What Kind of Bum?

This one gets an entry on its own. Today Sophia told me that her toothpaste is "buggle bum" flavored.

What a Christmas!!

Soph and Olivia both enjoyed a bustling holiday season. In the couple of weeks prior to Christmas, Olivia attended the birthday parties of 2 classmates, one of which Sophia was thrilled to join her. They both celebrated with parties at their schools and the 3 of us went to see Okey and Dokey (former parents at Olivia's preschool) perform their 25th and final Christmas program at Livi's school. They had playdates with friends, decorated cookies with me, and made a gingerbread house with Grandma Golter. We spent Christmas Eve with our friends the Buddington's, and predictably we all had a great time. Yale was sick Christmas day, so he stayed at home while Olivia, Sophia and I went to my sister, Beckie's house for a duck dinner and pumpkin pie! Sophia and Olivia got to have their first overnight at their Aunt Beckie's house and they were ecstatic! Olivia packed her suitcase 3 weeks in advance to this big event. Yale and I had planned to stay in a hotel that night, but we were both so sick, we decided to take it easy at home. Even though we both used up more Kleenex in those two days than we normally do in a month, it was nice to have time to sleep and only care for ourselves. Olivia and Soph had a great time at their aunt's house, and can't wait to go back. In fact, Sophia insisted more than once the day she got home, that she's going to Beckie's house later.

Oh Mighty Gatekeeper

The other day I asked Olivia what she wants for Christmas. She replied, "A big pillow like yours (I have a body pillow) and maybe a clo." Clo is the singular form that she uses for clothes. I think it's so cute when she says it that I don't correct her. I guess I better be sure to do that at some point, for sure before she goes to college. Sophia has become the Gatekeeper in the Wizard of Oz, and every door in our house leads to the Emerald City. She insists on being in charge of opening and closing every door in the house, and she gets quite upset if someone else tries to do her job. I think this started because she can finally reach all of the doorknobs. She used to get very frustrated with Olivia when she would shut her in or out of somewhere she didn't or did want to be. She's making it very clear, that now SHE has control.

Trick or Treat

Olivia and Sophia had their first experience with trick or treating this year. They both had so much fun, it was hard explaining to them that Halloween is the only day that you can ring a stranger's doorbell and ask for candy. Yale had the idea of the girls dressing up as skunks this year. I was all for it because I was hoping we could stay away from the princess theme. I've had my fair share of princess talk/play lately. Plus, I've grown to really dislike Sleeping Beauty. She is NOT the kind of role model that I want for our girls. As far as I can tell she's known for being pretty and sleeping. Even when I asked Olivia if she does anything exciting in the movie, she said, "Well, she talks" and that was all that she could come up with! What kind of heroine is that??? When you think about it, princesses in fairy tales, books and movies are always pretty lame. They rarely getting to doing anything daring and adventuresome. I need to find movies for the girls to watch where the girls get to fly, rescue people, and wear a cool cape. Anyway...back to Halloween. I decided I would attempt to make the girls' costumes this year. Not only do I want to expand their imaginations with being something unique, I wanted to show them that you can also use your imagination by creating your own costume. Luckily I was able to come up with something very simple. I got a couple of black hoodies, some black boas and some white boas, white fur, and black and pink felt; Voila: skunks. Yale said that seeing them in their costumes melted his heart. I had to agree, they looked awfully cute. We went over to our friends', Betsy and Vince, house for Halloween night. They have a daughter, Ellen, that is Olivia's age and good friend. And their son, Hugh, is Sophia's favorite friend from P.D.O. After eating pizza, we went trick or treating to a ton of houses in their neighborhood. At first Sophia didn't seem to understand the point of the whole thing, but after she got a couple of pieces of candy, she was all for it! Olivia and Ellen held hands and ran from house to house, telling everyone "Happy Halloween!"

Oh Sweet Little Sophia

More funny things that Sophia says: stam up - stand up noey - no banquet - blanket hode da hand - hold the hand or hold my hand kank you - thank you oder dare -over there Here are two conversations that I had with Sophia this week: What would you like for breakfast, Sophia? Chocolate milk shake What would you like on your English muffin, Sophia? Chocolate

In-house Comedians

So we're sitting at the table eating dinner the other night and Olivia starts talking about bras. I can't remember how this subject came up, but probably like many topics with 4-year-old, it came up from out of nowhere. So after some benign questions, such as "Why do you wear a bra?" "Why don't I wear a bra?", etc. Olivia asks, "Are fancy bras only for Halloween?" I really have no idea where this one came from and didn't really know how to respond. Yale and I looked at each other and laughed, and I said, "Hmmm...I don't know." In retrospect I wish I would of had a much more informative or thought provoking response, but I was so distracted with wondering why she would ask such a thing that I didn't really have the brain power to respond. Funny things that Sophia says: Kayaroo = kangaroo Ovia (which used to be o-e-a) = Olivia Up and down = upside down A few nights ago, after I put Sophia to bed, she was still awake and singing after being in bed for about an hour. I went to check on her and found that she had shaken the water out from her sippy cup all over her nightgown and sheets. As I was changing her sheets, she said, "Funny, Momnmy?" I responded, "No, Soph." She said, "No, not funny," Paused and then said,"Just a little bit funny, Mommy?" Of course I thought that was funny, so I had to just turn my head while I cracked up. Once again, not able to come back with a very quality response.

Miss O at age 4

Since Olivia recently had her 4th birthday it's time for my annual description of her personality. Yale and I have definitely seen a leap in her maturity since she's turned 4. I think it's mostly due to her seeing herself as much older. She's been much more polite. For example, just today we were at the Butterfly Pavillion, and I asked her if she wanted to hold Rosie, the giant tarantula, and she calmly said, "No thank you." A year ago I would have never asked because I think she would have run out of the room screaming. Tomorrow Olivia will be going to her second tao and ballet class at the Little Theater near our house. This, too, has contributed to her new sense of independence. Yale took her to her first class and said that she did quite well and seemed grown up compared to many of the other little girls, some of whom were attempting to pull their skirts over their heads while simultaneously picking their noses. Recently we told Sophia that she would get to drop Olivia off at her next dance lesson so that she doesn't feel so left out. Olivia told Sophia, "You can go to my dance class as long as your not too wild." Olivia made a big step last weekend when we went swimming as a family to the Golden Rec Center. Not only did she go down the little-kid water slide (its about 3 feet long) all by herself and about 50 times, but she also went down the huge, twisty slide with her dad twice. She was quite proud of herself, especially since her head went completely under water both times! This was an impressive accomplishment because in the past she has always refused to go down any water slides. Books continue to provide Oli with hours of entertainment. She is taking a great interest in learning how to read. She can identify almost all of the upper and lower case letter and knows many of their sounds. She often asks how to spell words and even "reads" some words if there is a good picture clue and she knows what sound the first letter of the word makes. Some of her favorite books include: Any Fancy Nancy book, all of the Angelina Ballerina books, many of the Dr. Seuss books, and a current favorite is The Little Engine that Could. Livi is also very interested in numbers. She can almost count to 30 (she sometimes forgets 15 and 20). She often asks the time, and wants me to show her how to count to a certain number. She's exploring what different combinations add up to a number. For example, 4 and 4 make 8, and so does 5 and 3. Friends have become more important to Olivia in the past few months. She has several good friends at preschool, including Anna Grace, Jenna, and Reagan. She met her friend Mae at the rec center and her friend Ellen at Parents' Day Out. Whenever I get a chance, I like to show up to preschool a bit early so that I can watch her play with her friends. Lately, she and Jenna and Anna Grace have been huddled behind a bush playing quietly. When I ask her later, she tells me that they're pretending that they have a baby unicorn or that they're kitties.

Oli's 4th Birthday

We’ve had a busy week celebrating Olivia’s 4th birthday. I’ve spent the past couple of weeks painting, sewing, gluing, and drilling to surprise Olivia with a room makeover on her birthday. Keeping this process a secret was pretty challenging. She knew I was up to something, and said things like, “What’s all that stuff in the shower for?� and “Mommy, why is your drill in my room?� On Tuesday, after Yale got off work, he kept the girls busy downstairs while I hung the silky pink and orange curtains, hoop canopy, bright pink mirror, clock, and wooden letters spelling her name. Once everything was hung, Olivia came upstairs to see her surprise. It took a couple of minutes for her to take everything in and then she got excited. Her favorite part was the hoop canopy, which I decorated with colorful ribbon and flowers, and it hangs above a stuffed purple chair. Later she said, “Mommy, you’re room’s not beautiful.� She used to want a room just like mine, with beads on the curtains and fancy things hanging on the walls. Then she said, “My room is bery, bery beautiful!� That night, Olivia got to choose where we would eat for her birthday dinner. She picked Red Robin. Luckily, Tuesdays are the days that Red, the person dressed as a giant, furry robin, is there. The girls got a big kick out of giving Red high fives, and they always love getting a balloon there, too. After the wait staff delivered an ice cream sundae and sang Happy Birthday to Olivia, I asked if she liked that, and without hesitation she said, “No.� At the end of the week Yale’s parents flew here for the weekend to help us celebrate Olivia’s birthday. The night before her party, they took Olivia shopping for a new bike. She picked out a purple and pink sparkly two-wheeler with training wheels. She had to have that one because it was “more beautiful� than the others. She was quite proud to be the new owner of a two-wheeler and spent about an hour riding it after she got home. The next day her Aunt Beckie, Uncle Sam, cousins Ry and Kylie, special family friend, Susan (a.k.a. Zaza), Kaul Grandparents, and preschool friend, Jenna and her mom (Ann) joined us for Olivia’s party. Zaza brought over a huge box and cut a door and windows in it, which provided the kids with hours of entertainment. Olivia had a fabulous time playing dress-up with Jenna. After lunch, we sang Happy Birthday and she got to blow out her candles on her purple and pink birthday cake. Overall, I think Olivia would agree that the party was a success.

First Flight

Sadly, Yale's grandfather died last month. We decided we wanted to take the whole family to Montana for the funeral. This meant that Sophia got to fly in an airplane for the fist time and Yale and I had our pioneer flight with both of the kids. Olivia is a veteran of a couple plane trips, including one to Europe, but they were both before she was a year old. All in all, I think we can call it a success. Olivia, it turns out, absolutely loves flying and everything about it, including things that most adults detest, such as hanging out at the airport and going through security. She loved having her own seat by the window, with her own tray/table. The whole experience was making her very happy. This was a huge relief to us, especially Yale, who is what you might call a white-knuckle flyer. The girls also got to meet their Auntie Ashley while they were in MT. Yale tried for a week before the trip to explain that he has a younger sister named Ashley, but since they'd never met Ashley (although Olivia had met her when she was an infant), the whole idea of Daddy having a sister who is an adult was pretty abstract and incomprehensible to them. And of course the girls both love hanging out with their grandparents and their dogs, too. It's especially nice for Yale & I to leave them with the grandparents for a while, and since they're usually more than willing, so are we. Yale took the girls to his office last weekend and they had taken the elevator up. Yale walked out of the elevator but the girls decided they wanted to stay in for some reason. When the elevator door eventually closed, of course the girls got very scared and started screaming. Yale ran back and pushed the button to get the door back open, and when the girls came out, Olivia explained that "the elevator thought we were grown-ups."

But They're just So Cute!

More cute things our kids say and do: (I love writing on this website because I feel like I can just brag and ramble on about my kids and don't have to worry about boring people because it you find this boring you can just move on to something more interesting :) I love it how Olivia says "werry" instead of "very". For example, "I love my umbrella werry, werry much!" If someone is in Sophia's way she'll politely say, "Coo me", which is "excuse me" in Sophia language. The other morning, just after I had woken up, I was holding Sophia and asked her if my breath was stinky. She pulled at the neck of my shirt, put her nose down in it, and told me it wasn't stinky. I guess she got the word breath confused with breasts. When I told Yale this story, he asked how she knew the term breast. I had to explain that she finds breast very funny and intriguing and asks about them often. You'd think she was a man. Last week when we were driving home after spending the day at the girls' Aunt Beckie's house, Olivia said she was sad because she missed Beckie. When I turned around to look at her there was a tear going down her cheek. It was so sweet. I have never seen her cry that way before. Typically, when she cries she's upset because she got hurt physically or she's sad because someone hurt her feelings. Since that day both of the girls have been dying to go see their Aunt Beckie. Sophia demands, "Beckie's house. Want it!" When Olivia asks for "together corn" we now know that she is asking for corn on the cob.

Nuggo Me

A few days ago Olivia was talking about how she will do her daddy's job when she grows up. This seemed like a good opportunity to discuss additional career options that she could consider. I start listing a variety of options: doctor, teacher, artist, writer, astronaut, secretary, trash collector, etc. Astronaut caught her interest most, and she start talking about how she would take Sophia, Daddy and me in her rocket to the moon. She also insisted that her "air helmet would have a crown" and her "boots would be purple with sparkles". Who knows, maybe she'll be the first fashion designer for astronauts, or better yet, the first stylish astronaut! The other day I was awoken from a wonderful afternoon nap when Sophia walked into my room wearing a stocking hat and her big winter coat (it was a warm, spring day) and said, "Nuggo me." This of course is how she says, "Snuggle me", which completely melts me. So I scooped her up and plopped her on the bed next to me for some quality mother-daughter cuddle time.

It's Potty Training Time, Again!

About a month ago Sophia started showing an interest in using the potty. She would sit on the toilet occasionally and wanted me to read potty training books to her. She seems a bit young to start potty training, but I decided I would get out the potty chair and just see what happens. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. After I got the potty chair all ready for her, she spent the next 3 hours sitting on it. She didn't even want to eat dinner because she wanted to sit on the potty. As a compromise, we put her potty near the table so she could take breaks from eating to try to go pee. She came very close that day to successfully using the potty. The poop landed next to the potty, which I thought was a pretty could start. Within the next couple of days, she peed and pooped each once in the potty, both time with very little help from me. She's not nearly as interested in using the potty now; she will sit on it several times a week, but without any results. It still seems like a good start, especially considering that she just turned two a couple of weeks ago.

Sophia at Two

For each of the girls' birthdays I like to record some of their favorite things, funny things they say and do, etc., to help us remember what they were like at each stage. I also think it will be fun for Sophia and Olivia to be to read these when they get older. Sophia, at age two. Favorite Books: Goodnight Moon, Oh the Wonderful Things Mr. Brown Can Do by Dr. Seuss, anything with animals, books about potty training. Favorite Foods: Sophia LOVES fruit! Grapes, berries, bananas, melon. You name it. I wouldn't be surprised if she grows up to be a vegetarian. Favorite Toys: Any type of ball, baby dolls, her Little People's Bus, anything she can push or ride. Favorite DVD: Anything with Elmo in it. Favorite Shoes: Pink, sparkly princess shoes given to her by her Grandma Kaul. She also loves her pig slippers, which she calls "wee-wees", as in This Little Piggy... Cute things she says: Flip Flops: Flops Macaroni and cheese: Mac (long pause) cheese Noey: No Oey: Oli Nuggo Me: Snuggle me She calls all animals by the sound that they make (cat is meow, sheep is BaBa, etc.) Now that I think about it, I think just about everything she says is adorable, but it's kind difficult to convey the cuteness in writing. Things She Can Do I Find Impressive: She already know many colors: white, black, purple (which seems to be one of her favorites, along with blue), green, yellow, orange, and pink. She's a super climber, and has been for a long time. She's climbs ladders, up slides, she even likes to hang from the monkey bars. She can count to three and including counting object up to 3. She hangs from the kitchen counters, and hangs and swings from the headrest of the front seat of the car. She is exceptionally empathetic. If she sees another child crying, she becomes very concerned and will try to comfort them. If her sister is upset, she will often offer a hug or will get Olivia her favorite friend, Bunny. Interacting socially comes very easily to Sophia. She's outgoing and assertive.

Soph Doubles Her Age

This weekend we celebrated Sophia's second birthday. She is still at the age where she doesn't really grasp what it means to have a birthday. So she was thrilled that she got to spend the day at the park with some of her favorite people, play with balloons, and eat cake, too! She and her sister had a grand time playing on the playground and being chased by their cousin Ryther. Sophia really got into tearing the paper off of all of the presents she received. Some highlights were a very fancy stroller from the Anderson family, a grocery basket filled with play food from Su-su. Sophia has given Zaza (a.k.a. Susan) a new nickname, and now I'm not sure which one to call because I think they both are so cute! She has been thrilled with the new purple and pink tricycle given to her by the Kaul grandparents, and she loves the new shape puzzle and blue outfit from her Grandma Golter. She wasn't sure what to think about it when we were all singing Happy Birthday to her, but she perked up when we all said her name. Blowing out candles was a new experience for her, luckily she had help from the wind.

The Top 10 Things O and So Do to Melt My Heart

10. When Olivia is counting and says "beleven" instead of eleven. 9. If Olivia has been gone for awhile, when she first walks in the door, Sophia will run up to her and give her a great, big hug. 8. How Olivia says "got-for" in place of forgot. I also get a big kick out of she uses the word twisted in place of traded. For example, she might say, "Sophia and I twisted toys." Clever, eh? 7. If I hurt myself or am feeling sad, Sophia will stroke my hair and pat my back and say, "Ohhhh, babyyyy". 6. Whenever Sophia learns how to say a new word. Today the new words have been "Beckie", "Sam", "Kylie" and "Ry". 5. When either of the girls rock their doll or stuffed animal and sing to them. My heart got really squishy the other day when Olivia and Sophia were pretending to be cats. Olivia was the baby and Sophia was the mommy. Sophia pretended to put Olivia down for a nap and hummed "Ba Ba Black Sheep" to her while she stroked her hair. Adorable! 4. This probably belongs on the "Top 10 Most Embarrassing Things My Kids Do" list, but I'm putting it on this list anyway. How Sophia calls every grown man she sees in public "Daddy" and it's always so that they can hear her. 3. When Olivia very seriously asks Yale or me if we've pooped our pants. 2. I love to watch Olivia draw faces and people. This new development started a few weeks ago. Right now her people drawings are heads, with a complete face including eyebrows, and long arms and legs shooting right out of the head. 1. When the girls are playing together and they're having so much fun, that they start doing that unstoppable and contagious, deep belly laugh.

Moo

Sophia continues to find creative ways to communicate. Her most recent one is calling yogurt "Moo". The yogurt we typically buy has a cow on the side, which I guess, is where her name came from. She now refuses to eat any yogurt without a cow on the container. Olivia and I were looking at pictures of me when I was pregnant with her. When I told her that she was inside my belly, she gave me a bug-eyed-look and said, shocked, "Did you eat me?" I guess it will take awhile to fully understand that concept.

Yee-ha and The Fire Baby

As Olivia was lying in bed this morning, spending some time waking up, she said, "Last night when I was sleeping (I took this to mean that she was dreaming), a baby ran to the fire thing. The fire thing jumped into the fire and helped the baby go home". As you may know, I love to talk about and analyze dreams, and I found this one fascinating. I became very excited about the possibility of being able to hear about more of Olivia's dreams. Sophia's vocabulary has increased significantly lately. She identifies many things by the sound that they make. Train is "Choo choo", cat is "meow", a sheep is "baa baa", pig is "wee wee wee" (like in "This Little Piggy"), and dog is "woof woof". My favorite is "Yee-ha" which is horse.

What's Been Happening???

Yale pointed out to me that the last time I posted anything on this website was in the middle of December. I knew it had been awhile but I had no idea that it had been that long. ACK! We have been pretty busy the past couple of months so it doesn't surprise me that I haven't found the time to write something. I started a part-time job doing data entry for the company that Yale works for. So typically if I have a chunk of time when the kids are napping, I try to do some work. We've also been traveling some which is very unusual. We all drove to Missoula, MT to spend Christmas with Yale's parents and had a great time. The kids loved spending time with their grandparents and their grandparents' dogs, Max and Chloe. Yale and I loved having our kids spend time with their grandparents! Sophia was especially taken with Max and Chloe. She did her best with making friends with them, but I think Max and Chloe found her excitement just a bit overwhelming. Yale's parents generously gave us the very thoughtful gift of dinner and a night out at a local hotel. What a treat that was. I've found time alone with Yale to be quite a rare treasure. The drive home was pretty challenging; Olivia puked several times. I guess she had the flu or food poisoning of some sort. Then a snow storm stranded us for the night in Wheatland, Wyoming. We were lucky to get a hotel room for the night, but we were all ready to sleep in our own beds in our own house by then. In January, Yale and I got to go to Cozumel for 4 nights while Yale's parents came to our house and took care of the kids while we were gone. We had a great time, and I think both of us would go back in a heart beat. I have tons of funny and endearing stories to tell about the girls, but that will have to wait until next time. Hopefully I will write soon enough so that I don't forget what I was going to say.