week ending sept 28, 2007:

Week ending September 28, 2008: My mother likes to tell the story about how my grandmother used to tell her “I don’t wish you any bad luck, but I hope your kids are just like you.” Well, karma may be paying me back with my own kids. When I was in elementary school I hated eating my vegetables and my parents’ rule was that we didn’t leave the table until the plate was empty. I’d sit at the table for hours. As I got older I started feeding the vegetables to the dog, hiding them in my napkin, etc, so my parents started a nightly backgammon game at the dinner table so they could keep an eye on me while I dawdled over my dinner. Now I’m the lucky parent of a kid who dawdles over dinner. Alex will eat at a relatively normal speed if we serve chicken nuggets, meatballs, hotdogs, or pizza. If we serve anything else he shifts into slow motion and can take up to an hour and a half eating his dinner. Instead of hating his vegetables, he hates the meat. Pork chops, grilled chicken and steak are his least favorites. We’ll have to tell him “put food in your mouth” with every forkful and then we’ll have to remind him to chew. I don’t know why kids (me included) don’t figure out that it is not fun to spend hours at the dinner table, eating dinner is unavoidable, so doing it quickly would really make life more fun for everyone. You’d think since I’d done it myself I’d have some insight, but alas no.

Princess Smiley (Chloe’s new guinea pig) is doing well. Chloe has not lost her enthusiasm so we take PS out of her crate 3-4 times a day for petting and feeding her carrots.

The twins are very excited about their birthday. We’ve been counting down the days since it was 10 days till their birthday. The next time I write, they’ll be 5 years old!

I took Chloe to the gastroenterologist for a follow up. Chloe is doing fine so the doctor and I were talking about “cutting her back” when Alex came over and whispered in my ear “Mom, why are they going to cut Chloe?” I had to explain that it was the medicine we were going to cut back, not Chloe. Then when I called Casey to give him the scoop I said “let’s give it a shot” and Chloe said “I don’t want a shot!” I have to watch what I say because little ears are listening all the time!

Princess Smiley and Speed:

Speed is the name Alex chose for his new Betta.












Princess Smiley is the name Chloe chose for her new guinea pig. I ended up getting the animals 11 days before their b'days because the Pennysaver and SPCA neither had ANY guinea pigs, so when we found one at the Chesapeake Guinea Pig rescue, we jumped at the opportunity. PS is quite shy, but given that a year ago our stray cat, Walt Disney, wouldn't let the kids within 15 feet of him and now he follows the kids around the yard and watches them play, I'm hoping we have the patience and ability to help PS conquer her fears. Chloe pestered me all day about letting her play with PS, but PS was so nervous and her heart rate was maxed every time we took her out of the crate, so I insisted on several hours of rest between handlings. All told we had her out 4 times today and she got progressively more relaxed each time. I think we're making progress.

The kids last year trying to win Walt Disney's confidence.

week ending Sept 21, 2008:

Week ending Sept 21, 2008: The kids started soccer this week and LOVE it. Coach David is quite a clown!

I’ve been noticing for quite a while now that the kids are really into negotiating for what they want, and to some extent I encourage it. Negotiating in calm voices is far preferable to the whining and kicking-and-screaming of a few years ago, but after a long day of tag-team negotiating over every little thing, I’m exhausted and tempted to scream “Shut up and do what you are told! Right now! No arguing!”. I mean it is not like I’m debating the Harvard Debate Team, but it is constant, and if I don’t pay enough attention even though they are only 4 years old they can back me into a strategic corner. Some examples of what we negotiate over:
- Whether cheese by itself is a complete nutritious breakfast. Apparently I caved once before on this issue and they remember and have thus redoubled their efforts.
- Whether they should have to brush their teeth or get to watch another episode of Word World which is already over. I try to explain that it won’t be on again until tomorrow, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to watch it right now.
- Who sits on which side of the car. At least twice a day. Every day.
- Who gets which cup cake. A long debate over two identical cup cakes that dissolved into children crying and screaming while I was on hold with Verizon.
- Whether Chloe could bring her plush poodle to the pretend bday party Alex was having for his toy airplane
- Whether they can wear fleece footie jammies to bed when it is 80F in the house
- Who gets which Hotwheels car. This debate was repeated so many times I finally put the cars away (but not before I lost my cool)
- Whether it is fair to chickens that we eat them for dinner. This is only up for debate when I grill their chicken because apparently chickens don’t mind being turned into chicken nuggets.
- Exactly how many bites of dinner must be eaten before dessert is served.
- Whether we are going to buy popsicles, ice cream, doughnuts, cookies, candy, fried cheese, made-for-kid-tv-dinners, macaroni-n-cheese with a picture of Sponge Bob, cereal with a toy inside, etc at the grocery store (seems like at least a few items on each and every aisle).

This week I witnessed this endless perseverance having a remarkable payoff for Chloe. At the playground there were two little girls who were 6 and Chloe wanted them to play with her. They didn’t want to play with her and took various tactics from ignoring her, to playing in areas where Chloe didn’t have the dexterity to play, and then finally being downright rude to Chloe. Chloe finally responded by being rude back and then came over and sat with me and cried because she still wanted to be friends with the girls. I suggested Chloe go and apologize and when she did one of the little girls relented and started goofing off with Chloe and making Chloe laugh and laugh. Chloe was overjoyed! When the little girl had to go home, she and Chloe hugged. If Chloe follows her dreams with the same tenacity, she is going to take the world by storm!

week ending sept 14, 2008:

Week ending Sept 14: This week I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how big the kids are getting and how fast this part of our lives seems to be going by. A while back Bubbe pointed out that although people often take notice of the “firsts” (first steps, first word, first day at school), we rarely realize when we are witnessing the “lasts” such as the last time a child needs to be picked up to climb into a car, the last time a child sleeps in the crib, the last time a high chair is used. I feel like the kids going to full-day kindergarten is looming on the horizon (ok, it is almost a whole year away, never too early to be paranoid) and I’m wondering how our lives will change. They are getting so big I can feel that the last time I carry them out of the car is coming. I’ve told them that when they turn 5 they’ll be in charge of brushing their own teeth so I’m nearing the last time I have to brush their teeth. How far of a leap is it until we reach the last time I read them a bed-time story? The last time they’ll climb into bed with us on a weekend morning? The last time they’ll give me a kiss in front of their friends? Of course there are a few “lasts” that I AM looking forward to like the last time I have to wipe a bottom (I still help with the really messy ones, lucky me), the last time I have to hold a tissue while they blow, anything involving bodily fluids, really.

This was the first full week of classes. Chloe talks about Mackenzie all the time and has also told me about songs they sing in class, and projects they are working on. Both kids got excited about an apple project they worked on, and both kids liked the “apple tortillas” that they got to help make. I haven’t heard quite so much complaining about school as I did last year. Last year the kids got invited to a birthday party and Alex said he wasn’t going to go because the boy was from school. Alex hated school and anything to do with school.

Chloe and I spent the night in the tent in the backyard this week. It was originally going to be all 3 of us, but about a minute after we turned the light out Alex said he was too scared and wanted to go inside. It was then I realized that the twins have NEVER slept with the windows open in their rooms. They had no idea what the sounds of night are. Poor planning on my part. Chloe kept saying she was scared, and I kept telling her that she could go inside any time she wanted to but as long as she wanted to stay in the tent I’d stay with her. She woke up at 6:23am and sat bolt upright. I told her I was very proud of her for making it through the whole night. She rolled over and went back to sleep until 7:30!

week ending sept 7, 2008:

Week ending Sept 7, 2008: This week we took the kids to the Renaissance Festival. It was a very different experience than last year. Last year we did the elephant ride, pony ride, got their faces painted and watched the joust. This year shot they bow and arrows, watched the sword swallower, watched the jousting show, rode the giant slide, saw the rat show and Alex watched the archery show while Chloe shopped for a souvenir. Since I didn’t have to spend money on elephant rides and face paint, I told the kids they could each get a souvenir. Alex saw another boy with a sword and knew instantly that is what he wanted. Chloe had to look at everything in every shop before she settled on a head decoration with ribbons and rosettes. I had fun looking in all the shops with Chloe while Alex and Casey watched the archery demonstration. Chloe wore her Princess Jasmine costume which looks like a “harem girl” and got compliments wherever she went. Neither twin was very thrilled with the sword swallower, and Chloe got a little grossed out/upset with some of the physical comedy, so we left in the middle.

This week I signed the kids up for a soccer clinic. When Chloe signed up for ballet Alex told me he wanted to do soccer. I wasn’t enthusiastic about sitting outside in the heat, rain, cold, etc watching soccer, so I drug my feet about checking it out. With the impending onset of fall I just couldn’t ignore it any longer and signed them up for a 6 week clinic that meets for one hour per week. I can handle that! They start next week.

I forgot last week to write about taking the kids to college. When the kids ask questions about “why?” this and “why?” that, I seem to often refer to college. One day Chloe asked if she was living at college and I was living at home, who was going to cook for her, so I told her about the “restaurants” at college. The kids decided they wanted to go and see college and eat at the “restaurant” so I took them to the dining hall at UMCP. I played up how they could chose whatever they wanted to eat and pointed out the desserts, doughnuts, and sodas. We walked by the indoor pool, outdoor pool, horse barn, and library before the kids ran out of steam. It was a lot of walking so we’d sit down for frequent breaks and when we’d sit down the kids would say “tell me a story about college!” In one of the “stories” I was listing off all of the people Alex and Chloe know who went to school at UMCP. Chloe said “College is a SCHOOL?!” I couldn’t believe we’d spent hours talking about and visiting college before I’d explained that college is a school! Maybe I’m crazy for trying to sell a couple of 4 year olds on college, but it was a nice walk down memory lane.

first day of school 2008

First Day of School 2008: On Wednesday half of the preschool class went to school, including Alex and Chloe (the other half goes Friday). Chloe cried at dinner the night before and said she wished that she’d have the same class this year as she did last year and that she’d miss me while she was at school. Alex didn’t say much. She was still a little nervous in the morning and gave me lots of hugs. Alex was excited to show his new Airator sneakers to his teacher and Chloe decided that she’d like to bring a picture of the ground hog in our backyard to take to school and show to the teacher. They each decided that they’d like to take a picture of me with them to school also. Chloe said she was worried about finding her class room after I dropped her off in car line. I said she’d just have to tell the teacher who walked her from our car that she was in Mrs. Peirce’s class. She was worried that she’d forget the name so as we waited in the car line she repeated to herself “Mrs. Peirce… Mrs. Peirce… Mrs. Peirce…” When a teacher opened our car door both kids jumped out and never looked back. When I picked them up Chloe said she’d made a new friend named Mackenzie. They both told me that they’d had graham crackers and water for a snack but the fruit was something they’d never heard of before so they didn’t try it. I asked what kind of “helpers” they were. Alex got to be line leader (their favorite!) and Chloe was the counter (she counted the kids in line to make sure everyone was there). Alex said they played inside then they played outside, and then a “horrible thing happened”. What horrible thing? He said that the teacher made them sit down while they waited for the parents to pick them up. He told the teacher he wanted to stand but she wouldn’t let him. I guess last year’s teacher may have had a different rule and Alex does not like rule changes so in his view it was a “horrible thing”. They both say they don’t think that going to school will be fun, but they don’t seem overly upset, so I guess we’re doing ok.