Proof . . .

that all three of my girls can play independently at the same time. Alex caught them playing by themselves in the family room the other day while I was out and about. Why don't they do this for me?

Ants in her Pants

Believe it or not, that describes my youngest a couple of nights ago. I decided to let the girls play on the front porch and sidewalk while I sat in a beach chair relaxing. It was quite nice because Adeline was entertained by the steps, Savannah was playing with the neighbor kids that stopped by and Lila Grace was sitting behind my chair doing and undoing the buckle. Buckles are her favorite.

After about five "hands free" moments I wasn't surprised to hear Lila start to fuss. Our neighbor girl said that Miss Grace had ants on her feet. At this point she was crying and I was getting up to get a good look. Lila is the type of kid who cries if she gets marker or dirt on her hands. A couple ants would definitely set her off. After I brushed about 10 ants off her legs I couldn't figure out why she was getting more worked up. She was wearing a dress so I decided to strip her to make sure there weren't ants hiding anywhere. When I lifted her dress, I saw over a hundred ants swarming my little girl's body. Trying not to panic which would surely make everyone more upset, I calmly brushed them off of her body. They were in her diaper cover, all over her torso and working their way into her diaper. At this point, it was obvious they were biting her because they were biting me. After two or three minutes she was ant free and wanting her Bunny. Come to find out, Lila wasn't the only one being attacked. Bunny was covered which upset her even more.

Eventually, I got both Lila and Bunny ant free and snuggled them both. After a few minutes I took her up for a bath while my neighbor rounded up my other two so I could assess the damage. Poor Miss Grace! She had white welts covering her body. Thank goodness she is tough as nails or I would have been up with her well into the night.

To end on a brighter note, I am posting a picture of Lila's work. Believe it or not she can unload the dishwasher. If it wasn't her for her vertical challenge she would have put everything away. Instead, she handed me things that went up high and put the pots and silverware away herself. She is too short to see in the silverware drawer so I was pretty impressed that she got everything in. I guess I can finally let her touch the things in the dishwasher. Up until now, this has been a very big NO TOUCH!


Although it is blurry it is clear that Miss Grace is quite proud

Flying home

I realize my posts are long over due at this point but I am still struggling with settling into the juggling act of a single mom during the week.

Just wanted to mention that the girls were stars on the flights home. We had to yank them out of their warm beds at 3:30 a.m. which really sets you up for failure. This time around we had a layover and were going to be traveling during daylight hours. Not ideal in my book.

Once on the plane, Lila was strapped into a car seat as well as Savannah. Savannah managed to squeeze herself into Adeline's so that we could then switch Adeline to the seat and have Savannah as our "lap child." Much easier holding her than a squirmy toddler.

Adeline pulled her old trick again. She vomited multiple times and dropped her sats to the high 80's. She was pretty miserable until she finally fell asleep. I am assuming flying makes her motion sick. Once asleep she was fine but that took until the end of the first flight. Lila didn't sleep during the first flight but hung out like a champ and required very little attention.

At the end of the first flight we chose to be the last people off. While we were gathering up our many items the pilot took Savannah to the cockpit and let her pretend to fly the plane. He was so kind. He took time to talk to her about where she lived and was able to understand her very soft and quiet voice. He had her push all sorts of buttons. In addition, he had her type in her city in order to print its weather report. She was sent home with wings for her and her sisters and a hot and humid weather forecast for our arrival into Philly. What was most impressive was that the pilot then helped us carry our car seats off the plane. I wish there was some way I could recognize his kindness.

The second flight was pretty uneventful. Adeline had an empty stomach which prevented the puking episodes. She wasn't real sleepy and enjoyed saying "hi" to everyone reading their papers in first class. Lila fell asleep for a couple of hours and later woke up to watch Sesame Steet on my iPod. Savannah also napped in Adeline's car seat. We usually had two kids asleep and one awake. Not bad for a long day of traveling.

I must say our kids are amazing travelers. No crying, disruption or an overbearing family presence by us and our children when on a plane. I would have never dreamed of being so lucky.

She was a Star

Yes, she still takes Bunny in car and whatever other stuffed animal that she is enjoying for the day





Did I think she would be anything less? Not really but the start of anything can go either way with Savannah. Brandywine seems different for her. She has been there for the past two years and knows all of the staff members except, oddly enough, her head teacher. I guess that didn't matter because she said, "good morning" and hung her backpack up like a pro. I was proud and exceedingly happy to have her in preschool again -that is, not Kindergarten.

Oddly enough, I was a bit unsettled as I drove away. I didn't take her to orientation (Daddy did) which left me meeting the teacher for the first time on the first day of school. I didn't have the "warm fuzzies" and felt like I just left her there. I am sure Mrs. Moscorelli is a great teacher and is very kind and loving but I don't KNOW that. I stood in the aisle of Giant across the street from Savannah's school a bit worried. Was she okay? Did she need bit more assurance than she was receiving? Would they call if she cried? Oh goodness, is she crying? It is hard to not KNOW.

Of course, it all ended up being fine and we are three days into the year now. Savannah is as happy as ever to be going to school. I don't know what I am going to do when I drop her off on her first day of Kindergarten not knowing the staff, teacher or parents. How do people do this, I just don't know.


The face that greeted me at pick up

Last Year of Preschool

Tomorrow is Savannah's fist day of her last year of preschool. She is excited and has shown little sign of nerves. I am confident we made the right decision holding her back. No need to rush the little ones off to the real world. I want her to feel safe and protected as long as possible. I feel as though I only have one more year with her. Next year, she will spend more time at school than she does with me.

I can't believe how old she is and how mature she looks. Everyone thinks she is at least in Kindergarten. She likes to tell me that no matter how big and old she is, she will always fit in my lap and always have time for snuggles. I might have to quote her on that when she is a teenager.

Good Luck Sweetie Pie.

Transition Home

I have always been one to say that my girls can sleep anywhere, will travel just fine and adjust to just about any new environment. This has been true up until this trip. We have traveled through the night in the car, put them down in strange houses and transitioned them from crib to crib without any problem. Unfortunately, they seem to have lost this trait somewhere during their trek back home.

We have been home for four nights and they have only gone to bed once without crying. These are girls who love to sleep, especially Lila. Lila seems to be the culprit in this situation too. One night she cried for almost two hours. What is the deal? Shouldn't she be melting into her crib that she missed for 28 days? That is what I expected but that isn't what we are experiencing.

It would be different if we were trying to transition her to a new place. I would have much more sympathy. Right now I am just plain frustrated. Last night, Lila got Adeline going as well which, of course, caused Adeline to throw up her entire bottle all over herself and her crib.

We have never had problems with our girls going down. And no, it isn't selective memory that most parents use when describing their child's sleep habits. These girls are excellent sleepers and sleep more hours of the day than any other children I know. If I loose this or their easy transition to their beds, what will I do?

Here is hoping that we go down tonight without a fight.

Seattle

I don't quite know how to do a Seattle post. The pictures really tell the story. Savannah has been asking about the Space Needle for at least a year and finally has it checked off on her list. The girls were absolutely amazing. They were taken out of their beds at 7:00 a.m., driven across a mountain pass, and then drug through Seattle for seven hours. They didn't fuss, break down or nap. They really enjoyed the sights, especially the Space Needle, and sat back and relaxed when they were feeling tired. They actually let us eat dinner without being rushed. I was in awe of how well they did. It was nice to do something as family unit.

Here are many pictures telling the events of the day. We had such a good time that I really feel the need to post all of these. Sorry.

The famous home of the flying fish! Not ideal for two strollers but we made our way through and down to the water front.


Savannah is in love with carousels!


A ferris wheel right under the Space Needle was a must for Savannah and Daddy.

And I thought she was sleeping down there. Hah!


Finally, Savannah gets to travel to the top of the Space Needle


She really enjoyed it and it was delight to watch her experience something completely new to her - the height, crazy winds, telescopes etc.



Lila LOVED being up there. The girls decided to play a jumping game and Lila Grace jumped her way around the Needle. She caught many people's attention as she was just so darn cute.

Adeline loved it too but would check in with one of us from time to time as it was quite the sensory experience. We were surprised that she got down and walked but she did!


Can you say Marilyn Monroe! Yes, the winds are strong.







The famous Seattle fountain was a big hit with all the girls. Lila Grace headed right down to it. Surprisingly, Adeline walked (holding my hand) up from the bottom all the way to the top. It is very steep and long - the picture doesn't do it justice.


On the waterfront with Daddy. All three girls are smiling!


We met up with a friend (we hadn't seen Dan since he was in our wedding) for dinner. Again, the 4 year old photographer already working an SLR. You should see the looks of amazement people give her.