It continues to be so hot that I want to give up on life. I would say that I want to go lay in a ditch, but it's too hot for ditch time. Thankfully, we have air conditioning, and I have no qualms about running it whenever we're home. And the patio cover helps the house stay cooler than it did last year. Mostly, I wish Adam would start walking reliably, so I don't have him stuck to me at all times.
Today we had music class, and our little buddy the Juddy has started walking in the last week. So while the girls skipped around the room and did their own thing, the boys took some steps together, Judd very confidently, Adam with a lot of staggering. They had their first moment of standing and trying to hug each other, which was cute (the girls hugged a bunch, as always.) I can't believe how quickly they're growing! And our group of friends will have two more little baby boys before the summer is over - last week we went over to meet new baby Jameson and show his mom how to tie him up in the Moby wrap. It made me miss having tiny baby wearing hippie time with Adam (though again, he can start doing all his walking whenever he wants. I get so sweaty that I pit stain my ergo. GROSS.)
I took this today, hoping Adam would do some good walking, but as you can see, he just did some good cat torturing.
We spent the latter part of the afternoon in the water park in my back yard - wading pool AND water table, and all of the toys. I even put on my suit to go and sit with them, because I couldn't take it any more. Ellie spent most of her time making tea, and Adam chewed on things. And then I gave them a bath, made them some sandwiches and tossed them in the stroller for a late evening run. We saw a bunny, we got home before dark and everyone went to bed at a decent hour, right before Tim arrived home from a late night. Not much more that you can ask for!
Here you can see him on Mother's Day, giving some love to Bitty Baby, who he snuggles any time he can get his hands on her. He is such a funny, sweet little boy. He picks up baby dolls and snuggles them up and pats them on the back. He'll do the same thing with his lambies. He's going to be a fine daddy someday. Meanwhile, if Ellie catches him with Bitty, she rips the doll from his hands. She is a prime big sister.
On Saturday night was Julia's confirmation. Tim went to the church for the ceremony, but I stayed back with the kids because they were napping when he left, and because I figured they'd be more trouble than they were worth (and I was right - the ceremony was almost two hours, with over 100 confirmants. It was for the best that we skipped.) We had a really nice time at the family dinner afterwards, and the kids were mostly good. When they started hitting the wall, I looked at my watch and realized it was a good half hour past their normal bed time. OOPS. Anyhow - in between her waking up and us leaving for dinner, I had her come in the kitchen with me to do a little baking. I know, so surprised. She's standing on her stool in a tee shirt, undies, and her bunny slippers. When we finished I asked "do you want to go get dressed?" and she looked at me like I was a moron and said "Mommy, I AM dressed." True, I guess a shirt is a piece of clothing.
I don't know if I shared this funny before - so while we were in Wisconsin, we had a lot of discussions about how Grandpa Howie was in heaven, but he was also in our heart. One night Tim was putting her down and they were having the "he's in your heart" talk, and she goes "but he's so big to fit in there!" And then the next morning she was sitting on her stool, having breakfast with Grandma Rosie, and she announced that Grandpa Howie was in her heart. Grandma Rosie agreed, and put her own hand over her heart, in the center of her chest. Ellie looked at her and goes "no, my heart is over here," and put it slightly to the right (where you heart actually is, anatomically.) She is all about the details! My other favorite Ellie moment was during the first hymn at the church, where she looks at me and goes "is this a dancing party?"
Speaking of dancing parties: here you go!
And here is Adam's recent musical contribution:
And fnally, let's take a poll: do we think A Howe needs his hair trimmed?
It has been a good one! Adam got up at 6:30 (which is a half hour later than when he's been getting up normally, sadly) and even though usually he is my problem in the mornings, this morning I gave him back to Tim and got back in bed until almost 8. Then Ellie and Adam went and got bagels, and Ellie helped me get dinner and dessert prepped. She is my most helpful girl. Then I went to the gym and had some mom time, sweating to my oldies.
Then it was time for brunch with Gigi (and Grizz, when he got back from golf.) Ellie was so excited to open presents with Gigi (though I think she'd already told Gigi about all of her gifts. Again, she's the most helpful girl) and she did an excellent performance of her favorite numbers from Frozen. We were all laughing hysterically at her dramatic renditions. I also think Gigi and Grizz were impressed with Tim and my duet of "Love is an Open Door" (sometimes Ellie sings it with Tim, and sometimes she gets salty about it because she's ELSA, not ANNA.) And you know, there's nothing more impressive that Ellie singing "Let it Go."
Then while the kids napped, Gigi and I went to South Coast Plaza and perused consumer goods for sale. Even though we went into many a fancy store, the only things were purchased were sale goods at the Gap (hey, I can't argue with my favorite jeans on sale for twenty bucks!) I feel like I haven't had a day out with my mom, just she and I, in a very long time, and it was really, really nice. If only we'd had more room or time to go and booze it up a little.
Thankfully, when I got home Mimi and Pa had just arrived... WITH CHAMPAGNE! They know how to treat a young mom right. The kids woke up from their naps and there were a few more performances from Frozen, and then we had dinner and played outside - Ellie got everyone into a good game of soccer, and then used one of her golf clubs as a baseball bat and Tim pitched to her.. just your basic delightful craziness. It was a really nice day with all of our family.
Our little Baby Boo is starting to talk more here and there. He's been saying something approximating "kitty" for awhile now, but lately he has taken to calling me mommy. Or, to be more accurate, "mah-MEE! mah-MEE!" It is pretty much the cutest thing ever. I can't wait until he can actually chat with us. Unless he talks as much as Ellie does. Then I will probably need ear plugs.
Those two. They crack me up. They are so good together, so funny. Adam is starting to really give it back to her. The other day we were in the car and she kept asking if she could have his lamby. First, he responded by reaching his hand over to her, and she'd say "ADAM! I don't want to hold your HAND! Can I see your lamby?" He kept offering his hand... and then offered her lamby and pulled it back before she could grab it. The student has become the master!
Big day today! Back to swim lessons at the YMCA! Ellie was so excited that she fought her nap about it (so, so helpful, that kid.) But she got up okay, put on her suit and robe, had a snack and we were on our way... arriving more than twenty minutes early. Yipes.
Thankfully, it gave Ellie a chance to get the lay of the land and see how things were going. It's basically a swim lesson conveyor belt, with a different group of kids every thirty minutes. Each instructor has 3-4 kids in their class, and they work with each kid individually on their big arms, their kicking and bubble blowing. Ellie got to use a kick board and practiced all of her kicking and paddling, and did a good job! No crying, not even when I had to go up to the office to ask a question. The biggest thing was keeping Adam entertained - thankfully I'd brought lots of snacks.
We're signed up to go twice a month through the end of June and then we'll reevaluate. I'd be willing to put her in private lessons if I thought she could be swimming independently by the end of the summer. Mostly, I'm just glad that I didn't have to pull her out of the pool, screaming and sobbing. She may be a ballet school drop out, but she's still my swimmy fish.
This is what pool time looks like in our yard lately. Last week when it was so hot this is how we spent our post-nap hours. Thank goodness for the back yard being in better shape.
(bathroom talk ahead, skip to the bottom for videos if you'd rather.)
So, we are your basic hippies when it comes to nudity and freedom. I mean, everyone wears clothes around the house, but both of us will still shower with the kids when we have to, and they see us changing in the mornings. And, as little kids do, they can't let us go to the bathroom without coming in to keep us company. We figured when it started getting weird, we'd stop. But Ellie seems completely immune to any differences between boys and girls in the diaper area, so we'd just stuck to the general "everyone has privates, and they're private" discussion.
Until a few weeks ago when Ellie told me "mommy, when I'm 53, I'm going to pee standing up like daddy." I figured it was time to jump into a larger discussion, and told her that no, she couldn't pee like daddy, because daddy is a boy and he has a penis, and she is a girl so she has a vagina. She took it pretty well, and just sort of left it at that. Facts are facts. And then later in the week we were on a run when I hear her yelling in the stroller "ADAM! I'M GOING TO TICKLE YOUR PENIS!" Cue a screeching halt and a quick discussion about how no, we do not tickle there, because that's Adam's privates and they're private. Still, she likes to point out as loudly as possible any time he gets near himself. Bathtime? "ADAM'S TOUCHING HIS PENIS!" Diaper changes? "ADAM, DON'T TOUCH YOUR PENIS!" It is her new favorite word. So glad we had this discussion. As a bonus, the other day when I told her to leave her own privates alone, or go into her room, she said "I want to touch my privates with other people!" It's hard to teach kids to have some dang manners. It's also hard to keep a straight face through all of this lesson teaching.
But moving on. It's been a million degrees here this week with the Santa Anas, so yesterday Ellie and I went in the pool to cool off. The pool was not exactly warm, and we only lasted about fifteen minutes, but they were fifteen pretty good minutes. Check out this fearless girl!
She starts swimming lessons again on Monday. Twice a week for the next two months, without having a parent or grandparent in the pool with her. I anticipate tears, but she has already told all of us that this summer, she's going to learn to swim without floaties.
Adam put his legs into the spa and splashed a little, and then pooped, so he got a bath as well, then spend the rest of the night drooling and spilling food all over himself. Good thing we couldn't be bothered to put clothes back on him.
He is such a funny little muffin. He can now push himself up to standing by himself, without holding on to anything, and he'll take a step here and there, but if you ask him to walk to you, he immediately gets down and crawls, no matter how close you are. I can't wait until he just takes off running - probably not too long now!
Tim and Meg met in 2003 at UCLA, only three weeks before Meg graduated, and only three months before she moved to Canada for graduate school. They dated long distance for a year, got engaged in 2004 and married in 2005. Tim makes video games as an actual job. After five years in LA, in a 500 square foot apartment, we moved back behind the Orange Curtain and bought our first house in October 2009. We followed up that fun by having our first daughter, Elizabeth Rosemarie in October 2010.
Tim is 6'6" and Meg is 5'3". Yes, we know we look mismatched in pictures. Yes, Meg tries to stand on things to be taller whenever she can.
