Super Spy

Lilly has been insisting over the past couple of weeks that we call her Super Spy. That is, when she or I remember. Mostly we both forget but on occasion she will quiz me with the question, "Mom, what's my name?" I usually remember at that point and call her by her new name until we both forget again. Rachel's new preferred name is Jakeson. I don't know why.

I had my first eye doctor appointment in close to two years on Wednesday. Rachel and Lilly were with me and helped me pick out my glasses when we were done. They both picked out a pair of round glasses with pink frames, definitely designed for someone twice my age. To humor them, I tried them on just long enough to pretend to consider them. Then I told the girls they just were not my style. Rachel was deeply offended at having her opinion brushed aside, and both girls were mortified that I wanted to get the plain black frames. I swear I almost got the pink ones just to validate their opinion but I just could not do it. Finally we compromised on a pair similar to the simple black frames I liked, only these were purple. For these I got both Rachel and Lilly's approval. After all what did I have daughters for if not to tell me what is cool.

After the eye appointment, Rachel had karate. Up to this point the three of us had been getting along famously, but on the car ride home everything came to a head. The girls were hungry and tired, and I was otherwise engaged in a phone call with Felicia and in no position to offer support. So of course they turned on each other. I heard the fighting and looked into my rear view mirror just in time to see Rachel karate kick Lilly. I had a flash of parenting genius and told them that since they could not get along, the next day they would spend the whole day together practicing. In other words they were grounded. Here is the thing about being grounded that in my moment of genius I forgot. When the kids have to spend all day together in the house "learning" how to get along, I have to be in the house with them. It is a sort of punishment for us all. Let's just say everyone went to bed nice and early last night.

I cannot believe how big my baby boy is getting. Every time I turn around he looks a year older. Part of this is his new found sense of independence. With the independence I always have to remind myself to take a step back. Two days ago Carson insisted on wearing a pair of pajamas as clothes. After he peed in them and changed into regular clothes, he insisted on wearing the regular clothes, backwards collar shirt and all, to bed that night. I drew the line the next day when he wanted to put the same clothes back on after his bath. Another difficulty is the issue of backwards clothes. You would think he has a 50/50 chance of getting his pants, shirt, and/or shoes on the right way. However he seems to get all three on backwards or wrong feet three out of five times. I try not to correct yet. It is impressive enough that he is doing it by himself at this stage. We will approach details later.

Emilia has completely lost interest in nursing and bottles. Because of her history I was nervous about this until it was suggested to me that she does not want to nurse because of all the many other interesting things there are to see and do. This instantly rang true to me. She is constantly looking around and observing. Eating probably really does interfere. Shelby and I took a trip to Salt Lake for his cousin's wedding. We left the other kids home, but took Emilia with us. Emilia does not love car rides, as was evident by her fussiness on the way to and from SLC. She also does not love sleeping on vacation. Maybe it was the excitement of the next days activities that got her all riled up, or just sleeping in a new place, but she was up and ready to go by 5:30 the next morning. You would think this meant she would sleep great on the ride home, but she did not. She was one tired, fussy little baby. Despite this, she was delightful while we were there.

The potty training continues. Carson has been pretty good but I still mostly need to remind him to go. He still poops in his pants pretty much every time. Once he tried desperately to convince me that it was mud in his pants, but I know poop when I see it! The potty training aside, Carson is delightful. He is getting better at talking all the time, and the whole potty training has given him a new sense of Independence. His favorite thing to say is "No, me do it!" I love-hate this phase that all of my children have gone through. Independence for my children means Independence for me eventually. But as of right now, there are some things he wants to do himself that he truly cannot. For these things I have to take a step back and let him try, even though I want desperately to jump in and help. Then there are those things he can do himself but sometimes we are in a hurry. It often creates a little fight between us.

My favorite thing about Rachel is her unique view on the world. Her latest philosophical question posed to me was why did Heavenly Father send us to Earth? I asked her what she thought the reason was and she more or less suggested he sent us here so he could have some peace and quiet up in Heaven. I am sure I am responsible for this idea since I frequently send my kids downstairs to play so I can have some peace of my own.

So spring is here, and with the weather being warmer, my kids have been spending more time outside. For Lilly this means that worm-hunting season has begun. Now she has a partner, our neighbor Elizabeth. The two of them spend hours in my garden collecting and playing with worms. They are not malicious, but I am a little worried`about my own worm supply for the sake of my garden.

Tuesday was my house cleaning day. It was a nasty, cold, snowy day. Rachel did not have school so we spent all day in the house together. I have been trying to limit the amount of TV the kids watch, and because of this we REALLY spent a lot of time together. It was wonderful. Everyone was happy, and because I had nothing else going on, the house-cleaning was not as rushed and urgent as usual. At the end of the day, we were all a little stir crazy so we went to McDonald's in our jammies for ice cream. It was an absolutely perfect day. I have great kids!
 

My First Miracle

I took the girls to get a burger on Monday. Rachel was thrilled because they accidentally gave her an extra piece of cheese. She asked me if I told them to give her extra cheese. I said "No. They must have made a mistake." Rachel exclaimed "Yay! This is my first miracle!" Lilly usually orders her burger sans the burger, and add extra cheese. So her "burger" consists of a bun, two pieces of cheese, and ketchup. This time she asked for pickles and got them. She said "Mine has pickles, that's a miracle too!"
We went to the park that same day, and guess who showed up? Poopy Dangle and Derek! For those of you who do not know, or do not remember, Poopy Dangle was Rachel's first imaginary friend. A few months later she added Derek. When Lilly was old enough she also adopted these two fellows as her friends. Both have been MIA for a good year or more. Not much has changed with the boys except Poopy Dangle is now eight-years-old instead of ten.

Lilly has a huge vocabulary, but often does not use her big words correctly. She told me that she did not like her toys because they were insisting her. I quizzed her on the meaning of the word "insisting". She did not have a clue. I think using big words is her attempt to be a little more grown up. The trouble is, not all of her words are entirely appropriate. I told her Emilia keeps spilling Cheerios on the floor and she said "That damn Emilia!" She told me she made the word up.

We are potty training Carson. This has got to be hands down my least favorite parenting job to date. Even so, things have gone relatively well. He has been running around in nothing but underwear, and we transport the toddler toilet from room to room for him. He pretty well makes it to the toilet every time. Pooping is a whole different story. He has yet to even attempt to make it to the toilet for bowel movements. We are of course using a lot of bribery to get him to use the toilet for either one. On Sunday I told him if he peed in the toilet I would give him a star for his chart. He said "OK...and candy...and popcorn...and a toy...and juice!" I of course agreed to all of his demands.

So one month ago I had the sweetest, easiest, most laid back baby in the whole world. What a difference a month makes. As we speak Emila is strapped to my chest while I type, because all of the sudden she wants to be held all the time. This is a demand I do not have time for. The crying bothers the other kids, but all of their attention does no good. She wants to be held by ME! She will soon learn that constant holding by mom is for only children, not for a family of six.