Sick. And Tired. But Mostly Just Sick.

My recent lack of blogging has not been due to the fact that my kids haven't supplied me with any blog-worthy material (they have), but is mainly because we, as a household, seem to be harboring at least three different viruses simultaneously.
I'll spare you the litany of symptoms we have going on over here, but if you live anywhere near us, I would advise staying away until this thing blows over.
In the meantime, here is a little teaser of stories to come...
*Claire singing "My God is so big and so is my mommy" instead of "My God is so big, so strong and so mighty".
*Arden sneaking up the stairs and going into Claire's room while she was napping. Drama!
*Arden learning to climb up the slide on our swingset.
*Claire's new-found love for all things "Hannah Montana"
All these and much, much more...Just as soon as these antibiotics kick in...

Power Trip

Last Thursday was Claire's turn to be the Line Leader at school. When I dropped her off and Mrs. V told her the good news, Claire turned to me and said, "Did you hear that? I'm the Line Leader!" And then she ran off to spread the good news to her subjects, I mean, classmates.
Knowing Claire as I do, I was a little worried that the power might go to her head. I mean, Line Leader is a big deal for the preschool set and Claire tends to take things to the, um, extreme.
I shouldn't have worried though. When I picked her up, Mrs. V said she'd had a great day and only reminded the class that she was the Line Leader 45 times.

Look out kids, there's a new Mussolini in town.

Christmas Trees? Already?

This morning, during our weekly Monday morning Wal-Mart outing, I found myself staring down the aisle at Christmas trees, wondering why in the world there are Christmas decorations out in September. Then I remembered it's not September, but is, in fact, the middle of October.

How could I forget that it's October, you ask? Maybe it's because Fall didn't bother to show up until late last week. Or maybe it's because our weeks have been so cram-packed of fun, busy activities that I've just lost track of time.

I've been meaning to blog about most of these events, but the thought of that is overwhelming. So, here! Have some pictures!

Mimi and Grandad came for a visit....

Claire has her weekly ballet/tap class...
Arden has become obsessed with Lucky Ducks. This is very unfortunate. Also, yes, Claire has a life jacket on.

We managed to get a little sister TV time in.
We went to the Pumpkin Patch with our friends Amber, Isaac and Jude.


We picked out our Halloween costumes (pirates, which is infinitely better than her first choice, which was Spiderman).
We got boots to go along with our Pirate costume. And wore them--with shorts-- to the family dinner.
We've been playing outside a lot, where Arden continues her love affair with the bucket of sidewalk chalk.

Claire had her last soccer game.

We're having so much fun that I wish I could slow down the clock. I'm not ready for Christmas trees yet. I need more time with my pumpkins and candy corn.

Perspective

When Claire was in the throes of the terrible two's, I had a very thoughtful friend say to me, "Just wait until she's three. Three is so much worse." Hearing that the worst was yet to come was not exactly what I needed to hear at the time, but now that I have a three and a half year old, I see what she meant. It's not that Claire's behavior is so much worse than it was a year ago, it's just that she's a year older, and, well, she should know better.
We've been having a bit of a tough time here lately, behavior-wise, and frankly, yesterday I was worn out from it. How many times can a grown-up be expected to say "I can't understand you when you're screaming at me. When you're ready to talk, I'm ready to listen."? At least twenty, apparently, because that's about how many times I said those very words yesterday.
We were on our way to soccer last night when Claire started asking questions about when she was a baby. Did I sleep in a baby crib? Yes, in the same one Arden sleeps in now. Was I so cute? Oh, you were soooo cute! Did I cry sometimes? Sometimes, but not too much.
Then she said, "I used to be a baby, but now I'm a big kid." I smiled and said, "Yes, you were a baby just like Arden but now you're a big girl."
She thought for a minute and then said, "First I was a baby then after five minutes I was a big kid."
I sat there for a minute and thought about how right she was. It does seem like just five minutes ago I was holding a swaddled bundle of precious baby and now I have a big girl who wants to do everything by herself. I started to get kind of emotional, marveling at how the time has flown and how wise my three year old is sometimes.
"Mom?" Claire said from the backseat.
"Yes, sweetie?" I asked, wondering what profound statement she would come up with this time.
"Arden has a poo-poo cup!" She said, bursting into giggles.
Looks like I don't have to worry about her growing up too fast, after all.

Completely Random Blog

Nothing in this post goes together, but I wanted to write down some of these memories before I forget them...

This weekend, Claire was really tired and asked (whined) for a cup of milk. I grabbed a sippy cup from the drawer, filled it with milk and handed it to her. She immediately began to cry. "I don't want this sippy cup!"
I told her she was being ridiculous, that I wasn't going to get another cup dirty, deal with it, etc... She kept on, her cries escalating.
Finally, I asked her why she didn't want that particular cup. Her answer? "Dora's head is gone!"
I took the cup, and upon examination, discovered that Dora was indeed headless. Too many uses and washes had rubbed her head right off.
I could see Claire's point, so she got a new cup of milk.

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OK, before I get into this story, let me warn you that it does contain some potentially offensive material. If you're grossed out by "potty talk" you might want to skip this one.

For some reason, Claire thinks it's really funny to say "poo poo" and "pee pee." She doesn't do it too often, but once she starts, it just gets funnier and funnier to her. She'll say things like "pee pee TV" or "poo poo highchair." You know, really sophisticated humor.
She started in with the "potty talk" the other day and kept on, even after I asked her to stop. I finally told her if I heard anymore potty talk from her, I was taking away her bike.
That got her attention, and we resumed playing Barbies. After a few minutes, Claire started giggling and said "Pee--"
I gave her my best "if-you're-about-to-do-what-I-think-you're-about-to-do-you-may-want-to-rethink-it" look and said "What was that?"
"Peas," she said. "Mmmmmm... Peas. They're my favorite!"
What can I say? The kid can think on her feet.

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When I was putting Claire down for her nap today, she asked what story I was going to read. I showed her the new Disney Princess book I had bought this morning, and a Dora book. She glanced at them and then asked, "Are they favulous?"

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Claire and Arden had their first argument the other day. Claire was reading books, minding her own business, when little sister swooped in and swiped one of her books. Claire, who usually just cries until I retrieve whatever Arden has stolen from her, sprang to action. She jerked her book away from Arden and yelled, "No, ma'am!"
Arden responded immediately by pointing at Claire and yelling back "No! Nononononono!"
Can't wait until they're teenagers fighting over clothes and boys...