Zuzu: 3.50 yrs old
Bear: 1.39 yrs old
There are days when I find it so easy to do laundry. Lots of laundry! And I think, I'm never going to get behind on laundry again! I'll do one or two loads every day, forever! I have days like that ... maybe three of them per year. Today was not one.
I ate a lot of chocolate today. It was one of those days where I kept thinking about chocolate.
At the grocery store tonight with the kids, I was delighted to find that they had the light bulbs we needed. I put four packages of various bulbs in my cart. Zuzu wanted to put the light bulbs in HER cart. She was pushing one of those cute little kid carts. I said sure, and picked them up again--"but," I said, "you must be so careful with them--don't throw them into your cart, just set them down gently." I knew this wouldn't be a problem for her. I held them out. And then the next little series of events all happened in a moment: Bear, who was sitting in the front of my cart, twisted around to reach behind him where the light bulbs were in my hand, snatched a package, and immediately threw it onto the floor. One of the bulbs completely shattered inside the package. I put a hand on my forehead and said out loud, "I can't believe that just happened." Zuzu threw her head back and cried out, "Ohhhhhhh! I should have catched them!" I hastened to tell her it wasn't her fault, it was my fault. So then she said brightly, "Oh, I forgive you Mommy!" I thanked her, and hugged her, and heard her say softly that when we got home, she would find some of her dolls to give me to make me happy.
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
Butts and Goodnight Kisses
Zuzu: 3.50 yrs old
Bear: 1.39 yrs old
This morning, Zuzu came in whining because her little baby doll didn't have any toes. This baby doll does actually have toes, but her head was turned all the way around to face the back, so the toes were pointing the opposite way and this distressed Zuzu. I took off the doll's dress to show her. "See? There's her butt," I said, and turned the head around to face front. Zuzu chortled. For the next minute she ran around crying "butt!" over and over again and laughing.
I was putting Bear to bed, and Zuzu gave him a goodnight kiss as usual. We looked around for Daddy and realized he was downstairs. I decided to put Bear to bed without a kiss from Daddy. I didn't realize as I did so that Zuzu was going downstairs to fetch him. They came up just as I was coming out of Bear's room. When Zuzu saw me without Bear, she burst into tears. Actual tears! Because Daddy hadn't kissed Bear! I scooped her up and told her she was wonderful, and Daddy promptly went into Bear's room and kissed him. This made Zuzu feel better, but confused Bear, who had a hard time going to sleep afterward.
After the goodnight kiss from Daddy, Bear had several bouts of crying. Mostly he'd get quiet on his own and then start up again a few minutes later. But at one point his cries took on the sound of ultimate suffering such as Westley experienced in the Pit of Despair. Great throaty screams. Loud and full of the tragedy of loss. And then, a series of sweet little "uh-oh!"s. I knew without a doubt what had happened: his Nuk was on the floor. I walked in; he was standing up in the crib. I knew he'd be right above where he'd dropped it, as close as possible to it, marking the spot for me; I reached down and found it immediately without a light. He sucked on it hungrily when it was back in his mouth, and when I lay him down he was sleepy and content. We haven't heard a peep from him since.
Bear: 1.39 yrs old
This morning, Zuzu came in whining because her little baby doll didn't have any toes. This baby doll does actually have toes, but her head was turned all the way around to face the back, so the toes were pointing the opposite way and this distressed Zuzu. I took off the doll's dress to show her. "See? There's her butt," I said, and turned the head around to face front. Zuzu chortled. For the next minute she ran around crying "butt!" over and over again and laughing.
I was putting Bear to bed, and Zuzu gave him a goodnight kiss as usual. We looked around for Daddy and realized he was downstairs. I decided to put Bear to bed without a kiss from Daddy. I didn't realize as I did so that Zuzu was going downstairs to fetch him. They came up just as I was coming out of Bear's room. When Zuzu saw me without Bear, she burst into tears. Actual tears! Because Daddy hadn't kissed Bear! I scooped her up and told her she was wonderful, and Daddy promptly went into Bear's room and kissed him. This made Zuzu feel better, but confused Bear, who had a hard time going to sleep afterward.
After the goodnight kiss from Daddy, Bear had several bouts of crying. Mostly he'd get quiet on his own and then start up again a few minutes later. But at one point his cries took on the sound of ultimate suffering such as Westley experienced in the Pit of Despair. Great throaty screams. Loud and full of the tragedy of loss. And then, a series of sweet little "uh-oh!"s. I knew without a doubt what had happened: his Nuk was on the floor. I walked in; he was standing up in the crib. I knew he'd be right above where he'd dropped it, as close as possible to it, marking the spot for me; I reached down and found it immediately without a light. He sucked on it hungrily when it was back in his mouth, and when I lay him down he was sleepy and content. We haven't heard a peep from him since.
Sunday, May 17, 2015
If you need me, come get me
Zuzu has always been an excellent sleeper. A phenomenal sleeper. As good a sleeper as a child could be. When we replaced the side of her crib with a guard rail so she could get out of bed herself, she still didn't get out of bed until she'd slept eleven hours.
Then one morning she got up, and I was still in bed. So she came into our bedroom. And found out that Bear was in bed with us. Because he'd woken up too early and I brought him into bed for more sleep and snuggles.
So now in the middle of the night she comes into our room and asks to get into bed with us. She also comes in to ask me to fix her blankets. She also gets up before falling asleep just because she wanted to say goodnight again. She has discovered that she can get up, in other words.
Tonight when I was tucking her in, I told her to stay in bed. I stroked her hair and said, "If you need me, I'm happy to help you, but stay in bed if you can." She looked at me seriously and said if she needed me she would come get me. I nodded at her lovingly, because she's such a good child that I was afraid if I gave her strict bed rules she'd refuse to get up even when she really did need us. I put my face close to her sweet, beautiful, pink face. And then she reached up her hand and began to stroke my hair. "If you need me," she told me in a dear little tender voice, "you can get out of bed, and come to my room, and tell me that you need me." I was enraptured. "That's good to know," I said. She continued, still stroking my hair: "If Daddy's in your way [in bed], you can come tell me, and I will say, 'Daddy, could you please scooch over, you're in Mommy's way.' And he will say yes." Then she repeated another couple times that if I needed her I was to come get her. She was most sincere and most kind. My heart was so full of love for that little three-year-old girl as I left her room.
Daddy and I chuckled at the idea of taking her up on the offer.
Then one morning she got up, and I was still in bed. So she came into our bedroom. And found out that Bear was in bed with us. Because he'd woken up too early and I brought him into bed for more sleep and snuggles.
So now in the middle of the night she comes into our room and asks to get into bed with us. She also comes in to ask me to fix her blankets. She also gets up before falling asleep just because she wanted to say goodnight again. She has discovered that she can get up, in other words.
Tonight when I was tucking her in, I told her to stay in bed. I stroked her hair and said, "If you need me, I'm happy to help you, but stay in bed if you can." She looked at me seriously and said if she needed me she would come get me. I nodded at her lovingly, because she's such a good child that I was afraid if I gave her strict bed rules she'd refuse to get up even when she really did need us. I put my face close to her sweet, beautiful, pink face. And then she reached up her hand and began to stroke my hair. "If you need me," she told me in a dear little tender voice, "you can get out of bed, and come to my room, and tell me that you need me." I was enraptured. "That's good to know," I said. She continued, still stroking my hair: "If Daddy's in your way [in bed], you can come tell me, and I will say, 'Daddy, could you please scooch over, you're in Mommy's way.' And he will say yes." Then she repeated another couple times that if I needed her I was to come get her. She was most sincere and most kind. My heart was so full of love for that little three-year-old girl as I left her room.
Daddy and I chuckled at the idea of taking her up on the offer.
Bear at 16 months
Bear is a toddler now, but oh ... I can still call him a baby a little longer. He's still so fat, so soft, so blond, so happy--except when he's terribly upset. He alternates between happy and distraught often and abruptly. He's so cute. I threaten to eat him all the time. Once I told him I was going to sneak into his room during the night to gobble him up. What a creepy thing to say.
He loves opening and closing doors, going in and out, putting things into other things, and climbing. He still LOVES roughhousing. He still wants everything. He is shocked and heartbroken when things are taken away from him. He still--still--puts everything into his mouth. He has eaten dirt so many times.
He gives lots of hugs and high-fives, blows kisses and laughs heartily at the slightest encouragement. He loves chasing Zuzu around the dining room table. He hates it when she squeezes him, puts blankets over his head, or tries to drag him around. He will not hold hands with anybody.
He understands lots of phrases. "Let's go outside," "Time to eat," etc. He's at a fun stage of language development where he's saying new words often. Some of his words are crystal clear, like "daddy," and others are not--Zuzu's name, for instance, he exclaims very excitedly when she walks into a room, but he pronounces it without the consonants.
He loves opening and closing doors, going in and out, putting things into other things, and climbing. He still LOVES roughhousing. He still wants everything. He is shocked and heartbroken when things are taken away from him. He still--still--puts everything into his mouth. He has eaten dirt so many times.
He gives lots of hugs and high-fives, blows kisses and laughs heartily at the slightest encouragement. He loves chasing Zuzu around the dining room table. He hates it when she squeezes him, puts blankets over his head, or tries to drag him around. He will not hold hands with anybody.
He understands lots of phrases. "Let's go outside," "Time to eat," etc. He's at a fun stage of language development where he's saying new words often. Some of his words are crystal clear, like "daddy," and others are not--Zuzu's name, for instance, he exclaims very excitedly when she walks into a room, but he pronounces it without the consonants.
Spring in Wisconsin
Cloudy, breezy days that you don't know whether to call warm or cool, lilacs in full bloom, everything green
Muggy sunshine, curls around my daughter's face, sweating, pulling weeds, turning up worms, the soft ground giving under my feet and hands, the smell of cut grass, the smell of which of these bushes or trees with branches still dark from the rain?, the smell of dirt, the smell of pine, the smell of lilacs, gnats flying at my eyes
A hillside of light, shy green new leaves all mixed with dark blotches of evergreens
Sunlight shining through leaves. Green is everywhere, God saying, here I AM!
Sky blue like Poseidon's eyes, blue like you haven't seen since last summer, dazzlingly white clouds so big they make you realize how big the sky is that it can hold them all!
Sunshine--sudden clouds, sudden cold, dark, wind, thunder, rain--sunshine
Tree roots breaking the sidewalks, lines of anthills in the cracks, puddles from sprinklers
It's all summer one day, heat and blisters and tan lines and bugs and extra baths, and winter again the next day, sweatshirts and socks and apple pancakes.
I love Wisconsin.
Muggy sunshine, curls around my daughter's face, sweating, pulling weeds, turning up worms, the soft ground giving under my feet and hands, the smell of cut grass, the smell of which of these bushes or trees with branches still dark from the rain?, the smell of dirt, the smell of pine, the smell of lilacs, gnats flying at my eyes
A hillside of light, shy green new leaves all mixed with dark blotches of evergreens
Sunlight shining through leaves. Green is everywhere, God saying, here I AM!
Sky blue like Poseidon's eyes, blue like you haven't seen since last summer, dazzlingly white clouds so big they make you realize how big the sky is that it can hold them all!
Sunshine--sudden clouds, sudden cold, dark, wind, thunder, rain--sunshine
Tree roots breaking the sidewalks, lines of anthills in the cracks, puddles from sprinklers
It's all summer one day, heat and blisters and tan lines and bugs and extra baths, and winter again the next day, sweatshirts and socks and apple pancakes.
I love Wisconsin.
Monday, March 16, 2015
the Sweeties
Zuzu has imaginary daughters called the Sweeties. I don't remember when the Sweeties first turned up ... sometime last summer I think. I've never been able to tell how many of them there are, exactly, but probably Zuzu doesn't quite keep track herself. I've asked her how many Sweeties there are, but since numbers aren't really her thing yet, she doesn't like to answer. The Sweeties used to follow us around quite a bit and do the things we do. Often Anders and I would be about to sit next to Zuzu on the couch, and she'd cry out to us not to sit on her Sweeties! They would be required to hold Zuzu's hand when crossing the street, and she and I would help them over the curb. We would also buckle them into imaginary carseats. Then we began to hear less about the Sweeties, and I was sad to think Zuzu might be getting past the imaginary daughters stage. She even seemed to be trying to let go of them (similar to Lars and the Real Girl but less drastic), by telling me that the Sweeties didn't want to come out with us--it was too cold, or they just wanted to stay home and play. But the Sweeties haven't gone away; they just only seem to exist in the home environment now. The Sweeties are very good, kind, helpful, and obedient. In fact they seem to model the behavior that Zuzu herself is aspiring to. For instance, for a couple weeks we struggled to get Zuzu to eat her dinner. But Zuzu would tell us during this time that the Sweeties had eaten all of their dinner!
Monday, February 9, 2015
Hide and Seek
“I’m going to hide in my room!” Zuzu shouted joyfully to Grammie and me during our game of hide-and-seek, and ran off. Grammie counted nice and loudly, then we went to Zuzu’s room to find her. She was on the bed, sitting straight up, with a blanket over her head. She was very quiet and didn’t move while Grammie pretended to search all the corners of the room. With difficulty I muted my laughter. Did Zuzu believe she was out of sight? Why didn’t she at least crouch? Finally she couldn’t take it anymore and cried out from under the blanket, “I’m right here!”
Later, after Grammie had left, it was my turn to hide. Zuzu told me all the places where she wanted me to hide, then scurried away while I put myself in those places, then ran back and found me. Finally she ordered me to hide in her room. She walked with me all the way to her room, even closing the door behind me. A few seconds later she came in to find me—and didn’t see me. She must have expected me to sit on the bed and put a blanket over my head. Instead I sat behind her little dresser—in plain sight, had she bothered to walk into her room a few more steps. But in confusion she left her room, and began to look for me all over the house. I could hear her as she went, wondering aloud where mommy was hiding. At first I thought maybe she was pretending, the way Grammie and I had pretended earlier to draw out the search. But I could tell she was gradually becoming more distressed. So finally I called out, “here I am!” She didn’t hear me, and her cries were becoming louder and more pitiful. I wasn’t ready to reveal myself yet, because I thought the whole thing was funny. I kept calling to her, but hadn’t managed to get her to hear me, when the garage door went up. “Oh, there is daddy, I will ask him!” she said out loud. And that’s when Anders walked in, home from work, to find little Zuzu with a tear-stained face and no idea where I was. I got up out of my hiding spot and came out quickly so he wouldn’t panic.
All this time Bear was playing happily on the living room floor.
Later, after Grammie had left, it was my turn to hide. Zuzu told me all the places where she wanted me to hide, then scurried away while I put myself in those places, then ran back and found me. Finally she ordered me to hide in her room. She walked with me all the way to her room, even closing the door behind me. A few seconds later she came in to find me—and didn’t see me. She must have expected me to sit on the bed and put a blanket over my head. Instead I sat behind her little dresser—in plain sight, had she bothered to walk into her room a few more steps. But in confusion she left her room, and began to look for me all over the house. I could hear her as she went, wondering aloud where mommy was hiding. At first I thought maybe she was pretending, the way Grammie and I had pretended earlier to draw out the search. But I could tell she was gradually becoming more distressed. So finally I called out, “here I am!” She didn’t hear me, and her cries were becoming louder and more pitiful. I wasn’t ready to reveal myself yet, because I thought the whole thing was funny. I kept calling to her, but hadn’t managed to get her to hear me, when the garage door went up. “Oh, there is daddy, I will ask him!” she said out loud. And that’s when Anders walked in, home from work, to find little Zuzu with a tear-stained face and no idea where I was. I got up out of my hiding spot and came out quickly so he wouldn’t panic.
All this time Bear was playing happily on the living room floor.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)