A girl and her puppies

That would be no less than nine puppies she is sleeping with.  She is slightly obsessed and loves each and every one of them.  I have been trying to get her to name them because I never know who she is asking for, which often results in frustration on both sides as I show her different ones and she yells that she wants a different one.  Unfortunately, I have not been successful and only one has a name, the one she calls "Wiggly Puppy".

 

She and Maya did have quite the argument over the name of the big brown one... Laurel was upset when Maya suggested we call it Losie.  Apparently its name is simply Puppy, a name that doesn't help in the identification process.

 

Proud

Some may call it bribery... I choose to call it a reward for a significant accomplishment. After months and months of talking with the girls about stopping the finger sucking and getting rid of the pacifier we decided it was time to take the plunge. We also thought it might work best if they could motivate each other.

First up, the proper motiviation. We took them to the dreaded Disney Store and told them that they could pick something out after they both stopped. This is a store we never go to (too expensive. too much glitter. too many princesses.) and they were mesmerized. They walked around and each picked a dress that they wanted.

Next step, a two week sticker chart for Maya. I drew some boxes, she decorated it with rainbows and flowers and we were on our way. She worked so hard to not suck her fingers, I was impressed.  Even when she really wanted to, she came up with ways to keep her fingers out of her mouth including sitting on her hands. 

The last night. Once Maya filled her chart it was Laurel's turn. We have talked for months about giving the pacifier to babies who need them since she is now a big girl. When we first discussed this she was distraught. As time went by she become more and more ok with it. On the last night, I pulled out a gift bag and started to put the binkies in it. She said "no mommy, I gonna do it". And she did. Found each of them in her bed (she slept with them all over!) and put them in the bag so we could give them to the babies. That night she didn't even mention them when she went to bed (and has only asked about it once since then, a quick reminder that she gave them away was all she needed). And the best part, no tears!

So, on Sunday morning we headed to the mall. And anyone who knows me knows that it is a HUGE deal that I was willing to head to a mall over Thanksgiving weekend. Especially to the Disney store. But, I was proud of the girls and they certainly earned it.

Maya picked out a Princess Sofia dress and Laurel chose a Cinderella gown. And lucky us, they happened to be on sale :-)

 

The process was a lot easier than I expected, especially with Laurel.  I guess there is something to be said about waiting until they really are ready.  Although I would love to take credit for being such a smart parent, ultimately it was nothing more than the result of me not wanting to risk my sleep earlier on.  I have been saying I was going to get rid of the pacifier for a year and a half now :-)

Boys vs Girls

Through an initial conversation with Maya regarding her guess on whether she was going to have a new boy cousin or a new girl cousin I have discovered that there may be some confusion about the distinguishing characteristics between girls and boys.

Her first comment was that all babies start off as boys and then some turn into girls.  A little shocked about this revelation I asked why she thought that.  Her answer was that all babies are boys because they have really short hair.  Interesting.

Later in the week I broached the subject again and asked what made boys and girls different.  Again, she said boys have short hair.  I asked, is there anything different with their bodies?  No, she said. But, boys don't wear dresses. I still had hope so asked one more time, anything else?  Nope. Then she followed it up with, oh wait, one more thing, boys wear belts and girls don't. 

I have completely failed my child!  Apparently some anatomy lessons are in our future.

 

Confusion

There are very few words that Laurel mispronounces or that she says that are hard to understand. I think the fact that she doesn't verbalize anything until she has mastered it in her head has contributed to this.

However, there are two words that she says that I can not seem to distinguish from one another. Broccoli and Sparkly.  This has led to many confusing conversations between us... it is surprising how often these two words come up in our daily chatter.

 

For Grandpa Lain

My bedtime routine with Maya includes about 5 minutes of snuggles and chatting in bed before I head out and she falls asleep.  Back when we first started this routine I would mention the minutes that were remaining as they went by because she would get upset when I left... it gave her some time to prepare.  Last night I said, OK, just three minutes left, because she was being overly chatty.  She started giggling and the following ensued.

Halloween Fun

This year they were not scared of the pumpkin guts and actually helped clean out their own pumpkins!  Of course, they both requested kitty faces, what one wants the other does as well.

They picked out their costumes months ago and had so much fun wearing them.  Maya was Queen Clarion (the Queen of Pixie Hollow) and Laurel was Minnie Mouse.  I quickly discovered that they don't make Queen Clarion costumes, luckily Maya has a very talented grandma who whipped one up for us.

They went trick-or-treating multiple times... we started out a few weeks before Halloween at a Renton Truck-or-Treat where they got to walk around to different trucks (fire trucks, cement trucks etc), then on Halloween they went trick-or-treating at school, at my work and then at the Jones' house. I failed and didn't take a single picture at any location.  Oh well.  The amount of candy they came home with could be considered obscene and there is no way they will come close to eating it all, but they had so much fun gathering it all!  Now to figure out how to get rid of it all :-)

Listening Skills

Maya and I have been struggling a bit lately... butting heads in some areas.  I need to work a bit on my patience and she needs to work a bit on her listening.

Last night was rough so this morning we were talking about it in the car:

Me - Do you think we can work on listening to Mommy a little bit better?
Maya - No, I don't want to.
Me - Um, why not?
Maya - It is easier not to.

Well then, I guess I should applaud her honesty? 



Chatterbox

Wow, have Laurel's language skills really taken off.  She seemed to go from one to two word phrases to speaking in complete paragraphs over night.  Yesterday she did not stop talking from the moment I picked her up at daycare to the moment we arrived from home.  I am used to this from Maya, but it is still a bit shocking to hear it come from Laurel.

Some of my favorite Laurel expressions/comments:

"But I love them/it" - spoken when asked to clean up her toys, I give her credit for a creative excuse on why they should not be put away.

"Please can I... be done eating/have milk in my kitty cup/have my blankets/etc?" - she has picked up some very polite habits and I love hearing the complete sentance she puts together.

"Maya, no thank you, don't talk to me.  I want Mommy to talk to me." - said many, many times on our car rides home (imagine this said with complete attitude).  They argue over who will talk to who, and who gets to talk to Mommy.  A little exasperating after a long day!

"I not know" - in response to something she doesn't know.  Usually it means she wants you to explain it to her and tell her what it is.

"No. I gonna." - her way of saying that she wants to do it by herself.

(Looking at me with a really sad face)... "Daddy didn't feed me sausage" - her way of letting me know that she was not happy with the fact that Rey didn't make her sausage for breakfast.  (I am not sure if I have talked about this, but sausage is basically her favorite food.  I can get her to eat most meats if I tell her it is like sausage.  And this is every kind of sausage, including the horrific Vienna Sausage that comes in a can.  She loves the stuff.)

"I don't want it because it waves" - as she flops her slice of pizza around holding it by the crust.  Again, a creative excuse on why she doesn't want something.

"Shhh... there's a bear coming!" - as she runs up and down the house.  This appears to be a favorite game of hers and she has convinced all her friends at school of this fact.  Now they all run around saying that a bear is coming.

It is also becoming very clear how much she is listening and observing the conversations between Maya and I.  Maya and I have some particular songs and games that we made up that occupies our time in the car.  I had Laurel in the car to myself the other day and she immediately started singing the songs.  She has never really participated before, but I guess not having Maya there opened it all up for her.





A visit to the pumpkin patch

We spent a foggy morning at the pumpkin patch and the girls had a great time picking out their pumpkins.  Laurel managed to choose the biggest one... and she would not let anyone even think about taking it.  It sat in the garage for a week or so and everytime we walked by it she would point out that it was her pumpkin.  And she always knew exactly which one she chose. 

Many pumpkins to choose from.

Maya found hers!

 .Laurel REALLY wanted to push the wheelbarrow herself - and she was pretty successful.

Sisters hanging out around the firepit - always impossible to get a smile from both at the same time.

With mommy.

And with Daddy.

Life Goals

Last week the theme at the girls' school was "All About Me".  They have filled out questionnaires about their favorites, shared all about their families and talked about differences between themselves and their classmates and how that makes them special.  It is one of my favorite sessions and they do it in the beginning of each 'school year'.

One of the items that was talked about was... What do you want to be when you grow up?

Maya - a mommy with red hair
Laurel - a horse

Well, OK then.

Cheese!

And GO HUSKIES!

Princess Maya

This princess crown goes with us everywhere these days.  She insists on wearing it most of the time... except for school because it is not allowed.  She is so used to having it on her head that she forgets it is there and will run around looking for it :-)

 On the ferry boat

Out for lunch

Another ferry boat

And generally around the house.  This picture is the prime example of 2 and 4 year old imaginative play.  They have their four chairs set up as a car that Maya is driving.  In the back seat are their stuffed animals.  They wanted blankets on for some reason.  And they are wearing oven mitts to protect their hands while they throw cupcakes (in the net) out to the alligators.  This entire scenario was thought up on their own.

August

Catching up a bit here... the summer is winding down and we have been busy, busy trying to enjoy it as much as we can for the last month.  Here is some of our August fun.

Lopez Island camping.  Such a fun weekend with family, these kids really do enjoy the outdoors.  The girls slept great in the tent and although we were close to packing up after a rainy Sunday morning, I'm glad we stuck it out because the weather turned great. 

Looking for crabs on the beach

Painting rocks

Cousins (and self-declared King Bennett and Queen Maya)

More cousins

 

 

We spent some days at a local river. I have a lot of childhood memories hanging out at rivers; from camping riverside in the middle of nowhere to leaf boat races in Pittsburgh.  It was fun to see the girls having the same fun.  Notice who is sitting in the water... she lasted about 30 seconds before plopping right down.  The girls practiced throwing rocks and had a blast splashing around.  We didn't exactly come prepared the first time we visited, so don't judge the outfits.  I see nothing wrong with dressed tucked into rolled up leggings and undies :-)  The second time wasn't much better... but at least I brought a towel!

 

 

 



 

And a visit to Remlinger Farms with the Wallace family (my college roommate and her family).  We don't see them very often, but it is always fun to catch up and the kids have a blast together.

 

A boat ride

Moo

Laurel wouldn't join them... are we surpised by this?







Maya helped with Laurel and Bree

 

 

And a whole lot of park time.

 



S.C.

We ventured across the country once again for the Roessler family reunion.  Such a fun trip.  The girls did fantastic, traveling is becoming much easier as they get older.  This time they even successfully shared a bed.  We enjoyed a lot of beach time, family games and stories.  It was a much needed break for us all.

The trip started out with a very early flight.  The girls had fun coloring, using stickers, reading books and watching a few movies. On the way home they both slept for 3 out of the 4 hours on the last leg.

This is how we spent most mornings... playing on the beach.  ALL of the kids loved it and it was hard to keep them away.  Laurel would have spent the entire week jumping waves if it were up to her.

We had most of the beach to ourselves.

 Maya wasn't quite as excited about the waves, but she ventured out a few times.

Digging, digging, digging.  The fun never ends.

More swimming, more jumping.

We ventured to Cypress Gardens.  It was a really fun place for the kids... we started out in a Butterfly Garden with the butterflys flying all around us.

The little girls were watching out for alligators (and according to them, hippos as well).

We took a boat ride through the swamp on a lookout for alligators. 

Cousins and best buds.

Maya and Grandma on the boat.

The whole crew.

Granny Pat told a nightly story to the fourth generation.  The older kids really got into it and looked forward to it each evening.  You can see them listening and fully concentrating in the next few pictures.

 

They would talk anyone they could into reading them a story.

 

 

   Three silly naked girls.  It was fun to watch them play together now that they are getting older.  I am excited to watch their relationships grow.  We think we've already nailed their personalities... time tell us if we are right!

Games!

Snuggles!

The house had a playground, which was great when the house was filled with little ones who needed to get their pent up energy out. 

 

And we spent an afternoon playing in the fountains in downtown Charleston.

 

We couldn't ask for a better family!  Grandpa and Adam... you were missed and remain in our hearts always.