Another Cold Day Inside

The days are cold again! Well, its in the 40's mostly, and in protest I already packed the winter stuff, so its just too much effort to bundle up in a million layers and go outside! I need it to be in the 50's, at least! So, anyway, yesterday we were inside so we made rain sticks. They colored the paper for the outside and Siri colored hers, but really wanted to color on Emma's, and Emma wasn't really in a coloring mood. Then we filled the paper towel rolls with beans and rice. Siri was really good at this, and Emma did great until she dumped them all out and we had to start over. Then Siri started eating the beans and dumped the bowl of beans. Mostly it was just funny, and I think I only got frustrated once. Needless to say whenever I do these activities when we're stuck inside then end up only taking like 15 minutes and then I'm still faced with what to do with all the time spent stuck inside!





I also had to include a picture of Siri with her collection of Emma's underpants. She has a serious fetish!

Too Sweet

I had sent Emma to go to the bathroom, and I heard the two girls doing something in there, so I said, "What are you guys doing?" with a hint of you'd-better-be-behaving in my voice. Emma replied, "We're just kissing!" So, I had to get some pictures.

This Past Weekend

On Monday Emma went on her first date with Matt to Chuck E. Cheese's. He told her that that is what they were doing and she said, "Just like you and mom!" Matt said that she wanted to with Chuck E. Cheese in the booth while they are their pizza. She was so excited to be there (for the first time), and a little kid kept bugging her to play, so she only ate 1 piece! Matt also said that she liked the singing robots. Personally, those things always freaked me out when I was little. I get skeeved out just thinking about their jerky movements and annoying songs; a little like a side show at Coney Island.

This picture is Siri playing by herself on Tuesday. I tried to give her 'roomtime' when she was 12 months old, but she wouldn't have it. I started 'gating' her in her room again just last week, and she loves it (except today 'cause she is sick). Its always very quiet in there, and one time when I peeked in she was behind the door reading books, another time she was playing with the dolls. I am so glad that she's learning to play by herself. I think its a great quality for them to learn, and Emma did it so well, and still does. I was worried that Siri wouldn't get the same experience. The only difference is that Emma was talking by the time she was Siri's age, so she would be babbling away to herself, but Siri just squeals, and that's why she plays silently! :)

The Gingerbread Experience

Emma and Siri's Nana (pronounced correctly with a Long Island accent) brought them a gingerbread house kit and we decided to attempt to construct it yesterday since I thought it was going to be too chilly to take a walk (it turned out that my weather info was incorrect). Emma did a great job waiting and watching while I piped the frosting onto the pieces to put the house together, and she even occupied herself while we waited the obligatory 15 minutes for the house to stabilize. However, when it came to decorating with the candy pieces frustration set in. I let them each eat one gum drop, and for Siri this was just the beginning. Her hand became a magnet for gum drops, and her mouth the dumping zone. Emma barely put any candy on the house, and I just couldn't figure out why this was not an activity that she wanted to participate in. I told her that she had to keep decorating, or else we would be done, but she didn't want to quit, so when I let her stay at the table she just stared at the candy and at the house. Fifty percent of anything that did make it onto the house was pulled off by Siri...that part was very hysterical, and I found myself laughing a little at how fast Siri was at either pulling candy off the gingerbread house or putting gumdrops in her mouth! When I was nearing the end of my rope of frustration I realized that Emma was just scraping the nasty packaged frosting with her fingers off the house and eating it. Needless to say, that was when the activity ended. Not that the girls were disappointed or anything...maybe my loss of control of my emotions ruined the fun...I don't know. I'm sure its my expectations in an activity that bring on disappointment, which is manifested into frustration at my kids lack of cooperation with my expectations. Just another lesson learned on the parenting front! The afternoon ended with prying candy from Siri's clenched fists and cleaning their blackened hands.
And today we're going to go for a walk.... :)

Faux Wallpaper

This is my accent wall. Matt and I finally finished it yesterday. It was my first attempt at painting with a humumgus stencil, and it was harder than I expected. It's fairly simple to line the stencil up and keep it level, but my walls are textured, so there was quite a bit of leaking behind the stencil. If you were to look up close it would look a little messy, but I'm pleased at how it came out!

Sunday Night With the Rosenbergs

Target is evil. I spent more money at Target than I would care to admit. And, luckily there are many Targets here within close proximity to our new apartment so I can just continue to feed the monster! There are hours of fun to be had at Target! This trip the kids enjoyed the deck furniture, watched the cart travel up its own escalator next to ours, and tried on the new hats for the spring! If you hadn't guessed, Siri is saying, "Whassat?!" in a screech barely audible to canines!

Reward for Eating Peas

After Emma had taken her own sweet time to eat her peas and hot dogs she helped me make chocolate chip cookies! I've been looking forward to the day that we could bake together, and she was a great helper, even though I was a little nervous that the ingredients may end up on the counter. This was another opportunity for me to practice releasing control; I really tried my hardest to not worry about spills!
More than once Emma reached in the to touch what she had just put in. It's funny that it doesn't cross her mind that that would be unsanitary to touch all the food. It is hard to remember that these little kids don't know all these unwritten rules of society and unfortunately most of them get taught when I freak about what they are doing instead of realizing that they have never encountered that situation before. I sometimes expect her to know more than her mere 3 1/4 years of life experience. I also took this opportunity to tell her about more appliances that can never be touched unless Mom or Dad is with her. (It must be so confusing to be a little kid!) Siri had a great time practicing her climbing skills while there was space on Emma's chair!






Our finished product!