A card for Cinderella

It's so neat to watch the girls as they are starting to learn to read and write.

Emma has started asking me to spell things.  This time, she was making a card for her Cinderella doll.

You have to read from left to right, then right to left.  We're still working on getting our letters in the right direction, and when to use capitals vs. lowercase.  But Emma's handwriting has improved drastically in the last few weeks.

Valentines, part 2-4

After the Valentines dried (which took a solid 24 hours due to some, um, overzealous paint jobs), the girls signed each one themselves.  They didn't have to address them, but still...  writing their names 30 times?  Had to be split over about 3 different nights.

Emma got right down to business (of course).  She knocked hers out in 1 or 2 nights.  Of course, she has the shortest name...

Rebecca still writes capital E's and A in her name, but poor kid has the longest name, so we just let it go for now.  

They loved using the colored pens that grandma bought them.  Becca even started alternating colors...  Ah, a girl after my own heart.

I have to say I was really impressed by Julie.  I hadn't really seen her write her own name much.  She totally has the "J" down, but I'd heard her saying that she wanted to skip the "u" and the "e," probably because they are harder to write.  But she knocked them out like a rock star.

Well, she knocked them out like a rock star when she wasn't being distracted by a ladybug.

Birthday Miracle #2

Randomly, in the middle of the week before their birthday, Becca decided she wanted to wear underwear to bed.  Never one to back down from a challenge, Emma declared that she didn't need a diaper, either.  And Julie, as usual, was happy with things just the way they are and wanted to keep her diaper, thank you very much.

Becca didn't make it more than a few hours, after several attempts, is back in pull ups.  Every week or so, she will try again, but without much success yet.

Emma, though, pretty much flipped a switch.  We knew she'd pee in her diaper while she was still awake because she was just too lazy to go to the bathroom.  But with the underwear now, she rarely has an accident.

So, after three nights in a row of waking up dry, I took Emma out for a "big girl" morning.  We went for doughnuts.

Then we went to Toys R Us to get a big girl present.  She chose this Cinderella carriage.

And just how jealous were her sisters?  Not jealous enough to stay dry through the night.  But this picture was after Julie wiped Emma's nose because she was doing whatever she thought it would take to get a turn at that carriage.

Birthday Miracle #1

Our bedtime routine had gotten bad.  Just bad.  The girls insisted on one of us staying in the room with them until they fall asleep.  I am so wiped out by 9:00 that I was falling asleep before they were a lot of the times.  It was basically to the point where I was sleeping on the floor in their room (well, on a "bed" of bean bag chairs).  Depending on how tired I was, I would stay in there all night, or get up in the middle of the night and move to my bed.  Typically, within an hour of me waking up and moving to my bed, one or two of the girls would end up in our bed.  So I wasn't sleeping well, no matter where I slept.  Greg was able to stay up a little better than I was, but he would fall asleep in there some as well.

Whoever didn't have bed duty was downstairs, unloading and reloading the dishwasher, cleaning up from dinner, cleaning up toys, making lunches for the next day, and just generally keeping us functional.

It was really taking its toll.

So, a few weeks before their birthday, I said, "Four year olds go to bed by themselves."

And they said, "Ok."

And seriously, since their fourth birthday, I'll go up and read stories, tuck everyone in, and then I can go fold laundry or something.  We have to go back and check on them at certain intervals, but for the most part we turn out the lights, they quiet down, and go to sleep.  It's crazy.

Now, most nights Rebecca will still wake up in the middle of the night and climb into our bed (Emma and Julie sleep in their own beds all night 95% of the time).  But Becca will now climb in without waking us up, and curl up next to one of us.  By morning, she's pushing us out of bed, because she likes to be practically wedged underneath us.  If you mistakenly move by a fraction of an inch to try to get more space, she's right behind you.  On bad nights, she'll get perpendicular between us, and you just have to hope you're not on the feet end, because she's a kicker.

Momento

Playing catch up since I have to actually export these from my phone, and I forget to do it.  Reading through these, I had forgotten about so many of them, and they STILL make me laugh.

Sunday 30 September 2012
========================

12:35 PM
Me:  how's your turkey, ham, and cheese?
J:  No, mom.  Turkey and cheese and ham.

12:57 PM
E:  The momma giraffe has a baby giraffe that's going to come out of her pouch.  That's what you said yesterday.  (There's a pregnant giraffe at the zoo.)

1:35 PM
E:  After looking at the giraffes:  "I think it's the daddy that has the baby coming out of its pouch."

2:19 PM
R:  Can I gallop?
Me: This isn't a good place to gallop.
R:  But that's what Beccas do best!  (Tigger reference)


Saturday 29 September 2012
==========================

10:09 AM
Talking about mommy going to Amsterdam:
Greg:  Amsterdam is in Europe.
J:  Europe is at school.

12:21 PM
Me:  I think there are some tigers that have black and white stripes.
J:  No, mom.  White and black stripes.


Thursday 27 September 2012
==========================

6:28 PM
Me:  I like what Pink Nose is wearing.
J:  No, mom.  I like it.


Wednesday 26 September 2012
===========================

7:12 PM
Wearing the stethoscope in their ears:  J, R:  "talk what you did on vacation."


Monday 24 September 2012
========================

6:36 PM
E:  We tell children to find their own work.   (A Montessori reference.)

6:38 PM
R:  I'll be the baby teacher ... waaaaah.


Sunday 23 September 2012
========================

10:59 AM
J:  Mommy, those cars are going to the apple pick.  (Apple pick = apple orchard)


Monday 17 September 2012
========================

8:16 PM  Facebook
I asked Emma what her favorite part of vacation was. "Riding bikes." Um, we didn't do that. She later came back with "Being in the parking garage." At least we did do that. Do I know how to show these kids a good time or what?


Sunday 16 September 2012
========================

10:33 AM
R:  When I get polka dots on me, I have to wash them off with rainbows.

1:08 PM Facebook
One hour into a five hour car trip and the DVD player broke. Emma and Rebecca shrieked "I want Mickey" for about ten minutes. Until we passed Dunkin Donuts and their shrieks turned to "I want a donut!". Somehow, Julie managed to fall asleep with all the screaming. I've appeased Rebecca with a water bottle and and apple ("I don't want a little apple!"), but Emma has currently moved on to "I don't want my door closed!". Wish us luck on surviving this one.


Saturday 15 September 2012
==========================

6:49 PM
E:  Mus mustache  (= milk mustache)


Sunday 9 September 2012
=======================

8:16 PM
E:  Cows give out milk from their heinies.

8:22 PM
E:  When I grow up I want to be a cow.  I'm going to squirt milk right into your glass.


Wednesday 5 September 2012
==========================

11:49 AM Facebook
The girls' first dance class was yesterday afternoon at school, and they had a blast. They came home telling me all the things they need... "a black short sleeve shirt that comes all the way down" (that would be a leotard) and "dance shoes." I called this morning to confirm, and sure enough, we need 3 black leotards, 3 pairs of pink tights, 3 pink skirts, 3 pairs of pink ballet shoes, and 3 pairs of black tap shoes. I sure hope they don't get sick of this after a month...


Monday 3 September 2012
=======================

3:19 PM
E:  Do you know where mommy got this?  (glow bracelets they found that were packed for the beach). Belgium!

3:20 PM
R:  I got these (blocks) in baby Belgium.

3:21 PM
E:  Belgium is where I live.  You want to know what continent my bear lives?  It's a far away land called North America.


Sunday 2 September 2012
=======================

10:53 AM
R:  This is going to be cool.  This is going to be the best festival I ever had.  (the Apple Festival)

2:20 PM
E:  I think your airplane has red cold-itis.  (courtesy of Doc McStuffins)

7:46 PM
R:  Spiderman!  (catcher in red equipment at the baseball game)


Saturday 1 September 2012
=========================

7:14 PM
E:  Mommy, you're my best friend.

8:10 PM
J:  Mommy, you wear me out.


Friday 31 August 2012
=====================

8:32 AM
R:  To her teachers:  Do you like my mom's new shoes?


Wednesday 29 August 2012
========================

6:42 PM
R:  That train has messy cars.  (graffiti)


Tuesday 28 August 2012
======================

3:49 PM
R:  Mommy, you know what?  I love you.

3:59 PM
R:  At starbucks for a snack:  mom, our bags have girls on them.

8:37 PM Facebook
I went shoe shopping over the weekend, and got a couple of new pairs for work. I took one of them out of the box this morning, and Becca said, "Mommy, do you have any more sizes in that box?" Seriously, shoes are better than toys in this house.


Monday 27 August 2012
=====================

7:58 AM
R:  On the way to work:  Mom, is Bib going to be at work?  Do you sit next to daddy at work?  Why not?


Saturday 25 August 2012
=======================

6:31 PM
R:  Those are mermaids.  (Apparently it's been a while since we had edamame.)


Thursday 23 August 2012
=======================

5:11 PM Facebook
J: S said some not nice words to me today. And then I said some not nice words to him. Me: What did you say? Julie: I told him, "Don't! You can't come to my tea party!" I'm not sure what poor S did to deserve such harsh words from my little lady.

No, mom.

I can't believe this is starting already, but according to Julie, I am always wrong.

Let me give you a few examples.

Me:  "Yup, that's where we got our shirts yesterday."
Julie:  "No, mom.  T-shirts."

Julie:  "There are no horses out."
Me:  "Maybe they are eating lunch."
Julie:   "No, mom.  Breakfast.  You eat breakfast before you eat lunch."
Me:  "But it's afternoon, and you just ate lunch."
Julie:  no response.  I consider this a small victory.

Julie:  "What color is this?"
Me:  "Blue."
Julie:  "No, mom.  Light blue."

I get corrected constantly when we're in the bathroom and I say, "Pull up your pants."

"No, mom.  Underpants and shorts."

I need to write down more examples of the stuff she tells me, but it's seriously to the point where, to almost everything, I hear her respond, "No, mom."

Phases

I know I'll look back and think that this phase wasn't so bad.  You know, when we hit the "I hate you" phase.  Or the "mom has no idea about anything" phase.  Or, heaven forbid, the Justin Bieber phase.

Let me preface this by saying that a lot of tv shows, and almost all movies, still scare the girls to the point where they don't want to watch them.  We tried to do a movie night a few weeks ago and watch Toy Story, and they were not enjoying it.  We didn't make it all the way through before bedtime, and they agreed that they didn't want to see the rest of the movie.

So, there are only a few tv shows that don't scare them.  Namely, Mickey Mouse Club House, Olivia (which is no longer available On Demand), and a new one, Max and Ruby.  In case you haven't had the pleasure of sitting through it, Max and Ruby is based on the Stanley and Rhoda characters created by Rosemary Wells.

Max is Ruby's little brother.  In every episode, Ruby is trying to do something, and Max is getting in the way.  Max speaks only one word in every episode.  But he says it over and over, with different inflections.  And, in the end, Ruby does whatever she was trying to do and says "I couldn't have done it without some help from Max and his ."

So Emma has started speaking one word sentences.  And it is driving me up a wall.  Today, it was "Pizza?"  "No Emma, we're not having pizza for dinner."   "Pizza?"  "Pizza!"  The whole way home from daycare.  When we pulled into the driveway:  "Daddy?"  "Daddy's not home yet."  "Daddy?"  "Daddy!" over and over and over.  And then it gets whiny.  And even more annoying.

I'm seriously on the verge of not letting her watch that show ever again.

Bedtime Routine

I want to write this down so I don't forget it.

We head upstairs around 8:00.

Our bedtime routine involves reading three stories up in their room.  Everyone gets to pick out one story, unless they've done something to lose their story.  Really, this pretty much the only punishment threat that works.  "Do you want to lose your story?"  They love story time, and they love getting to pick their story.

When it's my turn, I sit at the end of Emma's bed to read, and they gather around and sit either on their bean bags or on the floor.  After stories, they get in bed, and the girls ask if we can talk for a little bit.

I lay down on top of their beanbags, continually surprised at how comfortable a bed three bean bags can make.  Even though I tell her that she has to sleep in her bed, Becca gets up almost right away to bring her pillow over to lay down (and eventually fall asleep) next to me.

We talk about what we did that day, or what's coming up the next day.  We talk about how many school days are left until the next "stay at home" day.

Lately, after that, they start into a round of, "Mommy, what does start with?"  They'll talk over each other trying to get me to hear their word.  I usually give them the letter sounds, and usually someone will get the right letter.  

We talk a little more, and eventually it gets quiet.  Depending on whether they've had a nap, they usually fall asleep between 9 and 9:30.  A lot of times, I fall asleep in there.  I usually try to get anyone on the floor back into their bed.

Momento

Monday 11 June 2012
===================

7:55 PM Emma and Julie are shooing dragons by walking around yelling "Shoo!  Shoo!"

7:56 PM J:  I have two dolls named doll.

7:56 PM E:  Bear's name is puppy.

7:56 PM E:  Bear's name is Chandler.
People: Emma

7:58 PM R:  Emma can you get my cape?  (cake?)
E:  no, I don't want to get dragon poop on me.


Sunday 10 June 2012
===================

5:00 PM R:  I have dragon poop on my hand.  I have to wash it off.


Saturday 9 June 2012
====================

3:25 PM E:  My tummy hurt because it needed a venture. (after touch a truck this morning)


Saturday 2 June 2012
====================

12:46 PM G - is daddy cool or what?    E:  What


Friday 1 June 2012
==================

5:02 PM J:  I'm going to bounce like a whale.

5:03 PM J:  I always dance like a spider.
People: Julie

5:50 PM J:  "Not quite" (when I asked her if she was done on he potty)
People: Julie

5:50 PM After denying she peed on the floor, R:  "you're right."


Monday 28 May 2012
==================

10:18 AM  J:   I'm sick and I need lots of strawberry banana juice.  (playing sick with nurse becca)

5:08 PM   J:  I see another candle!  (flame on the grill)



Saturday 26 May 2012
====================

7:35 AM   E: Mommy I need you to stay patient.

7:35 AM   E:  It's sunny in there! (staring into a flash light.)

7:39 AM   E:  Where's my crayon?  (crown)

7:40 AM   R:  I'm a fairy godmother.



Friday 25 May 2012
==================

9:54 AM   E:  I made you disakaper!

9:55 AM   R:  Mom can you put my clown on? (crown)

9:56 AM   R:  C'mon everybody, let's get on the ship!

5:44 PM   E:  Daddy, does orange mean go?  (That would be a yellow light.)

5:52 PM   J:  All our neighbors took all the money.  (ATM broken)



Thursday 24 May 2012
====================

9:26 AM   R:  Wearing a pumpkin pony tail holder as a clock (watch)

9:28 AM   E:  Daddy, you can learn to do ponies when you grow up like a mommy.  ('Do ponies' = put in pony tails)


Wednesday 23 May 2012
=====================

8:12 AM   J:  I saw some foggy down that path.  (fog down that road)

8:14 AM   E:  My mouth is getting tired.



Tuesday 22 May 2012
===================

8:08 AM   R:  I don't want to go to my big girl school because there are boys there and they bother me.

9:49 AM   R:  I had a great time at the doctor.  (ear doctor recheck)

Letters

Last weekend was tax free weekend.  I took Friday as a vacation day, partly because I needed a mental break, and partly to do some shopping.  I ended up out all day, despite the fact that my original plan included a lot more nap time.

Anyhow, I was in Target, climbing over piles of kids to get at the school supplies (a guilty pleasure) and I saw some Crayola dry erase markers.  It prompted a memory I had maybe, oh 6 months ago, when I bought a laminator.

The girls like to trace letters all the time.  It's usually when we're out at a restaurant and they want to draw letters on their menus.  They want us to draw "lines" for them to trace.

I downloaded a free "dotted" font and somehow even figured out how to install it.  Put 8 letters on each page.  I was going to print front and back, but then noticed that we had bought the cheap Target printer paper, and it was really too see through.

Found the instructions for the laminator, plus the free laminate folders that came with it (it's no small miracle to find all 3 of those things around this mess).

And voila....

My lefty  :)

Rainbow W's

She's a little proud.

Tracing certainly doesn't teach them how to make letters...  I watched Becca doing the "X" by doing the left half, then the right.  But at this point, I think it's more about pen control.

Since it seems to come up a lot when we're out, I'm considering a more portable version - maybe 4x6" size, on a binder ring.  Of course, that may take me another 6 months to pull off.

Bad words

... and a new phase.

"Shut up."

Oh, hearing that drives me crazy.  They all had to get it out at dinner last night.  I told them that we don't say that at our house (because I'm 100% sure it came from daycare).

And Becca had to say it one more time.  She, of course, is the one to test boundaries.

She gets sent to her room.

After bath, she says it again.

Gets sent to her room again.

Sigh.  What am I going to do when they start saying worse?

The little things

After the Touch a Truck, we went to a moms of multiples picnic.  It was a gorgeous day, and so nice to just be outside.

What really made it special, though, was one of those little milestones that means that my girls really are growing up - - Emma managed to finally get the rhythm down and swing herself.

Sigh.

So proud.  And trying really hard to let them grow up without wishing they'd stay this age forever.

Random Notes from the Week

The girls are starting to recognize some letters, particularly E, J, and R.  I think they've got O down, too.  The nanny is talking about starting a preschool curriculum at the start of next year, so I need to do some research.  Let me know if you have any recommendations.

There are very few things that can completely mesmerize the girls to the point where they are quiet and entertained for an extended period of time.  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse is one of those things.  (On Thanksgiving, I ran out to get a newspaper while the girls were watching Mickey, and when I got back and still had my coat on, they asked where I was going.  They had no idea I was gone.)  The other thing they've recently discovered?  Toy catalogs.  The nanny asked me to keep a few from the mail for a project, and the girls found them.  They love the Fisher Price one, and they've been going through the Land of Nod catalog, too.  They love the page of all the dolls in the Land of Nod.  They also saw an instrument set that Uncle Steve and Aunt Stephanie got them last year in the catalog, and Becca got up and ran over to get out her "drum" (tambourine) that was in the picture.

We broke down and ordered them personalized bean bag chairs for their birthday, since we got them on sale and with free shipping.  We're about ready to re-claim the love seat out of their room, and put the bean bags and some book racks in that corner.  Anyhow, because I was in class, and the coupon expired on Monday, I had Greg show them the website and get them to pick out colors.  Emma wanted pink.  Julie wanted orange, but they didn't have it in stock, so we ordered her back up color, purple.  Becca wanted brown.  I was like, "Really?  She wanted brown?"  Greg said she insisted on brown because it was "brown like monkey's tail."  Ah, that makes more sense.

Speaking of making sense, they've started saying that to me.  "That make sense."  Totally getting my words thrown back at me.  :)

They also started telling me "Way to go, Mommy!"

Julie ran up to me last week on my way out the door to work in the morning and handed me "my bracelets" - two pink plastic bracelets that actually fit me.  I wore them proudly all day.  This week, she gave me "a special butterfly," a little finger puppet that is currently in my jacket pocket.  I love finding it there during the day.

Apparently, I broke a tooth over Thanksgiving.  It felt funny when I brushed my teeth on Saturday morning, and then sometime later, I could feel what felt like a big whole in my tooth.  It felt like I had lost a filling, but apparently it was a broken tooth.  I went to the dentist, and they're going to fix me up, but not for another few weeks.  Luckily, I'm not in any pain.  It's a little sensitive, but that's about it.

Random notes from the week

On Tuesday morning, the girls asked for milk on their cereal. When did they get old enough for that? I mean, I guess I knew they were doing that at school (based on all of the wet shirts we got sent home), but we'd been getting away with dry cereal forever. They actually did pretty well with it.

Potty training. It's coming. Soon. The girls are interested, sort of. I think we're going to attempt to start next weekend.

They are currently obsessed with having a "pick-uh-nick" (3 syllables, don't ya know?). Actually, the word "picnic" refers to everything associated with having a picnic - the blanket, the food, etc - they're all called "pick-uh-nick." As in, when handing you a plate of food, they'll say, "here's your pick-uh-nick, mommy." They spread out blankets on the living room floor, get lots of drinks and cups and food (and sauce!), and spend most of their time running back and forth to their play kitchen. They also like to cut our food for us: "I cut it faw you."

Julie has been consistently using her left hand to hold a fork or spoon. Becca and Emma are pretty set on their right hand. We'll see...

A lot of the time, Dusty or Lefty is sitting on the steps when it's time for the girls to go up for bed. I've got the girls convinced that they can only get the cats to go upstairs and get out of the way by saying "please." Really, you have to get just close enough to the cats before they dart up the stairs.

Emma made her bed on Wednesday night, completely unprompted. She was too busy to listen to stories. She took a blanket, and laid it across her bed. It was totally straight and smooth. I know where she gets the OCD-ness, but I honestly can't remember the last time I made a bed.

Becca got sick on Tuesday night, so I stayed home with her on Wednesday. She was stuck to me all day - wanted me to hold her hand, needed my arm around her while she was sitting on the couch. She didn't touch a toy all day long. And as soon as her sisters got home? They were fighting over every toy imaginable.

The girls have been perfecting patty cake this week. Somehow, Becca's version always ends with throwing the baby in the oven.

They have started carrying the webcams we use for video chats with the grandparents around the living room, saying "say hi gramma papa." "Say I love you gramma papa." "Say goon night gramma papa."

According to Julie, the gas tank on her cozy coupe is actually a lotion dispenser. She kept running back and forth and giving me lotion. At one point, she said "I had to close it. Thank you for waiting."

The girls love to play with cards ("cods") - essentially oversize flash cards with pictures of animals, nature, etc on them. But they still don't really understand what the word "shape" means, because they'll hold the cards up to me and say "what shape dat?" After I say "rectangle" a few dozen times, I give in and start playing along and telling them what is on the card.

Personality and Developmental Notes 7/20/11

Just this week, they've started saying "I got eyes on you."

Julie is obsessed with picking up tiny pieces of trash and handing them to us while telling us it's trash. As you can imagine, this tends to happen in places where we wish she really wouldn't be picking up trash, like restaurant floors. That being said, though, when we're out, they all like to be able to throw out their own juice box.

Speaking of throwing things, Becca loves to throw her dishes in the sink, including bowls still full of dry cereal. Our sink is deep, and she can't see over the counter yet, so she just sort of pushes stuff over. Thank goodness for plastic.

It's becoming more and more common to hear my words coming out of their mouths. They have started wearing the toy oven mitt and cooking things that are "hot" in their toy kitchen. Becca has started putting things in the oven, and saying "I want you get back. This is hot. Berry berry hot." And "Emma, Julie you get back. Oven is hot."

Julie has just recently started to "get" books. Emma, on the other hand, grabs every book we read at bed time and says she is taking them to bed. She has a stack of books in there. We have to replenish the bookshelf every now and then, and we always know where to look for missing books. Anyhow, Julie will now occasionally take a book to bed. And she will sometimes stare intently at them the whole way to daycare. She also will sometimes "read" another book than we are reading at bed time. A few weeks ago, I caught her reading Olivia, and every time she turned a page, she'd say "Dis is Owibia, she is good at lots of things" (the opening line of the book).

She also has had a very teacher/mothering streak right now. When she's reading books, a lot of times she'll hold up the book and point to the pictures and say "See guys? See?" (And yes "guys" is new to the vocabulary now.) While we were on vacation in Vermont, she had this box of cubes, and talking to no one, she'd hold one up and say "What shape dis? Yewwow? Yewwow! What shape dis? Green? No green. Blue? Blue!" (And yes, she still gets "shape" and "color" confused.)

Personality and Developmental Notes 6/23/11

The girls had chocolate milk for the first time last week. I offered them hot chocolate back over the winter and they didn't like it, so I had given up on it. But they all chose chocolate milk at dinner, and I think it was Emma who started it, but they call it "ice cream milk," probably because the only ice cream they've ever had is chocolate.

The girls have this comedy routine that they do at bedtime now. After we read our stories, they get up from the couch and run to each others' cribs and say "my crib!" and we have to pretend to put them in the wrong cribs. They actually get fairly upset if we get them all the way in to the crib without "figuring out" who it is.

The word "down" has become southern-ized now, into "day own."

On our way to daycare one morning this week, Julie say the moon up in the sky, and said "silly moon!"

Any little scratch or bump is now a boo-boo, as in "I have a boo-boo, kiss it."

A lot of times, when we're in the car, the girls (usually Julie) will say "Where are you, (wherever we are going)?" and "We're coming, (wherever we're going)!"

The girls have started singing Ring Around the Rosie. Mostly "Ashes, ashes, we all fall down!" They made us do it with them while we were waiting for the gym to start this week.

There are no bunnies anymore. They are ALL "Easter bunnies" now.

The girls are somewhat insistent about who they want (mommy or daddy) in certain situations. Emma and Rebecca usually insist on holding mommy's hand, but when we were walking down to the waterfall, as we got closer, nobody wanted to hold mommy's hand anymore. They were clinging to daddy. And apparently, mommy is no good at putting straws in juice boxes, either.

Personality and Developmental Notes 6/16/11

The girls have started putting their stuffed animals and baby dolls in time out. (Can you tell we've been working on discipline issues?) When we ask what the offenders did, it's usually biting or hitting. So I guess that means they know it's wrong?

Emma has also started saying "I bad" or "I not bad" depending on the situation. Which is really funny, because one of the lines from my youngest brothers' childhood that we always quote is "I not bad."

We still have some issues with staying dressed at nap time. One time, Becca told me, "My pants fell off!"

They love to sing ... we here bits and pieces of Happy Birthday, You are My Sunshine ("You.. sunshine, you make me HAPPY, you make me HAPPY, HAPPY, you make me HAPPY), and a song I remember from Girl Scouts - I think it's called Baby Bumble Bee or something. It's about finding, squishing, eating, and puking a baby bumble bee. The only part the girls sing though, is "Won't my mommy be so proud of me?"

There's one stretch of road that we go down between eating dinner and the gym (on gym nights), and the girls always say something about a green monkey. We have no earthly idea what it is they are seeing.

They also issue these edicts in the morning when we're leaving for daycare. "I wanna see fire trucks." "I wanna see cows." Those two are reasonable requests, based on our route. But now they've started saying "I wanna see a gah-bidge truck." And Becca says, "I wanna see yellow car."

I'll have to admit, sometimes going out in public puts me on edge. The girls still get a lot of attention, though not as much as when we were carrying around 3 baby carriers, or 2 strollers. But still... it's unnerving, knowing that people are already looking at us (and not so subtly talking about us). So when the girls start acting up, yelling, making a mess, crying, etc when we're in a restaurant, it's tough to manage. But we've gotten a bunch of really sweet comments on the girls' behavior in public lately, and it almost makes up for the times that I want to crawl under a rock.

Personality and Developmental Notes 5/27/11

Becca has started saying "yay us" - as in, the southern way to say "yes."

To Julie right now, everything is "cute." "Das a cute house, mommy." "Das cute."

Emma has started calling mac & cheese "mac n cheese roni." I heard Julie say it, too.

Becca spilled some juice on the carpet (despite the "no cups in the living room" rule. I make them clean up their own spills, so I was trying to show her how to put the paper towel on the spill and then step on it to draw the most out of the carpet. I figured I'd just try to get most of it out for her, but Emma called me on it "Let Becca do it."

Becca likes to pick up little strings and crumbs and stuff and bring them to me and say, "Das tash." Like I'm her personal trash collector.

Whenever Emma sees a bear on tv, in a book, or even the big bear statue at the zoo, she says "Dat's my bay-uh."

My fellow triplet moms warned me about the noise level and kids trying to talk over themselves. Thursday night was our first fight over talking. We were reading the ABC book at bed time, and every time we get to "k is for kite," they say "Papa has a kite," because Grandpa S. had a kite when we were at the beach over Easter. So Emma started, and then Becca said, "No, I say it." And then Emma, "No, I say it."

Emma really loves books, and we often find her "reading" to herself in the morning. She can only sleep in half of her crib because of her book collection. We call it the east wing of the library. Anyhow, I've noticed her lately looking at books, and trying to show things to her sisters. "It's a pig! See it, Becca? See it?"

We were going out last weekend, and as we stepped out from the air conditioning into the heat, I said to Julie, "It's hot out!" So she blew and said "I blowed it," since blowing on her food helps cool it off.

The girls have started calling each other a "silly goose."

The girls don't want a pony tail, they want "1 piggy tail."

I was finally putting their two year portraits up in the frames over the fireplace, and Becca kept asking me "Whatcha doin?"

One of our favorite books right now is the Belly Button Book by Sandra Boynton. They love to sing the belly button song, and I catch parts of it throughout the day. Emma's got it down.

We have this receiving blanket that matches the sheet set on their cribs. Well, one of the blankets has a bunch of 2" diameter circles, that are made of up a bunch of dots. Becca calls it the "cookie blanket."

Julie has started saying "pee yoo!" when we change her dirty diapers.

I also just started hearing "Emma asked first!", usually in reference to cup colors or seats in the car.

Personality and Developmental Notes 5/20/11

Anytime the girls get food or drink on their clothes, they want to change their clothes. A few days ago, Emma started taking her clothes off and asking for a new one. Becca started to follow along, and Emma said, "Becca shirt fine." As in, Becca doesn't need a new shirt. Just me.

They have also started taking the whole "bye bye" game to another level. When we were out at dinner last week, Julie dropped a chip on the floor and said, "Bye bye, chip! See you ta ma woah." (We say "bye bye toys, see you tomorrow" when we go up the stairs at bed time.)

We also have a spider who's made a web and a little home for himself. We also say "bye bye spider, see you tomorrow!"

Ah, here's a story that makes us proud. Somehow Emma has picked up the words "Santa Claus" and "Christmas." I don't know where she picked them up, since she wasn't using those words at Christmas time. Anyhow, we've still got a fabric Christmas book around that appears every so often. Emma started pointing to the Christmas tree in the book and saying "Christmas." (I don't remember her exact pronunciation.) But the best part? When she gets to the nativity scene, she points to Joseph and the wise men and says "Santa Claus! Two Santa Claus!"

Train building has expanded to magnets on the fridge. Becca takes all the magnets she can reach and puts them in a line across the fridge, and says "choo choo train, choo choo train! I made a choo choo train!"

We got some cool new blocks over the weekend from Grandpa and Grandma (although Greg and I can't stop playing with them), and in addition to choo choo trains, we make a LOT of kitty cats.

Another proud parent moment? So, Julie is a our champion burper. She burped really loudly in the car the other day, and then Becca and Emma started imitating her and pretending to burp really loudly.

Personality and Developmental Notes 5/7/11

When the girls like to play with their cars or their purses, a lot of the time they like to "play" bye-bye. They say "bye bye" and we say, "bye bye! Have fun! Be careful!"

Another ritual at bedtime is to say goodnight to our toys on the way up the stairs.

Which leads to Julie saying "Bye bye toys, have fun" was we are headed for bed the other night.

The girls love trains right now. They like to see them (sometimes on the way home), and they have started playing "choo choo." They build trains with blocks, and they arrange their shopping carts in a line and push them and call it a train.

They are getting pretty good at dressing themselves. Usually they just need some help making sure things aren't backwards.

The girls say "do me's," which means "do mine." Typical usage is in respect to say, pig tails, or playing This Little Piggy.

They also say "he go" for "here you go." As in, "He go, Emma."

No progress on the potty training front, but surprisingly, Rebecca has become very insistent about diaper changes. She is also very specific. Sometimes too specific. Such as when we were at the baseball game last weekend, and in front of my coworkers, she kept telling Greg that she had "poop on my heinie." She has no interest whatsoever in actually using a potty, but I have to think this is a big step.

The girls are developing a sense of direction. They recognize intersections, they know the route to daycare. Even if we approach the main intersection in town from a different road, they start talking about the "fire trucks" since the fire station is half a block away.

And speaking of fire trucks, they love them. Especially Emma. We talk all the way to the fire station about whether the doors to the fire station will be open or not so they can see the truck. Once we pass the fire station, we start talking about whether the cows will be sleeping or not when we pass them.

They are starting to use the word "sisters" and it's just so sweet.

We went to The Little Gym again this week, and Rebecca was a little star. She wanted to be the example for all of the new activities, and at the circle at the end, she didn't see with us - she planted herself in Miss Kelli's lap.

The girls can count to ten now (though I think I've heard up to thirteen, but not reliably). They don't quite understand the concept of counting yet. Julie is close - we had a counting book she wanted to "read" last night, and I asked her to count things. She knew to point at them as she counted, but she kind of lost track of what she had already counted. Also, I've noticed that anything more than one ("how many dogs do you see?") is "two."

And the tattling has started. Emma spilled her milk the other day and said that Becca did it. If Julie accidentally bumps into Becca, Becca will come tell me "Julie hit me."

Julie has started saying "Yes Ma'am!," which is both cute and funny. And causes me to giggle every time she says it to Greg.

Emma is obsessed with "venshure" (adventure). On Friday morning at breakfast, she declared "I need venshure." I told here we didn't have any venshures planned for today, maybe over the weekend. Once we got in the car, she started again. " I wan venshure. I wan go to the beach." After telling her we weren't going to the beach, Julie started chiming in? "Tah git?" No, we're not going to Target either. "Cos co?" No, no Costco today either. My good little consumers.