Universal Baby Sign for..

MOM GET ME TO A GYMNASTICS CLASS!

(And the quality of these pics is poor because I decided that running out of the room to get my real camera pushed the meter just past "catching a moment" and into "parental neglect")

Oh I'm Just a Goy

Today D spelled a word on the refrigerator and proudly showed it to me. I said, "Great job sweetheart, but I think you spelled it backwards."

She gave me a look that I am sure I will see all throughout her tweens and replied condescendingly, "Mom, I wrote it in Hebrew."

20

Today marks 20 years since my father died. I can't really say anything I haven't already said about it before. He was too young, we were too young. It seems like such a long time ago and that feeling makes me melancholy. But hearing my girls refer to him as if he is just another person they like to learn about makes me really happy. This may make no sense, but thanks to them he is more 'alive' to me than he has been in a very long time.

The Unibrain Reunited

There are people from my days at Trilogy who I will never be friends with again. They knew me at a certain time in my life and our relationship would never get past that fact. Either they wouldn't be able to see that I am not the same person or I wouldn't want to remind myself of the person that I was then.

Then there are people from my days at Trilogy who will be friends forever. They have seen the good, the bad, and the really ugly and they probably know me better than I know myself. And somehow they still like me. And being with them is like a giant exhale because I can just be myself. And at the same time I learn a lot from them because our lives are evolving and moving in all different directions. (And if I can get over feeling inadequate relative to them, I am also motivated by their intelligence and success : ))

I got to spend this past weekend with 3 such people. It was like a homecoming for my brain. We talked, exercised, spa'd, talked, ate, drank, talked, and talked. It was awesome. It was the first nights I'd spend away from my family in over two years, and I desperately needed it. Thank you so much ladies. I hope we can make it an annual event.

Pirate Booty

About the most boastful I have felt as a parent is when I recently told someone I met "I secretly think Dylan could be the Tina Fey of her generation." Given how the person looked at me, I think they were trying to figure out why I would want that. (how could you not?!!?)

Obviously I am getting ahead of myself (just a tad), but here are a few things in my defense:

--I found her in front of the mirror the other day making funny faces. She kept at it for a LONG time. Finally I asked her what she was doing--- "I'm trying to learn how to raise one eyebrow."

--One of her favorite things to do is to have me 'make the faces' that she makes. She can spend 15 minutes watching how different facial expressions she makes look on me.

--One day after she did something particularly odd, I said--mostly to myself--- "Where did you come from?" From behind me, in a "to herself tone," I hear "Your belly."

--One day D comes home and tells me that "Some of the kids at school call a bum a 'booty.' She was clearly very pleased with this discovery. I steered the conversation in another direction but a bit later I find D in the corner of her room, in her pirate pjs, sort of talking to herself. I hear her say, to herself "Booty." Then she gives out a deep little chuckle and says, to herself like she's storing it away for future use, "I like that word."

C's humor, on the other hand, is a little more subtle, but equally entertaining. C is either funny because she sounds like a grownup, or funny because she is so expressive in her telling of something, or she is funny in a sort of dry way. Best example:

The other day C watched Lila walk. Casually, she turned to her sister and said "Hey Li, good job. Now all you need to do is learn how to talk."

And in Case You Were Wondering...

This is where I'm blogging from.... booyaa.

(Thank you grandparents for making this vacation possible!!!)

Good Days

Despite Andrew's recently hectic travel schedule, things are getting easier. There are more days now when I find myself really enjoying the day as opposed to just making sure we get through it. The thought of doing bath, dinner, and bed for all three all by myself no longer seems like a major challenge. A little tough at times, but very doable. Other things are starting to pop up (C's tantrums, but that is another post) but LBD is getting older and actually playing now--by herself and with C and D, and that frees me up a little more to actually to things that need to get done. I still hate cooking and A's frequent absences really make me appreciate what he does when he is here, but there are many more days that I can say were 'fun.'

Tuesday offered not one but two times when I laughed out loud at something they did:

1. We were driving and C and D were playing "20 Questions" (I taught C when we were driving down to Target just her, me, and L and she was "Lonely" without D in the back with her). To call it 20 questions is a little generous, as it involved a lot of 'hints,' but they were enjoying it. It was C's turn and she had helped D establish that it was a 'sea animal,' it started with the letter M, it was grey, and it had a tale like a mermaid but it wasn't a mermaid. But D couldn't guess what it was, and neither could I! I figured that she was just making something up. Finally I stepped in:

Me: "You 'stumped' us! We don't know! Can you just tell us what you were thinking of?"

C: (With a little tiny grin, more apologetic than proud) "A manatee."

2. At dinner I gave them each a brownie bite for dessert. D polished hers off and wanted another--"Uno mas por favor" she says. (Since we want to encourage them to learn Spanish, I sometimes tell them that if they can ask for something in Spanish they can have it).

Me: "Well do you know the word for brownie?"

D: "No, what is it?"

Me: "I actually don't know."

D: (Thinking for a minute and talking to herself almost), "I think I might make up a word for brownie."

D: Then looking back at me, and saying the word with an accent, though she probably didn't realize it: "How about 'lomez?'

I laughed out loud.

Taking the Duck by the Beak

We were at a little museum here recently that we go to when we can't think of anything else to do and the weather is bad. They have a few small exhibits and then a room with small live creatures (birds, owls, bees, rabbits, squirrels, etc). LBD is pretty fascinated with animals (D loves to tell passing dog owners that "Our baby is very dog friendly!" sometimes with a crooked little finger up close to her own face to emphasize the point).

C and D were playing with the 'earthquake' replicator (you put a punch of legos onto a grid, then push the button that shakes the grid, and you watch your buildings crash. They shriek w/ glee while I sit there and panic over the state of our earthquake preparedness kit). So I took LBD in to check out the animals. One of the museum employees was just bringing a duck in from the bath. He stopped and showed Lila the duck and encouraged her to pet it. She was very hesitant at first, just stared at the duck that was about as big as her, and he was really patient and waited for her to get comfortable.

Then out of nowhere L reaches out, grabs the duck firmly by the beak, and shakes it like she's shaking a person's hand. Try as it might, the duck couldn't get out of Chunka's firm grasp. (We did finally get her to loosen her grip).

The guy thought it was hysterical and proceeded to tell the other employees that "there's the baby who took the duck by the beak" every time we saw him again that morning.