Is It April ALREADY?

This post is so clearly brought to you by the sandbox I built and installed last summer.  It is about 30 feet from the new French doors, and has captivated the kids this year.  I may find time to make it prettier shortly, but who really cares?  Now that the weather is warm again, the yard is their amusement park and they can spend hours out there playing on the swing set, hammock, sandbox, deck, and gravel pit.  They paint on the easel in the grass, kick the balls that decorate the yard, and seem to be teaching themselves how to play leap frog with the most hysterical outcome.  Lots of pouncing, squashing, and reconnoitering before the next physical fiasco. 

I'm not sure I'm doing this whole parenting thing right, but the kids? They take up all my time.  Perhaps if I ignored them more, or if they liked to play by themselves more I'd get more done, but most of the time I am attending to them all day and then Homestead Mama comes home after an 11-hour work day about 10 minutes before their bedtime and reads to them, we put them through the 20 minute bed time ritual and then go downstairs, collapse on the couch together, talk about the day or how we really should submit our taxes soon and then watch a DVR show and go to sleep.  It isn't glamorous, but it does work for us.

Here's what I have been doing of late:

:: Tending to a friend's chicks and planning our own coop and flock.  We are set to order a bunch of Sussex, Black Australorps, Barred Plymouth Rock, and Silver Wyandottes.  With a couple Ameracaunas for H-Mama, as she wants the colored eggs. All hens, save for one rooster for Monito.  He wants to name it Big Shot after his favorite character in our current favorite book.

:: Easter! And the requisite lengths of rope in the baskets. What? You didn't get your kids rope for Easter?  Silly readers.  It is the new tape.  It ties in (hardy har har) with the pirate theme we are sporting in this house.  A lovely relaxing hour can be had by a mom sitting and being tied up.

:: Training the boy to not say "You IDIOTS!" to his sister when he gets frustrated.  Thanks a lot, Cruella DeVille.  He only uses it in the plural, because Cruella hurls the insult at the Badden Brothers.  The boy hasn't figured out that his sister is a singular, and this makes is just funny enough that I can't take him seriously.  I take him more seriously when he says "You ASSHOLES!" at his blocks or Playmobil vehicles.  He learned that from, um, Homestead Mama!  Yes!  That's it!  Bad, Homestead Mama.

:: Enjoying the new game my kids have developed, Shoe Fighting.  It happens in the car since we have a micro-minivan instead of the cavernous Odyssey.  When they get a little nutty they have begun pummeling one another.  It is like thumb-wrestling, but with feet, and kicking.  So much fun!  I was parked next to an Odyssey at the grocery store the other day and once I had strapped my kids in I leaned into the wide open side door while the mom-owner was returning her cart to the kiosk. Oh my goodness, we could have comfortably slept our whole family in there.  I stood half in, half out of the vehicle, mouth agape, as I mentally ticked off all the things I could fit in there.  A whole additional child + car seat!  All our vacation packing!  A stroller AND some bikes!  I was ready to sign on to a 13 mpg car right then and there.  Sigh.  Mommy porn, for sure.  I should note that except for not being a cavernous minivan, our Mazda 5 is awesome and I have NO regrets.  If we do have a third kid, though, watch out! 

::Pequita has reached a phase where she mimics a lot. Me, H-Mama, her brother.  This means that much of the time she is either swearing (us) or reduced to almost-three-year-old behavior (her brother).  Good times!  Tantrums, misbehavior, whining, she does it all with a 7-second delay after her brother.  Because is isn't enough to live through the first time!  She is potty trained during the day, and we still diaper her during nap times and night just to catch any accidents.  Today, she opted to stay in her diaper after naps until she pooped in her diaper, something we are working with her brother on.  She stalked in to the room I was in and demanded, "You will change my diaper NOW."  I snickered quietly, and tried to make it a learning experience.  Mistake.  She got increasingly upset and really just wanted the stinky dipe off right away.  I hope the experiment is over, and she won't do it again.  Her stress levels are such that when it happens, it is like a 4-alarm fire. She cannot understand her brother who still resists the change and would prefer to wear his poop around with him for comfort for many long minutes (hours) after the fact.

:: Watching the wildlife return to our yard.  Birds are flocking to the feeders and nesting bags we put out (mesh bags full of yarn & fabric scraps for the birds to use as nesting material.)  Recently a ring-necked pheasant traipsed around our yard for a while, much to our amazement and joy.  The next day, we encountered his body on the road near the house.  Someone had hit him but good with their car.  I stopped the car and let the kids see him.  Pequita remarked that her "heart was very sad".  Mine too, little girl.

::

:: Cooking up a storm.  I'm using up the fruit and meat in our freezer as fast as I can.  Sunday, rhubarb chutney with fresh ham.  Behold the glory of chutney spices!

Recently, several no-knead bread options, Mongolian beef, gingerbread and pies galore.  We have a half side of grass fed beef in the freezer, and are about to pick up a half lamb, and a whole young pig, all non-certified organic and really yummy.  We need to clear out as much as we can before the influx occurs.  On the list of things to tackle soon: Greek yogurt, hot dog buns from scratch, cole slaw (to use up the last of our stored cabbage), and sausage and pate with all our meat.

::Yard work!  Clearing fall brush away, landscaping when I can fit it in, raking, seeding, digging.  We'll have to start mowing this week, which takes about 2 hours at a time since we have 1.5 acres of tended yard.  Plus an extra hour if we mow the path through the meadow. We need a goat, but won't get one until AFTER we have a small barn for it.  Can't wait for the goat's milk, goat cheese, and free brush removal.

:: Double-digging my garden patch.  Last year, my six 4' x 4' raised beds were more to keep the kids and dogs off my planting area.  This year, I'll move them to the edge of the garden and they will become our dedicated strawberry and asparagus beds and I'll leave our regular garden plots on the bare ground.  This patch took about an hour to dig; three more to go this year.  I'll expand more next year; this year, three 4' x 12' beds will have to suffice.

:: Sitting watching the sky at sunset, sunrise, and any time in between.

:: Many cookouts and campfires.  Homestead Mama likes to be active, so will putter in the yard and then burn her gleanings. The kids love to cook their dinner over the campfire.  Up next: foil meals.  Wrapping a potato, some meat and veggies up in a piece of tin foil and setting it in the coals to cook.  

:: Seed starting for the aforementioned garden.  I still have to plan out my layout, companion plantings, and buy starters for whatever doesn't sprout.  This year, we saved our Easter egg shells and started sunflowers and pumpkins in the shells.  

:: Many walks on the property.  The children have A LOT OF ENERGY and need to let off steam in a large area where the creation of another game along the lines of "Shoe Fighting" can be avoided.  We go out into the field and pick weeds, look for birds nesting, track deer, play with our ever-present dogs, and throw things.  It is really fun, always different, and makes me love our investment in 10 acres.

:: Playground and friend play dates.  At least 4 times a week.  The kids are so different from last year.  Pequita was already a master at climbing and physical activities.  This year, she can (be still my heart) make it up to the tiny, bendy branches in the climbing trees before I even know she's gone.  Monito is finally, for the first time, in charge of his body in a way that clearly brings him great satisfaction.  He runs, jumps, climbs, and vaults with reckless abandon and much success, something that has eluded him until now.  He's seen his sister's mastery for a long time and now it is his turn, which is an obvious thrill.  Both kids interact in a whole new way with other little kids.  Pequita has made new friends on the playground, and will hold hands and prance off with sweet little girls to find privacy and giggle and play.  Monito seems to prefer boys he already knows, but the fact that he wants to interact with anyone other than Mommy is huge.  He loves his friends Nate and Desmond because they will rough house with him, and chase, run, sword fight and frolic with him.  He woke from his nap today saying that he dreamed of having a tea party with green balloons and cookies and all his buddies were in attendance and then they played pirates until dark, when they lit a bonfire and cooked things all by themselves.  This is such a huge developmental leap for him - it is both thrilling and heart breaking for me.  My babies are really growing up.  Yay!  (Sob.)

:: Organizing.  Purging.  Yippee!  Homestead Mama made me promise not to ever throw any of her stuff away without asking her first.  Sadly (for her), she works an hour away and I am home with the clutter of a lifetime of collecting.  I have been taking bag after bag of lovely goods to the thrift store and getting my tax deductible receipt for our donation.  In the long run, she'll be happy.  In the short run, she is thrilled at how the house is looking.  Somewhere in between she'll figure out what is happening, but I'm hoping for the best.  I made a play kitchen for the kids using some cube shelves from the local unfinished furniture store and a couple things from Lowes.  They love it, and by winter they'll probably want to be inside long enough to use it a lot.  I still have to cut a door for the 'fridge', but I have a big day of sawing planned for the near future.

:: Pirates!  Did I mention the pirates?  Pequita loves her face paints still, and chooses black and pink.  This equals 'Ballerina Pirate' for her.  Monito chooses more traditional colors, but they are still actively dressing up and whacking. 

:: Pequita is undertaking the effort of reading.  I have been resisting the urge to push them, drill letters, numbers, words.  I have been tortured in a small way by the kids who can write their names already, or write many words by the time they are 3. My mother was an amazing, patient, skilled teacher of Kindergarten through 3rd grade for over 30 years and suggested that I wait, not push them, and let them lead.  All along I've been teaching in the abstract; I read books constantly while tracing words with my finger, spell and sound out words in a general way that they haven't seemed to notice.  Both kids can count up to 30 or more with a minimum of 'five-teens' and can sing the alphabet and recognize a few letters.  Lately, Pequita has been identifying letters, asking how to spell things, and wanting to "read" to herself and her brother.  Yahoo!  I feel like the genie is out of the bottle.  We are hot and heavy into Pequita-led school now, and she loves it.  Her brother is watching and picking things up even as he ignores her.  I'm about  start having a letter per day that we focus on, which should make a proper game out of it all.  Pequita now stops me as I read so that she can 'read' to us; many times her version of the story is much more fun that what was on the page.  In the car there is always a big stack of books between their car seats in back.  She selects a books, asks Monito what page he wants to read and then narrates the pictures to him.  It is a perfectly cooperative experience that they both love.

:: ASL.  Monito asked for Signing Time, a DVD series we haven't seen in a long time.  I started checking them out of the library again and we all hunker down to learn how to sign.  The kids really like it, and practice all the time.  We are all getting better; Monito takes particular interest and pride in his signing.  I can't recommend this series highly enough.  It is wonderfully done, fun to watch, and easy to learn from.  The songs are catchy enough that I don't mind catching myself singing them in the shower.

Milestone # 6,492

Banana splits.  They will definitely be coming back for a second round.

Snow Shoes!

Homestead Mama has a full-blown fantasy of snowshoeing this weekend while my parents are here. She has a set for all of us, and has restrung the bindings on them. The kids have been trooping after her as she stamped down a path around the property begging to join her.

Yesterday I took the kids to EMS to buy them their own toddler-sized showshoes. They had a blast; shortly after arriving, Monito pronounced the store "the best place ever, Mommy!" I believe it had something to do with the kayaks suspended from the ceiling, the vast array of sharp pokey things like ski poles and knives, and the ramp just perfectly sized for toddler-jumping-off in the boot department.

We left the store with a pair of pink and a pair of blue snow shoes rated for 40 - 80 lbs. I was worried the kids would have a hard time with them and they'd have to be returned. Both kids clutched them all the way home in the car, and insisted on going for a little jaunt immediately upon being freed from their car seats. I had no reason to worry - they zipped around like pros in the snow. Homestead Mama is onto something, for sure.


One thing that parenting is giving me is a true sense of amazement at what tiny little people are capable of. I wouldn't have imagined a 2 year old doing half of what Monito does, and Pequita blows my mind on a regular basis.

Pequita is Now Three

And she still rocks. I can't believe I didn't post about her fairy princess themed birthday on the 11th.

We invited 25 people or so, which clearly put it in the realm of adult party, since the kids are usually totally happy with one or two friends. I took the lazy way out and had Homestead Mama grill hotdogs and hamburgers. We also used the opportunity to get a pepperoni log out of the freezer and consumed by people other than me. Auntie Kiko was a big fan. There was milling about and eating for 90 minutes, and then we tried to host an activity - this was the first time we've done anything but open play. I've been wanting to try a treasure hunt since reading about it on Kate's blog, but worried it would be too much for the kids. It was a HUGE hit, and totally within the kid's abilities. I was so busy with party prep and house cleaning and epic cake baking that I really rushed the treasure hunt prep, but basically I had Grandpa print out several pictures that I'd taken of memorable landmarks in our yard. I sent Grandma outside the morning of the party to hang each one in the appropriate place attached to a balloon for easy discovery by 3 year olds. I brought them all outside and squatted down with a ballooned picture of the swing set and said that fairies had brought special treats for each child, but we were going to have to find them because the fairies were tricksters. The kids were pretty jazzed up; my kids had home court advantage and led the merry band off to the swing set. Very quickly the kids got into it and a couple front runners emerged. Jonas, in the pink, partnered with Pequita and the two of them tore it up. We hid five clues, so the kids ran all over an acre of yard visiting the fire pit, hammock, raised bed garden and ending up back at the front door where the fairies had left a basket of gift bags for them all. One sweet 3-year old said that he was coming back the next day to do this again, so I'm taking that as an unbridled success. Best of all is that they are clearly ready for organized thinking activity, which means I'm unpacking all the games I've been collecting since before they were born. My sister had a pirate treasure hunt in her tiny house in Boston a few months ago, and since they didn't have all the acreage to run on the kids had to do a physical activity at each clue location, like jump up and down 40 times or do a somersault. I can see adding letter and number components too, as the kids start digging mental Olympics. I think that increasing the number of clues and adding physical or artsy activities at each checkpoint would keep this game going in high joy mode. We'll definitely be making more clue cards and bringing this indoors over the winter.

The bags were a big hit. I prefer to sugar up my kids as little as possible, and also like to give away things we like to play with. This means that I always end up adding a craft or twelve to my pre-birthday to-do list. Each kid received an elf and a wand that Grandma and I made the night before (yay, glue gun!) a book of tattoos, a sticker activity sheet, and a pumpkin shaped bottle of bubbles. Many of the components were from the dollar store; I bought plain wooden wands in April and set them aside for Pequita's birthday; a little shiny ribbon and a gem and they were transformed. The wooden elf forms are from my favorite wood piece supply store and a simple bit of felt and more glue gun = very sweet toy in seconds. Proper elf capes & hats should be hand sewn, but whatever.
We then retired back inside for chocolate castle cake. Sadly, the tin foil makes it hard to see the glory of the cake, but it was a hit. I had much bigger and better construction with multiple colors in mind, but by 11:30 the night before the party, I decided it was done with just a crumb coat of chocolate butter cream. (Hint: you can't tell its a crumb coat if you have chocolate on chocolate. Also, toddlers don't care.) It was a recipe out of a Moosewood cookbook, of all places, and it was fantastic. Those vegetarians sure like their sweets. As always, once the birthday kid blows out their candles and makes a wish, I relight them for each kid who wants to have a go. They love this, and it makes everyone happy.


We spent three days opening presents one or two at a time, so the birthday lasted all weekend. Sigh. I love parties.

Nothing is Sacred

I just heard, "Mom! Me need 'nother bag!".

Oh oh.

I went in the living room to check it out. My industrious daughter had retrieved the adult scissors and was cutting her Barbie's hair. She had filled the ziplock bag with clippings, and wanted more storage. How long until it is her own head, I wonder? They see me cut my own hair all the time.

Why oh Why?

Pequita, She Who Must Be Watched as each feat of physical prowess is executed, chatters and sings constantly. I thought this was the most frustrating toddler affectation. I was wrong.
My boy has sadly begun the journey of Why, Mommy?

Where going, Mommy?
Why Buttermilk Park, Mommy?
Why hike, Mommy?
Stella come, Mommy?
Why no Stella, Mommy?
Why colds, Mommy?
Why snot and sneezing, Mommy?
Why germs, Mommy?
Why be quiet, Mommy?
Why irritable, Mommy?
Why headache, Mommy?
Why thumping head on car window, Mommy?

I believe it might be a long year.

Mom

Sometime in the last two days I have become known as 'Mom'. I started out as Mimi, and that morphed into Mommy. Both kids call me Mom now and I don't register it yet - they end up calling out their mutated version of my given name to get my attention after I've ignored their cries for Mom several times.

I am just not ready for this. It feels like any minute I'm going to start hearing the withering, "Oh, Mom!" with enough attitude to curdle my soul.

Sneaky

I was busy upstairs this morning dismantling the dog crate that remained set up in our dressing room solely for the kids to play in. (We had taken the door off, so its not like we ever locked them in there.) As always, the kids were playing near me, Monito at my feet and Pequita in the office. I heard my bedroom door shut and Monito ran to it and knocked - his sister said 'come in!' He left my room. Soon I hear lots of giggling and laughing.

One of my basic rules is that if I can hear both kids and there is no screaming, they are probably ok. Parents know - when there is silence bad things are happening. So I'm feeling confident that things are fine and I finish collapsing the kennel. I head out into the other room where, lo and behold, both kids are eating a tollhouse cookie at 8 am. Suppressing my first 6 instinctive responses, I say "Mmmm, those look good." They nod vigorously and keep chewing. Pequita gets her sly look and tells me, "Mommy. Pequita go downtairs (sic) and climb up and get own cookie. Den I came uptairs (sic) and eat cookie. Bubba see my cookie and he go get Bubba *own* cookie.". Grin. I asked, how did my bedroom door get closed? My daughter said, "I closed door so Mommy not see me eat cookie."


There you have it. Subterfuge and deception at less thaan 3 years old. Her brother was all too happy to go along. What in the world am I up against?

Barbie!

And so it begins. She selected the one with black hair like her. Even still, $0.50 is too much to pay for body dysmorphia. Now I have to find her some of those un-Barbies with proportional measurements and send this one to the cornfield*.

*Twilight Zone, anyone?

Big Kid Beds

We've had the nursery set up with two toddler beds for months. No one has ever slept in that room ever; there has only been lots of playing on beds, on the car mat on the floor, and much diaper changing. All the sleeping [or lack thereof] happens in the master bedroom, where our queen sized bed is flanked by two cribs. Thank goodness our bedroom is huge. We have snuggle time in the big bed, kids go down into their cribs, when they wake up sometime between 11 pm and 3 am they get pulled into our bed for the night.

For the last few nights, both kids have had a really hard time falling asleep. Even though we start stories around 7pm and Monito falls asleep by 8ish, Pequita is averaging 10:30 for her fall asleep time. This includes many summons to H-Mama to come upstairs. I just found out - after months of not being the chosen parent at night - that H-Mama has been nursing her, reading to her after we put her down, all the things I thought we agreed not to do. Apparently, *I* agreed not to do them but she only nodded without conviction.

Tonight, we put them down to much complaining and came downstairs to do some baking and food prep for a barbecue tomorrow. They cried a little on and off, sang to themselves, cried a little more, and then Monito started calling Help! Help, Mommy! with some vigor. I decided to go up, and was met at the top of the stairs by both kids. Out of their cribs and crying hard. Apparently, Pequita decided she was really and truly a big girl and climbed out of her baby cage; she then either helped Monito out of his crib or he just didn't want to be left behind, but he had a little trouble vaulting over the bars and called me up for help. The crying was happening because now that they were out of their cribs they were afraid of 'horns', the catch-all imaginary being that is the source of all their fear. Also, I think they were a bit surprised and scared by their successful rebellion. They have been pushing limits all day every day for weeks. In the course of nursing them into a calm place, we figured out that Pequita wanted to sleep in the nursery in her toddler bed. Monito just wanted to sleep where his sister was. So into the nursery we trooped, set up a fan for them and got them settled. Monito was asleep in a couple minutes and Pequita had her final summons for H-Mama at 10: 45 pm. They are still asleep at 11:53 [and why am I not asleep you might ask? Stupidity, pure and simple.] Talk about a milestone! I have no illusions that it can possibly be this simple, but wouldn't it be nice if this stuck? I'll try to get a picture, but mostly I'm afraid of rocking the boat with my flash.

Advanced Computing

After playing on the library computers, and being shown this site Pequita is keenly excited about doing some computer work. Does anyone have a toddler keyboard /mouse and like it or hate it?

Also, anyone have good toddler computer sites to recommend?

Big Girl

Pequita is using the mouse to click and drag a Barney game at the library. She is so proud, and repeating loudly the praise the computer gives at the end of each 'match the vegetable' game, "GOOD JOB, MOMMY! WELL DONE, MOMMY! FUN FUN FUN!".

This is a riot. She is so excited by this new kind of success. We'll have to start looking for home games and a kids keyboard/ mouse for the computer, maybe for her birthday in October. (Hear that, Grandma?)

First Hot Day

We had a really full, nice day. The Volvo was leaking oil so Homestead Mama took it down to get looked at this morning; the kids refused to be left behind, so she took them along and to a diner for breakfast. I slept in.

At 11am we attended the season opening of the local Children's Garden with some friends. There were festivities and lots of playing in the sandbox, watching the mating frogs trail eggs in the pond, playing in the tiny house made of straw bale construction, and building fairy houses. Pequita really got into this, and ours was rudimentary by my standards, but she insisted it have a bed made of cattail fluff, a picnic table and enough chairs for the fairy and her friends, a little walnut shell of water in case she gets thirsty, and some seeds for food. We built it at the base of a tree so we could do it in the shade, as it was eighty degrees and sunny. It was so much fun - this is definitely something we'll do around our house.

At noon we jumped in the car and headed to the closest Mazda dealer which is an hour away, ensuring the kids would nap on the way. We bought a car today, an 'O9 Mazda 5 micro-minivan crossover. Whatever. Consumer Reports loves it, and it gets great mileage for a car with 3 rows of seats. It is still under warranty, as it has only 6k miles on it; some Mazda manager had it as a job perk. It is superfluous that it is a beautiful red, comes with a spoiler, moon roof and - Homestead Mama's favorite thing - custom carpet mats. What really matters is that *I* will have to be the primary driver, as H-Mama's commute will blast through the warranty in a few short months, whereas my in-town meandering will take a lot long to reach 36k miles. I am going to make waterproof slipcovers for the seats, since they are pale beige it would only be a matter of days until the specific slick layer of toddler goo permanently marred the perfect interior. We'll go and finalize the deal on Tuesday. I have a doctor's appointment a few miles from the dealership anyway that day to start seeing about filling up the other seats of the car. More about that in another post.

We stopped on the way home for Mexican food and the kids were so good that we decided to give them the gift of their first A&W root beer float for dessert. Both H-Mama and I have really wonderful memories of going to A&W as kids, the wooden-handled mugs, the joyful treat of it all. Our kids loved it; you can still sit in your car and order food, but we sat inside at a table. You have to order your food from a phone hanging in your booth, which was the source of much amusement.

It was a super day. Full, sticky, too sunny, really busy, but successful on every front. The kids were asleep quickly, as will we be shortly.

Nutshell

My daughter calls horses 'horse ride' which comes out sounding like 'ho-wide'. Every horse we drive by or bike by is a 'ho-wide!'.

Monito is IN LOVE with the story "I Stink" by the McMullens. We have the dvd and the book. He has his own garbage truck that he got for Christmas and he calls it "I 'tink" and zooms it around the living room while watching his show. I just bought him a nice German-made plastic excavator, and he spends tons of time gathering the carpet fuzz and dust bunnies up in the scoop and transferring them to the garbage truck. I suppose I should let him play with the vacuum more, eh?

Pequita is a big girl now; she tells me so many times a day when she wants to do anything she isn't allowed to do. Primarily I hear it when she wants to do 'gymnastics' which means endangering her life and limb by dangling from the banister or performing acrobatics that would cause a teenager to blanche. She helps me let the dogs in and out, make my coffee, feed the dogs and fish, carry heavy items, and use the computer mouse. She wants to dress and undress herself, put her own diapers on, and bathe herself. Monito, who is physically bigger than
her, is 'a leetle baby'.

When we are outside Monito has developed a habit of running laps around the house, garage, or playground. He gets a wry, slightly naughty smile on his face, tucks his head into his chin and takes off at a steady sprint. Calling after him does no good, he MUST RUN. He stumbles and wipes out all the time but just put himself to rights and keeps going.

Pequita has shifted somehow and become part shepherd dog. If her brother drifts away from me in a public place or if I call him to me at home I hear him screaming and the next thing I know she has bodily dragged him to my side, usually by his overall straps or a hood. It is really funny and I have to stifle the laughter every time. This goes along, I think, with her claiming to be a "Big Girl".

Monito has developed selective hearing. It is as if he is deaf. I can whisper, speak, or yell to him and he doesn't even register my presence. It is most annoying. I have walked over to him and tapped him on the head and he gets a teeny little smile and continues to ignore me. I thought this wouldn't happen for years to come.

Pequita is really embracing the potty training. Part of being a Big Girl. She is keenly excited about peeing in the grass, but despite having been shown how (hey, we live in the country) she is reticent.

Monito can count to 12 and beyond. He can sing a lot of the alphabet song (A, B, C, etc) but still prefers their made up version, A-yayay, I-ayay, O-ayay, etc.

Pequita is terribly afraid of getting left behind and every time she leaves our presence, she pops her head back into view and says, "NO LEAVE!?"

Both kids eat what H-Mama and I eat. Last night we all had a late quick meal of the first fresh corn on the cob and sardines on crackers. They love rice and beans, sticky rice with mango, edamame, most leafy greens, chick peas, Indian food, and anything Mexican. I am grateful each and every day that they eat more than mac & cheese and peanut butter.

Big

After the veterinarian's office weigh-in, I wanted to check out the kids' percentiles. According to my wiggly measurements, Monito, at 22 months, is in the 97th percentiles for height and weight. My little monster. I'm glad we have plans to get a nice organic garden growing in the back yard as well as a few chickens and maybe a goat for milk and cheese, since clearly we won't be able to afford to buy enough food to sustain him through puberty.

I couldn't have foreseen him outgrowing his changing table, but clearly that has happened.

Pequita is in the 95th for weight and is down to the 66th for height. This would mesh with Homestead Mama's height and build, as well as the females in the donors family. Fairly traditional for Mexican indian heritage all around. H-Mama is an athlete; at 5'1" her build is compact, muscular and completely agile. She can do any sport she tries with an ease I - literally - only dream of. Her short stature has gotten in the way a bit, so we both hope for Pequita to at least crest 5'4" or so.



Pequita then came up to me with her measuring tape and wrapped it around my thighs, chanted some numbers and pronounced, "BIG, Mommy!" I said, "I know, little girl, I know." Sigh.

Pequita or Pinocchio?

Me: "Pequita! Who tore the DVD cover from the library's copy of Pippi Longstocking? We have to be gentle with paper!"

My sweet innocent daughter: "Um, Maggie, Mommy." [point point point] [blink blink blink]

And so the fibbing begins.

Baby-free zone

It is official. No more babies here, just toddlers. When we go to the local science museum, they are no longer amused with the blocks, mini-vacuum, or the tame baby water pool. Now, Pequita rushes to the craft table and cuts, glues, and tapes up a storm. Monito watches the big boys and tries to help them make dams in the big water tank, clambering up to perch on the slippery lip of the tank that is 2' off the ground so he can compete for floating toys. They are both wearing size 3 and 4 clothes. Wherever did my babies go?

Pequita Growing Up

Oh me oh my, my daughter brings joy to my life. She is in a very 'big sister' phase in which she loves to help and teach and take care of others. During her brothers recent flu, she was happily on call. She was willing to drop her activity instantly when I called her to help. (So much of a sick toddler is managing vomit spread, so someone needs to hold the puke-covered kid still and comfort them while another brings cleaning supplies.) She gladly grabbed towels and trotted them over to me, or brought her crying brother a toy or cup of water when he cried and crooned 'Buuuubbuuuuh' to him while touching his cheek. Saturday night at around 11 pm H-Mama was downstairs putting our pukey sheets in the laundry and I had to fetch clean jammies for Monito. Pequita was awake with all the hubbub, and we pulled her out of her crib and asked her to sing to her brother and comfort him for a couple minutes. She lay down alongside him, held his hand and sang her favorite song to him, the ABCs. Her version goes like this: O-ayayay, I-ayayay, A-ayayay, I. U-ayayay, O-ayayay, (etc). Monito quieted right down and lay still with her while we cleaned up. I am ever grateful that we have two kids when I see them like this.



Her favorite ASL sign right now is 'I love you', taught to her by Auntie Kiko. It really illustrates this stage for her, which is so filled with love and affection.