A little movement is a good thing...

I've been trying to find activities that can be done in a padded cell...I mean, our living room. Something that requires a little movement. A little more than Mickey's Hot Dog dance, ya know?
So I found a Movement and Music book at the school store. I moaned and groaned about the price but finally succumed to the fact that Sophie, at least, would still be an active storm system for a few years. This book was worth it's weight in gold! The girls have loved it! I love it because I don't have to figure out when to wiggle like an inch worm, the guy *tells* us when to!
Sarah loves it because it's a lot of the same songs she did in Movement class at preschool (oh yeah! score!) and because she loves to move around. She's a live wire. As long as she's plugged in and hooked up right she can focus her energy, but at some point she pops and goes all over the place!
Sophie loves it more than I thought she would. She does what Sarah and I do...even freezes! Which is her favorite of course.
Here are some pics of our great time.
(I've got to find out how to post a slide show!)

I always wondered if people just did this for the camera...

But, apparently it IS possible to think "I wonder what it would be like if I put underware on my head???" Well, of course it was Sophie....who else???
The pictures don't do her justice. She was having the time of her life dancing around with Sarah's underware on her head! Up until this point Sophie was actually a pretty good underware put-away-er. She has been demoted back down to socks. :)

On a slightly more normal track of emerging talents...
She's becoming quite the lover of getting her own water from the fridge...and drinking it. Here she's using a straw, but she prefers the more baptismal method of drinking. (where it all runs down your face and gets you all wet)



I've had a migraine for 3 days. Oddly enough one of my triggers is slow moving atmospheric pressure systems. Miserable. The system finally moved through...but it occurred to me that I live with a hurricane. oh dear. oh dear. At least she's fast. I think that's a good thing.

What more can you say???

Forever sisters...forever friends (whether they like it or not!)

I've been thinking..."Hurricane" isn't a fair nickname...

"Tornado"? "Tasmanian Devil"? I don't know...I guess F5 Hurricane is the closest because you do experience that "calm before the storm", the eye of the storm where you feel like you can breathe before the 2nd half of the storm, the surge....yeah, we'll stick with Hurricane.
At any rate, Hurricane and I had a very interesting Tuesday. More on that later. But on Monday...somewhere in the eye of the storm...Hurricane was in her pack-and-play being as sweet and quiet as can be. Yeah, I know, ugh-oh. When school was over I went to get her for play. She's naked. No, that's not how I left her. And no, I haven't told this story already. *sigh*
She looks up at me and says "poo-poo". She seemed to know what she was talking about and as I drew closer...I found she indeed did know. She had "gone", removed her diaper and folded it over, and placed it on the opposite side of the p-n-p. Or maybe she moved to the opposite side, who really knows. The point is she was kind enough to not play with it. I inquired as to why she wouldn't cry or loudly repeat "poo-poo" so that Mommy could change her...you know, like most would expect from a 22 month old. She had no words. Just a blank stare as if to ask "do we really need to discuss this?"
Indeed, I agree. What's the point?
We go on to get dressed and go outside. I don't remember much after that...that's when the storm surge came in. It's fairly typical of my days.

Then there is yesterday...we are all outside enjoying the weather. The sand box is our meeting place. For a few minutes all is fine. Everybody is doing their own thing. That's the calm before the storm. Almost without warning (well, you knew it was coming you just weren't sure how it would hit.) Hurricane goes over to Sarah's sand castle...and...strikes. Hard. A word picture....ummm....like she was swimming doggie style in the pool that was Sarah's sand castle. Sarah and I just starred in disbelief. It was over in a flash, but nothing but destruction was left. yeah, ok, it's a sand castle. I wipe the tears and insist it can be rebuilt and begin trying to figure out where to take cover because I knew that wasn't the end of it.
Sure enough...Hurricane picks up sand...and throws it at Sarah. Nice. Sarah never did that. I try my best impression of Michelle Dugger and explain that we don't throw sand. Hurricane does it again. *gasp* I flick her on the hand with firm no-no. SHE DOES IT AGAIN!!!! *double gasp* Here's where my technique fell apart.
I start walking her up to the house to be put in the infamous pack-n-play for a little reflection. That'll show her!
Well, I couldn't do that...I had just cleaned the pack-n-play. Busy moms understand that. So off to the tub we went. And into the tub we went. With a very happy and excited "yippy!" upon entering the "punishment zone". Of course the tub is really just another round of insanity that is a blur. Next thing I know we are eating yummy mac and cheese and asking to go to bed. We all collapse into nap time bliss and the sand throwing was a blip on the radar. I've been scared of the sandbox ever since.

All that is not to say Hurricane is not without her beautiful rainbows! If she loves what she's eating...she'll hum the entire time. She gives the best morning hugs. She has an "I can" attitude. She'll try anything (not including food) and she doesn't tend to give up unless it's to "watch and learn again". She snuggles. And she is absolutely head over heels in love with her sister.

Sarah is....always in trouble. Always. She loves to know what the rules are, and constantly checks to see if we love her enough to call her on the infractions. We love her a lot. *sigh* But at the same time, she's brilliant. She's engaging. She's adorable and fun. She's beginning to think deeper and more seriously about things. And she doesn't seem to care that that "chicken" I'm cleaning for dinner is the same as that "chicken" we see at farms. Isn't that weird?? It always bothered me a bit. And honestly still does! Perhaps it's me that's weird.

I have no pictures. I just weathered the storm this last week!

playing with new stuff

I've been gathering Montessori-type stuff for Sophie's "school" next year. I'm thinking she's going to be over the pack-n-play option soon and I'm a bit nervous at the idea of Hurricane being in our school room during school time. Anyway...while Sarah was playing with clay (which does not have the same immediate gratification as Play-Doh and it's nice to see her work at something a bit)...I tried out some of our new ideas with Sophie.

Here she is learning to use tongs to pick up different size pom poms. She was WAAAAAAAY excited when she did it. Sorry she's nearly naked. We started out with some marker art, which turned into a snack *sigh*. At snack or meal time...that's all she will accept...a snack or a meal. If you don't give it to her, she will make do with what is given to her!!!!! She scares me. And dazzles me all at the same time.

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful for every breath I take...for every next moment to hold, touch, hug my 2 dreams come true. And I'm thankful for tree swings too. :)

I hate to say it, but Noggin is evil!!

Sophie loves and adores a schedule, a routine. It makes her happy. And quiet.

Well, for a long time our friends at Noggin faithfully showed Blue's Clues at 5pm. By faithfully, I mean my child has come to expect it AT 5PM. "clue! clue! clue!", she yells. By 4:45 if things are not easing in the way of Blue's Clues she knows something is not right.
To say we love Blue, who is a dog if you hadn't noticed, is an understatement. I'd dare say, she NEEDS Blue.

In January I noticed our friends at Noggin tinkering with our schedule. O.K., so I can see that they might show Kai-Lan more during Chinese New Year. Or a new Dora movie is sprinkled here and there. But for the love of all things quiet in my house....
put Blue's Clues back on at 5!!!!!!!!!! We're dying here!!!

Right now (it's 5pm) they are watching Barbie's Nutcracker. With popcorn and everything! The girl (that would be Sophie) is beside herself. She was done with her popcorn 15 mins ago and is now hounding Sarah for hers. She keeps coming to the doorway and saying "mama!! clue!! corn!!". Barbie will not do.

Obviously I'm going to have to break down and buy a Blue's video. Who really wants to own a Blue's video?? *sigh*

My cup runneth over

Tot learning time :)

The Wiki-Stiks made their debut in Sophie's world last month. She thinks they are great! So far she only really makes spaghetti and meatballs. :) But she loves to sit there and manipulate them...and if she has a buddy sitting with her it's even better!

yuck!

This is Sophie's first time to play with mud. At least without Mommy shielding her from all harm.
If you look closely, you'll see she tasted some. Sometimes I say "smile" and I get a smile. Other times she just tries to gross me out.
I just repeated over and over: "God made dirt so dirt don't hurt...God made dirt so dirt don't hurt..." blach!

Still...she's still pretty cute, don't you think?

For your viewing pleasure :)

For your viewing pleasure :)

I'm beginning to fear silence now....

I sound like a broken record I know, but....
Sarah never did this!
A few weeks ago Sophie began showing interest in helping to dress herself. Great! I'm glad she thought of it, because honestly, I think she will always be 10 months old in my mind.
I'm one of those "Mommy decides when nap-time is over" kind of moms. I do remember Sarah at this age being very clear about when she was ready to get up. So when Sophie started that same sort of spirited communication I was ready (sort of). Well the other day she was awake but didn't seem at all concerned about making sure I knew it. That should have been my first clue. 30 mins later, when I was good and ready, I went in to get her.
She was naked. Yep. Naked. And pretty stinkin' happy about it too. I think I actually sat there stunned for a moment trying to remember if I forgot to do something. Ahh, but there it was....evidence that she went in dressed. A nice wet diaper balled up (I recognized her attempt to roll it up like I do...the little imitator that she is.)...thermal pants...socks...her blanket sleeper. And a big grin that just screamed pride.
I was ever so thankful that everything that should be dry, was. And then I said "This will be my 'poop on the wall' kid.". And I'm left to ponder who should really decide if nap time is over, lest discovery time begin.
That's not the end though. She refused to lay down for a diaper to be put on. I don't have any idea how a knee-high, 27 lb 2 yr old wins a battle like this. But you just can not put a diaper on a baby wiggling at the speed of light.
Fine.
I let her run naked through the house (oh the torture of seeing such sweet bliss!) and I'll just slap the diaper on as soon as she's still!
Of course she runs immediately to the snack drawer to find her beloved "ah-pole" (apple). "Ahhh ha! I'll get the diaper on her there for sure. Let me throw this diaper away first."
Next thing I know...Sophie falls. hmmm that's strange...she doesn't even have socks on.
Well, you don't need to have socks on to slip on linoleum if you have a cup of pee under you!!!!!!!!
I scoop her up and head off to clean her...completely amazed that all of that pee left her body in milliseconds!

And folks...all this happens in a 5-7 min span of time. Hurricane. Blows in and out in no time, but there is no doubt you've been hit. Man, she's fun. Sarah is lots of fun too...she's just more like a steady rain, with the occasional strike of lightning. :) I'm one lucky mama.

Sarah has been so thrilled to have some beautiful weather to play in. And Sophie is getting to where she's almost a good playmate. Though, Sarah couldn't recommend her for sand castle construction or follow the leader....but chase is something they both love!
Sarah's school stuff is going great. I'm amazed every day at her reading. We were reading our science encyclopedia assignment today and she actually read the entire page to me (ok, it's not like a "real" encyclopedia page, but still it's meant to be a read aloud.)...I nearly passed out! So I can happily say phonics is well under control. Math...check. Logic...the girl loves logic games! Science...I hate to admit, I still don't care for. But she really likes stuff like "how things work". As far as a seed goes, she's like me. Readily able to accept that God made it, made it work like it should, so why worry? Ha! I think she'll enjoy that sort of stuff more when we start our garden and can see the seed become something. Not just drawings of it. Handwriting...pretty good I guess. How good is a 5 yr old supposed to write, ya know? She writes me countless letters. COUNTLESS. I've had to stop saving them, or start wallpapering with them. But I love them! So that's what I let be her handwriting practice.
I sure hope with the nicer weather and Sophie getting a bit more independent I can have more fun, crafty time with Sarah. She really has had the short end of the stick this past year. But we are all beginning to see a new phase start. And we are all better and stronger as a result of hanging in there. Together. And it doesn't hurt that Sophie gets in trouble now too!
I do have some pictures and video to post. But it will have to be this weekend. I'm going to go watch a movie!!