Dr. Liorie scoop

After Sydney came home from school today and collapsed on the couch, I began to worry that perhaps I had made a mistake sending her to school today. When she woke up and refused to pick her head up I decided to call the doctor and bring her in. It was probably a very good idea because she has a double ear infection.
I brought all three girls to the doctor's office by myself. I was worried about entertaining the three of them but they did not need much entertaining and were fantastic. Sydney was not thrilled about sitting in the office and wanted nothing more than to go home. Lior tried to make her feel better, "Tydney don' worry I squeeze you toe", "Tydney I hold you hips like dis", and "Don cy Tydney, I here."
After the nurse took Sydney's weight and temperature Lior was bound and determined to get Sydney to lay down on the exam table.
"Tydney you lay down here" while she patted the table.
"I Doctor Liorie Scoop."
"You lay here"
"I make my Tydney feel all better".
Of course Sydney wanted absolutely no part of Lior's good intentions and apparently her primary focus is not Obstetrics because since I am having a baby she can't help me. Jordan was more than willing to let Lior exam her belly but my budding young doctor only wanted to make her Sydney feel all better!

Gym class blues

I took the kids to the Little Gym for the big girls class today where I was approached by the owner of the gym. He wanted to know if I had help I could bring to the gym on Wednesdays because he was worried about Jordan's safety. He explained that he would hate for her to fall and have it come back on him. He noticed that she is becoming independent and hanging from her feet. I politely explained that while Jordan may be a wild woman she demonstrates extreme caution and was in fact very safe (and has never hung from her feet). I further explained that Jordan does not realize that she is not two and is not able to do the same things her sisters can. He listened and then started to ask me about her age and the ages of the big girls because her thought they would be able to be in the same class. All of the sudden a conversation about my daughters safety turned into a conversation about something completely different, money. He was more concerned that Jordan was getting something for nothing than he was about her safety. How would her safety increase if she were enrolled in a class that was develpmentally inappropriate for her?
After much conversation I explained to him that when I first enrolled the girls in the class I made sure with his staff that I would be able to bring Jordan to each class because I did not have help. As she grew the instructors encouraged me to put her down on the mat and let her have fun and she has. As soon as it was appropriate I signed Jordan up for her own class when the girls were in school. When I signed the girls up for the class this semester, which started last week, they were very well aware of Jordan's abilities and my lack of help yet they were more than happy to take our money.
I am very aware that Jordan is not developmentally appropriate for the big girls class. As much as she tries she is just not ready to fully participate in that class. When I bring her I keep a very close eye on her and my girlfriend Joy does as well. I do not let her try the skills that the big girls are doing and do not ask the instructors to do anything with her because it is not her class. I try not to take advantage, I am not looking for something for nothing. I enrolled her in her own class because she deserves to be in a class that moves at her speed and is suited for her developmental age. Can you tell he annoyed me? I really think that he was very condescending towards me and was trying to pull one over on me. I do not like that feeling. I do not think he would have treated Matt that way had he brought the girls to the gym instead of me.
The bottom line is that the kids love going to the gym and I would hate to pull them away from it but his is not the only program out there. I spent a little time this evening looking for another program for Jordan this summer while the girls are in camp. She really loves the gym and it has done so much for her physically but I am certianly not married to this particular program. So the search will continue and Jordan, Lior and Sydney will go to the gym like they usually do until I can find them another place.

Sick day

Sydney is feeling much better today and appears to be fever free. This means we can get on with our regular routine and attend our class at the Little Gym tomorrow and school on Thursday. I really hate it when Sydney has to miss school, not because I do not enjoy spending time with her, I do. It is hard getting her to go to school and it is harder after she has had a day off. When we dropped Lior off she would not even speak to anyone at school because she was not going to school today. By the time we picked Lior up I think she was ready to play but still very- very cranky.
I took Sydney with me to get my blood drawn today, not something I would have wanted to do under normal circumstances but she was great. Her main concern was that I get the shot not her. She told the receptionist that "Mommy gettin' a shot, not Sydney." When they were drawing the blood Sydney stayed a safe distance away and told the nurse that they needed more "Mommy you not done, they take more." Hopefully she is wrong and they will not need more blood because I do not want to go back.
We have been trying to talk to the girls about the new baby and have purchased some books to help them understand what all this new baby talk is about. Jordan just thinks it is a riot that my belly is so huge and she can stick her finger directly into my belly button to make me jump. I am sure I will have her pointing to my belly in no time in response to where is the baby? Lior and Sydney know that there is a baby in mommies belly and it will be here soon but I know they don't really get it. Lior likes the idea of a baby and wants to hold it, change its diaper and kiss it. I hope she still feels that way when it gets here. Sydney deals with things much differently than Lior, she does not talk about it as much but she is extremely aware of what is going on. The other night she was laying on my belly and I told her that the baby was kicking her and she said "the baby not kickin' me, the baby kissin' me!" I am sure we will be talking about it more over the next few months and they will be helping me get ready for the new babies arrival. What would help me the most is if they would quiet down and go to sleep, I have a mountain of laundry on the bed that needs to be folded and put away before I can crawl into bed and pass out!

The cycle begins again

We were living in a state of utter bliss. The girls had not been sick since before the holidays. I want to say it was almost a month of healthy living, until this weekend. Our beautiful Sydney is sick and when one gets sick chances are it will start the ball rolling and it will run through the house. On Saturday Sydney refused to go and pick berries without me, so I went berry picking when I really wanted to take a nap. I should have realized that she was not feeling well when she was sticking by my side all day.
By Sunday morning she was really sick with a fever of over one hundred and three and she threw up all over me in our bed. We played it close to home all day and Sydney just wanted to rest on the couch or on me. Not much changed at dinner where she fell asleep in the middle of a noisy restaurant or in the middle of the night where she slept on my belly. Actually she spent the better part of today with a body part attached to me. Hopefully she feels a little better tomorrow because she does not want to go to the doctor and I do not want to have to take her.
Lior has been very lonely without her partner in crime and has been very worried about Sydney for the past few days. I think she is looking forward to school tomorrow even though she knows Sydney will be staying home. She needs to run around and have some fun before she gets sick and starts laying around. Even our little Jordan has been concerned about Sydney. She has been bringing toys to Sydney hoping she will play with her. Of course Jordan is thrilled with all the attention Lior has been paying to her because Sydney is not interested in jumping on the couch.
I hope Sydney does not have a fever tomorrow and she is on the mend. Keep your fingers crossed that I will be able to sleep without Sydney curled up by my side or sleeping across my belly.

The everything update

It is time for a general update, there has so much going on here and not enough time to write it all down.
The big girl beds have been a huge success, for the most part. The girls really love them and are very proud that they get to sleep in "big girl beds". They have shown them to everyone who steps foot into our house. This morning when Matt went upstairs to wake them up they were both sleeping in Sydney's bed. When I asked them about it the conversation went something like this:
"Sydney did Lior sleep in your bed last night?"
"Yes, Your cuddle me"
"Lior did you sleep in Sydney's bed?"
"Uh huh"
"Why?"
"Her crying!"
"Sydney were you crying?"
"I cry, I sad, Your cuddle wit me."


It gets better... Tonight while they were eating ice cream, the conversation went something like this...

"Your, you sleep in my bed tonight?"
"Tidney, you want me sleep you bed?"
"Yeah, you sleep my bed."

Unfortunately, they are not capable of calming down in the same bed and they are now sleeping in their very own beds. After what I can only imagine as a mid-air collision our girls have been put in their respective corners and their father sent downstairs for good behavior and I have taken over bed time.

Potty training is going very well with little effort from me. Sydney is wonderful and really encourages Lior to pee on the potty. When we are home the girls are without diapers and we have not had any accidents in the last two days. I am hoping we can spend some quality time in the house this weekend and really try to get these girls trained. Sydney really wants to go to school without a diaper and I would love to let her try when we get a little better at it.

I am still undecided about school. I know some of the other moms are undecided as well. One mom commented today that she heard the teachers snap at the kids. I taught preschool and it is very easy to snap at the kids. Some would say that our house is just like a preschool and I snap at the kids. It is not an easy job, especially in a two-year old classroom. I am not making any snap judgements based on hearsay. I am thrilled that the kids are coming home happy, dirty, and tired. Their art work is messier and looks closer to the art that we do at home which means that they are doing it themselves. Do I like everything I hear when I am picking up and dropping off, no. I need to remind myself that my background as an SLP makes me more aware and attuned to language and how it is used or not used.
Lior is enjoying school and today when I asked her if she liked Morah Stacey she said "yes". Every other time I asked her she said "No, I only like Shuli." Sydney is still having a hard time letting me leave in the morning. She clings to me and says "I want to go home wis you Mommy" and cries. This morning after she told me that she reached out to Shuli and went to her without kicking and screaming. I will take that as a sign of improvement.
I like the school as a whole, they do a lot of wonderful things with the kids and expose them to things that I can not. They are being exposed to a world of Judaism which is very important and are learning to get along in the world without their mother pinned to their side. Do I wish some things were different? Yes, of course but I hope it will only get better in time.

Jordan is an absolutely amazing child! I can say that because it is true, I am her mother I should know! She is talking so much more than she was two weeks ago. Today, at the grocery store she was naming the things I put in the cart grapes, broccoli and milk just to name a few. She asks for M&M's every time the girls get one. She points to Sleeping Beauty and says Aurora. She is starting to combine two words "Bye-Bye Daddy". She sits for an entire book and names the pictures on the page. I am constantly amazed by her expressive word knowledge. Her receptive word knowledge is even greater and she follows directions very well. When the big girls are drawing with markers she sits down and attempts to scribble on the paper but eventually winds up eating the marker. I think we will be switching to crayons because she does not like to eat those anymore.


She has begun to refine her motor movements as well. She is able to eat cereal with milk and yogurt off a spoon by herself. This accomplishment has made meal time that much easier. She stands up on the beam and balances herself without assistance. We had a new instructor at the gym yesterday (for the big girls class) and she was amazed by Jordan. She went right over to Jordan's instructor and said "That one is incredible, she has no fear and walks across that beam." Sometimes I wish she were not in such a hurry to grow up. Today I found her and her sisters sitting on top of the kitchen counter playing in the sink. How did she get up there? Why she climbed of course! Thank goodness we have a crib tent on her crib because I do not want her out of her crib anytime soon.

Happy birthday trees

The girls had their TuB'Shevat celebration at school today. Matt was able to take some time off from work to see them and I think they were very happy to see him there. All the kids helped plant the new orange tree on the playground. Our girls enjoyed using the shovels to put the dirt around the tree. Lior talked about it all afternoon, when she was not screaming at me! Grandma even got a chance to dance with the girls around the newly planted tree. We all had a great time.
After we left school my mom and I tried to finish the job I started yesterday. I am cleaning up and out. The girls clothes have been thinned out and put in labeled bins so Jordan can use them later. If we have a boy I will be giving away a lot of very cute girls clothes! I am very pleased to be getting rid of all this "stuff", I can not wait to get rid of more.
When my cousin Joan was here she told me that she spent a month throwing one thing away every day for one month to reduce the clutter. I think that is a great idea. I put together two bags of clothes to give away and another of garbage, that is three "things" out of the house. Not bad, now if I can just keep it up. I think I will try Joan's method of cleaning up and out. During the month of February I will throw one "thing" out every day. Maybe Matt will help me and throw a few things out as well. I know we have big plans to clean out the garage but not enough time to clean it out. Matt is right we need four more hours in every day.

Hello big girl beds

Matt put together the "big girl" beds today. They were so excited when Matt and I told them that we were putting the new beds in their room today. We had them take all their stuffed animals off their beds before we took them out of the bedroom. Lior made sure her doggy came downstairs with her so he would be safe.
When we brought them upstairs after the beds were set up they put all the stuffed animals on the unmade beds and jumped on them. They made sure the music boxes from their cribs made it onto their new beds, just in case. Lior and Sydney spent the next twenty minutes jumping from one bed to the other raving about their "big girl" beds. I explained that their beds still needed sheets and I would put them on their beds before bed time. Sydney reminded me that they needed to be "big girl sheets."
During bath time while Matt had them busy. I ran upstairs to make the big girl beds with their pink big girl sheets and their cuddly pink blanket. After breaking my back putting sheets on the bed I heard Sydney yelling for me and insisting that I let her come upstairs to see the big girl beds. I made her wait for Matt because I was not really ready for the girls and I did not want to walk the stairs more than I had too. By the time the girls came up stairs they were chomping at the bit to see those beds. Sydney even tried to climb the gate to get into her room, she usually wants OUT!
Lior was thrilled with her pink sheets, cuddly blanket and very own pillow. Sydney was less than thrilled with her sheets, she wanted to know where the big girl sheets were, "deese not big girl sheets!, I want big girl sheets!" I can not pull one over on that kid! She knows that somewhere in this house there is a pillow sham with a butterfly on it and a quilt with some flowers and she wants it on her bed. She will have to wait until the other quilt arrives before we can make her bed look beautiful. After we convinced her that the sheets were in fact big girl sheets she climbed in and pretended to go to sleep. They even helped us put their bed rails on the bed. Matt and I quickly decided that they need a more substantial rail, so I am sure I will be shopping once again tomorrow.
I think they like their new beds. I can hear Matt right now telling them to stay in their beds and go to sleep. I warned him that bed time was going to take him a very long time tonight, the girls are way too excited to go to sleep!

Milestones

We have reached some very important milestones this week. At least I think they are important.
Jordan is eating out of a snack bag, just like the big kids, without throwing the food all over the place or eating the bag. This accomplishment makes my life so much easier because now I can keep her busy in the car without turning around every few minutes. She has also started to say both Sydney and Lior's name which thrills her sisters no end.
Sydney is telling me when she needs to pee on the potty towards the end of the day. She usually wants an M&M for going but she is going and not having accidents. Her language appears to be improving as well. She is better able to express her wants and needs without getting frustrated which makes me very happy. When one of the other kids takes something from her, her first reaction is to use her words not her hands. Matt and I are very proud of her.
Lior is making leaps and bounds as well. She is interested in using the toilet because she does not want to wear a diaper anymore. "I want big kid pants." She does not always remember to use the potty especially if she is busy playing or watching a movie. Her language skills seem to be getting better also. Sometimes the things she comes up with floor me. Lior appears to have inherited my fondness of cleaning. She just flat out refuses and says "No Mommy, you do it!" Well the chances of mommy doing it are slim and none so Sydney comes to the rescue because she loves to clean up! Lior will clean up if I motivate her with the promise of a treat but often forgets about the treat by the time we are done.
Both big girls need new clothes because their pants are too short. Lior and Sydney both want yellow pants, so we will see if their wish comes true. Jordan seems to be growing out of her clothes as well but she has garbage bags filled with cute outfits that I just need to pull out and wash.
I have also achieved an important milestone in my pregnancy, I need what Matt calls my throne! I have this huge body pillow that scoops around my body and supports both my back and my belly. Since my back hurts more in the last couple of days I need all the help I can get. It also helps me sleep on the nights I have to sleep sitting up due to heartburn. The girls milestones are so much more exciting than mine!

A girls weekend

We had so much fun when my cousins were here that we are still trying to recover. The girls were in bed at seven and I climbed into bed at eight thirty. Unfortunately, Matt had to go back to work or I am sure he would be in bed or on his way into bed.
We had three sisters visit Martha, Ann and Joan and her daughter Judy who is three. I was very happy because I had the chance to play with the "girls" and my little girls had the chance to play with Judy. It was a win-win situation! Matt was really great and gave me a lot of time to spend with my family. He even drove our girls around while they screamed their little heads off so I could have time.
The "girls" arrived on Friday afternoon and we spent a nice relaxing evening talking and eating while we watched the kids get to know each other. We even got the four of them into the tub together! Don't worry Ann has the pictures of that and I will not be posting them! On Saturday we went to pick berries which the kids and adults loved! Judy wanted to know why she had never done it before. The strawberries were not as abundant as they had been, so Matt had our girls picking tomatoes. Sydney thought that was great and sat down on the floor with her basket and licked each and every tomato she picked because she was not allowed to eat them! Jordan was a great help and showed Martha were to walk.

On Sunday we spent the afternoon at Lion Country Safari where everyone had a great time. The kids loved the rides and the adults LOVED feeding the giraffes. I should say that the adults and Sydney loved feeding the giraffes. Martha fed the giraffes,
Ann fed the giraffes,
Joan fed the giraffes while Judy supervised,
and Sydney fed the giraffes,

We were having such a great time we were over an hour late for dinner with my parents and cousins Herbie and Lynn who were waiting at my house. OOPS! The kids were having fun riding all the rides we did not have the heart to stop them from riding the elephants, even after we realized we were very-very late.
On Monday I waved goodbye to my wonderful husband and sent him off to work while the little girls played in the yard and Jordan fell asleep in the swing. After lunch we were off to the zoo where an absolutely great time was had by all. Lior and Judy had fun catching a ride with Martha in the wheelchair. Sydney had a really bad fall at the end of the day and probably could have used a good spin in the wheelchair but wanted to cuddle mommy instead.
After all this excitement and close to three hundred photos is it any wonder why we are all so tired? We had such a wonderful time and we can not wait until next year when they come back (hint-hint!).
I know that this weekend meant a lot to Martha who was thrilled to see how well the girls got along. I still have great memories of visiting "the girls" when I was little. I remember arriving at their house late Saturday night to find their mom making pizza, really great pizza!. It is just fantastic that my girls are creating memories of their own with their cousins.

My trip to the doctor

I am currently twenty six weeks and five days pregnant. I find it incredibly hard to believe that in about twelve weeks we will have another baby. This seems much more realistic today than it did yesterday because I went to the doctor today. Things always seem "more" real after you go to the doctor. Overall it was a good appointment, the baby sounded good and kicked the Doppler every chance it got. I finally gained some weight! It is very discouraging to hear that you gained seven pounds in one month but when you have only gained seven pounds in twenty six weeks it is not that bad. I just hate seeing the scale numbers creep up and up. Maybe I should cut back on the ice cream every day? But like Sydney likes to remind me constantly "Ice cream makes me feel all better!"
I feel good but they did find blood in my urine which could be the sign of a bladder or kidney infection. I do not want either! When I was newly pregnant with Jordan I had a kidney stone and it was more painful than the twenty one hours I spent in labor with the twins. Matt could not believe I wanted to go to the hospital because I never wanted to go when I was in preterm labor with the twins! My instructions are to drink, drink, drink and then drink some more. I am tired of running to the bathroom every ten minutes but in certainly beats the alternative. I want to avoid a hospital stay which would send my family into a tailspin. I will be drinking my water and cranberry juice until I can not stand it anymore and then I will drink some more.

Community

The girls are completely exhausted because their cousins have been here since Friday. I plan on writing about all of our adventures another night because their mother is just as tired as they are.
I went to the open house/curriculum night at the girls school tonight. When I returned home my parents who had been watching the kids while we were at school blowing up balloons were waiting for me, even though Matt came home earlier to put the girls to bed. I was very surprised to find them there because I assumed that they were as tired as I was! We chatted about the summer program that I signed the girls up for and we got to talking about the school.
My mom is fairly familiar with most of the people at the school because she tries to bring Jordan to the Baby and Me class. We were both commenting about the feeling we get from the school. I really believe that our kids are well taken care of and nurtured there. I like knowing that our kids are getting a good Jewish education while they play dress-up, build with blocks, and do craft projects. It is not something I had as a child and I know that it is important.
I was always envious of the kids I went to Hebrew University with, they all grew up in a strong Jewish community and had an amazing bond. I hope that I can build this strong foundation for the kids so they feel like they belong to something important and powerful. I know they will be better people for it.

Daddy's girl

Matt and Lior seem to be butting heads these days. Matt picks much different battles than I do and I think that is part of the problem.
Last night when Matt was trying to read the girls a book on the big bed Lior decided to run around like a lunatic (2 year-old), so she lost the big bed. She was really mad at him and told him "You go downstairs and do dishes, I want Mommy". Tonight was not much better when she refused to brush her teeth.
The last few nights Lior has gotten upset when Matt is on his way home. "I don't want Daddy come home, he makes me sick!" I do believe she is upset when he is on the way home because she is hungry and does not want to wait for him to come home. Tonight she told me that "Daddy makes me miserable."
Lior really LOVES HER DADDY but she just does not like the battles he picks. I know they will work out their little impasse, it will just take time and patience!

Happy birthday

Not only is it my brother Eric's forty fourth birthday but it is also Jordan's fourteenth month birthday. Happy birthday to you both! Eric has accomplished a lot in his forty plus years but it's Jordan's accomplishments I will be focusing on. She has grown and changed so very much, it is hard to believe she was ever a tiny little baby.
I think I ask Matt on a weekly basis "Were the big girls this cute?, Were the big girls this active?, Were the big girls this verbal?" I just do not remember what they were like when they were her age. I can tell you that Jordan has amazing motor skills and can climb as well as one of the big girls and they climb very well. I still do not know where the kids got that skill because both Matt and I can fall over a feather!
Jordan's vocabulary is huge and it is growing every day! She says Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa, Grandma, Kaya, dog, duck, quack, moo, WATER!!!, more, pretzel, book, read, raisin, cereal, (ba)nana, bottle, juice, my juice, nose, medicine, glasses, helicopter, yellow, sock, shoe, JoJo, Wiggles, out, P.U., apple, bagel, down, ball, spoon, cup, grape, baby, cookie, diaper, bath and I am sure she says more but that is all I can think of now. Did you notice how many words were food items? She loves to eat and drink! During dinner she just sits there and screams WATER, WATER until we fill her cup, which is the same as the other kids. She is trying to eat with a spoon and a fork, without help of course.
She loves when her sisters play with her and read to her. Right now she likes to hit them every chance she gets. They are usually pretty good when Jordan walks up and smacks them. Lior tells her "Jordan don' hit me, we don hit!", Sydney generally screams "Jordan, NO!" and covers her head... and then sometimes she smacks her! The last few nights before bed the big girls have wanted to dance with daddy, so Matt has been doing Ring-Around-The-Rosy with them and Jordan just thinks it is hysterical when she is invited into the circle.
Bath time is one of her favorite times of day. She holds her own in the tub when Sydney or Lior pour water over her head or take one of her toys. She and Matt have a great game they play almost every night. Jordan tries to climb out of the tub so Matt grabs her green towel and says "Jordan do you want to come out of the tub?" She takes one look at that towel, laughs and hauls butt to the other side of the tub.
Jordan is a great kid to be around, she has fun and the fun that she has is infectious. You can not help but to laugh when she is laughing or smile when she is smiling. It will be very interesting and exciting to see what the months ahead have in store for us!
Happy birthday Jordan!!!

Going back to school

The first day back at school was a good day for both kids. Sydney had a rough time separating from me but they took great care of her and she pulled it together. When I walked into the classroom at the end of the day and Sydney saw me she ran up to me, grabbed me and said "I missed you Mommy!" She just melts my heart.
I think this change at school is going to be a good one for the girls. I realized a lot today, my instinct is usually correct and I need to listen to the little voice in my head that says that something is not right. I knew that I did not like the girls teacher because she was nervous and hovered over the kids. Matt and I knew that we were having a problem with Lior when she would tell us that that she could not do something because it was easier to have us do it. I was going to address that issue after the break, I knew that it was not coming from us.
There were a lot of other behaviors that I did not attribute to school and I am now making connections. Our girls are constantly yelling and shouting at us when we are not moving fast enough, when they do not get what they want or when we are not paying attention to them. Tonight when I was cooking dinner Sydney stood on a box and starting screaming "I want a apple right now!!" while shaking a finger at me. Now I am far from perfect but I try not to bark orders at the girls. When I ask them to do something I usually say please and thank you and if they do not listen I start counting and helping. I was blaming Matt that the kids were always telling me to do things "right now!", because he was saying that as a last resort. Matt doesn't really yell so I can't blame him for that one. I think the yelling came from school and I am glad that we will not have to deal with that anymore.
I am a little more concerned about Sydney's behavior and how sensitive she has become. When Sydney was smaller she would stick her bottom lip out and pout when her feelings were hurt but that was when she was my "easy button". When she learned to walk and became my tough cookie she seemed to let a lot of things roll off her back and she was better able to deal with her emotions, but not lately. Before the break she was having a very hard time every time I left the room and at bedtime. Matt could not put her to sleep because she did not want me to leave her. She would tell me that she did not feel well or that she was sick on school days. On the last day of school I walked into the room and Sydney took one look at me and started to cry and told me "I want to go home!" I could just kick myself that I missed so many signs that something was not right for her. I attributed a lot of her stress to not feeling well, the renal ultra-sound or teething. Those things may have been a factor but I am going to pay closer attention to what she is telling me and her behavior (which is much-much better since she has been home for two weeks).
In retrospect I should have been more aware of what exactly was going on in the classroom. I did not make the connections that I should have made. I did share some of my concerns with the school administrators today. I hope that the things that I told them were perceived the way they were intended and not as just bad mouthing their old teacher. I do think that she taught the girls a lot and shared a lot of very valuable information and experiences with them. My kids really liked her and they were spending time with her. I do not think that our personalities were a good match but I am not going to like every teacher the girls are going to have and I have to learn to deal with that. I also know that the girls are not going to like every teacher they have and they are going to have to learn to deal with that. It is a good life lesson for us all!

A day at the cheese

We met our friends Reece, Joy and baby Bryce at Chuck E. Cheese today. The kids always have a great time there and today was no exception. Jordan even got in on the action and ran away from me every chance she got. I actually lost her twice! The people who work there must think I am a rotten mother because I could not keep track of that little girl but she is really hard to keep track of. I would put her down and a split second later she would be gone. I think she waited until I took a head count and made a break for it when I went searching for Lior or Sydney. She ran into the kitchen once and the service area once requiring someone who worked there to bring her back. One of the employee's asked me how hard it could be to watch her. I told him to spend five minutes with her and then ask me that question. She is a wild little girl who takes great delight in running away and laughing while you chase her down! I wish I had gotten some photos of her running and laughing at us, climbing into high chairs or riding the mini carousel while waving at me every time she went around but I could not find it in the clutter of my diaper bag. Perhaps if I had taken the bag out of the stroller I would have found it!
Lior and Sydney never ran away but wandered a safe distance away to play the games and push as many buttons as they could. I actually found Sydney taking a boy's cup of money away from him. This little boy must have been at least four and he was crying! Sydney is a force to be reckoned with and she wanted to play with the ducks. The little boys father was very nice and tried to get them to play a game together but I think the boy was afraid of her and Sydney was a little embarrassed.
Lior got "lost" once, but I found her right away. She was very upset because one second I was there and the next I was chasing Jordan (surprise-surprise) and gone. She told me "I yooked around and you not dere!" I told her that she did the right thing by staying where she was and calling for me. The next time she lost sight of me I saw her standing where she was, turning in a circle, calling my name. She is a very quick study!
After all this drama you would think that I would never want to return but I can't wait to go back. The kids had a great time, it was air conditioned, and most importantly it is a relatively safe environment for the big kids to learn their limits and some good life lessons.

Bye bye morah leslie

Last week while I was busy making my furniture decision we received a letter from the girls school stating that the girls teacher was not going to be returning after the break. The letter sounded rather cold and not at all like they were going to miss her. They said she had some health concerns and needed to rest, I hope she is OK. I have mixed emotions about it. I was not crazy about her but the girls loved her.
I am hoping the new teacher, Morah Stacey, will be a little more enthusiastic and hover a little less than Leslie did. Stacey is not new to the girls, so they know who she is and like her. Sydney is claiming otherwise but I think she just does not want to go to school. Every time I mention school Sydney starts making excuses and starts whining about not going. I am sure she will be fine once she gets back into the swing of things but she just does not like to be away from me. Lior likes school and seems happy about going back to see her friends. Both girls are sad that Morah Leslie is sick and is home resting but they seem to be absorbing the fact that she will not be at school when they get there.
Only time will tell how they do on Tuesday when they go back. I can say one thing for sure, I will be happy to drop them off at school and get back to their regular schedule.

Our love of books

Our kids love books. It was one of their first words. I can remember Sydney and Lior bringing us books instead of toys when they were first learning to walk. Jordan now walks over to us with a book in her hand and says read or book. She also enjoys taking every single book off the new book shelf but she is only fourteen months old (almost). I hope that by teaching them this early to read books that we are creating children who love to read.
We spend at least the first hour of our day reading books. Sometimes it is the same book over and over again and sometimes it is ten different ones. The girls know the names of most of our books and will recite lines from their favorites. Lior likes Hey! Wake Up!, the last time Matt tried to take a nap on the couch Lior stood in front of him, book in hand, saying "Hey! Wake Up!, you read dis?" She also sits in her car seat and recites the book and laughs.
We have books that we only read upstairs before bed. Tiger Can't Sleep was possibly their favorite book until Lior decided that the tiger was waking her up at night. Sydney adores this book and can not sit still while we read about Tiger's silly behavior while the little boy is trying to go to sleep. I am hoping that we can bring it back into the rotation soon because I miss reading it to them. They also love Llama, Llama Red Pajama and we read that one almost every night also. That one is just fun to read and takes about a minute for us to get through. The Great Gracie Chase has very quickly become one of the girls all time favorites. It helps that Matt loves it as much as they do.
I love the books that the girls can read by themselves, Blue Hat, Green Hat is a great example of a book that they love to read to us. I often walk into baby jail and find Sydney sitting there reading that book and laughing to herself. We are trying to get Jordan to sit still long enough so that Sydney can read it to her.
There are so many other books that our girls just love it makes me think about some of the books we read as children. I have tried to read some of them to the girls and I am amazed by how boring they are. Was Babar ever interesting? Right now I read it to the girls to bore them to sleep. I know it is a classic but there are so many great kids books out there today that just put Babar to shame. I can't wait to read the Madeline series to them because I can still remember some of the stories and how each story started.
I hope there is always excitement when we discover a new book that we just love to read.

Decisions

After running around with the girls and buying things I don't really love, I have made a decision! I am going to stop running around to look at furniture and return all the bedding I have purchased. Matt did not love the linens I bought at Ikea and made absolutely no comment about how "normal people don't buy things to return them", so I know he really did not like them. I will keep looking for bedding that we both like and will not break the bank.
We have also decided to buy the bunk beds I found on-line. I don't think we will find a better deal or better quality for the price. Ikea has great looking stuff but I don't think that the bed will stand up to the abuse my children will dish out. I just have to sit down and actually order which should be much easier now that I have actually made a decision.

Happy new year

At the start of the day Matt and I were concerned that our new year was going to be a bad one. Lior was having meltdown after meltdown. Everything was setting her off. She did not like the color of her bowl at breakfast, she wanted to watch TV, she did not want to change her diaper, and she did not want to change her clothes. We could not figure out what that child wanted so we threw the kids in the car and told them we were going to see animals. That is when Lior decided she wanted to go to the zoo to see alligators and monkeys, so we went to the zoo.
On our way to the zoo we stopped for pink donuts for the girls and that really seemed to turn our child in a bad mood into the happiest girl in the whole wide world. The girls were fantastic at the zoo. Jordan even got into the action with her animal sounds. When she saw the monkeys she said "ooh, ooh". Sydney chased some poor peacock and when we told her she was scaring the bird like the firecrackers scare her she said "I not a firecracker!".
After a very rocky start to our new year it turned out to be a great day. What a great way to start the year.