Melody knows how to blow her nose now, and she does it with conviction.
I don’t remember when Natasha started, and even now she doesn’t do it with as much… emphasis as her sister, but with the cold weather returning and noses developing drips, I’m thankful they both know what to do when I say “Blow.”
Now when she wakes all stuffy (like last night) there’s actually something she/we can do about it. It’s surprisingly comforting.
When the kids say something I want to remember, I try to write it down. So here’s a clearing of the white-board:
The girls are playing nicely together and Natasha turns to her sister.
N: You’re a great sister. I *love* you.
M: Yup.
~~~
We harvested from our garden Friday evening and Jay let the girls be the curriers. Melody came running in with a respectably-sized “Cuzinni,” eager to make bread.
~~~
The girls playing house:
M: Mom! [I’ve learned not to answer this call when they play this way]
N: I’m the baby.
M: Oh. Baby!
N: I can’t talk.
I never thought I’d be this excited about a toddler running. I guess I always thought they went together.
But for the longest time Natasha’s been a runner and Melody has… enjoyed the scenery. It was the most frustrating thing to try and walk alone with both of them. NJ ready to take off and run until the end of the world, and Melody m…e…a…n…d…e…r…i…n…g along.
If I asked her to run, she’d move her feet more quickly for a little bit, picking up her knees higher, but really not moving any faster.
Then on Sunday she just started to take off. We walked part of the way to Gma Florie’s house in the evening, and both girls ran for more than a block (that’s a long way for a body their size). Then they both ran all over the lawn while playing. And every day since then it has taken very little motivation to get and keep Melody moving.
She’s even starting to get a little “air” when she jumps, and that’s another first. I wonder if she just grew into “coordinated” all of a sudden and that’s why she can move in these new ways.
Oh, and we have a 2-year-old who speaks in complete sentences. How often does that happen? I really don’t know, but it seems unique.
I mentioned this to mom and she said, “It only counts if she can be understood.”
“It can be understood,” I said. “Sarah’s the one who told the story.”
“Antee-tarah, my ponytayol come out. Can oo fih it, peas?” [Tell me that’s not the cutest thing you ever heard.] “Tank-oo.”
~~~
Yesterday Rae Ann came over and cleaned my house while I worked on the longer Obit for tonight’s memorial service. While I was working it out the phone rang and it was one of those political telemarketing calls (can something be exponentialy annoying?); Concerned Alaskans for something or other was calling.
“Mrs. Helmericks, did you know that at this moment in the State Legislature–”
“Did you know,” I interrupted with a voice not-quite-steady, “that at this moment I am writing my grandmother’s obituary, and this is not a good time.”
A gratifying amount of awkwardness ensued.
~~~
Last week Natasha came up to me while I was sitting in our big blue chair and asked in her gentle voice, “Mama, do you ever forgive me?” After a Do I ever! laugh, I answered, “Yes, I’ve forgiven you lots of times.”
She embraced my arm tenderly and said sincerely, “I forgive you lots of times too.”
~~~
Today I had Jay drop me off at the DMV to renew my months-expired driver’s license. I wanted to be dropped off in case I was asked (with my 4-months expired license) how I’d gotten there.
When I called to ask Jay to pick me up he said something (over our poor cell-phone connection) that sounded like “oven door came off.” I could hear the stress in his voice.
“You can’t be serious!” I said.
“I am, and I’m on my way,” he said.
As soon as I was in the car I pumped him for the story. It seems Natasha had left one of her shoes in the kitchen, and Jay, stepping back as he checked on a pizza in the oven, felt it under his foot. He thought he’d stepped on Maestro or Melody and immediately picked up the foot again. His weight had already shifted, and so he hung on to the door, trying to catch his balance– and found himself holding a 400-degree door, looking at a half-baked pizza in the open oven.
Thankfully, the door wasn’t actually broken; it’s designed to lift straight up once opened, and the angle Jay pulled it at just lifted it straight out. Discovering this it was easy enough to fix, but didn’t entirely remove the panting moment of adrenaline.
At lunch today, both girls’ food was a little too hot to hold long. They set it on their plates and continued blowing on it, to speed the cooling. Then Melody had the great idea that she could maybe still eat it even if she couldn’t hold it, and began nibbling on the edges while it sat on the plate.
It must have worked, because the next I noticed it was half-gone, and she was still eating it straight off the plate.
Our kids apparently have skin issues. We are going to have to figure out some routine to get their ears (especially) greased regularly, to prevent cracks and possible infection.
*sigh*
This responsible-grown-up gig gets old sometimes.
And you’ll be able to see the next time we update our pix that Melody had a bad run-in Thursday morning with something little that bites. It got her right over her left eyebrow, and sometime after midnight it stopped responding to the Benedryl and her eye swelled shut.
It didn’t open again until Friday night. Continue reading
That’s what Jay asked when he came out from the girls’ room at naptime this afternoon.
“I walked in there and they started smacking their own butts saying, ‘I’m spanking myself, I’m spanking myself!'”
As I begin to write this post, it is a quarter to 8 p.m. Melody has been in her time-out chair since about 5:30. Continue reading
Moonlight
I’d like to see Rabbits under the moon
Dancing in winter, dancing in June
Dancing around while twilight lingers
and blinky-eyed stars
look down through their fingers.
I’d like to see rabbits under the moon
but I always,
always
have to go to bed too soon.
~~
I can’t remember who wrote it, but it’s one of the girls’ favorites. They both say it with me as eagerly as they sing “Row row boat.” Continue reading
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Currently Reading The Mommy Manual: Planting Roots That Give Your Children Wings By Barbara Curtis see related |
Our family spent this Saturday doing very Saturday things: Continue reading