The young and the old

Arturo recruited everyone to help out with the new house. We closed last Friday and move in this Friday. During this time, we've had the carpets replaced and Arturo changed all the door knobs and switch plates. (They were a tacky gold; now they are a polished brass) The girls also got their rooms painted with their color of choice: pink.

Emma actually did help out with removing switch plates. She probably removed 5-6 altogether! And my dad was a great help - here he is painting the trim of Emma's room.

Playing with Gong Gong

Imaginations

With all their toys packed up, we've had to pretty creative in playing these days. Here are the girls in their house/car:

Packing Up!

We spent last weekend getting ready for the move. The girls helped us (sort of ) but were more intent on helping us color the boxes once they were packed.

Cute

All packed up!

Ginny came over to visit us today, and looking at this picture taken a few weeks back made me remember a conversation she had with the girls this afternoon:

Ginny (in fake horror): Girls, where are all your toys??!!
Emma (matter of factly): They're all packed up!
Ginny (more horror): So then what do you do around here?
Emma (after some thought): We read books

This is, actually, true - but not as bad as it sounds. About 75% of their toys are in various boxes right now, and since we have to keep the house show ready, we only allow books in the family room now. Since we have been going to the library so often, they are getting new books to read every week or so. ** (see note below for slight digression)

I captured this picture on a weekend a few weeks back when I found the girls totally immersed in "Quiet time" and reading/playing quietly. The silence was golden, but so was their focus and absorption in their activity.

** A few weeks ago, the theme of our week was Hearts/Valentine's Day. (Don't ask, yes - I have "themes" each week for which I organize afternoon activities with the kids.) So one afternoon that week, I checked out a book from the libary called "The Human Body" from the library hoping to teach the kids about the human heart. It was in the kid's section -- one of those DK brand books that contain lots of real pictures, but was more like an encyclopedia -- and more appropriate for teenagers than preschoolers. The book is actually a little gory/creepy - besides a human heart, it contains big colorful pictures of skeletons and mummies, etc... The first time I showed the book to the girls, I tried to go right to the page where they explained the heart, but Emma, true to her nature was transfixed with all the other pages detailing the human body. Since that day, she reads the book almost every day, and asks Arturo questions about veins, and various other body parts. FYI, she has also been equally inquisitive about my surgery, asking me over and over again how the doctor "cut me open" and "sewed me back together again..." She is really amazed by it all.

Doctor Emma and Doctor Alexa

Emma and Alexa were doctors this afternoon - here they are trying to get Arturo onto a stretcher. Everyone was having a great time -- Alexa was standing on Arturo's stomach and jumping off -- until she jumped off - and banged into the French door. She now has a huge black bump on her forehead!

IHOP

Twelve of us at IHOP this Sunday morning and it was a success! Ginny and I are still high fiving each other that the girls got along the entire time. These pictures of Syd and Emma crack me up, especially the second one.

Puppy shower for Trudy!

On Saturday, we threw a doggy shower for Trudy -- Alison's new dog. Besides puppy cupcakes and dog bone shaped sandwiches, we also played shower games -- like "Guess the doggy poo in a jar (tootsie rolls)" and the Sooper Dooper Pooper Scooper Derby. And who could forget when Margaret showed us her hip hop routine!

Picnic and a Ride

Friday was on the warmish side (the temperature made it into the low 50's) so we spent a lot of time outside in the afternoon. First we had a brownie picnic in the tree house. Emma insisted that we bring the tulips as a centerpiece. Oh, and the picnic had to be on the top floor of the tree house, so I had to haul up the flowers, the brownies, the baby dolls, (and the camera) so we could enjoy our treat. Midway through the snack, Alexa decided that Ella (her baby) needed to join the party, so she left us and went to get Ella.



After the snack, we went on a scooter and car ride. Emma is trying hard but still has some ways to go before she gets how to use the scooter. We're getting there!

Finding Nemo...on ice!

We went to the Verizon Center (courtesy of MSTR) to see the Finding Nemo -- On ice show. It was a little odd to see these people dressed up as fish and ice skating around -- but the girls seemed to like it. Of course, the highlight was still when Mickey came out -- so I think a trip to Disney World is definitely in order soon!

Valentine's Day Cupcakes

Both girls had Valentine's Day parties in their classrooms so we decorated cupcakes.

The Jo Jo Dance and our new Kitten

Potty training is the name of the game these days. Alexa is mostly potty trained at this point -- she had on only underwear the whole weekend and had only 1 accident during those two full days. This is of course, provided that we remind her about every 20 minutes that she isn't wearing a diaper.

It's amazing how different our two kids have been in regards to this. Emma essentially trained herself -- scoffed at us for even suggesting potty training -- and just "figured it out" by herself one day. Not a single accident since that day. Of course, she had just turned 3, and we were ready to tear our hair out. Alexa has been very open to the idea for months now and has had lots of successes, but I see more accidents in our future.

Amazingly enough, Emma has been Alexa's biggest supporter during this ordeal. Maybe this is because Emma also gets a treat when Alexa goes to the potty. When Alexa pees, she gets one candy corn. When she poops, she gets a Trader Joe's Jo Jo. Hence, it is not uncommon in our house these days to see Emma literally jumping for joy whenever Alexa pees or poops.

Here is Alexa doing the Jo Jo Dance (I swear, she named this dance herself!) after she earned a Jo Jo. (The Jo Jo is in her hand as she dances. Emma promptly scarfed down her cookie.)

Emma has been big into role playing these days. She will spontaneously become a cat when we are at home. This means that for minutes on end, she crawls around on all fours, meowing. Then you have to pet her or rub her belly. When you rub her belly, she turns around onto her back, sticks all 4 "paws" in the air and purrs. It's hilarious, and you really have to see it to believe it. Though she isn't quite developmentally at the stage yet, Alexa loves to mimic everything Emma does -- so when she sees Emma turn into a cat, she becomes a cat too -- and there I am, rubbing the tummies of my two girls while they are meowing. Here is Emma doing a cat stretch.

(Besides imitating the things Emma likes to do, Alexa is also learning words that her big sister was never exposed to at the same age. Emma has learned (sort of) the concept of "being dead" over the last few months -- I suppose natural for a 4 year old. But it's really unnerving when my 2.5 year old will roll over, lie still, and say, "Mommy, I'm dead." It's sort of amusing too, though!)

Weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's condo

We had open houses both Saturday and Sunday so we ate lunch at my parents' condo both days. The girls love it there still; it's still novel enough that they don't mind going over. They like having a "picnic" lunch and the open space to do their somersaults.

Alexa performs for Fair Oaks Mall

There have been some Chinese New Year Celebrations these last few weeks, so the girls have gotten a good share of Dragon dances and Lion Dances. Today we went to Fair Oaks Mall where they had all sorts of Asian dances as well, the girls were captivated the entire time and we finally had to drag them away. No sooner did we leave the performance area that Alexa informed me that she was putting on her own show. Right there in the middle of the very crowded mall, she started dancing herself. She actually did attract a bit of an audience (notice those in the picture trying to walk around her) who clapped when she finished.

Curly Pigtails

The house is on the market now, and the biggest challenge is keeping it show ready -- clean and ready for people to come over at the drop of a hat. This Saturday morning, the girls goofed around with Arturo and also rode their "horses." The second picture is of Alexa, with her favorite blankie as the horse's saddle, riding the sofa, aka horse.

Sound of Music, preschool version

If you are following this blog, you might also know that yet again, Arturo and I have signed ourselves up for a house move. At least we aren't throwing a newborn into the mix this time! (I still can't believe that just a little over 2 years ago, we put our townhouse on the market, sold it, packed up, moved, and had a newborn at the same time!) But, here we are again, in the middle of an awful seller's market, putting our house on the market.

(Slight digression: Maggie, our realtor, got us the front page ad of the Home Buyer's Journal for this week. Check it out here: http://www.hbjmag.com/homebuyersjournal/pages/bookPages/pdfs/nv020208/nv020208%201.pdf
and here:
http://www.hbjmag.com/homebuyersjournal/pages/bookPages/pdfs/nv020208/nv020208%203.pdf)

We've been so busy each day and evening preparing Old Quincy for the market that we barely have time to entertain the kids, much less take pictures of their quirky moments. So that explains the sudden drop in picture posts.

So instead of pictures, this time, I'll post a funny story about my kids. For the last 2 months, they have been completely obsessed with the Beatles and the Sound of Music CDs that we have in the car. From the moment we step into the car and until we arrive home, I'm listening to Julie Andrew's lovely voice -- with little chipmunk voices in the backseat, singing along.

The only thing is, Emma and Alexa don't "get" English accents. So here is the preschooler's "take" on how the songs go:

1) "Doe, a De-uh, a femal de-uh." (I don't think they actually realize that "Fro-line Maria" is talking about a deer...)
2) They are convinced that it is actually "Rudolf" that is singing to Liesl in the rain, not "Rolf" - in the You are sixteen, going on seventeen song.
3) Their favorite Beatles songs are "Hello Goodbye" and "Strawberry Fields Forever." Alexa actually knows all the words to both songs. I'll post a video sometime, very cute. But she sings: Strawberry...Fields...Fuh-evuh. Cracks me up everytime.
4) Emma has really got Julie Andrews' accent down. There's a line in one of the songs that goes, "When you know the words to sing, you can sing most anything!!!" and Emma sings it, "Yooooo CAAAHHHNNNN sing most anything!"

I bet you miss the pictures now and are hoping I'll go back to just posting pictures with minimal commentary, instead of these rambling posts.