—1—
Sophie whacked Bella with a metal bucket. (This is not an unusual event, something similar happens several times a day. Life is never dull round here.)
Much weeping and wailing ensued. Of course. Bella is a drama queen. She needed kisses from Dom and from me. I confiscated the bucket and then they reconciled with sweet sisterly hugs.
What was unusual was the conversation I overheard a few minutes later. Bella sitting off on her own pretending to have a phone chat with her imaginary friend “Lisa”. Bella recounted the whole incident including Dom’s comforting and my intervention. Then a pause. “So that’s just how it is…. I know…. I understand.”
I’m so glad she found a sympathetic ear.
—2—
Bella and Sophie were sitting in our bed. Bella on Dom’s side, Sophie on mine.
Sophie: “I’m the mama.”
Bella: “I’m the daddy.”
Then a discussion ensued about the fat that Sophie was wearing a diaper and Bella underwear. Something about mamas not wearing diapers except Sophie was a mama in a diaper.
Then:
Bella: “Mama.” Pause. “Melanie.”
Sophie: “What?”
Bella: “Can you go get the kids, Mama? … Melanie.”
Sophie: “No. I’m sick.”
Bella: “Do you have a baby in your belly?”
Sophie: “Yeah. How big is my belly?”
Bella: Really big. Like 60 inches big.” Then to me, “How big is your belly, Mama? Fifty inches big?”
Sophie: “I need a robe.” (She was wearing only her diaper.”)
That was my cue to finally get her to get dressed without protest. I brought her shirt and a denim jumper dress and told her the shirt was her nightgown and the dress was her robe. It was the easiest she’s gotten dressed in weeks! Usually it’s a major battle over what clothes she’s going to wear. She was so happy I’d entered into her game that she didn’t even question the choice of clothes.
—3—
I typed up the bare bones of the previous anecdote while all three kids were sitting in the car strapped into their car seats.
I’ve discovered a new trick that is absolutely invaluable. You see as soon as Ben and Sophie understand that we are going to go somewhere they both start to freak out. We can’t get out the door fast enough. And yet to get Bella motivated into moving, even to get her to change out of her pjs, I need to tell her we’re going to go. So while I’m hunting for my cell phone and ipod and keys and putting on my shoes and finding sippy cups and snacks I’ve got two toddlers melting down and crying and screaming and grabbing at my legs. But I’ve discovered that Ben and Sophie will be very happy strapped in their car seats for about the length of time it takes me to get myself ready to go. And if they do happen to get a bit anxious and impatient, well, they at least aren’t screaming in my ear or grabbing my legs. Just so long as the neighbors don’t get too concerned, they’ll be fine.
So this morning I decided to take a trip to CVS that I’d planned for a little later just because Ben was getting so cranky I knew we needed to leave the house. It was the only way I could think of to placate the cranky monster. But I really wanted to record Bella and Sophie’s cute conversation before we left because I was afraid I’d forget the details in the meantime. So once they were all snug in their seats, I grabbed some string cheese and shoved it in my pocket and then sat down to quickly write.
Just so you know, they were still sitting happy when I got out to the car. Bella and Sophie were entertaining Ben and he was laughing.
—4—
I caught Ben in mid temper tantrum. He’s busy throwing handfuls of black beans onto the floor. He was mad at being stuck in the chair.
He’s learned to climb up into the chairs but can’t figure out how to get down. This week we’ve had a few of these tantrums. He’s also got his hands on steak knives, thrown various plates and bowls full of food onto the floor, spilled some glasses, and this afternoon got his hands into some pizza dough I had rising on the counter top. I realized things were too quiet and went into the kitchen where he complained about the sticky dough on his fingers. Oh what fun it is. Somehow I think he’s going to be making a bit more trouble than his sisters.
—5—
On our walk the other day we spent some time examining morning glory blossoms and vines. And we harvested a handful of morning glory seeds to plant in the spring.
Morning glory blossom and vines.
Morning glory vines
Morning glory seed pod
Morning glory vines
—6—
Bella and Sophie play with sticks.
—7—
Today Bella was playing a game with Sophia. A sort of litany of likes: “Who likes ice cream? Who likes peanut butter?” Then we got to one that seemed eerily appropriate for this weekend:
Bella: “Who likes all the saints in heaven?”
Sophie: “I do!”
Thanks as always to the fearless Jennifer—she who kills scorpions and sleeps on rat infested couches—for hosting Friday’s Quick Takes. For more quick takes visit Conversion Diary.
Melanie,
Love the pumpkins! They look awesome!
BTW, I always give James his haircut. I thought in his video, you used the trimmer from bottom to top. If he wants it a little longer, going from top to bottom helps not take as much off due to the direction the hair grows. Maybe professional barbers go from bottom to top, but as I’m not one of them, I always go from top to bottom (and then usually at a bit of an angle, like from left to right or right to left depending on which side I’m on) and it helps me only take a little off at a time and (hopefully) not make it too short. I suppose I could go from bottom to top and try to use a bigger trim piece, but the problem I had then was when it came to areas where I couldn’t go from bottom to top, it was too big to trim much of anything.
Very cute pumpkins!
Re: Dom’s haircutting. When I started cutting my husband’s hair, my mom’s advice to me was: “Remember, the difference between a bad haircut and a good haircut on a man is about two weeks.” It’s been a good reminder, and my husband and I have had to remind each other of it more than once!
Katherine, I think the top to bottom approach makes more sense too. I was following the instructions from the clippers themselves as relayed by Dom. I think in the future I might do that. At least for Ben’s hair.
Lauren, exactly right. Dom wasn’t really upset. He knew I was very unsure of myself, had never done it before, and was prepared to live with the consequences. And now we know a little bit more for next time.