Sorry!

During a family game of Sorry on the living room floor, Isaac got the bright idea to do a push-up for every number he got to move one of his pieces. Well, I wasn't to be outdone, so I joined in too. When our arms could not do a single push-up more, we switched to sit-ups. Then back to push-ups. Then back to sit-ups. The Sorry game took FOREVER! We did hundreds and hundreds of each (the cards do go up to 12, remember). Oof dah!

Happy 80th Anniver-city!

Isaac and I have been married 8 very wonderful years today! I'm a lucky girl.

I told Elizabeth that we were celebrating our eighth anniversary (she says "anniver-city"). Her eyes got big and she asked, "Does that mean you've been married 80 years?"

Please Help with Music!

I recently got a (cheapo) MP3 player to use while running, and I LOVE it. It makes running go so much faster! My problem is that I haven't bought a new CD since high school, and I am very ignorant about what's out there.

My dad gave me about 30 songs to download, but I don't know what to choose! I like Christian music, very upbeat to run to, especially gospel-type music. Will you please recommend lots and lots of titles for me?

Why I'm Not an Architect

I couldn't get the roof of the gingerbread house to stand up. We made it into a front yard intstead.

Post-Holiday Letdown

It seems that discipline is a pendulum - we become too lax, so we get strict for a while, then we relax, and so on. With so many special things in December, we've been more lax than usual for a while. Now that the holidays are (mostly) over, it's time to get back to normal.

Suddenly we have to be firm on eating habits and going to bed all over again. Some attitude adjustments have had to be made as well.

This morning was not fun.

Last night, after Elizabeth had repeatedly gotten out of bed, I found her sitting outside in the hallway. I gave her a stern look and said, "Elizabeth. I'm disappointed." She protested, "I keep getting up because God tells me it's morning!" (It's tough to argue with God!)

Today she said mournfully, "I'm very sad and lonely." When I asked why, she continued, "Because my candy and gum is almost gone."

Anyone have any tips on adjusting back to normal life?

Christmas Day

Christmas Eve

Amelie

Look how big Amelie is now!

Hunting

We've been playing a lot of Laura Ingalls Wilder again lately. Elizabeth is usually Mary now, because she has blond hair and she's older, and Amelie has to be Laura. (Poor baby is never going to learn her name, with her big sister constantly yelling the wrong name in her face!)

Anyway, Elizabeth went out hunting (using a rolled-up yoga mat for a gun - she definitely gets this from Isaac, not me). She came back having caught a moose! She explained, "Mooses are good for eating. Mooses are like ham."

Then she went out hunting another time, and returned, saying she caught "lots of ama-mals: a moose and a deer and a wildcat." She asked, "Do you think you can manage that for Christmas dinner?" Hmm. I've never cooked a wildcat before!

Restaurant

We celebrated a birthday (Ana is 18!) with my in-laws yesterday, and Elizabeth told my mother-in-law about playing "store" with pretend food. Beth, a teacher, pounced on the educational opportunity and gave Elizabeth a bunch of coins so she could make prices. (WHY didn't I think of that? It's so easy!)

When we got home, I made price tags and Elizabeth arranged her store. She arranged two sections of food: fruit and "Daddy's treats." She wrote "Cub" on a piece of paper to make a sign (sounded out all by herself) and made another sign that said "Uoopn" and "Loozd" (Open and Closed). Then she was in business. Isaac and I have spent a lot of time grocery shopping in the past two days!

Today the store changed into a restaurant: "Micdllz" (McDonalds). A la Beth, I seized the teaching opportunity and had her make a menu for it. The ridiculously proud mother in me wants to tell you all about how she spelled everthing on the menu, but for your reading pleasure, I'll make myself stop!

Reading and Spelling

Elizabeth has recently become fascinated with reading and spelling. I've always told her how much she'll enjoy being able to read, and reminded her that when she's ready, I'll help her learn. She decided she's ready, and now she can sound out 3 letter phonetic words pretty well. It's so fun! I'm amazed at how much there is to teach and learn, though - all the sight words, the weird exceptions, consonant blends, double vowels, long and short vowels... This is not an easy process!

Two days ago she suddenly decided she could spell. She wrote "Duw not cum ni" (Do not come in) all by herself!

Fun With Keys

We hang extra keys on several hooks on one of our white-painted kitchen cabinets. Today Elizabeth was enjoying playing with them and sorting them. Isaac glanced over at her occasionally, noting that she was very intent. After a few minutes, she commented, "Daddy, when you rub the keys over the paint, the paint goes away."

Surprised (but chuckling), Isaac responded, "Honey, we probably shouldn't do that."

Protesting gently, Elizabeth responded, "But I made a picture of our family: me, Mama, Amelie, and you!"

Yes, that's right. Our kitchen cabinets got keyed. By our daughter.

Is It Bad?

Is it bad that I told Elizabeth, "If you pick up the cracker I dropped on the floor, I'll let you eat it?"
Is it bad that I let her eat some dinners standing on a folding chair at our kitchen counter because the dining room is just too cold?
Is it bad that when my two girls are lying on a blanket together and one starts to cry, I immediately ask, "What did you do to Amelie?"
Is it bad that Elizabeth likes to play "Annie and Miss Hannigan" and "Sarah the servant girl" (from The Little Princess) and I enjoy getting to be brusque with her and telling her what chores to do?
Is it bad that Isaac and I eat most of the candy that people give Elizabeth?
Is it bad that our family walked the four blocks to Elizabeth's preschool program last night in the freezing Arctic temperatures? (Yes, I took an infant and a preschooler out in that.)
Is it bad that one of the reasons I love my baby is that she slept through the night last night?

Date Night

Tonight Isaac put his arm around me and whispered in my ear, "It sure is nice to be out alone with you at a concert."

I looked at my dad bouncing Amelie in a nearby aisle, and at Elizabeth and all her preschool friends performing their Christmas songs and fingerplays, and couldn't help but agree!

Dates maybe aren't the same as they used to be, but they're still pretty wonderful.

Made to Be Sisters

Elizabeth sighed happily the other day, "I was born to be a big sister."

Today she earnestly said, "Mama, thanks for having a baby."

She likes to make a tent around Amelie and play with her in the tent. She also reads books to her and performs lots of shows. For some reason, Amelie is frequently a more attentive audience than Isaac or I! They're pretty cute together.

The Magically Appearing Burpcloth

When I make my bed in the morning, I kept finding a burpcloth under the covers. I couldn't figure out how it got there. I didn't nurse Amelie in the bed. Why would Elizabeth tuck a burpcloth away there?

It turns out that when I nurse at night, I blearily go back to bed with a burpcloth still on my shoulder. Sexy.

What Amelie's Been Up To Lately

My last several posts have been about Elizabeth, so here's an update on Amelie. This is corny, but she really is our Amelie Joy. She is two months old now and weighs 11 pounds (60th percentile). Although she has her fussy hours, lots of spit-up, and a few too long sleepless periods during the day, she is generally easy-going and sleeps much better than her sister ever did. I had no idea having a baby could be so pleasant and easy sometimes!

It seems that every day she is getting more smily and responsive. She also started laughing two days ago, and those laughs are rare but fabulous! She loves it when we sing to her, coos and "talks" adorably, kicks happily in the baby swing, and just started standing while holding Daddy's hands.Amelie recently discovered her fist, and entertains herself very happily slurping on it. Her poor hands are constantly freezing cold, no matter how warmly I dress her, and being frequently wet doesn't help! Here's a picture of our entertainment this lazy afternoon: blankets are spread out all over the floor (courtesy of Elizabeth), Amelie is sucking on her fist, and Elizabeth is in her "tent" under the baby swing.
"Wait a minute. Who is pulling on my hair?"
I'm so happy to have our baby girl!

Back to Volleyball

I played volleyball last night for the first time in nine months. I had planned to continue playing and running far into pregnancy, but because of the bleeding I didn't exercise at all from March on. Anyway, it was nice to be back. I played pretty decently (in other words, I've certainly played worse when I had no excuse at all!) and served excellently (I made 46 out of 49 serves). I left feeling pretty good, but I'm pathetically sore today!

Locksmith Needed

Tonight Elizabeth locked the bathroom door. No one was in the bathroom (thank goodness), but we still had the problem of having only one bathroom in the house, and that being inaccessible. She was horrified with what she'd done, which was deserved since Isaac had warned her about this very thing just last week when he'd noticed her fiddling with the lock. Fortunately, Isaac came home from work just an hour or so later and was able to pick the lock fairly easily.

This incident comes right on the heels of Elizabeth locking herself inside a bathroom stall in a public bathroom in downtown Minneapolis. I had been changing Amelie's diaper outside the stall, and since we were the only ones in the bathroom, I had thought it would be appropriate for Elizabeth to go by herself for the first time. (Plus, I didn't relish the idea of fitting Elizabeth, me, Amelie, and the big old diaper bag in the tiny stall!)

Once she had latched the door, though, she couldn't get it opened again. She had to crawl out under the door over the filthy floor. And since I didn't want to crawl back under it (with Amelie!) to open the latch for her, I had to track down a security guard and confess to him that we had inadvertently locked one of the stalls and left it that way!

I hope "we" have learned our lesson and have no more need for a locksmith!

First Family Christmas!

We had the annual Scott Family Carol Sing last night. (The Scotts are my mom's extended family, even though nobody has the last name Scott any more.) I think that's the Christmas event I most look forward to every year. I have a pretty fantastic family, and I love the excuse to hang out with them. We also make pretty fantastic food, if I do say so myself. My dad had the bright idea to give kazoos to Elizabeth and her two cousins. We teased him about it because of the noise, but the kids did have a great time. Here's a picture of the kazoo parade marching down the stairs. The little girls also took turns singing songs from their upcoming Christmas programs for us. Elizabeth sang "Away in the Manger" and mangled the verses. Christmas gatherings must really be awful for people who don't like children. Finally, here's a picture of three generations of mothers and daughters. (Grandma, we really missed you!)

Blossoming Photographer

I recently gave Elizabeth our digital camera to use for a little while. I didn't expect any of the pictures to turn out, but some of them are really cool!

Legal Exception

As I put Elizabeth to bed last night, I laid down the law about getting us up in the middle of the night, because that has been happening far too much lately. Here's our conversation:

Me: "I'm putting an extra DeeDee right here, so if you can't find DeeDee, don't wake me and Daddy up - just take the new one. If you have to go to the bathroom in the night, just go and don't wake me and Daddy. If you have an accident in the middle of night [she never does, she just thinks she does and wakes us up to take care of it], take care of it yourself. You can change your underwear and pajamas and leave them on the floor. Daddy or I will take care of it in the morning. Even if you think you get hurt in the middle of the night, take care of it yourself. You don't need to wake me and Daddy. Do you understand?"

Elizabeth: [Long silence.] "Can I fake-cry?"

Cousins

We were privileged to have Elizabeth's cousin Sydney over for the afternoon yesterday. Ostensibly it was a favor for her mother, but I think the favor was for us! Sydney and Elizabeth entertained themselves so beautifully that they made my afternoon much easier. They spent a lot of the time playing dress-up and "Mama and Honey," their word for the child.

At one point, I overheard Elizabeth ask Sydney, "Who do you love more, your mommy or your daddy?" Sydney answered that it was her mommy (at the moment, of course!). Elizabeth responded, "Me, too. Your mommy, I mean." I had to laugh - thanks, honey.

Here are the three beautiful girl cousins together.

Here are the three beautiful girl cousins together when they're free to "love" Amelie without me making them pose for a picture!
Wow. Check out poor Elizabeth's hair in these pictures. This is what happens when her mother doesn't change her ponytail for two days!

What I Learned Last Night (and Plea for Advice!)

As a preschool teacher, I've been thrown up and peed on more than my fair share of times, so I thought I had a pretty good handle on illness. However, somehow Elizabeth made it to age 4 1/2 without ever actually throwing up. I had never been tested. My previous wisdom consisted of calling the parent and asking them to come pick up their child.

Last night was my test. Elizabeth woke up at 1:00am and continued to throw up until after 4:00am. We washed all her sheets and bedding, two sets of Elizabeth's pajamas, one set each of Isaac's and my pajamas, the carpet in two rooms, the tile and wood floor, the vomit bowl 8 times, and her hair twice. Here's what I learned:

• After the first throw-up and subsequent shampoo, put hair into a ponytail so it doesn't get dirty again!
• It is really helpful to have two parents: one to clean the child, and one to clean the environment. I can't imagine doing this as a single parent.
• Figure out a way to take shirts off without getting vomit in hair (I haven't mastered this yet).
• Have a family party on the couch by the lighted Christmas tree while you wait for the episodes to finish (this was Isaac's brilliant stroke of genius!). We told stories about when we were little to distract our little patient and pass the time.
• Put bath towels over pillows and bedding once you figure out what's going on.
• Have one parent sleep next to the child so that you can catch the next episode before it makes another mess.
• I have the most wonderful husband in the whole world who also happens to be the most wonderful daddy in the whole world.

You other parents have probably figured these things out already, but it was new to me. Here's my question for those of you who have more than one kid or who had siblings yourself: How do you keep the other kid from getting sick? Elizabeth cries and cries that she can't kiss Amelie and even though I watch carefully, constantly gets in her face to play with her and talk to her. Should I assume that Amelie is already exposed since she was kissed all day yesterday and just let them be together? Should I forbid Elizabeth from going anywhere near Amelie? How does this change once Amelie passes infancy? How should I treat minor colds versus real illnesses?

Also, what other things would make a night like this easier? Please give me some advice!