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!