Anna's Owl

I went to pick Anna up at preschool on Monday and her teacher pulled me aside as soon as I walked in the door. Of course, my first instinct was, "Crap! Did she do something?", but of course that was unfair to Anna's place of supreme honor in her teacher's heart.

"You have to see something! Anna, go get it, where did you put it! Go get it! Oh, Megan, you won't believe this, the other teacher's and I just about cracked when we saw it."

Then Anna came running up, a coloring page in her hand. Turns out, they had been going over the letter 'O' that day. The assignment was to draw an owl in the designated spot. Shannon, Anna's teacher, had not yet put out a picture of an owl for them to reference. All the other kids scribbled different versions of smiley faces with legs when she noticed Anna hunched over in concentration at her seat. This is what she drew:

Clearly, she is destined to be the next Monet, Rembrandt and Lisa (my talented friend) wrapped up into one. Plus, how cool that she didn't need a picture to copy? Kurt and I have begun to use it as a truism for life.

"If Anna can draw an owl from just her imagination, then we can do XYZ, too." Just goes to show you, there's more to life than scribbles if you give it a little effort.

The Windy City and Uncle Val

Schwartz Roadtrip 2009

Last week we hit the road to drive out to Iowa to visit my brother John. The girls went nuts-- from running through the fields, checking out the ENORMOUS corn spiders and baby pigs to Uncle John "teaching" them the ceramic basics (aka, letting them play with clay in his living room), the farm was the best place they'd ever seen.

So when it came time to stuff ourselves back in the car and turn back to the mountains, we were understandably reluctant. Here's when the wild wind hit us, or more like the wild hair. With the adrenaline rush of a last minute change of plans, we turned the car towards Illinois and spent the rest of the week crashing at a friend's house and visiting my brother Val in Chicago. SO MUCH FUN.

To say we felt free doesn't describe it. Somehow cutting lose, dropping all obligations, deadlines and responsibilities just to do something FUN enervated the whole family in a way nothing else could. We got back yesterday after two days of marathon driving (and a million pit stops along the way, but more on that later) and home felt so nice. I personally am excited to get things back in order, do laundry, tidy up all our travel stuff and get groceries and meals planned for the week. I'm ready to take it all back up and that's saying a lot. I'm certain the laundry fervor will wear off in approximately 12 minutes, but in general real life just seems a lot nicer than in did 10 days ago.

As much as I feared our first family road trip and the potential for disaster, I am happy to say we'll be making this an annual event.

Uncle John's Farm

Uncle John's Farm. Uncle John's corn, house, field, clay, pigs and windchimes. Uncle John's school. As far as the girls are concerned, everything about Scattergood Friends School is all thanks to Uncle John. And for that... we send him our heartfelt and loving thanks.

"No TV? Are you kidding me, Mom?"

Selective amnesia and a reluctant experiment

I've been going back over all the old entries from when Anna was Silvia's age, looking both for references to potty training and terrible two's. Guess what? Anna potty-trained with nary a hitch from about 2 and half. By the time she was 3 it was an afterthought.

I'm looking forward to the afterthought part, but I have to admit that Silvia is doing really, really well. She's still having accidents, but it's been about two months now and the dry and clean days are totally outnumbering the drippy days. We can go out, run errands, see friends and generally live our lives. I carry a bag with a travel potty seat and a change of clothes everywhere, but I've only had to use the clean clothes a handful of times.

As for Terrible Two's, well. Silvia has it bad. The other night, Kurt and I talked about how she is SO much whinier than Anna was at this age, SO much more infuriating. But then I thought, really? Is she really? Or possibly are our memories decaying from child-induced-amnesia? Thus the blog re-hash.

And here's what I found. Anna WAS whiny, super whiny, oh so so so whiny. It drove me crazy, I yelled and had to put myself in time-outs. Then, as I absorbed all this revelation (that I experienced first-hand and have not a shred of memory to show for it), I came across two very interesting posts. Here and here.

As the girls got older and things got busier and hazier and generally just sucked into the vortex of time and space, Anna got back her shows. It only follows that Silvia is right along side her on the couch. When I need to make dinner or fold laundry (which somehow quadrupled in our lives upon Silvia's birth), or let's face it, just get them out of my face for a little bit, they watch TV. It's still not very much, just as with Anna in that first post from back in the day-- maybe 3 half-hour shows a day, tops, with the odd movie or two thrown in after dinner during the week.

I'm sitting here going, "Hmmm...". I know, I remember NOW, what a big difference it made when Anna got cut off from her drug of choice. I know she played more, and danced more and whined and cried LESS. Considering Silvia's behavior right now is almost a complete mirror to how Anna was then (screaming for her shows, telling what she wants to watch as we come down the stairs in the morning, freaking out every time I say no), the solution should be pretty clear.

Oh, but I hesitate. Because no TV helper with a 2-year-old and a baby is not the same as no TV helper with a 2 and almost 5-year-old. They are busy little people and demanding and loud and fill the house with their consciousness alone. As much as I love my kids, I really hate doing crafts and Candyland all day. Shows give me a break from that. I don't want to say that I NEED those breaks, but... maybe possibly I do?

So this experiment begins with a few qualms and disclaimers. I am not taking away Saturday Morning Cartoons. That's coffee time for Kurt and I and we look forward to it all week. I'm also going to leave open a Classical Baby option in the evenings (that's sort of like telling a kid they can have a nice bowl of applesauce instead of the gooey ice cream sundae to which they have become accustomed). Movie nights are fun family time and totally safe from the chopping block.

But the rest, I am sad to say, needs to go. Silvia is driving me wacko with her constant whining, crying and demanding. If there is even the smallest possibility unplugging her will help, I'd be a moron not to give it a try.

Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it. This time it's harder. This time, God help me... I'm going to have to do crafts.

Bikes, Horses and Poop

I'll start with the first last because, as we all know, it's best to get poop out of the way first. Silvia did not want to potty train. Do you hear me? NONONO. I tried, I really did, to get her at least comfortable with the idea, but after about a week she went into rock-solid denial and I was forced to retreat and regroup.

Then suddenly, two days ago she was all, "Hey! I want my panties. I will not wear anything but panties, don't come near me with those diapers or you will live to regret it!". At first I was thrilled. And then the reality of it sunk in-- specifically, into the carpet. She's aware, she knows when something is happening down below but, for the most part, she's not really participating in the whole Big Picture of the thing.

Yesterday we went through 5 pairs of panties, and one had to be thrown away after the aforementioned poop episode. I will not bore you (or traumatize you) with the details. Finally around 3 o'clock she condescended to wear a pull-up and save my aching back from scrubbing floors.

It hasn't totally been a loss, she is having some success and I am releived she's at least ready to start consciously trying, but all this is bringing back the reality that I HATE POTTY TRAINING. I have, quite literally, blocked out the entired process that we went through with Anna. I vaguely remember cleaning off the couch and sitting in the floor reading 7 books to her as she made her efforts, but that's about it. Hopefully, in a few months I will be able to block this period out with equal effiency.

Horses and bikes are much more pleasant to cover, so let's move on. About a month ago, I arrived at the girls' school to find that everyone had brought in their little bikes. Everyone, that is, except my kids who did not have a bike to boast of. After school, Anna told me with a gently wistful tone that, "All the kids rode their bikes down the street and had helmets and it was so fun!", and then... "I walked. I didn't have a bike so Miss Diane held my hand instead."

Oh, the heartache.

We went out that weekend and got them bikes and helmets and the rest is history. The happiness can not be explained but fortunately, I captured it all in pictures. Same goes for horses-- rocking horses. It's all just sisterly cuteness and needs not introduction.

Trip to Beulah with Renee and company

Beautiful

For some reason I can't paste anything into blogger, and since I have no desire to type in the html by hand, I'll just leave you this link and let you go ALL THE WAY OVER to another web page to look at some pictures from the 4th of July weekend. I know, it's a lot of work, but please bear with me during this time of Blogger trial.

As for the holiday weekend, we spent the actual 4th up at a friend's house in Monument to see the fireworks over Palmer Lake. It was nice, but the best part of the evening was watching the kids (all little girls) ran rampant through the house and dress up as fairies and princesses while collapsing into fits of giggles, as little girls are wont to do.

Well, that and the fact that one friend brought a whole container of homemade pineapple vodka. I couldn't drink much, I have no tolerance at all, but what I did have... yum! Now THAT is a holiday.

On the 5th we drove up to Breckenridge, one of our favorite retreats. It's about 2 hours away and the girls are usually pretty happy the whole trip, now that they've been conditioned to fall asleep once we hit the mountain passes. It was raining the whole time we were in the city proper but by the time we headed to Lake Dillon the sun had come out and the girls had a blast peppering the water with big handfuls of gravel. (I am sure all the people fishing loved us.)

Unfortunately, all the lake pictures are on Kurt's camera and I am, once again, having technical difficulties retrieving them. Look for it in a few days.

Breckenridge Pictures Link, redux

Elephant, Piggie and the Pigeon

"Come on, just once around the block! Tell you what, let's play drive the bus! I'll go first..."

The pigeon wants to drive, he really really does. And he tries his best, but Anna and Silvia always shout, at the top of their lungs, "NO! You cannot drive the bus!!"

"Is there still a bird on my head?" asks Elephant. "No", says Piggie. "Now there are two birds. They're in LOVE."

Anna counts the birds, counts the eggs, sympathizes with Elephant and loves the surprise ending (I won't ruin it for you). Silvia, of course, just dances around, putting birds on her head.

The point of this post (aside from shameless hinting that the girls would love the entire Mo Willems collection...), is that Anna is reading. All kids start memorizing familiar books around age two, it's part of the normal language development. These days, though, there is a difference.

She's reading. It's slow, she stumbles, but she's sounding out the words, putting together the sentences, jumping up and down when she figures it out and then moving on to the next page. The Mo Willems books are great because the stories are simple enough for her to read through almost totally on her own, but funny enough for her to want to know what happens next.

Of course, the memorization thing backfires on us, because after she's read through it a few times, she stops reading and starts reciting. That's cute, too, though. She'll settle Silvia down for a pretend nap (they love to play at naps, go figure), and then sit and "read" her a story she's learned.

I know she's at the reading age, now, according to all the Big Important Government Charts. A lot of kids start picking up the trick of it around 4 or 5 years old. I stopped paying attention to the age-appropriate developmental milestones when Anna didn't walk until she was 2. Most kids, whether they start doing something early or late, all end up in approximately the same place by about 5 years old. The cool thing to me isn't whether it's "time" for her to start reading but simply that she is. It's so crazy to see! She sits down, looks at jumbles of letters on a page and then-- magic! It makes sense! It makes her giggle!

Reading has always been a huge part of my life and to see Anna enter that world is leaving me in a whirl. Suddenly I'm filled up with all my favorite books from childhood, reviewing what will make good chapter books to start reading at night, getting all excited to talk about how cool Gone Away Lake is. Of course, she's years off from reading those kind of books, but still... it's starting and I'm so happy for her. Reading is some of the best fun I've had (does that make me boring?) and now she can start knowing that kind of fun, too!

Father's Day

Sunday was filled, absolutely bursting, with gorgeous and poignant Kodak moments. Kurt flying the kite with Anna, helping Silvia on her trike in the street, planting flowers, dancing with them both in the morning, and sitting on the porch in the early evening of a perfect day as the girls danced around. Perfect, perfect moments.

I did not have my camera.

Still, even without photographic evidence, all of our memories are filled up with that excellent day. Kurt's an amazing, engaged and doting father and you know what? The girls know it and delight in it. And so do I.

Happy Father's Day, sweetie. Next year I will take pictures. Promise. For the moment, these memories will have to do... can you guess which baby is Silvia and which is Anna?

Happy Birthday, John!

Today is Uncle John's 35th birthday! The girls, Kurt and I send out lots of love, bro! I hope it reaches you in time for your big day, in the form of scrumtrulescent chocolate cake. *smooch*

Opa's visit and girls finally getting their sunshine

Of course there are more pictures of the family visit-- but they are on someone else's camera. I'll post those when I finagle the download.

Pictures from Sacramento

And then mom cried

Today I finally had to admit defeat in the battle against Anna's hair. Someday she'll be old enough to tame and care for it herself, but right now the snarled and tangled cloud of frizz is just too much to handle. Every morning, afternoon and night we comb it out with water and within 5 minutes it's reverted to barbarian chic. She's been begging to go back to the "Haircut Store" and saying she wanted it short- so today I took her.



She barely noticed the procedure and giggled the whole way home, talking about Kurt's lawn work. I stared in the rear view mirror at her so much I nearly caused a traffic accident and fought back tears. There's just something so difficult about cutting off a little girl's hair! She had none for so long, was bald well past her first birthday, so it seems like we should have treasured every honey-colored curl. But the fact remains that the curls lasted an hour and then the rat nest settled in. Here she is now, a little lady-- with short, SHORT hair. She's both happy and oblivious. I'm struggling. Sigh...

Playdate pictures

Favorite Quotes of the Moment

Anna:

"When I was a baby and my sister tried to hug me, I started to drink."

Silvia:

"I'm just getting my La-La's right now." (she was singing)

Who else loves me?

Conversation last night as I put Silvia to bed:

Me: "I love you, sweetie."

Silvia: "Yeah, you do. Who else loves me?"

Me: "Daddy loves you."

Silvia: "Yeah he does. Who else loves me?"

Me: "Anna loves you."

Silvia: "Yeah, she does. Who else loves me?"

Me: "Uncle John loves you."

*pause*

Silvia: "He has a fuzzy shirt."

Me: "Ummm, okay... probably he does."

Silvia: "He won't gobble me up."

Me: "No, he won't gobble you up. He loves you."

Silvia: "Yeah, he does."

The room goes quiet and then... "Who else loves me?"

Snow, princess and Silvia's first haircut

More photos. Note Kurt's incredible pride- in his snowman! :)

New Family Pictures!

Once again, our friends over at Trystan Photography have made magic. Take a look at our new family pictures, they're awesome! I don't know how Charlotte did it, but she has Silvia smiling in almost everything even though that little angel cried nearly the entire photo shoot.

They've hooked us up with their special Friends and Family rates for a limited time, so if you'd like prints, please order them from the site. Thanks!

Anna's fashion sense and a trip to the zoo

You'd never know from the smiles that the girls were not exactly on their best behavior at the zoo. Oh, well. The photo makes the memory, right? As far as the future is concerned, the trip was all smiles.

Don't you love Anna's choice of pattern and color combination in the first pictures? My world has never been so vibrant since she started dressing herself.

Choking Scare

Oh, man. That so sucked. I don't think I've been that scared for my child since Anna nearly threw herself down some concrete stairs.

Last night we took the girls out for pizza at a local joint. They love it there, Silvia especially because they have awesome corn chips that she always dips in their homemade ranch dressing. She usually ends up happily covered head to toe in dressing and eats about two bites of pizza.

Last night, I had looked away to talk to Kurt a bit. When I glanced back at her, she was arched back, sliding off her chair, mouth wide open. She wasn't making any noise and look terrified. I freaked, pulling her onto my lap and pounding on her back. Nothing. Kurt grabbed her from me as the people sitting nearby started to call out, flipped her over upside down and beat her back as hard as he could. She finally coughed and started screaming. I've never been so happy to hear that cry in my life.

It took her quite a while to calm down (me, too!). She threw up a little bit, getting the stuck chip fully out of her throat. After that, she happily wandered about and then went to play, all giggles, in the kids area at the back of the restaurant.

The whole thing probably lasted less than a minute, but my skin is still crawling.

No more corn chips.

Sleepover

She thinks she's ready, but I don't know if I am.

Anna wants to have a sleepover. In a big, big, BIG way. She's got it all arranged in her head: there will be sleeping bags and PJ's and then in the morning there will be breakfast. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. We had dinner with friends this weekend and their daughter, Ella, and Anna hatched this plan. Since Sunday night, I have been inundated with requests to know when Ella would be coming over and when Anna would be going to Ella's and WHEN IS MY SLEEPOVER, MOM!?

I tried to explain to her on Monday that this wasn't something we'd be able to just throw together and that we'd have to set it all up with Ella's parents. Anna's response was, "Ok, you can Charlotte today and we can have our sleepover after school." You can probably imagine the dissappointed hysterics when I gently informed her that this wasn't the case.

Probably she'll be fine over with Ella and probably Ella will be fine over here. I don't anticipate any troubles with the girls. I am more hesitant only for nostalgia's sake. Is it possible that Anna's old enough for sleepovers? Hard to imagine that so much time has passed since she was miserable anywhere but in my arms.

Remember? (Photo -and sleepover Ella, strangely enough- courtesy of Trystan Photography)

Emotional Attachment

Since Anna's been rather messily sick this week, we gave her this blue barf bag to keep nearby in case the mood should strike again. In a bizarre twist, she has become COMPLETELY dependant on the bag. She's been walking around with it, like in the picture, held to her face at all times. Every time I've tried to get her to set it down, you know, to maybe take a drink or something, she has hysterics and NEEDS HER BARF BAG BACK RIGHT THIS MINUTE OR ALL HELL WILL BREAK LOOSE.

Last night I spent many long hours gently pulling the suffocation device away from her face as she cradled it in her sleep. Tonight, Kurt thought he'd solved the problem by simply snipping off the bottom of the bag. Sure, it wouldn't really serve its mess-prevention purpose, but it made her feel better to have it and now she could breathe at night, too. Perfect, right? No.

DADDY BROKE HER BAG. She finally calmed herself down by fiercely clutching the cut portion closed in her hand, while at the same time still holding the ring firmly to her face. She hasn't actually thrown up in almost a whole day now, but I'm not sure we'll ever get the bag away from her. It's a shame, really. She has such a nice smile, I'll miss seeing it.

There's not too much new going on around here, lately, but that's the nature of staying home with preschoolers. Every day is a little adventure in unique repetition. This week has been a little bit novel in that both girls, and I, were really sick. They'd seem ok during the day and then, with blissful oblivion to their parents despair, stay up all night, in need of new diapers, new jammies and fresh hugs.

We seem to be through the worst of it, though I'll probably have to keep them out of school tomorrow, too, just for good measure. As for school, they're both doing really well. Silvia speaks about as well as your average three-year-old. Precocious, isn't she? Just like another little girl I know. Anna, too, is ahead of the game. She's started reading vocabulary words, which just impresses the heck out of me. She sounds them out, gives it a moment of thought, and then jumps to the next step of putting the sounds together into an actual word. It's not just "cat" or "dog", either. Last night she put together "computer". She's also picking up on the short and long vowel sounds and how different letters make different sounds when you put them together, like "oo" and "th" and "sh". Pretty soon I'll have her on Gone Away Lake, just about my favorite book from my childhood (and still, for that matter).

Kurt and I have been riding a wave of exhaustion since we got back from his birthday ski trip to Park City, Utah. We had a blast, though I decided once and for all that skiing is NOT for me. Kurt made the most of the slopes, though, but upon our return he has been in the office for long hours and weekends, trying to catch up. Hopefully we'll get some relief this weekend, from work, repetitive stay-at-home days, and sick kids.

Sorry it's only a few mismatched pictures, I'll try and remember to grab my camera more often. (Ha! good luck with that, Megan!)

Cake and cuteness

Two? She's two? When did that happen?

Happy birthday, my no-longer-baby. She's walking all about with a grin and singing, "Happy birthday to Cici, happy birthdaaaaay!". Anna is just about as excited as she is, too. We're having a little dinner party with cake tonight. Some of our friends who saw us through Anna's babyhood, my pregnancy and all the wackiness since Silvia was born are coming with their kids to celebrate. I anticipate much running and screaming, it should be a blast. Best of all, Kurt is making his famous deep-dish pizza, yum!


Looking forward to old friends, balloons and party hats, but mostly to the grown-up smile on my girl's face at the sight of her cake. She's been practicing blowing out her candles. Hope no one minds a little spray on the frosting, though, heheee.



It's a little sad to put her baby years behind her, but it's been so exciting seeing her learn so much and get so cheeky and funny. Here's to all the years to come!

A few of my favorite words

As the girls grow, they start to drop their funny little expressions and personalized pronunciations. I know it's important to encourage the correct words and tenses and what not, but there are just some things too cute to hurry out of their vocabulary. A few of my favorites, for posterity's sake.

Anna:
"I'm so exciting to go! I'm so EXCITING!". This was Anna's until just a few months ago, and now she corrects me when I try and encourage her to say it anymore.

Jamammies instead of pajamas.

"That's disgusty!". She's particularly fond of this one right now, especially when referring to Silvia's drool phenomenon.

"What's all the drama going on, Mama!". I think she picked this up at school and she says it constantly- on the potty, in the middle of dinner, at bedtime, etc. This makes me wonder, of course, what is all the drama going on?

"That's MIND!". Sadly, this passed into history about a year ago, but it still makes me laugh. Everything on God's green earth was "MIND!".

Silvia:
Dimosaur. She loves her dimosaurs. Anna keeps correcting her on this, but I'm trying to be as bad an influence as I can to keep it around.

"What's wrong with your face?". She hasn't been doing this lately, but for a long time she'd reach up at you during her diaper change and say it, looking all concerned. Very, ummm... sweet.

"ABC... twinkle star... rock-a-baby... lullaby... ABC". When we'd put Silvia to sleep, up until just a few months ago, she'd request all her favorite songs while we rocked. She'd request them so quickly, in fact, that we'd get the first two or three syllables in on one song and then she'd be asking for the next.

"Mama, make love!". I didn't even think about this one when she first said it, I just drew her a heart. Eventually the double-meaning sunk in, too.

I'm drawing a blank now on a lot of little quirky turns of phrase, but there are lots more. I love that they are so articulate and well-spoken, but I still miss the cute baby talk as it fades away. Proof that they're growing up... think I'll miss the last diaper, too?

Princesses

I fought it, I railed against it, I bemoaned the stereotyping and ubiquitous copyrighted characters... but the princesses won.

Disney princesses live in my house. They are in every room. The costumes are strewn across my floors, the books fill our baskets. Cinderella has taken up permanent residence in our DVD player. Every coloring book, sticker and pretend play scenario is princess-centric. We thought at first we'd lucked out with Silvia, who seemed to lean towards tomboy and would never let Anna put crowns on her head, but that's all changed.

"Mama? Cinderella's crying!", is one of the constant phrases I hear all day, those blue eyes shining in shared distress, regardless of if we've watched the movie that day or a week ago.

"Mama! Cinderella fairy gaa-mother! She go to the ball!" And then, of course, then it starts.

"I wanna be a blue princess!" And then, 10 seconds after I arrange the dress on her small frame, "I wanna be a pink princess!"

Anna, ever helpful, goads her on. "Silvia, don't you want to be Sleeping Beauty now? Then I can be Cinderella and we can dance!"

It's all very cute except for two things. One, Silvia cannot get into the dresses on her own and two, they are too long for her to walk in, so she invariably gets caught up, tangled in a princess pile on the floor having a princess tantrum.

Royalty is a heavy burden to bear.