7/15/10 - Water Baby

Eva started swim lessons last week at the local community college aquatic center.  The beginner’s class meets every morning for two weeks.   They use an indoor pool with a large wading depth area which gradually deepens to four feet.   The building is heated so none of the swimmers catch a chill when they leave the pool, but it can sometimes get too warm for the spectators.   The parents are only allowed to watch the first and last lessons, so I spend most of the half-hour chatting with another mother I met who has 5-month-old twin girls to entertain while they wait for big brother and sister to finish their swimming lessons. 

 

I occasionally catch a glimpse of Eva through the window, flailing her arms and legs like an octopus or eagerly jumping off the edge to her waiting instructor.  Though she’s reticent to get her face or ears wet, she always seems to have a good time.  She’s even begun giving Amanda “swim lessons” at home, starting with telling her sister to jump off the couch “into the water” (carpet).  

 

Eva’s been covered with bug bites lately.  Sometimes she has so many red spots that I worried her instructor might think it was a rash and try to keep her out of the pool, but so far nobody’s said anything.   It’s been a terrible flea and mosquito season this year, and they seem to find Eva wherever she goes.  We’ve put Advantage on the cat, treated the carpets, sprayed the entire backyard, and even put a flea collar inside the vacuum cleaner, which seems to have slowed them down somewhat.  Still, I frequently find fleas jumping on the baby as she crawls around, and Eva and Dave both find themselves scratching a new bite or two every day. 

Baby Teeth

After weeks of restless nights and bouts of fussiness, Bethany’s gummy grin is no longer toothless!   A second tooth sits right under the surface, waiting to emerge right next to it in the middle of her lower jaw.  Bethany has been eating solids for a while now, but her lack of teeth has meant she mostly sucks pureed foods off of a baby spoon instead of trying to chew it.  I’ve given her bits of cereal at times, but so far she’s content to play with it rather than eat it.   She likes to crawl under the dining room table and play with bits of food that have fallen from Amanda’s plate before I have a chance to sweep them up. 

 

Bethany is now in full exploration mode.  She can crawl across the house and get into anything that’s left at floor level.  She’s already started pulling herself up on the furniture, though she has trouble getting back down again without falling.  Sometimes she’ll get stuck clinging to the railing in her crib and will cry until someone comes to rescue her. 

Amanda Potty Trains

Amanda finally decided she wanted to use the potty this week.  I honestly don’t know what brought about this change – I’ve been trying to convince her to use the potty for almost a year, even bribing her with new Elmo panties sitting enticingly in her drawer.  Whenever she’d ask to wear them, I told her underwear was for big girls that used the potty, but it was never enough motivation to get her to cooperate.  It was if she figured she’d already done it once or twice, and that was enough.

 

Now, only weeks before her third birthday, Amanda suddenly decided that she wants to be a “big girl” like Eva and Kasey (their 6-year-old friend).   She got her training toilet out of the garage and refused to wear a diaper.  For several days she didn’t have a single accident, running to the potty every time she had to go.  She even got on the “big potty” (adult toilet) to do #2 the way that big sister does, using the little footstool – all by herself! 

4th of July

We had a great time celebrating Independence Day, even though the weather was too cold for T-shirts and shorts.  We met some friends from church out in Corbett to watch the parade, where participants throw candy from their car windows as they slowly drive past.  The girls were thrilled to run into the street with their friends to collect the spoils.  Later we over to Patti & Graham’s house for a BBQ, and finally finished off the day by setting firework at home in the driveway. 

 

I tried to choose quieter varieties this year since the noise seems to bother the girls, but that still wasn’t enough to keep Amanda from hiding her head under a blanket on the lawn for most of the show.   Bethany, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed, if not entertained, by all the flashes and sparkles.

 

6/01/10 - Keeping Busy

This has been a crazy last few weeks.  In a two-week span, we flew down to SoCal to visit Dave’s family, threw Eva a birthday party, had my brother and his kids for a visit, and driven down to visit my folks for Father’s Day. 

 

This week has been spent trying to recover and catch up: unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, and the like.  It’s been a cold, wet June and the weatherman is predicting a cold, wet July, but there have been just enough warm days (in the 70’s) to finally justify bringing all the summer clothes out of storage. 

 

I’ve been sorting all the winter clothes by size and packing them away in the garage, keeping a few days worth of warm clothing as back-up for each of the girls, just in case.  Uncertain weather isn’t the only reason I’m ready for summer, though.   The cottonwood trees are shedding billowy seeds that pile up like fluff drifts of snow, driving allergy sufferers crazy. 

 

San Diego Trip

We flew down to visit Dave’s family for a week at the start of June, and had a great time.  The weather was perfectly warm and sunny (a direct contrast to the never-ending rain we had left behind).  We stayed in a comfortable hotel with two queen beds, hardwood floors that they mopped every day (perfect for a crawler), and black-out curtains for naps. 

 

Aunt Nanci threw a pool party for Eva’s birthday, which she was absolutely thrilled about (she had been asking to swim in Nanci’s pool for weeks).  We drove over to visit Grandma Geri almost every day, and would put a sheet with toys on the floor so she could admire Bethany’s newfound mobility.  Eva and Amanda would talk Grandma’s ear off, and then go around to talk to some of the other residents like they do at Daddy’s building.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chappy and Misty had us over for a BBQ with Xavier and Amber and Christian and Mishelle.  It had been years since we’d all hung out together and was great to see how much all the kids had grown up.  Uncle Larry and Aunt Laura were each able to come down and visit for a day.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aunt Nanci took the girls to the aquarium to see the fish, and Eva got to ride a horse at the ranch where cousin Allen does his riding therapy.   We had a chance to go see friends at Oceanside Vineyard, drove up to Orange County to visit a few old friends from my high school days and have dinner with Aunt Gayle.  And we made it out to Lake Elsinore to watch a minor league baseball game and introduce Grandpa Gordon to his newest granddaughter. 

 

Visiting With Tim

My brother has his two oldest children for the summer, so they stayed with us for a few days before heading down to the grandparents.  The cousins had a great time playing together.  Tim and I took all the kids to the zoo one day, and they had a great time feeding the birds, watching monkeys climb and seeing an enormous crocodile.  It was a big hit – until it started to hail. 

 

We were trapped at the elephant enclosure as torrents of rain and pea-sized hail suddenly started to come down.  We originally planned to wait it out, but the kids were getting cold, so we decided to make a dash for the zoo restaurant with everyone huddled under 3 umbrellas (and a stroller).   By the time we got into shelter the girls’ pants were soaking wet and they were crying and shivering.   I didn’t have a change of clothes for them, so we took them to the car, covered them with jackets and made our way home.   Next time we’ll make sure the forecast is clear and take them fishing. 

 

Father's Day

For Father’s Day we drove down to visit Grandma and Grandpa in Southern Oregon.  Dave helped to build a new swing set for the cousins to enjoy.   Eva and Amanda made their very first smores over the fire pit (with gluten-free graham crackers) and played with bubbles, yo-yo’s and moon sand on the patio.  The biggest attraction, by far, is always the chickens.  Eva likes to run after them, but keeps her fingers safely tucked in against her chest lest they try to peck.  Amanda would ask Grandpa if she could help gather eggs every morning.   One time Grandpa found an egg out of her reach and told her to go around front to the drop tray and look for the egg.  He cackled like a hen as he placed the egg in the tray from behind the wall, but Amanda saw his wiggling fingers and screamed with fright.  It took some convincing that it was safe for her to pick it up, when she finally turned to Grandpa and said, “Don’t scare me!”

 

Eva Turns Five

Eva is a big 5-year-old now.  I can hardly believe it!  We threw a horse-themed birthday party for her two days after getting back from San Diego.  The weather was perfect: one sunny day in the middle of two weeks of non-stop rain.  It was even warm enough for the kids to play in the sprinkler.    I made a simple cake with all of her tiny plastic horses posed on a green hill side under a blue sky. 

 

Turning five means that Eva will be going into Kindergarten this fall.  We’ve decided to take one year at a time when determining which learning environment would be best for the girls.  This year we’ll be homeschooling with My Father’s World.  I’ve had several friends use the curriculum and have been very impressed with it.  Not only does it engage all the senses and learning styles (visual, auditory and tactile), but the assignments are also designed to adapt to a range of ages and skill levels.  This means that I can include Amanda without having to try to find some way to occupy her or keep her out of the way.    It also means that I can take it up a notch for Eva if it seems she’s not being challenged enough.  

 

She’s more than ready.  I’ve been working with her using preschool booklets during Amanda’s nap several times a week, and she’s gotten to the point where she can spell and write people’s names if you help her sound it out.  “Mommy, how do you spell ‘Grandma’?”   “Guh,  Guh.  What makes a ‘guh’ sound? “   “G!” she exclaims proudly, and writes it down.  “What comes after ‘G’?”   And so it goes. 

 

Inspired by her friend Kasey (6), Eva has been determined not to wear training pants to bed anymore.   She voluntarily stopped bringing a sippy cup to bed, told us she doesn’t want to have a drink before bed, and proudly announces in the mornings, “I woke up dry!  I’m a big girl now!”

 

She still struggles with a few childhood fears, like an irrational terror of house flies, and worrying that everything from her bath toys to baby sister will get sucked down the drain in the tub, but she’s working to overcome those, as well.   Whenever I give Bethany a bath, Eva will warily peer over my shoulder and say, “The toy won’t go down the drain?  Can you show me?”  I’ll demonstrate that the toys won’t fit, and she’ll look relieved…for now.  

Little Princess

Amanda is in love with all things princess, especially “skirts” (dresses).   She has a little pink satin nightgown with horses on it that she wants to wear day and night.  Sometimes she’ll cry when I tell her to take it off in the morning and will try to pull it out of the dirty clothes hamper rather than wear a clean alternative.   When that doesn’t work, she’ll pull out Eva’s old medieval princess costume.   I let her wear that pretty much anywhere, and she always gets smiles from people when they see her trotting down the aisle at the store dressed as a princess. 

 

Both the girls like glittery nail polish and will regularly ask me to paint their fingers and toes.  Amanda has a few sparkly headbands that she calls “crowns”.  She’ll put one on her head and then tell everyone, “Look at my crown!”  I’ve never been a girly girl and rarely wear dresses or skirts, but it looks like I need to add a few to the girls’ wardrobes, especially for Amanda.  It’s easy to find summer dresses, but the challenge is finding long-sleeved play dresses for winter, since most I find are too fancy to play in. 

Bethany Smiles

Bethany is a content little person who smiles at everybody she meets.   It’s adorable to watch her interact with strangers.  The minute she sees someone smiling at her, she’ll flash a shy, gummy grin and then hide her face like a girl embarrassed to make eye contact with her crush.   It’s an endearing trait that brings baby admirers out of the woodwork.

 

She’s been trying to cut her first tooth for weeks now, which has made her fussier than usual, but she’s usually content as long as she’s being cuddled and sucking one of her thumbs.  Her big sisters absolutely adore her, and Bethany loves to follow them now that she can crawl.  The girls typically wake up before the baby does, and the minute she wakes she’s greeted by two exuberant sisters yelling “Good morning, Bethany!’ in their highest-pitched voices.