reads to Naomi.

Naomi's new friend: Aunt
Debbie!

Speaking of little ones, she can be unusually gentle and patient with them, and would often rather spend time with a 1- or 2-year-old than with their older siblings. Kalina has kind words and pats for all the neighborhood dogs, and even some sympathy for the neighborhood creepy crawlies (although not always). A favorite act of charity is to gather sticks from the yard, place them on the front of our driveway, and sidewalk-chalk a note that they're free for dogs.

Kalina is generally quiet and even-keeled, but can very easily turn loud and goofy (sometimes too loud and goofy). We're working on time management (reading has been a setback, as getting lost in a book is much more fun than brushing your teeth), responding, and a few other skills that can too often be forgotten by introverts and dreamers.

Kalina's favorite foods are pancakes, watermelon and all kinds of treats. She enjoys salad and the cheese sauce we put on broccoli, and loves to chow down on peanut butter and jelly or fish sticks for lunch. She also relishes pasta, tacos, cheese pizza and hot dogs, but a surprising new favorite is schnitzel with noodles (thanks, Maria). She's lost her love for blueberries, but makes up for it in cherries. Her favorite color is pink, and then purple, but she usually changes every couple of months. She's happiest when she's quietly expressing herself through crafts, music and even cooking projects, spending time with those she loves and digging around in nature. Plus reading her beloved Rainbow Magic series, of course.

Naomi also loved playing
"throw Grandpa's new golf
ball!"

One of Kalina's favorite expressions is and awe-filled "Beautiful!" when confronted with various jeweled, flowery and glittery creations at stores or at home. She has good taste in art and music alike, and can recognize advertising when she sees it: "Mommy," she whispers in Target, so no other customers overhear and feel bad, "Look, those signs are advertising! They want us to buy all that stuff we don't really need!" Smart girl.

But Kalina is not entirely grown up. Although she let a lot of her stuffies get stashed in the basement a couple months ago, and much of her allowance goes toward purchasing additional stuffies for her expanding collection. That is fine by me--and I'm a little bit glad that eight is a long, amazing year away.

Happy birthday, sweet Kalina!

Daddy home?

While the big girls were at
camp, Naomi and I played
peekaboo behind a tree!

 "Daddy home?"
Spend any amount of time lately with Naomi, and you'll hear these words.
"Daddy home? Soon?"

What a cute little questioning voice, raising slightly at the end to indicate a question (she's not quite a grammarian yet, and must rely on tonal inflections). What a sweet sentiment! The 1-year-old misses her daddy.

It begins shortly after he walks out the door for work in the morning.

"Daddy home?" Naomi queries, looking at the rest of us through sparkling eyes to see if we laugh because she means it as a joke this time. She hasn't always meant it as a joke, though--and in fact, at first it was nothing short of a tragedy if the answer was "no." I tell her that she's silly, and that of course Daddy isn't home, he left for work! We have a good chuckle, and then continue with breakfast.

After breakfast the inevitable happens. Naomi gets a little bit hurt. She's crying, and through her tears wonders:

And why do they want Daddy home so
much? Look what he let them do!

"Daddy home?" It's not quite so cute and high-pitched this time--more of a sob, of course. The poor girl is hurting, physically or emotionally, or both, and apparently only a hug from Daddy can soothe the affliction. Naomi is not happy with the negative answer, but soon is demanding a consolation prize in her distressed state: "'lise hug! Nini hug!" and her sisters are happy to oblige. Naomi cheers up.

"Daddy home?" She asks again a little while later and looks around expectantly. We're in the middle of getting dressed, frustratingly not much closer to her beloved parent's already much-anticipated arrival than we were last time. When I remind her that he's not, she wonders if it'll be "Soon?" I let her down as easy as I can: "He'll be home at supper."

Kalina composed her own
music!

The toddler is blessedly distracted for a while by dropping off the bigs at their summer camps. While they learn circus skills (Elise) and craft with fabric (Kalina), Naomi and I are enjoying "Mommy camp," in which we take advantage of all the sweet little toddler play places that Kalina and Elise are mostly too old for. I get to revel in precious and innocent young toddlerdom, and Naomi gets some brand-new experiences because sadly, she has never gotten to attend baby storytime at the library even though she's now almost aged out of it. She is a pro at baby storytime, by the way, and was joining in the fingerplays and sharing toys like she's been doing it her whole life (but maybe she has?).

"Daddy home?" Naomi brings up the topic again as we're on our way to collect her big sisters. Fortunately, since we're not home either, I know she can't get too upset and she's simply making conversation in the car. "No, Sweetie," I remind her again. "Where's Daddy?" "Work!" she proclaims. "When will he be home?" She really does know the answer, now if only she had an actual concept of time: "Supper." But she goes on--after all, we're stuck in the car so we might as well chat. "Nini home?" "Kalina's at camp." "'lise home?" "Elise is at camp, too!" And now she gets silly: "Mommy home?" the girl says with a smile in her voice. "Silly Naomi! Mommy's in the car with you!" Sometimes she goes on asking about various family members, including Poky (especially Poky), or sometimes she loops back to Daddy again. But no amount of asking will bring him home. Fortunately, we soon arrive at camp, and we can bring the big girls home with us, and a certain level of order is restored in the sweet toddler's mind.

Elise found Ice Cream Sundae
at a garage sale for 25 cents.
I paid because I knew there
would have to be sharing, and
because we clearly couldn't
leave her behind--not with the
smile on Elise's face, anyway.

"Daddy home?" Groggily, just waking up from her nap, Naomi remembers her question before her head has left the tummy of Pink Puppy. It's often the first thing she says when she wakes up. If it's a Friday in the summer and Daddy isn't running errands, I might be able to triumphantly answer, "Yes, he is!" but that is not usually the case. But she's usually happy enough to cuddle with me a few minutes before we head downstairs for the afternoon's activity.

"Daddy home?" The poor girl is frustrated: her sister is playing with a toy she'd like to be playing with. "Daddy home" is more of a demand this time: "Either I want the blue and pink car to ride on, or I want Daddy!" But we must all learn to take turns, whether we're sharing a car with a sister or Daddy with his job. Naomi usually figures out that when she asks nicely for a turn ("Turn please?") and waits until the sister hops off, she can at least secure the car; Daddy takes a little more patience, but at least doesn't require a "please."

"Daddy home?" We're heading home from the library, and Naomi is just wondering. Maybe she can sense that the glorious time is getting close. "Sorry, Sweetie, not quite yet." "Aw. Soon?" "Yes, soon! At supper time!"

Naomi has company
watching for Daddy.

"Daddy home?" We've walked in the door, and Naomi is hopeful. "No, but soon!" Unfortunately, Naomi takes "soon" to mean "his car is pulling in the driveway as we speak!" She dashes off to the door. I open it so she can look through the screen door, and she's content to stand there a bit and watch other cars drive past, knowing that soon one will turn into the driveway, and it'll be the right car.

"Daddy home?" Naomi has been watching for a full five minutes, it's been too long without Daddy, and she's bored. She can't handle another "no" answer, but she has to. Naomi starts to fall to pieces. We put her back together, and she wanders off to read library books on the recliner ("The end! Yay!") or cook dinner for Pink Puppy, momentarily distracted.

Until the moment when we hear the front door open...

"Daddy home!!!" And then there's the pitter patter of at least one pair of little feet, and sometimes an entire stampede, as Daddy is welcomed home probably more enthusiastically than is always enjoyable, but he takes it all in stride.

Mother's Day!

All is well in the house. Daddy is home, as is the rest of the family. And while you'd expect Naomi to glue herself to him the rest of the evening, she doesn't, actually. Sometimes, she's even a mommy's girl.

The Art Show

Kalina with "My
Chinese Fan" (bottom)

I think one of the many pleasures of being a little girl (because Kalina still is, really) is that you see beauty everywhere. And then you think you can create it--and in many cases you can. The other times, you might get super-upset, crumple your paper and throw your pencil across the room, but that's beside the point, and more likely to happen during spelling assignments than art, for the most part.

At any rate, we've long known that Kalina's sense of beauty tends to bypass frilly dresses and instead show up when she's admiring spring flowers (even the weeds), gorgeous classical music or cursive writing. She has remarkably good taste.

Which is why when the opportunity to participate in a homeschool art show presented itself, I asked Kalina if she'd like to. Her "yes" answer brought with it fresh inspiration to create new art, as well as a discriminating look at some projects she'd done throughout the year. She settled on two pieces inspired by our beloved around the world study, which we prepared and entered.

"My Chinese Fan" was created during a study of China, after we used Google to look at the breathtaking Chinese landscape watercolor paintings you can find on the handy-dandy Internet. We used extra-long paper, then fan-folded our finished and dried work. I will always remember this project because Naomi participated, and Elise's fan turned out lovely, too. Kalina's shows a flowing river, fish, flying birds, a footbridge, trees, bushes and mountains in the distance and I was quite impressed.

Kalina and "Northern
Lights" and her little
sister/associate art
critic.

Kalina painted "Northern Lights" as we explored Norway and after using YouTube to take us on a tour of some spectacular displays caught on video. She was immediately enchanted, and again used watercolors (her favorite medium) to show her impressions using a rather nice hand-picked color palette. Elise also did a picture, and they all turned out nicely (how could they not?). We matted Kalina's picture, then she insisted on painting the mat brown to look like a frame. Which totally made sense to me, I suppose.

In further preparation, we speculated about how many people would enter the show, and the likelihood of receiving a prize. We'd recently read Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which helped us put this potential "golden-ticket moment" in perspective. Did Kalina think she'd win? I casually inquired. "I don't really think I'll win a prize," my little realist reasoned. I continued the same vein of questioning later: was she excited for the show? "Yes, I'm so excited that I could win a first-prize ribbon!" It seems we had just the right combination of realism and fantasy. And I had my hopes up for her. The only challenge remaining would be to temper my hopes and help Kalina (and myself) enjoy the event, win or lose.

On the night of the show, Kalina donned her best pocket dress and sparkly gold shoes, put Lisa in her best Easter dress and even refrained from putting up a fuss about brushing her hair. We were all excited to see Kalina's artwork on display!

Kalina was given a ballot to vote in the artists' choice award. She'd get to pick a winner from each grade level, and yes, she could vote for herself (although she almost didn't!).

As we approached the kindergarten work, I briefly wondered if we'd accidentally stumbled upon third grade. Large-scale collages, bright paintings and drawings better than my own met my eyes. Whoa, these kids are good! Or assisted...

And my heart sank as we headed to first grade: Among a few show-stoppers, Kalina's watercolors seemed sweetly pale in comparison. I was glad to see that my little girl at least enjoyed seeing her artwork displayed, and seemed every bit as interested in other kids' art as she was in her own. I gave up hope of Kalina winning a prize amid the semi-professional 6-year-old creations and moved along with the girls through the rest of the show while Matt managed Naomi in the crowd. I also mentally prepared my strategy for consoling a heartbroken young girl when she walked out ribbonless, and for convincing her that the evening wasn't wasted.

Kalina gave all the artwork careful and gracious consideration (rushing only through the last of the photography, as her capacity for enjoying art became depleted), most often voting for flowers and pretty pictures or sculptures, including an oven-bake-clay nativity, a graceful ballerina paper sculpture, and several flower photos. Many of her choices won prizes. She also bypassed the sole cake entry (cakes are art, and thank goodness I managed to get Elise away before she could sneak a tiny fingerful of that particular work of art) to vote for a butterfly picture instead. Elise, on the other hand, vocally voted for any artwork with any sea animal theme, in addition to her very enthusiastic (loud) bid for the cake. It's a good thing she couldn't spell, or she would've seen that I'd written Kalina's choice instead--Elise watched me very carefully, but didn't find any grounds to contest the fact that "cake" doesn't, in fact, have nine letters in it.

Then Elise pulled us through the refreshments line, eagerly claiming a large cupcake as her own, and we joined Matt and Naomi with full plates to wait for the prizes to be awarded. And wait, and wait. The room was stuffy, the wait was long and three little girls approaching their bedtime needed to run around outside. So we did for a bit while Matt saved our seats.

When the awards ceremony began, the speaker made all the kids promise, out loud and in unison, to be okay if they didn't receive a prize ribbon. They would all receive a participant ribbon (Kalina perked up and smiled, and I quickly and quietly made sure she felt okay about walking up to the front to receive it--she said she was), and they all might receive a prize on a different day with different judges, as all the work was beautiful. But not all would receive a big fancy prize ribbon. This was a good reminder for the parents, too, and especially for me and the other mommies in the room. I braced myself.

It was cute to see the kindergartners head to the front to claim their prizes, and I briefly wondered whether I should've entered Kalina as a kindergartner even though she's doing first-grade work and could very well be in first grade. But I think I answered my own question.

Then it was time for the dozen or so first-grade entries to receive their awards. The judges were kind in that they often awarded a couple honorable mentions, even going as far as double first-prizes if it was warranted. And a volunteer was kind enough to follow around the judges and record their comments so that each winning artist would know something about how their artwork was received. The first honorable mention went to a child whose painting made good use of lines and dots, and I knew it couldn't be Kalina's.

Kalina is in the back row with her
artwork and her ribbon!

But the second honorable mention was described as showing the emotions of the artist and making good use of the paper. And then the title "My Chinese Fan" was read, and then Kalina's name, which I didn't even hear, and before I knew it I was ecstatically urging a smiling Kalina out of her seat and up to the front to claim her prize! It took a little urging, but Kalina's not actually one for stage fright, so she confidently made her way through the audience and accepted her ribbon. Her ribbon!!! The first prize she's ever won! A first prize for Kalina (which was an honorable mention)!

The unassuming burgundy ribbon Kalina brought back to her seat validated my parenting, and my whole life up until that point. Honorable mention. The professional judges who know about these things regarded my firstborn's work as worth honoring, and mentioning in a public ceremony. They agreed with me that she is incredible, a work of art herself. We She won!

Plus, I wouldn't spend the ride home trying to convince Kalina that it was just fun to see her work displayed, and others' work and get to vote for other kids. There's always next year...

I was proud of the judges for seeing beyond the bright colors and "I took an art class and this is what my teacher told me to do" artwork and awarding home-grown, simple art that they believed showed something beyond a pretty picture. I was proud of Elise for supporting her big sis even when the evening wasn't about her (at least there were treats), and for only asking to hold a ribbon, not keep it. And I was proud of Kalina and I for winning an award. I mean, Kalina.

I started to notice, though, that I was a bit more excited about the ribbon than Kalina was. I asked her: how did it feel to be up there with your ribbon? "Not too scary," she replied. I haven't been able to get much else out of there other than a smiling "No!" answer to my question about whether she thought she'd win a prize, and a few affirmations that she's proud of herself.

One thing's for sure, and that's that there will be more art. There may be more art shows, and possibly more ribbons, but either way, it sounds like Kalina will continue to be enthralled by the beauty around her, and occasionally capture it in a way that pleases her. And as she moves forward in life, that's really the best prize of all.

Supergirls

We all made kringle to learn about our
Norwegian roots, thanks to Grandpa
Les's kringle-rolling expertise and
 Grandma's ability to track down the
family recipe!

Childhood seems to jump from one trend to the next. Kalina's "animal phase," while at its most intense during her twos and threes when she wouldn't wear a shirt if it didn't have an animal on it, has continued in one form or another, while Elise has officially pronounced herself "not into" dinosaurs anymore, even though they were a really big thing a year ago and were resurrected briefly in February. Phases come and go, and you never know which ones are going to last. Will Elise purchase an ocean and hang out with clownfish as a grownup as she intends? The jury is out--but I will say that if anyone could do it, she could. She has only to learn to put her face in the water...

Am I cute enough yet? How
about now?

Sometimes the girls' trends are very inconvenient. Like beads. You'd think beading would be a fun, easy, developmentally appropriate activity, but then, since you can't keep an eye on them at all times because you have a wild lemur toddler to keep track of, you start noticing that the beads have made their way into every room of the house. Soon there are more, and more, and then there are special ones that we have to go
looking for ("But Mommy, I needed the bumpy purple sparkly bead--this is the bumpy purple not sparkly one!") and then it's gotten Way Out of Hand and Daddy hides them all, even from me presumably so that I can innocently say, "Sorry, Sweetie, I don't know where your beads have gone." Or possibly so that I can't pull them out again in a moment of weakness. And six months later, Mommy is still sucking up the occasional bead in the vacuum. It's not that the girls were reckless--they were actually very deliberate about making their bead families and bead groups and carrying them from room to room as they played and gave the beads names and tours and then never managed to put them away, either because they were too special or because something else happened that was even more special that drew their attention immediately elsewhere (like an empty tissue box they could make into a cage for something--probably beads).

That was a bad trend, but it ended pretty quickly, thanks to Daddy, only to be discovered and pulled out again about a week ago. This time, though, as we're all six months older (with the exception of Mommy, who has aged approximately 2 and a half years), the main activity is sorting beads based on various characteristics into "rooms" in a tackle box. The white ones are marshmallows, the un-fancy colorful ones are medicine, and most of the rest are off limits to anyone actually wanting to do anything with them. And the marbles are a family that gets to play in the beads. This is much better, as I can at least justify all this sorting as pre-math, plus it's been humbling to see that order can come from near-chaos. I reflect on a daily, if not hourly, basis that it's really a good thing that Naomi never puts anything into her mouth--including most food.

Partners in crime: don't they know
Mommy doesn't let them play with
the rug? In their defense, Mommy sends
mixed messages by photographing
before reprimanding.

Other not-so-helpful trends include:
Knock-knock jokes. They could/can tell terrible knock-knock jokes for hours on end.
Very loud mooing (Kalina, followed by Elise, followed by Naomi)
Jumping out from around corners and shouting "boo!" I know I have commented on this before, but it was a doozy.
Hating carseats (Kalina, Naomi)
Hating the high chair (All three at various times)
The 15-minute diaper change (Naomi, and probably Elise)
Clipping hair accessories all around the house (Elise? Kalina? Not sure who our "phantom clipper")
Being scared of everything, or pretending to.
Needing to be the first one into the van every single time and crumpling into a pile of tears if it didn't happen.
Singing the same line of songs a million times in a row (make it stop!!!)

Elise is all set for her
Peppermint Twist ballet/tap
recital!

Then there are the trends that can actually be helpful, like Supergirl. Just who is Supergirl? The strongest, bravest, most capable girl in the world: E-l-i-s-e! Supergirl can do anything! she'll announce while punching the air and probably getting into some sort of offensive stance with her feet (which she must have learned from the boys at preschool).

Supergirl is super enough to shrug it off even when she doesn't get the purple bowl she wanted for her breakfast cereal (it's in the dishwasher), and also if she pinches her finger a little or has to clean up all her sea animals from the bathroom sink. When you're four, this is the stuff of super-powers.

It's...Supergirl! She can carry library bags (for a few minutes, anyway), rescue a little sister in need of a half-grape, buckle her own carseat in under 10 minutes (usually) and memo-read whole Princess Sofia books!

This was a good phase, but it hasn't lasted: not getting the coveted purple bowl nowadays crumbles our sweet 4-year-old, and more so if her 6-year-old sister has snatched it ahead of her. The horror! I miss supergirl sometimes.

What other phases do we run across as we travel this life together, always in the same room and experiencing the same emotions because we just love each other so much?

Angles, all of them.

There's a numbers phase ("Mommy, can I have a googol Goldfish for snack? How about just a billion, then?") and a tying phase, when all kinds of stringy things around the house end up in knots. Also, the "what does 'aghjfkozyu' spell" phase, when it's interesting to hear Mommy try to educate through goofiness. Kalina had a huge "what do you get when you mix blue and orange?" phase, during which she eventually seemed to actually memorize all the color combinations and come out on the other side with decent color sense.

Lately, we've all been greatly enjoying a certain park that has a lake with baby snails. We're there all the time, and no one gets tired of it except for Mommy, who becomes physically exhausted after an hour or two of restraining the toddler from taking a big step in. We also do lots of gymnastics and tricks, frequently hurting each other physically or emotionally in the process (usually on accident, thank goodness, but it needs to stop).

Aside from beading, Elise is currently enjoying her ponies and being nice to her little sister (just a phase?). Kalina can't get enough of her fairy books, of which there are probably a hundred, so it might be a long phase. Fortunately, she's generally happy to read them aloud to Elise, a day I have been looking forward to for about 4 1/2 years. She's also enjoying making things out of dandelions ("Ooh, look! A dandelion!" in the voice that would normally be reserved for fairy spottings).  Kalina, however, is not as "phasey" as she used to be, probably because she's older than she used to be. Her favorite activities are playing with her sisters, flipping through books, ballet and staring off into space thinking deep thoughts.

Naomi is so excited to help
sweep that it's hard to catch
her in a photo!

And since Naomi's whole life is pretty much a phase, here's a run-down of what she's up to:
Naomi now sleeps in until about 6:00, give or take, and loves to engage anyone in chase and other games. We play "boo!" in a much cuter and less antagonistic way than her big sisters do, we play mixed-up animal sounds, we make little jokes and we fill pretend cups at the pretend kitchen in addition to fixing a host of pretend food, such as pizza and toast with honey.

Her favorite book is "Goose," a big book of Mother Goose nursery rhymes with amazing illustrations that she can't get enough of. She's sat through all 50 in one sitting before, and we read through it several times a day, including during diaper changes (anything to get her to sit still, plus I like the illustrations as much as she does). Naomi also briefly enjoyed Pattycake, before preferring Itsy Bitsy Spider, which faded as Little Bunny Foo Foo grew in popularity. She asks for them via hand motion, and occasionally tries to sing along.

Matt caught this giant 65-lb. catfish on
4-lb. line over the course of 3 1/2 hours.
So I suppose he deserves a spot on the
blog. :)

The 20-month-old has been saying her sisters' names for a couple months ("Nina," and "Lees" are her current pronounciations) as well as her own, which is a bit of a mouthful to get out and sounds more accidental than intentional, except I hear it dozens of times a day.

Naomi adores drawing, gluing, cutting and taping like her big sisters (especially Elise, who for a solid month did nothing but craft), and begs to be allowed to stand next to them on one of our craft stools to make her own mini-masterpiece (supervised, of course). She has an awesome grip, already holding writing instruments the right way. Possibly partly from all of her coloring, she has learned a color or two, specifically blue and purple and occasionally red and pink. And she likes drawing pictures of her family that look more like snakes than anything else. Will she take after her daddy in this way?

Grandpa Les spent 6 hours a
day doing this, and Naomi
spent the next week (and
counting!) utterly spoiled.

She also follows in her sisters' footsteps, literally, as they run and dance around the family room and practice gymnastics. And she's adept at taking care of various animal critters and dolls, giving them baths, naps and feedings and regular enough intervals for stuffed friends. On her sunshiney days she's a happy little girl who contentedly and intently plays by herself, but likes to join in other activities as well. On her not-as-sunshiney days she knows how to set her own boundaries (i.e., whine enough to get her way if it's not out of the questions--smart girl!), but generally doesn't fuss for long when some of those boundaries get crossed ("But I LIKED the current state of my diaper!").

Naomi's also become quite a daddy's girl, which is super-sweet, especially on the days she chooses to wake up before any human should be awake. "Daddy!" she cries, and Daddy is officially outvoted, since Mommy is still sleeping off Naomi's first year of life. Annoyed that Daddy has to attend work every day in his "vroom-vroom," she asks about him all day long and toddles as fast as her cute little legs can carry her to the front door when he walks through it.

Naomi will suffer through a
painting shirt for the privilege
of painting. Fortunately, once
she loses herself in her art she
forgets about the shirt.

The girl is pretty amazing at everything, in fact, except eating. We have made progress: she can now tolerate veggies and meats on her plate (she recently graduated to a booster seat), as long as they're not the only thing. She eats tacos with gusto, and still some pureed veggies, but has even started turning down fruits lately. Or, more likely, chewing them up, spitting them out, and insisting that I eat them. Fortunately, she had actually moved up to the 9th percentile at her last doctor visit, at about 19 1/2 lbs.

A few quotes from the past couple months that have cracked me up (yes, they're mostly from Elise: at 4 and in a good mood, she keeps us laughing all day long, and for that we are all grateful!):

Elise: Can I be an eagle, but say "whoo, whoo, whoo?" Then that's what I want to be. So if you hear "whoo, whoo, whoo," you know it's me being an eagle!

Kalina: I thought wars were when people on opposite sides of the country sent mean notes to each other.

Elise: I thought wars were when two sides fought each other inside a fence.

Easter eggs with Uncle Tom!

Naomi: Daddy: Cute! ("Gu!") Mommy: Cute! Kalina: Cute! Elise: Cute! Naomi: Cute!

Elise: Mommy, would you like a cookie, and then you could share some with me?

Elise: Mommy, can Kalina and I split this candy (a Starburst)? We would cut it in half and each get half. And Kalina said that I could have her half. Me: Whose Easter candy did it come from? Elise: Mine. Me: Didn't you already have your Easter treat for the day? Elise: Yes, but we'd split it. And she said I could have hers.

Elise: Mom, it's not too bad being a servant. (While setting the table.)

Uncle Tom: Elise, what kind of bird is on your shirt? Elise: A flamingo, but I don't really consider it a bird. Uncle Tom: Then what is it? Elise: Oh, it's just an animal. Me: Why isn't it a bird, Elise? Elise: Because it's in water, and birds don't really go in water. Me: Is a penguin a bird? Elise: No. Me: How about a duck? Elise: No. Me: Then what are they? Elise: A penguin is just a penguin, and a duck is just a duck.

Kalina and her group examine
the Easter basket in a very
orderly way.

Candy to love, bunny to love,
candy to love...

Poor Naomi in one of her last happy
moments on Easter. And then there
was an ER visit...she is fine, but the
matching dresses will have to wait
until Mother's Day.