Art Therapy for Two

As you long time readers know, Lil has always found watercoloring a soothing, relaxing activity.  As time as passed, this hasn't changed.  I'm still buying a couple of boxes of watercolors every few months, and really, it's not an expenditure I mind in the least.  I too find comfort and peace in creating, be it cards, coloring, etc.

 I remember about a year ago critiquing Lil's artistic ability.  I wasn't trying to be mean or ugly, just realistic about where her true gifts lie.  (Honestly, the child has unbelievable mathematical abilities--it's incredible, but I digress.)  I think I may have spoken too soon.  While I don't think she is artistically gifted, I think she does possess a nice bit of talent.  How many five year olds do you know who fill in the sky all around everything and have the sky and ground meet at the horizon?  She did this all without my prompting.  I just came to have a peek over her shoulder and this is what I saw. 

According to Lil, this is "an old timey picture of Thomas.  It's very very very old."  I can see that, sure.  It's black and white like old timey photos, right?

Meanwhile, Miss Bean has started to show some interest in coloring.  I picked up some So Big crayons for her and she went to work.

Those are some lovely scribbles, no?

Alas, she lost interest within three minutes and putting the crayons away became far more fun.

A note about the So Big crayons (also "Jumbo Crayons")--they break VERY easily if dropped.  The crayon itself doesn't break, but the tip breaks off.  It's rather frustrating.  Of course, we've been using these since Han was but a wee Monk, so for about nine years now, and I knew this when purchasing these.  We've only been through one box per girl because they last that long.

And here, we have a public service announcement:  Be sure your pantry door is tightly closed.

(You would think I would have learned this by now...)

Yes, she began with the Cheerios and moved on to the Ritz and Goldfish.  She was stymied by the Goldfish box, though, as she couldn't get it open.  :oP

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Weekend Sparklies:

1.  The cukes from the neighbor:

2.  More tomatoes:

I have to pick them before they are ripe now because the squirrels are very rude and eat them before I can pick them otherwise.  Worst of all, they leave half.  Who leaves half of a ripe tomato?!??  ARGH!

3.  We finally watched HP7.1.  Now, to get some babysitting lined up so we can watch 7.2.  :o)  

4.  B helped me get the house back in order this morning.  Thank you, Sweetie!

5.  Tacos for dinner.  This is going to seem funny--at least, it is to B and me--in the 12 years we've been married, we've NEVER had tacos!  How is that possible?  We've had taco salad and varieties of Mexican food, but never tacos.  Wow. 

6.  Getting stuff out of the garage.  Hooray! 

7.  We're attempting to make our own lime syrup to use in our limeades:

It's not quite there yet, but we've already noted some changes to be made--less sugar, a little less zest.  This is batch one.  If batch two is perfect, I'll post the recipe over on Follow Your Bliss.  

No milestones.

To Remember

This morning Lil was up on the bridge playing.  She pulled out a blanket to cover her table and turned it into an "exam table".  She then brought out all her stuffed animals and began playing "vet".  She would draw pictures on her mini-magnadoodle for their "x-rays" and show them to me so we could confer.  Often she would "draw" on the back of the doodler to "erase" a part of the "x-ray" so as to show the animal had a broken whatever.  We had broken chests, arms, legs and spines.  I have to say, each drawing was unique, thereby differentiating the "chests" from the "legs" from the "spines". 

Once she had diagnosed the problem, she would then craft a solution, be it a snuggle, a "cast" or special food.  I have to say, it really  made me smile. :o)

A Beanie Update

 I realized I've not recorded any of the Bean's growth and whatnot is ages.  This must be remedied!

Hannah was a VERY verbal child, speaking clearly and concisely at a very early age.  By 18 months we could actually have conversations.  No, I'm not kidding.  So, when Lil hit 15 months and had few words I was concerned.
 

Even though I knew all children are different and develop at different rates, it is human nature to compare the known to the unknown.   Lil's vocabulary came along, and now she uses improbable words just like her older sister.

With that said, I'm not overly concerned about Beanie.  Han had fantastic language skills, but her gross motor skills came along more slowly.  Beanie's gross motor skills are off the charts (not that you all noticed that or anything), so it would stand to reason her verbal skills would be a little behind.

Miss Bean has quite a vocabulary, and will use those words--when she wants to, NEVER on command.  Additionally, very few of the words are clearly the word she is trying to say, even though Brien and I can tell what she's saying.  Her list includes:

*Da-DEE! (Please note the use of the exclamation point.  This word is ALWAYS said in a tone of excitement and enthusiasm, especially when Brien has just come home from work.)
*Ma-Ma
*Ho-EE ("Holly")
*di-DEE ("kitty")
*meow
*some form of bark, arf, woof or howl when she sees a dog
*gu GRL ("good girl" said in a sing-song voice)
*pu-PEE
*See See ("see")
*duh done ("All done")
*Pees ("please")
*Nana ("Nana", "banana", some form of food if she's hungry)
*Mm ("mm")
*dit dow ("get down")
*Yih-YEE ("Lily")
*Pop
*dis ("this")
*moah ("more")
*pa-EE cake ("patty cake" while patting my hand)
*Up pees ("up please")
*ni-NEE ("ninny" or, a desire to nurse, as she's attempting to tug up my shirt)
*pa-DEE ("paci")

I know there are more, but that's what I can remember at the moment. 

As for her receptive language skills, she understands quite a bit.  I can now ask or tell her to go find an item and she will retrieve it.  She likes to put things back where they belong (and then take them out again and then put them back again...you saw the video, you know what I'm talking about).  I like this clean-up thing she's displaying. ;o)  If you ask her to help clean up, she will.  Nice!

Physically, the child is climbing everything.  She's quite tiny, so she will drag something over to help give her a boost up.  She runs everywhere and is still quite pigeon toed.

She is practically always happy, unless she is being denied something she really desires or wants to do, at which point she will howl in outrage and indignation.  If Lil is the one thwarting her, she will come running to me to tattle.  Oy. 

She has two naps a day, but is getting to the point where she is starting to transition to only an afternoon nap.  She still needs that morning nap, but will not fall asleep in the afternoon until almost 3:00 or 3:30 if she gets a full morning nap in.  If she doesn't nap, she is a screaming howler monkey.  Ack!

There is little to no nursing done during the day now.  However, she still wants to nurse at night.  I'm torn.  I desperately want her to sleep through the night, I do.  But, she's my last baby, so when I get up with her, although I may stumble into her room, I sit rather contentedly and nurse her and rock with her.  She's done within five or ten minutes and I'm back to bed and sleep.  She's typically up only once in the night, and before too long, she'll be completely weaned, so I'm enjoying her now.

She will, however, put herself to sleep with ease.  All I have to do is put her in her crib, make sure she has three pacies (one for the mouth and one for each hand--still) and her music on and she's set.  In fact, I still put her down for her afternoon nap anywhere from 1:30-2:00, and she'll play contentedly in her crib until she goes to sleep.  Every once in a while, she'll cry and fuss and I'll have to go in and retrieve all the pacies she's tossed.  Otherwise, she's set and will sit in her crib and play with the toys I have in there, and "read" the books that are in there. 

She loves books and will sit and look at them for minutes at a time.  She loves to be held and snuggled--on HER terms, mind you--and when I get her up from a nap, she will throw her arms around my neck in a death grip.


She also loves to climb into chairs and sit and rock.  She thinks she's big stuff as she props her arms up on the armrests.  Sometimes she'll climb up with a book.  Ah this makes my heart sing.

Food-wise, she will try anything that is put in front of her, and has quite the appetite.  However, just because she snarfs something up like it is going out of style one day does NOT mean she will be receptive to eating it again the next.  Case in point, bananas and blueberries.  She loves them both, but won't eat them two days in a row.  I don't know, I don't get it...


She is eating with a spoon and fork, but still relies on her hands quite a bit.  I'm good with that.  After all, she's only 15 months old.  Too bad she doesn't realize she's only 15 months old.  :sigh: 

Oh, and before I forget, she has a new favorite game.  She'll go into the laundry room and shut the door.  I'm to go to the door, knock (I ALWAYS knock now to make sure there is no baby on the other side waiting to get bonked on the noggin) and open the door, which she will promptly slam in my face.  Oh, and laugh and cackle while doing so.  Wash, rinse, and repeat. 

Finally, the child definitely does NOT like being left behind.  Heaven forbid I should go outside for a moment.  She'll sit at the door screaming and crying like I'm abandoning her.  Separation anxiety, anyone?  I know she'll outgrow it--both Hannah and Lily did.  The difference is, she's not being dropped off at a home daycare everyday.  Oh, and I no longer freak out because my baby is howling. 

I tell you what, I thought I was at ease with baby number two.  Man, baby number three is even easier.  There are definitely pros and cons.  Pros: I'm more comfortable, I roll with a lot more, I give her more junky foods than Hannah ever had before she was three.  Cons: I'm more comfortable, I roll with a lot more, I give her more junky foods than Hannah ever had before she was three.  Yeah... Isn't it funny how that all works out? 


So, that's where Miss Bean is right now.  At least all I can remember I need to update at any rate, because goodness knows there's no baby book... :oS  Sometimes it must really stink to not be the first.  :sigh:


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Today's Sparklies:


1.  The neighbor across the street gave me a boatload of cukes today.  Mm. :o)
2.  HP7.  I am so utterly engrossed in this book.  I've read this book a bazillion times and yet, I'm STILL sucked in.  I know there are those who could never get into the books, but I have to tell you, HP is one of my all time favorite series.  Ever.  Period.  I read Book 1 whilst home on Spring Break of my senior year.  I saw it in Lissie's room and snitched it.  I stayed up until 4 in the morning finishing it, with that horrible sad, yet euphoric feeling you get when your realize a truly amazing book is over.  At this point, I didn't know it was Book ONE.  As far as I knew, that was it.  Remember, Amazon and the internet boom hadn't really occurred at this point.  In fact, my copy of Book One has no number on the spine.  Hee hee.  I then went on to inhale and devour all the books that followed.  Brien and I would pace ourselves, reading only a couple of chapters a day, in order to make them last.  Book 7 didn't arrive until right after Hannah died.  I couldn't read it.  I knew bad things were going to happen and I just couldn't manage it.  Then, I did, and I cried and laughed and cried some more.  I've never enjoyed the movies to the degree I did the books.  At this point, I've come to appreciate the movies in their own right, as for me, they will NEVER capture the magic of the books.

So, how did I wind up so ramble-y?  Sheesh.  Suffice it to say, I really love the HP books.  ;oP
3.  Lil was so utterly delightful today when I asked for her assistance with cleaning up Destructor messes.    :o)
4.  Hearing that a friend's sweet baby is possibly on the mend after being seriously ill for close to a week.  Oh how I'm hoping and praying.
5.  The kitty-boys are hysterical and make me smile and laugh rather frequently.  Oh, and they and Holly are getting along better all the time.  :o)


No milestones.

*****ETA 7/27/11 @ 10:20 pm*****
Thanks for the reminder, Mom.  Ellie does indeed also say "mime made" in a sing song little questioning voice for "limeade" or any drink she sees that has a straw in it.  :o)

*****ETA 7/28/11 @ 8:23 am*****
I just remembered Ellie says, "Hiiiiiieeeeeeee" for "Hi", and she just told me "beh oo" or "Bless you" when I sneezed.  Sweet girl. :o)

Happy Birthday to My Sister

Jess's birthday is today.  She is 3_ years old.  I can't remember...isn't that funny?  Heck, I can't remember how old I am half the time.  Let me think...if I'm 34, then Jess is 33 today.  How on earth did we get to be in our thirties?!?  How on earth did we grow old enough to get married and have kids?!?  Sheesh!

Since we are so close in age (20 months apart), I really don't remember life without her.  In fact, my first clear memory is of riding in the elevator at the hospital to go see Mom.  Isn't that insane?  (I have one heck of a memory--just ask my family.)

As tiny kids, we played together and fought together and fussed together.  As older kids, we shared a room and bed (she's a terrible cover hog--rolls right up in 'em--not to mention that whole "get on your own side of the bed"/"I am on my side" when she was lying diagonal across it argh!) and fought and found comfort in one another.  When we were no longer sharing a room and she would get scared in the night, she would come into my room and I would tell stories and shine a flashlight through a prism I had, making rainbows dance across the walls and ceiling. 

As even older kids, the fighting began in earnest.  Drat it all, I was the oldest, why should she have the same privileges as me???  Funny how now we are pretty much the same age and that whole older/younger thing doesn't even matter.

We continued to make Mom's hair turn grey by fussing and fighting and arguing (we were quite violent with one another sometimes, frequently pulling out hair and just let me say, Jessie has the strongest finger nails known to man--my arms can attest to that).  We were just TOO different.  If we weren't sisters, I can assure you, neither of us would have looked to the other to be a friend. 

Then, something happened--we grew up.  Amazing how that works, isn't it?  I went away to college.  She graduated high school and entered the adult world, working full-time.  Suddenly, we had far more in common than we ever imagined.  I got married.  She got married.  I had babies.  She had babies.  And then, the unthinkable happened, the little girl I always called "brat" became, in a word (or three) my best friend. 

It is an odd day in our lives if we don't talk to one another, even odder still if we go more than a few days.  We call to commiserate, to share, to laugh, to cry, to simply be there for the other.  If we want to rant to someone, we call each other--and chances are, no matter how busy the other is, we'll stop what we're doing and listen. 

I can't think of anything more wonderful in this world than having a sister.  We have a common background.  No one else in the world (no matter how much they love us) has lived the life we have.  We have the same blood, the same parents, the same life experiences.  Nobody else has that.  Nobody.

As much as I thought I wanted a boy this last time around, I confess, I'm happy Lil has a sister here with her.  I'll suffer through the fights, the angst, the drama, knowing in the end, they'll be thick as thieves as adults. :o)

So, to my sister, Happy Birthday--my life honest and truly would not be the same without you.  I love you! :o)
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Today's Sparklies:

1.  I pretty much spent Ellie's nap times absorbed in HP7.  You know, not that I haven't read it 20 thousand other times.  Man, what world building Ms. Rowling did.  What a book.
2.  Even when there are "no groceries in the house", there is still food for us to eat.  So many others don't have that. 
3.  The cave continues to be a hit. :o)
4.  Snuggling and cuddling with to very naughty kitties.
5.  Lil not needing to be reminded to leave the kitties alone.  Hooray!
6.  Lower humidity, although the temps are still up there.
7.  My bird feeder. I swear, I NEVER would have thought that thing would bring me such pleasure.  I just LOVE looking out my kitchen window and seeing my visitors.  The woodpecker was back yesterday which brought a huge smile to my face, as were the cardinals, chickadees, finches and a raven.  Now, to see the indigo bunting again...

no milestones.

The Coolest Cardboard House EVER!

Please please please ignore the ugly, messy counter.  Puh-LEEZ?

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we (meaning "Brien", of course--although I did help a little...) made the girls a cardboard house this weekend.

As I also mentioned, we had piles of cardboard lying around, having been saved from our IKEA entertainment center.  I think the plan had been to build a house using rectangles and squares, but nothing had been set in stone.

And then, having tucked the cardboard into the guest room, we rather forgot about it until we had guests last week.  Oops!

As fate would have it, just as B was needing to get a plan together, he received his daily Instrcutables email and included was a model of a house similar to this.  PERFECT!

The original instructable can be found here, and the calculator Brien used is here.  Be aware, should you decide to use the instrucable and the calculator, the lady mixed up her "A's" and "B's" from the calculator, causing B a wee smidge of heartache.

He used his big ol' brain (seriously, that is one smart melon that boy has!) and determined the size of the triangles we would need as well as how many, created a template (allowing for a one inch fold on each side) and went to work.

 I know it's hard to see, but there are loads of triangles on this piece of cardboard (and a couple more just like it). 

 Do you have any idea how hard it is to cut cardboard?  Ouch!

 I used that ruler (one inch wide--did I mention the man is brilliant?) to make the necessary folds.

 The pile o' debris.

I did also mention there was a spot of trouble with sides labeled "A" and "B" on the instructable versus the calculator, right?  B was able to use that prodigious brain of his to fix the problem without too much difficulty.  I love that brain of his, I truly do.  :o) 

And Miss Bitty, of course, saw the scraps from the conversion of the old triangles to the new as cats.  Anyone shocked by that?   Rather clever of her, really...

My pile of folded cardboard.

We had both isosceles and equilateral triangles, otherwise known as "large" and "small".

 The "small" (isosceles) triangles would be glued together to create pentagons.

 I don't think I've ever expressed my love of hot glue, but believe me, I do.

One of the pentagons completed.

 The "inside".

After completing all the pentagons, B then glued them together in a long snake-like creature.

 The house was beginning to take shape, but still needed some filler, which is where the "large" (equilateral) triangles came into play.

As you can see, B had a little fuzzy black helper.  It would seem he complicated matters somewhat as B was terrified of getting hot glue on him.

Well, that, and George objected to being ignored and nipped at B's feet.  :oP

 I did mention he complicated matters somewhat, right? ;oP

 We decided the structure was a little too short, and the door a little too difficult to get through as it was, so Brien added rectangular pieces to the base to elevate it some--hence the upside down dome.

The last thing he did was "reinforce" (what else would you call it?) the seams with masking tape.  We thought it gave a nice decorative effect as well.  ;o)  I'm sure Lil will have at it with her crayons and markers before it's all said and done. :oP

 She certainly created a cozy little hole for her sister and herself. :o)

Ellie thoroughly enjoyed her time in the cave this morning (yes, I'm going to refer to it as "the cave" since it's so stinkin' dark in there--we could cut windows, but why if the girls like it as is?).

Of course, it didn't hurt that Lil littered it with all sorts of cozy stuffed loveys. :o)

Oddly enough, I have no photos of Lil in here.  Hm.  That must be remedied this evening! 

If any of you happen to have a truckload of cardboard you would like to get rid of, I'd highly recommend making one of these.  It came together over the course of two days with very little difficulty, and it is a hit with all members of the family (well, except maybe Holly...).  :o)

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Today's Sparklies:

1.  So, now I'm on a sunflower and morning glory kick.  So sorry. ;oP

The daylilies continue to do their thing, but now the sunflowers are beginning to shine forth in all their sunny glory and I couldn't be happier.  I think I've done a fairly decent job having flowers in every month since March.  :o)
2.  The toe-toes are looking SO good!

3.  So, you know how cats like to play in paper bags, right?  What happens if they tear through the handle?

Poor George, his dignity has been damaged. ;o)
4.  The cats have begun to wake Lil up for her to get them brekky.  This is a wonderful thing since she loves them SOOOOOOO much.  :o)
5.  Have I mentioned recently just how in love I am with my house?  The new carpet, the new walls, the new entertainment center, all of it.  Ahhhhh.  :o)
6.  Oh, and the fact I culled a large number of toys certainly doesn't hurt with keeping the clutter down either.  In fact, with fewer toys, Lil's better able to see what she does have to play with and plays better.  Does that make sense?
7.  And, in case I haven't mentioned this either, I'm insanely in love with my wonderful husband who is not only an amazing husband, but and incredible Daddy as well. :o)

No milestones.