Laineyisms...

• in regards to her tan socks - "these socks are white and brown all mixed up together."
• when trying to bring her "jessie hat" to school - "sigh... dad I tried reasoning with them, but they just won't let me bring my hat to school."
• every.single.day for the past 3 weeks, "mom, is it one more night until Toy Story 3"
• "Mommy, I am so tired from freaking out."
• "Gigi, I was just freaking out and freaking out."
• When being awaken by Aunt M - "let's just sit here and talk."
• "mom, I don't want to grow up to be an old lady, so I am not going to eat any vegetables." 

Time.

For those who think I have abandoned blogging, I have not. Things have been incredibly busy and stressful these past 8 months or so. There has been too much to try and catch up, but suffice to say everyone is growing up. My kids are great; passionate and bold, loving and sweet. Eliot is becoming a little boy and Laine, well she is definitely becoming a big girl. Time really does pass so quickly; my baby will be 2 in just a few weeks, unbelievable... seriously. He is so funny, he loves to drum and dance. He still isn't saying much, but is certainly making sure he gets the point across.  Laine is so mature this days, there aren't nearly as many tantrums and she is so helpful. I never thought the day would come that she would be less inclined to scream and cry, but to reason and negotiate. Honestly, it gives me some hope that E too will one day not throw himself on the floor crying, in a fit. Not much by way of advice just a little note, I will think of something profound to say and get back to you :)

The First Week...

Last week, was a pretty crazy week Laine started preschool, had a short dance recital, we bought a Christmas tree and then decorated it. Monday we were suppose to get our tree, but it was too late and raining so instead we bought Lainey a small tree from target to put in her room; she was very excited, buying us time since we didn't get the tree as planned. Also exciting was the fact that on Tuesday she would be FINALLY, starting preschool, she has been looking forward to this since June (no lie). So we put her to bed, prepping her about listening to her teacher and being nice to others and such. She then tells me, "Mommy I am going to stay there all by myself, you aren't going to be there"; seriously if a bus were going to be picking her up in the morning she would have left with it no problems.

As a side, my kids do not like to wake up in the mornings; Eliot is usually up around 9 and Laine can easily sleep until 10 often even later… don’t hate.

Tuesday morning I go into wake her up around 7:45, “hey baby ready to go to school” she gets right up and hops into the bath we eat breakfast, pull Eliot out of bed and leave for school. After coming back home Eliot decides that the morning nap he has been trying to give up is now a necessity, so to the crib he goes. When E wakes up he points to Laine’s room and waves bye-bye; he misses his sister when she is gone. Back to the school to pick up my big girl, I talk to her teacher for a minute about their day and she tells me a couple highlights. They were talking about walking in the park Ms. J says asks what are some “houses” you would see in a tree, Laine replies “those are bird’s nest… oh and Ms. J park is P-A-R-K”. There was only a minor meltdown when we tried to leave, she thought she was going outside, but it was really time to be picked up… oops. Well we got our Christmas tree that night, she was having a great time; there were animals and all around fun times. After dinner, she asks as we walk in the door “Mommy, maybe tomorrow I don’t need to take a bath or eat breakfast, so I don’t have to wake up so, so early” I chuckled and said “we’ll see”.

My Art Is My Work...

Laine, Nathaniel and Eliot are in the kitchen, E being his usual mischievous self pushes over the trash bag that is tied and ready to be taken out. Nathaniel picks it up the bag and then she sees it, one of her beautiful drawings in the trash bag. The one she already told her dad NOT to throw away.


Nathaniel - "what's the matter?" 
Laine - through tears "my picture is in the trash"
Nathaniel - "how did it get in there?"
Laine - "I don't know..." (eyes widen) "you put it in there!"
Nathaniel - "uhhh"
*turning to me, still crying...
Laine - "Mommy, daddy thinks I make art for the trash"
*looking back to daddy
Laine - "Daddy, my art is my work"

The Perfect Day:

as told by Laine

"when I was a little girl, I made cookies; then we went to the park with Sam. Next we went to Monkey Joe's and to have ice cream. Then we rode the train to the library and after we came home... well actually we went over to Ava and Courtney's... oh and they went with us to the park and Monkey Joe's and to ice cream and to the library"

Sounds like a busy day :)

Just an observation...

I have a very smart daughter, well I'm bias of course but the level of understanding that kids have is remarkable. Lately I have been trying to limit TV, just while at home, grandparents houses don't count. By limit don't think she doesn't watch it at all because she does, I mean not sit if front of the computer for long periods watching Mickey, Pooh or Imagination Movers (also equally loved by my 1 year old). In giving her the opportunity to play, I realized she has an amazing imagination. Today for example, she pulled out one of her swimming suits that matched her tutu and put them on with some white shoes that kind of look like ballet shoes. Then she danced around the living room for 30 minutes singing to the top of her lungs; so cute. She is always coming out of her room with some kind of pretend costume on. Anyway, this may be some shameless bragging but I think my little girl is pretty rad. Oh and I'm not saying we will stop watching TV I mean after all she had to see the ballerina somewhere right? I just love watching to see what she comes up with.

Lainey....

Laine ~ daddy your a genius
Daddy ~ Laine, do you know what genius means?
Laine ~ yes
Daddy ~ then, what does it mean?
Laine ~ umm... what does it mean?
Daddy ~ it means you are really super smart.
Laine ~ oh... there's smart and there's k-mart smart.
Daddy ~ laughing... oh?
Laine ~ yes, that's what the light bulb says.