Lucy Claire 4 months

"And I feel fine anytime that she's around me now
And she's around me now, almost all the time
And if I'm well, you can tell
that she's been with me now
And she's been with me now
Quite a long, long time
Yes and I feel fine"
James Taylor, "Something in the Way She Moves'

"Dude, it's 12 degrees outside, let's talk about getting some clothes up in here."

In an effort not to go too long without a new post, here are some completely non-noteworthy events from a week in the R household:

I haven't been sleeping well. I've been trying not to eat for 2 hours before I go to bed and I really think it is affecting my sleep. I've been having the most bizarre, vivid dreams lately. Some are nightmares and then I wake up and can't get back to sleep. Or sometimes they feel so real that I feel like I was never asleep at all. I'm going to try to cut out caffeine and definitely start working on getting Lucy to sleep in her bassinet so that I can get a decent night's sleep.

Hayley has a daily math facts test. They have a page of basic addition problems, in sums up to a certain number, and they have one minute to complete them. She was incredibly frustrated because for the past month she's been stuck on 6's. Yesterday she got it! We celebrated by ordering in a pizza from our new favorite pizza place and she was so proud. Midway through her second slice of sausage, she looks up at me and said in the most defeated voice ever: "Tomorrow it will be the 7's". Victory was sweet, if short-lived.

I had my parent teacher conference with Ace's teacher today and she had nothing but good stuff to say about Ace. She said he is a happy, social, active boy and she loves his morning hugs. Next year I'm thinking of enrolling him for the 4 day program if it isn't too expensive, his teacher seems to think he is ready for more school days and I think it would be a good preparation for kindergarten.

I bought Julia a pack of pull ups this morning and since putting on a pair about 2 hours ago, she has run into the wall 4 times. She gets so preoccupied looking at the picture on her new diapers that she forgets to look where she's going. Who knew toddler underwear could be such a hazard?

Ace finally caught the elusive roll over on camera so now I can say with confidence that Lucy can indeed roll over. Watch out world, she's ready for anything now!

Lucy can roll over. I'm 90% sure. The reason I can't say this with complete certainty is that she is a ninja rollover-er. She will be happily playing on her back on her playmat for a long time and then, in the 5 seconds I get up to refill my glass or leave the room for a second, she turns over. No one has ever witnessed the actual event. Except Ace, who says he's seen it. But Ace also thinks he's seen Big Bird using our potty so he can't be trusted. For the past few days we've even been taking shifts whenever she is down on the floor to make sure we catch her in the act but she's a sneaky one. She will spit up or poop and wait till we are getting her diaper and then flip. One of these days we'll catch it!

Another Ace Moment

We are having a nice visit with Grandma and Grandpa, Lucy is chilling on Grandma's lap, Julia and Grandpa are reading Hide and Seek Elmo for the 520,995th time, and Ace and Hayley are watching a movie. Ace stands up and announces to the entire room:
"I need to go to the bafwoom. I'm going to poop. I think a lot of poop. Then, I will need to take a bath."

Thank you Ace, thank you so very much.

Bedtime routines

I'm trying to unlock the secret to getting Ace in bed, on time, in his OWN bed. I have yet to figure it out. Sometimes bribes do the trick but he always wants the most obscure things, it is rare that I stumble on the magic item that will convince him to lay down in his bed. The other day I gave him a new flashlight and he was asleep in seconds. But when I offered him the exact same flashlight the next night, he said that was only for when the exterminator came to the house and he would prefer if I let him take a bag of crescent rolls to bed with him. I considered letting him until he asked to also take an unopened package of hot dogs and I saw how quickly this bargaining could get out of hand. Tonight, he had a busy but not overwhelming day, a visit from Grandma and Grandpa, a yummy dinner and treat, and a peaceful winding down period before bedtime. Still, at 7:15 he refused to go to his bed and is now in my room, doing who knows what. Hold on, I'll check.....

Heavens to Betsy, the boy is asleep! Whoot! I fully expected to find him cross dressing and disassembling my furniture. And it's only 7:54. Uh oh, I can't remember if he has on a pull up. I think I may go scooch him to Andy's side of the bed. Just in case.

Just for the record, Julia now won't let me turn off the light until the following are present and accounted for in her crib: 2 (yes, 2) mini Elmo stuffed toys, one talking Elmo, 2 Elmo books, 1 sippy cup of water, and socks (besides the ones on her feet). I once went to check on her in the middle of the night and found her curled up at the foot of the bed with each Elmo meticulously tucked in under the covers on the pillow. The larger Elmo was wearing socks.

Julia's second birthday

Julia's second birthday was so much fun, for all of us (including Lucy, who slept through a great portion of it). I started off the day by not starting off the day. Instead, I stayed in bed staring at Lucy and kissing her toes while the four big kids (Andy included) watched Spongebob and fell back to sleep. Then we had pancakes for lunch, since we all slept through breakfast. After the kids became one big syrupy mess, I threw them all in the tub with a half bottle of body wash/shampoo while I got dressed and dried my hair. It took us almost a full 2 hours to get everyone clean and dressed in their birthday finery (but it was worth it, look how cute they all looked), and we headed off to Grandma and Grandpa's for presents, cornish hens (how many 2 year olds do you know that get to eat a half a hen for birthday dinner? Not many I bet!), cake, and Wall-E as the featured entertainment. Julia loved every minute because she knew that all the hoopla was all about her (Ace, on the other hand, was counting down the minutes till the day was over because he had been told that he was not allowed to even think about his birthday until Julia's was over because it was HER day). It was a very special birthday, for a very special girl. We love our Jujubean, we always will.