Good kitty, bad kitty

Seamus has taken to stalking, "killing", and presenting Lauren's small stuffed animals to us. Cute, yes. During the day when this happens, we praise him for being a good hunter. But, problem is, he's taken to gifting us at 3 AM. He will stand with the stuffy in his mouth meowing until acknowledged.

The first time this happened, I dropped the stuffy in my bedside stand and rolled over to go back to sleep. Now that it's become nearly a nightly occurrence, I sometimes momentarily lose my faculties and place it on the top of the table. Ohh, bad choice. This means he snatches it up again, spends about a half hour stalking and "killing" it, and then presents it again at 3:30 AM.

Ohh sweet sleep. How I crave thee...

The girls

Lindsay and Lauren, June 2007

Difficult things

"It's hard to be quiet."

"Yes."

"But it's usually worth it..."

"Okay..."

"Because usually we have huggle time and I like hugs."

"Me too."

A better picture of Lindsay and her drinking buddy

Lindsay and Ernie, June 2007

Lindsay at playgroup

Sorry these are a little blurry, these were captured on my camera phone. Lindsay is hanging out with her friend, Ernie, who is 2 days older than she. Ernie had a sippy cup of water. In the bottom frame, he's helping Lindsay have a sip. Seriously, does it get cuter than that?

Flashy shoes

We've been working on learning to put shoes on the correct feet, and for the butterfly sneakers we bought last week (the third pair she's owned) that means they don't "kiss", but rather they live on the outsides of her feet.

I peeked in on her finishing putting on a pair of pink socks, smiling that she managed to have the non-skid lettering on the bottoms of her feet for once. Lauren sat on the floor, the new sneakers Nanny gave her in each hand. Silver with thin velcro straps across. They would look sort of sporty if they didn't have 5 princess on the outer heel of each shoe. Lauren received them reluctantly, lamenting that they weren't the flashy sneakers she so adored. She sat examining them. "Do the princesses kiss?" she asked finally.

"No, they belong on the outsides of the shoes, like the butterflies."

"They don't like each other?"

"No, they like each other OK, they're just busy, you know. Managing a kingdom and all..."

"Oh right," she replied, switching the left shoe into her left hand. She dropped the right shoe, and then began to laugh loudly.

"What happened?"

"Mom, look!" She picked up the right shoe and hurled it at the floor. "Nanny was wrong!"

"What do you mean?"

"Look!" She threw the shoe at the floor for a third time. "Don't you see it flashing? Nanny was wrong. These ARE flashy shoes!"

Almost as much

"I love you the most of all, Daddy."

"Aww. Thanks, honey."

"Well, actually, I love you and turtle the same."

"Well, that's still nice."

"Ok, well, I love you almost as much as I love turtle..."

Last day of school

Today was punctuated with cheers and tears. The last day of school was harder on Lauren than I thought, and she cried on the way home, declaring how much she was going to miss her teacher.

I have been dreading the end of school, as our routine has slowly unraveled over the past two weeks. I was stoic, walking home from the library with the girls this evening, trying to sort out how to fill 10 weeks with fun and enrichment without parting from my sanity.

Yeah, after that, I will contemplate lesser stuff, like, say, the meaning of life...

Babies need new pairs of shoes

So, they got them. Lauren selected "tied-y-up shoes with flashy butterflies" and Lindsay's are sandals for walkers. If you look closely, you can see Lindsay's wearing nylon peds. Very classy, right?

For posterity...well, and also for those of you who become so smitten with little girls' shoes that you must purchase them and send them along...they are wearing toddler sizes 3 and 8.

Happy Father's Day

I think her secret might be "break a leg". Or was it "Elmo loves you"?

Have a great day, Dad!

Carnival

Lauren sincerely amazes me sometimes. She managed to convince the carnie operating the Frog Hopper to let this group of kids ride on it 3 times.


"May we please ride again?" she asked, sweetly. "There's no one waiting in line."

The carnie pulled a face, but instead of rejecting the request, she looked around and then hit the Go button on her ride. Lauren did it again, to the same response. After riding 3 times, she smiled at the carnie and said, "You've sure got a great ride! Thanks so much for letting us ride it."

My daughter conned a carnie.

Alec and Lauren riding on Bertha the geriatric elephant, who I believe was quite possibly older than God. Lauren pet the large elephant and announced, "Isn't she beautiful?"


We left as the sky began to darken, and a summer storm passed through.

Bedtime

"Let's say goodnight to Lauren..."

"Ni-ni, Lolo."

"Give Lolo kisses?"

"Mmmmwah." she said, planting her opened mouth on Lauren's cheek. "Lisy huhs?"

"Lindsay would like a hug..."

"Nite nite, Lin-Lin." Lauren put her arm around Lindsay.

Lindsay wrapped her chubby arms around Lauren's neck. "Ni-ni," she said cheerfully.

"Ni-ni..." Lauren echoed.

Happy birthday, Alec!

Almost 30 seconds with an almost 13 month old

Another day, another word

Lindsay sat on the floor at the ophthalmologist's office, taking items out of her diaper bag one at a time.

"Those are wipes." I said.

She set them down, and reached for a block.

"That's a block."

She put the block down and picked up a green bottle of bubbles. "Bubble." she said.

We both laughed. "Yes," I said. "Those are bubbles." I opened them and blew them above her head, and she giggled as they drifted down and popped on her arms.

To add to the whys

Lindsay: Whassat?!

Epiphany: That's Seamus.

Lindsay: Whassat?!

Epiphany: A table.

Lindsay: Whassat?!

Kindergarten, here she comes!

Things they don't teach in school

I came downstairs this morning to find Lauren sitting patiently, hands folded, at the dining room table. As I went into the kitchen, I nearly tripped over a loudly meowing Seamus.

"Do you suppose he wants breakfast, too?" I asked Lauren.

"Well, you see. The thing is," Lauren began, sighing impatiently, "I just don't speak cat."

"Oh," I replied. "Ok."

"Once someone teaches me cat, I will let you know what Seamus wants."

Here's hoping her comedic delivery improves

"Why did the crabby cross the road?"

"Why did the crabby cross the road?" I repeated.

"To see Silly Billy. Get it?" She ends every joke with Get it?? as though that's her flashing neon Applause sign.

"No. It's not funny."

"Not funny? Oh, ok. Thanks!" she replied brightly.

Mommy Driveby

I joined the municipal pool in a neighboring town for the summer. I had not planned well for the first day out there and spent more of the day out in the hot sun than was reasonable. Fortunately, the pool has a concession stand. Lauren chose a hot dog and I ordered a tuna melt and a bottle of water to share. Both sandwiches came with a bag of chips and a pickle.

We sat at a picnic table with our friends, and I fed Lindsay bite-sized pieces of the tuna melt. She is a big fan of grilled cheese, so she ate most of my sandwich, a few chips, and about half of the pickle spear.

She was sitting next to a baby, also eating his lunch in his stroller. He was quite a bit bigger than Lindsay, and struggling to eat baby food off of a spoon offered by his dad. I would guess he was probably about 8 or 9 months old. Lindsay grinned when they made eye contact and waved her food-filled fist at him.

The mom gasped. "Oh my God...are you feeding your baby a cheeseburger?"

"No. It's a tuna melt." I replied. "She likes cheeseburgers too though."

She blinked at me. "How old is your baby?" She demanded.

"Lindsay is just over a year." I replied.

She sighed in relief. "Oh. I thought they were the same age..."

They left very soon after that.