Our Kids

The big girls and I are learning to sew. This weekend we made these book slings. It was super fun and by the third one we had it down. Check out the girls on the flickr site with their new bedside book slings!

Piper and Lela pretty much sewed their own with help from me on the threading of needles and ironing!

Piper and Lela did some no-training-wheel biking tonight and it was awesome. They’ve both decided that they want to learn how to ride their bikes, so what better time to do that than a Phoenix summer night? It was hot, but honestly, really not too bad all things considered… we seem to be going through a pretty nice summer this year.

So what brought on this desire to ride without training wheels? Heelies. Yes — those shoes with wheels in their heels (get it? Heelie?) that kids run/ride around on. Lela really wants a pair. I mean — really wants them. Last weekend Mystique told Lela she could get some for either her birthday or Christmas… but she had to be able to ride her bike without training wheels first. Hah! That’s all Lela needed to hear. Next thing out of her mouth? “Let’s go take the training wheels off my bike!”

Piper, on the other hand… not real sure she’s interested in heelies, but if Lela’s doing something, so will Piper.

So tonight after dinner we went out front and started the whole process. Mystique took Piper out and I had Lela. As I was fixing up Lela’s bike, Mystique was already down the street working with Piper. By the time I was ready Mystique had taken Piper to the greenbelt across the street from us and started pushing Piper around in the grass! Brilliant, especially because Mystique lets Piper fall. Gotta learn some way! Plus it was pretty exciting in the greenbelt because the sprinklers were on. Good thing Piper loves water.

Anyhow, Lela and I stuck to the street for the first part. She was doing OK — a little too much leaning to her right. We did a couple passes on the street but I wasn’t able to let go of her because of the leaning.

Then we went to the greenbelt too and tried it on the grass. She picked it right up… dunno why, but she did! Lela even laughed as we rode/ran through the sprinklers which is huge for her — not a huge fan of water (although getting better because of swim lessons).

By this time Piper was done… her attention span isn’t quite as long as Lela’s, but she was having fun watching and rooting for Lela.

So Lela and I then went back to the street… and she plain rocked it after that. I’d push her off, stay running beside her, but let go and she’d keep going without a care in the world. Ok, sometimes she did start wobbling and leaning and I’d steady her, but she really did well. Up and back we went… Lela just kept wanting to do it more and more! Everytime we’d stop (without falling) she would say “again!” She really wanted to learn and she was getting over any and all fears she may have had to figure this out.

At one point, as it usually happens, we did take a tumble, including myself. Luckily it was when Mystique was recording a video, so it’ll hit the internet soon. Something cool to note, though… Lela falls, then I fall over her bike to the street. Lela immediately gets up and comes over to me and gives me a hand. Piper comes over too to make sure we’re ok. The fact that they both came over to me after a tiny tumble… such sweet girls.

All this time Phoebe and Landis were out and about of course. They were on their plasma cars just racing back and forth down the street. It was a family occasion and soon enough, a neighborhood occasion as our next-door neighbors came out to enjoy the fun.

Lela continued to do well and at one point we rode / ran around the entire block. She did awesome.

After she was finally done and I was recovering with a glass of ice cold water, Lela came walking over to me and said in her “I want something” voice: “Can you tell Uncle JJ I want heelies?” Yes folks… she hand’t lost sight of her goal. She was learning this bike riding thing to fulfill a quest of hers — get those heelies! She cracks me up. I said “yes — for your birthday or Christmas” and she seemed happy with that.

All in all it was a fantastic evening. To say that I am blessed to have these four children and my incredible wife wouldn’t do it justice. But I’ll say it anyways… I couldn’t ask for a better life. Love to you all.

Jason

Well Piper has had a pretty loose top tooth for a bit. It had started to hang at odd angles and get in the way of eating. Then it started rubbing on the inside of her lip and made her look like someone had punched her in the lip. One side had pulled away and her top teeth had made a huge space around the loose tooth in anticipation of her grown up tooth.

Tonight we were futzing with the tooth, first her and then me. Mostly we were just trying to gross out her dad and we were doing a bang up job. Then all the sudden I wedged it out of there and it took some fancy tongue work to get that thing out of her mouth before it went down her throat in a gale of laughter. Jason was freaked out! Lela went to get a cup of water and I went in search of the camera. I think Jason almost fainted (not really but he did get queasy), ha ha!

Now she talks funny and we all laugh and laugh. If I wasn’t laughing I would be crying because she is growing up so fast:( Anyhoo, I hope the toof fairy shows up tonight. Piper wrote a little note and everything, she thinks top teeth must be worth a lot. I mean her Grandpa Jack told her they were worth $5! Inflation, gah! She is getting $1, a little tangled keychain notebook, a lip smackers lip gloss and a seashell. I hope she isn’t disappointed:)

Phoebe is a stitch. The other day I was scratching my head and talking to her and when I looked up she was staring at me and scratching her head in the same way, I laughed out loud.

Phoebe LOVES the pool. Now every time we go to swim lessons she MUST get in. I think when she sees two of her sisters in the pool she thinks she just has to do what they do all the time or she shall perish. I have lost this battle and come prepared since TWICE she has flopped right in and began to float face down while I was sitting right next to her. Gah! Pool is OFF the to do list.

Shoes…Phoebe….LOVE
Phoebe loves shoes. Who knows why, maybe because her father has his mootsies in shoes about 97 percent of the time. Maybe its genetics or maybe she loves fashion. Anyway, she must be wearing her shoes 24/7 and when I say 24/7 I mean ALL DAY LONG. She sleeps in her shoes, she eats in her shoes, she kicks me in the night in her shoes. Knowing all this I still went out and bought her a pair of hard soled shoes. Regret…..that was the word of the evening. As she kicked me most of the night and even got her shoes tangled up in Landis’ hair during the night (don’t ask) I was regretting those oh so cute white sandals I got her. She still hasn’t taken the shoes off and I am guessing she won’t. Maybe, just maybe I can get her to change to a softer pair for bedtime:)

So I guess the trampoline idea has died a slow death. After reading much online and getting some “outside” input we have decided the trampoline activities are best kiboshed for the backyard:( Too many variables and not enough ways to ensure safety. I guess I see some gym classes in our future. Lela really wants to do horseback riding so we may do that for her birthday. I think Piper wants to play the banjo or something, lol! Adios tramp!

Phoebe is a lot like Lela in many ways. First of all she likes things done a certain way and wants them done only that way. For example if she shoes, she wants them on her feet and you may not take them off. If she drops something you must pick it up right away because it is out of order.

Phoebe also already colors with crayons with purpose.

Another way that she is like Lela is that she tells us when she needs a diaper. Today she was looking distressed and was frantically signing diaper and saying diaper so I put her on her baby potty. She went poo. When I showed her what she had done she was a little distressed because poo does not go in the potty it goes in diapers, so I showed her how we would put it in the big potty and that was also stressful for her. Then we flushed, yipes!

So I am guessing we need to explain the whole scenario to her so she knows that we all don’t wear diapers and that we put our exiting items in to the potty. LOL! I sense an early potty trainer but I am not pushing anything:)

Things are changing here for Lela. A friend who hadn’t seen her in a month or so mentioned that she seemed more confident, and she is. I am not sure what occurred if it is age or swim lessons or what but Lela has gained a sense of self that is obvious.

Other things that I have noticed include:

She picks up her things and puts them away because they are important to her and she knows that if I pick them up she may not get them back.
She has found her nurturing instinct and is often the first to comfort a wounded or sad Phoebe. She is becoming a very doting older sister.
She is washing her hair in the shower!!! Gasp!!! She put her face in the stream of the shower and got it WET!!! She washed her face by splashing water on it, double GASP!

Whatever is going on is wickedly cool, my little one is becoming herself. I think next year will be big for her.

Whew, we are back and it is phot. Better still there was a haboob while we were gone so all is dusty, dusty, dusty! I kind of wish we had been here to see it but c’est la vie, I am sure living in the desert I will see another some time.

But I digress, we had a successfully wonderful trip to Cali (minus about 2 hours in the car where Phoebe screamed at us and I almost lost it, her crying in the car really makes me feel defeated and useless). We went with our good friends Bob and Mary and their twins P and Z. It was super fun but not like the relaxing trips I remember pre-kids, ha. There was a lot of walking, some beach time, lots of pool time, checking out a market downtown, riding the open sided downtown trolly, walking the wharf, eating out and just generally having a good old family time.

I don’t think anyone got their fill of the beach this time due to so much pool time. I did get sort of sucked in to the quest for sea glass that last couple days and trolled the beach for bits of it to ferret away for some unknown reason:)

I didn’t take too many pictures because I was too worried I would lose the camera but I will post what I have. Suffice it to say it was super fun and we would do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks to our good friends for being so fun:)