homo erectus

Phoebe, now 10 months, wants to stand. she does stand. i piddle around my kitchen and she in hers, stands at the sink, the stove, banging just like mom. i look over and there she stands, smiling her toothless grin at me. she still has no teeth but she's so close.

if you give her a hand or two she will walk all over the house. sometimes she crawls to where i am and pulls herself up, looking at me as if to say "could you please help me walk somewhere." she gets so frustrated and crabby when i walk in and out of the room leaving her behind.

B on the other hand is quite proficient at standing, walking, and running. too much so. and she slams into little Phoebe when she gets a chance. she really is every bit the two year old. she doesn't understand yet what things really mean, and she will throw the biggest fit over the smallest things.

this morning was V's first day at summer day camp and we all went as a family to drop her off. we were..."are you alright? we're going now" she was too busy to look around. "bye" she yells. i'm glad that she is so independent but i was a little sad that it was so NOT a production. all said, it's a good thing.

so B has been trouble all morning. she throws a fit that we can't play at the school playground. she says it not fair that she doesn't get to go to camp. she won't get out of the car when we get home. and cries and pushes PO around in her frustration. this is good, i think because V will start preschool in the fall and B will have to find her way. still, she is not going down easy.

Celebrations and Free Days

so we had a free day on the 4th. Will did not work. i did not work. the girls, they worked. starting at breakfast they began to talk about how nice it would be for Papa to see the beach that we go to. Will was not particularly engaged as he was looking to give our backyard it's independence from the weeds that have conquered it in a most gruesome battle. clearly we have lost. we lost the battle with the girls too. at 10am we found ourselves scrambling to gather the tremendous amounts of gear needed for a few hours at the beach. by 11am the girls were flinging their cover ups and joining some of their playmate digging in the sand. it was the first time in what seems like forever that i have been to the beach and outnumbered the little ones. (our Florida trip does not count) so i have a small amount of independence. i got to blink.

the girls fell asleep on the way home and i took the opportunity to pick strawberries. we had a couple of quarts coming our way and i felt i just had to try to make some jam this time. it's part of our CSA and paid for so i have to try. no matter how much i love strawberries and eat them i still can't put away quarts before they start to go. Vivi helps and so does Will but i still can't get B to try a strawberry no matter how many yummy sounds i make or bribes i offer. i think i'll have better chances with Phoebe when she's old enough... so far, she'll eat anything i give her and some things she finds on the floor.

Phoebe is still trying to free her teeth. i throw melba toast her way every time she squawks which can be often some days. and she still wants to wake up and play at 5am. i'm considering putting her crib in the basement.

B is trying to become an only child. she strangles her little sis as often as possible and body slams her big sis when she is annoyed with her. i wonder if i will always be a referee or if they will become fabulous friends when they figure out that they can truly count on a sister. i do hope they grow up close.

i was trying to get B to finish her breakfast the other day and just as we were discussing the possibility of her not going to the beach she did an about face and tells me that "it's okay, mama, i will eat my breakfast properly." she actually used properly. is this normal for a two year old? she is often funniest when i'm getting really annoyed with her. maybe this is her self preservation.

summer routine

oddly the summer seems to have a better routine than winter even though the winter is more predictable. i finally got a bike seat for Phoebe. she seems to like riding but hates the helmet so i'm glad that she is in front of me so that i can see when she is trying to yank it off. i don't think that she could be successful but she would seriously compromise the usefulness of said helmet by, say, pulling it around to her ear. we took a test trip to see Will the other day at work and i didn't crash. a good sign. the other girls are cute in the trailer. yelling at me and shouting weee when we go down a hill or over a bump. it isn't too hard to pull them but then again the area is pretty flat. i haven't tried to do my grocery shopping with them yet. the weather has been threatening rain almost every day and while we usually squeak out a pretty good day overall, i wouldn't want to be caught in a downpour with Phoebe in front of me. if i could only find a little mini rain poncho for her and a bigger one for me, we'd be set.

the beach is becoming a weekly thing and that is both hard and easier for me. the girls pretty much stay together and just dig in the sand while at the beach which gives me hours of just hanging with them. but to get there and then pack them up is quite an ordeal. and no naps to speak of make for a more temper-tantrum prone evening. and what to do with Phoebe is always tricky. she loves the water but i really have to hold her constantly and she is quite active. way tiring. and if i let her just hang on the towel/blanket she always finds a way to the edge to scoop sand in her mouth. blak.

the other day i had all three in the pool in the yard and Phoebe was having a big time splashing and laughing at the others. i wish i had my camera handy but couldn't leave them to get it. one of the many bummers of being with them solo. anyway, i was watching Phoebe and her excitement remembering how hard it is to be the younger one trying to keep up. my heart had a little pang of sadness for her expectations that she can do everything her sisters can. in many ways she will be able to but there is always a point of ability where one is just too unskilled, or at least too small. i already find myself telling B this even though she is physically quite skilled she is just too small to do some things. yesterday she was trying to crawl across some rope bridge at the playground. i'm sure she could do it if her legs were longer, she was certainly trying to figure it out. sometimes i wonder if it is my fear that holds her back. at what point do i recognize that she will always amaze me with her balance and athleticism and i should encourage her to try these scary-for-me feats?

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.

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?

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.

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.