New Year 2015

Happy New Year, ya'll! I was able to keep my resolution last year to blog less than the year before. This year, perhaps I'll try blogging more :}

What to write.... I have so many projects in mind for the new year. I'm having trouble getting started on anything because the possibilities just are so intriguing. But first, a little wrap up of 2014.

Ellie is 4. She had a birthday after Thanksgiving. We went with a "How to Train Your Dragon" flavor this year. She abruptly decided about 2 weeks before her birthday that Toothless the Dragon was the bees knees. It stopped being all about Frozen and Doc McStuffins. Apparently, even in preschool, peer pressure is a thing. Frozen (in her class) is for 3 year-olds and nappers (the bottom rungs of Montessori society, just above the savage Toddler). Somehow, with her birthday approaching, the Kindergarteners decided to initiate her into the coolness of a certain black dragon. And, I have to admit, we were glad for a change of pace. As entertaining as Frozen is, a little variety is good. And, that's what we have now. She alternates between favoring Frozen, Sleeping Beauty, and the two How to Train Your Dragon (HTTYD) movies. She has most of the movies on her iPad, so when that magical hour of screen time rolls around, she alternates and fast forwards like a deranged monkey with a remote. It ALMOST makes me wish we had a TV set up that she couldn't mess with. ALMOST. We'll probably have to change our system here soon though since little sister is fast approaching the age of screen time. She already sits next to Ellie and sometimes gets to play with the apps. But, Ellie had a lot more practice by the same age, so Cali is still struggling with stray fingers that keep her from dragging and selecting as she wants.

Christmas brought an unsuccessful attempt at potty training. We determined that Ellie was better primed at the point of potty training, so we've stepped back to priming Cali so that the simple act of sitting on the potty isn't an act of torture. We're hoping preschool will help move things along, but we're aiming for a new attempt in the summer. We celebrated multiple Christmases with different groupings of family. For some reason, it seemed more mailing was done to and from this year. I need to internalize the goal to mail early, small, and light. And, I need to prompt my family early for gift ideas. For everyone to whom we haven't sent our thanks to yet, we love our gifts and I have the goal to write notes this weekend.

Ellie is going to try ballet through her school. I figure, it's a low risk, low cost way to try on ballet. She's asked to do it, but doesn't really dwell on it, so I think it's more that friends in her class are interested in it and she feels she should be too. She still does gymnastics once a week, although last week was the first time she seemed enthusiastic and fully participatory. We'll see tomorrow if the attitude holds or it was a fluke. She's also been doing an extra drawing class through school and so far, she loves it. Her motor skills with the pencil have improved a lot over the past few months. She tried a brief run of yoga through school and her favorite part was the one day they colored a mandala as meditation. Slowly, she's working on finishing that first mandala.

Cali is working on verbal skills. She has an adorable "YESSSh" and can say random words like "necklace" with incredible clarity. It's delightful to be able to communicate back and forth because she gets frustrated a lot. Mostly by things she isn't allowed to do (climb onto the kitchen table, stand on furniture,  eat 24-7, etc...).

Over the holiday season, I had my first ever skin cancer check. They found three dodgy moles and removed them. Two were potentially troublesome, but caught in time. Therefore, I will endeavor to be more cognizant of the sun this year and cover my bits with sunscreen, hats and clothing. I encourage all of you to do the same. Because of the sites the doctor stitched up, I had a month-long moratorium from physical activity. I missed my yoga and felt guilty for not missing my strength training. I restarted last week and it was rough at first. However, I am rapidly regaining my flexibility and still can manage a supported headstand. I would like to get to an unsupported headstand and possibly a handstand this year. We'll see how it goes. I probably should try to build a home practice as well to get there faster. But, in reality, that probably won't happen.

P did a lot of wood working leading up to Christmas. He made three beautiful cutting boards (one for me), a maple learning tower for Ellie's birthday, and a last minute Greene and Greene style frame I've decided to put a mirror into. Any day now, he'll order the wood to get started on his office furniture for the new plant. He's also begun playing World of Warcraft again. It isn't all-consuming like it was. He generally beats me to bed now. Between the wood shop and WoW, it's a good thing we don't have cable anymore. We don't watch tv much anymore, although we do try to watch a movie together once a week. Last night we watched Boyhood. It had an interesting concept and I was surprised to find that the second half was filmed in my hometown of San Marcos, Texas. That gave me a bias toward the film, but P didn't care for it much. The last film we both watched and enjoyed was Chef. It's a decent feel-good movie with lots of food porn.

At Christmas, the girls got more toys than they knew what to do with. I set a limit of 5 things each from us. Santa brought 2 joint gifts (a box of books and an indoor play area) and 1 gift each. I wasn't counting on how generous our friends and family are. I'll need to pare that back to 2 parental and 1 santa, probably. It's so difficult to narrow down what will be best received and used, but it was still too much this year.

Along those lines, I've been reading more about simplifying your life/home by purging belongings and shifting to a more experience-based life than a possession-centered one. I still have a lot of work to do shifting my mindset. The UPS driver and Amazon know to what depths I consume. On my reading list is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up as well as reading at blogs like UnFancy, Becoming Minimalist, The Art of Simple, and Into Mind. Perhaps my major project this year will be shifting from an acquirer to more of a creator. With the girls both at school more, I'll be trying to revive my artistic skills, streamline our home, and polish up some marketing skills.

Another project this year is my informal reading challenge. One of my favorite bloggers suggested a reading challenge of 12 books from different categories to bust reading ruts. I have been in an escapist "easy reader" phase for a while. Coming off the mind candy of the Dragonriders of Pern series (thanks Dad for planting that seed), I've decided it might be time to tackle some of these delicious novels that are supposed to be superlative, but don't fit into the comfortable genres I've gotten used to. I'm having trouble narrowing it down to just 12 books because there are so many interesting ones out there. Reading truly is the best hobby. Unfortunately, I chose to start with No Ordinary Time:  Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.... At a whopping 700+ pages, it's a bit hefty coming off of a McCaffrey binge. It's good reading, just a little drier than I've gotten used to. I've signed up for an Audible trial (finally) so I can start listening to some of my other books at times when reading isn't feasible (i.e. folding laundry, driving, etc). First on my listening list is All the Light We Cannot See.

Girls playing in the leaves at our Halloween camping trip at the Dunes.

Cali messing around with sister's hat. Stolen toys are soooo much more fun!

Just your little (nice) monster family.

Me testing 4-6 year-olds at Ellie's school for Amblyopia.

A beautiful succulent wall at the San Antonio Botanical Gardens.

Ellie and Grandfather goofing off.

To appeal to all our party, there was an exhibit of Lego sculptures scattered amongst the plants.

Girls with Grandmother. Sadly, this was the best of three. They have been working on "cheese" since this was taken.

Little boxes...

Ellie with her "Toothless" cake

To be shown to a future prom date.

Girl loves some Brinner with her whipped cream.

Cali also loves brinner.

Oh, dearie me! It's a Toothless hat!!!

Cali enjoying the learning tower. It is a blessing and a curse.

Awkward Santa photo... Check!

Grandma tried really hard. This is the closest Cali would go.

My little dragons being Toothless. "Rawr!"

Ellie's first Christmas recital. Just before her antlers fell backwards.

You know, just walking my sister.

Dad fooling around with the girls.

A little mouse got at the gingerbread house this year. Ellie giggled and confessed, "I'm the mouse, Mom!"

More fooling.

Ellie drooling over our pink and purple Christmas cookies.

Coordinated Elsa costumes courtesy of Grandma. (This was not a cooperative day)

The Texas crust-cutter was a hit with the preschooler. The toddler gladly ate the crusts :)

Cali eating ALL of Soph's chocolate mousse from NYE.

Adding injury to insult.

The cat was actually fleeing the picture. She likes rasslin' with Cali.

New year, new hair.

A new interest in reading courtesy of potty training.

As the Leaves Fall

Surprise! Another post and it's barely been a month since the last one!

Everyone is well. The girls have settled into the school routine. Cali has surprised me how well she's adjusted to the routine and environment. I went to observe their classes this morning and was tickled by how community minded Cali was. She handed items to other kids and picked up a dropped toy and handed it to her classmate. She sings along with her friends and really gets into circle time.

Ellie has struggled a bit with her new class. Her new teacher is less inclined to coddle and cave as Ellie has become accustomed to. Once she stops trying the tactics she employs at home, I think she'll have more fun. However, she is still trying to bend everyone to her will at least a little. Her favorite days are those when she gets to be a bell ringer or some such role with authority. Her Directress was not at all surprised that she likes to play teacher at home and went so far as to have us install a temporary tape line on the rug so she could instruct us all to sit on it. She has learned to write her name very well, although she currently likes to give her E's extra "legs" so they look like vertical centipedes.

P spent all last week at the site of Valplayso building the new playground with hundreds of other volunteers. He said it was the most rewarding thing he's ever done. The schedule was brutal (6+ 14 hour days), but the community was incredible.

I was essentially a single mom last week, but had some spontaneous visits from friends and family that helped get me through without losing my sanity. Parenting really is nicer with two. I found that the girls like bathing together, but Cali chased Ellie out of the tub a couple of times. Apparently, Cali has a shocking lack of respect for her sister's personal space. I have no idea where she learned that :}

That's about it. We decorated for Halloween, although the jack-o-lanterns are still TBD. We're experiencing peak fall colors this week. The trees at Montessori looked like flames. Very pretty. Check back in a few weeks for Halloween pics.

Sisterly love.

Someone just discovered she likes yogurt. Apparently it tastes better when it's Mom's.

We lurve the new whirligig at the park.

Making pizza. And, yes it was a little floury.

Both girls have been enjoying the bumper crop of raspberries this fall. Cali likes to take advantage of the fact that she gets home earlier. And yes, she can eat a pint in one sitting.

Back to School!

For all those of you who were waiting with bated breath, Cali made her walking deadline by about 14 hours. She started walking across the room the night before school started. Talk about timing! We're a few weeks into school and she is loving it. I think she's BFF's with both Toddler teachers, which is saying something because she only sees Mrs. K for about 30 minutes a day. Ellie "says" she doesn't like school, which prompted a call with her teacher, just to make sure she wasn't having any trouble. She seems to enjoy all the activities, but we've determined (with the teacher) that maybe she wasn't getting challenged enough. She is beyond typical 3-year-old works mostly, and doesn't nap anymore (unlike all the other 3-yo's in her class), so she seems to be identifying mostly with the 5-year-olds in her class. She's relishing the fact that she isn't a "napper", as apparently they are the bottom level of her preschool class pecking order.

Cali is 18 months old now. She was 21 pounds even at her last appointment. That puts her in about the 25th percentile. She is also in a big hurry to grow up. She's started drinking out of a cup with some success and increasingly less mess. She likes to use utensils when eating. And, now that she wears shoes, she is a little obsessed and seldom wants to be without them. We can see some of the effects of Montessori already in that she is much more willing to put things away. Otherwise, she's still mostly non-verbal apart from "yeah", "no" (mostly by nod), something like "graham" that is her word for all food, "mom", "dad",  and the beginnings of "sister". She has said "bye", but only once (to my parents), so I think she's holding back on us. I swear she also has used "grandma" (to P's mom), but again, only once. She loves music, tries to sing, and is an enthusiastic dancer (aka head bobber). Today she had some sassy little hand moves going in the back seat. She likes pop music and the Frozen Soundtrack songs, although sister introduced her to "Let it Be" today and she dug it too.

Ellie prefers to listen to stories. Right now, we* can't get enough of "Jack and Annie" of The Magic Treehouse books. She requests it constantly. I have several other books on cd ready to go, but I have to wait until I get my phone upgraded as those first 16 Treehouse stories are hogging all my memory. When she does concede to listen to music, she prefers the Frozen Soundtrack (no words), The Barenaked Ladies "Alphabet Song", or now, "Let it Be". At least she's over "Gangnam Style".... She certainly has eclectic taste though :) We've been taking Ellie to a once-a-week gymnastics class for almost 3 months now. She still has to master the somersault, but she seems to enjoy it. One of her best friends is in her class, so that helps keep her motivated. For some strange reason, once she stopped taking naps, she became super active, climbing on furniture and jumping around more. So, this seemed a good thing to try. And, we're hoping it will make her forget her request to take ballet when she turns 4. Although she did mention it the other day. But, I'm pretty sure it's a word her friends at school use and she has no real idea what it means. I showed her some "ballet" (i.e. very rusty 1st position and 5th?) and she just looked at me like I had something on my face.

Cali is pretty bright. She's milking the baby thing, but still managing to get to do big girl things her sister didn't at the same age (hello, crayons!). She plays pretty well with Ellie and will even come up with her own pretend games with little dolls or pretend food. Or, at least she appears to because she has seen Ellie do it. She is attached to her sleeping rattle(s) and drags them everywhere we'll let her. Somehow the spare rattle has made it into the regular rotation, so I'm gonna have to sneak them into the wash separately soon. She has started to drink cow milk instead of coconut milk, although iced water still seems to be her favorite. She also out-eats her sister 2:1 most meals. If I can get her interested in yogurt, I'll need to buy stock in Choboni.

Lately, Ellie has taken to "lecturing" us at dinner based on conversations she and I have in the car when I pick her up from school. See tonight's mini on babies. She thinks the coolest thing about having a baby is that you feed them with milk from your boobs. I have to agree. There's also watching them turn into little people before your very eyes. That's pretty amazing too. Other recent topics have included birthdays and the pollination process of apple trees (thanks Montessori). Apparently, she is shooting for age 14. At that point, she will have just 1 candle on her cake because there would be too many. I had to convince her that maybe 14 was a little early to have a baby in her belly (nightmare!) and that maybe she could babysit other peoples' children instead.

P and I are just trucking along enjoying the girls. I've started a more ambitious fitness plan of yoga, Circuitfit and strength training. It was derailed by a nasty cold after the first full week, but I've been substituting yoga for Circuitfit and hope to be back in the saddle soon. I'm investigating what to do once Cali is at school for longer next year. I'm not sure if I want to go back to school or start working from home part-time. I'll definitely have to get better at managing my time (and my kindle habit). I've been flying through books lately. If you want to see what I'm reading, check me out on Goodreads. With the girls both in school, I've been able to have lunch with P about once a week. It is rare we go out without the girls, so it feels deliciously adult. And, we have some great restaurants :)

P has begun playing World of Warcraft again. He has a double monitor set-up down in his basement lair where he can play while monitoring the water softener and his dueling 3-d printers. On nights he isn't down there, he is in the workshop putting the finishing touches on a solid maple workbench. Next, he'll be working on a learning tower for the girls and then starting on his office furniture for his new office in the new plant. He is a dedicated Crossfitter now. He tries to go 5 mornings a week and rarely gets to sleep in past 8 anymore.

Yes, it is August, but Ellie sleeps with socks - sometimes 4 at a time.

Safety first.

Foreshadowing. Having two parents with bad vision, it's only a matter of time. But, if she can wear cool frames like these....

First full week of school, she fell asleep mid-sentence on the way to gymnastics.

First day of school.

When Ellie's at school, all the things are Cali's!

New rain boots and umbrella by Grandma getting a trial run.

*That would be Ellie. The rest of us are over it.

Summer Update

We're well into summer, with Fourth of July here already. At 16 months, Cali is *just* about to walk. Or, so we've been saying for 3 months now. We're hoping she is upright by the time school starts in August. I'm not sure if Montessori has had a crawler before.... Ellie is getting more grown-up by the day, which translates into extremes of teenage sass and mature helpfulness. She also is much more physically active AND has 95% given up naps. Luckily, we've worked out an understanding called, Quiet Time, so I'm lucky enough to get a couple hours to do stuff around the house (or take a nap) most days. I'm looking into getting her involved in gymnastics or dance this fall. She definitely needs an outlet.

This spring, we bought a trailer camper to take the girls camping and foster a love of the outdoors. P had a run backpacking pre- and early parenting. However, we realized we are not up to backpacking with wee ones, so we decided on deluxe camping. So far, we've been to Potato Creek, Turkey Run and Clifty Falls in Indiana and Fort Custer in Michigan. Slowly, we're learning our way and preferences in this new field of recreation.

The garden is coming along. I even have an empty spot or two, so I know I didn't plant as many tomatoes. My seeds were decimated by cut worms, except for the zucchini (go figure). So, I will endeavor to try the tomatoes I intended this year, next year. I was really looking forward to trying them because a friend leant me a fabulous book about heirloom tomatoes that I used in making most of my selections. The biggest difference, is that I've finally given up on okra and tomatillos and am trying several varieties of carrots this year. The deer and I have compromised for now. They top one section of my bush beans and I get to keep whatever is leftover. As a lazy gardener, this works for me. I still have plenty of beans for now. It has been an incredibly moist and cool summer. I've barely had to water at all, which is no doubt helping to keep the deer and bunnies sated for now.

Dad, Ellie, and Zeus hiking at Turkey Run, Trail 7.

Stopping to point out where a beaver had started to take down a tree.

SMORES!!!!

Ellie's favorite part of the hike, the "purple waterfall".

Ellie ready for fancy dress-up day the last week of school.

Crazy hair day, last week of school.

My other child.

Mom and Cali at Ogden Gardens.

Ellie sporting "Elsa/Anna" hair. I still can't believe it's long enough finally!

Isis Glamping. She's really not into roughing it.

At the splash pad.

Lake Michigan on possibly one of the coolest mornings.

First Spa Day with Grandpa.

Final effect after Spa Day. Grandma made the special request Elsa dress. This picture gives me goosebumps.

Hiking through the creek up to Clifty Falls. FYI, creek bed hiking is tough! Ellie was a trooper.

Cali slept through it.

Matching summer dresses by Grandma.

Green bean thief.

Paris Market carrot that got pulled by accident.

Just a selection from the cutting garden.

Patient dog. Cali has also done this with the cat.

Sisterly love.

Keeping this for when they start fighting.

Apparently she was hungry, or just needed a chew toy.

Cali's First Year

My baby is one. In honor of that, this post is all (mostly) about her.

She is crawling now. She started just a couple weeks before her birthday. She's already working on pulling up, but her little legs need more strength. Still, the elation on her face when she gets help standing is just priceless. It won't be long.

She eats EVERYTHING. I know there are one or two things she hasn't been crazy about, but I can't for the life of me think of one right now. Oh yeah, cow milk. Not a fan. Favorites include cold water, frozen peas, congealed oatmeal (better finger food), scrambled eggs, sautéed spinach, blackberries, beans, cheese, cheerios, fruit of any kind, tomatoes, avocado, you get the point.

She has a great laugh. Her sister is the funniest person on the planet. She likes to be upside down (although not in utero :p). The most common comments she gets are, "Wow! Look at all those teeth!" and "What pretty eyes she has." I think her eyelashes make her look more feminine. She doesn't get mistaken for a boy nearly as much as other babies I could name (but won't because this is about Cali). 

She is not anemic and is about in the 30th percentile (WHO chart), except her head, which is in the 50th. She is wearing a mix of 12- and 18-month clothes because her legs are long and the 18-month pants are the only ones that don't seem to hike up to her knees. Of course, they swim around her tiny waist.

** Warning, this paragraph is about poo. Skip ahead if you aren't interested. ** She is a wiggler. And a prolific pooper. She must have some powerful intestinal muscles because at least 2-3 times a week, she squeezes poo out the side of her diaper. Luckily, it's winter and she's wearing pants. I will move her up to size 4 diapers just as soon as I work through the 200 or so size 3's I've stockpiled *face palm*. When that warm weather hits, we'll be implementing stage 2 of potty training (i.e. running around without pants so we can whip that diaper off and sit her on the potty to catch her obvious poops). I have a feeling she'll be able to outwrestle me before too long, so the sooner she's pooping in the potty, the better.

She has begun weaning. She's down to 2-3 nursing sessions a day. My goal is to have her weaned by early May since I'm going out of town for a few days. She's still waking in the middle of the night though, so I'm a little worried. Especially since I read that night nursing offers more and fattier milk. I think we'll try to cut that one out next because Dad will not wake up if she cries at night. The teeth that I mentioned earlier have succeeded in puncturing me in a rather tender place and I'm not sure how I'll heal since she puts her teeth in the wound every time she nurses and applies a significant amount of pressure when suckling. It is like 2-4 minutes of excruciating pain each time. I've taken to breathing heavily (like lamaze breathing) just to get through it.

Cali LOVES water. She is a splashy little fish in the tub. We'll be doing swimming lessons during the next session if we can get signed up. And, we are all looking forward to summer. She'll be crawling all over eating sand and picking up dog poo in no time. Maybe I can get her to walk by May too :/

Cali's mom is fail-sauce on the photography. These are all the photos (of her) I have taken since the last post. And, 90% of her photos are in her high chair. Like I said, she likes to eat. I will endeavor to have photos and possibly crawling video next time.

Sassy New Year

Wow. These posts are getting further and further apart. This one will be short since I have four stitches in my left index finger. Typing is a challenge with 9 fingers.

So far this year I have learned:

1. The ER is a wonderful break from kids. However, the recovery period is not worth the 60-90 minute break.

2. If you really want to get antibiotics so you can nip a virus in the bud, cut your finger and go to the ER.

3. Other parents are just as awkward as me sometimes.

4. Three is a truly challenging age that may have decided the size of our family once and for all.

5. Snow can really be a pain. I knew I didn't like being out in it much, but now it's making mountains at intersections, encroaching on driving lanes, making parallel parking darn near impossible, and then when you do, you can only get kids out on the traffic side and then you cannot access the sidewalk…. Argh!! We'll just stay home till it thaws.

6. You cannot simply decide to train your child to stay dry at night.

7. I have to ban my phone from "Mom" time so I can be truly present (and on my toes) for the wily preschooler.

Here are some cute pictures of the kids. I'll try to check in before May :D

Taking a break from sitting

6 teeth and counting - upside down is her favorite position (ironic since she was breech)

She is trying to blow across the top of the bottle (and it's root beer)

Making cookies for Santa

Favorite Present

Making tortillas like a boss

She already eats more than her sister