As I wrote my last two posts....both about my girls' birthday parties....I reminded myself, yet again, that I want to write about the small things, too. Not just the 'big' things (which, in my world, are holidays, birthdays, first ballet classes and other such annual milestones)...but also all the little things that happen every single day. The random little blessings that bring a smile to my face every day...but are (sadly) soon forgotten if I don't write them down.
Like....
Kate's new obsession with popcorn...or, as she affectionately calls it, every night around 8:30 pm, 'pa-curn.' As in "My wan pa-curn, daddy!" Chris loves this little ritual; and happily takes both girls into the kitchen, every night...plops them both on the counter and waits for them to squeal with delight as his Orville Reddenbacher popcorn machine -- which he purchased on a random trip to the grocery store -- pops and pops and pops more pa-curn.
The girls love the noise. It's like magic to them. And they then come running into the TV room, giant plastic bowls filled with pa-curn...cramming their faces with it until it's all gone. Yes, both girls eat popcorn like I do ... giant fistfulls placed in the mouth all at once, causing several fully popped kernels to fall on one's lap.
Kate's pa-curn appetite is particularly voracious. She eats her whole bowl and then scavenges over to Ella's...which, if left unattended, is quickly emptied by Kate's fast little fingers.
Alice....I've long wanted to show the girls Alice in Wonderland -- the Disney version...pretty and bright and happy and, well, childlike. But alas, I have yet to find it. So Chris randomly showed them the Jonny Depp Alice in Wonderland, when it played on TV one night. I protested...saying it was too dark, too scary. That they'd have nightmares and that it wouldn't hold their attention.
Alas, I was wrong. Very wrong. Now, every night, immediately after they jump onto the couch, pa-curn on their laps, Kate invariably demands "Alice, Daddy! My wan watch Alice!"
They love it. They have memorized all the names of all the characters. They laugh when the Queen refers to her scary dragon as "JabberBabyWalky." Ella laughs at Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, and then chastises the Queen for calling them her 'fat boys.'
Most of all, they both love the Hatter, dark as he is....and they love the "fudderwakin" dance he does at the end of the movie.
Bedtime...."10 more minutes, Ella." Then 5, the 2, then....a nervous breakdown usually ensues as Ella laments the tragedy of being 3 years old and being forced to go to bed at 10:30. Sometimes she allows us to comfort her by reading stories and tickling her back. Other times, she kicks us out of her room as she dramatically cries, not unlike a Soap Opera star who's about to be buried alive...only to proclaim, 10 minutes later, that we've 'left her all alone.' Usually, at this phase, a small glass of orange juice is administered to the victim, and acts odly as a sedative. Our Academy Award Winning actress becomes more sedate, smiles, and drifts off to sleep.
Sweet Kate usually goes to bed much earlier than her sister. The telltale sign? This otherwise darling little girl starts knocking items off the coffee table, throwing herself to the floor and, if we don't respond soon enough (i.e. within less than 2 minutes), she promptly walks over to me and pulls my hair or knocks me upside the head. Moments later, we give her a bottle and a binky (both are still required), change her diaper, rock her for about 60 seconds and lay her in her crib with mousy, puppy and both 'bankies' (two identical pink blankets that she absolutely must use at the same time.) She's out like a light until 4 a.m., when she creams like a banchee...until we drowsily walk into her room, get her out of her crib (with mousy + doggy + both 'bankies), change her diaper, walk down the stairs to the kitchen, plop Kate and all of her nighttime friends on the counter, fill a bottle with milk, walk back up the stairs and put Kate, bankies, doggie, mousy, binky and bottle all back into the crib....and stumble back into bed ourselves.
These sweet nighttime rituals will some day transform into new ones. But until then, I'll love today's random nighttime rituals and all that come with them...and I'll try to remind myself to be grateful for pa-curn and these other small blessings...even when I find their kernels ground into my (relatively new) carpet.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Happy 2nd Birthday, My Tiny Dancer
My sweet Kate turned 2 years old on April 6, just shy of two months after Ella turned 3. Chris and I have decided that they pretty much HAVE to have met their cute quota. I mean, how is it possible for them to be cuter than THIS?
And I have also personally decided that, while January through March used to be my least favorite time of the year (that icky wintery time between Christmas and the happy sunshine that spring brings), it is now among my favorites. Solely because I get to fill these months with birthday planning ridiculousness for my two favorite little peole in the world.
This year, we had a Ballerina Birthday Bash for Kate the great. And she adored it.
First, let me explain...although I admit I'm naturally partial to ballerinas, we chose this theme because my Kate LOVES to dance. She LOVES ballet class. The pliates, the twirls, the galloping. The tutus. She dances ALL the time, every time she hears music. She closes her eyes and bobs her head in her car seat, whenever she hears music. She bounces at her knees when she hears a song on TV. She belts out "Tomowow, tomowow" when I mention the word "Annie." Ella loves to act. And Kate loves to dance and sing. And I couldn't be happier about either.
We had a 'real' ballerina come to the party. My dear friend Sarah's 'little' cousin, who's not so little anymore. Madelaine. Poor Kate was a little crabby when Madelaine arrived; she was still waking up from a nap. But Ella was fully awake, and fully in awe.
Kate 'woke up' shortly after. She blew out her candles like a champ.
There were hand-made ballerina clothespin dolls.
And fairy wands
Sidewalk chalk
And lots of other fun ballerina stuff...
But judging from the 8 that she ate (or should I more precisely say, licked) during the party, I think the ballerina cookies were Kate's favorite part.
She and Ella had a grand old time, running in their tutus in our backyard. (Special thanks to Chris, who ran out, the day of the party, to buy 'pine straw' to cover our mudpit of a backyard so the kids could play in it.)
Ella LOVED the party too. "Thank you for inviting me to Kate's Ballerina Birthday Party, Mommy. I'm having a really good time!" she said to me several times. And this particular time, she grabbed my face and kissed my lips as she said it.
My little ballerinas had a ball...and so did we. Thank goodness that Easter is right around the corner, followed by the warm and sunny days of spring and summer. Otherwise, I might have a bad case of after-birthday-party-depression...the same 'it's over already?' feeling I had when the clock struck 1 am and our wedding day was over.
But right now, as I sit and type about these two very special birthday parties, I'm mostly just so very, very happy to be able to celebrate another happy, healthy year with the two (+ Chris = 3) greatest blessings of my very grateful life.
And I have also personally decided that, while January through March used to be my least favorite time of the year (that icky wintery time between Christmas and the happy sunshine that spring brings), it is now among my favorites. Solely because I get to fill these months with birthday planning ridiculousness for my two favorite little peole in the world.
This year, we had a Ballerina Birthday Bash for Kate the great. And she adored it.
First, let me explain...although I admit I'm naturally partial to ballerinas, we chose this theme because my Kate LOVES to dance. She LOVES ballet class. The pliates, the twirls, the galloping. The tutus. She dances ALL the time, every time she hears music. She closes her eyes and bobs her head in her car seat, whenever she hears music. She bounces at her knees when she hears a song on TV. She belts out "Tomowow, tomowow" when I mention the word "Annie." Ella loves to act. And Kate loves to dance and sing. And I couldn't be happier about either.
We had a 'real' ballerina come to the party. My dear friend Sarah's 'little' cousin, who's not so little anymore. Madelaine. Poor Kate was a little crabby when Madelaine arrived; she was still waking up from a nap. But Ella was fully awake, and fully in awe.
Kate 'woke up' shortly after. She blew out her candles like a champ.
There were hand-made ballerina clothespin dolls.
And fairy wands
Sidewalk chalk
And lots of other fun ballerina stuff...
But judging from the 8 that she ate (or should I more precisely say, licked) during the party, I think the ballerina cookies were Kate's favorite part.
She and Ella had a grand old time, running in their tutus in our backyard. (Special thanks to Chris, who ran out, the day of the party, to buy 'pine straw' to cover our mudpit of a backyard so the kids could play in it.)
Ella LOVED the party too. "Thank you for inviting me to Kate's Ballerina Birthday Party, Mommy. I'm having a really good time!" she said to me several times. And this particular time, she grabbed my face and kissed my lips as she said it.
My little ballerinas had a ball...and so did we. Thank goodness that Easter is right around the corner, followed by the warm and sunny days of spring and summer. Otherwise, I might have a bad case of after-birthday-party-depression...the same 'it's over already?' feeling I had when the clock struck 1 am and our wedding day was over.
But right now, as I sit and type about these two very special birthday parties, I'm mostly just so very, very happy to be able to celebrate another happy, healthy year with the two (+ Chris = 3) greatest blessings of my very grateful life.
Ella's Snow White Birthday Bonanza
I love everything about having two beautiful, healthy, sweet little girls.
I love dressing them up in princess dresses. I love putting bows in their hair every single day. I love decorating little girl rooms and having tea parties and picnics and going to the zoo. I love watching Ella flutter her eyes and curtsy like a princess.
But perhaps best of all, I love, love, LOVE planning little girl birthday parties.
This year, because Ella is positively obsessed with Snow White, we had a Snow White themed birthday bonanza at her ballet studio, led by a love of Ella's life, Miss Jessica, her ballet teacher.
We went shopping, just the two of us, a few weeks before her birthday. She saw a pair of red flats with big, pink jeweled hearts and fell in love. We bought them that day, but I wrapped them and gave them to her for her birthday. She calls them her princess shoes and she adores them.
We also bought poodle a Snow White tutu, especially for the party.
Ella loved every single moment of her party. And although she's only three years old, she truly appreciated and noticed every detail.
I went early to decorate. When she arrived, she ran into the ballet room and smiled and squealed with delight. That moment...the moment when she ran into the room, smiling ear to ear...it was the best thank you gift I could ever receive.
She said the Snow White dresses were 'beaufitul.'
She wore her crown for the entire party.
She loved the un-poisoned apple cupcakes, making sure to clarify for her guests that they were NOT poisoned.
I'm writing this post 2 months after her birthday, and she still talks about the blue and yellow and red cupcakes. I really can't believe she remembers details like that.
But most of all, my future film star absolutely loved dancing with her friends and Miss Jessica...
We had a 10-minute crisis, when I realized that I had forgotten matches or a lighter. But thanks to "Map," our nanny "Rah Rah's" fiance, the crisis was averted quickly, after he ran across the street to retrieve one from a stranger.
I am so grateful to have the luxury of being able to plan birthday parties like this for my darling little girls. I feel like I have lived my whole life for moments like these. And I know when I am old, and looking back on my life, I will be most grateful for sweet moments like these with my precious baby girls.
I love dressing them up in princess dresses. I love putting bows in their hair every single day. I love decorating little girl rooms and having tea parties and picnics and going to the zoo. I love watching Ella flutter her eyes and curtsy like a princess.
But perhaps best of all, I love, love, LOVE planning little girl birthday parties.
This year, because Ella is positively obsessed with Snow White, we had a Snow White themed birthday bonanza at her ballet studio, led by a love of Ella's life, Miss Jessica, her ballet teacher.
We went shopping, just the two of us, a few weeks before her birthday. She saw a pair of red flats with big, pink jeweled hearts and fell in love. We bought them that day, but I wrapped them and gave them to her for her birthday. She calls them her princess shoes and she adores them.
We also bought poodle a Snow White tutu, especially for the party.
Ella loved every single moment of her party. And although she's only three years old, she truly appreciated and noticed every detail.
I went early to decorate. When she arrived, she ran into the ballet room and smiled and squealed with delight. That moment...the moment when she ran into the room, smiling ear to ear...it was the best thank you gift I could ever receive.
She said the Snow White dresses were 'beaufitul.'
She wore her crown for the entire party.
She loved the un-poisoned apple cupcakes, making sure to clarify for her guests that they were NOT poisoned.
I'm writing this post 2 months after her birthday, and she still talks about the blue and yellow and red cupcakes. I really can't believe she remembers details like that.
But most of all, my future film star absolutely loved dancing with her friends and Miss Jessica...
We had a 10-minute crisis, when I realized that I had forgotten matches or a lighter. But thanks to "Map," our nanny "Rah Rah's" fiance, the crisis was averted quickly, after he ran across the street to retrieve one from a stranger.
I am so grateful to have the luxury of being able to plan birthday parties like this for my darling little girls. I feel like I have lived my whole life for moments like these. And I know when I am old, and looking back on my life, I will be most grateful for sweet moments like these with my precious baby girls.
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