The Other Jeff

When Michaela turned one it seemed as though she turned a corner and suddenly she and Ava "clicked". They started playing really well with each other and Ava FINALLY had someone to entertain her 24/7 like she wants. Michaela is generally pretty laid back and will play so, so well all by herself. But Ava won't let her play alone when she's around. So Michaela is led from room to room, dressed up, dressed down, put in baskets, put on beds, put under beds, put in wagons, put in cars, put in tents, put under blankets, put under pillows, put on chairs, put on tables. Ava as director of all things "play" in this house has issued Michaela with the roles of "Pepper" and "Jeff". When they are playing their game based on the movie "Annie" then Michaela is on the orphans named "Pepper", Ava is "Annie" (Surprise!), Mommy is "Miss. Hattigan", and daddy is "Daddy Warbucks". When they play house then Michaela is "Jeff", Ava is "mommy", mommy is "Theresa" and I'm not sure who Jeff is in that one. And this is what I'm listening to now. "Mommy" just put "Jeff" to bed on the floor in their room. "Now stay there, Jeff. Night night." I hear her giving "Jeff" kisses and a little bedtime song and then she shuts off the light and closes the door. If I went in there to check I could tell you what I'd find, Michaela lying patiently on the floor sucking her thumb and waiting for Ava to come and "wake" her up. They play this game on the deck out back, on the front steps, on the big rock, in the house, anywhere. Always Ava is in charge and she's putting Michaela to bed. But sometimes she goes to bed and lies down next to Michaela, too. The picture is of Ava who fell asleep on floor and Michaela who is waiting for Ava to wake up and play. Michaela might be a little confused because she's the one who's usually supposed to be sleeping...

The Bath towel

Michaela is a very interesting kid. Not very patient and pretty quick to show her temper. She likes things the way she likes things, and that's it. For instance, she likes to wear her bathtowel on her head for a while after she gets out of the bath. And even after she's gotten dressed after getting out of the bath. And if you take it off of her and hang it up before she's ready for you to do just that you will get to experience a full-on toddler temper tantrum. Rosie will stomp her feet and yell and chew you out while tugging on the towel hoping to pull it off the hook and get it back on her head. But if you let her just wear it for 20 minutes or so she'll usually get bored and take it off herself. We've not yet had to go out in public wearing it so I think we're doing okay.

If you're wondering what she's chewing on in these pictures it's part of a playdough machine. It has playdough dried up and stuck inside it and she's licking it. It's her Playdough Popsicle. (Don't worry, I made the playdough so its definitely non-toxic.) Can you imagine the tantrum when I took that away? Ugh. She understands quite a bit and she understands me more often than I realize. But she doesn't always like my explanations for why I take things away... And she's very good at communicating her displeasure!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a fantastic Labor Day weekend camping with family. Gorgeous weather with warm days and cool nights. Great food and lots of things to do! The kids loved the beach and snacked on sandy cereal and drank sandy juice boxes.
Danika fell asleep after a walk and took her siesta in the shade of Grandpa's truck, with the help of his cooler, of course.
Poptarts for breakfast for these rascals!
It took a long bike ride but I got Ava and Zander to both fall asleep in the bike trailer. How on earth do kids sleep like this? I don't know but I'm so glad that they can!!

Garage Sales

I should probably have one of those silly bumper stickers on my mini-van that says "I Break for Garage Sales". I love them! You never know what goodies you might find! "New" clothes for the girls, a good book, a funky chair, or some other treasure. Ava and Michaela usually have to wait at the curb while I run up quick to "see if there's anything good" but sometimes they get to come and help me hunt. So Ava always has her eyes peeled for a good sale. Well, on Sunday on our way into Rock Valley Ava spotted a BIG garage sale. "Mom, look a garage sale!!" Umm, Ava, that's Bomgaars. But with all of the stuff spread out on display in the parking lot and on the sidewalk, I can see why you thought it was a sale! Nice catch! :)

First Day of Pre-School

Ava Reese started Pre-School this year! And she loves it! (No surprise there :) Its just two mornings a week but I think she'd like to go more often. She likes her teacher and the kids and the crafts and the library and the playground and everything. The bus rides, though, might be her favorite. Up at 6:30 so that she can catch her 7:10 bus she doesn't complain or anything. Jumps on the bus and sits with a smile. She's the first on in the morning. On the way home though she is one of perhaps 6 pre-schoolers who ride the bus. The first day I picked her up off of the bus I noticed that there was a little girl (Jenna) in the front seat and three kids in the second seat. Oh, wait, that's Ava in the second seat. Sitting between two boys... "Why didn't you sit with Jenna, Ava? She was all alone." She didn't know, just shrugged. But the next time I met the bus she was again sitting between two boys and Jenna was again, alone. "Ava, why don't you sit with Jenna?" Shrugging, Ava replies, "Well, I like the boys!" Her father got a little red in the face when she told him this and he told her she needs to sit with Jenna next time. (Of course, she didn't.)

The girl has a point

Ava caught me doing the unthinkable last week. I know, its terrible, but what could I do? I had run out of kleenex and (GASP!) reached for some toilet paper to blow my nose. I folded a bit into a hankie and as I was bringing it to my nose my motion was halted by a little (but loud) voice, "Mom, that's not for noses! That's for butts!!" What can I say? When she's right, she's right.