Our Kids

Today we got our first family bee sting. Somehow at school Landis got stung by a bee. She is not sure how it happened and of course I was tra la la la’ing elsewhere and did not see it happen. Pick up at school can be a bit mad with children running to and fro and she was up ahead of me because I was hoisting the smallest child to get her away from the goats, OY! Anyway, seems as if she clapped her hands together on a bee! I really had no clue what to do. Lucky for me two very kind parents that know me came to my aid. One took all my stuff (water bottles, lunch bags etc) and my kids and the other took care of the bee sting. All in all Landis is okay and she can now be a beekeeper because she did not swell up. I am so lucky to be at a school where folks are so knowledgable about holistic medicine and know just what to do and have the appropriate homeopathic remedy! Sweet!

On another note I had a rather awesome afternoon at the school on Wednesday. It was warm but really nice in the shade so we headed over to the big swing. The big swing is a rope swing that is hanging on a tree that is 30+ feet tall. The kids love it and they swing sooo high. While we were swinging the girls walked over to the apricot tree and picked apricots that were ripe and warmed by the sun. They enjoyed eating them, playing chase among the fruit trees and swinging. I felt really blessed to have found such a great school in the city where the kids can play in green spaces, pick fresh fruit and just be a kid.

Phoebe is such a stitch. She is so grown for such a wee lassie. She really enjoys toddling after the girls and being their play thing. Just today Piper was running around the house pushing Phoebe in the play doll stroller and Phoebe was in heaven.

Phoebe also likes to feed herself and is quite good at it. She wants to eat the second she wakes up and wants her own cup and utensils. She is very clear what she wants and does a lot of pointing and grunting. She is really starting to mimic words and will spontaneously repeat things that you say. The other day Landis was eating a banana and she asked for a nana by saying nana and pointing at what Landis was eating.

Even though she is a champion nurser and a great eater she is still a peanut. She only weighs in at 21 lbs and is tiny when you take in her delicate features but she makes up for it in personality and height! She is loaded with facial expressions and keeps us all in stitches with her scowls and squeals.

The other day we headed out to get the girls hair cuts. Landis dressed herself as usual and put on some finishing touches right before we left. She had on a tie dyed shirt with peace symbols on it, a multi teared multi colored skirt with netting, braided pigtails and then she added two pairs of socks one over the other pulled up to her knees and a pair of dansko clogs. HA! One of the hairdressers commented how she looked like a little Punky Brewster and I had to admit that she did!

Yes Landis has the most horrible case of pink eye. It was really weird how it came on and then in the morning YIKES she was a fright for sore eyes! Of course that night before a huge eye booger slung out of my eye and it was so gross. Anyway I knew then that I had what she had. We went to the pediatrician because she had a cough, fever and the eye thing. It was a cough, ear infection and the eye thing. We are not treating the ear infection and she has been fever free all day so I think that is on the outs and never bothered her once. The eye thing has been a bit creepy but is tons better today! Yeah! Piper’s eyes were itchy so we are keeping an eye on that but all in all we are on the mend.

Well for the past two nights we have had two very restless cuddle bugs in our bed. At first I thought it was the almost full moon and then the full moon but it appears that was not it. Today Landis is stuffy, watery eyed and coughing so I am guessing she has a cold. Right now she is snoring away next to me on the couch while Phoebe naps in her crib. Landis is running a slight fever but is in pretty good spirits. We have an afternoon trip planned to the zoo so maybe the warm sun will help her congestion while she rides around in the stroller.

The girls have a friend named Marina and she has a little brother named Romy that is 1 year old. Phoebe is like Piper and Landis and she loves babies. If someone is smaller than her its a baby even though she is our baby. Anyhoo today Marina’s mom and I were chatting on the sidewalk at school and Romy wanted down. Gina sat him on the sidewalk (he is not walking yet) and Phoebe promptly tottered over and sat by him. They babbled at each other a bit and then she did it. Phoebe reached over and grabbed both his arms and went in to plant a kiss right on his lips. She did it a couple times before I spoiled the moment by drawing the bigger girls attention to the kissing. It was super cute and the bigs were excited about it. Every time Romy would scoot Phoebe would scoot closer to him. So what comes after the first kiss?

Papa Norman came out for the girls recital and an extended visit. We have been enjoying having his smiling face around and the girls have enjoyed climbing all over him. I am sure he is covered in bumps and bruises since Landis likes to launch herself at him with no notice. Secretly I think he loves it:)

The girls had their Let’s Play Music recital and it was great. The instructor, Annell Schmerfeld, rented a music hall and so it was a super venue for the program. The girls had a great time. My crafty friend Mary had sewn skirts on to their LPM shirts and the fabric was covered in musical notes, it was darling. The girls played the piano, the tone bells and sang. I loved it because they were not nervous (much) and did super. I also loved it because the program is so great. Next year they will be playing their own composition for the recital so that is super exciting. I don’t like to think about what happens when they leave the tutelage of Ms. Annell after next year:(