Wordless Wednesday

Diaper Malfunction 2012

I'm not sure how it happened. I want to say that her diaper was TWISTED when it was put on. Is that possible? Let's just say I didn't have the opportunity to get a clear look at what was going on.

Addie had a poopy diaper and Daddy was kind enough to volunteer to change it, however he quickly called for backup. Upon entering the room, I knew we were doomed. There was poop hanging everywhere. I wondered if she even had a diaper? She did. I think. Poop on Daddy, poop on the floor, poop all over a little girl who ended up needing to take a bath.

It was THAT kind of diaper malfunction.

We laughed the whole time we were cleaning it up. Why? Because some time when we first started freaking out about it and trying to convince Addie to stay as still as possible, she saw the damage and exclaimed, "Yucky poop. OH MY GOD. Dat's dan-dress!"

Yes dear Addie... that kind of diaper malfunction is definitely dangerous. We should avoid it at as much as possible.

Already a Chocoholic

Addie: I hav some chalk-at?
Mommy: No, we can't have chocolate right now.
Addie: Peas?
Mommy: Not until we have a clean plate club.
Addie: But I love my calk-at! It makes my tummy happy!

Ellie's Favorite Poem

"The Battle"
By Shel Silverstein

Would you like to hear
Of the terrible night
When I bravely fought the—
No?
All right.


The first time Ellie heard that she laughed and laughed and laughed. Then she laughed some more. From afar I assumed that Daddy was tickling her. Then she came out of her room to tell me about the silly poem. I think she has been hooked on his silly book ever since.

Are you my mother?

I am beginning to wonder if Addie knows who her mother is.

Addie: Bye bye! I go home find my moder!
Mommy: You're leaving to find your mother?
Addie: Yes. I don know where my moder is.
Mommy: Maybe she's in the front room?
Addie: Bye. I go find my moder.
Mommy: Ok, come back soon!
Addie: K.
...
Mommy: Did you find your mother?
Addie: No. I don know where my moder is. I go find her.
Mommy: Is she in the bathroom?
Addie: (looking) No.
Mommy: Is she in the living room?
Addie: (looking) No.
Mommy: Maybe your mother is lost.
Addie: Yeah. I can' find my moder. She she she lost!

Wordless Wednesday

Silly Balloons

A couple weeks ago I posted a Wordless Wednesday with the girls having fun with static electricity and balloons. How could I forget the videos?!

You gotta love the laughter that children have when they see something behave in a way they don't expect it to. This video was taken long after the peak of the laughter, but you have to admit that it's pretty silly to watch a balloon crawl down a wall!

And there is something about children blowing that puts a smile on my face. Their entire bodies seem to participate.

And of course, I love those moments when I catch my Ellie putting her arms around her sister without giving it any second thought. It makes my heart sing.

This cracks me up

Laughing at Ourselves

The ability to laugh at ourselves is crutial and I hope that we are able to teach the girls that it's ok to do so. So far, so good.

Not too long ago we were in the living room watching a football game. I got a rare opportunity to record Addie singing a song for us:


And again... only this time she decided to run away:


And then it began. The girls simply could NOT stop laughing at watching Addie run away mid-song. It was the funniest thing EVER and the laughter that followed for the next 20 minutes was priceless. Unfortunately we were watching the video on the camera so I couldn't get the laughing on video.

Or could I? Aha! Cell phones these days! Just imagine this video playing on "repeat" for 20 minutes!


LOVE it.

Cirque

For Valentine's Day we decided to take the girls to see Dralion of Cirque de Soleil. We weren't sure how it would go because the girls are still quite young, but they LOVED LOVED LOVED it. The dragons were happy dragons, the guys who jumped through the moving hoops are just Gods and the lady who flies through the air became a role model like no other. The question of the day seemed to be "How do they even do that?!"

Ellie informed her little sister "If you want to be part of the circus, you have to work REALLY hard. You have to practice EVERYDAY. You have to practice jumping through hoops! EVERYDAY!!!" Addie responded with an inspired "OH!"

The show was loud but the girls loved every moment of it. Ellie had a smile on her face the entire time and as soon as the show ended Addie politely asked "We watch again? Petty peas wif a cherry on dop? Tomorrow? Peas?"

I got a kick out of the fact that after all that flying, and jumping and twisting and morphing... it's the clown taking off the guy's shirt that the girls talked about the most. Go figure.

All in all it was a very special evening for the girls and for us. Personally, one of my favorite parts was walking back to the exit after the show. I was holding Addie's hand and Daddy was holding Ellie's while we made our way through the crowd. After a while, I looked down to see the girls holding each other's hands. I love those types of moments. I love these little sisters. Love them.

Wordless Wednesday

Happy Valentine's Day

Last night we made Valentine's Day cards for school. Addie and Daddy practiced spelling her name. It made us realize we ought to start doing that soon, but Addie already does a decent job of recognizing her letters. She had fun...

... but not as much fun as Ellie did. Ellie shocked her parents by being able to read every name off of her list of friends. Crazy! She then diligently went through the names and picked the perfect card for each friend.

Mommy: Which one do you think Ella will like?
Ellie: Oh, she really does love flowers and her favorite color is purple. It really is.
Mommy: Ok, so this one is perfect for her.
...
Ellie: What does dis one say?
Mommy: You're wild!
Ellie: What does wild mean?
Mommy: It means you have lots of energy and love to run around.
Ellie: Oh, Michael loves to run around. He really does. He loves doing that more than anything. He loves to run around until the teachers tell him to stop.
...
Ellie: Where is da running card? Charlie loves to run like Michael.
Mommy: Hmmm... I don't think we have any left. We have "You're brilliant," "You're great," and "You're fun."
Ellie: Oh! Charlie is really great at running. He really is. He runs a lot.
...
Ellie: What does this one say?
Mommy: You're sweet.
Ellie: Paige is really sweet. She really is.
...
Mommy: We have "You're brilliant" and "You're fun."
Ellie: What does brilliant mean?
Mommy: It means you're really smart.
Ellie: Piper is really smart. She really is.

Ah, you have to smile at how she thought every one through and insisted that each friend really was as the card said. Too cute.

And in the end, we had a bunch of cards... all written completely by Ellie without much help from me. Sigh. She's growing up way too quick.

Penguins can fly

Mommy: (holding a stuffed penguin) Waddle waddle waddle. I have happy feet.
Addie: You are a pen-gun? You have happy feet?
Mommy: Yep.
Addie: And you can fly?
Mommy: No. Penguins can't fly. We just waddle like this.
Addie: No. I show you. It goes like dis! (takes the penguin and flies her through the air). See? Pen-guns can fly!

On Police

I love my girls' reactions whenever we see the table of police officers at the local bagel shop (which always makes me chuckle, btw). Ellie will go up to them and say hi and shyly say "Dank you for keeping me safe." Addie goes up and copies her sister with a shy "Danks!" They're always prepared with Junior Officer sticker badges for the girls. I can't help but think it's a shame that some parents say things like "You better behave or that police officer is going to put you in jail." Why encourage fear of police officers when they're really the ones the girls should turn to if they need help?

I guess that's my random thought for the day. Thanks for listening.

Farmer and the Dell

Addie loves to sing The Farmer and the Dell and it cracks us up. She seems to be stuck on what the cheese is doing (we all know it stands alone), and each time it's a little different:

Da cheese takes a wife. Da cheese takes a wife. Hi Ha Dare Oh. Da cheese takes a wife.

Da cheese takes a bite. Da cheese takes a bite. Hi Ha Dare Oh. Da cheese takes a bite.

Da cheese takes a while. Da cheese takes a while. Hi Ha Dare Oh. Da cheese takes a while.

Da cheese takes a life. Da cheese takes a life. Hi Ha Dare Oh. Da cheese takes a life.

Wordless Wednesday

So Grown Up Now

A few weeks ago Ellie and I got our haircuts and Addie asked for one of her own for an entire week afterwards. I didn't think I was ready for that, but she kept asking so nicely, "I get a air-cut like dis peas?" while crunching her hair on top of her head. So we took her in to get her hair chopped off (her first time). Upon walking into the salon, she walked right up to the group of ladies and asked "I get air-cut peas?" They all sighed with oohs. Then she said "I want air cut like dis peas" while crunching up her hair in her fist (see the first photo) and I heard a few "awwws." She sat patiently and did very well. Mommy didn't do so well because it's hard to say good bye to your baby.

And that's exactly how I feel. Look how grown up she looks! Poof! Instant child.

Ellie's Art

When Ellie first transitioned into the Black Bear room she was in awe at how her teachers were able to color in rainbow hearts. She didn't know how to do it and asked me in a frustrated voice to show her how. I did, but it wasn't easy for her. And now, after months of practicing and working really hard, she has finally finished one of her own. This is the first completed rainbow heart picture ever, though she has had many partial ones - apparently they take a long time and lots of dedication to complete. Good job, Ellie, on the hard work!

Some of her drawings have also gained a new level of detail. This is a picture she drew for Uncle David for his birthday. It's a picture of her standing on the beach, complete with fish, waves, starfish, stars in the sky, palm tree, boats and flower. Though she told me at one time, I do not recall what the inappropriate-looking item in the waves is.

She even loves to write messages now, and I love to see the look of pride on her face when she watches someone else be able to read what she wrote.

My heart sang the moment it saw this picture and then it was crushed when I was told it wasn't for me. I love the hearts. I love how happy they all look. Alas, it's not a picture of Mommy and Daddy. It's a picture of Nana and Grandpa. I even loved it so much that I suggested we pretend it's Mommy and Daddy only to have Ellie remind me "No, Mommy. You get all the good pictures. This one is for Nana and Grandpa." Ouch.

But because she knew I loved it so much, she made me my own picture of Mommy, Daddy, Addie and Ellie, each with happy hearts. Thank you, Sweetie.

And I get messages that were written all by herself, without any help from teachers. Take that, Nana!

But my favorite of all are the cards for Addie. Ellie sure does love her little sister.

This is a picture of Bun Bun Bear pretending to be a Lion. Cute. And when she doesn't know how to spell words? Well that's when the squiggles come handy. I asked her what it says and she told me "This is a card for you At-a-line. Please love me because I love you to. Please, pretty please, draw me a picture too. This is for At-a-line. Please love her because I love her too. And please hug her whenever you like to because this is a card for you. Please love her forever and I will too." Melt.

Though we've been bombarded with pictures covered with "I love you"s, each one makes me smile. The teachers say that Ellie is often the one who comes up with ideas of making loved ones presents like these. Then the other kids follow suit. Apparently Ellie could spend the entire day coloring precious gifts for everyone she loves - if only the teachers would let her.

Another picture of Bun Bun Bear for Addie. This one says "To Addie. This is Bun Bun Bear. He loves you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you so much! Thank you for all your love! Please come to my birthday. Love, Ellie."

So I guess what I'm trying to say in this post is that Ellie has been sending home lots of love and as her Mommy, I'm soaking it all in.

Addie these Days

To say that this girl is incredible just doesn't ever do her justice. How do you find words to describe someone who is so easy-going and already shows others consideration and friendship? She's amazing. For someone so young, I feel like little Miss Addie has such an old soul.

So... I thought perhaps I would take a moment to mention some of these items that go without speaking... they're small, but they're Addie.

Addie has transitioned away from saying "I love you best fwiend" to "I love you very much best fwiend." Not a bad transition at all. It's almost as though she knows she has so much love for me that the standard 3 words just aren't enough. She now has a standard 7 words when she's telling me she loves me. I melt every time I hear it. She might be onto something... as I feel more loved than ever before.

She loves to tell us secrets, though I suppose it shouldn't be plural. We often have conversations similar to this one:
Addie: Mommy, guess what?
Mommy: What?
Addie: I go to da field!
Or something like this:
Addie: Mommy, I haf see-ket!
Mommy: Oh? What's your secret?
Addie: (whispering) I go to da field!
Sometimes she'll embellish the story with details like "yes-today" (all days in the past are "yesterday") or "I run and run and run wif my fwiends and den I fall down," but in the end it's quite apparent that the field is by far one of the highlights of her entire life.

I think it's absolutely adorable the way Addie explains something being cold. "I'm so so so cold." It's not just a little cold. It's "so so so" cold. She does the same thing with being hungry. She's never "really" hungry, but she's often "So so so hungry."

I remember how Ellie used to think her bum was funny (I think it's typical for this age). Ellie used to dance up and down singing "My booty butt, My booty butt." Addie takes a more simple route and bounces up and down saying "My bum bum bum." So cute - you know, as far as trash talk goes.

Another subtle difference between the girls is the details on how they are princesses. Though Ellie has always been a princess (when she's not a unicorn or tiger), Addie takes it to the next level. She loves to wear her blanket over he head and pretend like it's hair with flowers in it. It's the stereo-typical thing for a young girl to do, right? But, she does it like a pro, whereas her bigger sister never seemed to catch on.

New Years Resolution Band Wagon

Did I miss my chance to hop on the New Years Resolution band wagon?

Mommy: Thank you for picking me up!
Ellie: Mommy? Why did we pick you up?
Mommy: Because I didn't want to walk home.
Ellie: And if we didn't pick you up you would have to walk?
Mommy: Yep.
Ellie: Why don't you want to walk?
Mommy: Umm... Because I'm carrying a lot of stuff.
Ellie: And you wibble wobble like a penguin?
Mommy: Uh...

Aw, the brutal honesty of a young child.

Wordless Wednesday