A Perfect Morning

The more I thought about it, the more I was convinced that this was a perfect morning. I dropped Savannah off at preschool and then strapped the babies in their jogger for a run - more like run/walk since I haven't done it in three months! They sat for 40 minutes without a peep. Once we got home, I let them play outside while I stretched out and talked to our new OT about scheduling. Again, not a peep. I looked at my watch and decided I needed to shower so I brought the girls inside and locked them behind the gate. Oh, I love the gate! I even turned on Elmo's World since it was just starting (I am working very hard on not feeling guilty about it) and took a nice long shower. Not a peep!

I am now in the office writing this post as the girls are laying on the couch/floor of the playroom. They are happy to relax for a few minutes before we pick Savannah up.

I don't know how I got so lucky but there is something magical about the gate during morning hours. We usually have therapy or I have errands to run but on mornings I don't, they just play without me. I need to remember this morning and commit to running and make my reward, time behind the gate! I just wish the gate worked during evening hours.

Do I Dare Say, "On the Charts!"

Not something I put a lot of stock into but being on the charts is better than being off of them. At age two, both girls made the leap and are tracking on the charts for both height and weight. Lila Grace is holding strong to 10th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height. The Belle is holding tightly to the 4th percentile for weight (I realize she could fall off very easily) and 5th percentile for height.

Adeline and Lila Grace are still the size of a 12-18 month old child and most often appear MUCH smaller than their peers. I am okay with it. Being small and thin has its advantages. I can snuggle them like babies much longer than the average child.

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.