Sweet Olivia is home sick with a temperature of 102. She and Henry are under a blanket watching shows together. Vivian is playing in her little kitchen like a busy bee. Ev is at school. Robbie was worried after he dropped her off in the carpool lane, because Olivia always walks her to her classroom.
I haven't blogged recently, so I have accumulated a series of notes scribbled here and there to share. Here are the highlights from my children over the last weeks.
We took a beautiful fall walk yesterday, and we smelled some cigarette smoke. Henry and I didn't like it one bit. What a terrible odor! Our neighborhood elementary school put red plastic cups into their fence to spell DRUG FREE 4-EVER. Henry asked me about it numerous times as we drove past. After we talked about how gross the smoke smelled he said, "Drug Free FOREVER!!! NO smoking." He actually remembered the fence message. He also listens to a lot that I try to communicate to the children, although he may only apply it for his own advantage. When Vivian didn't want to share her Cheerios with Henry, I heard him tell her, "We share in this family, Vivian."
Our family did a 5K this weekend, and my brother joined us too. It was really chilly that morning, but we had fun. Robbie and Anthony ran with Olivia, and she finished in about 30 minutes at age 8. I pushed Vivian, and Henry and Evelyn were on foot. They ran, then walked, then ran more. Henry begged to wear his Lightning McQueen padded muscle suit for the race, but I insisted on warm workout clothes. Several times on the course, I heard him say, "Straight line speed," a line from CARS. He also dropped into a runner's stance, then took off like a flash. Evelyn really kicked up the pace as she proceeded to the finish line. Henry had a grimace on his face, and he was totally serious as he completed his run. It was awesome.
We played as a family at a nearby park on Sunday, and they have a rare merry-go-round. Robbie is much wilder with his play with the kids than I like. All of the kids were having fun on the merry-go-round, and he gave it a full running spin with all his might. Henry made one full rotation before he let go and flew off onto the ground with a big thud. I got it on video on my phone, but my husband will shoot me if I post his bad move. When Henry talked about the experience later he said, "Mommy, I'm so glad blood didn't come out of my head." We were glad too.
After the girls got out of the van in carpool I started to drive forward while the van door was still open. A loud warning beep kept sounding, but I couldn't get the door to close. I thought Henry was blocking it by doing something with his leg, so after blocking the carpool progress momentarily, I was forced to pull over to investigate. An umbrella had gotten lodged in the way, and it blocked the door from shutting. Henry said, "Nice try, Mom. That was really funny."
Uncle Anthony loves my children so much, but I think they are sometimes a bit much for him. He suggested tacos as a dinner, which seemed like a really easy fix for me. However, baby Vivian now screams (and I do not use this word lightly) at every dinner meal. It doesn't matter where I try to let her sit or what I serve. She goes berserk!!! It is about to end my sanity. The night of the taco dinner, she was in even higher volume form. Evelyn was in tears because her soft taco shell kept unfolding, which let the contents spill out. Henry cracked his hard taco shell with his first bite, and he kept getting out of his seat as my attention was diverted to the other two in meltdown mode. Robbie was in the garage. How can a taco dinner go so south? Thank goodness Olivia ate like a nice little lady. That's the beauty of parenting. There is no way to predict what will happen in any given hour. My life is not dull. Evelyn made all of us laugh by commenting that Vivian should stay in her high chair since she is not chair trained.
I can't predict Henry's likes either. He asked me to please find a butterfly Halloween costume for him. He also asks every single morning, "Mommy, may I please have some strawberry oatmeal in the red butterfly bowl?" So much for Lightning McQueen, "KA-Chow!!"
We had a really fun Halloween trick-or-treating night. Evelyn was very sad that we couldn't go with the Finlasons and their dog Mario like every other year. The new neighbor came over to take a photo of our family, and somehow the girls asked her to let us take their dog, Violet, down the street. Robbie agreed, and the kids were ecstatic. Little Vivian was dressed in her friend Abby's size 0-6 mos. bumblebee costume. She didn't want to be carried or hold anyone's hand. She wanted to walk like a big shot, and she'd say, "Treat?" very sweetly to the neighbors. The black cat, angel, and dinosaur got a LOT of loot. I now have to deny candy morning, noon, and night. Luckily, another warning about getting holes in his teeth from not brushing them has secured itself into Henry's head. He likes brushing his teeth.
My big girls have been working really hard in school, and their teachers recognize and appreciate their qualities of work ethic and good character. We are really proud of them.
Vivian's language explosion is in progress. Today she asked me for her night-night. When I asked her where she left it she said, "In that room." I told her to get it, and she said with a frustrated tone, "I can't reach that night-night." She is 21 months today, and I can't even believe it. I have several friends with newborns, and they look so tiny.
