amazing, truly amazing

this morning i've been thinking about how much change we go through and that i've started to become immune to this sort of thing. not to changing, but to seeing this. Vivienne will always be Vivienne. Beatrice will always be Beatrice. and Phoebe will always be Phoebe. But you aren't the same. you add a new little thing every day that is so you that you don't seem different at all. yet i can't remember the how long it has been since Beatrice has been writing her name with large and small letters and i don't recall how long Vivienne's drawings have been telling a real story and well Phoebe has ideas that are all her own and quite thoughtful. Like the other day, Will and Phoebe were in the cellar and Phoebe turned out the lights. she turns to Will and says, "it's okay, i have big eyes, i can see in the dark." HYSTERICAL. where does she get these ideas? i wouldn't have been able to keep a straight face. don't imagine that Will did.

it's been a busy year. Vivienne lost her front tooth at Christmas and then right after the New Year, she lost a bottom one. Her second front tooth is so loose it looks as if it's coming straight out of her mouth. she has such a crazy looking grill, just like a urchin child. she will look so different, i think, when all her baby teeth are replaced. she already is catching up to me in height and seeming so grown up/ big girl.

the girls had a great christmas. santa party was a big hit. even made the local paper's blog.

http://7d.blogs.com/stuckinvt/2010/12/santa-visits-mayfair-park-205.html

we see from the video that Viv was really into the spirit of things. Beatrice was just hanging around (lurking behind Santa, really) waiting for her gift. and well, Phoebe was briefly sighted dancing around in the middle of the room once Santa vacated, or maybe it was before, he made his appearance. either way, she really had nothing to do with Santa. i don't believe she even sat on his lap --told me she didn't. she was more interested in the many costume changes she could find in the playroom. i had a difficult time surveying it all and eventually just gave up to enjoy the good food and adult conversation.

the girls are becoming quite the artists. almost weekly we find some fun little scribble that Will and i think would make a great t-shirt. we try to keep all this on file but sometimes the anti-hoard response kicks in and i sweep through the house damning all that is in my way. i'm sorry if i threw out any of your masterpieces. there will always be a new one with you three.

first grade is "the best year yet" for V. she is constantly coming home with great observations and talks quite a bit about doing patterns, recurring patterns. lets hope they are for good and not just bad habits. we still try to get you to bed earlier. it's hard with our work schedules.

Beatrice is the model student, literally. B's teachers constantly tell me that they use her as an example. our neighbor who reads to her class says that she is quite knowledgeable but not "show-off" i hope this is true. would want Beatrice to be hated by her classmates because she is a know-it-all. at home, at least you try to strike the middle child balance of listening/learning from V and teaching what you know. lately, you have been sharing your food knowledge with us as you are discussing the food pyramid at school. it's fun. Phoebe is constantly keeping up. she does a good job but doesn't seem to mind being left behind to have alone time or 'mama'time or 'daddy'time. just this morning the older girls went out to play in the snow and Phoebe stayed in to pretend play at the kitchen and draw. Phoebe takes her drawing time very seriously. she will even choose that over hot cocoa. i know it seems impossible but it's true. maybe this will change someday.

some great things that happened this summer was definitely the trip to Cape Cod. The girls LOVED it and will definitely want to make it an annual journey.
the ice cream lady was another great bit of summer. a routine i didn't get to see much since i was usually at work. the neighborhood turned out in numbers for the last visit of the summer.

time flies

Of course so much happens in a day there is no way to remember what may have happened since my last post in July but Phoebe Odette turned 3! We didn't have a party in the grand sense but she got a cake and a week later the neighborhood kids were over for a movie night so we sang "happy birthday" and she got a second cake. Unfortunately i only had a tiny bit of space on my memory so the video of the singing got cut off. Phoebe did get the whole song AND a second cake, she wasn't cheated.

We are into a pretty regular routine around here with school in session. Always a slow start to the morning, dragging the girls out of bed, coaxing Viv to eat and B to stop growling. Apparently around here, we are not morning people. Vivienne is a bit on the dreamy side and B is just plane grumpy. Phoebe, we don't know about yet because we haven't really pushed waking her up, she gets up on her own and quietly slips into the routine. She is a bit more of a morning person, i think. She likes to have her food straight off and then second breakfast and sometimes comes back for a bagel or toast. this girl wants to fuel up. it makes up for the fact that she rarely shows much of an appetite at dinner. she is a little bird of a girl.

Viv loves her first grade class. Makayla (her BEST friend from kindergarden) is in her class again and they had to figure out pretty quick that maybe they "shouldn't sit together" so that they will "learn more". She has a class pet of a hermit crab and her teacher is so nice because "we get to sit where we want". She still goes to her Kindergarten teacher every morning to give her a hug. Viv loves her school. i love that.

Beatrice settled in completely at her preschool after the first week. She didn't have fun at first because she didn't have any friends but now she talks about classmates who she likes and seems to have fun. Her teacher Barbarajean says that having B is like having another teacher who reminds the kids what they should be doing (in a good way). Annie, another teacher, tells me that B is her model for when she needs someone to show how things are supposed to be done and that B knew all the names of her classmates almost at the same time the teachers did and the only student who knows who everyone is. i had a neighbor stop me to tell me that she reads to B's class and that B is great and smart but not in a know-it-all way. (thank goodness.) it is refreshing to hear these things about B since i don't get to see this as often as i'd like. it would seem that B doesn't think her best behavior is necessary at home. she has completely figured out the computer wanting to pull up her favorite video on netflix. the only thing holding her back is her inability to read. when she masters that i will have to put on some serious parental controls which she will probably be able to navigate around in a matter of months. i have an ipod touch that Uncle Rob gave me and she figured out the "games" pretty quickly and shows V and PO how to do things on it. She is a pip.

Phoebe is delightful. she chats us up when she gets to be the only child. she has pretty much potty trained. we have to remind her when out and about and still need to watch her when she sleeps but is completely self-sufficient during waking hours at home. She is so funny shuffling around with her pants at her ankles, announcing her success, doing a little dance. i will always celebrate that!

Beatrice, the storyteller

Okay, so B, you have a knack for telling stories. I'm not sure if you actually believe what you tell people or if you know you are making things up, but you can be totally convincing. Like the time that you were pointing out a little girl in a picture that used to live in our neighborhood to Leslie, and you told her that she was our cousin that died because she smoked. you had Leslie absolutely baffled since she knew that a little 4 year old was not dead from smoking-- but you were seemingly convinced of it.

And then the other day we found this little clown that was yours since you were a baby. it plays a little song and there are lights that flash on/in it. i told you that it was yours and you used to love it. that there was a time when we were at Nanah's house and mama was out running errands and you were home with Uncle B and started to cry and cry. he finally got you stop by holding this little clown for you,- playing it over and over.

you said that you remember that it's your favorite doll!!!! you LOVE it!!!

you then told me that you remember that and that Uncle B taught you this dance while he was playing the song for you. and that i would NOT know this because i wasn't there. (you said this several times with emphasis.) so then you showed me this dance. i wonder if Uncle B remembers the dance? we should ask him....

now if you told me that it was Uncle Robert, i might have believed you. (even though he wasn't there) somehow the only way i see this dance coming from Uncle B is if he were showing you some japanese tea cermony or something.... even then.... i'm not buying this one, Beatrice.

but it's a pretty dance, too bad you gave up on ballet.

just a difference of 5 years....

Vivienne Elise, you have been with us for 6 years now and you constantly amaze and delight. i know it's a bit cliche and all parents will say this, but it's true. you are wonderful! i should also note that the amaze part isn't always a good thing though.... like when you wiped your hands on a beautiful dress after falling against a t-shirt that had wet fabric paint on it. with all my experience in dealing with paints, and even fabric paints, i drew a blank and couldn't quite get the dress back to normal. *sigh* please stop wiping your hands on your clothes!

but you are in many ways so accomplished. writing your stories, drawing your pictures, even reading your books. the little one year old that you were in the picture above told me nothing of what you are today. it's such a slow unfoldment that i don't often take notice of it until you are in full bloom- and i'm sorry that i am slow to celebrate when this happens. but i don't do justice to the young lady that you are becoming. trying to be helpful, quick to share and care, and yes, show off. pretend playing with your sisters- school, wedding, "cyberchase"...and with your friends, playing princess and clubhouse.... all these things and more are a part of a day with you, Miss V. thank you. and happy 6th birthday!!

things i don't want to forget

V- apparently even in your dreams i don't answer you. the other night while you were sleeping we heard. "Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom" (with increasing volume,varying intensity) then you gave up and fell silent. i forgot about it. (habit)

Will asked what you were dreaming about and you said that you wanted to ask me something about God.

also you girls always call tombstones when we pass a cemetery "word rocks"* not sure where that came from but it makes me smile.

*i thought they called them word rocks but yesterday they told me that they are "name rocks".

sing and sign

all of the kindergarten classes have been learning how to sign songs all year and they had their concert on Friday. V did well considering the concert went on and on. i only saw her yawn once. and well she does tend to get distracted but when she's on, she ON! like doing her "thank you" sign at the end of the songs. she's very polite on stage.

also taking into account the length of the event, PO and B were great. they only started to bicker once and then they got distracted. distraction is my best friend and my worst enemy.

there were points when B or PO were trying to copy the kids singing and it was almost as cute as the kids doing the concert. wish i had a real camcorder so that i could do better video but this is enough to get the idea. it would also help if i didn't have two little girls trying to climb me and pull my arms while i am taking video. this song was B's favorite she continued to sing it the rest of the day. singing "oh what a chemical am i!" i will refrain from comment on B singing "chemical" for the moment. (in case you don't understand the kids they are singing "oh what a miracle am i") here are the little miracles!

oh and if you can't see her, V is right behind the little girl in the light purple dress who is not dressed like the others.