Taking it to the next level

The girls are now 2 1/2 and 4 1/2, and while this may seem obvious to you, I hadn't really grasped what their ages signify for us until very recently. Because I've been operating in my typical parent-blind-to-the-obvious mode, I have just now realized: Our kids aren't little anymore.

I know, they are still young kids, but they're changing so quickly right now. They're both in preschool and becoming increasingly independent at home and away from home. Hallelujah! I thought this day would never come -- so much so, that it took me by surprise on New Year's weekend when we visited some friends out-of-state.

Our friends' kids are 6 and 3, ideal playmate age. We were looking forward to all being together for the weekend and giving the kids a chance to run around and have fun. The kids had a fantastic time together. At least, I assume they did, because I hardly saw the girls the entire time we were there. All four kids played together, initiated games, and just generally had fun. This was totally new to me: My kids know how to play together and with others, without the involvement of adults!

When Jellybean was born, I felt like I was going to be the mother of an infant forever. It's difficult to fathom what lies ahead and how quickly it comes (especially when you're sleep-deprived). She was still pretty little when Peanut was born, so I didn't feel like I "graduated" to the next level since I had a new infant to care for.

But now that there are no more babies coming, I get to reap the rewards of moving on up the proverbial parenting ladder. I love having two preschoolers, and I'm savoring it. I'm also learning how to anticipate the next phase and its rewards. Next stop, later this year: entering "real" school.

Coming down off the sugar high

We had so many Halloween activities this year, it seemed more like Halloween week than Halloween day. Was it because the actual day was a Saturday, or was it because the kids are at the age that we have more things we can do?

Although it was a bit hectic and tiring (the girls were visibly fatigued by the time we actually went out trick-or-treating), we really did have fun. I overcame my costume cynicism with Jellybean when I saw how much she was enjoying being a princess. And Peanut just loved telling everyone that she was Dorothy and her dog was Toto.

I put the candy onus on the girls so that I didn't have to decide if I should buy candy I liked or didn't like -- that really is the true Halloween conundrum, in my opinion. You're darned if you do and darned if you don't. So the girls picked the bags of candy at the store, which they thought was an important responsibility.

We had a pumpkin-carving and pizza party at preschool a couple days before Halloween. Then we had a costume party at preschool with lots of fun activities the day before. On Halloween night, we trick-or-treated early on so that we could get back home to greet most of the neighbors at our house. The girls loved opening the door to see what costumes would meet them on the other side.

It was a happy Halloween, but we were all equally happy to head to bed that night and be done with the festivities.

The eye of the beholder

I have always loved hearing people's stories about the hilarious/clever/embarrassing things their kids have said. After you read this, I hope you'll share your stories, either about your kids or about yourself as a kid.

Peanut is just approaching the age and stage that she says funny things on purpose, and yet doesn't quite understand social convention enough to know that some observations are best kept to herself.

A while back, all four of us were out to eat at a restaurant with my mother-in-law and brother-in-law. An older couple was seated at the table next to us. I didn't pay them much attention, because I was too busy making sure salsa, chips and quesadillas didn't get flung across the restaurant or eaten off the floor.

We were about halfway through lunch when Peanut piped up triumphantly, "Her hair is purple!" Of course, in typical 2-year-old fashion, she said it while pointing boldly in the direction of the older couple. We redirected her with quiet murmurs like, "Yes, sweetie, would you like another chip?"

No dice. Peanut wanted us all to share in her discovery. "Her hair is purple! That lady has purple hair!" Louder and with more oomph to her pointing. My MIL and BIL were snorting into their napkins with laughter. L kept Jellybean in check with a stern glance that he somehow managed to conjure.

Amazingly, I kept my composure long enough to lean in, look her in the eye and say something in my end-of-discussion tone like, "Her hair isn't purple, it's red, and we're all done talking about it."

Then, I snuck one last glance at the lady's hair, leaned down to the ground as if picking something up off the floor and had my own guffaw.

Her hair really was purple.

Little girls, little girls

This morning, I went in to Peanut's room to get her up. She was sleepy-talking in her bed, and when I picked up her warm, jammied little body out of her crib, she just folded into me, wrapped her arms around me gently and rested her head on my shoulder. Oh, it was so sweet and such a cozy start to the day. I thought to myself, "This is why I'm glad I have girls."

The song "Little Girls" runs an almost constant loop in my head these days. I'm sure that has nothing to do with the fact that the girls ask me EVERY DAY if they can listen to the Annie soundtrack. I do let them some days, and other days, oh darn, I just can't find that CD anywhere. Don't know where it could have gone...

My subconscious also summons the song regularly, though, as I find myself surrounded by everything little girl-related there could be. Including two actual specimens. And I couldn't be happier about it.

I didn't know I wanted to have daughters. I always assumed I would have boys -- I'm kind of a tomboy, and I've been surrounded by boys all my life, in my family and my neighborhood. I didn't think I could handle dresses and frills and princesses (okay, I still don't accommodate princesses very well). But all the cuddling and affection are way more than I knew could happen with such little people. It turns out that girls are exactly what I needed.

Even though they are little, they really are girls now. I don't mean they weren't before, it's just that now they can express their girlieness. (check out the accessorizing they did to their outfits in these pictures, and you'll see what I mean)

"Little shoes, little socks, and each little bloomer..." The little girl stuff is great. I'll hold onto it as long as I can, because somehow I have a feeling the bigger girl stuff ain't gonna be near as rosy.

Shade, sand and no surf

For some ironic reason, the main attraction in our backyard since we returned from the beach is the sand box. Nevermind that we were surrounded by one of the world's biggest sandboxes the entire time we were there -- and spent more than a few hours trying to vanquish said sand from our shoes, clothes and house. Sand, sand, sand for our whole vacation. Now we are home, and both girls have passed hour after hour sitting in our sand box playing with the exact same toys they played with at the beach, only with about one-billionth of the amount of sand.

They have also made a new discovery, which is much more understandably fun from my point of view. Peanut discovered what the girls are now calling "the tent" in our backyard bushes during a game of hide-and-seek. Leave it to clever Peanut to locate a parent-free private play place. It is the perfect little alcove, and the girls retreat there regularly (when not engrossed in the sand, of course) to sing, pretend and just generally hide out. You may be able to tell from the faked smiles that they were less-than-pleased to have me near "the tent," let alone photographing them in it.

Now I know what people mean when they say that fun is only as far away as your own backyard. What were we thinking going all the way to the beach?

Birthday demands

With one child born in May and the other born in June, spring is birthday season around here! Both girls were very specific about how they wanted to celebrate their birthdays this year. It was fun to see them influence each other -- and celebrate each other.
For Peanut's birthday, we had a pretty simple party and invited many neighbors over to play and have cake and ice cream. Not just any cake and ice cream, though. Peanut was adamant that she had to have YELLOW cake and ORANGE ice cream. She told us that for a week before her party. She told everyone at the party, and she told all her grandparents on the phone after the fact. Pretty demanding for a newly minted 2-year-old. Ordering by color is fun, though, and I'll take those kinds of (easily fulfilled, not outlandish) demands while I can get them.
Jellybean also had particular birthday requests -- and hers were also fairly tame. She wanted to have her birthday party at the pool, and she wanted a rainbow cake. I wasn't sure how I was going to pull off the pool thing. We don't know anyone who has a pool, we don't belong to a swim club, she's not really old enough for a big waterpark, and I just didn't know how to make it work. She started talking about her party around the time of Peanut's birthday. As we got closer to June, I thought maybe she would back off on the idea or even possibly forget about it. Instead, she kept asking. So, I decided to, in the words of Tim Gunn, "make it work."
I did some research and checking around. Turns out the city pool allows people to rent the baby pool before public swim hours for parties. Perfect! Jellybean was onto something. The cost was reasonable, the timing worked, and there was just the weather to worry about. Worry, I did (about the weather and about Peanut's health, as it turned out). It was stormy and cool for the two days preceding the party. I refused to make a back-up plan, because I was willing it to work out. Then, lo and behold, about 2 hours before the party started, the clouds parted, the humidity cranked up, and it got downright hot outside. Yeehaw! Add to that that a friend of mine posted pictures of her daughter's rainbow cake a few months back. I had the rainbow cake in the bag to boot.
Although these were requests the kids made, I have to confess that their ideas really did make the parties fun. They weren't things that L or I would have come up with on their own, and it's cool to have kids who are old enough to create their own ideas and articulate them. Both parties were a blast, and I'm already looking forward to what they'll want to do next year!

My baby bird

It has been a busy and draining couple of weeks. My parents came to visit for Easter and were here for a week, and in the meantime all four of us have passed around an awful chesty cough/cold that sapped us of our energy for a few overlapping days at a time. (I'm just waiting for the e-mails from my parents that they've caught our bug)

The girls had fun with their grandparents, even when they were under the weather. And L and I managed to keep up with cleaning the house, grocery shopping and being hospitable for the duration of the visit, despite being wiped out and caring for wiped-out kids.

Yesterday and today, finally we are simultaneously healthy and energetic for the first time in two weeks. Peanut made my day (possibly my week!) today, and I thought I'd share.

She had awakened early from her nap this afternoon -- another sign of being healthy -- so I brought her to the couch to read a book and rest a bit more. We finished the book, and she lay across me with her head nestled in the crook of my arm. She looked up at me, and in her little 1-year-old (almost 2, I know) voice she said, "I'm in my nest." *melt* We sat like that for about a minute more, and then she shoved off the couch and went to play.