Our Kids

Sometimes I take for granted how lucky I am. The girls love, love, love Landis. Not to say that we don’t have some sibling rivalry because we do but on the whole it is a love fest between those three.

Like many 4 and a half year olds the girls have started playing baby a lot more than they used to. One of the cool things is that they play with Landis and she plays the role of the baby. It is so funny, she lays down for them, takes a pacifier, they push her around in a stroller, put her down for naps, feed her fake food from the play kitchen and just have a great time. They of course are the mommies. Landis even has a fake baby cry that she uses when they play.

It is pretty hysterical and pretty cool.

Yep — not really the words you want to hear as a parent, but that’s what Piper said a couple of hours ago.

Piper and Lela were playing with Legos in their bedroom while Landis was hanging out with with Mystique and myself. All of a sudden Piper came out crying and said, “I have a block up my nose”.

It took a couple seconds for that statement to register with me… it’s not really what I was expecting. So I looked at her, said the obligatory, “what?”, and then peered up her right nostril and sure enough — a green block!

It was up there pretty far, all things considered. Luckily she pushed it up there where we could grab the bottom of it with tweezers… which Mystique did as I ran around the house looking for the good set of tweezers. Problem solved!

We put the legos away… not sure when we’ll bring those back but I suspect Piper won’t be putting blocks up her nose anymore. I hope.

Well today we set off on our adventures about 9:30AM. We went and registered for our new (and very exciting) Let’s Play Music program that starts on August 11th and then we headed to the library.

We have been doing the summer reading program so the girls were able to pick up their prizes. They each got a sticky monkey, a blow up smiley guy, a bouncy ball and a backpack. In addition we got to catch a great magic show that was going on at the library for the kids.

After all that excitement we picked out new library books and checked them out (the girls love that part). Then we made a run for the border and got bean burritos. I just put Landis down for a nap and I might grab a siesta myself:)

Well instead of us showing Jason what a great Dad he is on Father’s Day, he showed me what a great Dad he was. The girls and I did get up and get out of the bedroom so that he could have a bit of a sleep in but that is where our Father’s Day ended.

On Father’s Day Jason got up, got dressed and went to get doughnuts (no breakfast in bed for him). Then a little later he was found crawling on the floor of the play room entertaining the kids while I was resting (ha). Then around lunch time Jason took Piper and Lela out to the mall while I napped with Landis (no rest for the wicked). The rest of the afternoon/evening went about the same with Jason foraging for food for us all, entertaining us with his witty banter and impressions and just showering us all with love.

Some Dad, huh?

Yesterday the girls and I got in to some mischief around the house with boxes and sheets. First we built a fort on the dining room table complete with door flaps. Then we built some lemonade stands, a fruit stand and a fruit snack stand and the girls took turns maning the stands and selling their wares. Landis was quite distraught that she had to go and get money from the playroom before collecting her goods but she finally got the hang of it. Maybe all the excitement and heat of yesterday is what is dragging me down today:) Thankfully Noa (the 10 year old from next door) is here and entertaining my minions for the moment;)

Well gone are our luxurious days of June with cooler temps, the HOT is ON. The girls (Landis and I in parent toddler, and Piper in Shrimps) have been taking swimming lessons and it is a hot one. I swear by the time we get home we are all spent and it is only NOON! That means we have to while away the hours until daddy (aka Jason) gets home. Piper has been crying/whimpering most of the swim class and Landis just flat out doesn’t like it. Piper loves to swim but is uncomfortable with the class for some reason. We have been sticking it out but with the heat my resolve is waning.

Well ice skating wasn’t nearly as eventful as I had expected but in a good way. We got there and got our skates, Piper has wee little feet so she had to go up a few sizes but I don’t think it mattered. Both girls were able to get up on their skates on the soft rubber floor outside the rink.

After a 10 min wait or so we gathered with the other 5 and unders and met with the teacher who showed them the safety position, how to balance, how to get up on their skates and how to stomp on the ice. Lela was as interested in every other person/child/game in the room as the skating per usual, Piper was following along and paying attention as usual.

Then it was time to go on the ice. I had planned to go out there with them but when I found out I had to have skates on to go out I veto’d that idea;) So I went to the stands and the girls went out on the ice. At first they just held on to the sides of the rink but then they started to move.

Honestly I expected Lela to freak out but she did not. She started stomping on the ice and moving forward. She is kind of like me and when she doesn’t want to do something (like fall) she has amazing balance:) Piper was just going at it, falling, getting up, falling, being helped up, falling and on and on. They both made it across the rink (sideways) in about 30 min. But not before tragedy struck and Lela made her way over to “help” Piper and she knicked her with her toe pick on the arm (that was heavily covered in a thick sweatshirt and gloves). Piper cried and cried and made it known she did NOT like it.

I collected the girls a few minutes early after watching it all from behind the glass. Piper was crying and Lela was beaming. Lela told me how much she liked it but said she did not think Piper liked it. Piper quickly corrected her between wails and said she did like it but she didn’t like it when Lela kicked her in the arm:)

Today is another story, after proclaiming how much they liked it yesterday, today they don’t think they like it so much. HA! So it looks like for now it can just be a sometimes activity for mom and the girls to do.

The older girls + mom just left the house for ice skating lessons. This should be a very interesting post coming from Mystique about that, I’m sure! For some reason Lela got it in her head that she wants to learn how to ice skate. So, Mystique being the awesome (or crazy?) mom that she is — fired up an intro ice skating lesson. Piper, of course, is tagging along because it sounds cool.

Landis and I are at home hanging out waiting for their return. Actually, Landis is sleeping, so it’s really just me and Otto. I haven’t posted for a while, so I thought it’d be a good opportunity to do just that.

All of the girls are just growing and growing and growing. I still love watching them development. Landis is “reading” books now and doing the same thing that the girls used to do with their old picture books — point at something (by jamming her finger into the book), blurt out “dah!” and then she’ll nod her head if you say the word she’s pointing at. I’ve started quizzing her with the pictures and she’s getting around 80% correct.

At nighttime she’s the cutest thing… Mystique or I will tell her to go give kisses and she’ll immediately pucker up and run over to both Piper and Lela and get kisses. Then she’ll find the other parent, and as she walks back to our room she’ll turn around every now and then and give us cute wave and a “bye!” (which sounds more like, “bahhhh!”, but we know what she means).

Piper and Lela are growing into themselves every day. Piper has a pretty analytical mind, it seems… she’ll remember funny things from weeks ago and repeat them trying to get a laugh. Mystique already wrote about her use of the word, ‘cumbersome.’ That cracked me up. And she loves counting numbers and trying to read… really fun to watch her.

Lela, on the other hand, just cracks me up just like her mom does. She can be so genuinely silly sometimes, and the best part about it is that she’s cracking herself up at the same time, just by acting silly. Her face really lights up when she’s happy and having a good time. I wish I could capture that pure happiness somehow.

Confession time: I love the show Wipeout. It cracks me up. If you’re reading this in 20 years, look it up in the history books. It’s a silly show where normal people are run through a crazy obstacle course. I would pay money just to run that obstacle course.

Anyhow, the other night we were being lazy… it was just about bedtime for the girls, they were all pajama’d up and had their teeth brushed, but it was just a little too early. So we did something we never do… we turned on the TV and watched one of mommy and daddy’s shows. And that show was Wipeout.

Piper was laughing out loud the whole show. She loved it! Sitting on my lap, just belting out the biggest har-de-har-har laughs you’ve ever heard. Cracked me up. And the best part — we were laughing at the exact same spots.

Meanwhile, Lela, Mystique, and Landis were sitting on the sofa just soaking it in. I heard a chuckle every now and then. I looked over once and I think Lela was smiling… and that was it. Hilarious. They just don’t know good TV when it smacks them in the face

Anyhow, all is well in the Haslup house. We’re busy but having a great time.