Sing, Sing a Song

My girls love music and love to sing.  They even like to make up their own songs and their own words to songs, most of the time.  Andy's a Weird Al fan, so there are a few of his songs on our mix CDs.  Surprisingly, most of them aren't so bad for kids, and much more tolerable, then "kid" music, which I refuse to play in my car.  I guess I wasn't too surprised then, when Sonya made up her own-um- interesting words to a song she hears on one of the Baby Einstein DVDs.

I forget which DVD it is, but one of them has a song that plays to the tune of, "The Farmer in the Dell", but the words are:

"The cow gives us milk, the cow gives us milk, hi ho the dairy-o the cow gives us milk!  The chickens give us eggs..." and so on.  

Sunday afternoon, Andy and I were watching a little football, or rather Andy was obsessing over which of his fantasy players was doing well, and I was trying to sit for five minutes.  Georgia was napping and the two older girls were playing in their room.  We could hear Lana singing, "The cow gives us milk", and she sounded so cute.  Not to be outdone, Sonya decided to sing as well, only she decided to come up with her own words to the song.  I think having just gone to the bathroom five minutes before was inspiration for her.  At first I wasn't sure if I heard her right when I heard the singing, so I called from the living room,

"Sonya, what are you singing?"  I looked over at Andy to get his attention for what was to come.  She giggled for a minute, and then loud enough for us to hear, started belting out her new tune.  

"The butt gives us poop, the butt gives us poop, hi ho the dairy-o the butt gives us poop!!"

Andy and I looked at each other and started laughing.  "Nice song, Sonya," I called out to her.  She laughed again and went back to playing, and singing her new and improved song.  Looks like the Weird Al songs are having more of an impact than I thought.

Tylenol Junkie

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I was a kid I hated to take medicine, because it tasted nasty.  Plain and simple, it was gross.  I'm not even sure there was anything besides baby aspirin for fevers.  You remember baby aspirin?  It had that weird orange taste to it.  I guess that wasn't as bad a taste as some other medicines, like Robitussin.  Blech!  Now they have Tylenol and Motrin for babies and toddlers, and I'm not sure you're supposed to give kids baby aspirin anymore.  I think it's only for older people to help prevent heart attacks. I do not look forward to having that weird orange taste again 20 years down the road.  The good news about kids medicines today is, they've made them tasty.  The bad news about kids medicines today is, they've made them tasty.  Now they think it's a treat.  So they want to take their medicine, but now they want it ALL THE TIME.

This was my problem for the past week.  Lana developed a fever Monday at 2am.

 (Welcome Home from Palm Springs Mom!!)  My kids get fevers often that aren't accompanied by any other symptoms.  I suppose this is a good thing, because it means their bodies are fighting off whatever is trying to attack them, and the fever is the result.  But, when it gets up to 103, I can't help but worry, even though my pediatrician says not to.  I started Lana on Motrin at that point, and then alternated between that and Tylenol the whole day, (as per Nurse Megan). The fever would go down, but not go away completely.  Then she started to see a pattern between taking her temperature and getting medicine.  I would start to walk toward her with thermometer in hand and she would say,

"I get medicine!"

"Yes, Lana, but let's see what your fever is right now," I would say.  This was fine for the first two days, because usually when I took her temperature, she would get medicine, either the yummy cherry or yummy fruit flavor.  It was like I was giving her candy every time, and she loved it.  It was nice that I  didn't have to force it in her.  HOWEVER, then came the time when she didn't need medicine after every temperature check, because the fever was starting to go down.  

"I get medicine!" She would yell, as soon as I approached with the thermometer.  

"I don't know yet, we have to see,"  I'd tell her.  Then when I told her she didn't need it yet, I 'd get this,

"I GET MEEEEDDDICCIIIIINNEEE!!!" She would scream and start rolling on the floor, like a little 2 1/2 year old strung out junkie, jonsing for her next hit of yummy cherry medicine.  Great that's all I need.  A two year old addict.  

I started taking her temperature less and just trying to feel her forehead, because there was no connection there for her.  As soon as the ear thermometer came out, it was all over.  I better be prepared to enable her habit or deal with the crying, screaming and shakes.  

Her fever is finally gone, after having it ALL week.  She seems to be asking for the medicine less now, so I think we're finally past the worst of the fruit flavor withdrawals.  When she does ask, it's more of a hope for one final hit, but she's prepared for my tough love of saying no to help her end the addiction.  The only problem is next time she gets sick it'll start all over again.  Maybe I should switch over to baby aspirin after all. 

Tattling on Daddy

So.  I'm back from my lovely, relaxing, partying, no kid weekend in Palm Springs.  It was fabulous and everything I hoped it would be.  I spent the day yesterday just trying to get back into this reality and it was hard, so forgive me for not writing.  All the sleeping in, then the not sleeping in kinda threw me.  But here I am, and of course I have a story for you from the weekend.  

First off, let me give you some background information on what's known in our house as Sunday Cereal.  Basically, it's the sugariest of all sugar cereal.  You know-Cap'n Crunch, Cocoa Pebbles, Fruit Loops or the one we currently have, Cookie Crisp.  I don't give these cereals to my kids during the week.  They are a special treat for the weekend only, which is how Andy and I had them as kids also.  Hence the name Sunday (sometimes Saturday) Cereal.  

I had been checking in with Andy throughout the day on Saturday, either by phone or text.  I was headed to the hotel spa to get my massage and facial later in the afternoon.  (Yes, I live a VERY charmed life.)  I texted Andy to let him know I would be out of touch for a while, and he assured me everything was going well.  On my way into the spa I got a phone call from home.  Of course, I immediately assumed the worst, as you all know that I do.  I missed the call, but saw there was a message on my phone.  This happened during my "tour" of the spa, and I kept seeing signs EVERYWHERE telling you not to be rude and turn off your damn phone.  So I half payed attention to the tour fearing the worst, and anxiously waited until I was given my locker, so I could pull out my phone and check the message.  When I finally do, I hear Sonya's voice, who for some reason, always sounds sooo much younger on the phone.  The message was two and a half minutes long.  I will spare you the entire speech, because she did end up repeating herself, but this is a good part of it:

"MOMMY!  Daddy gave Lana SUNDAY CEREAL FOR LUNCH!!" There was a  long pause followed by an exasperated sigh.  "He just gave Lana cereal for lunch.  You know the special cookie cereal?  You can't have that for lunch it might make you SICK!"  Then I hear Andy yelling in the background,

"Who are you on the phone with?" I know full well he's the one who dialed me and gave the phone to Sonya so she could complain, but it was still funny.

Sonya answered him, "It's mommy, I'm telling her something."  Then back to the phone, "Daddy just doesn't know better.  He just gave her Sunday cereal for lunch!  No peanut butter and jelly, nothing, but you can't do that because it can make you sick!"  This goes on for a while and then she tells me in the end that she "really really really, wants me to tell Daddy that he can't do that."  Eventually, she gets distracted by something else and the message just ends.  

So there I am standing in the spa with the phone to my ear, trying hard to control my laughing. People start staring because I'm disturbing their "tranquil" experience with my chuckling, while holding a cell phone!  The horror!  I put my phone away, change and head to the room where I wait for my masseuse.  The whole time I can't help but replay the message in my head and giggle to myself.  It was the perfect amount of kid time for my day.

It was so nice to get away and not deal with the day to day of taking care of the girls, but it was nice to come home too.  They were so excited to see me and I was happy to see them.  I also love that Sonya came to me when she thought Andy was doing, "something mommy would not do", when he gave Lana the cereal for lunch.  Yes, being away helped me feel more relaxed and made me appreciate being home that much more.  Although, I ALWAYS miss the sleeping in.  

Weekend Getaway

I'm going away this weekend with the girls.  Not MY girls, but my girlfriends.  The girls I can drink with and say the F word around without having it come back to haunt me.  We're headed to Palm Springs for a weekend of relaxation and massages.  The best part is I get to SLEEP IN!  And, AND I get to do what I want when I want without any one asking me for a drink, or something to eat, or something to watch.  No, I get to worry about nobody but myself for the weekend and it's going to be FABULOUS! I don't even care that it's going to be 107 there this weekend.  It could be 150, and as long as I was kid free, and I'd walk around naked with SPF 100 on with a smile on my face.  I so desperately need to get away and recharge.  I thank my awesome husband who will be taking on my role, all on his own this weekend.  I totally trust him to take great care of the girls, and NOT lose my backpack this time.  However, I couldn't leave without writing a little something on here to get you through the weekend.  

I've been preparing the girls all week for my being gone for a couple days.  I keep telling them to, "be good for Daddy" and telling Sonya to," be a good big sister and help out."  Last night as I was tucking them in for the night I was reminding them again about how they were going to get a special weekend with just Daddy, and Mommy would be gone.  As I was turning out the light in their room Sonya said to me,

"Mom?"

"Yes, girly," I replied.

"It's just not the same without you around," she sweetly told me.  

I stopped in my tracks for minute and resisted the urge to cry and cancel my trip.  Then I came to my senses and said,

"Thank you sweetie.  I appreciate that and I'm going to miss you all a lot too, but I'll be back on Sunday and you'll have lots of fun with Daddy." 

"Ooookaaay," she said.  "Can I have another kiss and hug."

"Of course!"  I walked back over to her bed, gave her a kiss and a big hug.  As much as I want to get away and have some non-mommy time, I know I'm going to spend half the weekend missing them terribly.  Damn kids!  They drive you crazy, but as soon as you're not around them all you can do is think about them and hope that they're okay.  Just one of the many trials of being a mom.  On the other hand-I am going AWAY!!  For an ENTIRE weekend!  With NO KIDS!!!  WOO-HOOOOOOO!!!  

Harmful If Swallowed

I realized that it's been a while since I featured Georgia in a story on here.  I do have one, but I was keeping it to myself, because, well I feel as though I may be looking like a bad mother, lately. What with one child saying the F word and then losing the other one for a bit.  I feared Social Services might end up on my door step, but eh, F it.  I'll tell you anyway.  I mean it's not THAT bad I had to call poison control, is it?  

Okay, let me start by telling you that Georgia puts EVERYTHING in her mouth.  I never really had this problem with Sonya or Lana.  Sonya went through that phase for a while, but it was never really a big deal.  Plus she was the oldest, so there weren't smaller toys lingering around for her to discover and ingest.  I don't think Lana ever put anything in her mouth ever.  This may also explain why she doesn't eat much.  Georgia is an entirely different story.  Anything on the floor or within Georgia's reach is fair game.  Shoes, cat food, food fallen on the floor from breakfast, lunch or dinner, crayons, paper, magazines, and LOTS of little toys.  This makes it very difficult when you've got two older kids who want to play Legos.  I'm sure you all remember Legos, but do have any idea how small those pieces are??  Just the right size for 14 month old to taste and swallow!  Also, Lana is obsessed with coins right now, so at any given time there is about twenty dollars in change strewn throughout my house.  Just the perfect size for Georgia to choke on or choke down.  Luckily, up to this point, I've managed to keep her from actually swallowing any of these things, even though every day I'm taking something out of her mouth.  Many times a day.  I do keep a lock on my cabinet under the sink where dish washing detergent and things like that are kept.  I'm pretty sure if that were open to her she'd knock back a bottle of 409 in less than a minute.  Therefore,  I should have known better to keep a jar of diaper rash cream on the floor.  Or at least you would think I would have known better.

In my defense it wasn't really on the floor for long.  I had changed Lana's diaper there, because she'd rather sit in poop all day than change her diaper on that horrid changing table, so I end up on the floor.   She had a really bad diaper rash and I used some of the cream on her.  After I changed her, I closed the lid on the cream, but apparently not all the way.  Georgia was in the room playing and I left to get rid of the diaper.  I was gone less than two minutes when Sonya walked in her room and yelled,

"Uh mom!  I don't think this is something Georgia should be eating!!"

I ran in to her bedroom to find G sitting on the floor with her hands up in the air COVERED in Triple Paste diaper rash cream.  Then I noticed she had some around her mouth.  I opened her mouth to see a bit of paste on the roof.  I picked her up and took her to the kitchen sink to wipe and wash her hands.  For those of you who have never used or heard of Triple Paste, let me assure you that it is indeed paste.  It took a ton of wiping and a tub of soap to get it all off, all the while she was squirming and screaming.  I mean after all, I had taken her fun AND her snack away.  Mean, mean mommy!

After she was cleaned up, I retrieved the jar of cream from the floor and read the part where it said, "do not ingest" (duh), then, "call for medical help or poison control if ingested".  Crap.   Did I really feel like taking three kids into the ER for a little diaper rash cream?  I mean she didn't eat that much did she?  What's the worst that could happen?  FINE!  I  guess I WOULD feel terrible if something bad happened to her.  I had to do it, I called Poison Control.  

I talked to a really nice guy, who was not at all judgemental, and very helpful.   He informed me that diaper rash cream, at least this particular one, wasn't  a big deal.  It's more of a choking hazard, because it's so thick.  She didn't have that problem though, since it had apparently made it past her esophagus fine.  He informed me that she may have vomiting if she did eat a lot, but not to induce vomiting. It may also cause some diarrhea.  Well, at least if she did poop it out, it would help her butt from becoming rashy!  Turns out none of those things happened, so I don't really think she did much more than taste it.  It's a good thing I got there when I did though, otherwise she would have crawled all over the house with "paste" hands.  THAT would have been fun to clean up.  

Even though I will try to be more careful with where I put things in the future, I can't be sure she won't try to eat something like that again.  So I'm thinking of having her fitted for a muzzle. This way I don't really have to watch her at all!  Okay, NOW Social Services will be showing up on my doorstep.  

Potty Mouth

At some point in time, I believe all little kids will say a bad word.  It's inevitable, especially in today's society.  It's not like the fifties where people would whisper the word "damn".  I hear the middle school kids cursing like crazy.  I do my best to keep my potty mouth in check when the kids are around, but even if Andy I and do, there are plenty of people at the grocery store, mall, beach, you name it, who don't.  Although for the most part, kids do repeat things heard from their parents.  Yes, I admit, that I tend to talk like a truck driver sometimes, but I do every thing to NOT talk like that around them.  I even make up nonsensical words that start with an "F" or a "Sh".  Most of the time it's the words you use like, "crap" or "damn", that make it into your kids vocabulary. Those words aren't quite as bad, so you don't monitor yourself with them as often as the bigger, badder ones.  That's what I had to worry about with Sonya.  She would say "crap" from time to time.  Then there was the one time she called a kid, "jerk".  You realize, however, that those are not so great for a two or three year old to be saying either.  So you start making up more nonsensical words to replace them.  Sometimes there's just no getting around it.  They say a bad word.  Hopefully, you aren't around a bunch of people when it happens.  And hopefully it's not a very bad word.   Of course Lana would be the one to say the "big one".  The mother of all bad words.  Yes, the F dash dash dash word.  Luckily we were at home, and I am here to promise you she did NOT hear it from me.

Last night she and Andy were playing her favorite game.  It's a version of Candy Land for kids her age.  It has gingerbread men cards with different colored shapes that fit into them.  Each player takes turns taking a shape that is dealt, and trying to match it on his gingerbread man.  The first one to fill in all their shapes wins.  It's really cute and she's gotten good at it.  Plus she's learned her shapes and colors because of that game.

It came to be her turn and she popped out the next shape, picked it up, and tried to match it to the open shape spaces on her man.  

"Nope, nope, nope, nope," she said, as she looked to fit it in to each one.  Then... she said THIS...

"Oh F*ck!" After which she put the piece back where it came from.  Andy and I looked at each other, then at her, and Andy said,

"What did you say, Lana?"  She looked at him and said again,

"Oh F*ck!"

I had to pick the pillow up off the couch and cover my face, because I, of course, did the one thing you're not supposed to do in the situation.  I laughed my ass off.  It was too funny.  Andy asked her what she was trying to say, thinking surely she was saying the wrong word and she just looked at him blankly, as if to say, "you heard me, what's the problem here?"  Then we both regained our composure, acted as if nothing happened, and Andy took his turn in the game.  

We can't figure out if that was the word she was trying to say, or if it was something she just sorta made up.  Earlier that day she had been walking around saying made up words that rhymed with that one. I thought at the time I heard that one among them, but just ignored it.  The thing is, she just seemed to pick the right word to use at the right time, so we have no idea how that came about.  Andy doesn't say that around them and neither do I, so who knows.  

The good news is she hasn't said it again and I'm hoping she doesn't.  But, knowing Lana, if she does say it again, it probably WILL at be the grocery store, the mall or the beach.  

Ten Years Off My Life

Normally, my posts are about funny things the girls do or say. Sometimes it about ways they might disrupt my day, or possibly annoy me.  This post is about none of those things.  Even though I like to be fun and lighthearted on here, I felt the need to put this story down in writing. It's something I think every mother goes through at least once. Most of the time it turns out fine.  There are the times when it does not.  Fortunately, this was a time where things end well.  I tell you that up front, because if it didn't, I wouldn't be sitting here writing this right now.  

Yesterday evening we went to Sonya's school picnic.  It was an event that was scheduled for a couple weeks ago, but because it was snowing ash here for a week straight, the school thought it best not to have a big outdoor family function, and damage little lungs so early in life.  Good move on their part.  The girls were excited to go, especially Sonya.  There was food, a bake sale and a little maze set up for the kids.  It was behind the school on the blacktop/playground where they all eat lunch and have their recess, in an entirely enclosed area. The kids could just run around and have a good time.  For the first time ever, Sonya was not glued to my side.  Her friend Riley was there and they played, running after each other, tried to throw Frisbees, just general fun kid time.  I even took the two younger girls to get food for us all, while Sonya played with Riley and her mother, Lee, kept an eye on them.  I was excited to be there too, because it meant the possibility for me to make better friends with some of the other moms.  

Andy showed up about half an hour before the picnic was to end.  He left work early so he could at least get there for some of it, and the girls were thrilled to see him.  As was I.  It's easier keeping an eye on three kids at a crowded picnic, when you have two people doing it.  Sonya decided to go over to the playground with Riley.  We said that was fine, because Lee was going over there as well.  Plus there was nothing but families with kids around, so we felt safe.  Andy finished his food and I changed Lana's diaper.  She wanted to go over with Sissy to the playground, so Andy took her over there while I packed everything, plus the baby, back into the stroller.  

When I walked over to where they were, Sonya was having a blast climbing all over the playground equipment.  Andy was pushing Lana in the swing, not ten feet away.  I decided to walk around to the other side of the playground, where Lee was standing to talk to her. However, as I started walking, Riley came up to her and they started to leave.  By the time I got around to the other side, I didn't see Sonya anymore.  I thought for sure she was just on the opposite side or going down the slide.  I looked over at Andy who shook his head that he didn't see her either.  I started to call out for her and got nothing.  I didn't panic right away and Andy continued to push Lana, obviously not worried yet either.  I looked around the parameter of the playground and didn't see her anywhere.  THEN I started to panic.  Andy brought Lana over and we called for Sonya, once again to no response.  

I should tell you here that one of my biggest problems in life is my overactive imagination that likes to go to worst case scenarios, ALWAYS.  If Andy ever calls me on his way home from work and he's not home when I think he should be, I immediately have him in a car accident off a cliff on Coldwater Canyon.  I'm pretty sure this is something I got from my mother.  Thanks mom!  I was like this as a kid too.  If my parents were ever late coming home, I thought for sure something bad happened to them.  I'd like to be able to control it, but I can't.  In some ways I think I do it, because I want to prepare myself for the worst.  Then nothing is ever as bad as I think it is and I can handle it better.  Who knows?  Just part of my craziness.   

After not seeing her anywhere around the playground, Andy started to walk to the front of the picnic near where the food was. About that time I thought I heard something on the loudspeaker that sounded like "Sonya", but I was in my own world of panic at the time, I barely heard it.  Apparently, Andy being the more level headed one, did hear it.  I called for her one more time and then started looking around to try and figure out where someone could have taken her, because again, worst case scenario.  Especially because of the recent story about that poor Jaycee girl. That's all I could think  about.  Then I see this guy and I started to size him up to decide if he's there with a family, or if he's creepy, and he tells me they were just saying Sonya's name over the loudspeaker. Okay, not creepy.  Sorry guy!  I start to walk in that direction with the little girls in the stroller and I see Andy walking toward me carrying a crying Sonya.  It was the most terrifying ten minutes of my life.  

After she calmed down, we asked her what happened.  She had been playing on the playground, but when Riley disappeared with her mom, she looked over to where our blanket had been to look for Andy and me and saw it was gone.   Even though Andy thought she had seen him ten feet away at the swings,  she hadn't.  At some point of me walking around to the other side of the playground, she must have run by me and we just missed each other.  She ran to the front of the picnic, scared that we had left and found a teacher who helped her.  Looks like I passed the worst case scenario gene down to her.  Great.  We made a point of telling her we would NEVER leave her anywhere, but that if she ever did get lost, that was the right thing to do.  Find an adult you trust to help you.  She understood and after many hugs and a bath she was tucked into her bed safe last night.

Andy and I talked about it after they were all asleep and he told me I shouldn't get so panicky in those situations.  I told him there was no way for me NOT to.  In fact, I challenge ANY mother out there not to get panicky in that situation.  Every mother I know seems to have a story like this.  I know I got lost once when I was about Sonya's age for about the same amount of time.  Both my mom and I were panicked.  If you have younger kids, prepare yourself for this, because it will happen at some point.  Hopefully this won't happen to us again, but if it does, I'll try to keep my shit together better.  It's a good thing Andy was there to be the logical one, but that's what Dad's are for.  We Moms are just more emotional by nature and it's impossible for us to imagine something happening to our babies.  Although, now I'm going to be the mom who lost her kid at the school picnic.  Yay. I'm sure the PTA will be happy to have me aboard!

At least it all turned out fine.  I partially needed to write this story to get it out of my head, because even though it ended fine, I couldn't stop thinking last night about what if it hadn't.  So this is somewhat therapeutic for me.  Thanks for being my therapists everyone!   And if you have kids, remember to watch them at ALL times.  They can slip by you so easily.  Even with TWO parents watching.  

BEEware

Over the weekend I was telling Andy a story about a bee that was flying in and out of the van, when I was trying to put the kids in the car.  He took that opportunity to explain to Sonya how to react when a bee is around.  He told her what we've all been told.  "Hold still and leave it alone and it will leave you alone."  Only that method has NEVER worked for me, seeing as how I've been stung three times in my life, and every time I WAS holding still.  Stupid bees.  Sonya mentioned to him that was not what I did to the bee in the car.  

"Mom didn't do that," she told him. "She shooed the bee away."

Andy gave me a look that said "that's just stupid", and proceeded to tell Sonya that his way was better.  I did contest that, telling him about the amount of times I'd been stung and I hadn't even looked at the bees funny.  They just don't like me.  In the end, I told Sonya that for the most part, Daddy was right and the best thing to do is  hold still, not run around like crazy, or make the bee mad in any way.  Since it appeared Andy and I were on the same page, or at least the same chapter, about what to do in a bee situation, she listened to our advice and went merrily along her way.  

This afternoon we were in the backyard playing with Sonya's new school friend, Lourdes, and her brother and sister.  I was filling up water balloons for them at the hose, and there was a plant there that had bees flying in and out of it.  Sonya and Lourdes were standing near me waiting for their water balloons.  They pointed out all the bees that were on the plant.  Sonya decided Lourdes should be as informed about bees as she was now, thanks to her parents.  

"Lourdes," she began, "when a bee comes near you, you have to hold very still so they think you're not alive and then BREAK FREE!"

I guess we did our job better than we thought.  Not only does she know what to do when a bee comes near her, but she's got bear attacks covered too.  Conflicted parenting at it's best!

Gone Fishin'

I've mentioned before that Andy is the "fun" parent.  By that I mean he's the one who plays the games and does silly things with the girls.  Not that I don't do that too, but that's what he does when he spends time with them.  I spend all my time with them, so I am the one who takes care of their needs.  Eating, dressing, bathing, keeping them alive.  Little things like that.  I try to have fun with them when I can, and we do play together as a family. For the most part, however, the girls know how to play Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders because of Daddy.  A while ago he taught Sonya how to play Go Fish, but it was always hard for Sonya to hold the cards.  He found these great card holders for kids online and they came last Thursday.  He got one for Lana too, although she had never played before.  On Friday evening it was her turn to learn.

Andy got home VERY early from work on Friday.  When I mean early, I mean he was home at 5pm.  This NEVER happens in our house and when I pulled up in the driveway with the girls, after getting their hair cut, we realized Daddy's car was in front of us.  The girls were excited that DADDY WAS HOME!  Yay Daddy!  Daddy will play with us!!!  I was excited as well, because it meant he could split the nighttime duties with me. Yay, Daddy!  Daddy will help me!! Although,  I was mostly excited because it meant I'd get to my glass of wine sooner.  

So, we went in the house and after some very enthusiastic hellos and "what are you doing heres", the "PLAY WITH US!!!!" started.  I, being the funkiller that I am,  told them we had to have dinner and baths first.  They begrudgingly agreed.  After they were all ready for bed and the baby was down for the night, Andy decided they would play Go Fish with the new card holders.  First he was playing with Sonya, but then Lana wanted in on the action, of course.  She had never played before, so he gave her the cards and holder and helped her along.  I stood in the doorway of the living room and kitchen just watching it all play out and it was the cutest damn thing I ever saw.  Here's how it went:

Sonya would say, "Lana do you have any Mickey 4's?"  (They were playing with a Disney character deck-big surprise.)

She would look at her cards.  At first Andy helped her, but he didn't really need to, because she seemed to get it right away.  Then Lana would say,

"Yes, I dooooo," and hand over two cards.  

Then Sonya would thank her and ask for another card and Lana would say, 

"Yes, I don't. Go fiss!" 

When it was Lana's turn to ask for cards she wasn't quite as sure what she was doing, so Andy would whisper to her,

"Ask sissy if she has any Minnie 2s."

Lana would look over at Sonya and in a whisper say, "Sissy, do you have any Minnie 2?"  

Andy would tell her not to whisper and she'd ask the question again in a normal voice.  Every time Andy would whisper to her, though, she would start the question in a whisper.  I just sat in the doorway quietly giggling taking it all in.  

Lana ended up winning that first game.  They played again throughout the weekend and the same scenario would play out.  It was just as amusing every time.  Not to mention the fact that it kept them from fighting for at least 10 minutes.  I mean what else could a mom ask for?  

 Andy does such a great job at teaching them the games and playing with them.  I'm hoping he can work his way up to teaching them poker so someday we can take them to Vegas to win some big money.  Until then I guess we'll stick with Go Fiss.  Besides, I'm not sure they would allow card holders at the high stakes table.  

Taking Things Literally

Yesterday I took the girls to the mall in the afternoon, because I had to do something with them, besides sit inside and play.  We shouldn't really go outside still, since it's been snowing ash for about a week now.  YAY L.A.!  Anyway- we were in Macy's and I was pushing the double stroller where the two little girls were sitting, and Sonya was holding onto the handle walking alongside.  This is our usual formation.  An older woman walked by, looked at the girls, then at me, smiled and said the one thing everyone LOVES to say to me,

"Well, don't you have your hands full!"

I smiled back at her and admitted I did.  After we were a few feet away Sonya turned to me a bit exasperated and said, 

"Why does everyone ALWAYS say that to you?  You don't have your hands full!" And she gestured to my hands, which at the time were full of pushing the stroller which she was holding on to.  

I just laughed and said, "It's an expression, peanut.  It just means that mommy is really busy with you and your sisters."   Oh, if she only knew...

Security By Blankie

If you know my kids or have been reading this blog for a bit, you've heard about "the blankies".  All three of my girls have security blankets.  Not only do they have one, but they have a backup for that one, so we have SIX security blankets in our family.  SIX!  They're not all out at the same time.  There's only three out at a time so that when one is being washed the other can be used.  We also have two in case one ever gets lost.  (I hope THAT day never comes!) I have no idea how I will ever stop them from being attached to their blankies or if I even want to. However,  I have nobody to blame but myself for this particular issue.    

When I was trying to sleep train Sonya as a baby, she had a cuddly pink blankie I used to cover her with.  She would cry when I first put her down, but she eventually found her thumb to sooth herself.  However, in order to get to her thumb she had to grab on to her cuddly blanket. Eventually, she associated the two together, and that is what helped her to sleep.  Since it worked so well with her, I did it again with Lana.  Only Lana missed the whole thumb thing, and decided to put the blankie directly in her mouth.  That's what she does now, sucks on her blankie, making hers the grossest, and the one that needs to be washed the most.  I know-yuck.  Georgia went the same way as Sonya and found her thumb through her blankie.  So now not only do I have three girls attached to blankies, I have two thumb suckers and a blankie chewer, but damn if they don't all put themselves to sleep every night!!   

I've been trying to scale down Sonya's blankie usage.  She doesn't take it in the car anymore, unless we're going on a long trip.  She does have it around when she gets home, but I've told her that when she turns five, the blankie is going to have to stay in bed in the morning.  It's not so much the blankie that concerns me, but the thumb that goes WITH the blankie.  At some point she HAS to stop doing that.  Keeping contact with the blanket to a minimum will help cut down on the thumb sucking.  Besides when they're babies or even toddlers, walking around with a blanket is cute.  When they're five, they start to look to old for it.  It's not quite as bad as a pacifier in a 4 year old, but it's not good.  Everyone in the Peanuts cartoons makes fun of Linus for carrying around his blanket everywhere.  I don't want Sonya to be made fun of at sleepovers in a few years.  The one good thing is Sonya doesn't eat her blanket like Lana, so I only have to wash hers about once a week.  

Lana's I have to wash every other day and she knows when I've switched it.  I have to wash hers that often, because have you ever smelled a blankie that a kid has been sucking on?  TRUST me on this one.  NOT good.  I'm sure she'll get some horrible disease years from now from whatever leftover detergent is in her blanket that she's eating, but I can not take that thing away from her.  Not if I value any kind of peace and quiet.  She's probably the most attached to her blanket out of the three of them.  I try to switch the blankie when she's not paying attention, usually when she's in the tub, and throw the new one on the couch where the old one was.  The old one goes directly in the wash.  Inevitably, she goes searching for it after her bath.  Then she picks up the new clean one, puts it in her mouth takes it out looks at it, looks at me and says,

"Dis new bankie, mom?"

"Yes," I reply and hold my breath.  Sometimes she's okay with having "new blankie", sometimes she throws a fit.

"Where old one?"  she always asks.

"Where do you think, Lana?" I ask her.

"In wash," she tells me.

At this point she either says okay and walks away, or she starts whining that she wants the other one.  I don't know how she knows that's it's a new blankie, but she does.  Well, actually it's probably not that hard to tell since you can smell the dirty one from down the street.  Ick.  I'm pretty sure she's going to be chewing on  that thing when she goes to college.  If there's anything left by then.  

Georgia wasn't as attached to her blankie until recently.  Even now, I don't bring it with us all the time in the car and she'll be fine.  She does need it to sleep, though.  Also, when she's having a fit about something, if I want her to quiet down, all I have to do is pull her purple lovie out and she immediately lights up.  She gets a huge smile and flaps her arms up and down, like she's trying to take flight.  When I hand it to her, she throws herself into it snuggling and sucking on her thumb, immensely happy.  She does love it, but I think she'll be the easiest to break of the two habits.  Mostly because she doesn't need the blankie or her thumb all the time, like the other two do.  She uses her vises most when she's tired or needs a bit of extra comfort.  For Sonya and Lana they're completely part of their lives, almost like a best friend.  

So. Yeah. I'm screwed as far as breaking them of these things.  I guess I shouldn't worry about it too much though.  My youngest sister Megan had/has a blankie when she was a kid/adult.  Last I heard, even though she doesn't use it anymore (I think), she still has it.  Not sure I'd want to see what kind of shape THAT thing is in, but she turned out okay.  I guess since it won't stunt their growth or turn them into serial killers, I shouldn't worry too much about it.  I know a lot of kids break themselves of these habits too, so I guess I'll do what I can, and let them decide for themselves.  Either way, I'm going to have six blankies, or maybe just three, to keep me and my baby memories warm when I'm old and senile.