It's a good thing...

... that I packed up all the winter clothes and pulled out the shorts and sundresses! I mean - we went to the park on Friday and we ALL got burned (I always forget to use sunblock on the first hot day of the summer!). I felt bad but luckily Lil and Idgie didn't get it too bad. Emmaline and I got it the worst.

Anyway - it makes sense that since we are all nursing sunburns and in summer shorts, that it would snow last night.

Rating: 1 Klondike Bar

Hugs and Kisses

Emmaline has been pretty stingy with the hugs and kisses lately. She has gotten it into her head that hugs and kisses have to age/ripen before they can be given out. Ask for a hug and she'll probably tell you that her hugs are all too young and the won't be old enough to give out until tomorrow. I was lucky enough to receive one of those hugs the other day: "Here mom, you can have this old, extra hug that I have."

Liliana, on the other hand, has been taking extra hugs whenever she can get them. She will run up to us, fall into our arms or cuddle in our laps, and just want us to wrap our arms around her and hug her. As much trouble as that girl give us I think that is really what she needs is so many extra hugs and kisses. I am glad that she is asserting herself and coming to get them from us. We probably hand out an excessive amount of hugs during the day anyway but Liliana just needs even more than that I guess!

Rating: 2 Sweethearts

Shhhh - don't tell them

Every spring I go to my mother's home in California to help her with Spring Cleaning types of things - clean out the garage; organize this and that; install/fix some gadget or whatnot. Obviously, this spring was no different. There was work to be done and we got through most of what was on our list. In past years I've really looked forward to these trips as it gives me some one-on-one time with my mom, which I haven't had since I was a wee lad. I also look forward to it because I know that I won't have kids jumping on me early in the morning, or running around my legs screaming at each other.

I was very much looking forward to that "quiet" time this year, but for whatever crazy reason (and I know Bethany will think I'm nuts), I actually missed the constant energy that our girls provide. I missed Emmaline telling me "Hey dad, watch this trick!" and having her simply walk in some strange way. I missed Lil furrowing her brow at me and saying "NO!" I missed Idgie whinning at you if you were in the same room as she and not holding her. I missed Bethany and being able to just talk to her at will. Maybe next time I come out here, I'll see if they all can come, so I don't miss them so much.

Nah. That's just crazy talk!

C'mon Summer - We're Ready!

Today it was 80 degrees outside. I decided that winter sweaters were no longer cutting it for the girls.

Whenever I do the seasonal changing over of the clothes I wonder where the girls got so many clothes! I swear I pulled out at least 50 gazillion tubs of clothes to pull out summer clothes for each girl. We have been very blessed to get hand-me-downs from family and friends so at least I don't have to go out and buy anything and it *was* nice to have lots of options.

Idige and Emmaline are both on the small side. Idgie is still very much in 6-9 month clothes and I suspect she will be for some time. Emmaline stays really close to her age/size - so she is still in a 4T. On the other hand, I had to pull out 3T clothes for Liliana and she is only two and a quarter. The 2T stuff all looked like it would be grown out of by the end of the summer. I also had to consider what type of clothes to pull out since I hope to potty train Liliana this summer. Obviously things like onesie type shirts are not ideal for that! The weird part is that the clothes I pulled out for Lil are the ones that Emmaline wore last summer! I wonder how long until Liliana passes Emmaline altogether?

Rating: 3 Lemon Drops (because they remind me of sunshine)

A pen in the hand...

I wonder - how great must be the temptation to have bare legs and a pen in hand? It must be overwhelming for a two year old to say the least. It could have been so much worse, and for this I am grateful.

Shiner

Well I have been trying to get a decent picture but it just isn't doing it justice so I'll just have to tell about it instead!

The perils of learning to crawl and to pull up on things is that you are more likely to get hurt. Idgie discovered this two days ago when she smacked her face into the footboard of our bed. She now has a beautiful purple shiner. Luckily purple is a girly color so it coordinates with most of her outfits.

Lil also had a fall yesterday off of a dining room chair. She smacked the side of her face pretty good on the table and now has a large purple bruise on her cheek.

Between the two of them it looks like they've been in a brawl!

Rating: 2 Mike and Ikes

Aquarium

Today we went to the Aquarium with a friend of mine (Hi Christy!).



Emmaline had a blast:

Liliana tantrumed:

and Imogene napped:

Pretty much a standard day!

The highlight besides the cool sharks and sea turtles was when Lil was throwing a tantrum. AJ overheard two college-aged girls saying that Lil needed to be smacked. AJ luckily reacted quickly and informed them that physical violence does't work with our kids. It properly embarrassed them I think. Good Job AJ!

Rating: 2 Pixie Dust and 1 Sour Patch Kid

First Tooth

Right on schedule at exactly 9.5 months Idgie has finally popped her first tooth! The other two got theirs at about this age so I was expecting it anytime now. It sure explains the fussiness the last few days. Now to see if I can get a picture of that sucker once it pops through a little bit more.

Rating: 2 Pixie Dust

Happy Easter

AJ's mom made some beautiful dresses for the girls for Easter and I did up their hair. Overall they make a pretty picture - if you can get them to sit still for one!






Rating: 3 Peeps

Swimming

Every week when I take Lil to her music class, she presses her little nose against the glass looking into the pool and says, "Bubble! Bubble!". So finally this weekend we decided to take them swimming. Liliana of course didn't want her picture taken - it's like she's saying "no more mama-razzi!"

Afterwards we treated the kids to Wendy's. As I handed Emmaline her food she said, "My tummy is hungry for a hamburger! Are you ready tummy?" And then I swear she ate it in about 5 bites. Swimming always makes me hungry too!

Rating: 3 Shark Gummies

Crawling

I finally got some fun pictures of Idgie crawling. My favorite is when she sticks her bum up in the air - like this:

Rating: 5 Pixie Dust

9 months old

How did Idgie get to be 9 months old? I swear I really did just have her and now we're just 3 months out from her first birthday! This is crazy talk I tell you. CRAZY talk.

She had her 9 month well child check. Overall she is very healthy. The doctor was concerned that she hasn't really done any growing but Emmaline was the same way - tiny body and BIG head!

Height - 26 inches 12% (up 1 inch since 6 months check)
Weight 14 lbs 14 oz. less than 3% (down 2 ounces since 6 month check)
Head - 17.25 inches 45% (up 3/4 inch since 6 month check)

Rating: 5 Pixie Dust

A bit about them all

Emmaline has really been mulling over the concept of death the last few days and what it means for her. She has approached me a few more times now asking questions. Things like: "Where will my head go?" "Where will my legs go?" "Will dirt get in my eyes?" She has informed me now several times that she has decided that she doesn't want to die when she gets old. It is so fascinating to see her come up with these questions and how she makes her conclusions about things!

Lil has now had three speech therapy sessions. She really enjoys them and does very well! The therapist uses some sign language with her and says that often with kids she will work for weeks to get them to do just one sign. Liliana has been picking up and using the signs instantly - learning several new signs with each session. More than anything I think she loves have that special "her" time. One of the newest words that she is saying is "May" which is her name for Emmaline!

Idgie is officially nine months old!!! She is a girl on the move now. I have to block off the entrance to the family room so she doesn't escape into the kitchen. It is only a matter of time before she learns to get over those couch pillows but for now they are a road block and not just a speed bump. She will crawl on her hands and knees for a few inches but for now if she wants to get somewhere far and fast, she army crawls. Poor thing, her knees and elbows are getting all rubbed and raw, even though they are usually covered by clothes. She is also loving the solids. Tonight she had a great time eating rice, peas, and peach spice cake.

Sleeping Beauties

I wish I could tell you a funny story about this picture - and I am sure it IS funny - I just don't know what it is. All I know is that when I went to go check on the girls this is how I found them.

Rating: 5 Pixie Dust

Salad Dressing Hands

Emmaline is a funny girl. While I was getting ready this morning, she announced to me that she had salad dressing on her hand from last night, and was tickled silly that it was still on her hand. I encouraged her lick it off (duh!) or to peel it off (as it may have been congealed by then). She scampered out and did just that - or so I assumed.

After a bit, she announced to me that she had cleaned her hand! Yay! On our sheets. Not so yay. And when I checked it out, it wasn't salad dressing after all - it was blood! And there was a bit of it - both on our sheets and on her face (apparently she did try to lick it off - good girl!). Apparently she had pricked her hand some point, and thought the mass of blood pooling on her hand was salad dressing.

Kids are so cool sometimes!

Rating: 5 Laffy Taffy