Embracing Winter

It was sunny again today, and not to talk about the weather all the time like an old person, but I think the frequent sunshine is making all the difference in my view of winter this year. Usually by mid-January I am HATING THE SNOW and very busy trying to hide under a blanket while I eat carbohydrates.

And maybe I am gloating too soon, but I think the combination of sunshine and the fact that, for the first time, the girls are really, truly old enough to play outside in the snow for semi-long periods of time is making it . . . fun. I never thought I would say that about winter (and clearly I would prefer that it be 70 and sunny right now), but it is true. I am not filled with a sense of dread every day. I don't feel trapped in my house. I am not counting down the days until spring might finally be here. Instead, I'm working out regularly both inside and out (even getting my butt out of bed for that 6:00 a.m. bootcamp at least once a week), going out with friends on weekends and drinking too much Lefthand Milk Stout, gearing up for our neighborhood's annual progressive dinner this weekend, and using some of the bonus indoor time to try new recipes and get more writing done.

This afternoon, though, the girls and I got our snow gear on and put the sleds in the back of the car. We went to Manhattan Park, where we made a snowman, had a snowball fight, and went sledding down a nice, big hill. We had the place all to ourselves and the girls were so thrilled to be doing something special that they didn't once complain about the cold or about the long trek back to the top of the hill. We'd all cram in the sled together (the hill basically ends at the road, so I didn't trust them going down without me to stop the sled at the bottom), a mess of boots and hats and sunglasses, then Wheeeeeee! all the way down. Over and over again, under the bluest sky with the sun shining on our faces. It was the best hour of my week so far.

Snow, Art, and a One-Person Play

It's been sunny, which helps with the freezing coldness and all. Yesterday afternoon we bundled up, popped each girl in a sled, and ran them all around the sidewalks around our house, eventually ending up at the football field for a lot of chasing, snow-angel-making, and tackling.

Jemma wore her sunglasses.

Today, we had a coloring fest for almost an hour after lunch. And guess what? Jemma knows how to draw a face. She makes very big, hollow eyes, so it sort of looks like a skull, but still: a face. With a lot of pink hair.

Annie is practically a Disney animator by now, what with all the princesses she's drawn. Here's something she brought to Jason after her quiet time yesterday. For anyone not current on their Disney characters, that would be Sleeping Beauty (eyes closed, red rose tragically resting on bosom) with the three fairies crying in the background. I think "DAD I LOVe YOU" is a totally appropriate caption.

The girls played miraculously well this afternoon after quiet time, so I abandoned thoughts of the gym and decided to make a big dinner instead, in the hopes that Jason might actually get home on time to eat with us. And guess what? He did! I made this. He liked it. (Meatballs that incorporate BACON? Yes.)

But really, the girls. They were upstairs, they were downstairs, they were taking all the cushions off the couch and doing gymnastics in the living room, they were wearing dance outfits and requesting The Nutcracker Suite, they were taking care of babies with broken legs, they were flying an airplane to Florida . . . . they were being sisters, just playing, and it was so fun to see.

Later, Jemma was the last one in the tub. I was hanging out with her in there and realized that she literally had not shut up for ONE SECOND the whole time. So I went and got the computer and typed a verbatim transcript of the last 4-5 minutes of her bath tonight. Please note, this is her having a conversation with herself; none of the speaking is me:

I can’t find my other cat friends.

Well I can help you.

Well my leg is broken.

Well I can help you get your leg on. Let me set you in the water to put it on. There you go. I’m putting a Band-aid on it. Now get out. Now splash in.

I don’t want to swim.

You should because you’re a kitty cat.

But kitty cats don’t swim.

The washcloth goes around and around and around and around The Washcloth! End of story! Of Cinderella and fishes going around them and they all fall down ahhhhhhhhh!

Oh, well, you can swim with me.

I’m swimming with a washcloth in a tub. Oh Belle, fairy godmother, Beast: Save me! Oh! Oh! Cinderella!

Hmmm. That was just a story about a washcloth. Two washclof-es.

I don’t want to use two washclof-es. I just want this one to be out of the bathtub. Let it dry right here then we can take it out. (Giggles.)

I’m singing a song like fairy godmother song. Cinderellaaaaaa got a pretty dress and it was blue and red and white it was colors. Sunshine and it had so bright and it was the sunshine and she got a bigger from getting apples and cookies so she picked up um picked on a tree then found some cookies and she picked one of them and ate it. Then she covered a tree then some princesses um got the cover off then ate some cookies. The end.

Fairy Godmother was sad about Cinderella did put a cookie on her dress and I’m sad about the stepmother is going to get me. Ahhh! Don’t get me I’m way up here. Ahhhhhh! Heavy breathing. She jumped into the water. Wah! Ow! Ow! Oooh oooh ooh. (Dives under water, blows bubbles) “Are you OK?” (Giggles.)

(Sees self in the mirror.) Look at me! I’m naked! And my feet are wet. Whoa! I’m pretty wet. Do you see me in the mirror? I don’t see you cuz you’re far away right there and I see you right now. What is that brown thing? Oh It’s mommy – mommy’s hair. Hi Mom! (Waves.) I love you! Mom. I’m counting goldfishes. There’s one. One, two . . . where’s the other one? Mom I can’t find the other goldfishes. But I’m counting them! There’s some over there and I don’t see the other ones. Ah! There is one. Oh, that is just . . . . we’re never going to find those fishes again.

Yes. I think my head will go in that big cup. Pours water on head. Can we have the bath crayons? Oh, can you get this off me? No one can go right here. Mom, right now I really want to be all done with my bath. I’m going to push the drain.

I don't know. I feel like this might explain why I am so TIRED at the end of every day, mmmm?

Pleased as Punch

After spending an hour a week since she was born being forced to watch from the window, Jemma, freshly three years old, was finally able to go in the room and participate in her very first dance class with beloved Miss Amy. To say she loved it would be an understatement.

My Girl Wants to Potty All the Time

First of all, I don't even know, at this point, who sings the song that goes, "My girl wants to party all the time/party all the time/party all the tiiii-ime." But let me start by admitting that, for years and years and YEARS, I thought the word "party" in that song was "potty." I really did. (I also thought that Ruby Red Squirt was called Groovy Red Squirt. Maybe I need my hearing tested.)

Second of all, my version of the song turns out to be an apt soundtrack for this period in my life with Jemma. Although it would probably be more accurate to insert "poop" where I used to put "potty." Here's how it goes around here, lately.

We wake up every morning and put Jemma's undies on her after she uses the bathroom. Before we go anywhere - I mean ANYWHERE - we ask, "Jemma, do you need to go potty?" She occasionally says yes, but mostly says no. Sometimes I make the executive decision to make her TRY before we leave the house, because if I don't, what generally happens is that we get where we are going, and she tells me she has to go potty. So we find the nearest public bathroom and take her coat off and take her tights and underwear and boots all the way off (yes, it's always tights; this child only wears pants under extreme duress) because otherwise she isn't comfortable up on that big, germy seat. I am hunched down on the floor, trying very hard not to touch anything and also trying very hard not to let her hands or (bare) feet touch anything. I am sweating slightly. We wait. Sometimes she goes. But other times, she scrunches up her face and says, "Actually, no." And then we wash our hands for half an hour and she ends up peeing later, when we get home.

In the afternoon, to prepare for nap time, I require both girls use the bathroom after lunch and before quiet time begins. Jemma usually poops and pees. I put a Pull-up on her for her nap, read her a book, and tuck her in. Five minutes later, she's at the door. "Mom, I have to go potty." She sings it, happily. I glare at the door, usually mid-e-mail, but I go to get her. It's her get-out-of-jail free card, and she knows it. We go into the bathroom where, likely as not, she does manage to pee a teeeeeeeny bit. Sometimes she poops a little more, too. Again with the Pull-up and the hand-washing and the tucking in.

Fifteen or twenty minutes later, she's back at the door. "Mooooom, I did go poop in my diaper." At this point, I might be involved with some raw chicken, or on a phone call, or in bed with the book club book I have very little chance of finishing before next Tuesday. I go in. I change the poopy diaper. And AGAIN with the hand-washing and the tucking in.

I don't know what my point is here, except that yesterday I posted about the song Jemma is currently singing to me, so today I thought I'd post about the one I should be singing about her.

Jemma's Song

Jemma has started singing a little song she made up. She mostly sings it after I get her out of the tub at night and have her all bundled up in a towel. It goes:

"I love you, Moooooom/for everything that you giiiiiiiive me . . ."

And that is all. And it kills me every time.

Farewell, Christmas Vacation

This morning, the dream Annie has been speaking of for over a week came true: she got to go to school. Seriously, she's been counting down since last Sunday night, when she moped around dramatically, sighing, "I wish I had SCHOOL tomorrow." Today, she was dressed and ready to go with time to spare, watching out the window for the carpool and gleefully anticipating the dream coming true.

It's good, I guess, to be back on a schedule again. Jemma and I did a puzzle, played Memory, and made smoothies. I put laundry away, made some phone calls, and showered in peace. Truthfully, though, the two weeks didn't drag on like I thought they might. Photo-style, here are some shots of my favorite memories.

So Far, So Good

The new year is off to a solidly good start. We spent New Year's Eve with a small group of college friends, most of whom we've spent the holiday with for the past ten years. There were martinis, there was cheese, there was terrible techno music, there was The 80's Game, there was toasting at midnight. My parents were troopers, wide-awake when we rolled in well after 1:00 a.m., my mom merrily knitting away and my dad happily watching sports round-ups.

While it was fun to stay out late, it was significantly less fun when Annie woke up at 5:15 a.m. the next morning. Happy New Year!!!!! Jason gave me a few hours "off" for the day, and I spent it at a great yoga class. Afterwards, I did some virtuous grocery-shopping, full of good intentions to make more fresh, healthy food in the new year. I even bought cucumber and lemon so I could try to re-create the delicious water we had at the spa in Hawaii. Then, I walked in the door to a house that smelled like Burger King, thanks to Jason's enthusiasm for our new mandoline and a potato chips test-kitchen moment. Zen moment, ruined. (But I do have that pitcher of water in the fridge . . .)

We bundled up late afternoon and took a walk around the block, then headed across the street for some ice-skating on our neighbor's rink. Jemma was adorable, skittering around with a hockey stick and puck; Annie's hockey skates from last year still fit, and she is sort-of kind-of able to skate!

We spent today at the gym, running errands, doing laundry, writing thank-you's, making mix-in muffins (our mix-ins were dried cherries, chocolate chips, and crystallized ginger), and watching a movie with the girls. We made edamame and Vietnamese bun for dinner and since Jason was going to run out a grab a few sushi rolls to round out our meal, I made candy sushi with the girls. How cute is it? I know! I totally want to think up a party to throw, just so I can get five or ten kids around a table, making this.