A 4-Year-Old's Hero

Today, I was nursing Alexa right before putting her down again when I heard Rhea waking up from her nap. I told Lucia to go up to her and keep her company and tell her Mama would be there soon to get her out of bed. This is what I then heard over the monitor:
L: "We have a problem. How can we get a little girl out of her bed?...
I know! Let me try to put the side of your crib down." *rumble rumble*
"Hmm, I'm not heavy enough yet."
*pause*
"I sure wish Super Grover was here. He always knows how to solve problems. And his ideas always work!" *sigh* "Too bad he's just in a story and not in the real world."

I love when I occasionally get to be a fly on the walls of their lives. :)

Last Night's Bedtime

Last night, I put Rhea to bed. She had had a long nap that afternoon and didn't wake up until 4:30 p.m., so we knew that she would probably have trouble falling asleep right away. First, I got called upstairs soon after we put her to bed for another round of potty. Then it was quiet for a while. At 8:52, I heard this somewhat hesitant call: "Mooommyyyyy... Mooooommyyyyy." I went upstairs and said: "What's going on, Rhea?" R: "Ummm... ummm... ummm..." and then she whispered: "I wanna kuschel (cuddle) wif you." I said no, it was too late, it was time to go to sleep, but the whole interchange certainly warmed my heart. (Though I was very ready have all three kids be asleep for the evening considering I didn't get a nap yesterday.)
Then... 16 minutes later:
R: "Maamaaa ... Maaamaaa..."
I roll my eyes, go upstairs.
M: "Now what, Rhea?!"
R: "Umm... um.... umm...."
M: "Rhea, why did you call Mama?"
R: "Uumm... I don't know eider." (*argh*) :)

I tucked her back in, told her to go to sleep (R: "Ok, Mom.") and went back downstairs. If kids weren't so cute, we Mamas would go crazy! :)

The Cat in the Hat

Today, we went to the library for story time, and picked up The Cat in the Hat, along with some other books, before we left. I had never read the story before today. For those who are also unfamiliar with it: Two kids are left home alone for the day and have nothing to do. The Cat in the Hat shows up with lots of "fun" tricks that leave the place a complete mess. Part of repertoire of tricks is a box which contains Thing 1 and Thing 2, who also contribute to the ransacking of the children's house, right up until their mother returns. (Thankfully, the Cat in the Hat cleans up after himself and the Things.)

Anyway, Lucia requested that I read it to her after she came down from her quiet time since she had looked at the pictures and was very concerned with what she saw! She was in complete agreement with the fish: The Cat in the Hat should NOT be in the house, and Thing 1 and Thing 2 had better be kept in the box, with the hook latched shut. Below is the page where the Cat in the Hat lets Thing 1 and Thing 2 into the kids' house...
... and here is the scene after the Cat in the Hat and the two Things have made their respective messes of the place. This was rather anxiety-provoking to Lucia, and so ...

... she came up with an action plan for the case that she was ever home alone and the Cat in the Hat, as well as Thing 1 and Thing 2, wanted to pay her a visit. She needed to make sure that they would know for certain that they were NOT welcome in her house, so she proceeded to make three signs: One for the front door, one for the back door, and one for the garage door (as in, the huge garage door, not the door from the garage into the house). Here she is taping one of the signs to the back door.

And this is what the signs looked like:
Thing 1 and Thing 2, and then the Cat in the Hat on top of the box with a hook and a nail, and all crossed out. You are NOT welcome here! :)

Puppet Theater

Today, Lucia built a puppet theater. The only thing I helped with was to cut a rectangle out of a big box. Everything else was her work. She drew four scenes from the story she was going to act out, and made four puppets, and then wrote herself a script.
Here's the script: "MOMKANWEGOAWTENHEWOZ"

This is quoting the main two characters from her story, Hansel and Gretel. "Mom, can we go out in the woods?" :)

Here are some pictures of the whole thing:

Rhea enjoying a turn with the theater. Notice the four scenes taped across the top of the box. Close-ups are below. They are the story line, sort of the backdrop, for her four puppets.


Introducing the four characters of her story (left to right):
Hansel, "The-Guy-Who-Put-Them-to-Sleep", the Mean Witch, Gretel. (I might have mixed up Hansel and Gretel; it's a bit hard for me to tell them apart.) And I'm not sure where The-Guy-Who-Puts-Them-to-Sleep comes in (she showed me the scene "where he put them to sleep", but I guess I must know a different version of the story...).


Following are the four scenes from the story:

Hansel and Gretel's House, where the script begins and their mother lives, and from where they go out...

... into the woods

Then, the scene where "the guy puts them to sleep." Not sure why H & G have halos (or if, in fact, they are halos).

And then the scene where H & G come upon the gingerbread house, complete with candy canes.

I have a video of her trying to perform the piece as well, but she wasn't quite sure how to carry out the complex idea in her head. I told David I could remember the feeling well: Having this (in my mind) AMAZING idea, spending lots of time preparing for it, and then not quite knowing how to make it all happen in the end. :) Hope you enjoy the performance as much as we did. (FYI: There was no follow-up to the performance you see on video below; that was the main event. :) )

We've Arrived...

... in Texas. We got a random bag of hand-me-downs from a new friend, and guess what was included:

Ta-daaa!!

These are several sizes too small for Lucia, but too big for Rhea. I find them hysterical and may let Rhea wear them for Halloween some year. ;-)

First Family Outing

...as a family of 5. Notice you won't see a picture with all of us in it, but we were all there, Alexa included. She spent the time in the stroller while the big sisters explored around Lake Grapevine. It didn't last all that long, especially since we had to wake Alexa up for our outing... but it was still worth it. :)

2 Months Old...

... and one day, though the photos were taken yesterday. She's getting really smiley, talkative, and ... chunky! :) Love you, Alexa Belle!!

Pizza...

... is what we had for dinner tonight. At the library, we picked up a children's cookbook, much to Lucia's delight. She has already picked out what we'll be making for Papa's birthday in a couple of weeks, and my plan and hope is to have an evening every week when Lucia gets to make dinner (with some assistance, of course). So today, she (and I) made pizzas while Rhea had her own dough to work with... playdough (which she very endearingly calls "potato" :) ).
Here are a few pictures of our afternoon:


Absolutely tasty. Lucia, you can make dinner for us any day! :)

Way Behind...

... seems to be the new norm.
I just wanted to post a little tidbit of my afternoon (before I forget and while I still have the right perspective... as in: don't let the little things get to you, and cherish your children even in the oddest of circumstances. :) )

I had JUST poured myself a cup of afternoon coffee and baked a chocolate chip cookie (or three :) ) in the toaster oven to sit down for the first time today and enjoy 10 minutes of quiet. The kids were playing nicely outside with sticks and spray bottles, I was waiting for a load of laundry to be done so I could hang it outside with the other load already drying in the wind.
Then Rhea comes in, so cute with her sunglasses on. :)
R: "Hi Mom. I need to wash my hands."
M: "Ok." (back to my coffee)
*a few minutes of silence*
R: "Mom, please help me."
M: "Ok, I'm coming."
I walk into the bathroom, and Rhea says somewhat guiltily, but with a little smile on her face: "Look, Mom!" There she stands ... in a yellow puddle.
Here is Rhea's attempt at consoling me:
R: "It's ok, Mom."
M: "No, it's not ok."
R: "Why not?"
M: "Because it makes me sad when you go peepee in your pants. You need to go peepee on the toilet."
R: "It's ok."
M: "No, it's not ok."
R: "A little bit ok?"
M: "No. Not really."
R, after a moment of thought: "Phewf, THAT was CLOSE... right?"
M: "Yeah?"
R: "Yeah, that was close!" (How can I not smile in my head while I see my 2-year-old in the middle of a puddle of pee, saying, "phewf, that was CLOSE!" ?!)
...then...
R: "New pants?"
M: "Yes, Mama will get you new pants."
R: "Ok. Thanks, Mom." ... "Mama, are you ok?"
M: "Yes. What do you need to do when you need to go peepee?"
R: "Nothing."
M: "No, you need to call Mama, and say, 'Mama, quick, quick, I need to go peepee.' And then we go to the toilet."
R: "Oh, ok."

After I got new undies, pants, and socks (and put the shoes by the washer), she saw that the socks were folded together into one.
R: "Mom, look, the socks! I fix them, ok?" (and proceded to take them apart) "Look, another one."
While I took one sock to put on her foot, she said: "Here, Mom, I hold the other one for you, k?"

None of these interchanges in and of themselves are all that unusual, but the whole situation together struck me as very sweet (despite the puddle on the floor). :) Alas, my coffee is cold, and my cookie is hardly warm anymore either. Just as I have everything cleaned up and want to send Rhea back outside, Lucia comes in and says, "I was SO lonely, where were you?" and decided she was done outside (which means Rhea is done too). Lucia even made up a lonely song: "I'm so sad, I wish I was glad, but no one is joining me." (I might have forgotten the last line...)
So much for eating a cookie in solitude, and right then I also heard Alexa's little squawks, letting me know that she was waking up from her nap. Here we go again... :)
P.S. While I'm writing this, Rhea came to sit on my lap and said, "I want to see pictures, can I see pictures?"..."Why not?" "How about Green Eggs and Ham?" "Mama, where's X? Where's O? Where's E?" (As she then proceded to push each one.) "Mama, when you're done, then pictures?" "How about a movie?" :) I LOVE my kids.