Summer kiddos

Summer, summer, summer.

It’s going by too fast. I’m going to miss the long days at the pool and at the beach, swimming, playing, eating ice cream, sleeping through the night after a long, exhausting day. (I am not going to miss packing bags for the pool and the beach, wrangling kids in and out of wet bathing suits, wrestling one kid to put on her sunscreen while the other one makes a run for it, and bracing for meltdowns at the end of a long, exhausting day.) But, it’s all mostly fun, and we’re making memories, here, people! 🙂

 

Okay, now for the updates.

Nora:

She is so curious about everything.

She asks “Why?” a million times everyday.

She takes her time to say what’s on her mind, speaking slowly and carefully, her head tilted.

Her smile brightens her face and she is always up for a laugh.

She lets us know when she’s unhappy, and she knows how to put her foot down.

She is smart. One day, we saw a large bird at a lake, and I said, “Nora, look at that cool bird!”

“Oh!” she said. “That’s a great blue heron!” She was right.

She is learning to swim at camp and she’s gaining confidence. She doesn’t want to put her head under water, but she’s starting to kick and move in the water a little bit on her own.

Rosie

Rosie is getting all four molars at once. She is 16 months… right? One, two, three, four… no, 17 months. My brain is fried– that’s what having two of them does to you. 😉

Here’s my favorite thing that she does: she pats and rubs my back when I pick her up. It is the cutest thing ever.

She shakes her head no when you ask her any question. “Is your name Rosie?” No. “Do you like ice cream?” No.

She says so many words now: Mama, Dada, Rara, gogurt, nak (snack), fishy noise (goldfish), ors (horse), hi, ello, bah bah (bye bye), bebe (baby), bup (cup), names of friends and family…. She’ll repeat almost anything we say.

She knows how to turn the hose on and off, flush the toilet, climb up onto the stool to wash her hands, take off marker caps and color, open and close the refrigerator, and more.

She thinks Nora is just the bees knees. Nora can make her laugh more than anyone. She has also learned to guard her belongings, and to lash out when Nora takes something that’s hers.

When she eats or grabs something she’s not supposed to, she smiles and laughs and speed walks in the other direction as fast as possible.

She likes to do ugamuga before bed and rub noses with all of us.

Her thighs are impressive.

Summer’s not over yet! Enjoy!!!

Until next time!

🙂

 

 

I’m so proud of you

Rosie walks at 13 months! We’re so proud of her and of her big sister, Nora for being so sweet and supportive of her. She has been cruising for a few weeks now, but she took her first few steps yesterday. Today, she walked across the floor all the way to Nora.

What else is Rosie up to? She has two new teeth on the top, so that makes eight teeth! She says Mama, bye (with a Southern accent– Bah!), hi (ha!), ball (bah!), Nora (Rara), and something that could mean this or that (datssss). She loves to point at everything and say datsssss or yayackkkk. She really wants to talk about everything she sees. She makes a bunch of animal noises– hooo hooo (owl), pppp (cow or elephant), gah gah gah (duck), raaaaaar (bear, lion or miscellaneous animal) and my favorite- blehbuh blehbuh (fish). She gives hugs, putting her head in your lap and kisses (mah!) She just learned how to drink from a sippy cup and a straw. She wants to join in the fun, whatever it is. She is always mimicking the noises that Nora makes, and she leans forward in her car seat so she can get a better look at whatever shenanigans Nora is up to. Her belly laugh is the best. She is so sweet.

Now, Nora. She really seems like a big kid now. She has a big kid double bed, she can get herself dressed, and she just looks so tall suddenly. She is very thoughtful when she speaks. Sometimes, she’ll look very pensive when I peer back in the rear-view mirror, and she brings up something we talked about earlier that day.

Here’s an example: “Mommy, can I drive the car?”

“When you’re sixteen, you can drive.”

“Why?”

“Because that’s how old you have to be. You take a class called driver’s ed, and you learn how to drive safely.”

(Insert Nora asking “Why?” several more times to whatever I say.)

“When am I going to be sixteen?”

“In twelve years.”

(Quiet for awhile)

“But, why am I three for so long and four for so long?”

“Well, you were three for a whole year, and now you’ll be four for a whole year.”

“But that’s a long time before I’ll be sixteen! What if I’m four forever?”

“You won’t be, I promise.”

I really enjoy these deep talks.

Nora loves art and gets very focused whenever she’s working on something. She made a beautiful painting called “Rainbow World.” She put her paint brush down and said she was finished. “When Daddy gets home,” she said, “I’m going to tell him that I’m not going to paint any more days.” I think she meant that she had created her masterpiece, and needed to paint no more. Luckily, she changed her mind about that later that afternoon and decided she’d like to paint again.

 

Fall pics

There were too many cute pics to choose from, so I included them all. There’s more to come.

I want you to stay too long

Nora

At three and a half, Nora is a strong-minded little monkey who swings back and forth between wanting to do everything “all by myself” and needing her mommy and daddy.

Developing independence means she sticks to her point-of-view and doesn’t back down. Logic does not sway her. Life for Nora is all about what she wants and does not want. “I want milk right now,” “I want to watch a little something!” “I don’t want to ride my scooter,” “No, I don’t want to go to the pool!”

We went to Rockland Lake so she could ride her scooter. She was distracted by all of the families who had gathered at picnic benches for cookouts, and by the smell of hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken wafting in the air.

“I want to eat dinner,” she decided, stepping off her scooter, trying to pull her helmet off.

“We didn’t bring dinner,” we said.

“Well, that’s okay,” she said walking over to join another family’s cookout. “There’s food over there. We can eat some of their food.”

“But that’s not our food,” we said. “We’ll turn around, go home and get dinner.”

She wouldn’t have it. “Nooo!” she yelled, about to sit down with the family. “I want dinner here!”

I’m trying to remind myself that though exhausting at times, she is showing character traits that will serve her later in life: She knows what she wants. She’s learning how to negotiate. She’s smart. She’s a problem solver. If we didn’t bring dinner, we could just go ask those nice people over there if they have a few hot dogs to spare. It must be hard to be so small, to do what grownups want all the time.

She seems to need us less and less as she asserts herself and learns how to do things for herself. But she still needs us. She’s afraid of the dark and she won’t let us leave her room so she can go to sleep. Lying in her bed, she wraps her arms around my head and says, “I want you stay too long! I really want you to stay too long!” I’d like to get to sleep and I don’t want to have a nighttime routine that never ends, and yet, I like that she’s holding onto me a little.

Rosie

Rosie rolls over! For a while she could only do back to front and then started complaining because she couldn’t turn back over. She’s learning to turn the other way. She is a close talker. She likes to get right up there so our eyes become one eye and open her mouth and try to eat me. She likes to suck on her fingers, my fingers, anybody’s fingers. Maybe those teeth are coming in. She likes to reach out and grab my face and squeeze it in her little lobster claws. She is so chill and smiley all the time. She likes the Jumparoo. She likes to do a Tarzan yell. She says gggghhh and bwah and ahbah and she is working on being a ventriloquist talking with her mouth closed. She is so chubby! She grabs her hands and feet and looks at them with wonder. She gets startled a lot. She is taking big sister Nora’s rough hugs in stride. She laughs when you kiss her belly. She’s delicious.

I call you Nokius

Kevin: Nora there’s a fox over there, look! Nora: Oh wow! Today? Kevin: Yes right now. On the side of the road. Nora: Oh! when we were driving home? Kevin: Yes, two seconds ago. Nora: Oh! You mean today?

Nora: Daddy? Kevin: Yes, Nora? Nora: Is it Valemtimes day today? Kevin: No that’s in February. Nora: Oh! Why?

Nora: Mommy, can I take my shoes off? Me: Sure. Nora: Oh. Okay. Why?

Leah: Why does Nora keep knocking down our castles? Nana: Because she’s three. Nora: Yeah, well… I’m a little bit young so I don’t know things.

Nora: Mommy, when is Rosie going to be older? Me: She’s getting older all the time. But in three years, she’ll be your age. Nora: Mommy? Me: Yes, Nora? Nora: I call you Nokius! Me: Nokius? I like that. What does that mean? Nora: It means you know things.

Nora: Wosie is my best friend! I love Wosie. Wosie’s so cutie. It’s okay, Wosie wosie petosie. Don’t cry. Mommy will feed you when we get home!

Me: Nora, did you like the fireworks? Nora: (Sighs) yeah. Yeah. But. I couldn’t get them out of my eyes! Because. They were a little bit too bright for me! So, so, so, I covered my eyes like this. (Puts hands over eyes.) Because. I couldn’t get them out of my eyes!

Nora: Well. Today, it was just a little too bright. Because. I couldn’t actually sleep today. But. I could actually sleep. But it was a little scary in my bed. Me: Oh, why was it scary? Nora:  Because. There were pictures in my eyes. And that’s why I wanted to sleep in your bed.

Rosie (4 months):
She stares intently at people and things and has started to grab and hold onto toys. She reaches out for my face and grabs at my chin. It’s the cutest. Her fingers are usually covered with slober because she sticks both hands in her mouth and sometimes tries to smile talk with them like that. She loves making noises and likes to chat, make eye contact and interact. She has started making a squealy noise that sounds a little like an angry cat. She is very smiley and happy. She is perfectly chubby, soft and so much fun to hug and squeeze. When she’s sitting on my lap she likes to look back up at me and hold onto my arm with love in her eyes. No sass. Unconditional love.

The girls

Nora is not only a big sister now — she is becoming a big girl. She’s learning to do a lot of things on her own — going potty, putting her clothes on and taking them off, climbing in and out of the car, riding a scooter and more and more. This is exciting for all of us, and yet, there are also some growing pains that come along with independence and separation. She likes things the way she likes them. (Know of any other strong-willed folks in this family?… Ahem.) When I tell her it’s 93 degrees and so fleece pants might not be the best choice for today, she doesn’t want to hear it. “But these are my pony pants. Because I’m a pony!” It’s an interesting age because she’s somewhere between being a toddler and an independent kid — she’s not quite able to do all of these things on her own and still needs assistance. But we don’t do things the way she’d like to do them on her own. She likes to set up the couch a certain way before watching TV and if someone sits on the wrong pillow, she gets upset. She likes to wear a multi-colored jelly shoe on one foot and a purple flip-flop that is a size too small on the other foot. She’s not ointerested in logic — that those shoes won’t be too comfortable on the playground. She likes to pour orange juice into her yogurt and when we tell her not to play with her food, she says, “But these are the baby birds and that is their mommy!” which is a hard point to argue. She wants the cupcake underpants not the blue ones! So, there’s a lot of push and pull, but ultimately, we’re so proud of her for being just who she is and for trying new things and being brave.

She is also hilarious. She says to me from the backseat of the car with a lot of emphasis on each word, “Mommy? I… like… too… much… ice cream!”

When Daddy tried on new glasses and asked her what she thought, she said, “Daddy, you look pretty. Weird!”

Rosie is a mush. She’s in the 98th percentile for height and weight and has the cutest little chubby rolls. She has started to smile and make cute little noises that come from the back of her throat. She coos when we sing to her. So far,  her favorite artists are The Beatles, Adele and The Muppets. She is so laid back and such a sweetie!

Love these two. Xo

May pics

What are you doing moon? Are you up in the sky?

 – Nora saw herself in the mirror. A strand of her hair was sticking straight up. “I have a unicorn,” she said.

–  She speaks in full sentences and tells stories about her day: “We meet baby Hanya aaaand see Seryn… aaand run around… aaand eat graham crackers and animal crackers and Seryn have some aaand we play with bubbles.”

–  She seems to finally get it that I’m a space cadet who constantly loses things. She walked into my closet the other day and said, “Uh, I’m looking for my belt. I can’t find it.”

– Randomly, she opened the door again, looked at me and said, “Let me know if you have a poop.”

–  She walked up to a little girl at the playground. “I have my jacket too,” she said, pointing at her own orange coat. “I’m Nora.” The girl just stared at her and then ran away. I was in near tears. How cute is she? Introducing herself to somebody?

(She’s transitioning out of parallel play and starting to really interact with people. This is exciting, but also nerve-wracking, because she’s about to enter a new world in which she cares what others think about her. I will have less and less control over how others treat her and how she internalizes things and that’s kind of scary. But, I realize this is an important step in her development. I’m so proud of her. Sniffle.)

–  While I was trying to pack, she put on my swim cap and held the goggles up to her eyes. “This is my mommy’s hat,” she said.

–   It happened. She climbed out of the crib. Oh boy. I knew this day would come. Nana and Poppop were babysitting and they heard a thud. They ran upstairs to find her quietly standing by the glider chair, looking a little shocked. “I bounced out,” she said. (I’m not ready to put her in a toddler bed! I can’t imagine her left to her own devices in her room! She would probably climb the walls and start eating bottles of Desitin! Has anyone been through this? Advice?)

–  We’ve been dealing with some poopy messes lately in her crib. It hasn’t been pretty, I’ll tell you that. I’ll spare you the gory details… let’s just say she likes finger painting. I’ve been strapping her into those footy onesie pajamas for every nap. I’ve been trying to concoct mixes of lemon juice and mouth wash to get the smell off her hands. I need a vacation! (Advice?)

–  She calls the stuffed animals in her crib “my guys.”

–  She squeezes our faces says we’re “so cute!” in this French-sounding accent. “Mommy’s zo cute, isn’t she? Aw, Daddy’s zo cute!”

–   She holds the page of a book in her little hand and says, “Take care of books. Don’t rip it, right?”

–   If you give her something, she might think you made it. “Daddy made these elephant banjamas (pajamas), right?” (I like the idea of Kevin sitting down at night after a hard day’s work to sew some elephant pajamas.)

–  I asked her if she wanted to hear music in the car and she said, “No. I’m singing Rockabye Baby to my sheep.”

–   Her improvisational skills are getting more and more advanced. “Old MacDonald had a stuffy nose,” “And on that farm there was a pants,” “And on that farm there was a Brianna.” She can sing Row Row Your Boat and Twinkle Twinkle little star to the tune of David Melach Yisrael.

–  She talks to people from afar so that they feel obligated to stand there until she’s done. “I have my leopard bear!” “I take my shoe off!” “This is my mommy!”

–  A woman was carrying a baby in a sling, and Nora said from afar, “See the baby hugging the mommy?”

–  She has so much ENERGY! She sometimes holds both ears, makes this weird face and shakes like the hulk. She does this while running around the yard.

–  Other funny/random things she’s said: “My name is cutie pie,” “Oh I found this in my hand!” “I wanna take a little bath and watch Dora and pelay (play),” “Kermit’s going for a ride! To the grocery store!” “That’s a biiiig poop,” “I want to hear Led Zeppelin. Is this ‘I Gotta Woman.’?” “Don’t break Daddy’s watch, right?” “The kitty cat is zo cute. Hiii kitty cat.” “I’m zo cute. I’m little. I’m a baby.”

–  We took a walk one day and you could see the white moon against the blue sky. “I see the moon,” Nora said from her stroller. “I see it,” I said. Then she yelled, “What are you doing moon?! Are you up in the sky?!”

fall 2013 highlights

Prenatal yoga in Rockland County, NY

Hi everyone! I’m teaching a prenatal 4-week yoga series at the Union Arts Center in Sparkill, NY. The class will run Tuesdays Sept 17- October 8 from 7- 8:15pm. If you or anyone you know is pregnant, lives near Rockland County, NY and is interested in taking a yoga class, please spread the word! You can contact me with questions or sign up here: https://secure.mainstreetsites.com/dmn1405/register.aspx.