Exercising Their Independence in the Mornings

By and large, I have maintained the same wake-up routine with the girls since they were itty bitty.  They call for me when they wake up…I go into their room, give them lots of hugs and kisses…they use the bathroom…and we head downstairs to start the day.

It’s VERY rare for them to “sleep in”.  Since they got their “OK to Wake” clock when they were about three, they very rarely ask to get up “early”, but I can probably count on two hands how often they have slept past 6:30.

I just imagine B waking up at some point before 6:30, and waiting with baited breath for the green signal that it’s OK to call Mommy.  Sissy usually joins in the chorus, and our day begins.

Very occasionally, Baby A is still asleep.  A handful of times, B has recognized this and slipped downstairs by herself.  She has been SO proud!  Of course I know she enjoys her solo snuggles with Mommy.  And sometimes she gets double goodbye kisses from Daddy, to pass along to her sister when she wakes up.  But as much as anything, I think B loves the idea of “treating” her sis to some extra sleep…taking care of her in that way.

And then, when A does wake up, B loves to go upstairs with me and tell her good morning.

I love the glimpse of independence from B, particularly in a routine I’ve {purposefully} kept the same since the girls were born.

When the girls get up, we usually come downstairs and play for a bit before breakfast.  After breakfast, there’s usually more play time (on non-school days, that is), while Mommy tries to sneak in some coffee.  At some point in the morning, we’ll switch gears and head upstairs to get dressed and “officially” start our day. 

I usually make a suggestion about the type of outfit to wear, based on the weather and what we’re doing.  The girls are mostly agreeable…sometimes wanting to match…sometimes wanting to coordinate…and sometimes wanting to wear completely different things.  Unless we have something special to do, I have been letting them guide their dress, as long as it’s weather-appropriate.

Over the past couple of months, the girls have surprised me here and there by getting dressed completely by themselves.  One day last week, they came downstairs with a “Ta-Da!!!” to show me they’d chosen their Alabama jerseys for the day.  (It was a very proud moment for me!)

Of course, sometimes they come down in something a little more “creative”…

…and that’s OK, too.  I love seeing how proud the girls are at taking care of themselves…

...even if it’s a little bittersweet for this sentimental mama.

Super Stuff on a Monday

We had a truly fantastic week…full of continued birthday celebrations, concluding with the girls’ party on Saturday, and then a visit from Granddaddy and Emme.

In addition to all the fanfare, there were so many little things I don’t want to forget…

1)     Pulling into the parking lot of a strip center, in which there is a hamburger place (where we’ve never eaten), B said, “Mommy is that a “grease” restaurant?”  Thinking she was asking about the Greek restaurant, I told her no, that’s on the other side of town.  “No, Mommy…GREASE!  I smell GREASE!  And we don’t eat there!”  Amen, Sister!

2)     One night as I was making supper, Daddy was in the den, talking numbers with the girls.  They sat with him for a full thirty minutes as they talked through scenarios such as, “If Mommy has six cookies and she gives you both the same amount, how many cookies would you each have?”  I could not believe how much the girls understood!  Time to add more numbers to the curriculum, I guess!

3)     My girlies love their pillows.  One day after nap, Baby A told me, “It’s the sweetest pillow I ever saw in this baby world,” said in her scrappy little voice…it just melted my heart!

4)     Granddaddy and Emme gave the girls some games for their birthday, including a set of dominoes.  The girls have been playing with a set of wooden letter dominoes for a few months now, but these are the big, heavy number ones.  B has exclaimed at least ten times, “These are real, live dominoes!!!”

5)      Grandma June gave the girls a shopping cart for their birthday.  They have hardly played with anything else!  I’m not proud of the lack of manners this demand illustrates, but the first thing Baby A said when she woke up on Saturday morning way, “Get me out!  I want my cart!”  HA!  I love that she loves it (although that tone didn’t get her very far).  ;)

6)      The girls have been able to put their underwear and pants and socks on for a long time now, but they’ve balked at taking off and putting on their shirts.  This week I’ve really been encouraging them to put their own pajamas on, and they’ve done so well!  It’s been hysterical, though…especially as they are trying to take off their shirts, they work and work and work…and often end up turning around in circles as they try to maneuver their arms into the right places.  Fortunately, they think it’s pretty hysterical, too.

7)      Baby B has been able to “read” books for a very long time, and she enjoys showing off her memorization skills.  Baby A will occasionally do it, and I know she knows as much as her sister, but she doesn’t typically “compete” for that kind of attention.  She surprised me one evening during our bedtime routine.  About 1/3 of the way through a relatively new bedtime story, Baby A started “reading”…every single word on every page…through the end of the book.  She was SO excited at what she was doing, she could not sit still.  She would stand up and sit down and up and down again, over and over.  I was so proud of her, and so proud of B, too, for letting her do it. 

8)      I’ve been focusing for a while on a trick my mom used to like to try with me, reinforcing with the girls that you grow when you sleep.  Baby A is so proud of how well she’s been sleeping lately (hallelujah!!!), and she reports several times a day how tall she is.  She bends down to touch her toes and starts working upwards as she counts.  She usually gets to 11 or 12 before she reaches her head.  “Mommy, I slept so well!  I’m 11 feet tall!”

9)     One morning as they were playing, A told B, "Sissy, you go straight to Russia!" I couldn’t help but laugh, thinking, wow, she is really after some personal space!

10)   We were blessed with unseasonably warm weather this week, and we tried to take full advantage of it.  One afternoon I took the girls to get yogurt, something we hadn’t done in months.  And another afternoon we met Daddy after school at the park.  It was so very nice to be out and about!

11)   One morning as I was making breakfast, I suggested to the girls that they do a puzzle.  Within a minute or so, the silence in our house was downright eerie.  I peered around the counter to see the girls working on a puzzle together…without uttering even the slightest sound.  It may have been a bit eerie, but it was really pretty cool!

12)   One morning the girls spying Daddy shaving.  Baby A said, “It’s like you’re vacuuming your face, Daddy!”  I thought that was pretty astute! 

So thankful for the little things, even amid so many big things going on in our world!

More Big Kid Stuff...Making Life a Little Easier!

I’ve still got a few weeks before my babies turn four, but I think I’m ready to coin their Year of Three as "The Great Transition." 

We’ve bid farewell to baby gates and highchairs.  We’ve said hello to regular silverware and the girls putting on their own socks.  While their show of wills can be stronger and more challenging, in many ways, life is getting a little bit easier.

Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve noted yet two more big-kid transitions.  As I type them they seem small, but they’ve made a big dent in our daily routine.

Our girls never used sippy cups.  I tried and tried, but they just never took to them.  Instead, they transitioned straight from bottles to straw cups.  Eventually we moved from the limited flow straws to regular cups with lids and straws, and that was our life for a year and a half or so. 

This past spring, I started giving the girls water – just a tiny bit – in a regular cup with their afternoon snack.  They weren’t very proficient for a while…but at least the clean-up was easy.  Over the past six months, the girls have gotten much better with cups, but I rarely used them for anything but water, serving them milk at meals in cups with lids.

When the girls were sick last week, they weren’t drinking milk.  B preferred Pedialyte, while A was married to her water.  They were only drinking an ounce or two at a time, very slowly at that, and I started giving them everything in cups.  I didn’t really have a longer-term goal in mind, but rinsing out 27 cups a day was a lot easier than washing that many cups and lids and straws.

The girls did so well…and I just haven’t looked back!  My dishwasher joined me in a hearty SAYONARA to straws.  How sweet it is!!!

And…as if that weren’t momentous enough…the girls have started voluntarily holding their sleeves when they put on their jackets!

When they were infants, I remember learning to push their tiny little arms into the sleeves of their jackets.  I could work up quite the sweat doing that…such that I rarely wore a jacket myself when they were smaller.

Last fall, I introduced the girls to the concept of holding their shirtsleeves, but it wasn’t one they embraced.  I would wrap their little fingers around their sleeve, but it was a tossup as to whether they’d hang on to achieve the desired effect.  It was a hassle…such that it was often easier to wrestle their bunched-up sleeve down from their elbow once their jackets were on.

Something seems to have clicked this season, though.  At the mere mention of jackets, the girls grab their shirtsleeves and they’re ready to go.  Again, it’s a small thing, but it makes getting dressed a bit easier.  I might get to start wearing jackets again myself soon!

There are many things to love about this Year of Great Transition.  But don’t worry…I’m still calling my babies, BABIES, for a long, long time to come.

How I Bought Myself an Extra 15 Minutes a Week

Sure, 15 minutes a week doesn’t sound like much…an extra couple of minutes a day…but, coupled with a corresponding decrease in mental anguish…it’s like having an extra 20 minutes at least.

So what is this miracle time-saver?

Velcro-closure tennies, that’s what!

When we bought the girls’ first shoes when they were about 15 months old, we picked out the cutest tennis shoes with the cutest Velcro straps.

But, we discovered after walking approximately 50 feet outside the store (the girls in their stroller), our cutest Baby A had the ability to take off her new shoes with lightning speed.

We did a quick turnaround and exchanged the Velcro straps for iron-clad lace-ups.

And so I’ve spent the last two years laboriously tying and untying the girls’ shoes for each and every outing.

A couple of weeks ago, we made our biannual trip to purchase new shoes for the girlies.  Over the past year, the girls have become much better with keeping their shoes on…last summer, their Velcro-closure sandals, and this winter, their [imitation] Ugg boots that can slip off relatively easily.

The assortment of lace-up tennis shoes was practically nil, so I decided to chance it with Velcro.

We’re two weeks in, and so far, so good!

My “deal” with the girls is that they have to keep their shoes on in the car.  If they don’t, then they won’t be able to walk, and we’ll have to use the stroller.  That’s usually a big deterrent for them.

And I can’t say how freeing it is to get shoes on in a fraction of the time.  And yesterday, I realized the girls could probably put their own shoes on…viola!

I still had some straightening and tightening to do, but that’s nothing compared to the contortions sometimes involved in four shoes and four double-knots in our tiny mud room.

So, to the question, “When does it get easier?”  Well, in this respect, it’s when Velcro enters the picture.