conversating

Bedtime conversations took a random turn tonight.

Roo's been curious about people's names and has been asking a lot of questions.

"What's Marmee's name? What's Mammaw's name?"

Roo's very clear on our immediate family's last name and that it ties us together. She assigns it to both of the dogs, as well. She, now, picks up on the same-last-name patterns from my side of the family and J's. She likes hearing the middle names and I'll also tack on maiden names to help her make sense of the connections. In addition, she's figuring out boys and girls and how to use 'he' and 'she' and 'him' and 'her'.

But, somewhere along the verbal path, things got all confused.

She named a cousin and stated that he was a girl. And just couldn't even be convinced otherwise.

Next, she went back through the family tree and added my maiden name to everyone else's names and wrapped it all up by explaining they all lived in Africa now.

Meanwhile, Em was prancing about, naked as a jay bird, but for a Nannie Blanket cape, monologuing. "I not kiss a frog! Ewwwwww! Blech!" Then, she told me she was a fancy lady and proceded to rip off the blanket and hollar, "TaDa!"

Things just keep getting stranger around here.

parenting takes courage

Parenting takes courage. Not all of us have to face that...many of us have kids who do pretty well with the combo of our built-in value systems and the culture we live in. But for those who don't, parenting them requires incredible fortitude.

-Asha D.

http://www.parenthacks.com

This comment spoke loudly to me. No wonder J and I feel so exhausted at the end of each day. Incredible fortitude takes a lot of energy! We don't have an ordinary experience in parenting. Ours is extraordinary. And I'd not trade it for anything in all the world. But, it's nice, every once in a while, to have it validated. Nicer still to know, in our heart of hearts, that extraordinary will triumph.

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see," (Hebrews 11:1)

the action setting is paying off

I grow more thankful each day for the action setting on my camera.

The RGs never stop moving.

My photography strategy these days is to first make sure the camera is on the sports setting, point the camera at the girls, hold down the shutter and sift through the hundreds of photos on the other side.

This entire series of photos took place in approximately 10 seconds.

overheard

Em: close your eyes, Roo, nighty night.

Roo: ok, night night.

Roo: I'm awake!

Em: I'm awake! High five!

*silly giggles ensue*

*15 minutes of playing with dolls, blankets, tiny treasures and books*

*5 minutes of "I'm gonna gitchas" and "tickle my eyes/nose/mouth/hands" games*

Em: night night Roo

Roo: *rolls over and puts blanket on her head*

ravers

Bath time is a splash zone. Left to their own play devices, the RG's end goal seems to be to move all of the water to the other side of the tub.

I think that's just what happens when you have 2 or more preschoolers in a body of water.

It's annoying.

So, I try to mix it up and constantly introduce something new to guide the play time in the water to keep it, well, drier.

Behold the flashlight!

The lights went off, the flashlight came on and we made shadow puppets for a good half hour. The most hilarious part was how tickled the girls got over the shadow animals chasing or kissing their own people-shadows on the wall. We played shadow duck-duck-goose. Roo went literal with it and just put the rubber ducky on her head.

For the finale, we hung Roo's new light-up squishy ball from the shower rod, turned on some techno music and had a little rave. Em's got total night-at-the-roxbury moves!

nursery fairy

Dear Ruby,

I'm sorry I got all choked up and cry-ey tonight at bedtime. It started out ok, you and I making small talk while I tucked you in. Em and Daddy were having a chat, so we just kept on conversing, ourselves. You asked about the illustrations on your walls. It's the first time you've really taken an interest in the pictures. I guess, because they've just been there as long as you've existed, there's been nothing to question. At any rate, the pictures in the frames are some of my favorite pages from The Velveteen Rabbit. Which is one of my favorite stories. I've read it a thousand times and still can't complete it without tears. The good kind, though.

So, there I was, telling you about those pictures, pointing out the nursery fairy, the rabbit and the boy.

Reminding you that many of the pictures of the boy and the bunny look much like the scene in your own bed... precious dolls tucked into tunnels made of blankets.

Then, I told you that I'd always planned to put those pictures on the walls of my baby's nursery. That the day I found out I was having two babies I bought an extra copy of the book to use for decorating. I told you about picking out the pretty green wall paint called forest light and how Daddy did all the painting and building of shelves in your room.

And, then, those big fat tears started rolling down my cheeks....

When I got to the part about putting together the framed illustations.

Roo, I've had that copy of The Velveteen Rabbit a long time. Maybe 12 years. That's how long I've been waiting to put those pictures on my baby's wall, decorating a nursery to match. I suppose that those pictures conjure up a touch of wistful and a bit of sad, longing, hope along with the mountains of happy. So, that's why I started crying tonight.

You sure were sweet about it. You smiled at me, touched my face and patiently asked another question. Then, you said you loved me and gave me a goodnight kiss. I sort of felt like you were tucking me in tonight. You're going to be a good mama someday. Maybe you'll even use one or two of the bunny pictures in your baby's room.

love,

Mama

they cheese on command now!

Every Friday we make a point to visit the library. Our favorite librarian leads storytime for the toddler set. To be honest, we're crashing it at this point. The girls are more than eligible for regular storytime. But, Ms. Teresa does such a great job with the readings and the songs and the puppet shows, why leave?!

When storytime finishes up, the girls rush to Ms. Teresa for a stamp on their hand and then boogie to the children's section for some indoor play time and more stories of their own selection.

Eventually, that wears thin, so we head outside. To ring the bell, climb about, and run around like a loon. It's all good. Especially now that they cheese on command.

if only they would both look at me while saying 'cheese'

or stop moving and talking long enough for that 'cheese' to show up on film