Labor Day Labors

Eric had today off. We didn't have school. What to do with a whole day off? Work, of course.

-3 loads of laundry
-clean diapers folded, stuffed, put away
-beds stripped and remade with clean sheets (you know I love clean sheets)
-gutters cleaned out
-chimney cap installed
-dryer pulled out, cleaned behind, dryer vent cleaned out
-bookshelf and small table moved from girls' room to playroom
-toys, books, and movies looked through for donatable (is that a word?) items
-"new" dresser put in girls' room
-everywhere vacuumed
-bathroom scrubbed
-flashcards made for school
-4 lbs of ground turkey cooked for freezing
-minor rearranging done in laundry room & kitchen
-kitchen cleaned

There were several more things on my list that we didn't get around to, but I think we did pretty well!

After dinner we decided that our hard work and the Boogie's second lost tooth deserved a trip for ice cream. Eat more ice cream = more teeth fall out. Logical, right?

The adult teeth are already coming in!

It was clammy and rainy most of the day. We passed a local nursery that had pumpkins set out, and the ice cream place had pumpkin and apple pie flavored soft serve; Eric got a caramel apple sundae. There's no avoiding it, fall is definitely on its way.

She was full of it once the sugar kicked in

On Saturday we met with my friend Reenie for our annual birthday get-together. We finally got to meet her "adopted" family, people we've heard about for years. They were charming and gracious hosts, and their c. 1904 home was AMAZING. We had a wonderful time!

I *Heart* August

And now it's over. Although technically we still have three weeks of summer left, for me it ends when August does. The days are growing shorter; leaves on the trees are that darker, end-of-summer green, preparing to turn other colors; nights are cooler and some mornings are foggy.

*sigh* I just love summertime. I hate for it to end.

*sniff, sniff*

Okay, enough moaning! I have lots to look forward to. School is going to be fun this year; we'll go on lots of fun field trips; we have a big trip coming up, a joyful wedding to celebrate, and precious time to be spent with family and friends.

Looking forward to things makes me feel better.

We had our first week of school! It went really well.

First day of kindergarten

It took us about an hour each day, even doubling up on a few lessons so we could take yesterday off to go on a zoo field trip. Right now it's mostly easy peasy stuff that she already knows (though when I asked her what sound the letter "u" makes she said confidently, "yuh!") Peabody seems to be making the adjustment all right, as well; she did have one minor meltdown after asking me repeatedly for help with a puzzle and hearing me answer repeatedly, "Just a few more minutes." I try to include her when I can and that seems to work until she gets distracted by a toy. My mom used to say that every time she had a kindergartener she also had a 2-year-old climbing on the table, and that has literally been true for us this past week.

Our zoo pass expired today and while we plan on renewing it, I knew we wouldn't have opportunity to go again for a while. We went yesterday and it was the first trip I've made by myself with both girls that went completely smoothly. We got out the door when I'd hoped to; there was little to no traffic; we were able to park close; there were no crowds. I guess the first couple of weeks after school starts are the perfect time to go as classes probably aren't making field trips yet.

I don't usually take pictures of the animals, but this made me laugh. The sprinklers were on in the Galapagos tortoise exhibit and this guy had positioned himself in front of a sprinkler so that the spray hit him right in the chest. He knew what he liked on a warm sunny day.

One day last week Eric mentioned that there would be a blue moon this month. The Boogie overheard him and asked what it meant, and I thought he did a good job explaining it to 5-year-old understanding. Last night when we left church he said, "I think tonight might be the full moon." The Boogie got excited.
"Is it the blue moon?" she asked. She stood in the parking lot and searched the sky. "But where's the other one?"
"The other one?" we asked, confused.
"Yeah," she said, "Daddy told me there would be two full moons!"
Aha. Of course she thought there would be two moons in the sky at the same time.

Tonight after dinner I took Mama Dog for her walk, and the Boogie wanted to come along. As we walked we talked about this and that and the subject of plants and seeds came up. Somehow the Boogie's mind went from seeds to rocks.
"Well, Honey," she said, "if you have a rock but you think it's a seed, here's how you can know what it is: just give it a test-grow. If it doesn't grow, then you know it's a rock. But if it does grow, then you'll know it's a seed!" A test-grow. Ha!

The small one has been up to her usual shenanigans. Auntie Joy brought some stickers over for the Boogie on her first day of school, but you-know-who got hold of them ...

 ... and by the time we discovered it she had covered her shirt and both legs with them.

Tonight while the Boogie and I were walking the dog, Peabody took off a dirty diaper for the first time. Thankfully Eric "happened" to discover her right away (thank You, Lord!) before anything horrible resulted -- it looked like she was trying to get herself to the bathroom. One more sign that it's time to potty-train. I just can't bring myself to do it before our trip. Bleh.

And her love of the "p" word continues: yesterday the Boogie was doing her usual "Honey, how do you spell _____?" and "What do these letters spell?" Peabody chanted, "A-I-O-E-K -- poopy!"

She likes to wear my shoes.

I told her to go put Humpty on the Boogie's bed and this is what I found later.

When she's having a lot of emotion (as my friend Mrs. Cowboy says about her 2-year-old) she has to lay on my bed for a while to get a thumb-and-blanky fix. Sometimes there's a lot of stuff in the way so she has to improvise.

Every night now at dinnertime she asks to watch Abbott & Costello, "the amlane [airplane] one."

Such a funny kid!

Another Birthday

Didn't I JUST have one?

It was on Sunday this year, so Eric took Saturday off. We slept in (sort of) and went to brunch at our favorite local diner. Then we went to Ikea and wandered around people-watching and getting ideas. Peabody skipped several naps last week and by Saturday was pretty zonked out. She rode most of the way through the store like this.

 

Those pillows were just what I was hoping to find for our couch. It wasn't a banner day for people-watching. I did see a few cute things, resisted buying more coffee cups, we discovered the family parking lot right next to the building, and splurged on cinnamon buns. I think that's the first time we've ever gone to Ikea without eating hot dogs.

Sunday after church we went with MIL, FIL, MIL's dad & stepmom to Cracker Barrel. I've eaten a lot of birthday meals at Cracker Barrel -- it felt like old times! The Boogie found her "horse face on a stick" and was delighted. Both girls had some birthday money left over and I knew that Peabody would have to have her own toy. I was less than pleased when the store employee brought over a pink-and-white unicorn to show the Boogie. Lady, can't you see I have TWO little girls? If one has a pink-and-white unicorn, the other will want that too. But there weren't any other unicorns. Thankfully Peabody has been content with a brown horse, and they both share interchangeably anyway. The Boogie likes to use them both at the same time, as crutches. 

My parents sent me a couple of Abbott & Costello movie collections (well, Pops chose that gift, of course.) We are enjoying the silliness. Even the girls like them; the Boogie asks to watch "Habit and Carstello" at dinnertime and Peabody makes a reasonable attempt at pronouncing "Costello." She's surprised us with a pretty good impression of the trademark Costello "woo-woo-wooooo!"

We start school on Monday. I feel like I ought to be more excited! I think the Boogie doesn't realize that we are beginning so soon. She hasn't talked much about it. I am excited to see how quickly she learns with a dedicated curriculum, and I'm hopeful that we will easily adjust to a new schedule.

Peabody Video

Fun with Mama Dog.


I know that I comprehend her better than anyone else does (except for perhaps the Boogie), but still I am amazed every day at the sheer amount of words coming out of this child's mouth.


She sings all the time, just like her big sister!

The Boogie Loses A Tooth

It was very loose. Her daddy told her that he would pull it tonight. First they went to the garage to pick out a tool.

But all the tools were too big. So they resorted to that old tooth-pulling standard, dental floss.

She was very brave! I'm proud of her! The one next to it is starting to get loose, too. Just in time for wedding pictures!

P.S. I'm very thankful that Daddy is around to do these things. Loose teeth give me the major heebie-jeebies, man. *shudder*

Big, Big Scary

Peabody has started describing things as "big, big." Big, big bite. Big, big car. Big, big toy. She asks if her food is big, big hot. She's also suddenly "afraid" of things. Some things I think she is legitimately fearful of. Other times I think she's just trying to get a reaction. She will say, "teery 'piduh! Eeeek!" and shudder when she sees a plastic spider. So, it makes sense that when something "scared" her, she told me that it was "big, big teery [scary]." It reminds me of when the Boogie was about this age and everything was "bery, bery."

And would you look at that, according to that post, it's been 3 years of Mary Poppins infatuation around here. When I ask Peabody, "Would you like to watch something?" she looks thoughtful for a moment or two then says, "Ha bite [how about] ... hmmm ... Mamie Poppins." It's not a request. No. It's definitely a statement. One of the girls got the movie soundtrack for their birthday and we have listened to it approximately 4,829 times in the car already.

Over the last couple of weeks I have noticed an increase of use of a certain "potty" word in someone's vocabulary. I remember the Boogie finding the word "poopy" hilarious, but she was almost 3.5, so a bit older. She said it because she thought it was funny. I noticed that Peabody has been adding it to her conversation, like this:
Me: "Peabody, get your lally and put it in your crib."
P: "O wight [all right], Honey," then adding a very quiet "poopy" under her breath.
Eric: "I love you, Phebis!"
P: "I luh you, Daddy." Then whispers, "poopy."
Me: "What would you like to drink? Water, or juice, or milk?"
P: "Me a juice [I want juice]" then under her breath, "poopy."
She'll be talking to her sister, or about anything in general, and she just throws in the "p" word whenever and wherever. Sometimes it strikes her as funny and she'll laugh after she says it, but mostly it's just a word that she adds to a sentence or phrase or name. When the Boogie went through this phase we finally told her that she was only allowed to say it in the bathroom (thanks to a wise suggestion from a friend) which totally worked because then it wasn't any fun anymore. I don't want to discourage Peabody from saying it, though, because I rely on her to tell me when she needs to actually go potty! And -- to be totally honest -- I kinda think it's funny. This is so going to come back and bite me.

She told us yesterday that she wanted to go to "Kaco Bell." "What do you want from Taco Bell?" I asked.
"Ha bite ..." she considered thoughtfully, "bleeto [burrito] aaaaaand deep [dip]." She loves dip. She will eat almost anything if she can dip it into something. But usually she just eats the dip or sauce with her finger, then asks for more. "I like it," she declares, nodding her head.

This morning she and the Boogie were playing Guess Who? The Boogie had to leave the room for a minute and instructed her sister, "No peeking!"
"No pooking!" P shouted back.

A couple of weeks ago I took the girls swimming in a friend's pool. I thought the Boogie would be apprehensive and that Pheeboo would love the water. The Boogie was a little unsure at first. It was the first time she'd been in a pool bigger than a wading one in the backyard. We put an inner tube floaty thingy under her arms and that was it! She was like a fish, kicking herself all over the pool, even the deep end. She loved it. I think we're going to sign her up for swimming lessons this fall.

Peabody, on the other hand, was not so thrilled. We put arm floaties on her and I held her but she didn't like that. There was a little inflated sort of a boat floaty that had a bottom -- she fit perfectly in it and floated around, and we would push her back and forth between us. When we'd ask her what she was doing she would answer, "I 'wimmin'!" even though not even one part of her was in the water. Every now and then I would ask, "Do you want to get out?" and she would say "No," but I'd get her out anyway and hold her for a couple of minutes and then she'd say, "I no like it," so I'd put her back in. After a while someone else held her and then she was okay. Maybe after the Boogie takes swimming lessons I'll take Peabody for a few.

The Boogie has been crying at night again. When I go to her, her eyes are open but glazed over and when I ask her questions she mumbles incoherently. Sometimes she snaps out of it pretty quickly, and other times it takes a little longer. One night I was having some trouble waking her up so I finally put her on the couch and turned on the Olympics. After a minute or two she seemed alert. "Are you all right now?" I asked her. She smiled and nodded. "What was wrong? Why were you crying?" I asked. "When?" she replied, looking puzzled. She really had no idea it happened.

She's been trying to add the word "totally" into her vocabulary. We were looking for something and finally she shrugged her shoulders and said, "I intootally don't know where it is." 

She watched the 1973 movie Charlotte's Web and now I am reading the book to her. I thought it would be over her head but so far it seems to be holding her interest.

We have all of her schoolbooks! School begins in less than two weeks. I can't believe my baby is starting kindergarten already. I can't believe I'm going to attempt to teach her to read. Wait ... must be positive. I am going to teach this girl to read!

 

MIL went on a trip and brought back a toy for Mama Dog. She loves it and carries it around with her, and even sleeps with it. She refuses, however, to fetch it. Booger.

A friend gave me some tomato plants and I grew three whole tomatoes! They were tiny but tasty. I'll try again next year though so far I've killed almost everything I've tried to grow outside, except for some snapdragons which must be pretty hardy.

We have, of course, made several trips to our favorite ice cream place this summer.

 

The other day as I was getting the girls into the car to go shopping, eagle-eyed Boogie said, "Hey, is that a praying mantis on the playhouse?" Sure enough, that's what it was. That same day Eric and his coworkers found three of them at work! Weird.

 

The annual work picnic for Eric's work was last weekend. After what happened last year we made certain to be there plenty early. The Boogie played games and Eric took her on the paddle boats. Both girls jumped in the bouncy house. We ate lunch and had ice cream and called it a day! The only thing we didn't get around to was miniature golf. 

I'd definitely say that this has been a pretty good month, so far!

Boogie Candy

Every now and then Peabody asks for a piece of candy. I keep Tic Tacs handy, and we usually have a bag or box of something, so I'll give her one small piece. For a few weeks now she's been working on a leftover-from-Valentine's-Day box of conversation hearts. The other day she asked for one, and I gave her an extra heart to give to the Boogie. Usually the Boogie just eats hers, but this time she brought it to me and asked, "What does it say?" And it said BOOGIE!

"Don't eat it!" I commanded, running for the camera. What are the odds that there would even be a heart that said "Boogie" in that box, that the Boogie would get it instead of her sister, and that she would happen to ask what it said instead of eating it right away? I love love love this picture that I got of her.

Of course Peabody wanted in on the picture-taking-action, too.

Cute and silly girls.

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way Around The Block

Mama Dog gets walked several times a week (sometimes less if it's really really really hot.) Usually I take her early in the day, pushing the double stroller with both girls. Every now and then instead of walking in the morning, we will all go after dinner. So it happened that on Tuesday we went for an evening stroll, and as we were getting close to 52 we noticed that the next-door neighbors were moving out. We had to ask them to move something on the sidewalk so that we could push our stroller past, and the neighbor himself said, "Hey, you've got two babies! I've got this stroller," indicating a folded stroller on his porch, "and I don't need it anymore. It was for my grandbabies but they're with their mother now. You can have it if you want it." He pulled it out and unfolded it -- a double jogging stroller!

"Are you sure?" I asked, incredulous. "You could sell this, you know."

He shook his head, "Nah, nah, you can have it. It's just been in storage. It's a little dirty. But I don't want it."

So of COURSE we said yes! Some of the fabric is little mildewed and the frame has some rust and the tires need to be pumped up. Other than that it seems to be in decent shape. It even has cupholders and a little storage place at the top, as well as baskets under the seats. The Boogie is heavier than Peabody so I don't know if that will make a difference in how it handles, since the seats are side by side instead of in front of each other like our Graco double. I guess I'll attach Mama Dog's leash to the Boogie's side so she can help pull!

Vacation Bible School

Nope, not ours. Our church is taking a break this year from hosting VBS. Instead, the Boogie and her cousins attended one at another church this past week. I think they had a lot of fun. I also think it was good for the Boogie to be with a group of unfamiliar people -- though her cousins were with her in the same class, the teachers and a lot of the students were new faces.

And if I must be honest, it was good for this mama to let her go. While she is away from me often, she's always with family or close friends. It was a little stretch for me to leave her at another church with teachers I'd never met (though I do know some people from this particular church, which is associated with the school that cousins attend.) Baby steps, right?

I picked up several of the cousins one night and they were eating grapes out of plastic baggies. In the car I heard someone breathing in and out of a plastic bag and warned them to stop, explaining why it wasn't safe. A little later EK (who is six) noticed that the Boogie was holding her plastic bag near her mouth. "Stop doing that," EK told her, "you're breathing in the bad air that you just spit out of your mouth."

Peabody has stopped calling the newest cousin Baby O-nee and now calls him by his real name. This makes me very sad. I really loved that she called him Baby O-nee.

We were all set for this to be Eric's last week of welding class, but last Saturday's was canceled so he had an unexpected day off. That was very nice. I put him to work replacing our showerhead

because our old one was leaking where the hose met the actual showerhead. After he bought the new one and removed the old one he said, "We should keep this in case we ever need an emergency replacement." I looked at the old showerhead in his hand and said, "You mean we could have just replaced the leaky hose?" Then we both hit our foreheads with our palms.

Okay, not really on that last part. But we should have. Duh, of course we could have just replaced the leaky hose.

He went ahead and put in the new one because we would be replacing it anyway when we do the Great Bathroom Remodel. Might as well enjoy our new showerhead now since we won't be enjoying a new bathroom anytime soon. (Thanks a lot, Uncle Furry.)

(I'm just being sarcastic, Uncle Furry. I'm very excited about your wedding and coming to visit!)

Eric also helped me to rearrange the living room a little bit. I'm still a little unsure if I like it this way. Sometimes I love it. Other times not so much. I think it's growing on me, though.

We pulled the couch away from the window and angled it

then we moved the recliner to the other side of the room

then we moved the tv stand away from the piano, and put a plant stand where the recliner used to be

and put a small table in front of the window.

The room feels bigger, probably because we moved the recliner away from the kitchen doorway. We also moved my small rocker into our bedroom. I go back and forth with that, too. I've wanted to move it in there for a while. Now I think we need to rearrange a few things so it will fit better. I kind of miss having it in the living room, though. Maybe I'll move it back. Decisions, decisions.

Eric also adjusted some electronic placement, including setting up the Wii in the playroom so now the girls can watch Netflix on the tv in there (the tv has been in there for almost a year but wasn't even plugged in.) We're just trying it out for now to see if we like it. I think it might come in handy when the Boogie and I are doing school in the living room and Peabody needs to be entertained somewhere else, or vice versa.

It was kinda fun to rearrange a little bit. I've ALWAYS loved rearranging furniture (just ask my mom/dad/siblings.) I think I started rearranging my room on a regular basis as soon as I was strong enough to tug my bed across the floor by myself. Sometimes things seem blah, so shifted furniture can make a space feel newer.

Now I think it's time for a trip to Ikea for some bright couch cushions.

Coffee And Hoagies

I was reading over some old entries from when the Boogie was about the same age as Peabody now. I posted a lot more often then. It was fun to read over them. The reason I did was to see if the Boogie was as whiny as Peabody at this stage and while I didn't see anything about that, I was reminded of the Boogie's love/hate relationship with H-man. While Peabody can be possessive, I think having an older sibling around all the time has at least acclimated her to constant sharing.

Anyway, after I posted about Peabody's CWTS, a few days later I was brushing her teeth (usually Eric does it at night and I'll be honest, in the mornings I just hand the girls their toothbrushes and let them go to town) and realized that she was cutting TWO molars. Poor kid! No wonder she was whiny! I'd be whiny too. They are most of the way through now and she is much happier. Hopefully I'll be more understanding when she starts cutting the top two.

Yesterday the Boogie said to me, "Did you know that Wawa smells like coffee and hoagies? Mmmm that smells so nice!" An astute observation. Peabody gets excited when she sees this ad:

and exclaims, "Honey, look! Hoagiepet at da Wawa!"


That's her own version of the chorus in this older jingle:


Yes, we love Wawa's Hoagiefest.

All right, all right. We just love Wawa.