babaloo!

The RGs were prayed for and kissed goodnight at 7:30pm. As soon as their door closed, the slumber party began. It's this way every evening.

Tonight, the pillow talk morphed into a pretend birthday party. Em sang the birthday song to Roo, Roo sang to Em. They gave each other cake, blew out candles, offered ice cream and pizza to one another.

Then, the silliness amped up. Games of catch and release with their Nannie Blankets. Lots of giggling. Giggling led to shrieking which segued into screaming.

J and I put on our parent pants and broke up the party.

Upon closing the door, I heard them whisper, "goodnight Em" "goodnight Roo".

Immediately that was followed (in regular voice, not a whisper) by, "Do you want to sing?" "Sure!"

An hour later, they're still going. J's been back in twice to restore order and tuck them back in. I just heard someone sing the alphabet song and then scream "Babaloo!!" It's 9:43pm.

J's going back in now.

bumpy tummy

Roo woke up moaning in the wee hours of the morning. She wanted her music turned back on. On my second trip, she asked for some water. My third trip was met with the smell of vomit. Roo said she'd "spilled" and "needed a napkin". I wonder why she didn't tell me about her tummy ache? Usually, she's quick to let me know that her tummy is "bumpy". I wonder why I didn't clue in with the moaning and the requests for water and all?

Those things, especially, in the middle of the night, are unlike her.

Her Nannie Blanket bore the mark of the initial 'spill' and did its time in the wash. Roo was content to sleep with her Sesame Street dolls, thankfully. So, J and I spent a fitful night sandwiched between Roo, Elmo, Grover, Ernie and Cookie Monster. In between sleeps, we spent the rest of the night racing to the bathroom.

This is the third go around on the tummy bug for Roo since Christmas. She's a pro now.

Roo sits on the step stool in front of the potty, grips the porcelain rim, waits for the big tummy bump and hits her mark each time. We clean her face, swish some water and stumble back to the bed together. She immediately passes out from exhaustion, maybe sleeps an hour and then moans awake. That's my cue. "Is your tummy bumpy?" "Yes. No. Yes!" And off we go again.

Roo's mending. She made a lot of quick potty trips this morning, giant children's edition of All Creatures Great and Small in one hand.

(My girl likes to read. If she's to be stuck on the potty, might as well be entertained.)

The book is approximately 1/3 of her height. It's pretty comical.

If she keeps gravitating towards large compendium-type literature, we may have to get her a Kindle. By the way, if you're ever hanging around here and you hear Roo ask where her James Herriot book is... that means she needs some quality time in the bathroom.

So, all this to say, we are sick, tired, recovering and still finding the humor in daily life.

chicken littles

We love us some hats here at the Rowdy House. Daddy wears a ball cap nearly every day. The dress up trunk is packed full of every style imaginable. The dresser drawers have a decent selection of publicly acceptable head wear, too. Hats are tres chic.

Tonight, I rediscovered a long forgotton sun hat purchased for one of those loungy beach vacays we used to take. Much to Em's and Roo's amusement, I wore it during their bath time. As soon as they were out of the tub, they ran for the (current) favorite hats, cute pink crocheted newsboy caps. Then, they assigned J a felt fedora with a kind of oom-papa vibe.

So, there we were. Wearing our hats and prepping for bed.

The hats served as a gateway to imagination land. Somewhere along the line, little girls in hats morphed into baby chicks. Clucking and peeping chicks running about their room, flapping their arms wings. Naturally, J and I broke out in song. Well, sort of. We hummed the Chicken Dance.

You've not seen anything cuter than Em and Roo dancing the Chicken Dance in their nighties and pink caps. Most especially the finale with the booty wiggle.

Roo told me, on my way out the door, 'goodnight chicken mama'.

Goodnight chicken littles.

bluebonnets: then and now

it's a day to celebrate!

Happy Easter from the Rowdy Girl Family!

my soccer

Em had an opportunity to take a soccer skills class over spring break. She was so excited about 'my soccer'.

It kicked off with a special trip to purchase cleats, shin guards, shorts and tall socks.

The morning of the first class saw a super excited little girl off to soccer camp with her daddy.

Even though she was a little shy around Coach Dan and not too thrilled to be sharing her special pink soccer ball, Em was still pumped to go back the next day.

By the end of the week, Em learned the basics in: dribbling, single and double touches, shooting and some basic ball agility.

She was also feeling a bit more in control and felt free to shush the people around her.

Em will have a chance to participate in the summer league through our local YMCA this summer and Roo says she'd like to play, too. I'm sure we're in for a crazy rowdy ride!

egg hunters

What a fun week Em and Roo have had!

We kicked it off with our super cool playgroup's annual Easter egg hunt. The weather was perfect. The kids had a blast and Em and Roo ate their body weight in candy. (The next day and a half was a little rough, but the candy hangover is gone now.)

Pre-hunt, with an empty basket.

The starting line-up before seven sets of multiples and our singleton friends hit the egg-hunting fields.

Roo with her loot.

Today, the girls enjoyed round 2 at preschool. The eggs for school are candy-free, so Roo was not nearly so excited about her finds. She.Loves.Candy. Em, however, netted a couple of bouncy balls, a hopping frog and all the stickers that she could fit on her knees.

Very successful hunting trip.

Look at those cute baskets they made in class. They were so proud.