Our Kids

Well not really a flip but maybe a flop? Phoebe has started to use her legs to push herself up on your lap or upwards when she is laying down. She has also started to use them to gain momentum and turn herself on her side. She can’t roll on to her stomach or roll from her stomach to her back but maybe soon.

Hmmmm…..let’s see.

Today Landis had a little playdate with her friend Elise. They are just the most adorable things together. We went to the library and Landis was called a little boy by another kid their age. Elise took great offense to this and told him she was a girl and not to say those things to her friend. They came back over and Elise was very animated about it putting her hand on her hip and wagging her finger at the little boy. It was very cute to see her defend Landis although I am not sure Landis was upset at all by it but who knows maybe she was and Elise knew better:)

The other day Landis and I went to Toys R Us. A friend of Jason’s gave us a gift certificate when Phoebe was born so we went to see if we could get her a playmat. We NEVER go to Toys R Us, I shop almost exclusively online these days and who wants to take kids in to a giant toy store?? Anyhoo, we went in there and we looked around. Landis was quite overwhelmed but we made it through. I didn’t like the playmats they had so I decided to get the girls toys. We got Piper a dinosaur and Lela a unicorn. Landis put them on their carseats and I told the girls that she got them for them. As we were driving home Piper asked me if Landis really bought them for them or if I bought them and I was just saying that Landis bought them. I was surprised that she put all that together and I thought it was so cute:) I know that Piper gets way more than she lets on but she generally never expresses it out loud so that is what I was happy about. I think her confidence is growing and she is expressing what she feels which is a big step for her.

Lela is holding steady with no major changes in personality. She is zany, wacky, funny and sensitive. One thing that I am so grateful for is that she can read my mood and adjusts her words accordingly. So for example if she can see that I am really frustrated she will be sure to say please and thank you where she usually just says, “I’m thirsty, I’m hungry.” I would like it if they said please and thank you all the time, I know that they are polite to others and at home I am sure it is the old “it’s just mom” syndrome:)

But I am not and since I have not updated in a few I figured I would throw something on the blog and see if it sticks:) Busy, that sums up what we have been. I have been doing overdrive to help out with the multiples club (I am such a nut case) hosting the monthly board meeting, helping with the transition of the website to a new website and now I am hosting a general meeting and I am the speaker (its on kids nutrition). Gah, sometimes I really get myself in over my head. But it will all be over soon, that is how I am making it through.

On the homefront I can’t seem to get it all going in the right direction but am still working on it. I want to find/make the time to exercise, I need to start eating right, I have 30 more lbs to lose (yes that is right 30!) and I have already lost 30, whoa nelly how did I gain 60 again, lol. Anyhoo, still making those baby steps and hopefully planets will align and we can get this train moving down the track in a slow and steady motion.

The girls school is wrapping up and I am class mom so I am arranging gifts, collecting money and volunteering in the class as much as I can (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Haslup for babysitting) as the year winds down. Lela and I are making playdoh this weekend for class on Monday and oh man is she jazzed about that. Piper and I did it a couple weeks ago and we made a multi colored playdoh in the shape of a huge ladybug.

Landis is two and flexing her two year old muscles, both physically and vocally. It is a challenge with all we have going on but she really is handling it all well for a two year old.

Phoebe is falling more in to a sleep schedule and is just the sweetest little thing. She has 4 dimples on her face and doesn’t hesitate to use them if you will just take the time to stop and talk to her.

So now I am off to bed, I have to get up early and grocery shop before everyone else gets up. Hmmm….is that really going to happen?

Lela would rather ask for permission, unless it is Piper’s idea. Frequently you will hear “blahbidy blah blah but don’t tell mom” coming from Piper. On the other hand you hear “Landis nooooooooo” when Landis is going to do something she isn’t supposed to like jump on the sofa. The extended pained noooooo is often followed by “mom Landis is doing x.”

Just now I heard a familiar sound. Now I recognize it because it has caused me much clean up time in the past, multiple times. I was sincerely hoping that the sound I heard was not what it was but alas it was not to be. Now I take partial responsibility. One time we had a huge styrofoam block and I showed the girls how to shred it and make snow but when I did it we were outside on the porch where it was easier to clean up. Now the girls like to make “snow” whenever they see a piece of foam.

Piper was doing exactly that in Jason’s office which I had cleaned up yesterday from its normal disaster state (not from J but from two budding artists). I walked over to the door and looked in to find Piper shredding some styrofoam on top of Lela and her penguin saying snow snow snow! Lela just looked at me sheepishly and Piper looked right at me and said “sorry.” HA! Now I did not yell or get upset, I can generally handle things like that, but we cleaned it up. She got the little vacuum and began to clean with Lela in the background saying, “you are like Maria” over and over (Maria is our housekeeper).

I just thought it was funny that Piper knew she wasn’t supposed to do it and preemptively apologized before I even said a word. We have a very busy day ahead and I am just hoping to make it to the weekend without a hormonal meltdown.

Lately Lela has been asserting herself in a not so good way. She has started pushing. She has been using her words up to this point so I am not sure if it is some outside influence or just her burgeoning personality. She is also becoming very bossy and this is aside from her normal rule following ways. I am used to her getting upset when she sees Piper investigating things like the FedEx drop box at the post office but now she seems to be telling folks what they can and can’t do. She also wants to decide what and how they are going to play and if one of her sisters doesn’t want to play her way she pushes them. She doesn’t do this at school but maybe that is a progression. Who knows.

How can it be the 14th of April already…..SNAP! Time has seriously flown.

Landis is still on the potty train:) No diapers and finally a break through in the number 2 department. She has full control over all her bodily functions and that last piece of the puzzle is finally clicking. So proud of her and her independence. She is also sleeping in her room through out the night. And last night she even came in and told us she had to go potty in the night.

Lela and Piper continue on in their wily ways. Lela is still quite the artist drawing up a storm and Piper is still her helpful self assisting around the house with chores. Piper loves to spend time outside and is soaking up every last minute of our gorgeous weather.

Phoebe is a laughing, cooing, smiling little bundle. She is 11lbs 11oz and growing. She got a perfect bill of health from her pediatrician. Our ped, who is awesome, looked at her and said “look Jason finally got one.” She does favor Jason but so did Lela early on. I think all the girls are a good mix of all of us. We still have a long time to wait to see what her eye color will be and if her hair will be curly or straight. I think she is working on a sleeping routine for the night but the days still seem to be unpredictable.

All in all we are doing well. We had a case of the yuckies but they seem to be clearing up. Landis had to do another round of antibiotics because the “flies” got reinfected with this latest cold and she had a doozy of an ear infection:( Hopefully this round clears it up and we can leave those in the past til next cold/flu season.

Piper has two (or maybe three) very annoying habits. One is she never goes to bed at night when you ask, never, ever, ever! We are always working on ways to positively reinforce the behavior we want from her but so far no luck.

The second one is that she chews her hair (she also twirls her hair). I think she needs to be doing something which I can relate to, I have a hard time sitting still too. We have cut her hair shorter and used all the positive methods that we have at our disposal to get her to stop but she persists. It is a yucky habit.

She also whines but we have realized that this was our doing before we were such enlightened parents. Lucky for Phoebe and Landis we have figured out how and when Piper became a whiner and we are not falling in to that trap again.

I have decided to let the hair chewing go and just focus on the other two. It bugs the crap out of me that she is chewing her hair. I might throw in a comment now and then when she is not chewing her hair to see if we can get it to go away but I am no longer going to say anything to her while she is chewing her hair.

Okay so enough of the potty training updates. Suffice it to say she is doing amazingly well and having zero accidents of the number 1 variety during the day. She is still struggling with the number 2 but I think she is making progress. We are totally diaper free so it is sink or swim in the number 2 department as well as the stay dry all night department (both works in progress). Landis does not like anything about poo which is a lot like Lela was/is. Onward.

Tonight Landis came out of the girls room and asked me for a surprise. I was pretty confused. Then later the girls came out and said they told Landis I had a surprise for her so that she would leave their room…snap! Landis wasn’t upset but was expecting a surprise which I did not have. I felt bad for Landis but the girls ended up playing with her for over an hour and a half in her room so I can’t complain. While we were brushing our teeth Piper asked me if I had ever given Landis her surprise, ha! I told her I was not the one that offered up the “surprise” and I did not have one to give her. LOL! Those crazy gals.

Final note of the day we have the yuckies, the whole lot of us (all 6). Woot, good times. The good thing is that we all have it at the same time so it won’t drag on forever, lol! That will enable us to catch the next big thing:)