Rachel brought home some work they have been doing in school, learning about needs vs. wants. Here are Rachel's lists of needs and wants:
Needs
Bananas, food
Fire
Shelter
Cell phone (spelled selfon)
Wood (presumably for the fire)
Wants
Toys
TV
Candy
Toilet (with a cute little drawing of a toilet next to it)
Chair
What a hoot! You can't get along without a cell phone, but a toilet is optional! Those of you who have lived life with neither are probably having a pretty good chuckle right about now :)
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Teeth, teeth, teeth
Fiona and her beautiful teeth. She hasn't lost or gained any in years, but I
couldn't leave her out!
We have had a lot of tooth action in the Willis household in the past 9 months or so. It began last summer when Rachel lost her first tooth just days before Matilda's first one came in. When I showed Matilda's new tooth to Rachel, she exclaimed, "Hey!! The Tooth Fairy recycles teeth!" Anyway, after the first batch of new teeth (6 for Matilda in the space of a few busy - and sleepless - months, and 4 for Rachel), we had a little hiatus during which time I caught up on my sleep. But a few weeks ago, Matilda stopped sleeping again and started being really antsy (can't say she was fussy, for she is never genuinely fussy), and one day I noticed that she had two bright shiny top molars! Or at least, half the molar had erupted on each side. She is now working on the other halves, and a bottom molar has erupted too. So, no sleep for us until they are completely up, I'm afraid.
Here are Matilda's beautiful top teeth. She really has a cute smile, very buck-toothed!
"Show mama your teeth!"
Thankfully, the process is much easier the second time around. Rachel's top and bottom teeth, the ones to the sides of her new permanent teeth, have been getting pretty loose but they haven't fallen out yet. Well, just yesterday she noticed that she has two more bottom teeth that have erupted, well behind the milk teeth they are supposed to be pushing out.
Here are Rachel's new teeth: 2 on the top, and 2 on the bottom.
Where's the entertainment in all of this, you ask? Well, Rachel is, that's what. That girl is so impatient. Her first tooth to fall out, a bottom one, came out naturally last July. She was eating a black olive when, oops, out it came. Well, the second one seemed to take forever because, like its companion now, the permanent tooth erupted well behind it and didn't push it out. Apparently there was some competition between Rachel and her friend Solana to see whose tooth would fall out first, because all of a sudden Rachel started wiggling that tooth non-stop. And when Solana's tooth fell out first, well, all bets were off then - Rachel wanted her tooth out, and she wanted it out NOW. She must have known better than to ask me for help, because the next thing I know she and her father (yes, Ben. I do have to say, in his defense, that she really launched a full court press to persuade him) were in the bathroom cooking up a scheme to pull out the tooth. Here's the dialog I hear as I am sitting in the next room, nursing the baby to sleep:
Ben: "OK, Rach, we can tie some dental floss to the tooth, and then tie the other end to the doorknob and close the door."
Rachel: "That sounds good Papa. Will it really work?"
Ben: "Yeah, hold still..."
Slam!
Rachel: "Uh oh, it didn't work...Do it again!"
Ben: "Hmmm...alright, one more time."
SLAM!
Rachel shrieks and says, hand over her mouth muffling her voice: "Papa! It's out! It's out!"
Ben, in total disbelief: "Really? It worked? Uh oh, it's really bleeding!"
It turns out that Ben agreed to try this because he really didn't think it would work and was not at all prepared for a bloody tooth dangling from a length of dental floss. He vowed then and there that he would not be doing anymore home dentistry and Rachel would just have to let nature takes its course next time. Well, now it's "next time" and, while Rachel hasn't said a word to Ben about pulling her loose tooth, she hasn't given up. Now she's trying to get Fiona in on it. I heard Rachel saying to Fi yesterday, "OK, it's alright if I get a bloody nose if you miss, just punch me hard, right here on this tooth."
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Great Wolf Lodge 2011
For Christmas 2009 my mom gave us a 2 night stay at the Great Wolf Lodge, and what a fabulous time it was. Matilda was 7 weeks old, and something about the place made her sleep like a rock. We all (my mom, Ben and me) took turns holding her while the others played with the big kids. It was such a great success that Mom repeated the gift for this year. It was a leeeeeetle different, but no less fun. For one thing, whatever that magic sleep potion was that made Matilda snooze the weekend away last year is gone, gone, gone. She could not be persuaded by any means to take a nap in the hotel room (all successful naps took place pool-side, in someone's arms, hence no pictures because someone was in the water while the other was holding a baby. Oh well!), and she was up and down all night, both nights. Oh, the joys of toddlerhood, when they are old enough to be interested in their surroundings. Fiona was more interested in the hot tub than anything, though the two of us had LOTS of fun on the lazy river, spending hours paddling around and around. She obediently went on a few of the big water slides, but much preferred to swim.
Of all the kids, Rachel is at the sweet age for stuff like this. She is old enough to go around and do things by herself and she does not yet really get bored by anything. The first hour we were there she said she was going on the slides, and I thought she meant the little slides. But, after a panicked 30 minute search during which I finally alerted security (Rach showed up while I was talking to the security agent - boy did I fell dumb!!), I realized that she had gone on the really big (really fast!) slides, over and over again, all by herself. Little daredevil! But she had just as much fun swimming and playing with us in the pools, and kept right on going until she dropped. Rachel is really my party girl, and a whole lot of fun. Fiona has a much different, lower key pace, and was ready to leave much earlier. But she is easier to keep up with, that's for sure! And Matilda is entertained by anything that her sisters do, the little cutie.
So, thanks Gramma Gail and Gramma Linda, for the fabulous weekend! We're glad you made it possible and could share in the fun with us!
Of all the kids, Rachel is at the sweet age for stuff like this. She is old enough to go around and do things by herself and she does not yet really get bored by anything. The first hour we were there she said she was going on the slides, and I thought she meant the little slides. But, after a panicked 30 minute search during which I finally alerted security (Rach showed up while I was talking to the security agent - boy did I fell dumb!!), I realized that she had gone on the really big (really fast!) slides, over and over again, all by herself. Little daredevil! But she had just as much fun swimming and playing with us in the pools, and kept right on going until she dropped. Rachel is really my party girl, and a whole lot of fun. Fiona has a much different, lower key pace, and was ready to leave much earlier. But she is easier to keep up with, that's for sure! And Matilda is entertained by anything that her sisters do, the little cutie.
So, thanks Gramma Gail and Gramma Linda, for the fabulous weekend! We're glad you made it possible and could share in the fun with us!
Another difference between the first and the third
I really could devote a whole blog to the differences between how things are with the first baby versus the third, but here's just one little example: peanut butter. For those non-parents among you, for a very small number of children peanut butter is such a dangerous allergen that it can kill them pretty much on the spot. So you are supposed to wait a year or two, or even three or more, depending on your doctor's recommendation and your own personal inclinations. Or, as it turns out, the birth order of the baby in question. It goes like this:
Baby #1 (age 2): you offer a teeeeeny weeeeeny amount on each of several successive days until it is clear that the child is not going to have an allergic reaction.
Baby #2 (age approx. 18 months): Oh, thank goodness you're old enough to have peanut butter. Finally! Here ya go, babe, eat up!
Baby #3 (age 12 months): "Hey Mommy, I gave the baby my peanut butter! She really likes it!"
Baby #1 (age 2): you offer a teeeeeny weeeeeny amount on each of several successive days until it is clear that the child is not going to have an allergic reaction.
Baby #2 (age approx. 18 months): Oh, thank goodness you're old enough to have peanut butter. Finally! Here ya go, babe, eat up!
Baby #3 (age 12 months): "Hey Mommy, I gave the baby my peanut butter! She really likes it!"
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
2010: The Year in Review
After some months (oh, really? Well, I guess it has been few years actually…) away from blogging, I’ve decided to try to get back to it. The kids are really growing and changing so fast, it might be a good thing to get it all documented, with a few pictures thrown in, especially for grandparents and relatives far away. So, by way of a beginning, I thought I might recap the last year or so, and then move on from there. Hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with it regularly, as much as I can with anything! This is a really long one, so go get a cup of coffee and make yourself comfortable…
January: 2010 began with me pregnant. I had rather expected not to be pregnant by that point, so you can imagine the mood around our house was a little tense. But we rang in the new year and I hoped fervently for some sign that I might someday soon be holding a baby. The first two weeks of the year were spent in what now seems like a rather humorous program of activities to bring labor on. Every few days I went to the chiropractor, the masseuse or the midwife.
The remainder of January and all of February was just a pleasant haze of new baby love. In March, when Matilda was 6 weeks old or so, we went to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City for the weekend. This was a Christmas gift from my mom and we had a blast. The baby slept right through the whole thing, and Fiona was a little overwhelmed, but Rachel was in her element. We are planning to go again this February, so stay tuned for a post on that!
At the end of March we all piled in the car and drove to Oklahoma City for Spring Break. Wow, what a trip! Ben’s dad had had some very serious heart problems during the winter, and was still recovering. It was a particularly precious moment in time because all of Ben’s siblings and their children gathered with us there for Easter. Matilda was a super good traveler, just like her sisters, and we all had such a great time.
At the beginning of June, Ben and I got a wild hair and decided to rip out the built in bookcases in our living room (don’t panic, they weren’t original to the house), patch our cracked and bumpy plaster walls and paint the living rooms and dining rooms. We planned to be done in time for houseguest season, which usually begins in July. Well…anyone who has been to our house in the last little while knows just how far that project got. I guess we grossly overestimated what we could get done while caring for three young children. There’s always hope for this year!
In July we took a trip down to Ypsilanti to visit the Hales (who had been up for July 4th), and watch their daughter Kenzie in her first play. She was great, and enjoyed it so much that she was in a fall production as well. Later in July we camped with the Manchester family at Otsego Lake State Park. Ben had to work, so it was just me with the girls for 4 nights. Exhausting! I really don’t have any pictures of that week, just because my hands were so busy with other things. We had a fabulous time nevertheless and hope to make it an annual tradition. The kids are big enough now that they were allowed to roam the campground and find friends – they loved it!
On Labor Day weekend, a big wind storm blew in, the air temperature dropped and the lake temperature plummeted about 40 degrees. Good bye summer! School started – Rachel in 2nd grade and Fiona in her second year of 3 year old preschool. The previous year, Rachel had loved school and Fiona was not so wild about it. This year, it was the opposite. Rachel, for the first time in her life, hated school! Apparently, the fun and games are over in second grade! Her teacher this year is very, very good, and runs a very disciplined classroom. It took Rachel a few weeks to get used to her teacher’s style. Also, Rachel’s reading ability was really not up to the task. So she’s been working very hard with reading specialists and a tutor, and her work is definitely looking excellent. It was a real struggle in the beginning, but she is consistently bringing home stars, smiley faces and A plusses. We are very proud of her and how hard she has worked to turn things around. Hooray for Rachel!
Halloween was super fun. My dad joined us for the party, as did my mom, her partner, and her partner’s mom. And Barkley the dog, of course! Matilda wore the same bumblebee costume Rachel and Fiona had worn on their first Halloweens. Rachel was a vampire (I actually made a cape for her on my sewing machine! I know, go figure…) and Fiona was a princess (not a Disney princess – I haven’t fallen that far from my principles! No, we’re talking garden variety fancy dress – Easter, Christmas and the like. I pick them up for next to nothing at Goodwill and then let her wear them to death.). Actually, Fiona has been a princess everyday for several months – she’s in that fancy dress phase. It’s getting kind of old by now, but I’m trying to go with it. She even wears dresses to bed. It can just be a little frustrating, since these phases always seem to happen right after you buy a bunch of really cute back-to-school clothes and then they won’t wear them because they aren’t a princess dress. I guess that’s what I get for letting them dress themselves. Whoever wrote that chapter about fostering independence by letting them choose their own clothes in the Little Kid Manual didn’t have girls! I’m pretty sure the Little Kid Manual was written by someone who has no children, but that is another post entirely.
We stayed in Michigan for Christmas, which was so magical. We had Christmas morning at our house, and then went on to my mom’s for a few days. Uncle Dan was with us, and both Rachel and Fiona felt that getting to spend time with him was the high point of their holiday. We missed the family that we could not be with, and that was the only hard part about the holidays. We rang in 2011 with a little party in the living room. Fiona and Rachel stayed up to watch the ball drop, and we played games, ate popcorn and watched a movie all snuggled on the couch. In a few years, Matilda will be able to stay up and what fun it will be then.
2010: The Year in Review
Last year, as you probably know, we had our third daughter. Matilda Jane Willis was born in January (though we had rather expected she would come in December, at least that’s what all those fun little due date calculators said, Dec. 24th. She had other ideas.), so that makes a good place to begin.
Last year, as you probably know, we had our third daughter. Matilda Jane Willis was born in January (though we had rather expected she would come in December, at least that’s what all those fun little due date calculators said, Dec. 24th. She had other ideas.), so that makes a good place to begin.
January: 2010 began with me pregnant. I had rather expected not to be pregnant by that point, so you can imagine the mood around our house was a little tense. But we rang in the new year and I hoped fervently for some sign that I might someday soon be holding a baby. The first two weeks of the year were spent in what now seems like a rather humorous program of activities to bring labor on. Every few days I went to the chiropractor, the masseuse or the midwife.
My sister and her partner Amy had planned a trip to Michigan to meet our new baby, and it was beginning to look like they would either witness her birth, or just sit around looking at my belly. They arrived on January 15, just in time to be with us for Matilda’s birth on the following day. I will write that story and post it separately for those who like birth stories. I wrote down Rachel and Fiona’s stories, and I owe it to Tilda to do the same. It was such an amazing and precious day, but I am sure it will fade from memory and I should have it written down. Anyway, in summary, she was born at home at 7:29am on January 16, weighing 9lbs, 3 oz and 21.5 inches long. And she’s been pure joy ever since!
The remainder of January and all of February was just a pleasant haze of new baby love. In March, when Matilda was 6 weeks old or so, we went to the Great Wolf Lodge in Traverse City for the weekend. This was a Christmas gift from my mom and we had a blast. The baby slept right through the whole thing, and Fiona was a little overwhelmed, but Rachel was in her element. We are planning to go again this February, so stay tuned for a post on that!
At the end of March we all piled in the car and drove to Oklahoma City for Spring Break. Wow, what a trip! Ben’s dad had had some very serious heart problems during the winter, and was still recovering. It was a particularly precious moment in time because all of Ben’s siblings and their children gathered with us there for Easter. Matilda was a super good traveler, just like her sisters, and we all had such a great time.
After we returned, in April, our friends the Hales visited, and life just kept rolling along. School let out at Memorial Day and summer began. Oh boy, what a summer! It was so hot for so long, we really got a full dose of summer. Lake Michigan warmed up faster than it ever has, and we really swam as much as possible. Believe me, it is not easy to take three kids, one of them a small baby, to the beach, but we did it a lot. Rachel and Fiona were capable enough in the water that I could just sit in a chair under the umbrella, hold the baby while she slept and watch them splash around. It was really blissful.
At the beginning of June, Ben and I got a wild hair and decided to rip out the built in bookcases in our living room (don’t panic, they weren’t original to the house), patch our cracked and bumpy plaster walls and paint the living rooms and dining rooms. We planned to be done in time for houseguest season, which usually begins in July. Well…anyone who has been to our house in the last little while knows just how far that project got. I guess we grossly overestimated what we could get done while caring for three young children. There’s always hope for this year!
In July we took a trip down to Ypsilanti to visit the Hales (who had been up for July 4th), and watch their daughter Kenzie in her first play. She was great, and enjoyed it so much that she was in a fall production as well. Later in July we camped with the Manchester family at Otsego Lake State Park. Ben had to work, so it was just me with the girls for 4 nights. Exhausting! I really don’t have any pictures of that week, just because my hands were so busy with other things. We had a fabulous time nevertheless and hope to make it an annual tradition. The kids are big enough now that they were allowed to roam the campground and find friends – they loved it!
We rolled right from our camping trip to the McKinney family reunion, the first weekend in August. We hosted it in TC, and Beth and Amy came up for the occasion. The, toward the end of August, Ben’s parents visited us too. Bob was still recovering, but was so much stronger and really enjoyed the time with the kids.
On Labor Day weekend, a big wind storm blew in, the air temperature dropped and the lake temperature plummeted about 40 degrees. Good bye summer! School started – Rachel in 2nd grade and Fiona in her second year of 3 year old preschool. The previous year, Rachel had loved school and Fiona was not so wild about it. This year, it was the opposite. Rachel, for the first time in her life, hated school! Apparently, the fun and games are over in second grade! Her teacher this year is very, very good, and runs a very disciplined classroom. It took Rachel a few weeks to get used to her teacher’s style. Also, Rachel’s reading ability was really not up to the task. So she’s been working very hard with reading specialists and a tutor, and her work is definitely looking excellent. It was a real struggle in the beginning, but she is consistently bringing home stars, smiley faces and A plusses. We are very proud of her and how hard she has worked to turn things around. Hooray for Rachel!
Halloween was super fun. My dad joined us for the party, as did my mom, her partner, and her partner’s mom. And Barkley the dog, of course! Matilda wore the same bumblebee costume Rachel and Fiona had worn on their first Halloweens. Rachel was a vampire (I actually made a cape for her on my sewing machine! I know, go figure…) and Fiona was a princess (not a Disney princess – I haven’t fallen that far from my principles! No, we’re talking garden variety fancy dress – Easter, Christmas and the like. I pick them up for next to nothing at Goodwill and then let her wear them to death.). Actually, Fiona has been a princess everyday for several months – she’s in that fancy dress phase. It’s getting kind of old by now, but I’m trying to go with it. She even wears dresses to bed. It can just be a little frustrating, since these phases always seem to happen right after you buy a bunch of really cute back-to-school clothes and then they won’t wear them because they aren’t a princess dress. I guess that’s what I get for letting them dress themselves. Whoever wrote that chapter about fostering independence by letting them choose their own clothes in the Little Kid Manual didn’t have girls! I’m pretty sure the Little Kid Manual was written by someone who has no children, but that is another post entirely.
Back on topic… At Thanksgiving we all piled back into the car and headed to Oklahoma again. And once again had a great time. The girls get to ride horses (which Rachel loves and Fiona endures), and this time we went to the zoo. The weather was unseasonably warm during the first part of our visit, so we got a lot of good quality time outside, at parks, the barn, the zoo and so on. We returned in time to begin preparations for Rachel and Fiona’s birthday on December 3rd. Each of them had a separate party on the day in question, in addition to the cupcakes and such I felt obliged to send to school with each of them. And, to top it all off, Ben selected that week (OK, it was the only one available, but still…) to surgically end our childbearing years. What a stressful week! I think next year we’ll go somewhere else instead. At least, I know I will be going somewhere!!!
The day after the girls’ birthday, Mom, Linda and Gramma Gramma (Linda’s mom) came down for the annual Victorian Sleighbell Festival and Parade in Manistee, as well as to celebrate with Rachel and Fiona’s. While they went to the parade, Ben and I escorted Matilda to the ER for her first ever hospital visit. Poor little thing, she touched our wood burning stove and burned her little hand. She was fine, thought nothing of it, and the burns healed in no time. She really enjoyed flirting with the hospital staff and they put a funny bandage on her hand, which kept her well entertained. Needless to say, our woodstove now has a cage around it.
I hate this @&!% BOW! Pictures for Christmas cards did not go so well...
We stayed in Michigan for Christmas, which was so magical. We had Christmas morning at our house, and then went on to my mom’s for a few days. Uncle Dan was with us, and both Rachel and Fiona felt that getting to spend time with him was the high point of their holiday. We missed the family that we could not be with, and that was the only hard part about the holidays. We rang in 2011 with a little party in the living room. Fiona and Rachel stayed up to watch the ball drop, and we played games, ate popcorn and watched a movie all snuggled on the couch. In a few years, Matilda will be able to stay up and what fun it will be then.
I always love to make New Year’s resolutions, and I’m pretty good at keeping them. We’ll see how it goes, but I hope to a) take more pictures of my kids, and b) blog regularly. Wish me luck and stay tuned!
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Words of Wisdom
Last weekend, we went with friends to a minor league baseball game. It was really fun, there were a jillion little kids there so no one noticed that ours were running up and down the steps and rough-housing with each other because all the kids were. After the game (and the girls somehow made it until the end) they had a fireworks show. It was Fiona's first time, and she was completely mesmerized. Overall, we had the time of our lives.
Anyway, at one point Rachel had to use the little girls’ room, so we went downstairs, waited in a long line and eventually got into an open stall. It wasn’t bad, as far as baseball stadium bathrooms go, but Rachel was not impressed. She said, “Mom, this bathroom is ewey.” I agreed but, being a practical person, I replied, “Well, look on the bright side, at least it’s not an outhouse.” Rachel considered this (while still perched on the toilet) and very gravely said, “Yeah, I don’t like outhouses, ‘cuz if you fall in, you have to know how to swim…”
And here's a picture of Rachel, doing her homework on (yes, that's exactly where it looks like she is) the kitchen counter...
Monday, April 20, 2009
Back from OKC and into the big girl bed
We are back in the beltway after our trip to OKC. We had a fabulous time there, as always. Rachel and Fiona's grandparents (these are Ben's parents) are truly lovely, kind, and generous people, and the girls and I just relax and settle in to everyday life while there. Their grandad was struggling with serious back problems, but he has since had surgery and seems to be doing really well. Thank goodness!
While in OKC we spent a lot of time with family, we went to the zoo, rode horses, got cowgirl boots, saw Gramps and Nana (that was a big day!), and had a visit from the Easter bunny. Fiona is still talking about this, and we are still enjoying the proceeds of said visit. The weather was unpleasant much of the time - windy and cold - but the one hot day we had lead to wildfire storms that made national news. They passed just a few miles from us, and caused a lot of worry. Not to mention damage and heartbreak for the people actually impacted by them. Oh yeah, and days and days and days of local press coverage...
While there, Fiona decided to give up her cherished privacy of her own bed (for a day or two it looked like the diapers might be a thing of the past too, but no, one thing at a time), and started climbing out of the pack-n-play and into bed with Rachel and me. What a crowd! I ended up sleeping at the end of the bed for several nights - I think I'm a few inches shorter than I was before we left!
So I called Ben and had him take the crib down and put up the big girl bed for Fiona. The shift is going pretty well, although Fiona insists on lying on my tummy (mine, not hers, just to emphasize) to fall asleep. This has mixed results, as I get really impatient with a 30+ lb. child flopping around on me like a big fish. Rachel also is not a big fan of this new plan as it ends her 6 year reign as the sole recipient of my bed-time attentions. See, time was, I could read a book or two to Fiona and plunk her in her crib. She'd flip through a book and roll over and drop off to sleep. I would then read to Rachel and lie down *next to* her while she fell gently to sleep. So easy. Sigh...
Rachel was supposed to take a walking field trip to the book store with her class today, but it is pouring down rain so I'm guessing they cancelled that trip. Ahhhh, I get to spend the afternoon with two kids who have been cooped up all day. Lucky me!!
While in OKC we spent a lot of time with family, we went to the zoo, rode horses, got cowgirl boots, saw Gramps and Nana (that was a big day!), and had a visit from the Easter bunny. Fiona is still talking about this, and we are still enjoying the proceeds of said visit. The weather was unpleasant much of the time - windy and cold - but the one hot day we had lead to wildfire storms that made national news. They passed just a few miles from us, and caused a lot of worry. Not to mention damage and heartbreak for the people actually impacted by them. Oh yeah, and days and days and days of local press coverage...
While there, Fiona decided to give up her cherished privacy of her own bed (for a day or two it looked like the diapers might be a thing of the past too, but no, one thing at a time), and started climbing out of the pack-n-play and into bed with Rachel and me. What a crowd! I ended up sleeping at the end of the bed for several nights - I think I'm a few inches shorter than I was before we left!
So I called Ben and had him take the crib down and put up the big girl bed for Fiona. The shift is going pretty well, although Fiona insists on lying on my tummy (mine, not hers, just to emphasize) to fall asleep. This has mixed results, as I get really impatient with a 30+ lb. child flopping around on me like a big fish. Rachel also is not a big fan of this new plan as it ends her 6 year reign as the sole recipient of my bed-time attentions. See, time was, I could read a book or two to Fiona and plunk her in her crib. She'd flip through a book and roll over and drop off to sleep. I would then read to Rachel and lie down *next to* her while she fell gently to sleep. So easy. Sigh...
Rachel was supposed to take a walking field trip to the book store with her class today, but it is pouring down rain so I'm guessing they cancelled that trip. Ahhhh, I get to spend the afternoon with two kids who have been cooped up all day. Lucky me!!
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