Thursday, August 30, 2007

The first day



The first day was tough. My poor Sydney had a really really tough day! I got her to school a little before nine so I could spend a little extra time in the room with the girls. They were fine as long as I was in the room. When I informed Sydney that it was time for me and Jordan to leave she became very upset. I hugged and kissed her and reminded her that I would come and walk her home later. She was still sad and I left. I did not go far, I went back to my faithful port hole where I had a birds eye view of all the kids in the room crying, except Lior. Lior was content sitting at the art table playing with the glue and a paint brush.
Sydney was not as happy or interested in the glue, the paper, or the paint brushes. She wanted her Mommy and there was NO changing her mind! After about a half an hour they took the kids outside for a little change in environment. I thought this would be Sydney's magic bullet and once she hit the heat and humidity she would stop crying, no such luck. They came to get me and I took Sydney to the playground where she had a great time. She played in the music garden, found a comfortable chair and even rode the tricycles. The second I went to say goodbye she lost it. I left to take Jordan to the gym.
I walked into the gym and my phone rang. Sydney was still crying and they thought I should come back. Matt was on his way to the gym to spend some quality time with Jordan so I waited for him to arrive so he could put her car seat in his car and Jordan could stay at the gym and I raced back to cuddle my Sydney.
When I arrived my Sydney had finally calmed down and decided to join in on some of the fun. They told me that while Sydney was crying on the playground Lior came over and tried to kiss Sydney's head but Sydney pushed her away. I am glad Lior is such a good sister, they even pulled her out of the room to walk with Sydney and she was fine with it. The director told me that Sydney was able to calm herself down by cuddling with the rebbetzin for about twenty minutes and then she just decided to get up and start playing. I was so relieved that Sydney was fine when I got back, I saw her through the window and she was smiling.
I got home at about eleven and was at a loss, whatever was I going to do with NO BABIES? I turned on the television and watched in bed for thirty minutes and then I had to get up. I made myself wait until twelve thirty to walk back over to school. Matt met me there with Jordan just as they were walking Sydney out because she was sad. I walked her back to her classroom where we played for the last few minutes of the day and Lior got the chance to show me all the beautiful pictures she drew.


Later in the afternoon when I asked Lior if she had fun she said yes. When I asked her if Sydney had fun she said "No, Sydney missed you." I felt like crawling under the floor until I asked her if she missed me and she said "No, I missed Daddy". I think Lior is ready to go back to school but Sydney says she does not want to go back. The only way she will go back is if she can wear her backpack because she really likes the accessories.

Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Monkeys



We have taken the big girls to the gym once a week for about the past three months. When we first started I think the girls were just thrilled to be "free". Now that they are more accustomed to the gym they are really refining their skills and improving on them. When we started Sydney needed me by her side when she swung from the bar and now she does it all by herself as much and as often as possible.

One thing that I have noticed is that when they started they kept their legs straight, now they are bending their legs and bringing them up closer to the chest. I can only imagine that they will be trying to flip themselves over that bar any day now!
They tried something new today, walking like a bear on the parallel bars. Hand, hand, foot, foot. Sydney wanted to try it right away.


Lior tried it on her own, at first (the picture is blurry but you can see how brave she is)

and then only wanted her daddy and Joy to help her.


Don't think we left Jordan out she is going to the gym tomorrow where she will hang from the bar and try to pull herself up, just like the big girls. Hopefully the camera will cooperate.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

The first day


The first day is over with, the girls were amazing and Matt and I survived. The girls allowed Matt and I to leave without any tears from them. We needed to take a few minutes before we joined the other parents in the lobby as we were both teary eyed. We spent the next hour and a half sitting in the lobby waiting for the coffee to brew and running to the port hole window in the multi-purpose room to watch the girls at play. The girls painted, used the bingo markers, and played outside. They did a lot more but our view was extremely limited. I do know they stayed near each other all day. They painted together on the same easel, which everyone thought was adorable and they are right they are adorable!
I could kick myself because I was so caught up in the nerves associated with the day that I did not take any pictures of them in their classroom. I thought I took a ton of pictures of them walking to school but I only took about five. I guess we were too busy concentrating on making the girls comfortable than capturing the day on film. I have to remind myself to stop and take pictures on Thursday, their first full day of school.
The good news is that I think they want to go back. When I asked them if they were going to go back and play with Morah Leslie Sydney said "yes, EE-or too!" Lior said "no" but she always says no first. After their bath she put on her backpack and said she was going to see Morah Leslie. I guess we will see how it goes on Thursday.

Monday, August 27, 2007

Getting ready

Our girls are just growing so very fast it is hard to keep up. Jordan cut yet another tooth and is almost ready to push through another one. Our big girls are getting ready for their first official day of school. We are talking about it constantly in order to prepare them for the big day. After several discussions it seems that the girls are going to play with Morah Leslie, mommy and daddy are going to say bye-bye, then mommy and daddy will drink coffee and then mommy and daddy will pick them up (I think they think we are going to carry them and they really don't understand what is going on at all). One thing I know for sure, they are reassured by the fact that their sister will be with them, even if their mother is not.
I know they are listening because yesterday as we were getting the girls in the car Sydney took off towards the school to see her teacher. Today every time we left the house both girls started to walk toward the school saying they were going to see Morah Leslie. They were very excited when I pulled out their backpacks to show them. They put them on and grabbed hands to walk to school. Sydney kept peaking out from behind the chair to say "bye-bye". I just hope that the girls are as excited tomorrow as we wave goodbye and walk out the door.

Sunday, August 26, 2007

Dog days of summer

We finally decided to wash the dogs. They were beyond dirty but now they are sparkling clean. They still smell but not as bad. The girls thought washing the dogs was the best activity. It had most of their criteria for a great time. It included the dogs of course, water and bubbles it was missing junk food but being outside more than made up for it.








Jordan had a great time watching the big kids and swinging in the swing.

And sitting with daddy was fun too.

Saturday, August 25, 2007

Potty training 101

I think I did Matt in today. When we got home from our day out and about I introduced Matt to the wonderful world of potty training. I needed a break from sitting on the floor and asking Lior if the pee pee was coming and from waiting for the pee pee to come. Sydney is not ready to be trained but insists on watching Lior every single time and she wants to sit all of the time. "I watch, I watch, I watch Lior" and a majority of the time she sits in our tiny little powder room and watches Lior sit on the potty and hands her "tupa towel" whenever she asks for it. When Sydney does not want to sit and watch she ransacks the sippy cup drawer. When she rifles through the drawer it drives Matt completely CRAZY. Guess what Sydney chose to do today? That's right she tore that drawer apart and Matt could not get her to stop. I think I actually saw the smoke pouring out of his ears. When he finally picked her up and brought her into baby jail he lectured me on how the girls need to start listening. When he tells them to stop doing something the girls need to stop what they are doing and listen to him. I tried to explain to him that the girls are two and it is developmentally appropriate for them to tear apart drawers and not listen to their parents. They are pushing their limits and testing the boundaries. We need to set the limits and establish the boundaries to teach them to listen when we ask them to stop doing something. As much as Matt feels pressure from work and would like to take a permanent vacation, the idea of being home with our gaggle of girls scares the poop out of him and hopefully makes him realize why I am so happy to see him when he walks through the door.

Friday, August 24, 2007

Caution


Sydney and Lior are independent, strong willed and confident. I raised them to be independent, they are strong willed because I am and they are confident because they are independent and strong willed. I want them to stay that way, maybe a little less strong willed, but I think all these qualities go hand in hand.

Last night at the orientation for preschool the teacher made a big deal about how by the end of the school year they would be able to turn on the water, get the soap and wash their hands independently. Sydney and Lior already do it and they love to do it because they can and because they are their fathers children. Today at school I needed to remind their teacher that Sydney and Lior are more than capable of washing their hands by themselves. I also needed to remind her that they were more than capable of climbing up and down the small step stool by themselves. It makes me very nervous to see someone be overly cautious with my fiercely independent little girls because I want them to stay that way.

I like that after I show Sydney how to do something once she sits there until she figures out how to do it. How many two year-olds do you know that can put on their own socks and shoes, on the correct feet? Both girls can take off their clothes and get dressed again without assistance. They both climb onto the toilet by themselves, zip and unzip zippers and can open some containers without help. They are pretty fantastic and I worry that they will learn a certain level of helplessness from someone who does not understand all that they can do.

Matt thinks the teacher is just nervous and we should let her get used to the school and our girls spectacular abilities. I have no problem with that and I intend on waiting to get this teacher on board. As long as it doesn't take too long and she doesn't mind a few reminders from a mother who know what her children are capable of doing now and who knows what they will be capable of doing at the end of the year.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Matt's not ready

Matt and I went to the open house at the preschool tonight and I thought Matt was going to be sick while we were listening to the director and the teacher. I am surprisingly more ready than Matt is. It does not seem like they should be ready to leave us for long periods of time but I think they are and I think it will be good for them.
The girls are very familiar with the school. We have been attending a Mommy and Me class there for over six months. They visited the temple when Dan and Tanya were here and played without a problem and they have visited twice this week because Matt printed the T-shirts and we needed them to look at them. They seem to like it there and are eager to walk over whenever I suggest it and they talk about the teachers frequently.
My poor husband. He looked pale, clammy and nervous. He thought the classroom was fantastic, he liked the teacher and the aide but he is still not ready to send his babies off. The girls go to school tomorrow morning to meet some of the other kids and play for a little bit. The first official day is Tuesday. Matt is planning on coming with me so that he won't miss that "first" and because he says I want him too. I think the truth is that he wants to see, with his own eyes, the girls take this giant step.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Bye-bye big bed

I did not post last night because I was reading a book. That's right I am trying to read a book that has nothing to do with childcare or behavior techniques to tame our wild ones. As I have mentioned I am cursed with a finishing complex and unfortunately I was up until after two in the morning finishing this book. I have to get shorter books or leave them in the car so I can get to sleep.

Because I missed my post last night I am making up for it by posting twice tonight. We said goodnight to the big bed tonight and it has not been easy for my poor Sydney. I do not think she knows exactly what to do with herself. She wants to sleep in Lior's bed but can't calm down long enough, she just throws her toys out of the bed which makes Lior miserable. She sits in her bed and reads books but can't stay in the bed long enough to fall asleep. Just ten minutes ago she came running into our bedroom, very proud of herself that she made it all the way downstairs. Getting out of her room is no easy task as we have it gated to avoid her running down stairs all night. I am pretty sure she escaped by squeezing herself under the gate. I took her back to her bed and made sure she could not get under it again.

Lior is having a hard time as well but is staying in her bed and cuddling her Doggy. We only put them to bed about an hour and a half ago. I know it will get better every night but it is certainly hard getting there.

Big sisters



Sydney and Lior really enjoy being big sisters. They are very good with Jordan, when they are not trying to kill her, with kindness! They have always tried to help me take care of Jordan by bathing her, changing her diaper and feeding her. Now that Jordan is getting older and more mobile they try to help her even more. They like pushing her stroller and feeding her food off the spoon and giving her food she is not supposed to have.


Sydney can spend the better part of the morning feeding her bear in her new baby highchair. She searches the room for a bowl, fork, and blocks to feed her bear. When she really gets going she pretends to use part of the ring toss game as a pitcher to pour water for her bear. She does not like to let Lior play with her bear or the highchair, which was one of their birthday presents. When she brings her baby doll in from the car she likes to pretend to nurse it, just like I do with Jordan.


Lior also likes the babies but not the pretend ones. The real ones are her favorites. I can safely say that Jordan is her favorite toy. She likes to entertain her by taking one of the stuffed dogs and barking for her. Now, Jordan just thinks that anything Lior does is just the best thing she has ever seen and laughs and laughs whenever Lior plays with her. This morning Lior told me "Jordan you baby too". I am thrilled that she is willing to share her prized possession with me.

Monday, August 20, 2007

I want my cribs back

I wish for the days when the girls were in their cribs. Everything was better. Nap time was better, mornings were better, and bedtime was really better. It all started when Sydney climbed out of the crib. Why wasn't she happy in the crib???? She loved her bed! She had all of her animals, her music and some toys. When we put her to bed at night she would put on her music and play quietly with her toys. Lior was also happy in her bed and would go to sleep without much effort but now that they are free bedtime is very tough although Lior did not cry as long as she did last night.
Sydney can not calm down with us in the room and Lior can not calm down when we are not. Sydney likes the door closed, Lior likes it open. When Sydney wants the door closed she often closes it on Lior which makes Lior scream. What to do, what to do...
We have thought of several solutions which include separating the girls and putting Lior in with Jordan but neither of us really wants to do that. We are probably going to take out the "big bed" and put their crib mattresses on the floor so they each have their own bed. Maybe if they have their own space they will stop pounding on each other and go to sleep like they used to. A girl can dream!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Busy day



We took the girls out and about today because Matt has to work tomorrow and we needed some good quality family time. We had heard about a marina that had crystal clear water and that was loaded with fish. Any time Matt has the chance to feed fish, he is a happy-happy man. We must have driven a at least forty five minutes to this really cute resort with a restaurant and a gift shop. On the Marina there were mates cleaning the catch of the day and dumping the guts into the water to create a feeding frenzy. The girls had a blast looking at the fish in the water and the fish laying on the dock. There was a cute bird statue that caught the girls attention and we were forced to try and take a picture of all three girls and the bird. When Sydney was sitting by the bird Lior refused to go near it. When Lior demonstrated some interest in the bird Sydney found a bench that she liked much better. It was on the second pass that we were able to convince them both to kiss the birds feet.



After the marina we wandered to a state park that had a half mile foot bridge down to the beach and a nature center. While we did not take the entire walk down to the beach due to the impending storm and fear that we would have to carry two soaking wet two year-olds while pushing Jordan and pulling an empty wagon. We did walk out on the bridge to watch the kayaks and enjoyed the cool breeze off the water.

Friday, August 17, 2007

Namaw

I spent the day away from the girls at a workshop I needed to maintain my licence to be a Speech Language Pathologist. My mom stayed home with ALL three girls by herself from seven thirty am until three thirty pm. The woman needs a medal or a lobotomy, I'm not sure which. When I got home my mom was beat and the girls were ready to go.
My mom left and the girls wasted no time in fighting over my lap screaming "no my turn, my turn" even Jordan wanted some lap time. So after a trip to the potty where everyone, excluding Jordan, had a turn sitting and pushing the button we decided to paint. Or I should say Sydney and Lior decided to paint because they both came running out of the laundry room carrying paint brushes and pretending to paint our walls.

Sydney decided that it was a much better idea to color on her tongue than to color on the paper.


Lior discovered the Mr. Potato Head parts and had a great time playing with the Donald Duck's beak saying "pwack, pwack" as she flapped her arms.

And then Sydney took a turn "pwack, pwack"

Even Jordan had a turn. I think she even said "pwack" or something that sounded like "pwack".

After finishing up with the Potato Head parts Sydney and Lior discovered stickers so we moved into the play room to "do stickers". After what felt like an eternity of naming colors and watching the girls pull off stickers and put them on paper I looked at my watch expecting it to be close to six. Imagine my surprise when it was only four thirty two!
Imagine what my mom felt like all day! My girls have a very nice "Namaw" who must love them very much.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Getting ready


Jordan has decided that she wants Lior to give her breakfast every day. I was in the bedroom changing Sydney and when I came back I found an empty bag of Cheerios on the floor. Cyrus also thinks it is a great idea and can not wait for me to leave the room again.

After breakfast the girls teacher came over to meet us and she seemed very nice. She came in and sat on the floor and Sydney came running over with a book to show her. Lior sat on my lap with Jordan and checked her out. By the end of the meeting Lior was talking to her. I think they will get along fairly well but not before my little monkeys scare the shit out of her. She was amazed by the girls ability to climb, everything and resisted the urge to scoop them up and place them safely on the floor. I explained how they had fantastic motor skills, balance and courage and that I usually do not respond to a fall unless it was absolutely necessary. I think she thinks I am nuts and she said she would try not to react. We shall see.
We went to the pediatrician today for shots so the girls can attend school. Lior was less than thrilled with the entire process and continued screaming "my leg, my leg" long after the shot was over and we were safely in the car on the way home. Sydney screamed harder when the nurse put the band aid on the injection site than when she actually got the shot. Actually she screamed louder when they inserted the thermometer. She was over it rather quickly but is walking with a slight limp and is crying whenever I move her leg. She sure knows how to pull at my heart strings!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Boogers

Our girls vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds. When they were around twenty months old I spent three days writing down all the words or phrases they said and they both had a vocabulary of right around one hundred words. I thought that was great but now at two they say so many wonderful things I can not even think about writing everything down.
Lior really puts together some great sentences that are extremely clear. Just yesterday I heard her yelling "Cyrus don't eat my boogers". Yes boogers is a favorite word in this house. Matt has been known to sit in the back of the car with Lior screaming "Mommy booger, booger, booger..." and today Lior ran over to me and said "I pick my boogers". The colorful language does not end there, Lior also told me "I touch my poopy" while I was changing her diaper today. Sydney quickly reminded her "no touch poopy EE-or" but Lior assured her it was ok.



While Lior seems to be fixated on body functions, Sydney is fixated on the word love. We like to sit around and talk about all the things or people that she loves. "I love Eitan, I love Tana, I love Ewick, I love (a)dina, I love Kaya, I love Cyrus" and on and on. When I ask her if she loves mommy she says "no, I love you!". She also loves grandma, grandpa, the fan, the light, the car, and daddy (in no particular order).


This new use of language is just amazing to me and makes for lots of laugh out loud moments. I never know what they are going to say or who they are going to say it to. I can not wait to see what they say next.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

I may not be ready

The girls start school in two weeks. I am not ready, at least I don't think I am. Their teacher called me tonight to introduce herself and set up a home visit. I may be a little concerned because I had met their teacher a few weeks ago and the woman who called me today was not who I met. When I asked what had happened to Vicki she said "oh, things did not work out with her". Oh great! When and where did they find this teacher and is she the bottom of the barrel because all the good teachers were scooped up? Maybe I will call the director and find out what happened or maybe I will just wait and see...
We have been talking about school a lot around here and the girls know they are going. They know that mommy will be walking them although Lior is fairly certain she will be riding a bus, a yellow bus to be exact. Sydney knows that mommy will not be staying and she will be playing with friends, including Lior. Both girls know their teachers name is Leslie and Matt has taught them to throw kisses in response to "What do you say to Morah Leslie?" We are preparing them slowly by reading books and talking about all the fun they are going to have.
So why am I not ready? I like spending time with those girls. We have fun. We do something new everyday and they come up with new and exciting things all the time. I like knowing where they learned something. I know this will be a great experience for them and they will be learning new and wonderful things every day but somehow it does not make me feel like I am ready. When I worry about it I remember it is just two days a week and it will free up some time for me to spend with Jordan and possibly help Matt at the office.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Got sleep?


Jordan's cold has escalated into a full on chest cold. Her cough is so strong that it wakes her up. Last night she woke up at one in the morning and only really fell back to sleep at about four thirty. Getting her back to sleep was not the problem, it was getting her to stay asleep. Matt even took her for a walk around the block at about two only to have her wake up again twenty minutes later. She seems most comfortable sleeping on my chest or propped up against us with her head elevated. The poor thing! Since she was up most of the night I had little to no sleep and was really dragging today. Thank goodness "poppa" was able to take the girls for a drive and I was able to get about forty minutes of much needed sleep.
Tonight we are not even attempting to put her to sleep in her room. Both of us are way too tired to trek up there in the middle of the night. I suppose a trip to the pediatrician might be in our future. Perhaps they will be able to prescribe something to break up the cough and help our poor baby rest. Then maybe Matt and I can get a good nights sleep so we can get rid of this nasty cold!

Sunday, August 12, 2007

The sounds of silence



Saying goodbye is never easy and today was no exception. The Israeli's left this morning and there was lots of hugging and kissing and not a whole lot of crying. Lior was willing to hug everyone as long as she could still sit on "my Namaw's yap".


Sydney was safely seated in Jordan's stroller and gave everyone a good hug.
Jordan went to everyone and I know she will miss having Tanya around to hold her and spend time with her. She is going to have to get used to waiting for attention again.


I can safely say that they will be greatly missed. I am sure that they days will move a little slower without the kids to entertain the girls. As much as we will miss having the family in town, we are looking forward to having a few quiet meals, early bedtimes and getting back into our usual bedtime routine.
Now that everyone is gone it is amazing how peaceful dinner was without yelling across the table about who was going to sit next to who, who was touching whose food and who wanted what on their plate. I guess Matt and I have a lot to look forward to when our girls grow up and really give us a run for our money. For now I think I will enjoy the sounds of silence!

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Growing up too fast


Jordan cut her fourth tooth four days ago. She turned nine months old two days ago. Yesterday she started clapping when she saw other people clapping. Today she started clapping on command. What is going on? Isn't she a baby? Shouldn't she be pooping, peeing and sleeping? I fear that she is growing up too fast and I am just not ready for that. I love watching her stand up and cruise around the furniture but I also miss the good old days when I could put her down, walk away and find her in about the same place I left her. I know that in a few weeks or maybe a month Jordan will be running after the big girls and I will have a new set of problems!

Thursday, August 9, 2007

Family



My niece Liel and I have been spending a lot of time together lately. It has been WONDERFUL. I really enjoy her company, she has a great sense of humor and she lets me tease her all day without getting mad. She has spent time sitting in the car while the girls sleep so that I could run into the store and took them to the gym with me when Matt could not go.
The other day she told me that she read my ENTIRE blog and wanted to know why I did not mention her. So now I am writing about my LIELIE SMELLY BELLY and ONLY my Lielie Smelly Belly.
Liel is very helpful with the girls and when her nose is not in a book or when she has not been sucked into the television, she is very attentive to the girls and plays nicely with them. The other day when we were at the gym Liel LOST Sydney because she was reading either an Archie or Jughead comic book. I found Sydney almost immediately but my heart was in my throat and I told her I was going take the book and beat her with it if we could not find Sydney. It is funny my mom nearly had a heart attack yesterday when Liel's brother Eitan brought Sydney to me in the mall and did not tell my mom. I think my brothers kids are trying to kill us!
Liel is an extremely talented singer, song writer and musician, too bad she will not sing "IF YOU ARE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT" for me. I think she wants me to beg her but I think I will withhold food this weekend to see if I can break her.
I can not tell you how sad I am that she is going home with the rest of her family on Sunday. Not only will I miss her and her endless stories about debate camp, I will also miss the help changing poopy diapers. Her sister Adina has also been a tremendous help, she loves to play with the girls and tries to keep them busy while I work around the house.

Adina was a HUGE help while I was decorating the girls birthday cake. She tried to keep the girls occupied, which is not an easy task, especially when they are out of baby jail.
Adina is also very talented. She is an amazing artist. Last summer she made shirts for the girls. The shirts were great because each shirt was half a picture and when the girls stood next to each other the picture was complete. This year she created a pattern and sewed stuffed fish for the big girls and a heart for Jordan. Each creation had pictures of the girls on it. Just fantastic.
Their brother Eitan is also very helpful and the girls love him also. He likes to pick them up when they would rather walk but they always forgive him and enjoy laughing and horsing around with him. He has a great amount of patience and is great at distracting the girls while I get stuff done. He is a huge help, when he wants to be!
It is funny the girls just love my four year-old nephew No'am. He loves them too and wants to help them all the time. He lets them escape baby jail (maybe that is why they are so fond of him!), gives them junk food and enjoys their toys as much as they do.
With Dan's family leaving on Sunday I find myself sad because I will miss being able to run into a convenience store for apple juice when Sydney is screaming for a "juice bock" or a cup of coffee when I am ready to pass out. I will miss having other people chase my kids around a store or around the backyard. What I will not miss is the noise generated by four active and bright children. Right now I am very comfortable with the amount of noise generated from my girls. I guess I will ease into the noise of teenagers.