Friday, June 19, 2009

Coffee with a side of Sweet Big Sister...

So the morning routine in our house for the past few months has been the same:

1. The Hubby gets up b/w 5:30-6:30 am and 'does his thing' [translation: surfs the web and drinks coffee]

2. He feeds the twins at 6:30 am.

3. He then gets E up at 7:00 am if she has not already come out front to greet him. They then watch 'abc videos' [translation: he opens a second browser window (shrinking his own to share the screen with E 50/50); goes to youtube and searches for videos of different things that she likes, such as School House Rock videos, any cartoon that is peppy and sings, etc.; she watches her screen while he continues to do his thing in his screen.]

4. I get up by 7:30 am and help out with either the twins or E until he takes her to school at 8:00am. He returns by 9:00-9:30 and begins working for the day; I take over with the kids for the duration of the work day. {sometimes he pitches in during the day if he can or on his lunch, if I need him to hold a baby}.

Pretty basic stuff, right? So the only change has been with E. Now that the babies are out front with us when she gets up, she starts to interact with whichever one might be awake! Pretty impressive considering they are only 5 months old :)

As with any 3 year old, E has her pile of FAVORITE Toys. These are almost exclusively stuffed animals. They are:

"Kitty"
"MommaJo Kitty"
"Puppy"
"Squishy/Winky Baby" (the name depends upon her mood)
"Baby Bob"
"Turtle Dude"
"Blue Turtle"
"Purple Monkey"

This pile comes out with her in the morning.......EVERY morning. She then takes "Kitty" to school with her for naptime. ["Kitty" was the original stuffed animal / lovey toy that she HAD to have at nap and bed times....the rest have come on board thru the years]

After the twins came home, she would gently place these "lovey's" around one or both of the twins. Just for a little while. And then tell us "I want them back now". We would smile and tell her "Go ahead. Be gentle. And THANK YOU for sharing so nicely with your brother and sister!"

This morning M was awake and in the pack-n-play cooing at her mobile. E went over and placed "Kitty" in there with her.....and then proceeded to bring her large quantities of M & F toys from the floor.....virtually covering her up! The hubby said it was so sweet to see her ferrying all those toys to M. :)

Once out in the truck to go to school, the following conversation occurred:

E: "Kitty! Kitty! I need my Kitty!"
The Hubby: "Oh my gosh! We almost forgot her! I'll go get her. I know right where she is....she is in with M."
E: "Okay, but she wants another toy. Give her my "MommaJo Kitty".

:)
{sigh} . . . So Sweet!!!! So Precious!!! So Generous!!! I just love our kids!!!!

Love to all,
Cherise

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Baptism, Friends and Potty Training Updates...

This past weekend we had the Twins (M & F) baptized at St. Joseph Catholic Church. It was a great event! We had asked two sets of our friends to be godparents and they graciously agreed! It was a beautiful ceremony, and the twins were great! They were not freaked out by the water or anything...the priest was a little concerned when we asked him to hold both of them for a picture, but he mustered up the courage and complied :)

Our friends from St. Louis came in with their crew and we had a great weekend with them, cooking out and swimming. The hubby commented that any reservation he had about the return on investment on installing a pool was completely washed away with this visit.....their kids wanted to stay in the pool morning, noon and night! :) Glad I talked him into a house with a pool! HA!

The twins are moving around a little more everyday. They have both discovered their hands....and (unfortunately) how yummy their own fingers are ... especially to suck on.....LOUDLY. We have started calling M "Col. Sanders" when she starts to slurp loudly on her hands ('cuz she's "finger lickin'")....which we immediately remove and try to substitute with a binky. Sometimes it works, other times not so much. They have both started 'trying' to roll over....they end up on their sides, but have not completed the roll as of this post. But they are VERY close to doing it!

E is very close to being what we would consider 'completely' potty trained. She has even started to let us know when she has to poop....which is a REALLY big deal.....we were not making any progress on that front, but the hubby worked his magic, and now she let's us know so we can scoop her up and run to the potty. She even gets out of the pool to go 'pee pee on the potty'.....which is really funny, cuz I snatch her out of her suit -before- I run with her into the Air Conditioned House to go potty....yes, that's right: she is streakin' at age three! :)

Speaking of swimming, we have been doing a lot of that this year also. E has decided that the latest flotation device we purchased for her is 'acceptable'. This is like number 5 or something, but she Loves It! So she is all about swimming this year. And she insists on floating around without you holding on to her. She will even Jump Into The Pool!! She has figured out that when she kicks her feet she does, in fact, move. Yes, it is true. We were not lying to her about all that. :) So we are hopeful that this summer when we sign her up for swimming lessons, it will take this time! [said while crossing fingers and saying a little prayer]

The twins have turned 5 months and I'm attaching the 5 Month Blue Chair pictures to this post. They both are getting better at sitting up in the chair, and don't fall over as fast. They are babbling and smiling and drooling and in general, lovin' life!

And finally, I cut my hair short. The twins kept grabbing it and trying to basically snatch me bald...so I gave in to the scissors. When E saw it, she stared at me for a very long time. Then this exchange occurred:

E: "What happened to your hair?"
Me: "I got it cut. Do you like it?"
E: "Why?"
Me: "Because the babies kept pulling it. Do you like it?"
E: "...{staring blankly at me}
Me: "Well? Do you like it?"
E: "You look funny."
Me: "Thanks."


Love to all,
Cherise