Homework

Maybe you're thinking, "wow, she's writing her name so well she got a stamp and a sticker."  

And that is true. the stamp came from her teacher. Claire put the sticker on it before she handed it in.

#raisingaconfidentgirl 

And just to make you day, here are some art gems.  

This is her picking apples. You'll note the magical golden apple hidden in the tree 

And this is a picture of her understanding of Christopher Columbus.  Queen Isabel plays a more dominant role in her version of the story.

A Summary (part 2)

Claire started school this fall, and since he has become the oldest kid at the house for a large part of the day, Noah has become such a little chatter box.  He is so charming and funny.  There is something magic about 3--the round squishy bodies and little people inside those bodies who say the most hilarious things.  3 is one of those ages that I would bottle up if I could. 

A few conversation gems

(Walking into the nurse's office at school with Claire) 

Noah: this is my little sister.  She pulls hair.  And poops in the tub

(Walking back down the stairs after running to the bathroom)

Noah: I'm fine. it wasn't any poop.  Just gasses.

He has two new catch phrases:

1) totally awesome--he uses this to describe anything from playing at the park to the new Team Hotwheels they just put on Netflix (which is so scary for him it makes him cry, and yet he still watches it every day)

2) I'm fine-- this is used anytime he doesn't want to do anything and has a huge amount of teenage whine with it. Luckily he hasn't yet mastered the eye roll

A Summary (part 1)

If you're wondering how things have changed since this time last year, basically, my house is way messier, I still don't sleep through the night, and I consume obscene amounts of caffeine.

Millie seems to want to skip right over being 1 and cement herself into the terrible 2s

 

Here she is climbing the spider web at the zoo.  She can't walk but she can still try to keep up with the big girls.

And speaking of not walking, do you know where she likes to practice?

The top of the table. 

We had to move the coffe table out of the living room. Now she's figures out how to get Onto the dining table.  

Yikes

I had planned a post about a birthday, a fall walk to the local cemetery, and some bits of life but............ Lice.

Gestation for lice is 3 weeks. We've been in school for 3 weeks and 2 days. 

Awesome

If you need me you can find me in the corner, rocking back and forth in the fetal position.

A Room of One's Own

Last week we moved Millie out of our bedroom.  She is the child to make it with us the longest (Claire moved out the month after she was born and Noah moved out at 6 months).  Millie's not a great sleeper and we worried that she would wake up the other kids if she was sharing with one of them. There certainly isn't any space in our little house for her to have her own room.  We also worried about her napping in a room where children were going to want to play. With Claire going to school, we realized that we would have an empty room during the day, and we decided that we didn't care if she woke Claire up in the middle of the night.

I have to say that I love not sharing a room.  LOVE. IT. For the last year my room has been a complete disaster.  The only time I have to do any cleaning is while Millie is sleeping, and she was sleeping in my room.  It wasn't until she moved out that I realized that I also wasn't taking any time to get ready.  Ever.  I shower while she is napping, so I always found myself sneaking into my room to grab clean clothes or grabbing whatever was clean from a pile on my way out the door after I put her down.

I love not sharing a room. I love actually being able to talk to my husband at night, I love reading in my reading chair before bed, and I love taking time to find things to wear that actually coordinate.

I certainly love this girl; and I love her even more when she and I don't share a room.

Can you even do that?

After a year away can you just post to your blog without a word? 

Yep.

Round Here

Two little things about life around here.

1) this little one thinks that it's cool to wake up at 5:30.

 It's not.

(She is also quite the Chinese food enthusiast)  

2) if you come to my house, the bathroom will smell like pee.  A small person who can only barely reach likes to pee standing up, and no wall is safe.