Out of the mouths of (three) babes

Maggie, rejecting one of my spring break ideas:

"I don't want to go to the Grand Canyon. There's nothing to see there except stinky old camels."

Maggie, explaining to Audrey about college:

"After the grades, after 12th grade, then you go to college. You have to be a teenager to go, like 30 or 31. You sleep at college. Well, you can either sleep there or sleep at home. They have a swimming pool at college too."

Maggie again--sadly, I've heard this one more than once:

"You're the worst mom I've ever had!"

Audrey, telling one of her long-winded, big vocabulary stories:

"I was in the backyard and I found two roly-poly bugs, and they curled up, and I wanted to find an ant friend for them. But when I came back one of the roly-polies was gone. I assume he went to the ant hill to see his ant friends. Then Maggie came, and she deaded all the roly-polies."

Some of Jane's newest words and phrases:

"I do!" (her all-purpose way of asking to get whatever a sister has. Used most frequently when she sees a sister eating something delicious)

"brush" (I want to brush my teeth)

"tay yoo" (thank you)

More photographic art by Audrey

Just put one foot in front of the other

The short happy(?) life of Cherry the Chair

Two weekends ago the girls finally broke down my resistance and convinced me to agree that they could get a pet. They have been begging mainly for a dog for at least a year, but they know that the deal is that Jane has to be at least three years old before I'll consider that. So they'd moved on to trying to get a hamster, mouse, turtle...whatever. 

I consented to a goldfish.

Before I gave my final consent, though, I spoke seriously with the girls about the brutish and short lives of fish. I got each of them to agree that they understood and were okay with the fact that goldfish don't live very long, and that any day, we might find them dead in their bowls. (This, my friends, is what we call foreshadowing.)

So we made a trip to Steve's Pets in Altadena and they each picked out a teeny glass bowl, white rocks and blue marbles, and fish: a blue beta for Maggie and a classic goldfish ($0.20, what a bargain) for Audrey. 

Maggie named her beta Bluebell Blueberry, and Audrey named her goldfish Cherry the Chair. They were installed in the girls' bathroom, and everything went swimmingly for a while. Naturally, the girls begged to feed their fish multiple times a day, but (I think) we kept them to the recommended once a day feeding.

However, last weekend, just one week after Cherry the Chair quietly entered our lives, she departed just as peacefully. With a flush.

Audrey took it well and only wanted to know when she could get a new fish. Maggie, whose heart is two sizes too big, was very upset for the rest of the evening and needed a lot of comforting. 

Luckily, Bluebell Blueberry is still doing well. And I suppose we'll be getting Cherry's replacement soon.

Call for submissions

We'd like to get out of town with the girls over spring break. Any suggestions?

On blindness

Audrey: When I'm blind, will I stay blind till I'm dead?
Me: You won't go blind.
Audrey: But I WANT to go blind.
Me: Why?
Audrey: Because I don't like looking at Maggie.


(Maggie runs in from the other room)

Maggie: I never thought of that. I want to be blind too!
Me: Why do YOU want to be blind?
Maggie: So I don't have to get up in the morning.
Me: Why would being blind mean you don't have to get up?
Maggie: Because it will still be dark!

Busy weekend

For the three-day weekend, Robert's cousin Ann and her 4-year-old Josie came to visit. The girls had plenty of fun together and we kept them plenty busy.

There was a fairy princess dance party:





A very short hike and picnic lunch in the canyon:




Pinkberry:


And a trip to the Natural History Museum:

Jane walks!

Over the last couple weeks, Jane has started taking steps on her own. At first she would stand up and take one or two halting steps before plopping down. But she's getting more and more confident, and yesterday she actually took four or five little wobbly steps from the coffee table to the end table. I was so proud and cheered loudly, which seemed to startle but please her. I haven't had any luck getting her to walk while I have the camera on, so no visual proof yet, but I'll keep trying.

Yay Jane!

Blue sky, silly girls

Yesterday was a this-is-why-we-live-in-LA kind of day. 60-ish degrees, clear sky, sunny, breezy perfection. I took the girls to the playground for an hour of swinging climbing rolling around. Janey loved climbing onto the small play structure, walking (with me holding her hands) across it and then sliding down. We did this five or six times in a row before I convinced her to swing instead. 

Audrey the photographer

Posing for the camera

Something I actually said today

"When I was a kid, we didn't have computer games or iPhones or DVDs or great shows on TV every day. After school I had to read, or play outside, or just make up things to do. I only got to watch cartoons on Saturday morning! And I was grateful!"

Impact on Maggie: zero.

My speech was followed by a rousing game of "Where's the Poop" as the diaper I was taking off Jane fumbled and the poop flew across the room and rolled away.

All in a day's work around here.

Snow play

Jane's first tea party