Our car ride was getting really loud...

All the way home from Nana's house, Sophie just kept yelling...not words really. Some singing, some shouting silly nonsense...just yelling.

Maya was getting fed up.

She asked nicely. She yelled louder. She shouted angrily.

Then.

She had a better idea.

"Here Sophie, put this [small piece of paper] over your mouth....then you won't be so loud."

The giggling Sophie complied, saying "okay" and using both hands to hold the paper against her mouth. Then, she just yelled some more...though the sound was a bit muffled.

"...they brushed their teeth and went to bed..."

...and when Maya woke up the next morning, she came downstairs eager to tell me that she had made her trundle bed all by herself! I was delighted to discover this lovely sight when I checked later in the day. We've had three days in a row of this routine (completely initiated by Maya herself!).

Farmer Boy

(in the car yesterday)

Maya: Momma, can we keep "Farmer Boy"?
Me: Yes, Maya. I bought it...at the used book sale at school. I bought it for you...so we can keep it.
Maya: YOU BOUGHT IT?!?!?! OH! I am so excited. We can keep it! Then... when my children are big, I can read it to them! They will love it too. ...I told Go-Go she could be one of my children, because she wanted to. Then I'll have big sister Angela and baby Angela and Go-Go..and I'll read it to them. When they're big. And I'll pray for them. I've been praying for them...the children that God will give me....
Me: (brimming with pride and happiness at her cuteness and sweetness and thoughtful plans for her future children) I think you'll be a really good mom someday, Maya.
Maya: I think Sophie will be too. She'll be so funny! She'll make her baby laugh all the time. She's so funny. She'll be a good Momma someday.

maya's braids

Poor sophie...

went to Dr. Tom's today to tell him, "I have cough..ten. you. help. me?"

Her cough has just been so persistent for at least a month, getting only slightly better for a few days, and always returning. She's had a few prescriptions for her cough. They've helped a little.
We've been thinking allergies might be to blame.

Last night at my choir concert she was really warm too. So Ryan took her in today, while I went to direct my elementary students' musical.

The diagnoses: Allergies + Asthma + Ear Infection

Poor little sweetie. And she's been so good despite all her pain and struggle to breathe.

Her first nebulizer treatment went well (thanks to Blue's Clues)...but everyone who told us that the albuterol might induce hyper activity was right. The feverish lethargic little baby I'd been cuddling on the couch suddenly became quite chatty, rattling off stories until 9:30...recalling as many details from the day as possible and using strange new language like "Yeah! Cool Daddy!"

She started to calm down a bit as I scooped her up to carry her to her bed. Then she grinned at me mischievously and said, "Ho Ho Ho Merry Christmas. I Santa. You laugh. okay? Ho Ho Ho. You laugh now, Mama. I Santa Claus."

"What's Isaac and Will's daddy's name?"

Maya: (urgently entering Sophie's room wearing pajamas, a pink tutu, fairy wings, sunglasses, and a santa hat) MOMMA! What is Isaac and Will's daddy's name?
Me: (changing Sophie into her pajamas) Uncle Daniel
Maya: yeah..Uncle Daniel. Okay let's pretend that you're teaching Uncle Daniel how to walk, okay? And I'll be the big sister. And this bucket has candy in it...and pretend that he tries to eat all my candy. Okay? Sophie? You be Uncle Daniel. And I'll be the big sister. Come try to take this bucket.
(Sophie stays on the floor. It's okay. Maya changes the script.)
Maya: Wow! It's really hot this Halloween! I can't believe how hot it is!! (peeling off wings and several layers of clothing).....Um...What's Isaac and Will's daddy's name??...

sweet surprises

Yesterday, the girls went with their Nana and Papa to a greenhouse to get some flowers for me. When they returned, Maya kept saying (with a sneaky grin), "There's NOTHIN' for you! I'm NOT gonna say ANYTHING!" And Sophie told me several times, "I got peasant fo' you. It's a suppise!"
They each chose a different potted plant for me. Maya chose a few little white flowers, for herself, she said. Though this morning, she decided to give those to me too.

Today, Ryan made Yorkshire Pudding for breakfast, then took the girls shopping for me.
We feasted at my parents house, celebrating Mothers, Grandmothers, and Maya, Emma, and my Dad's birthdays.
Ryan took his mom out for a shopping date while Maya and I began to clean out my old dollhouse (just retrieved from my parents 'attic'.)

Ryan tried hard to keep the girls quiet this morning so I could sleep in a little, but they were having a rough time and just wanted their Momma. I felt so lucky to run up the steps to hold two snuggly, warm, sleepy girls who immediately wrapped their arms around me and buried their heads in my shoulders.

The mystery friend from Cubbies and Sunday School

Maya:"I'm going to marry Mikey."
Me: "Do you ever talk to Mikey?"
Maya: "No, but he's my best friend....I told Adeline about Mikey....so...she knows about him."
Me: "What do you like about Mikey? Do you just like his name?"
Maya:"I like his name. And I like what he does."
Me: "Oh. What does he do?"
Maya: (smiling shyly)"um....he pretends that he's DEAD! (strange giggle)...and he plays with the other boys. He plays rough. (thoughtful pause) But I'll teach him how to be gentle."

"Do all things...

...without complaining or arguing."

I taught Maya these words of wisdom from Philippians this week. I'm not sure if it is because she has been putting them in her 'heart'...or if I have been really trying to be a better example of this (incredibly difficult) teaching.... (Unfortunately, both complaining and arguing are some of my strongest skills.)

...but for whatever reason, we've had a beautiful day today...smooth, fun, delightfully calm, and full of surprising sisterly acts of kindness.

Thank you Paul.

my birthday girl

She's four and so grown up. All day I've been telling her stories about the day that she was born. "And were you so happy? Was I really cute?" she asks. She's looking over my shoulder right now, looking at the pictures I've posted..."is that when I was three?"

She's been very excited about her birthday, but a little bit nervous about being four. For weeks she's been asking questions about "when I'm four".....fishing for details, "but I'll still be me right? I'll still be a little girl? Like....just like this, right? Can I still wear the same clothes and stuff?"

We've been celebrating all weekend...visiting the Fredrick Meijer Gardens' Butterfly Exhibit, the John Ball Park Zoo, hot dogs from G & L, a visit to the beach, and lots of time with friends and cousins, Aunts and Uncles, Grandmas and Grandpas (thanks for the fun birthday party, Isaac and Will!)

Maya is becoming a prolific artist, drawing pictures of people (usually me), designing playgrounds, and working on her letters. There are layers of drawings on our fridge these days. Most of all, she loves to pretend. All day long, she's speaking in several different voices (my favorite is her semi-British accent), narrating some sort of tragedy to and with her imaginary characters. Her favorites are Laura and Mary (Ingalls), and Mikey (a mysterious friend from church that she seems to be fascinated with, but has never spoken to). Several times a day, she says "can we play baby Mikey? Pretend I was just born. Say: look it's a baby....we haven't named him yet...let's call him Mikey." She's asked if maybe Mikey could come over to play or spend the night. But whenever I ask about him, she insists that they've never spoken. She just knows his name because "the teacher says it all the time."

We just finished reading Little House on the Prairie a couple of nights ago (back when she was three), and tonight we start book 3, Farmer Boy. So it's time to go put my big four year old to bed.

On our way home from church Friday night...

Sophia: "I got it. I got boo-gah!.....You like boogahs Daddy?"

Ryan: (driving) "um..not really Sophie. No thanks."

Sophia: "Oh. I eat it."

Ryan: No!!! Sophie...don't eat it. We don't eat boogers."

Sophia: (smiling) "I want nudderone bugah."

Sophia Marie Elise

She's turning two tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to my sweet, funny, talkative, spunky, determined, curious, climbing, energetic, delightful, thoughtful, loving Sophie.

I used to spend so much time...

...just thinking about the marvels of motherhood. Breathing in that smell of baby shampoo... and photographing every new expression on my baby's face. I tried to write down or record every sound Maya made...and I think I wrote down every new thought that I had about my life as a Mother. And back then...I had time to blog about these things several times a week.

I'll never live up to that 'first child' precedent. Motherhood doesn't involve quite so much sitting and cuddling on the couch as it did for a while. It's really more like chasing and catching and picking up and playing and correcting and pretending and encouraging and running and wiping up gross things and laughing and sighing (or screaming?) in frustration and sweeping and listening... (and I only have two girls!) But never just sitting and thinking.

Now, I still revel in the surreal sounds of my girls talking and laughing (They are so ridiculous and fun together). And I still use baby shampoo on their hair. (I think I'll stretch that out as long as possible.) And I am every bit as mesmerized by the uniqueness of Sophia as I was with her big sister. They both surprise and delight me every day.

But far fewer of these delights make it onto this blog.

Still....I'm treasuring "all these things in my heart".... Unfortunately, you just don't get to see as many pictures or hear quite so many stories of all the funny conversations we have every day.

So...here are a few random bits I'll share from my overfilled brain files of "remember these things"....(I'd probably forget them if I didn't share them ....hoarding never works out well for me anyways.)

*************************




Sophie talks about "Gate Papa" all the time now. For about a week after we visited "Gate Nana Jean" and "Gate Papa" she would start taking about them almost every time we put our coat and shoes on. "I go dare now...see Gate PAPA!! Gate Papa's house now, Momma. Go dare." It is a pretty magical place.

Sophie is working on quitting her "baba" habit (pacifier). We really haven't worked at this very much at all...but it's definitely time. Ryan told her tonight that "Doctor Tom" said that she was getting too big to have her "baba" now. And she sadly said "okay." Her unexpected sweet compliance broke Ryan's heart a little.

Maya is sleeping with a warm rice sock to ease her freshly diagnosed ear infection. She loves the warm rice sock. But I miss it. I think we'll have to make another one. She seems to be on the mend. It's been a rough week and a half of coughing, difficult sleeping, lots of Kleenex, and 2 missed ballet classes.

Maya and I have just started reading real "chapter books" together at bed time. Tonight, she found a pretty pink satin ribbon to mark our spot in "Little House in the Big Woods."

Sophie's "day-day" has now matured into a crystal clear "thank-you"...it's pretty adorable and a little sad to lose those baby sounds. She puts several words together quite often. Pointing to something...then smiling and explaining what she's thinking about... "Dada gave dat a me." or "Go-go has dat too." or "Nana sings dat one" "Sissy, I need dat book!!!!!" "Maya Gace wait (wake) up now"

We made molasses cookies tonight. I've been thinking for months now about these soft gingery cookies that my Mom used to make. The girls helped me dip the little brown balls of dough into sugar before they arranged them on the cookie sheets. Baking all together is starting to be really fun. Though Sophie would love to just dump all the ingredients into the bowl herself. She started first by just shaking the baking soda into every measuring cup and bowl she could find...in about 3 seconds.

Last week, we had a "girls' night" sleepover at our house (while Ryan was in Montreal). Aunt Katie and cousin Chloe, Katie and Willow and Ginger, and Maya and Sophie and I had stromboli for dinner. Then, we wildly filled our house with violin playing, dress-up, quite sophisticated pretend plots, laughter, shushing children to keep other children asleep, reminiscing, and not much sleep. I think everyone left happily exhausted.

Cousin Chloe and Kelly were in Michigan for two whole wonderful weeks. They left today. Maya and Sophie were enamored with their beautiful baby cousin. They were overwhelmingly entertaining and nurturing too. We all loved watching Maya make her baby cousin laugh. She was very persistent in her efforts to amuse Chloe (whom she lovingly called "Little One") with silly voices and crazy faces, rhyming, and jumping...

Sophie has been talking about the "elligater" ever since Grandma Go-Go took her on an escalator and an elevator in one magical day. She also took them to a pool that day. Hard to beat. A few days later, at Calvary's Homecoming game, Sophie watched from afar as her beloved cousin Emma got onto the elevator with her friends...without Sophie. The injustice tortured her all night long...and for a few days afterward...she told everyone she met with sad, pleading eyes about the "elligator...Emma...up." I think we'll need to have an elevator adventure soon.

So far in 2010...

....we've been enjoying a schedule that is slightly slower than the exhausting pace of last fall. I'm not taking any classes this semester, so my 9 hour work week is a pleasant change for our whole family. Hopefully when summer arrives I'll be ready for that Lansing commute again.

We've spent more time with friends and family, visiting Grandparents and hearing stories. We've even had a few quiet weekends at home, staying warm, playing hide-and-go-seek, reading books, doing puzzles, dancing around the living room, pretending, sipping 'tea' out of toy cups, making cake and tabouli in the pretend kitchen, and Ryan and I watching This American Life episodes during Sunday afternoon "nap-time" and foreign films on netflix at night on our laptop.

When Sophie is awake, life is exciting and exhausting and constantly surprising. Tonight, Ryan found the memory card for our camera precariously balancing on the toilet seat. Sophie had been potty training one of Maya's dolls and needed to snap a few photos for the baby book. Her vocabulary is expanding rapidly due to her assertive personality which requires her to articulate all day long what she needs and wants to do.... "I need dat." "Hode me momma." "I need juice!!" " I need meewk." "No, I do dat...I do it! ME!" And her new favorite phrase to yell in public if she wants freedom to run, "LET ME GO!" Unfortunately, she knows it's funny to all the strangers within hearing distance, so she smiles, repeating it louder and louder.

We've been eating lots of tabouli and hummus (Sophie's favorite food) when we need to remember how summer felt...or tasted. But we're also enjoying the warm winter roasts and stews and chili our slow cooker has provided.

And since I'm thinking about food...Ryan and I have found a new addiction to a bowl of Korean soup called Jam Bong at the Egg Roll House. I think about it...and kim chi..all the time.

A little too frequently lately, Ryan and I split a bowl of this warm and spicy, seafood-filled broth with perfect noodles while Maya practices her chop-stick skills on rice and chicken and vegetables (and Sophie spreads rice all over the floor). I think we were actually there twice last week (it couldn't have been three times??).





In other news, Sophie is sleeping in her converted "Big Girl Bed" these days. She is pretty proud to climb in all by herself just like Maya. And, though she doesn't really use it, she's very serious about her new ownership of a pillow.

The Big Bad Wolf

Sophie has been running around all day blowing and shouting very earnestly with big scary eyes....

"I'll fluff!

and I'll puff!

and I'll fuff!

and I'll huff!

and I'll BLOOOOWWWW!!
a how' down!

you......PIG!

Hi!"

Typing my paper....I was looking for the right word..

and I said, Maya, what's a word that means, like, to cause something...to make something happen, to have an effect...??

I didn't expect an answer, though she offered "rapido." An interesting interpretation, I thought.

So when I decided on "influence," I asked her if she knew what it meant. I explained that it was like how what I do and think and say has an effect on her...that for example, my loving music, might influence her to love music. That "I have an influence on you", I said.

Maya: And I have an influence on you.

Me: Right, exactly! That's true. (wondering if she really understood or if it was just her tendency to have a quick and smart reply to everything...wherever could that trait come from??)

Maya: and we have an influence on other people too....all over the world.

???

The Eric Carle Museum

I think I've mentioned before how much we really like The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

So when Ryan discovered this place very near Kelly and Sean's home in Massachusetts, we were pretty excited. It was the day before Thanksgiving, so the place was pretty quiet. The exhibits were great, but we also loved the library, art room, giant caterpillar, and gift shop.

Sophie fell in love with the "pillar."

More about Massachusetts, Kelly, Sean, and baby Chloe to come later....

A First!

A regrettable first.

I missed a whole month of blogging about my children. I've never let my blogging habit slip quite so much.

Oh... the guilt I could pile upon myself. But I don't have the energy or the time.

So instead, here are some pictures from our October...

On our way to a very elegant wedding at the Hope College Dimnent Chapel

Our first annual visit to Lewis Farm with some good friends.

Boyne Mountain weekend with the Peoples in adjoining condos...quite decadent (in a chasing-four-small-kids-at-a-waterpark-but-we-can-still-stay-up-late-and-have-adult-conversations kind of way)... REALLY fun.

The cutest Halloween Penguin and Dalmation you've ever seen getting ready for their cold "hay ride" at the Kamps.

A leisurely Sunday breakfast...(I think this was officially November...but oh how I love when we 'fall back')

favorite new Sophie words

"all-lo?" (hello)
"app--peee" (happy)
"shoes"
"Eye-yah" (Maya)
"noh" (nose)
"Eyye"
"Mowww" (Mouth)
"Eee" (Ear)
"Baby"
"dainty" (Thank you)
"Bell-lay" (Ballet)
"play"
"Bah-lay, Bah-lay" (blanket)
"app-jew" (apple juice)
"milk"
"book"

She loves saying names of family members too. I won't list them all here. But she's got most of them down. Hardly any of them rank, though, with "Go-Go" or "Emma" both of which are repeated at LEAST 20 times a day.

We sing the Doxology at most meals. Sophie usually gets us started by singing the first "Praise..." and then she just listens with eager smiling eyes to Maya's loud voice belting out the rest. When we get to the end ("Amen")...Sophie confidently joins in.... shouting "Emma! EMMA! EMMA!" ....which of course reminds her of .... "Go-go...Go-go..."


Unfortunately though, even with her advancing vocabulary, "NO" is still a favorite word...often screamed in a rather demonic sort-of monster voice over and over again. She thinks it's hilarious... mostly because it drives her sister crazy...especially in the car. Maya tries hard to respond with kind words, "Sophie, don't talk that way....sweetie....talk nice" "Sophie....please stop saying that" "Sophie...say 'yes'...don't say that."

Eventually though...the unnerving sound gets to her... and Maya's face tightens, her teeth clench..."SOPHIE! STOP THAT!!....RRRRR"

then back to..."Sophie..here....do you want this toy?" "Sophie..hi...I love you."

"Momma, Sophie is pee-pee-ing!"

It's true.

The two girls were sitting on the potties together in our red bathroom, Maya on the big potty and Sophie on the small one. Sophie loves to sit on the potty like her big sister. She often tells me when she wants to use the 'pot-pot' or if she's busy with 'poo-poo'. Usually when I let her sit, she still has all her clothes on though...it just isn't usually worth all the trouble. But this time I let her try it, no diaper. I was just outside the door clearing the dishes from lunch...when Maya yelled...

"Momma! Sophie is pee-pee-ing!!!"

After lots of smiles, cheers, applause, we made a few phone calls.... Daddy. Two grandmas.

Sophie is pretty proud of herself. She knows this is big.