A New Game

Today, Jillian changed the game around here. The story goes like this: We planned to go to lunch at Pi Pizza after Bible study with my group and their kids. Pi is one of her very favorite spots in town. I told her we were going as long as she was a good listener that morning. I picked the girls up from their rooms after study and reminded Jillian that we needed to go straight to the car and head over to Pi to try and get some tables. Jillian immediately threw herself down on the ground (always in the middle of the hall, in front of the whole wide world) and screamed loudly about wanting to play on the playground. I calmly reminded her that we wouldn't be able to play today (and besides, it was really cold) and that she  needed to stand up and come with me to get our stuff and get to lunch. I reminded her that if she kept giving me trouble we would just go home. We were almost out the door, when she started in again, flailing herself on the ground, kicking, etc right in the breezeway of the church. I got down on my knees (holding Adrienne, J's coat, and a large bag through all this, mind you) looked her in the eyes and told her that she needed to come with me calmly right now, or we were going home. What did she do? Screamed right in my face. So--I told her we were going home and proceeded to haul my screaming circus past about 75 more people to the car. Jillian screamed, and screamed, and screamed--about how sad she was, how she wanted to go to Pi pizza, etc. As I was driving toward home I was conflicted--follow through, or pull over and have a discussion to maybe offer her a bit of grace in this circumstance (maybe the punishment was too harsh? I was just fighting with myself, and angry that I had held up that lunch out over her head in the first place, knowing she would push and push to test the limit). So I tried--I pulled over, opened her door, leaned in, and calmly attempted to ask her what happened, what other choice she could have made, etc. This was met with more blatant screaming in my face, so I had my answer. Home it was. More screaming when she realized I really WAS taking her home. We get in the garage just as our flooring guys were leaving for the day (new flooring project in the basement right now) and wanted to talk to me. I can hear her kicking and screaming like a wild animal about wanting to go to Pi as I stood outside trying to talk to the guys (while apologizing profusely for the noise). I finally get her inside, determined to stay calm and give as little attention as possible while carrying out this unfortunate consequence of lunch at home while our friends lunched at our favorite spot. She immediately turns off her fit like a switch, looks at me and says: "That's OK Mom, I didn't want to go to Pi anyway".
My jaw hit the floor. Is this kid really only almost 4, or is she 14????  Guess I'd better figure out my strategy for this new game before she wins again.

Purple People Eater

Today was purple day at preschool. Actually it was purple and orange day. Jillian's primary teacher has been having the kids dress in various color combos the last two weeks to make their unit on colors more fun. First it was blue/brown, then red/yellow, next black/green, and finally the purple/orange day today. I am not sure how she decided on those combos, but I can assure you it has made for some interesting ensembles. Today, Jillian fully embraced the purple idea and found just about every shade of it in her drawer as she got dressed this morning. The only thing orange she owns (outside of Halloween pajamas) is an orange-beaded hair accessory that you can't see in the picture.

Tonight as we were conversing at dinner, I asked her if she had gotten any timeouts at school this year. She told me no while smiling slyly. I asked her if she was telling me the truth, and she assured me she was. Then she sheepishly began, "Mom, but if you do naughty things in Mrs Malagrino's class (junior gym), you don't get a time out. Isn't that amazing?!?!?"

Chapstick

Jillian has been having lip-licking issues, so has been dealing with some dry lips. I thought that perhaps if we found her some special chapstick, she might put it on before bed and get a bit of relief. So, Matt and I found her this lovely all-natural pink chapstick while we were at Target on our date Saturday morning and presented her with it at bedtime. She was overcome with glee, and in such a natural grown-up way, headed straight for the mirror on the back of her bedroom door to apply it.

When she was all done with copious (and I do mean copious) application of the strawberry-flavored balm, she exclaimed "I look like a real lady!!"

The pic is blurry, I know, but you can still see how thrilled she was with the result

Over Pancakes

We had pancakes for dinner tonight. I wasn't feeling great today, and was totally uninspired to make dinner. Matt was happy with the leftovers I didn't want to eat again, so I made the girls and I pancakes. I seriously had a thought while eating that I just haven't had much to write about on the blog lately, and was trying to think through the past few days and come up with some material to record. Jillian must have sensed my struggle, because with her usual interesting timing, she blurted out: "Are we going to die?"
Matt and I exchanged blank stares. He remained silent, and so, with that glance I knew he was waiting for ME to answer her. So I tried..."Well, Jillian, everybody dies someday"
J: "But I don't want to die! I'm not going to die."
Me: (sweating) "Well, we all hope it won't be for a very long time."
There was a lengthy pause, which made me think that I might have gotten off the hook for a split second. But, no.
J: "Mom, if you and Daddy die there won't be anyone to take care of us".
Me: (crying inside) "Mommy and Daddy will never let you be alone. If something ever happens to us before you and Adrienne are grown up, you will have someone to take care of you. I promise."
J: "Who?"
Me: "Aunt Meggie and Uncle D"
J: "Oh, OK. Can I have some more pancakes?"

Note To Self:

Do not give Adrienne a graham cracker for a snack. The time saved in preparation is not worth the time spent cleaning up the high chair, floor (not pictured), and child (not pictured).

15 Months

Happy 15 Months to Miss Adrienne! What a joy. She is turning into such a little person, and though she walked a bit on the late side (compared to extreme early walking in Jillian), she has transitioned to a solid walker much faster. No more arms held at high guard as she tries to balance--she just puts them down at her side and wanders around like a big person. We find it to be irresistibly cute and funny at the same time. I tried to take a picture of her mid-saunter this morning as we were headed out to church, but accidentally took a video. She looks so cute that I still can't help but post it.

It also illustrates a snippet of a skill she is quite proficient at--sticking up for herself. She knows how to holler and can really turn it on when Jillian gets a little too close (or too bossy) for her liking. Matt and I witnessed multiple instances this weekend where Adrienne squawked unnecessarily in attempt to manipulate us to get after Jillian when she truly was innocent. Survival of the fittest, I suppose.

Despite this emergence of true sibling banter, these girls really love each other. Adrienne thinks it is awesome to wrestle Jillian. You might think that Jillian is the instigator of this game, but she is not. It is almost always Adrienne who starts this type of fun.

Adrienne has added a few new words this month, but most notable is "poop". She frequently grabs her diaper and says "poop"--and she is right. The girl definitely associates the act with the word, and can tell me when she is dirty. She gets a lot of practice at this because she is extraordinarily "regular" if you catch my drift. In other language related development, she has started calling me "Mom" or "Mommy" instead of "Mama" and clearly calls Matt "Daddy". She is completely smitten with him, and seeks him out when he is home for some regular snuggles and attention. The word "baby" is more clear and she is excited by any baby or picture of a baby she sees. If you ask her a question, she often responds with "yah!" (i.e. "Do you want to go outside?"). I guess she is a true Minnesotan.

Adrienne is starting some climbing, though she is still relatively cautious. She gingerly climbed atop a diaper box last week and I've caught her trying to stand on box-like toys in her "baby jail". I generally only put her in there when I have to make dinner, and she rarely makes a fuss about it. On Thursday, I went to retrieve her and found this little surprise.

I guess we can add "removes clothes" to the list of new skills. I'm thankful this wasn't one of those "poop" instances because she also had the back of her diaper like a thong. Close call, for sure.

Last, but most certainly not least, is her giggle. The kid has such an infectious laugh that just overtakes her whole body. It is easy to elicit with just a bit of tickling.

I am doing my best to savor every second of this stage. Precious, precious, precious.

Snapshots

It's been over a week since I posted, which might be some kind of record for me. Some weeks are more "newsworthy" than others, but I think we are just officially settled in the Fall routine and are in a groove.  I was glancing back at my phone pics from the last week to see if I had missed anything worthy of posting, but found that the combined camera roll was a good summary of life in the last few days. Here's what we've been up to....

Matt has been home for more bedtimes, which we all love. The girls have started enjoying their bedtime books together.

Playtime...Adrienne tries her best to keep up with Jillian's antics. When she can't, she really knows how to work a scream to get our attention (and Jillian in trouble)

Jillian sporting one of her new school outfits that she selected. If it's bright, loud, and a fashion risk, you can bet she loves it (and totally rocks it).

I made four pans of baked penne with tomatoes and mozzarella one afternoon--gave 3 to friends who could use them (pregnant on bedrest/new baby/husband out of town), and kept the other for us.

Matt and I had a date on Thursday night. We finally tried the newest sushi restaurant in town (it is by far the beset) and we wandered around furniture stores as we begin our search for some basement furniture)

The basement remodel project is officially underway, and step 1 is done.  The bright red walls were replaced with "Techno Gray". Flooring and built-in wall unit for TV watching are also in the works.

Jenni and I had a fantastic moms-only day of shopping in Minneapolis on Saturday. This is the only picture I have to represent the day. Shoes make moms happy. I took it to text to our husbands, who were also spending the day together (with all 4 kids) at the Renaissance Festival. We totally got the better end of the deal this time!

Adrienne finally got in on a bit of Sunday morning art time with Jillian. I taped butcher paper to the table and they had a good time coloring together for about 5 minutes.

Jillian had a birthday party to attend on Sunday afternoon. She and I left home a couple hours early (Matt watching football, A napping) and ran some errands. We got the car washed/detailed, got her some new shoes (I let her choose the sparkly-sequinned tennis shoes over the more practical after she put on a dramatic performance exclaiming all the wonders of these shoes) , and went to pick up a basement flooring sample. She was so much fun and really seemed so grown up that day. We don't often have time alone together, but I think we are onto something with this Sunday afternoon deal.

Matt started drinking his breakfast. It's green and pretty gross.

And Jillian drew "a thing from outer space"