"I had to get used to him"

Natalie just gave Oliver a picture she drew of them in school today. He kissed it, so she was in raptures - "Oh, you love it! Mommy, he loves his picture!". I said "Of course he does! He loves his big sister!".

She gave him a big hug and said "You are the best brother EVER!". I jokingly said "See, he's not so bad". She said "Yeah, he's not so bad. I just had to get used to him".

Update - I think I need to take her temperature. She asked him if he wanted her to share toys, he nodded yes. I thought she'd bring out some random toys. Oh no. She wheeled out her tea cart with her most special stuffed animals and told him to pick out one. Jon's going to have to come pick me up off the floor. We'll see how long this lasts!

Happy Birthday, Jon!

Today is Jon's birthday! Natalie and I made a cake - Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate cake with Perfectly Chocolate frosting - great recipe - it is on the back of the Hershey's powdered cocoa container. Natalie decorated it herself (I frosted it), and Oliver had a great time licking the frosting spoon and beater (N got one too!). His whole face was dark brown - and the wooden spoon was completely soaked from him sucking on it. :-)

Mitz and Pops came over and we had pizza, cake and ice cream. Tomorrow Mitz is going to babysit so we can go out. So it's shaping up to be a fun weekend!

I have pictures. Will try to get them up this weekend. Although I still haven't posted July's, so we'll see. Yeesh. I'm behind.

Out of the mouths of babes

One of Natalie's classmates lives one street over from us. Her parents and older brother sometimes have to scramble to meet her bus in the afternoon, so I've told them they can always call me, and I can bring Alicia home with us until they can get here.

Today, no one was there to meet Alicia (unusual, her mom would call if she anticipated a problem), so I brought her with us, and called her mom. Her older brother was running down the street as I called. Alicia and Natalie were playing in the playroom, and Natalie didn't want Alicia to go. After they left, Natalie was still disappointed, so I told her that Alicia's brother had to run all the way from the high school (a good 2 miles at least, and it's hot as hell today, and humid to boot), and needed to go home and rest - the poor kid was covered in sweat.

Natalie very matter-of-factly told me "He should have taken a taxi".

Photobombing

Oliver photobombed Natalie today! She asked me to take a picture of her and her teddy. I got out the camera, and once she started saying "Cheese", Oliver came running, saying "cheese" himself, and got in the shot just as the picture was taken. Jon and I think it's hilarious; Natalie, not so much.

Are you there God, it's me, Natalie

Had to take Natalie to get a booster she was missing today, per the school/AZ regulations. On the way there, she was pointing out clouds and assigning shapes to them. She noticed one big, fluffy cloud and asked me if that was where heaven is. I told her that it was very possible.

So then she cupped her hands around her mouth, and bellowed:

"HEY JESUS. HEY GOD. ARE YOU GUYS UP THERE ON THAT BIG, FLUFFY CLOUD?".

Waited a second, then she told me "Jesus said yes, their* are".

*She frequently uses "their" in place of "they". I really should correct that, but she has so few language mix-ups these days, that I find it endearing. She'll learn soon enough. I noticed today that she is using more grown-up phrases. She was telling me about the two doors in her classroom. I would have expected her to say "this door goes to this room", but she said "one door leads to the bathroom and the other door leads to the hall". Maybe it's not a big deal, but I thought using the phrase "leads to" was pretty grown-up!

First day of school!

Natalie's first day of kindergarten was yesterday. She loves it! Every night she can't wait until the next morning so she can go back. She loves her teacher, loves her classmates. She made friends with another girl in our neighborhood who is in her class, while waiting for the bus this morning. She loves riding the school bus, although she thinks the big kids are a little loud. And she really likes buying lunch in the cafeteria.

I was a bit of a wreck yesterday, but now that we have two full days under our belts, I'm way less anxious.

In just two days we can already see a difference. She seems a little more grown-up (most of the time. Had a mother of a tantrum tonight), and is speaking more clearly, using much longer sentences, and relating experiences with much more detail.

She also had a boy in her class give her a pretty rock today. And a new boy joined, and she told me she is going to marry him because "that's what you do with new boy students". Alrighty then! :-)

Here are a couple of pictures from her first day. She's very proud of her Ni Hao Kai Lan backpack and lunch sack, and her Twinkle Toes Sketchers. :-) I bought her a school shirt today, and she's so excited to wear it! I think part of the excitement is the school tee-shirts are black with bright blue logos - I don't allow her to wear black (unless it's pants), so I got thwarted!

I'll also get July pictures up at some point. Maybe over the weekend.

Meet the Teacher

Natalie had Meet the Teacher at her school last night! We had a great time! Her classroom is really nice - big, bright, cheery, lots of things to do. We spent some time in her classroom, then headed over to the cafeteria. Once there, I started talking to a couple that was nearby - I remembered seeing them in the classroom. Well, Natalie and Brooklyn hit it off immediately. I think they might be two peas in a pod. Similar haircut, both are tomboys and love sports.... And even better? They live in our neighborhood! And the mom is a SAHM as well - she's due with her second any day now. There is also another girl with a nut allergy in Natalie's class, and she's looking forward to meeting her - this way she'll know someone at the "nut free" table in the cafeteria.

Checked out the library with Brooklyn and her parents - the girls had a blast and got chastised twice. Oops. Stopped by the health office to drop off N's emergency kit and fill out the paperwork. The nurse and health assistant are wonderful. Natalie loves them, and had me write a note to them from her this morning, which we took over to the school. The assistant seemed really touched! I have such a sweet girl - the note said - and she dictated -"Dear Nurses, I love you. Thank you for taking care of me. I'm glad there's a doctor's office there. Love, Natalie".

Looking forward to Natalie starting her new adventure! She's raring to go - she's looking forward to buying lunch some days and riding the bus, as well as making new friends! I'm a little teary thinking about it, and will probably be more teary tomorrow, but she's going to have a blast, and she'll do well.

"Daddy, change Oliver's diaper"

"He pooped".

I love how Natalie knows how the division of labor goes in this house, when Jon isn't traveling!

Hit the road, Jack

When we sold my old Nissan to Carmax a couple of years ago, we couldn't find the spare keys. They turned up months later, too late to turn them in. Wound up giving them to Natalie to play with.

Oliver dug them out of a toy bin today and came running out of the playroom. He flashed me a grin, waved the keys in one hand, waved at me with the other, and ran for the front door saying "Bye! Bye! Bye!". It was so funny - he looked so pleased with himself!

Proud mama

Took the kids to get their hair cut yesterday. Oliver went first, Natalie was playing with the train tables. By the time she got called back, she was in a shitastic mood (probably hungry, it was close to lunchtime, and she had been trying to play nicely/share with a younger boy, but he was being a total brat and I think she'd finally had enough, but still). No major tantrum, but I had to put her in the chair, and she glared the whole time. Storm cloud face, wouldn't say a word except about how much she hated the glitter the woman put in her hair (for the record, it was really fine, like pixie dust, and looked so cute in the sun). Then was pissed because I wouldn't buy her a toy as we were leaving. As if.

Took them to IHOP for lunch, as it was next door. She perked up after eating, and was very chatty/polite with an old couple across from us - rare for her - she's cautious around strangers. As we were leaving, she told me "I'm really sorry for being mean in the hair place. I'm SO sorry. I'm very sorry". I told her I forgave her, then told her that she really made that old couple's day by speaking to them so nicely (they mentioned that they missed having little ones around).

Then she looked at me and said "Mommy, could you take me back to the hair place so I can tell that lady I'm sorry?". I told her sure, absolutely. Wasn't expecting much because I expected her to get shy - I was just impressed that she even thought to do that. Damned if she didn't walk in, go up to Crystal (the lady who cut their hair) and said "I'm sorry for being mean to you. I really like my haircut". This other woman's kids were just finishing up - she was there when Natalie got pissy - we were commiserating over girly attitudes. She asked how I got Natalie to do that, and I told her I had nothing to do with it - it was her idea. She commented "Many adults wouldn't come back and do that".

I was in tears. Seriously heart bursty - just so very, very proud of her. We all know how difficult it can be to apologize and admit when we are wrong - that she did it of her own volition, and to a stranger no less, just bowled me over. I gave her lots of positive praise of course - I wanted her to know that I know apologizing when we are wrong isn't an easy thing to do, but it is the right thing, and very very grown-up.

Later that evening, oh-so-earnestly, she told me "Mommy, I was really proud of you today for taking us to have brekkus (breakfast) for lunch".

God, I love that child.

Guardian angel

Natalie was given a small figurine as a baby. It has an infant (probably supposed to be Jesus, although the baby is wearing pink, no matter) on a bed of straw, with an angel at its feet. It plays "O Holy Night". She put it in Oliver's room, and told me this:

"Mommy, do you know why I put this in Oliver's room?"
"No, why?"
"Because Oliver is the baby in the manger, I mean crib and the other one is...."
"His guardian angel watching over him?"
"No. That's ME watching over him".

I'd say he's in pretty good hands!

"Daddy, you have to see my waffle popper"

Jon - "waffle popper?"
Natalie - "Yeah, my waffle popper"
Jon - *confused look*
Me - *lightbulb*
Me - "toaster?" - good thing I was there to translate. :-P
Natalie "Oh yeah, right. My toaster".

She reorganized her play kitchen yesterday. It looks great! Wonder how long that will last?

Natalie Post

Just now at breakfast -

Natalie - "Oliver, could you start eating like a big boy?"
Oliver - *evil grin, shakes his head no"
Natalie - "Aw, c'mooooon Oliver, please eat like a big boy. Please don't throw your food, or take mine, and please share yours."
Oliver - *grins, nods yes*
Natalie - "That's my good boy. Good baby".

On a side note, Oliver has been able to communicate "no" by shaking his head, in context, for months now. Just lately, he's been able to nod "yes", in context, and it is the cutest thing! He can't control just his head, so basically he nods his whole body, with the cutest grin! I had forgotten just how cool it is when the synapses start firing, and they start being able to communicate well. Love it!

He's also down to just one more tooth to cut, and you can see it, it just hasn't popped. Once he has his left cuspid, that's it until the 2nd year and 6th year molars! He has quite the set of choppers. As the marks on my arm from our trip to Costco yesterday prove. He doesn't bite aggressively, but yesterday, he was taking my arm and chomping down and laughing. I think he's seen the "Don't bite your friends" Yo Gabba Gabba episode once too often. Doesn't help that Natalie and I sing the little song over and over again, laughing our heads off. One of the characters will have a piece of food and sing "Chomp chomp chomp?", the others sing "Yes, yes yes". Then the character will grab one of his friend's arms and say "Bite, bite bite?", the rest sing "No, no no". Never fails to crack me up.

"Mommy, smell Oliver's breath"

For some reason, that phrase struck a little fear in my heart. Haha! This morning, Natalie came up to me and we had the following conversation:

"Mommy, smell Oliver's breath"
"Why?"
"Just do it, it's a special surprise"
"What did he eat?"
"*giggle* It's a surprise - it was brown and round"

*at this, I really started to get a little scared*

"Did he eat poop?"
"Just smell his breath"

So I did, no poop breath, couldn't smell much at all, thanks to my allergies.

"I can't smell anything, what did he eat?"
"I gave him a Whopper"
"You gave him what?" - she has a secret stash of candy in her playroom. She doesn't eat it often, and never without asking, so I don't stress about it. She keeps it packed for Girl Scouts. LOL
"I gave him a Whopper. Just one. He LOVED it!"

Then they had a Whopper picnic on the floor.