And the Kids keep on Growing

Ms Action is 5 years old now. She loves directing things and has become best friends since moving with the little 5 year old boy next store. They play together almost every day outside. She has also declared herself big enough for showers now, and insists on doing it herself.

Recently, she pointed out our front window at the older lady who lives across the street and gasped “Mom! That lady is a smoker who steals cars!” I stopped my laugh before it made it past my lips and asked “How do you know?” and she explained that her little friend from next door had told her. So we talked about how a rumor is a story that people spread about someone that may not be true, and I pointed out that if this neighbor lady was routinely stealing cars, she would probably be in jail, thinking that this evidence would be enough to convince her that we do not live across from a car thief. But instead she got even more excited and pointed to the mail car parked on the street outside, exclaiming that this was the police and that they must be there to take the lady away. I told her it was the mail carrier’s car, but she did not believe me until the mail carrier came back to their car and drove away without hauling our neighbor lady with them. Only then did Ms Action decide to take my word for it that the story about the neighbor lady was probably a rumor.

We also had a talk about calling people “smoker” It turns out that the little boy next store had also pointed out who smokes in the near vicinity and had declared that smoking was bad. So we talked about how people have names, and we should call them by their names and not call them smoker. That would be like someone calling her “yogurt eater” or “skirt wearer” instead of using her name (an idea which made her laugh). And we talked about how smoking isn’t very good for your body, but that smoking doesn’t make you a bad person. Whew. Five really is a whole new age.

Ms Drama just turned 4. She loves playing with any of her siblings and has a new penchant for layering her clothes. At any point on the day, she may be wearing more than one shirt or a skirt over her pants. She also layers her pajamas, which the other night included pants, a skirt, and a nightgown with a shirt over it. She thinks she looks fabulous.

She is learning how to stand up for herself and say if she does not like something. In one incident, she had brought an empty grape juice bottle outside with her after filling it with water. Ms Action and the little boy next store told her that the bottle was garbage and convinced her to pour the water out on the ground and put the bottle into the recycling bin. Ms Drama came inside and tearfully explained that she had really liked the bottle and that she didn’t think it was garbage. So we talked about how she doesn’t have to change her mind about something just because someone else says too. And that if she liked having a water bottle than that was just fine. And we practiced saying “No, I don’t like it when you say that. I like my water bottle.” And then we filled another bottle with water and she marched back outside to play with the kids, and even though they pressured her again to throw her bottle out, she was able to stand up for herself and came back with a huge smile to tell me that they stopped bothering her.

One night she was overtired and complaining about everything we were eating for dinner, and when I put the usual 50% water and 50% juice into their cups, she found one more thing to protest. She yelled that she liked her juice sweet, and that she didn’t want any water in her cup. And I was tired and rather grumpy myself, and so I slammed the juice bottle onto the table and said “You don’t want water in your cup? Well than I’ll drink the water right out of your juice!” and I took a swig out of her glass and put it back down. And to my utter amazement, she smiled ear to ear, took a sip from her cup and said “That’s much better, now it’s sweet” And I wasn’t about to argue with that.

Ms Pooky is 2 ½ and she is talking up a storm. She refers to herself as “my” instead of “I” which makes for sentences such as “Here my am!” She is also has an adorable habit of giving me a hug and declaring “I like you! You my best fend.” We’ve been slowly weaning off the breast for the last couple of weeks and it has gone surprisingly well. I hope to post on that another day.

Ms Pooky refuses to wear skirts, insists on always wearing socks (even with her sandals) and when her sisters dress up as princesses, tells them that she is going to be a king instead. She still has a huge love for her stuffed frogs and loves to watch Bob the Builder and Dora the Explorer. She is the only child I’ve had so far who interacts with Dora at such an early age, when Dora asks a question she actually answers it instead of staring at the screen with that glazed over look. One of her current favorite ideas has been to have someone tie an apron around her shoulders, after which she declares that she is a “supabhewo that can FLY up in the sky and SAVE people!”

Baby boy is just about a year old, and gets told by everyone that he meets that he has huge eyes. He is walking everywhere now, and gives sloppy baby kisses on request. He loves trying out new foods, and tends to laugh at his own jokes, that is to say, we aren’t always sure why he is laughing, but he usually is.

He has a never satisfied interest in electronics, and spends far to much time pulling the mixer out of the kitchen cabinet and dismantling the radio. He also manages to unplug the alarm clock every single day despite my attempts at keeping him out of the bedroom. He also seems to have a heightened sense of smell, because whenever I take a shower he avoids me afterwards and stares at me like I am an alien from outer space. Maybe I just don’t shower enough, but when I am freshly cleaned, he will run up to me with his arms up as usual, but when I pick him up he will squirm and shove me away from him as if he doesn’t even know who I am. But when I am my natural smelly self, he can usually be found with one hand under my hiked up shirt on my bare belly and his thumb in his mouth.

Do you think that’s enough info to come up with a blog nickname for him? A year old is when I usually try to invent one. So far the girls have been Ms, so perhaps a Mr is in order for Baby Boy? Still trying to think of a good name the fits his personality, do you have any ideas?