Latest Learnings

My girls have been making me happy lately with all they are taking in.  Of course, children are sponges, and Cate and Charlotte have really been soaking things up.

Charlotte, who has some odd affection for the dishwasher (as seen below), has surprised me with how much she understands.  While she only says a few words--Mama, Dada, hi, bye bye, dog--she gets what I'm saying all the time.  I can be anywhere in the house and if I ask her if she wants milk, she'll immediately go to the fridge and start trying to open the door.  If I tell her it's time to wake Cate up, Charlotte goes right to Cate's room.

We've been working on the names of things, particularly facial features.  I've taught Charlotte eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, chin, and ears by pointing to what they are--real advanced parenting here, I know :)  Today I asked Charlotte to point to my nose AND SHE DID.  Then I asked her to point to my eye...genius child did that too.  I was so happy I screamed!  She's iffy on the mouth and cheeks but I'll take it.  It's probably because she's around a 3 and 1/2-year-old all day, but Charlotte still seems like such the baby to me.  To watch her begin to learn questions and commands is crazy--I love it.

A couple weeks ago I was drying dishes and turned to find this little surprise waiting for me :)

Cate got her first report card from preschool and (gasp!) I had to go to a parent teacher conference to get it.  Cate is doing really well in all areas and is on a 4-year-old level.  The next thing she needs to master is looking at a letter on a piece of paper and, without prompting, say what sound it makes.  She easily identifies all the letters and if you say "what sounds does a T make?" she can tell you.  It's just taking the step from seeing a letter on paper and saying what sound it makes isn't second nature to her yet.

Upon hearing that, Rhett sat down with her last night and, in about five minutes, she had it down ;)  This morning, I used Pinterest for the millionth time and created a little rice tray for her using an old cookie sheet with taped letters to the bottom.  She used a paint brush to "discover" the letters and had to tell me what sound they made as she found them.

Well what do we have here? 

Uncovering some real treasures.

Then, on her own, she decided to trace the alphabet in the rice.

I know this is basic stuff, but it's very rewarding to watch little kids mastering new skills :)

Playground Bliss

Ahhhhhhhhhh...

It was so nice to get to the playground today.  We have an amazing spot about ten minutes away and we soaked up as much time there as possible.

Cate was in heaven in a bouncy pink car.

Cate told me "I want a real car just like this when I'm older."  

 Charlotte climbed on anything and everything.  She is fearless.

So happy for some fresh air!

Cate and Charlotte's favorite part of the playground was the playset that looks like a fire engine.  Cate went down the "fire pole" over and over.  She could do it on her own, but was too nervous to.  The funny thing was, we got to the point where I could put one finger on her and she'd go down fine.  I wasn't doing anything, she just needed the reassurance.

Cate also finally went down a corkscrew slide by herself today--it only took her three and a half years to get up the courage.  It took Charlotte 14 months--today was also her first day solo on the corkscrew.  She could not be denied--she was more or less begging to go.  It was grunty pleading, but it was begging nonetheless.  I'm sure the other moms thought I was crazy (fair enough).  Just picture me holding Charlotte at the top of the slide and coaching little Cate to catch her at the bottom--true story!

We had a total blast though and it's days like this that make being a stay at home mom so incredibly fun and rewarding.  The girls could not have been happier.

Sparkly Ponies and Other Discoveries

I am not going to start this post by complaining about the weather, but seriously, coldness and frigid rain, I am so, so, so done with you!  Luckily, mother nature agrees and, at least for the next couple days, we can get outside.  Cue the chorus--HALLELUJAH!  Tomorrow you'll find me at the playground.

Here is a recap of our activities for the last several days:

Wherever we went, it was bundle-up time.  New discovery: Charlotte HATES mittens.  She finds them seriously offensive and a sign of awful parenting.  To her it's like, how dare you put those things on me??!?  Given her love of continuous eating, I think she thinks those pesky mittens really get in the way.

Mitten free is the way to be!

On one of several trips to Target over the past week, Cate was determined to spend the remaining $17 of her birthday money on new pink, sparkly shoes.  I know, I know, her birthday was forever ago, but originally she spent some cash on her most wanted item this summer--popsicles.  Then she wanted flip flops but try finding those come August/September.  Then we sort of forgot about it until her preschool friend showed up with the shoes that she must, must have, like now, mooooooooom!  

We agreed to spend the balance of her cash on the pink sparklies so off we went to get them at Tar-jay. Long story short, we were rolling around the store with pink shoes in the cart when we passed the toy aisle and Cate laid her eyes on a wall of My Little Ponies.  She looked at me and said "I don't want to buy these, I want to buy those."  Those were sparkly ponies and they have now taken up residence in Cate's jewelry box.  Her favorite one?  Pinkie Pie--I swear I did not make that name up.  She's holding old Pinkie in the shot below. 

"My little pony, my little pony..." You know you watched it when you were little!

We have played with every toy in our house.  I got desperate a few days ago and, after looking in the garage, discovered a tub of balls, like the kind you'd find in a ball pit.  The balls were a big hit and I let the girls rummage through the tub and toss/roll them around the living room.  Soon plastic items dominated all floor space.

Not pictured: me waving a white flag.

Today I caved and took the girls to lunch at Nordstrom.  Have you ever eaten there?  Best $28 lunch date of my life.

Yummy food--check!  Happy kids--check!  Content mama--check, check, checkitty check! 

Quote of the Week

via

Speed Demons

We hit the nearby basketball court again today for what will likely be the last time for quite awhile we can emerge from our house without hearing shrieks about "waaahhhhh...it's soooooo colddd out hereeee...I'm freeeeeezing."  I'm sure the girls will complain about it too--haha.

The weather forecast for Tuesday is says the high is going to be 22.  As in ten degrees less than freezing.  The low, and this pains me to type it, is going to be 16.  Our move south in a couple of years is looking more and more attractive.   Bring on those hot, humid summers!

So, today we let the girls race around the court to their heart's content.

Cate is surprisingly speedy and coordinated on her bike.  I told Rhett I thought she'd be fine without the training wheels.  He looked dubious.

Charlotte LOVES that little red car.  She rides, pushes, and pulls it around the court FAST.  And, given that peek-a-boo is her favorite game, enjoys the non-stop entertainment that the little yellow compartment at the front of the car offers.  I put a milk cup in there today and she was all business about hiding it from herself over and over.

Cross your fingers I make it through the next week alive.  Come on spring!

Boredom Busters

Ohmygoodness I have such a newfound respect for stay at home moms that have been doing it for awhile.  Winter brings some nasty weather and it can make everyone ca-razy to stay inside for days on end.  Anyone who can manage through it has my respect.  Even Charlotte has been climbing the walls.  Ok, not actually climbing walls, but any piece of furniture she can shimmy her round body onto (which a surprising number of pieces).  And, Cate is only so happy to boost her up onto anything out of reach when my back is turned.

We get outside whenever we can for however long everyone can stand it.  Today at least there was sunshine, so Cate and I raced around our tiny back porch.  The neighbors must think I'm nuts...and, at this point, I sort of am!

Cate craves novelty, so here are the things I've done to switch up our regular routine and activities:

Art
Art is an obvious attention-getter for preschoolers and Cate especially loves to paint, glue, and cut.  What is the crazy attraction for preschoolers to scissors, by the way?  She took the three pairs of plastic scissors Santa gave her and has been cutting up a storm.  Fantastic investment of $4.

I also found a good idea to create Mondrian art on the No Time for Flashcards blog.  We bought some canvases at the craft store and rummaged around the house for painter's tape, acrylic paint, and brushes.  And voila...

This is fine art, my friends.

For the another canvas, Cate had the idea to paint monsters with, what else, googly eyes.  

Pop quiz: which one isn't a monster?  Answer: the blue one in the top right corner.  That is a duck, OBVIOUSLY.

Science

Some desperate googling for something to do inside that didn't involve a plastic toy with some awful, high-pitched music coming out of it led me to the ivory soap trick.  Tons of websites and blogs have it but I had never heard of this.  Have you seen it?  You put ivory soap in the microwave for a couple of minutes and it expands like crazy.  Cate was wowed--so was I!

Cate said it felt like tissue paper and I agreed.

Trash to Treasure

We fished a couple of items out of our recycle bin and came up with ways to use them.  First, we rescued a couple of shoe boxes.  I cut a slot in the top of one and gave Charlotte a deck of cards to slide in one at a time--big hit.  Cate took the other and made it into a mailbox.  This was an idea from the Unplugged Play book I mentioned a week or two ago.  She used construction paper to make "mail" complete with sticker stamps and addresses.

I hope the USPS accepts Dora and Diego stamps because we've got some mail to send.

I also took a rinsed out coffee can from Costco, cut a slot, and gathered some things for Charlotte to push into it.  Another hit.  This is probably mainly because Charlotte is a good baby and generally content no matter what, not because any of this is actually cool.

Getting ready to make those markers disappear.

Singing and Dancing

We've done a ton of dancing and singing lately.  Charlotte observed at first, but has joined in lately and it is hilarious to watch her start to dance.  None of us have any rhythm, in fact, Charlotte probably has the best moves of any of us.

And then Cate has staged some very elaborate storytelling escapades.  Below is a shot of her story set-up when she was talking all about Major and his "babies."  The girl has an entertaining imagination and I can't help but giggle at her.

Things We Love Right Now

Here is what we've been loving lately...

Winter has driven us inside, so we are making the best of it with our indoor activities, especially crafting.  Cate LOVES googly eyes.  In fact, when she was younger, she used to pull the goggly eyes off all of her art projects and walk around with them in her fists.  She'd lose them, of course, and get upset, so I gave her a baggie to keep them in and she carried it everywhere.  When strangers at the store would ask her what she had in her hand she'd say plainly "A bag of eyes." Lovely.  Thankfully now the eyes stay on the projects. 

It came to this--a "No Whining" jar.  A glass bead is added for good behavior (i.e. unprompted sharing) and comes out for whining and bad behavior.  Two thumbs up for this idea.

Aren't these crayon gems awesome?  They're from Target!  I bought two and can't decide whether to use them as gifts or on our bookshelves.

I'm not sure when it started or how I allowed it, but the girls are obsessed with small plastic toys right now.  Here is Cate's arrangement on her nightstand.  She's got a Minnie, a pink kitty, kitty's food and water dish, and a mini blue My Little Pony.  Also pictured are a little wooden bunny and Cate's most used items during the day--a pink sippy cup and her princess chapsticks.  When I'm tucking Cate in, she asks that I say goodnight to all of these things, including kitty's food and water dish.  I put my foot down at her sippy cup--a mother has her limits.

Rhett has been looking through old pictures from 2012, like the classic shot above.  He's making us a photo book to recap the year and all the wild changes that came with it.  Isn't that nice?  He's also really, really good at it.  Smart, creative, and sweet.  Sorry ladies, he's taken.

Speaking of being a good husband, Rhett is watching Downton Abbey with me.  How good is that show?!?! 

Charlotte has been getting better and better at feeding herself--look at that happy face!  Mashed potatoes have been easiest because they stick to the spoon.  The cutest thing is that she loves feeding others more.  Whenever she has her sippy cup or spoon her in hand, she will point it toward my mouth or Rhett's and start smacking her lips as if to say "Eat up!"

Thought of the Day

Yes indeedy!

Ring Three: The Parents

Hoo boy, have you stuck with me so far through these profiles?  For those who just joined us, the introductory post is here, the one about the dogs is here, and the one about the kids is here.

I have tried to write this post for the past couple days and it has not been easy.  You see, Rhett and I are, by far, the most dull.  All amusement in this circus comes from those that measure below waist height.  So, I erased what I was originally working on and decided to go with the first things that popped into my head.  But first, some background...

Rhett and I met on Capitol Hill.  We worked in the same Senator's office and I had a massive crush on him from the get-go.  Somehow he ended up asking me to attend a college friend's wedding and from there we started dating.  Ahh, office romance--is there anything more awkward?  It was one of those relationships that we "kept secret" and thought no one knew about.  Meanwhile, the WHOLE ENTIRE OFFICE was completely clued in.  From there flowed law school, political campaigns, Big Law, two cute dogs, two beautiful girls, multiple moves, and the list goes on.

He and I both love dogs and being homebodies.  We have never been the type to go out--a movie at home sounds one billion times better.  Our family is the best thing that ever happened to us and we're totally content with and grateful for our lives.  That said, our mutual goal is to both sleep past 7:00am one morning.  We pray for it every night.

Rhett (these are all my answers for him)

Nicknames: Dr. Perky (from college), Rhettkins (from our friend on the Hill, Whitney)

Likes: UNC basketball, dogs, going to church, soccer, fly fishing, Jelly Belly jellybeans, jam bands

Dislikes: Duke, everyone who likes Duke except for his buddy Jim, malls--especially the perfume section of department stores, carbs, cats and Major (he would say those last two are one in the same)

Favorite Food: Italian sandwich or smoked turkey + provolone on french with house dressing from the Cheese Shop

Favorite Drink: Lately he's been loving Dogfish Head's 60 Minute IPA

Sarah

Nickname: Walker (from college)

Likes: My girls, Gator football, needlepoint, candy, worrying, countdowns, vanilla lattes, The Bachelor, my mom's chocolate chip cookies, Target, DVR--I often wish my car radio had a similar feature and sometimes even forget that it doesn't

Dislikes: Pomegranates, children skipping nap time, the feeling of the oven/curling iron/other appliance guaranteed to start a fire, being on

Favorite Food: Soft pretzel with mustard and salt

Favorite Drink: Diet Coke

Ring Two: The Kids

Now it's on to Ring Two of our family circus--the kids.  For background on these profiles, click here to find my original post.  To read about our dogs, click here for the Ring One post.  

Our girls bring sunshine, laughter, and hundreds of hours of lost sleep into the equation.  Like any parents, we love them so much it hurts and cannot imagine even one day without them.  As I type this, Cate is almost three and a half and Charlotte is nearing fourteen months.  I don't think Cate has any memory of life before Charlotte and, come to think of it, neither do we.  

Cate

Cate as a fairy at Halloween--she asked to sleep in her costume.

Tiny dancer.

Nicknames: Cater Tot, Tot, Angel Bug

Likes: From Cate--"I like cats and all pink things...like my pink kitchen, pink spoons, pink trees, pink apples, and my pink ballerina skirt."  I'll also add that she likes her yellow blanket, Hello Kitty, fairies, princesses, sparkles, stickers, dancing, streaking, streaking while dancing, Blue's Clues, any toy Charlotte is playing with and, finally, milk in sippy cups--but only the older style pink Gerber ones--not the new ones--if the pink ones are dirty then she'll consider drinking out of an old-style green one but let's get that dishwasher started right now, ok mama?

Dislikes: From Cate--"Anything black or brown or blue--I don't like those colors.  Also, I don't like bugs or dogs."  Cate is morbidly afraid of butterflies and the evil characters from any fairy tale.  The only Disney movie she can watch in its entirety is Winnie the Pooh.  Here is a shot of her watching the G-rated A Bug's Life:

See her covering her eyes?  The grasshoppers are too scary to watch.  And don't even try to get her in the room when the cat, Lucifer, from Cinderella in on the screen.  Out and out PANIC ensues.

Favorite Food: Strawberry ice cream--why?  "Because it's pink!"

Favorite Drink: You can see where this is going--pink lemonade.

Fun Fact: Cate is incredibly sharp and she has a memory that rivals her dad's.  Over the summer I was reading from a book of fairy poems that her Meme gave her.  After a couple of weeks, we were riding in the car and she started reciting her favorite one to me:

My daughter, the Shakespeare enthusiast.  I didn't even know she knew a single line of that poem.

Charlotte

These overalls belonged to me.  They are 31, I mean 21, years old.

When you're a year old, is there anything better than a ride-on toy?

Nicknames: Charlotte Angel, Hulk, and Charli (pronounced Shh-arli)--that last one is from Cate

Likes: Hugging, eating, playing peekaboo, wrestling, jumping on the couch, grunting, her pink blanket, and any toy that she can cuddle with

Dislikes: Fake hair--she had a total meltdown at the mere sight of the hair on the purple My Little Pony that Santa left her.  Cate was only too willing to take it off of her hands.

Favorite food: She inhales everything except bananas

Favorite drink: Milk, obviously

Fun Facts: Charlotte is huge for her age and grunts when asking for things so we call her "Hulk."  But she is the absolute sweetest and smiliest baby.  I caught one of her first smiles on film :)

Ring One: The Dogs

Today I am profiling those in Ring One of our family circus--the dogs.  Click here to read my original post for more background.

The doggies are the clowns of this show--completely goofy and ridiculous. Homer and Major have been best buddies since Major came into our lives in August of 2007.  Even though Major is outweighed by over 110 pounds, he cannot be bothered by Homer's size.  And Homer can't help thinking he is a lapdog just like Maj.

Homer

Sweet Homie

Sleepy Homie

Hipster Homie

Nicknames: Homie, Homie Homes, Homie J., Homie D. Domie, Old Bones Homer, Homeslice, Homesizzle

Likes: People, being snuggled, scratched, pet, or really even just looked at by anyone, dinnertime, giving weighty stares when it is dinnertime but he hasn't yet been fed, having all family members together within a three foot radius, and generally being neurotic

Dislikes: Traveling, people hugging anyone but him, storm drains (seriously), bridges, decks or any other walking surface that you can see through (also serious), other dogs wrestling, orange cones, and rollerbladers with dogs (sounds like I might be joking, but I'm deadly serious)

Favorite Food: Tie--steak and bacon

Favorite Drink: Water water everywhere

Fun Facts: When he was a puppy, like many dogs, Homer loved to chew things.  He has eaten crayons, candles, coasters, and an entire living room set.  Once he pooped a flip flop.  Everywhere we go people look at him and want to say hi.  On a weekly basis in our old neighborhood, people we had never met would stop their cars to get a better look at him.  Homer is a gentle giant and a sweet soul.

Major

Surely Major is up to no good in this shot.

Maj on Instagram.

It's a dog's life!

Nicknames: Maj, Maji Maj, Major Doodle, Doodle, Mittens, Dr. Beasley (don't ask), Mr. Mistofelfleas

Likes: Annoying the everloving pants off of Rhett, barking screeching when anyone has the audacity to walk by our house, hunting squirrels, tripping people--especially Rhett, ruining couches, sitting on laps, snuggling with Homer

Dislikes: Being wet, cold, or having no cushy place to lay down--he really prefers the royal treatment

Favorite Food: This dog will eat anything--and I do mean ANYTHING--except pretzels...that's right, he will turn his nose up to the Rold Gold waffle style but grass?  Mud?  Plastic?  Other yucky stuff I won't mention?  Sounds downright delicious to Maj!

Favorite Drink: I've caught him drinking from scummy ponds and puddles, so I'm pretty sure he has no preference

Fun Facts: Rhett is convinced Major is a cat (a girl cat named Mittens to be exact) but this is totally false.  Sure, he is aloof and expressionless, and he audibly meowed once, but this guy is terrier through and through.  He dug up the backyard in our old house looking for a mole (which he never found) and his holes eventually formed the shape of a gigantic check mark.  Required seating for Major is on top of couch cushions--exclusively--and his preferred spot to sleep at night is in our bed under the covers.

The Three Rings of our Circus

Blogging so far has been really fun, and a nice distraction for me between packages of bonbons--har har.

I thought I would take a minute to do a quick family profile to capture what is going on with each "performer" in this family circus of ours right now. I'll split it into three parts and do the dogs tonight, the kids tomorrow, and the adults the next day.  Each individual will answer a series of questions and I will try my best to speak for those who can't actually talk.

The questions will be focused on:

• Nicknames
• Current Likes
• Current Dislikes
• Favorite food
• Anything else that pops into my head while I'm typing--I'm spontaneous like that

Stay tuned!

Rhett and Me: In a Nutshell

Channeling My Inner 80-Year-Old

So many of the moms I am friends with have cool and amazing talents.  In fact, thinking about it, so do the grandmothers I know.  My mom is an unbelievable cook, seamstress and gardener.  All you need to know about my mother-in-law is that she was the general contractor on a house built for my husband's family when he was growing up--she's got it together.  And my dad's wife is a very talented decorator who put together Cate's dream bedroom.

I could never in a million years have done this.

I've got friends that are successful business women, fabulous chefs, accomplished interior designers, and craft mavens.

And then, there's me.  I try to dabble in all of the above (except general contracting and bedroom construction--that would be a sight) but I'm decidedly average.  I do, however, love to...well...ummm...needlepoint.  I am totally channeling my inner 80-year-old, but I think it's so fun.

Today, I took dragged the family to a local needlepoint shop to get a stocking pattern for Cate.  Sadly, the painted patterns are currently NIB--not in budget.  $300 for the pattern alone?!?!  OUCH.  So, I immediately downshifted and decided to stitch a belt for my husband with a wonderful pattern I call "three thick stripes."  I've made a few belts before, and a stocking for Rhett, so it should be a snap.

Sort of impressive, no?

The belt will look very similar to one I made for Rhett while he was in Charlottesville.  Instead of UVA colors, this time he has requested his college colors.

Here is the original belt in all its glory.  Note to self: try to avoid visible white canvas next time.  

I got my supplies and design all sketched out this afternoon...

Graph paper, canvas, new needles and thread?  They make my heart pitter patter.

...and started to stitch.

One thread down.  Hundreds to go.

I'll post a picture once it's done.  I'm sure all two of my readers are absolutely dying to see it ;)

It's a Pink, Pink World

When you were little, did you have one item of clothing that you would always wear when it was clean?  Something you'd wait by the dryer just so when the chime went off, you could instantly put it on?  We've got one of those here--and it's all pink, tulle, and ribbons.

It's a little anticlimactic when Cate picks out her outfit.  Her ballerina skirt goes on most days, no matter what the rest of her outfit looks like.  Lord help me when she grows out of size 3T.

Wonder of wonders--today Cate is wearing--drum roll please...her ballerina skirt.

And, here she is earlier this week.  

Ninety-nine percent of the time, wearing pink is a requirement to get Cate dressed.  I used to wonder where the obsession with pink came from.  But, then I look at Charlotte in the clothes I bought and received as gifts for Cate a couple of years ago...

Here is Charlotte today--sigh, it's all pink.

 ...and I realize she came by it all honestly.

Unplugged Play

Like many parents, Rhett and I are conscious of the amount of screen time our kids get.  Now, I am not all high and mighty about keeping them completely TV free.  TV definitely has its place in our lives a few times a week.  As a babysitter?  Nah.  As a quick diversion or chance for Rhett and me to snooze for 30 more minutes?  Bring it on!

We also got Cate a Leap Pad for Christmas.  She is gaga over it.  There is one game where you have a pet and can give it baths, exercise, treats, etc. and I swear the little kitty she created has been given so many ice cream cones, it will soon be the chunkiest Leap Pad pet in history.

However, we try to let the girls explore toys and play on their own as much as possible.  Make believe and role playing are so fun and, as a parent, hilarious to watch unfold.  I love the book Unplugged Play by Bobbi Conner.

I love this book!

There are tons of simple activities to get kids' brains moving.  It's not rocket science, but it does give some good ideas for things to do, especially inside when it's too cold to stay out for extended periods.

Here are some photos of the girls playing "unplugged" and having a ball.

"Necklace muffins anyone?"

"Try this, it's delicious!"

Here is what Cate made me for dinner tonight--whipped necklace with a side of bracelet.  

Also on the subject of playing unplugged, Cate loves to role play as a mommy so she can, as she says, "put my babies to night night."  Her imagination, when it comes to stuff like this, is hysterical.  She'll do her whole routine with me there, but it gets very creative and drawn out when she has her afternoon rest (RIP afternoon nap: July 2009-December 2012).  I never know what I am going to find when I open the bedroom door at the conclusion of her rest.  Below is a standard example of what her bed looks like.

Seahorse and Kitty both have covers and their sleepy toys. 

Once I caught her feeding vaseline in teacups to her animals.  "They needed a snack before their naps," she said.  Yuck!  That is the last time she got to have any vaseline in her room.

While they can be messy, role play and imaginative play are definitely the best to watch your children participate in.  Unplugged is the way to be!