The entertainers

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Company picnic

Playground & picnic

New ways to play

I was reading the chapter about 3-year-olds in a parenting book last night, and it mentioned that at this age they like to arrange their toys in very specific ways. That's Maggie for sure. The photo I posted the other day of the Little People conga line is a perfect example, but she does it with all kinds of objects. Today, for instance, she piled up all the toys she could find into one large heap in the middle of the family room, and covered them with a blanket. She worked on this with the utmost care for at least half an hour (during Audrey's nap). When she was done, she stood back to survey it with pride, then made finishing touches by lifting a corner of the blanket and carefully tucking the toys further inside.

Maggie is also really into games. We've been playing a lot of Candy Land and Cooties in addition to "which animal" and another game where she narrates dance steps and I try to comply (this one is done only in locked rooms with the shades pulled). Board games must be played while Audrey naps or eats, but she happily joins in with the physical games. Audrey has some mean dance moves all her own.

Should I be worried?

Maggie keeps peering into the oven and muttering about how long it will take till her "fluffy bunnies" are done.

Audrey is 13 months old

And harder than ever to photograph! Getting her to sit on the pink chair for five seconds was nearly impossible. She is a very busy girl who doesn't have time for such nonsense. Happy birth(month)day to Audrey!

SuperAudrey

There were some requests a while back to see photographic evidence of Audrey's "reverse supergirl" running pose. I've been trying ever since to capture the moment, and finally got a couple shots today. She's getting better at walking/running like this without falling. She's quite steady on her feet, actually, and is starting to climb anything and everything.

Heat wave

Yesterday was incredibly hot here, and parts of L.A. lost power. Including our part. We had no power from 1pm till the middle of the night, and it got close to 90 degrees indoors. We finally packed up and went to spend the night at my parents' place, where we enjoyed the AC and TV. Maggie thought it was fun to go "camping" at Grandma's house, and she did fine sleeping on the floor. Audrey had trouble going to sleep but did okay most of the night. Even with the AC running we were hot and didn't sleep well. But today the power has stayed up and the AC has been working hard.

I spent a lot of the day (when I wasn't parenting) cleaning out cabinets and rearranging stuff. I keep finding myself wondering what is all this junk, where did it come from, why am I storing it, and why can't I get rid of more of it? I try to clear stuff out often--I'm not a pack rat and I like to purge--but the junk piles up anyway.

Hello old friends

After being packed away for several months, the Little People decided to come out for some fresh air. Both girls were excited to help me unpack everything and set up the village (an odd village--but a fun one--that consists of a farm, amusement park and train tracks, with a school bus servicing all areas). There was some fighting at first but then each girl settled down to a different section and I have found a moment of (relative) peace.


It's interesting to witness how Maggie is playing with the toys differently now that she's older. There are more conversations and the scenarios are more complex. Of course, I'm not quite sure what it means that she set up this conga line on the train tracks.

My helpers

Maggie has long been an expert at helping me unload the dishwasher; silverware is her specialty. Now Audrey has decided to get in on the act. She is becoming quite proficient at unloading dishes onto the floor and disappearing into other rooms with choice items.

Welcome Mandy!

I've just received word that my newest niece, Amanda, has been born! My brother David and sister-in-law Maili went into the hospital last night to be induced, and Maili ended up with a c-section this afternoon. Baby Amanda was born weighing 6 pounds even. She is the fifth girl born to our family (my brother Bob has two daughters as well), and we couldn't be happier to have our new little niece!

Aspirations

Maggie likes to talk about what she's going to do when she's big and a grown-up. Sometimes she just talks about all the soda and beer she's going to drink, but more often she muses over her career potential.

Her possibilities include:

• Fireman
• Doctor
• Teacher
• Library lady
• Artist
• Animal doctor
  
• Bus driver
  
• Type like Mommy
• Work on computers like Daddy
  

And my personal favorite:

• "I could be the guy at the grocery store!"

Better (I guess)

Maggie is much better and eating normally. I'm better too, except for feeling worn out. I slept 9 hours last night and could have slept 9 more, if I hadn't had these two little maniacs forcing me out of bed to, like, feed and clothe them.

Maybe I need a vacation. All by myself. Just me, a hotel room, room service, a couple of books. Maybe a chaise lounge by a pool, with drink service. And a cabana boy.

A girl can dream.

Sickness, continued

Heeding all my instuctions about sharing, Maggie decided to share her stomach virus with my mom and me. Wasn't that nice? I've been sick all morning and feeling sorry for myself. Luckily Audrey seems to have been spared. Robert, of course, never gets sick. Jerk.

If I feel brave enough, I may venture to the post office to mail Maggie's birthday invitations. Her princess party is a month away, and I am deep into the planning stages. I have lists, full online shopping carts at Oriental Trading and Birthday Express, and an ongoing craft project experiment playing out on a kitchen counter.

What, do I have too much free time on my hands? Maybe I need another hobby or a new book to read...why can't I be the mom who schedules a party at a place that does all the work and I just show up and write a check? (I know you're not fooled. I thoroughly enjoy planning parties, even as I enjoy complaining about all the work.)

Artists at work

Sickness; cuteness

There's nothing quite like dealing with vomit in the middle of the night to make you feel like a bonafied responsible grown-up parent. Maggie has been throwing up all night/morning, but has been doing better the past couple hours. I'm hoping the worst is over.

The nice thing about children is that they're cute; if they weren't cute, it would sure make all the daily toil a lot harder to bear. In that light, here are two small cutenesses:

1. Maggie and I have invented a game I call "Which Animal" and she calls "First we hide say BOO we jump up yell SURPRISE we make animal sounds guess what animal it is MY turn go first!" It may not surprise you to hear that sometimes it takes her longer to say the name than it does to actually play the game. Anyway, we take turns making animal noises/actions and the other person has to guess what animal it is. During one session the other day she opened her mouth wide, bared her teeth, and chomped down. Then for a clue, she sang (sang!) "I have really big TEETH, I swim in the WATER..." and I finally guessed "Crocodile!"

2. Audrey, now that she's been walking for a month, has decided she's talented enough to throw her arms BEHIND her and take off at a run. Like she's a reverse Superman or something. She tends to fall...on her face...but it doesn't daunt her!

How we kept busy today

Today we went to playgroup, decorated pictures with glitter glue, planted flower seeds in tiny pots, built a fort in the family room, read our new library books, painted sun-catchers, played with the Elmo sprinkler, picked up rotten fruit, and had a snack-picnic in the backyard.

I'm exhausted.

The problem is, as my smart friend Gina has often pointed out, these wonderful enriching activities only last for a few minutes each. It's great to build a fort or whatever, but five minutes later the girls are done and I have to clean it up while they wander off and get into trouble (Audrey has a particular penchant for toilet paper at the moment).

And here they are!

Thank you to everyone who shared their ideas. We parents need to do this more often! Feel free to add more ideas to this post if you have them. In the meantime, I've compiled this list:

• Ride-on toys
• Painting with whipped cream on a cookie sheet
• Worksheets: especially phonics or mazes
• Soccer ball in the backyard
• Crayola mini-stamper markers
• Trampoline or inflatable bounce house
• Peanut butter playdough
• Tinting some flour and then making pictures with the colors outside on the lawn
• Make your own instruments by using an empty coffee can and lid, pots, paper towel tubes, etc.
• Make hand puppets from paper, cardboard, old socks
• Build a fort/tent/hideout
• Water table
• Hide-and-seek or red-light/green-light
• Toy hide-and-seek (hide a toy and the child tries to find it as the parent gives clues)
• Toy cars on a slope or slide
• Sidewalk chalk, paintbrush & water cup
• Drum kit made of various boxes, pots, containers and wooden spoons
• Resources: "The Toddler Busy Book" and www.magicalchildhood.com

I need some new ideas

I was reading a parenting book last night about sibling aggression, and it suggested that at Maggie's age the aggression is most likely due to boredom and/or a desire to get attention. I think both are true. I admit that during our long days together, the girls and I often end up bored. We tend to do the same activities over and over, and I tend to leave them to their own devices for periods of time so I can do dishes, make dinner, check email, etc. Therefore, Maggie ends up hurting Audrey because she's bored and wants my attention. Makes sense.

One solution is to discipline her more consistently. Another (better) solution is to try to prevent the behavior by addressing her boredom.

How do we pass the time? Our outings are limited based on going out between naps and to places I can successfully handle both girls. At home, we play in the backyard (water plants, splash in the pool), do legos, pretend cooking/eating, tea parties, real cooking (only if Audrey is napping otherwise she wails miserably when I try to do things one-on-one with Maggie), art projects (coloring, painting, collages--Maggie does these at the table while Audrey eats, sleeps, or plays with me in the other room). Obviously they watch a lot of TV (Maggie watches like a zombie; Audrey glances at the TV while playing independently).

I need more ideas. Please tell me your best ideas, for indoors and outdoors, especially things I can do with both girls or that Maggie can do somewhat independently at the table.

At least he didn't say ma'am

At Vons last night, along with $150 worth of groceries I bought a six-pack of beer. (Cold Asahi on a hot day! Sugoi! Ah, umai!) I have been shopping at this store for 5 years and not once been carded. But this time the (young) checker said, "ID please?" I said I didn't have my license with me and I would skip the beer if it was a problem. He seemed unsure so I said, "I've never been carded at this store before." He said, "We're supposed to ask anyone who looks under 30." I said, "Thanks...actually I'm over 30." He seemed genuinely shocked. "No way!" "Yep--actually I'm 33." He stared and shook his head. "I'll just pretend you didn't say that."

I suppose it's nice to be assumed younger than I am even if it's by a guy who looks like he's maybe 23 years old soaking wet, but in a way it's a little irritating--what, is a woman over 30 supposed to look different than I do? And what was with his last comment--as if there's something wrong with my age? Like he and I should both be a little embarrassed about it?

I'm okay with my age. Heck, the other day I accidentally told someone I was 34. Maybe I'll feel different later--I might be celebrating my 40th with plastic surgery. But for now I'm okay.

Bounce house

Birthday party

There's nothing Maggie loves more than a birthday party. After days of anticipation, we attended Peter's 3rd birthday party today and had a wonderful time playing trains, bouncing in the bounce house, making crafts and eating cake. Maggie is extremely excited about her own upcoming birthday party, which is only 6 weeks away.

Morning at the mall

We enjoyed an unusually successful outing to the mall. (I'm getting bored with our destinations lately, but when it's this hot out the mall is just so easy and comfortable!)

The girls and I rode the little train (oh the irony...this was Maggie's first time because I always said I didn't want to ride and she would have to wait till she's old enough to ride alone...now she finally is...but I got on anyway because she wanted Audrey to ride too...so yes, I was a ridiculous mom squeezed into the tiny train's tiny seat...but it was worth it hearing my girls giggle the entire time).

I even managed to try on and buy some clothes at Old Navy. Maggie helpfully provided fashion advice: "That one is more pretty Mama. That one is too big Mama. You've gotten SO BIG Mama." (This last one is always appreciated.)

I'm still loving the double stroller, although there are difficult moments. Like when I tried to enter Papyrus to buy a birthday card, and I literally couldn't get past the front door due to the narrow aisles. Later I was trying to exit the Disney Store through the one aisle wide enough, but a woman was blocking the way. I said "excuse me" and she stepped aside approximately one inch without looking up. She was still in my way. So I said loudly, "Well, I'll try not to hit you!" and starting pushing the stroller into her very gently (I'm so polite). She finally turned on her heel and stormed off. Never did make eye contact.

She's too much

1. Spray sunscreen on hair.
2. Add water from kiddie pool.
3. Take nap.

Result: Audrey becomes the HEAT MEISER!

Books, lunch, drool (my own for a change)

Today we went to storytime at the library. There were at least 15 kids quietly listening to the stories while my two maniacs talked, walked, rolled, pulled hair and otherwise made nuisances of themselves. How are all these other kids so well behaved? What do the other moms know that I don't? We returned the books we checked out last week, causing Maggie a few tears. She didn't want to give them back, but once we started picking new ones she cheered up.

Then we went out to lunch, which was crazy as always, especially since I forgot to bring Audrey's bib, banana, etc. Two 30-ish guys were eating lunch next to us, talking about their kids the entire time. One of them has three boys under 5, and the other has a baby girl. They were very cool about our mess and craziness and tried their best to entertain Audrey with some peekaboo. I thought it was sweet that they spent half an hour bragging to each other about how great their little kids are! The one with three boys said his wife has a sitter four hours a day just so she can relax and get things done by herself. I think that I may have literally drooled.

Swim

Happy Independence Day

Sibling affection

It's not all bad. Maggie does like to hug and kiss Audrey (although Audrey's not sure whether she likes it), and they both like to crowd into my lap for big cuddles. But this morning something even cuter occurred: Maggie spoke for the both of them. I got up with them at 5:45 a.m. (the pain, the pain) and we played for a while, and then Maggie came to me and said, "We want to watch TV." I said, "You do? You and Audrey?" And she said, "That's right Mommy. WE want to watch TV together." You may think that this was just a ploy to get what she wanted...but sure enough, I turned on a show and they sat and watched it together. For a few minutes anyway...Audrey has a short attention span when it comes to TV (for which I'm glad).