Nightmare

I dreamt last night that my iPhone didn't ring when my preceptors called me! They were ticked! (The iPhone not ringing is actually a pretty rational thing to dream about... the ticked off part is the funny part, since they'd really say, "Oh yeah, my iPhone does that too," whenever I noticed the voicemail or if they called back b/c it was urgent. We know our crazy iPhones...)

Money matters

Eliana: "Can we go out to dinner?"
Me: "I don't know, that's expensive... will you help pay for your dinner?"
Eliana: "I can take some money out of my piggy bank."
Me: "How much?"
Eliana: "A quarter, a dime, a nickel, and a penny."
Me: "Well how much is that?"
Eliana: "25+1 is 26, plus 10 is 36, plus 5 is 41. 41 cents."
Me: "Bummer, that won't buy you anything for dinner."
Eliana: "I can add a dollar too. A dollar and 41 cents, is that enough?"
Me: "Not really, it might get you a taco bell burrito, but that's about it."
Eliana: "Well, I can't give you any more money than that because I have to keep money in my piggy bank so I can save up for when I'm an adult. I have to save up so I can buy a house. So, I'm sorry Mommy, I can't help you buy any more dinner than a dollar and 41 cents or else I won't be able to move into my own house when I'm a grownup."

Let's maintain that attitude...

Donovan was climbing up into Kessa's bed yesterday morning, buck naked.

Kessa: "I don't like boys with penises in my bed!"

Good attitude to have, Kes, hang on to that for quite a while please. Also, what a precocious understanding of gender fluidity!

Donovan's 9 month stats

Length: 28" (50th %ile)
Weight: 18.5 lbs (20th %ile)
HC: 47cm (90th %ile)

Yeah, that sounds right. Big-headed string bean.

Kesisms

"Cenocerous"
"It's true that..."
"In fact,"

Uhhhh... catching up?

Impossible to catch up, it's been too long. Here's what's happening recently.

Eliana just finished kindergarten. She's reading at a 3rd grade level and doing addition w/ carrying, subtraction w/o borrowing, and multiplying 2's and 5's. She says things like "Mommy, please cuddle me several times." I've been reading one Roald Dahl book after another to her, and if I can't read to her for a night, sometimes she'll read those on her own. Mostly she is reading Magic Treehouse books to herself. She alternates between being emotional at the drop of a hat, and steadfastly reasonable. (I guess I do too, actually!) She continues to adore Donovan, and is taking it upon herself to teach Kes some academics over the summer break.

Kes is about to crack the code, which freaks me out since she is younger than when Elly did. She is starting to spell, and yesterday pointed to the word "of" and said, "Mommy, look, that word says off." (Um, yeah, it should. Dang.) She is enjoying cutting/pasting and doing the pre-K workbook. (Eliana reads her the directions or teaches her what to do.) 3.5 is her hardest age yet, just as it was Elly's hardest age. Maybe I just don't do well with 3.5. But, she's cuter than ever. Lots of love, as usual. And her drawings are so adorable - always her with someone she loves, doing something fun, or just hugging.

Donovan finally learned to sit up at 7.5 months. He is getting his 6th tooth. His personality is really coming out and it is just the same as always, but bigger. Sweet, inquisitive, smart, persistent. I say his rapper name is G Force b/c he just loves being upside down, swinging around, bouncing - any kind of tumbling. (His mobster name, given by GUncle Ross, is Donny Cheeks.) He is pottying super well. I love not changing poopy diapers! And he eats like a champ. My first kid that likes baby food! He loves plain yogurt and every type of jarred baby food I've given him. But his favorite food by far is goat cheese. He smells like it all the time. There goes the sweet baby smell!

Milk and Juice

Kes sometimes let me pretend to suck her thumb (I put my closed mouth on the closed-fist non-thumb end of her hand and move my chin). She prefers for me to have the right hand (which she never sucks), which she calls "milk", while she sucks her left thumb, but occasionally when she is feeling generous, I get to have "juice" and pretend to suck her thumb while she is sucking it. This started as a silly game when I once joked, "can I suck that thumb?" and has become a bit of a routine.

Tonight, as I was about to get up from her bedtime cuddle, something new...
Kes: "Wait, Mommy. Do you want some milk?"
Me: "Sure, thanks!" (pretends to suck on the closed fist)
Kes: "Oh, just a minute. I have to fill it up." (puts her hand on the right side of her chest) "Here, it's ready."
Me: "But can I have some juice?"
Kes: "Sure!" (puts her thumb in her mouth and moves her head toward me)
Me: "So where do you get the juice?"
Kes: "From my left nipple."

Jumping

During spring break, Eliana was in the backyard playing, when I heard, "Ow, I'm bleeding!" I went out there and asked her to come in, and she said a spider bit her. I didn't see any bleeding and just saw a small red mark right under her fingernail. I didn't think it looked much like a spider bite. But I went into the backyard with her and Kate said that Eliana had chased down and picked up a spider, and proceeded to show me the spider, who was now cowering in a bootbrush. It was a jumping spider, close to 3/4 of an inch long, and hairy! (Eliana: It's a baby tarantula!) Check these suckers out: http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/daring_jumping_spider.htm
And my child pursued this thing and picked it up. Holy moly.

Speaking of jumping, it is Donovan's favorite thing to do. He loves his jumperoo and gives anyone who holds him an upper body workout by bouncing and bouncing - I tire before he does. He can stand next to the couch, holding on with both hands. The boy does not sit independently yet, however. Wackadoo.

Eliana entertainment

Friday night we went to Shabbat services. Once a month they have a family dinner and family friendly services - basically the same as other services, but everyone should expect to have to tolerate the presence of many children and all the (insert adjective here) that can bring. Usually, at the end of services, a number of announcements are read off of a sheet that has been put together for the rabbi or lay leader. This week, the leader had no such sheet and therefore asked congregation members who had event reminders to simply announce them. After a few people spoke, Eliana raised her hand, and was given the floor. "I had something to share, but I forgot." The leader asked her if she needed help remembering. She said, "No, but if I find my thought, I'll just raise my hand and you can call on me." This amused the entire congregation.

Then Elly suddenly looked aware that she was the center of attention and less comfortable with it. Later I asked her how she felt when she spoke up. She said, "First, I felt curious and shy. Then, I felt shy and sad." I asked her why she felt sad and she said, "Because they thought it was funny, and I didn't mean to be funny." :(

Yesterday I made cookies for a friend's birthday. I screwed up the first batch but they were still good enough for the kids, just not good enough to gift. So I had them out on a plate on the counter. Today I saw Eliana skip from the kitchen to the living room, overly nonchalantly.
I followed her and opened my mouth.
She clamped both her hands over her mouth.
I went over and looked at her and there were brown crumbs on her lips.
Me: "What are you chewing?"
Eliana: "I'm sorry, Mama."
Me: "How many cookies did you eat?"
Eliana: (holds up 5 fingers)
I laughed out loud. I couldn't help it. I told her I'd have to think of what her consequence would be. She said, "Yes, Mama."

They're all cute.

Eliana blew up her new hop ball tonight. She couldn't stand to wait any longer for Daddy to get the pump, so she did it herself, with only her mouth. I have always said that her bullheaded personality will serve her well.

She also got a booster seat. She had almost outgrown the top harness slot in the Frontier anyway, and then I saw a news article about the infant SafeSeat flying off its base in the crash, so I moved Donovan to Kessa's convertible Decathlon, moved Kes to the Frontier, and got Eliana a booster, the Monterey by Sunshine Kids. It's impressive. Very similar to the Frontier but minus the harness. Anyway, she loves it. We've had it a week and a half now, and this morning she said, "Oh Mommy, I just love my grown-up seat belt." (Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou...) And I love it, because she actually gets in her seat quickly. No more carseat battles!

Meanwhile, Kessa has gone Canadian on us. "You got your paci, eh?" "We're going to the grocery store, eh?" "We're going to go to the park and ride our bikes, eh Mom?" (Scott mumbled something about Kes talking like a Canadian to me the other day, and yesterday Eliana said, "Mom, Canadians say 'eh' instead of 'hey' because they can't pronounce their H's.")

Donovan has discovered his feet and likes them, especially when they're naked and even more so when he is buck naked (maybe this is due to thoroughly enjoying nudity in general). He anticipates the upcoming actions when I say "kiss" "uuuuup!" and "I'm gonna get you!" He rarely cries but when he does it is heartbreaking. On the other hand, he tends to shriek like a pterydactyl when needing a paci or to nurse, which is less heartbreaking and more ear-piercing.