Science Lesson

Today we took the girls to the beach, which was of course great fun. They were digging holes and all four of us were working on a sand castle together. Jeremy was digging the trenches and Ava and Lu filled the bucket while I created the towers. It was overcast and Lu got cold pretty fast, but it was fun to do something new as a family. The girls were so cute too! Then Jeremy and I dug holes for the girls to sit in and filled them with water. Both of them thought this was the greatest thing in the world and they loved jumping in them and sitting in the water. Ava, Lu and I went on the Tilt-a-Whirl and I thought Lu was going to puke, but Ava loved it. She has my stomach, I love that kind of thing. Lu is more delicate. Then we went to Sea World. A bit too ambitious for one day, but still fun. Ava loved looking at the sleeping turtles. They were really cool. All of the turtles were asleep! I've never seen a sleeping turtle before. Their eyes are closed and they just sort of float there. They can sleep underwater for up to 5 hours. Crazy. Ava also boldly asked the Education representative about sharks and which ones are dangerous. I was so proud of her for asking questions! That was a cool moment, although she was quite disappointed to learn that Sea World doesn't house many dangerous sharks. When we got home, it was meltdown central. So Lu went to bed (along with Jeremy) and Ava and I stayed up. She is really something. I was counting on her going to bed early too so I could have my wine and chocolate and read or catch up on the Daily Show. No such luck, and good thing too. We went outside and she basically initiated a game of pictionary with the chalk. She would ask me what my favorite thing to draw is and I would draw it while she guessed. Then we switched. She drew spiders every time. A mommy one, a daddy one, and a baby one. The mommy one had eyelashes so we knew it was a girl. So cute! Then she asked me where the sun goes when it sets. I got 2 balls and demonstrated how the earth spins away from the sun, etc. She seemed like she understood, but then asked if the sun goes into the ocean when it sets, so clearly she didn't get it. I explained it again with Tundra (her new big eyed polar bear guy) as he spun while sitting on the "earth". Then she got it. I was so proud of her! Then she asked why things fall and I explained that gravity makes things stick to the earth and that's why when she jumps, she falls back down to the ground. "What does gravity look like?" "Is gravity under the floor?" Such great questions! I am so proud of my little curious budding scientist! Then we read another 2 books and she fell asleep. I must keep reminding myself that just when I want to get her to bed or distract her so I can tend to myself, that is when the good stuff happens. I would have missed it if I had just wanted to veg out and put her to bed when she is just brimming and overflowing with ideas and creativity and imagination. She is just dying to play with me and interact with me and express herself. I sometimes get wrapped up with my own superficial crap, and I must remember that this time is so fleeting, I have to take advantage of every moment! She is an amazing little person! Both of my girls astound me on a daily basis. I am so lucky!

Dang, I suck at updating this blog!

Yikes, it has been 8 months since I last wrote about my sweet, sweet, adorable, infuriating, loveable, maddening, precious, girls. However, I have kept a short diary of a few things they have done over the past few months. 12/14/11- Ava, my mom, Joe, Adrienne, and I went to our annual Christmas tea. Incredible as usual. Ava also wanted to do nothing but be "baby Jesus" in the manger scene. She laid in a basket with the princess tent over her and I had to be Mary and Lucy was always "the prayer". So sweet! 12/30/11- Lucy went pee-pee on the potty for the first time! She since then did not go again until about June, but hey, it was pretty exciting at the time. Also, that night when I was reading "The Island of the Skog" to Ava for bedtime and thinking about how little Lu reminded me of "the skog", Ava blurted out "You think the skog reminds you of Lucy, right?" So weird...psychic child. 12/31/11- Ava reads! Well, in actuality, she memorized "How the Grinch Stole Christmas", but still, quite impressive! She knows nearly every word! After she fell asleep, she also set up Fancy Nancy,the Grinch, and Oscar on the floor with individual blankets. Adorable. 1/4/12- We went to the Museum of Natural History with my mom. The kids both loved it, but it was something of a challenge for mom and I. As far as checking on Ava at night goes, I never know what I will find in her room when I check on her. She had a basket, guys, and a tree house, all in bed with her. She also had a ball playing "teeny tiny ghost" in the princess tent. She was the teeny tiny ghost and I was the other ghosts. Lucy says "apple"! Her first real word besides "mamma" & "dadda". Ava is counting a lot and trying to read words. She is just so sweet, almost to a fault. She always allows her little friends the benefit of the doubt such a flexible kid! If one of her friends wants something she has she just gives it to them. It makes me love her more in a soft cozy place in my heart, but part of me wants her to defend herself too and not let other kids walk all over her! She can now play on the computer all by herself! That's nuts. She learns a lot thought. Lucy can now identify things in pictures when I point to them! That is pretty crazy. She loves the slide and LOVES the park. Especially the swings. 1/8/12- Lucy now says apple, up, hi, and ice. It is still amazing to me when she says new words. It is crazy how kids learn! So fascinating! We were getting a little concerned about Lucy's lack of speech at this point (spoiler: she is doing just great now! Lots of 2 word combinations and meaningful speech :-) Ava said she wants to have a bunk bed with Lucy when she is older so she can sleep on the top and when I leave at night she can "go into Lucy's fort on the bottom and see how Lucy snuggies". Warm fuzzy feelings :-) I will write more later...bed is calling!

Bedtime battles!

As usual, both girls are growing by leaps and bounds everyday. Ava is so darn smart! She is really testing me though! She calls me on things all the time. Lucy has stopped teething for the time being, so she is much more pleasant, but as stubborn as ever! She simply loves to be outside! She takes my hand and pulls me to the back door. She just can't get enough if the fresh air. She loves the park and wagon rides. Ava prefers to be inside and playing talk them or coloring. Such different girls!
Bedtime has revealed a new battle with Ava. She refuses to let me leave the room after stories, prayers, and lullabies. She has a screaming fit! I have tried many things: toys, books, a tent on her bed...nothing seems to work. She wants endless snuggies. I know in my heart that I need to enjoy them while I can because the day will come when she won't want mommy snuggies anymore. But it can be frustrating when I'm hungry and tired and should probably spend more than 10 minutes with Jeremy without the kids. Lucy on the other hand, has been doing fabulously in her big girl bed! She goes right down. Sweet girl! She I'd even reclaiming her naps, praise God! However, I did feel bad for her tonight when I poked in to check on her and witnessed her fall out of bed, fuss for a minute, then resolutely climb back in in her "stink bug" posture. What a cutie! Ahhh, I love my girls so much!!

Thanksgiving week at home (published late!)

It seems that Ava and Lucy grow by leaps and bounds almost daily. Ava is really into playing a game where I am the sun and she is a puppy on Christmas morning. So funny! I have to hold up a yellow hula hoop to represent the sun. She also has decided what I want for christmas. She said I want a "Christmas lotion". She knows I like bath and body works, so she put two and two together and thought that would be the perfect gift for me! So thoughtful! By the way, she said all se wants is "the pet shop guys airplane." thats all she says she wants. We even wrote a short letter to santa askng for it. Btw, shr definitely writes her name now. Over and over. She makes the "v" in the middle first then carefully writes an "a" on either side. Lucky her nsme only has two different letters and is a palindrome!
Yesterday we were in the Disney store and she saw this tiny Cinderella set with a doll and backdrop and she said, "I just want it so badly!!" then when I still said no and that she could ask Santa for it, she reluctantly bent down and put it back on the shelf and looked so terribly sad! But I was so proud of her. I gave her some water and she was shaking when she drank it, she was so upset snd overcome with longing for this Cinderella set. I tried to hug her but she wouldn't have it. She takes things so to heart, but I love her for that and was proud she put it back without throwing a fit. She is a big girl!
Lucy is so crazy! She now says "hi" and I have the best time getting her to say it over and over again. She is obsessed with the sid the science kid books and we read them over and over and over and over....always singing the "rug time" song. She just loves it!! She even ripped her book to shreds just like Ava ripped her "happy and you know it" book to shreds at that age because she loved it so much!
Ava and Lucy are actually playing better together lately. Ava still gets really mad at Lucy when she destroys things Ava is doing (which is fairly regularly) but at the same time, Ava has been hugging her and playing tag with her and telling me what Lucy "says". They are too cute in the bath and both love splashing me. I hope they continue to grow closer. Ava does her "Ava dance" and whenever she does it, Lucy dances too. I love that!
We are going a tad stir crazy this week since it is nearly impossible to take Lucy anywhere without her throwing a fit. She is one strong willed girl! She wants to walk, but in her own direction, not where we need her to go. I am happy she wants to walk and is energetic and independent, but good god is she a challenge!
More later, thanksgiving tomorrow!

Under the weather

Jeepers! Both girls are under the weather lately. Ava has an ear infection and Lucy is an absolute snot factory! Both of them went down at 5:30 tonight! That's unheard of for Ava, although since Lucy is giving up her naps already (mama mia! ) she falls asleep really early.Poor cranky kids. Not much else to do but wait it out. All of Ava's little friends are sick too, probably all got the same bug. Here's to a better tomorrow!!

What a day!

Phew! Today we overall had a fun day, we went on a picnic, went to the park, played...but then, Lucy discovered she could climb out of the playpen...so I tried her in her crib. Sure enough, she climbed right out. So, that was that. I disassembled the crib and now Lucy has a mattress on the floor until we get her a toddler bed. At 18 months old, she is finished with her crib. I disassembled it so fast, I didn't have time to be nostalgic or take a picture. But this is a milestone to be sure. We are a crib-less family. Wow.
Something fun that happened today was when I was giving Lucy and Ava a bath together. Ava started splashing and kicking in the water and then Lucy started laughing hysterically and doing it too. They were laughing and playing together. For the first time. They were almost mischevious together and Lucy was in heaven to be playing with her sister instead of fighting with her. So cute!!! I hope it is the first of lots of fun times for them playing together.
Also, Lucy now says "up".

Hopefully tonight will be smooth with Lucy on the floor, but we'll see...
Phew!!!

Good morning!

I woke up this morning to Ava Lucy and Jeremy running all over the house to sugarland's stuck like glue. So funny. Ava was chasing Jeremy and Lucy was chasing Ava. I was sorry I slept in, but happy that Jeremy got to have that time with them.