Thursday, June 26, 2008

DAY AT THE BEACH

yesterday was one of those perfect days where there is lots of sun and no humidity. a beach day. one of the girl's friends called and asked if the girls wanted to go to the beach. i wasn't even off the phone with her mom when they appeared in their swimsuits.

so after packing up all the extras...clothes, food, towels. we headed to the beach which according to B is very far away. (13 miles, i think.) and we sit on the beach under a nice tree and i think to myself that this is how i should spend my summer. the girls wander to the water and start the excavation process that seems to be on going when there is sand around. the water is COLD, not freezing by any stretch and downright warm to most but I'm not going in if i don't have to. so i sit in the shade and slight breeze with Phoebe and wish that she was my only one today so that we could both nap. not so fast... i look away for a couple of seconds and when i scan the water for Vivi, check, and Sophie, check, where is B? seconds ago they were all digging. now V and Soph are in the water and B...she is drenched and being carried by some stranger. i plop Phoebe down and run to B. there is no stress or anguish. just a big smile and "a look mama i have a spoon." thanking the woman, i take her and try to go dry her off. she will have none of this. she wants to be in the water. so now that i have two little ones who want to be IN the water i have to come out of my shade and watch them. pity. i was having such a nice day.

the girls had to be bribed out of the water with a cremee. then threatened to the car. i have now promised to bring them back the next nice day we have. it may be a while since the rest of the week seems to be calling for thunderstorms.

V now tells everyone that she learned how to swim. she thinks that since the water is shallow and she can "run" around in it without going under, she knows how to swim. i have to get that girl some lessons. B is just a little caution in the water which is good since there is very little that she is caution with. Phoebe is beside herself and cannot wait until she can join in all the fun.

Phoebe still has no teeth by the way and is quite sufficient pulling herself upright whenever she gets a chance. a few days ago i found her doing a pull up on the oven door handle while standing on the drawer underneath. i hope she isn't the one who learns the meaning of 'hot' the hard way.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

for the birds

Phoebe has taken to long meals, annoyingly eaten and not so very neat. She still has to put her two middle fingers in her mouth between every bite but she also will not open her mouth wide enough and she will shut it just as the spoon is trying to go in. This only allows a minute amount of food in and then smears the rest all over her face and hand. If I decide I have better things to do, she starts a fit and then for a short while opens her mouth wide as if to say see I'm hungry. (just like a good little bird.) At this point she will start clucking her tongue and sometimes she makes smooching noises. This would all be funny on fast forward but it takes soooo long to get through it all I'm banging my head by now and the ringing in my ears won't allow me to fully appreciate her performance.

She is such a happy little one even if she still hasn't successfully pushed through her first little tooth and likes to wake up at 4 am to play and remind me that she hasn't pushed through her first tooth yet.

I am so tired. I can see why people could fall asleep at the wheel. So in an effort to not be one of those AND save on gas I have dusted off the old bike and hooked up the trailer to do my grocery runs and go to work. I'm ordering a bike seat for Phoebe and soon I'll have the whole family on board. Am I nuts? Perhaps that is what sleep deprivation does to you. (or maybe it's the $65 it takes to fill the tank.) In any case, if it's not raining I will subject my kids to rides to the store and other such errands. Who knows maybe I'll finally get my baby weight off?

Sunday, June 15, 2008

small musings

when Vivi was little creeper learning how to crawl and play by herself she would sit for what seemed like forever (but truthfully was minutes) and play with scarves or fabric. she would pick it up and put it down, side to side, watching it flutter. it was fun to watch.

B would just sit and study V when she was little or try to figure out how to climb but i don't really remember any fixation like what V did with fabric. now Phoebe will sit at my feet in the kitchen and play with plastic golf balls. watching them roll and bounce. picking them up and occasionally she will get a larger ball and actually palm it. i was impressed when i saw this.

now V does have a thing for clothes and what she will and will NOT wear. she also does odd combos. i wonder if the two are connected. if so, will Phoebe be a golf star? or maybe she will just be very good with her hands.

Friday, June 13, 2008

of things magical


looking at the date on the last post, i realize that it has been a while since i poured my heart out to you girls. there is a reason for this....let's see, papa's work gets really, REALLY busy the beginning of June and mama barely keeps her head above water with you girls. grandma did come over to help out but we can't expect too much from a octagenarian. she is rather capable but i still feel obliged to keep in the game. then we had to return your grandma to her home so we took a road trip which you all did fairly well, considering.

so back home we celebrate a milestone. i no longer have 3 children under the age of 4 although sometimes i feel that maybe i have more than 3 children....enough of that though. we rolled out the dirt and threw a garden party for your neighborhood friends. a fairy garden party. i would like to take credit for it but have to blame my friend Suz since she had one and sent me the left over wings....one day i received an email that simply asked, "might you have need of some fairy wings." to which i replied, simply..."i have three girls."

Vivi had a good time at her party except for when her birthday balloons were freed. she told me later that she didn't like Mia anymore. Mia had been looking at the balloon weight and trying to figure out what it was. wrapped like a present, it probably looked pretty fun. so when she got the weight out of it's wrapping, off the balloons flew. it was devastating. truth be told Mia was pretty excited that she accomplished such a feat. all was righted with a trip to the party store to pick out another balloon.

meanwhile on the Phoebe front, we have the gates up again. she was caught twice yesterday trying to climb the stairs. now the fun really starts. if we could only teach the girls to leave her alone she might make it to one without any major bruising.