Buddies

Getting ready for a picnic a few weeks ago.

I've mentioned that M2 and M3 are having so much fun lately.  This morning I was doing a little cleaning and realized that they had played for 90 minutes with minimal input from me.  I helped out a few times, but not for any major reason.

They are at good ages for playing together.  M3 is old enough to participate in what M2 is doing, but not old enough to want to do things her own way, for the most part.  (Of course there are limits to that and she is starting to really show her opinions at times.)  They ran around to music, played with the ball popper, and then they packed bags to go camping. 

It was adorable to watch M2 help M3 get her bag onto her shoulders so that they could set off with their dolls in strollers.  They even did well sharing this morning, which doesn't always happen.  M3 was quick to say "ank ou oe." (Thank you Joe) when he gave her two of the four cars he had packed for their camping trip. 

He has also been volunteering to help her get her shoes on when we go outside.  She is always so proud to show me her feet and loves the attention from him.

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After lunch M2 was playing with a turtle he has that expands in water.  He and Papa had submerged it last week and had been measuring about once a day as it grew. Today they decided it had reached its maximum size and took it out of the water.  It is kind of floppy and gooey now.  It's been around for a couple years, so some of its limbs are just barely hanging on.

M2 and M3 were giggling loudly as M2 had the turtle jump out from behind the counter to scare M3.  After a bit I heard M2 shout for help because M3 had torn off two of the flippers.

M2 was a little sad, but not angry.  He had let M3 hold the turtle, the flippers were barely attached, and she ripped them off before he could stop her.  I commiserated with him, but also reminded him that he wasn't supposed to give M3 things that were easy to destroy. 

As I got M3 ready for nap I told her that ripping the turtle had made us all sad.  Surprisingly, she changed her tone and somberly said, "Mama sad, Joe sad, turtle sad, Catie sad."  She's been a little gleeful about kicking and throwing things lately.  With just a little prompting, she apologized to M2.  M2 gave her a pat, said it was ok, and then told me that he knew M3 didn't mean to ruin it.   He also thought maybe the turtle could still swim with just his back flippers.
 
I really wish all of there interactions could go as well as that did.  Now they are both sleeping and I have a really pathetic looking turtle on my counter.

U is for Uniform Day

M.G.'s class is counting down the last 26 days of school by having a different activity each day.  (They brought in a stuffed animal for A, had gum for G, a math day on M, etc.)  When she brought home the list we were all amazed that there were just 26 days of school left, but that is 5 weeks of school!  5 weeks is a long time to be gearing up for the end. 

Today we hit uniform day.  They could wear any type of uniform to school.  After much thought, M.G. decided to be an astronaut.  This morning the kids all had a lot of fun getting ready to go to their jobs.  

Home Depot employee, astronaut, doctor

M.G. told us that M3 was very excited to get started helping people fix up their houses.  At first I worried this would be the future for child #3 after we helped an astronaut and doctor get through school.  But, then Papa pointed out that she was probably pretending to be an Olympic athlete with a part time job.

(Oh, no!  When we visited the Olympic training grounds in CO a few years ago we heard all about how great that company was for providing Olympians with jobs while they trained.  But I was just looking for a link and they discontinued the program several years ago.)

M.G. was excited to blast off to her school space station on her personal rocket.

May 2012

We had a chance to spend Mother's Day weekend in Minnesota this year and see both Grandma B and Grandma M on Sunday!

We had driven over so that M.G. and I could drive down to Iowa on Saturday with my mom for my cousin's bridal shower.  M.G. will be the flower girl at the wedding and was excited that she was invited to the shower too.  She was a little disappointed that the shower was basically older people sitting around and talking, but she had fun with the games.  She and I worked together and ended up winning a game where the prize was a bouquet of 26 candy bars, exciting!  I'm glad the church we were in had a little toy room she could use while I helped Grandma B set up before the shower and clean up after.  (And it was really fun to get to do little set-up things without chasing the younger two.)

It was fun to spend a day with just M.G.  She is such a great car traveler.  A couple times during the shower she piped up with something to say to the ladies near us.   After spending a few minutes doing something with her little favor cup of M&Ms she said, "4 of 5 times I pulled a blue!"  (They had a probability game in school last week.)  After eating a few she said, "Now I'm certain to get orange!"  My favorite moment was after we finished the candy bar matching game and the guess the number of Skittles game.  We were starting bridal bingo and M.G. shouted, "Finally, a game of chance!"

M2, M3, and Papa spent Saturday hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa M.  They had so much fun and I heard little bits of information from each of them.  M3 shouted, "PIZZA!", when I asked what she had for lunch.  Joe spilled the beans that they had been to the grocery store and decorated two mini-cakes for Mother's Day.

We are ready for summer vacation here!  M.G. will miss school after about a week, I think.  She is looking so much older and is very excited that she'll soon be a 2nd grader.  Her biggest complaint about 1st grade was that so much of it was easy.  She did learn a lot and enjoyed the year, but was very excited yesterday to come home with "real homework, like 2nd graders get."  She has to do some research on the King Vulture and put together a small poster to share with the class in preparation for their trip to the zoo next week. 

She has a subscription to Which Way USA and loves working through each state's puzzles.

M2 and I have been playing Sorry! after his nap every day lately. He thinks it so funny to bump my pieces back to start and his sense of humor shows when he giggles at little jokes we make during the game.  He is still showing some early signs of reading, but he doesn't seem to be in a big rush to figure it out.  He's been interested in numbers and adding lately.

He and M3 are little pair these days.  I love to see how well they play together and adventure around during the day.  (Until it stops and I need to rush in and moderate.) 

M2 is a wild biking guy.  (M3 is waiting to see what the next plan will be.)

M3 has suddenly gotten much older looking!  She's almost 2 and suddenly seems much less like a toddler. She is obsessed with blowing bubbles and wants to do that every time we are outside.  Last night she was blowing bubbles for the older two to chase and just so in charge of the group.  She'd stamp her little foot and say, "back up, back up," when they got too close.  Then she'd wait for them to yell, "3,2,1, bubbles!"  She'd hold up the wand, pausing to look at them first for a bit of drama every time.  Then she'd giggle as they ran all around her chasing the bubbles.

Bubbles, bubbles!

M3 has been demanding pony tails lately!

New Wheels!

After much talk, we finally decided on a bike trailer!  Papa brought it home on Friday and also picked up a helmet for M3.  She is so excited about that helmet.  That day she cried when we took it off of her and then after her nap she wondered if she'd get to put it on right away again.

Friday after supper we took the trailer for a test drive.  M3 could hardly wait to get in and get started.

We drove around a bit, all 5 of us!  It was really a lot of fun, but it was stressful for me to follow behind M2.  He is a strong bike rider, but every once in a while makes a wild move.  I was shouting out directions to him for much of the ride.

Saturday and Sunday evenings we went out again.  These times M2 wanted to try out the trailer.  He and M3 had a good time together, even though they were sitting in close quarters.  I enjoyed these rides a whole lot more!  Sunday we explored the bike trail in town and it was great to follow M.G. and see what a great time she was having.

Ready for the suburbs.

Papa was mowing the lawn in the late afternoon today while the kids and I played on the driveway.  Our neighbor also was mowing.  M2 pulled the toy mower out of the garage and started walking up and down the front yard in lines.  (Papa was in the back by this point.) 

I watched him a bit and he pushed the mower extra far to "trim" the area of new grass we're trying to grow without stepping on it - just like Papa does.

At one point he stopped, brushed his hands off, and started walking toward me.  "I just need to slip in and use the potty.  I'll finish when I get back."

He got back to work and continued his straight lines.  A different neighbor pulled out of his garage and M2 paused to wave, once to the man and then once to his wife when the car turned around in the street.

Sleep!

We're on a stretch of at least 4 nights in a row where everyone in the household has slept in their own bed for the whole night.  M3 has been doing great in her crib.  M2 had found a way to sneak into our bed without us waking up enough to care, but we finally convinced him to stay in his own room and he has been. 

I don't notice feeling much more rested, because I sleep fine with a child or two in with us, but I have enjoyed the mental break of all of those hours without dealing with anyone else.

Hopefully this trend will continue!

Dance Recital

Last Saturday M.G. had a 3 hour practice for her dance recital.  Then on Sunday afternoon we all went to watch her recital.

Waiting to go to rehearsal.

Ready for the recital!

The whole performance was based on Horton Hears a Who.  A narrator read the story and dance numbers were inserted along the way. They had actors for a few of the rolls, including Horton. This recital was for the preschool - 5th grade students.  The youngest classes just performed one number with the help of the teachers.  The oldest class had tap, ballet, and modern dance routines without any guidance.  The stage decor was left over from the college's performance of Cinderella.

M.G.'s class were tap dancing monkeys in their first number.

And they also danced in a ballet about the sunshine.

The kids did very well in front of a packed house.  M.G. was very proud of their work.  We went out for ice cream cones at DQ afterward and she saw several other dancers there.  So she thought it was pretty special that they were all getting treats.

Papa has been getting the garden started as he finds time.  The kids love helping and asking lots of questions about everything.

Future plans...

At bedtime tonight M2 said, "I think we should buy an old train and decorate it with paint to look like candy.  Then we can drive it around and deliver candy to candy stores."