Bite Sized Bully

We had our first circumstance of peer pressure, 'making fun of', call it what you will today.

Tonight at dinner, Matilda says to us:

"(Insert kids name here) says I'm not a big girl because I don't have a big girl bed. So someday I want a big girl bed."

Simple as that. Kid makes 'fun' of Tillie. Tillie wants something to resolve the joke.

Tonight as we were reflecting on this conversation I say I want to punch this kid in the face for making her feel bad. Nate says he wants to kick him in the nuts.

Obviously, neither of us are doing either of these things. But we need to REALLY start seeking out some legitimate solves because this stuff is only going to get more difficult, and of a more serious nature as these two little ones get older.

Only now, can I truly appreciate how my parents felt as our house was egged night after night, and I would come home crying. Although my Dad's approach of staking out in his truck until he figured out who the culprits were may not necessarily be my conflict-avoiding husbands style. I mean this was barely an incident. Let's be honest, it was a micro-speck of a comment that somehow lodged itself in Matilda's memory. It was nothing. But still. It stung.

So in the meantime, we will continue to milk Matilda's crib (because there isn't any peer pressure in the world going to force me to give THAT up early), and will be practicing our verbal judo in our free time.

Beer Problem

Signs you know someone in your household drinks beer too often:

While walking through Target, Tillie spies energy drinks like Red Bull and Monster and says: "lets get Daddy beer."


While drinking soda, Matilda says: "No mama. You can't drink Daddy's beer."


And while shopping at Trader Joes---upon exit Matilda says: "Now we go in there (pointing to the liquor portion) and get Daddy's beer."


The reality is it isn't like Nate drinks beer all that much but apparently Matilda is keeping track. And it has left an impression on her. But it is a good life lesson for us that she is watching everything little thing we do. Even when we don't think she is watching. She is.

Always.

Harried House

You know those days where literally nothing seems to go right? That was how it was for our ENTIRE house yesterday. Not just one of us, all of us.

It was a lethal combination.

Nate took off to work on the house to get ready for sale.

He went to work changing out burnt out light bulbs, and blew some fuse that literally BROKE light fixtures. Sooooo....now we are trying to get an electrician to come fix lights within 24 hours.

He touched up all of the trim downstairs---only to realize it was the wrong color. Sooooo....now he gets to REPAINT again. But more.

He tried to reset our Dishwasher. 3 hours later (literally), it is actually not better. But worse. We have zero clue how to fix it. Short of taking off our counters which we are not doing.

Matilda and Bea were not having it that dinner was not ready at 5:30PM sharp and had total and complete meltdowns.

And I had just...well. I had a day. And I will leave it at that.

I wish we were handier. Or had a handyman in our lives (that didn't live 3 hours away :) ). Because woof. It is going to be a long month......

Conference Quips

This week was the time for Spring Conferences at the girls' school. It is always so fun to hear snippets about your kids from an 'outside' perspective. The things they do when their parents aren't around, the things that are same or different, and to see if we are picking up on the same things!

From Matilda's:

"she is able to play with many of her friends, with a few "besties" in mind"

She has always been like this...taking a fast and strong liking to certain people. Back even from her infant room days, that feedback has been consistent. In her infant room days, I remember the teachers saying that it isn't typical for kids to have such strong preference/friendship with other kids at the age she was.

"Some of her favorite things include babies, cooking, and science."

Makes sense since we have a baby, cook with her every day. Although the science thing throw me for a loop. Must get that from Nate. :)

"She may approach new things with caution but after she tries it she has no fear"

So so so so so true. Her entire life. Wisconsin Dells Water Park 2014. Enough said.

"Matilda enjoys reading books, and running morning meeting with friends."

I.e. she wants to be the boss of her friends. :) At least that is consistent at home too.


From Bea's:

"We see her enjoyment (of art projects, dress-up and stories) through her smiles, clapping, babbling, dancing, and disappointment when an activity is over."

Also known as she pitches a fit if she doesn't get her way.

"Bea demonstrates her physical skills by moving throughout the room in an exploratory manner."

Reading between the lines "we have to remove items from the room because she is a climbing monkey.

"Has developed positive, secure attachments to certain adults."

said differently....cries when certain teachers aren't there, or certain ones leave. Just like at home with the Mama.

3rd Annual EGGstravaganza!

Well, dang.

As I sit down to write this blog, I realize that I failed to get a picture of all of the kids together.

It was on the top of my mind before the party, and then 75 people showed up and all I could think to say was thanks for coming and you get 12 eggs.

Here is a just a glimpse of all of our friends who came out to help us celebrate.

Our friends keep having more children, so the crew keeps growing each year.

A few shots of the food we cooked up. Here is the deal---i do love Pinterest. I love being crafty. I love doing something with my hands other than emailing. 

 

And I happen to be (over) planful, so all of this doesn't take all that much time. I don't do this stuff for anybody but me really. This is a creative outlet, something to do. Produce.

Plus, for me, this party is ALL about the kids. We plan this, and do it, to see all of our friends' kids running around, having fun, and getting spoiled for a day.

And after we are done spoiling them with easter eggs, we spoil with a small gift bag.

(because sometimes I forget everything I have bought and just happen to have enough to make this happen......)

 So...the Hunt.

As it will surprise no-one, Matilda had a very particular style to her hunting--one that will be problematic when she goes to a 'public' hunt and isn't being policed by a 12 egg per kid rule. Because, you see, she carefully, meticulously selected each egg. Even passing up eggs at one point stating: "no, I want a purple one".

What can I say, girl knows what she wants.

Bea on the other hand, was happy to just grab a hold of one egg and shake it until her heart was content.

Confession: i opened her eggs after she went to bed tonight and literally demolished all of her candy.

It was a great moment of motherhood.

This was the best shot of both of the girls we could scrape together.  Matilda really wasn't interested in playing with her baby sister today since all of her buddies were here.

And oh, did she have fun with her buddies.

Even crashing their family photos

Thanks to my Dad for sawing us the frame. It was a big hit, and so fun to have some photos we can start to track from year to year to watch the kids grow.

We don't have family in town, but our friends are like our family, so we love that we can celebrate together and have a big giant party to get everyone together.

Happy (almost) Easter, Everyone!

Birthday Bash!

It was a Sweet Shoppe birthday for Beatrice. As my friend Marie warned, "she is going to inform Matilda that Bea got a cupcake for her 1st birthday and she didn't.." So I figured I may as well go big since I will pay for it later. :)

But just to set the record straight, there were a lot of sweets, and Bea only got one tiny little cupcake (more on that later).

The food was certainly not the main event, as it was so fun to have lots of people on hand to help us celebrate.

Grandma put her signature mark on the birthday party with her amazing cut-out cookies that were on-theme, and impeccable decorated. And as an added bonus--also very delicious.

Here is the thing...and I feel a little bad about this...I think Matilda may just have had more fun than Bea. She was over the moon to have her buddies at her house, and they instantly took to playing together.

And what games do 5 2-year old girls play when they get together?

"Go to sleep"

They play go-to-sleep.

Which is funny, because when you actually WANT them to do that it doesn't always happen that easily....

We also spent a fair amount of time trying to prep Matilda that this was BEA's birthday and not hers. She was super excited about presents, until she realized that there were none 'for her'.

We had a minor melt-down, combined with one of the purest sad faces I have ever seen.

Then I explained that that is one of the great things bout sisters. if you are really nice, Bea will want to share everything because she loves playing with YOU.

(which worked...but admittedly turned into Matilda just telling Bea: "you are sharing with me, Bea!")

The big moment of cupcake eating and candle blowing was also excitedly shared...

 ...although Bea made very quick work of getting that whole cupcake down before it got taken away.

 

Bea also received a super fun ride-on toy from Katie, and it was THE hit. It's the first time that I have seen Bea get seriously angry when she sees Matilda playing with a toy. She follows her around and cries at the base of the car until Matilda relents (or we force her to give Bea a turn).

And of course, since Bea is a total monkey, she can get off and one, and move backwards all by herself.

Even better, Tillie can push her! :)

We've got the emergency room number programmed and ready to dial.....

It was a great party. So much fun to be surrounded by so many of our friends and family to help us celebrate.