Lydia... keeps calling the Wii nunchuck a "nutchuck." I love her mispronunciations and prefer not to correct her when they're especially funny. So, we're hearing a lot of, "Mommy, can you get me the nutchuck? Does this game use the nutchuck?"
Audrey... has had some particularly productive sneezes lately. The kind where you hear it and then turn to look at her to see a solid stream of snot from her nose down to her belly. She doesn't call it snot, though. She'll say, "Mommy, I got bless you all over myself." Yes, to Audrey, snot = bless you.
Charlie... loves impromptu dance parties. As soon as she hears the music on and me dancing, she comes running into the room, flailing her arms all over the place, ready to get down.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Monday, December 26, 2011
Night
On most weekdays, I've been out of the house for about an hour and a half by the time my kids wake up. I absolutely hate that I miss wake-up time. It's one of my favorite times of the day because the girls are at their absolute cutest. They crawl into our bed, their hair a mess and their eyes still puffy (I know, because I DO get to see this on the weekends). Their internal sleep meters are completely charged and they are at their sweetest, giving hugs and kisses to us and even each other. Sometimes, before coming upstairs, we can hear Lydia and Audrey talking on the monitor and then hear the thump of their feet as they run out of their room, down the hall, through the kitchen, through the living room, up the stairs, and into our room. A short time later, we hear Charlie yelling, "Daadaa! Mommy!" and go get her to discover her standing in her crib, holding all of her stuffed animals and blankets and asking us to put her socks on.
On the other hand, I will admit to sometimes being relieved when I miss bedtime. Not every time I have to miss it, but sometimes. When the week has been long and trying, and when Jayson has texted me that he needs a beer. Or three. Those are the days that I feel a bit of relief when I'm not there, but also a bit of guilt and a bit of sadness. Bedtime has been overall a fairly easy time for us. Well, except for when Lydia was about one and a half until two. During that time, we moved her to a "big girl bed" and she would NOT stay in it. Jayson and I made the new parent mistake of laying in bed with her. Then we were trapped. It took us months to finally be able to get her to sleep without us in the room. Then more months to get her to sleep without us in the hallway, sitting where she could see us, working on our computers or reading a magazine.
We did not make that mistake with the others. In fact, Audrey STILL won't get out of bed on her own most mornings. She yells for us to go in her room and get her, despite the fact that she is in a regular bed and could easily get out on her own. Bedtime now is pretty easy and brief. Jammies, teeth, book, hugs and kisses, draw a nightlight for them on their Crayola Glow Station, and then bed. There are definitely nights where they stay up giggling or yelling or crying, but those are getting more and more sparse.
It's not so much bedtime being stressful as it is that time between dinner and bed. One of my friends calls it "The Witching Hour," when it's too early for bed, but the kids are tired and cranky and their internal sleep meter is urgently flashing red. Sleep is required and it will come soon, but not yet. That is probably my least favorite time of day. When bedtime finally comes, and for us it is early because our kids don't nap (even Charlie is outgrowing her naps) and they get up early, it is a relief. The bedtime routine starts and ends and Jayson and I collapse on the couch.
Then the house quiets down. And then I start to miss them and wish they were awake and want to peek at them sleeping but don't want to risk waking up the cherubs that just an hour ago were devils. It is this part of the day when I want to just hold them and stroke their hair and put their cheek to mine and whisper songs in their ears and just love them. When they were babies, a cry in the night brought a grumble and ruined a good night's sleep. Now, on many nights, it's a special treat. One more kiss and hug in the night and they're back to sleep. Or with Charlie, who is by far the best snuggler, ten minutes of rocking under a blankie with her head tucked into my neck. Those are times I cherish.
On the other hand, I will admit to sometimes being relieved when I miss bedtime. Not every time I have to miss it, but sometimes. When the week has been long and trying, and when Jayson has texted me that he needs a beer. Or three. Those are the days that I feel a bit of relief when I'm not there, but also a bit of guilt and a bit of sadness. Bedtime has been overall a fairly easy time for us. Well, except for when Lydia was about one and a half until two. During that time, we moved her to a "big girl bed" and she would NOT stay in it. Jayson and I made the new parent mistake of laying in bed with her. Then we were trapped. It took us months to finally be able to get her to sleep without us in the room. Then more months to get her to sleep without us in the hallway, sitting where she could see us, working on our computers or reading a magazine.
We did not make that mistake with the others. In fact, Audrey STILL won't get out of bed on her own most mornings. She yells for us to go in her room and get her, despite the fact that she is in a regular bed and could easily get out on her own. Bedtime now is pretty easy and brief. Jammies, teeth, book, hugs and kisses, draw a nightlight for them on their Crayola Glow Station, and then bed. There are definitely nights where they stay up giggling or yelling or crying, but those are getting more and more sparse.
It's not so much bedtime being stressful as it is that time between dinner and bed. One of my friends calls it "The Witching Hour," when it's too early for bed, but the kids are tired and cranky and their internal sleep meter is urgently flashing red. Sleep is required and it will come soon, but not yet. That is probably my least favorite time of day. When bedtime finally comes, and for us it is early because our kids don't nap (even Charlie is outgrowing her naps) and they get up early, it is a relief. The bedtime routine starts and ends and Jayson and I collapse on the couch.
Then the house quiets down. And then I start to miss them and wish they were awake and want to peek at them sleeping but don't want to risk waking up the cherubs that just an hour ago were devils. It is this part of the day when I want to just hold them and stroke their hair and put their cheek to mine and whisper songs in their ears and just love them. When they were babies, a cry in the night brought a grumble and ruined a good night's sleep. Now, on many nights, it's a special treat. One more kiss and hug in the night and they're back to sleep. Or with Charlie, who is by far the best snuggler, ten minutes of rocking under a blankie with her head tucked into my neck. Those are times I cherish.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Girls' Weekend (or, 46 Hours of Hell)
OK, I shouldn't be so dramatic. I actually enjoy weekends alone with my girls, but his past one, two of them were sick and it seemed that anything that could go wrong did. Jayson went to Green Bay for the Packers game. He met his friend (and rid) at about 1:45 on Saturday. Lydia had been a little sick that morning, but as soon as Jayson left, she got exponentially sicker every minute. She was a snot machine. Plus, she was wailing dramatically (the only way Lydia really does anything) about missing her Daddy. Snot. Everywhere. Then Charlie started to get sick too. The kind of sick where she can't breath through her nose and just stares at you with her mouth open.
So, when we got home from dropping Jayson off, it was nap time for Charlie and quiet time for Lydia and Audrey. We laid in my bed and watched Elf. Only one of us napped, and it was not the 3 year-old or the 5 year-old. And it wasn't exactly restful. The snot ball was accumulating a collection of used tissues on Jayson's nightstand and the other one was not interested at all in sitting still.
After naps, we had our traditional trip to get Chinese food when Daddy is gone. Jayson hates Chinese food. First we ran to the craft store because I needed new knitting needles for a scarf I wanted to make. Lydia was hell on wheels (Well, I guess minus the wheels? Where did that expression even come from? Oh, thank you, Wikipedia.). I spend almost the entire trip telling her to quit touching everything and if she did not stop right now, there would be no Chinese food, which I knew was a lie, because there was no way I was going to give up my Chinese food, much less cook.
So, the Chinese food. Several months ago, a new building was being constructed down the street and we waited eagerly to find out what it was. I asked the cashier at the grocery store next to it what it was going to be, and she said it would be some Chinese restaurant. This excited me. I told the girls it was going to be a new Chinese restaurant for us to try. Every time we passed it, Audrey would excitedly say, "There's our new Chinese restaurant!" Then the Panda Express sign went up. Panda F-ing Express. They were already set on trying it, so that's where we headed Saturday night. Panda Express is expensive. They must use real Panda. I ordered our food, and we went home to eat it, and even the girls, who have eaten grass, food off the ground, and their own toes, said it was not good. Lydia told me, "Next time, let's go back to our old place. It's good to try new places, but only once."
After dinner, I asked Lydia if she wanted to try the neti pot. She had seen Jayson use it a lot, and at first was pretty against it, but then decided to give it a shot. I was pretty surprised at how well she did with it, and it cleared out her nose so she could get some sleep. Then the girls went to bed, and they went down pretty easily. I stayed up and graded some quizzes. Then I started my knitting project and watched a movie. At about 10:00, Charlie was up coughing, so I brought her downstairs to cuddle while I watched my movie and then got her back down. I went to bed shortly after midnight. At 2:30, Charlie was up again and back in my bed. She flopped around, and eventually fell asleep. At 4:30, Lydia was up in my room, coughing away. Charlie woke up, but went back down in her crib. Lydia slept in my bed with me.
In the morning I was supposed to teach Sunday school, but called the coordinator to tell her that I wouldn't be able to make it in with two sick kids. I made the girls cinnamon rolls and Lydia sacked out on the couch, miserably sick. I took a shower and had her sit in the bathroom with me to get the steam in her nose. I called Jayson to tell him I didn't think Lydia would be able to go to school the next day. His mom was supposed to watch the girls on Monday along with their baby cousin and we agreed we didn't want him to get sick too. So, Jayson's mom came over to watch the girls while I ran to school and got sub plans ready.
We took it easy the rest of the morning and early afternoon. Lydia was supposed to have a Christmas concert at church and I told her if she felt better, we could go. She did start to feel a bit better, so we got ready to go. I went upstairs to change and came back downstairs to find Lydia unraveling my knitting project. I freaked out a little bit, but was able to rescue it.
The concert went pretty well. I was very nervous about going solo with the girls. We brought a bag of toys and I had my toddler lock app (genius!) on my phone ready to go. I told Lydia, "If Charlie gets loud, I will take her to the back of the church. You either stay here with Audrey or come with me, but either way, make sure Audrey is with you." After about twenty minutes, Charlie started crying and I leaned over to tell Lydia I was taking her back, and started to speed down the aisle. I heard Lydia say, "Audrey, let's go!" and they ran down the aisle after to me to the chuckles of the people within earshot.
After Charlie quieted down and it was Lydia's turn to sing, we went back to our seats. To my relief, the people behind us weren't annoyed by us. It was an older couple and the woman kept playing with Charlie, giving her toys, and laughing as she danced in the aisle. After the concert was over, the woman took my hand in both of her's and said, "You deserve an award!" I explained to her that Jayson was out of town and she told me how great the girls did and how fun they were. Such relief.
I took the girls out for corndogs and then we shared a banana split with four spoons. I tried to feed Charlie, but she grabbed the extra spoon and dug in herself. I let her happily dribble custard all over herself because really, there was no other option. If you know Charlie, you know things are done HER way. Bedtime was again easy, and I again settled in with my knitting and a movie.
Luckily, everybody slept through the night. In fact, Charlie slept 14 hours straight. Lydia wanted to go to school when she woke up, so I let her and told her that if she got to school and didn't feel well, she should have the school call me and I would get her. At 9:30, Charlie woke up 100% better and going about 100 mph. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she was laughing and playing. I felt a little bad about taking a sick day when the girls were on the road to recovery, but I still wouldn't have wanted Mason to get sick, and I was still recovering from a rough Saturday night.
When Jayson got home, the girls were excited to see him, but I think I was the happiest. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing.
So, when we got home from dropping Jayson off, it was nap time for Charlie and quiet time for Lydia and Audrey. We laid in my bed and watched Elf. Only one of us napped, and it was not the 3 year-old or the 5 year-old. And it wasn't exactly restful. The snot ball was accumulating a collection of used tissues on Jayson's nightstand and the other one was not interested at all in sitting still.
After naps, we had our traditional trip to get Chinese food when Daddy is gone. Jayson hates Chinese food. First we ran to the craft store because I needed new knitting needles for a scarf I wanted to make. Lydia was hell on wheels (Well, I guess minus the wheels? Where did that expression even come from? Oh, thank you, Wikipedia.). I spend almost the entire trip telling her to quit touching everything and if she did not stop right now, there would be no Chinese food, which I knew was a lie, because there was no way I was going to give up my Chinese food, much less cook.
So, the Chinese food. Several months ago, a new building was being constructed down the street and we waited eagerly to find out what it was. I asked the cashier at the grocery store next to it what it was going to be, and she said it would be some Chinese restaurant. This excited me. I told the girls it was going to be a new Chinese restaurant for us to try. Every time we passed it, Audrey would excitedly say, "There's our new Chinese restaurant!" Then the Panda Express sign went up. Panda F-ing Express. They were already set on trying it, so that's where we headed Saturday night. Panda Express is expensive. They must use real Panda. I ordered our food, and we went home to eat it, and even the girls, who have eaten grass, food off the ground, and their own toes, said it was not good. Lydia told me, "Next time, let's go back to our old place. It's good to try new places, but only once."
After dinner, I asked Lydia if she wanted to try the neti pot. She had seen Jayson use it a lot, and at first was pretty against it, but then decided to give it a shot. I was pretty surprised at how well she did with it, and it cleared out her nose so she could get some sleep. Then the girls went to bed, and they went down pretty easily. I stayed up and graded some quizzes. Then I started my knitting project and watched a movie. At about 10:00, Charlie was up coughing, so I brought her downstairs to cuddle while I watched my movie and then got her back down. I went to bed shortly after midnight. At 2:30, Charlie was up again and back in my bed. She flopped around, and eventually fell asleep. At 4:30, Lydia was up in my room, coughing away. Charlie woke up, but went back down in her crib. Lydia slept in my bed with me.
In the morning I was supposed to teach Sunday school, but called the coordinator to tell her that I wouldn't be able to make it in with two sick kids. I made the girls cinnamon rolls and Lydia sacked out on the couch, miserably sick. I took a shower and had her sit in the bathroom with me to get the steam in her nose. I called Jayson to tell him I didn't think Lydia would be able to go to school the next day. His mom was supposed to watch the girls on Monday along with their baby cousin and we agreed we didn't want him to get sick too. So, Jayson's mom came over to watch the girls while I ran to school and got sub plans ready.
We took it easy the rest of the morning and early afternoon. Lydia was supposed to have a Christmas concert at church and I told her if she felt better, we could go. She did start to feel a bit better, so we got ready to go. I went upstairs to change and came back downstairs to find Lydia unraveling my knitting project. I freaked out a little bit, but was able to rescue it.
The concert went pretty well. I was very nervous about going solo with the girls. We brought a bag of toys and I had my toddler lock app (genius!) on my phone ready to go. I told Lydia, "If Charlie gets loud, I will take her to the back of the church. You either stay here with Audrey or come with me, but either way, make sure Audrey is with you." After about twenty minutes, Charlie started crying and I leaned over to tell Lydia I was taking her back, and started to speed down the aisle. I heard Lydia say, "Audrey, let's go!" and they ran down the aisle after to me to the chuckles of the people within earshot.
After Charlie quieted down and it was Lydia's turn to sing, we went back to our seats. To my relief, the people behind us weren't annoyed by us. It was an older couple and the woman kept playing with Charlie, giving her toys, and laughing as she danced in the aisle. After the concert was over, the woman took my hand in both of her's and said, "You deserve an award!" I explained to her that Jayson was out of town and she told me how great the girls did and how fun they were. Such relief.
I took the girls out for corndogs and then we shared a banana split with four spoons. I tried to feed Charlie, but she grabbed the extra spoon and dug in herself. I let her happily dribble custard all over herself because really, there was no other option. If you know Charlie, you know things are done HER way. Bedtime was again easy, and I again settled in with my knitting and a movie.
Luckily, everybody slept through the night. In fact, Charlie slept 14 hours straight. Lydia wanted to go to school when she woke up, so I let her and told her that if she got to school and didn't feel well, she should have the school call me and I would get her. At 9:30, Charlie woke up 100% better and going about 100 mph. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she was laughing and playing. I felt a little bad about taking a sick day when the girls were on the road to recovery, but I still wouldn't have wanted Mason to get sick, and I was still recovering from a rough Saturday night.
When Jayson got home, the girls were excited to see him, but I think I was the happiest. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Little Sports Fans
Audrey likes to say she's a football fan. She claims she likes the Packers. She can name a few of the players. But, when it comes down to it, once the game has been on for two minutes, she's done. She's hungry. She wants to watch Dora. Lydia has never shown any interest in football. She will happily sit on the couch and color in her journal while we watch, and she likes to know names of the people on the team, but she couldn't care less about the game. Charlie is happy just running around and doing whatever her sisters do.
Until this past Sunday. The Packer game was good. It was close. It was the kind of game that makes you jump off the couch and yell at the TV. Audrey said she wanted to watch it and intently asked us who everybody was and told us to let her know when Aaron Rodgers was on. Lydia sat on my lap and watched and when things got tense, she actually paid attention. When I yelled, "First down!" she yelled, "Touchdown!" (Hey, at least it was close.) At one point, when a Packers receiver dropped a pass, she even groaned. SHE GROANED! She had an inkling of what was going on. We taught Charlie to throw her arms in the air and yell, "TOUCHDOWN!" All three of them were into the game!
When it was all over, Lydia said to Jayson, "Daddy, can we watch football every Sunday?" I think it was one of his proudest fathering moments.
Until this past Sunday. The Packer game was good. It was close. It was the kind of game that makes you jump off the couch and yell at the TV. Audrey said she wanted to watch it and intently asked us who everybody was and told us to let her know when Aaron Rodgers was on. Lydia sat on my lap and watched and when things got tense, she actually paid attention. When I yelled, "First down!" she yelled, "Touchdown!" (Hey, at least it was close.) At one point, when a Packers receiver dropped a pass, she even groaned. SHE GROANED! She had an inkling of what was going on. We taught Charlie to throw her arms in the air and yell, "TOUCHDOWN!" All three of them were into the game!
When it was all over, Lydia said to Jayson, "Daddy, can we watch football every Sunday?" I think it was one of his proudest fathering moments.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Twinkle Twinkle
Charlie has started to put words together at an alarming rate. I thought she was saying "tickle tickle" the other day, and realized she was singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
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