Tagged

Zia tagged me. I now know she can't handle dairy and soy. Poor kid.

The twins love to entertain her while I cook.

Sink or Swim

I've been taking the kids swimming a lot lately. I make one of them wear a floatation device and the other gets to "sink or swim". They have no fear in the water. They'll both jump in and both try to swim without any floatation, but neither can quite do it yet. Eiley made a huge leap today though. She finally figured out that if she moves her arms, she stays above water a lot better. Both of them have been freezing their arms once they get into the water. Their little legs kick so hard, but their arms weren't going anywhere. I worked with her more on this today, but I'm sure Arya won't be far behind. Hopefully they'll both actually figure out how to swim soon. I'm just glad neither is afraid to go under and they don't care if it takes me a few seconds to pull them out when they sink. I ask them if they want to sink or swim and now Arya tells me she wants to sink.

Both kids were trying to dance like ballerinas in the pool. They were in the shallow end, where they can touch. They were lifting a leg, jumping on the other, and trying to spin in circles. They do this at home too. Arya was doing it tonight. Her favorite thing to sing while she does this is "she's a beautiful girl." It's something she made up, not a song she's heard. I think it's so cute that she does this. I read a blog recently that talks about how mothers should not only tell their daughters that the kids are beautiful, but also that they are beautiful. It's so easy to blow off a compliment, but I'm making an effort to make sure my daughters grow hearing their mother talk about how beautiful and smart we all art.

I've also been working with them on how to tell a knock knock joke. It pretty much goes like this...

V: Knock knock
E: (long pause...blank stare)
V: say "who's there"
E: I don't know

V: no, you say the words "Who's there"
E: (getting super upset) I don't know!

So I tried a different tactic.
V: Eiley, you say "knock knock"
E: Knock Knock
V: Who's there?
E: (so mad at me) I DON'T KNOW!!!!

So I gave up and then the twins started their own version. They now say
E: Knock Knock Elephant!
A: Knock Knock Kitty!
E: Knock Knock Elephant!
A: Knock Knock Latta (a made up word she uses).

And then laugh hysterically at themselves as they get louder and louder and louder.

Tubbing It

April was taking a bath in the doll tub and reading a book this morning when the kids got up. I guess Arya wanted to be like April because I found her like this this afternoon. Makes me glad April isn't doing anything too naughty this year.

Holding April

Most people do not let their kids touch the elf on the shelf. I don't care. Or at least I usually don't care. Every morning, the kids find April, play with her a little and then I put her back up on the high shelf. Today, Eiley came into the kitchen to tell me that Arya had April. I went into the family room to find this. April had been up in the far left corner by the blue box in the picture. I asked how she got it and she showed me. Yikes! I was not going to take a picture of that. I asked her to not do it again. While both girls are great at climbing and I'm rarely nervous, this made me nervous. Thankfully she's on a built in bookcase that can't be tipped.

We went to the kids museum today and spent over 3 hours there. We left when Eiley threw a huge GIGANTIC fit. The type of fit that no one around you can pretend to ignore and everyone wonders if there is something wrong with the child. Nope, nothing wrong. She's just 3 and has her opinions on things. We were decorating paper gingerbread men. I thought everyone was done, so started cleaning up. I took one pair of orange scissors and dropped the other on the floor. Her fit started when she screamed she wasn't done. I told her she could finish using the scissors from the floor, but she wanted the ones I'd put back and I couldn't calm her down to listen to me. She started yelling her new favorite thing to say to me "Don't talk at me" and then it just went downhill from there.

Zia got a taste of avocado tonight. She was indifferent on the taste, but gagged on the texture. So I'll wait a few weeks before I try again. I'm in no hurry because she's doing just fine right now without eating solids.

Hide and Seek

She's so cute and happy all the time. I can't get over how happy she is. I tell people she cries less in a month than the other two did in a day and I'm really not exaggerating. She's such a delight to have around.

The twins have been practicing a lot to write their names. They trace them really well, so today I asked them to write their names without tracing. I think they did an awesome job.

She will sleep just about anywhere I put her.

Cork has been playing hide and seek with the twins lately. They don't really get it. Cork and I just crack up as they squeal and "hide".

Apparently

April made her first appearance today. She wrote on our bathroom mirror last night. She messed up the first time, so the mirror was a little cloudy from her wiping the first writing off.

Remember a couple weeks ago when I asked where a 3 year old might hide a mini pumpkin in the house? Today Eiley found it. I think she probably knew where it was all along and just didn't tell me. I was in the kitchen and she walked in with the pumpkin. I asked her where she found it and she told me it was in one of the couch cushions. I don't know if that means it was tucked behind cushions or if it was actually zipped into a cushion. Since they were really into unzipping the cushions lately, I wouldn't doubt that it was actually inside one of the cushions. That would have been such a mess if she hadn't brought it out before it started to rot. At least now I know where to look if something disappears.

We put out some Christmas decorations today. Cork put up some lights outside and I hung a few things inside the house. Cork was plugging lights in inside the house to make sure they worked before he went outside with them. He plugged in one set that didn't work and Arya said "apparently those don't work."

Meet April

Arya, Eiley and Zia got an Elf on the Shelf today from their Aunt Lora, Uncle Eric and cousin Levi. I am doing the elf a bit differently than it's intended. I believe that kids should be well behaved because of how they are raised and not scared into good behavior. So, the elf in this house can be touched and she isn't reporting bad behavior back to Santa. We haven't talked about any of that. They kids love her right now and are pretty well behaved, so we don't even need her to get them to behave. I asked them what we should name her and Arya suggested "April". They don't know anyone with that name, but now we have a Christmas Elf named April.

First Christmas Party

We made our annual trek to the Pfister hotel today for their tree lighting. It was done just as well this year as it was the previous two.

We stood in line for the first time ever to sit on Santa's lap. We were almost to the front when Eiley declared that she would not be sitting on Santa's lap. I told her that was fine and she could stand next to him. Of course since I didn't tell her she had to, she decided on her own that she would do it.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving. We were going to get a family picture today. By the time I got one with all three girls, the twins ran away and were not coming back. We're having family pictures taken soon, so I didn't push it and make them come back.

We had a really great Thanksgiving today. I picked out super cute outfits for the twins to wear. They each got to pick out one fun play dress to bring with us. Both decided to wear the play clothes over their real outfits. I didn't mind at all though. Before I know it, they'll be old enough that they won't want to dress up anymore. I want to enjoy their funny little outfits while they last.

At least Zia can't run away yet when I take her picture.

Hot chocolate mustaches.

Be My Sweet Potato

Eiley was begging me to take her picture today, until I tried to actually take her picture.

I gave Zia a tiny taste of sweet potato today. She was excited, laughing, kicking, squealing, but I'm not sure any of that was about the bite of sweet potato. I think she was just excited I'd stopped cooking to give her attention while she was in her high chair. About a minute after I gave her the sweet potato, she started to gag, and gag, and gag. I'm glad I already planned on delaying solids because with her gag reflex, there is no way she could eat stuff right now even if I wanted her to.

Pooptastic

Zia must have been saving most of her poop while we were on vacation. She had four blow outs today. Yes, four. This was the last one and also the worst.

Seat Belts

I don't know how it's possible, but Eiley managed to take her pants off in her car seat today. She was laughing, so I turned around and found her like this.

Of course Arya didn't want to be outdone, so she took hers off too and then her unde.rwear. How is that possible?

And then Eiley took hers off too.

We have told Eiley over and over today to not play with the seat belt. She was whining when we were almost home tonight. I turned around and could see this in the dark of the van. I asked her if she had been playing with the seat belt. She was very adamant that she was not even touching the seat belt.

On The Road Again

We were back in the car today. It wasn't nearly as painful as the drive out, but we stopped at a hotel halfway home. We met another friend from my group in Kansas City. We were able to spend some time with her family. The twins made themselves at home right away. Eiley made me so proud when we were all trying to leave for dinner. She wanted to take a toy with her and I tried to explain why she couldn't. She would not listen and eventually I had to pry it out of her hands. Then she basically told me in front of everyone that I was a bad mom. Wonderful. I was too tired to even care and just let it go without saying anything to her.

You can tell Zia is not a first child and that we've been in the car too long. Poor kid gets a snot sucker to play with.

Uncle Jason

Today was a very relaxed day. We went to a little homestead in Plano. It wasn't super exciting, but worth the donation to get in. The girls loved seeing the animals.

We're leaving tomorrow and the girls are already saying that they don't want to leave. They've had a great trip with their Uncle Jason. I wish we could all live closer because he is so good with them.

Meeting Friends

We got to meet up with some friends today. Courtney is someone who is part of a very small online group (17 women) I'm part of. Most of us met four years ago when most of us were having issues getting pregnant. Since then, we've stayed in contact and earlier this year I was able to meet two of the women from that group. I had a great time with them, so I was excited to meet Courtney in person. Courtney has 3 kids who are 3 years, 1 year, and 10 weeks old. The girls had a great time playing with them at the park and we had a great visit. It was as if we'd known each other in person for years.

Shooting Guns

We spent today at the Fort Worth Zoo. It was very different from our zoo and the kids had a great time there. They were tired and wanted to be carried a lot, but they had fun as well. They got to see some animals we don't normally see, sit in a carriage, and pretend to shoot some guns. We're in Texas, of course there are fake guns to shoot at the zoo.

Little Devil

We went to an arboretum today. They had a big Chihuly glass exhibit and a big area of kid activities. We got all of the kids faces painted.

This little girl is 5 months old today. Crazy. She's very vocal now, chatting away with anyone who looks at her. She loves attention from her sisters and from strangers. She's trying her hardest to sit, but just doesn't have the muscle control yet to do it on her own.

Stockyards

We all went to the stock yard today. The kids loved the cows and we got some awesome food to eat.

This afternoon, we took the older two swimming in Uncle Jason's hot tub. They had a ball jumping into the hot tub over and over again. Arya decided to get into the "big pool" next to the hot tub. Brrr. The big pool's heater was not on. She stepped in and it was cold, but still decided to get all the way in. The look on her face was priceless. She quickly got out and jumped back into the hot tub. Then, she went back and forth over and over. Eiley decided to follow Arya's lead. She got into the big pool and I thought I was going to have to go in after her. She was so cold.

Whose Mom?

The girls met a 17 year old kid from Costa Rica yesterday. His name is German (Hair-mon). Arya was very confused by his name. Every time anyone said "German" she said "Whose Mom?". We'd then explain that he was the boy she'd met last night. "What boy?" The conversation went pretty much like this.
V: German
A: Whose Mom?
V: No one's mom. German, the boy you met last night.
A: What boy?
V: German
A: Whose Mom?

Then, I asked Cork "Is German up?" and Arya asked "Samanna?" By the end of the day, she finally understood his name.

Forever in the Car

We drove from Milwaukee to Dallas today. It was a better drive than our drive from Boston this summer. We were able to go a little longer between stops and the drive itself is a few hours shorter. All three kids did awesome in the car. It's a little tiring to entertain all of them, especially Zia. The older 2 can watch DVDs for hours and are happy. Zia needs constant attention when she's awake. I'm just glad we don't have to do this drive again for a week.

Internal Organs

The kids have been asking for candy and dessert after every meal and multiple times in between. Every morning I tell them that we don't do candy after breakfast. Today, Arya kept asking why. So, I explained how her blood sugar can sky rocket in the morning if she eats a lot of sugar since she's been fasting all night and how that can damage her internal organs. She gave me this great look and then said, "I don't have internal organs."

I've been making "chocolate milk" lately for the girls and myself. It's almond milk, unsweetened cocoa powder, ground oatmeal, banana, & natural peanut butter. I was going to make some today, but when I opened the fridge, I couldn't find the peanut butter. I asked the girls "do you know where the peanut butter is?" and Arya took off to our office. We have bags in there for our trip to Dallas. She came out of the office carrying the peanut butter. I laughed and went on to make the chocolate milk. About 20 or 30 minutes later I realized that the girls had told me "Uncle Jason doesn't have peanut butter or popsicles at his house". Uh oh! I went to the office to find popsicles, frozen peas and frozen raspberries packed with our bags. Thankfully my sleep deprived mind made the connection. The popsicles are watermelon ground up with honey and lime in they are just in the home made popsicle containers, so they could have leaked everywhere.Whenever we go somewhere, they are responsible for packing their own clothes. I tell them to pick out a certain number of shirts, shorts, pants etc. I sit there while they pick stuff out and supervise them, but they do it. I guess they're so used to packing their clothes that they decided to help with some other things too.

We're trying to eat up things in the house for our trip, so meals have been interesting this week. Tonight, the girls and Cork had frozen pizza and I have fake chicken, grapes and some other odds and ends. Arya wanted some fruit after her pizza. I was up, getting myself some more food. Cork got up as Arya asked, so I told her "maybe daddy will get the apple for you." Arya states "mommy, that's your job!" Wow!

If you were a 3 year old, where would you hide a mini pumpkin in a house? I've looked everywhere and can only find one of our two mini pumpkins. I fear that I'll have to find the other one by smell once it starts to rot.

Lists

I'm always making lists. If I don't have a list, I don't get things done. I just completely forget about things. Apparently, the kids have noticed that I make lists for everything. Today, Eiley was making a list and then Arya decided she needed to make one too.

Look at how neat her little list is. Both girls hold their pen wrong, just like I do. Their teachers have been working with them on how to hold it correctly. They hold it much better than most of the kids in their class, even though it's wrong. If they are like me, no amount of work will get them to hold it correctly. Eiley told me what was on her list and it included very important things like hot dogs, cheese, and books. Arya's list included almonds, cashews, orange cheese (cheddar), and white cheese.

Arya told Cork today that he and Zia didn't have enough hair.

Targets Everywhere

The girls and I were talking in the car today about last names and how most people in a family have the same last name, so they asked about their youngest aunt and uncles last names. All 3 of them have a different last name, so I definitely did not get my point across with that conversation.

During the same trip, we were talking about Uncle Jason and Arya said "When Uncle Jason was a little girl, Nana and Papa gave our books at him."

And then she asked me "Mom, why Targets everywhere?"

Zia Rolls

Arya jumped into the pool today, from the side, for the first time. Yay! Eiley's been doing this for about 6 months. Arya decided to give it a try today. She stood on the side and I counted "One, Two, Three, Go!" and she stood there. So she counted "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, seven, eight, nine, ten." And I just stood in the pool laughing. Then I told her she was being goofy and was just stalling. Eventually though, she decided to just jump. After she'd jumped for awhile, she wanted her floaty off. I took her vest off and she wanted to swim without me holding on her. She still can't swim without help and kept sinking, but she kept trying. Then we switched and Eiley got to take her vest off. She did the same thing Arya did. She kept trying to swim away from me and kept sinking. Both would also push off the wall to swim toward me. Both had a huge grin on her face when she "swam" (sank) toward me.

Everyone was really tired when we got home from the pool. I'd made dinner earlier in the day, so we were able to hang out on the floor like we normally do before dinner. I was laughing at Zia because she can roll, but refuses to do so. I tried to take a picture of how she contorts her body and the stinker rolled right as I snapped the picture.

After she rolled, Arya and Sikozu swarmed in to get some attention. I think it's funny how much the cat likes her. He liked the twins at this age too, then he decided he wasn't a big fan of theirs once they learned to crawl. That lasted until just this summer when he started letting them pet him again. I wonder if he'll do the same thing with Zia or if he'll decide she's okay and not hide from her all day long.