Myra and Stella Markowski High, abridged

My Valentines

2012-02-14T19:58:00.001-08:00

The only thing I really like about Valentine’s Day is dressing my kids up as walking Valentines. Myra threw a fit this morning because she wanted to wear her My Little Pony t-shirt but I persevered.

This picture was taken after school. Shocking that neither of them had messed up their clothes on a day that frosting cookies were served.

Myra was into bribes so I managed to score a couple cute pictures of her.

Stella, not so much. She’s been in a mood for days. She was sick with a fever and cold last week. Though she was fine when the fever was present, the minute it broke she turned into evil two year old. Tantrums are as necessary to her existence as water and oxygen.

The girls did Valentines at school.

We also got them gifts. Myra got ponies and Stella got a racecar ramp. Turns out we should have swapped those gifts.

Happy Valentine’s Day from my pretty Valentines.

Cirque du Soleil Dralion

2012-02-12T21:15:00.001-08:00

We took Myra to see her first Cirque du Soliel. It was kind of a family event and kind of a date night. Chris, Ciera and I went with Myra but Elyas and his parents also came alone. So it was like a overly chaperoned date night for Myra and Elyas.

A date night for two four year olds consists of many more headlocks and knock down hugs than kisses and cuddles.

They did share some skittles and M&Ms though.

Myra even, reluctantly, suffered through a couple photos with one of her chaperones.

All in all, Myra loved the show. She was even sad to see it end. She did get fidgety near the end and did talk some during the show, but overall I think she did great for her age and disposition. She liked the buy that was inside the giant silver ball, the man getting eaten by the dragon and the girl hanging from the blue ribbon the best.

Leslie was kind enough to watch the little sisters while we were out.

Here’s Myra and Elyas giving Leslie a hug for helping to make their fancy date night a success. (Actually, they are trying to pull her over…and, yes, they succeeded.)

Myra’s Photography

2012-02-08T19:45:00.001-08:00

Myra loves taking pictures with my iPhone. Most of her pictures are very amateurish and she has an odd affinity for pictures of her own feet. Yet, it is still cute to see her attempting to get just the right shot. Besides, occasionally she looks better behind the camera than in front of it…

Here’s a sampling of a few of her better shots:

SNOW!

2012-02-05T19:42:00.001-08:00

Did you hear Denver got hit with two feet of snow? Well, we did. It was enough to shut down most of the metro area for Friday, delay Chris’ return flight from San Diego, and make me have to shovel enough snow for the entire winter. We did get some snow time in with the kids. My girls aren’t snow bunnies by any stretch of the word. Stella is fine sitting and playing with snow. She does not like it touching her face at all. Myra likes snow for 30 minutes, tops. We had to force her to go out in the snow on Sunday after she learned that Saturday’s snow excursion caused her to be cold. But a little fun was had by all. We are now ready for the snow to take a hike until next year.

Even Ciera came out in the snow! She had a snowball fight with Natalie and Ken. It looked painful.

This is as excited as Stella looked the entire time.

Stella’s butterfly imitation

2012-02-05T19:41:00.001-08:00

Stella got really into the butterflies at the Butterfly Pavilion this year. Here she is shouting “butterfly” and doing her butterfly impression.

Stella Days

2012-02-01T19:40:00.001-08:00

Just as we did with Myra when she was a toddler, we keep Stella home two workdays a week. Chris takes her on Fridays and I have her on Wednesdays. It’s nice to have some one-on-one time with the second child as it would be a rarity if she went to school five days a week.

This Wednesday, Stella gave me a bit of extra quality time with her by refusing to nap for the day.

We went outside and played with sidewalk chalk. This didn’t really keep her attention long. Instead, she preferred carrying the chalk to different locations in the yard and then putting it all back in its original location. She likes to do this with all her plates, spoons, bowls and forks too.

She sometimes used this bucket to carry her chalk. Sometimes she gathered it all in an armload, pressing it against her sweater.

Aunt Katie knitted this sweater. I mentioned that to Stella a couple weeks ago, and, when she picked the sweater out to wear today, she said, “ Kaky Coke!” Meaning “Katie’s Coat.”

Because, even though she makes a K sound for T sounds, she’s just smart like that.

17 Years Ago…

2012-01-29T19:26:00.001-08:00

17 years ago. Young, thin, with lots and lots (maybe too much) hair. Teenage boys with not a care in the world (well, except for Chris. He had ferrets.)

17 years later. DADS.

(All the big smiles are for those people promised chocolate cake immediately following the picture.)

Stella’s Updo

2012-01-29T19:25:00.001-08:00

Stella got her hands on one of the containers where I store hair clips. Stella is obsessed with accessories. She will wear thirty bracelets, decorate herself in endless stickers and wear socks on her hands. I once had to let her try on about 15 hats in a clothing store to keep her from throwing a tantrum. Well, once she saw all those hair clips and ties, there was no turning back. She did not stop handing me hair accessories and saying “More hair” until the container was empty.

She was one proud little girl.

She was also Snow White for the evening.

I actually ran out of places to put hair ties and had to start sitting on some of them when she wasn’t paying attention.

Happy 9th Birthday Mighty Miles High Markowski!

2012-01-24T19:28:00.001-08:00

Today was my first baby’s 9th birthday. Despite all the shedding, smelliness and inappropriate chewing and licking, we couldn’t love him more than the day we brought him home. Here’s to the last 9 precious years of pugness:

2003:

2004:

2005:

2006:

2007:

2008:

2009:

2010:

2011:

2012 with his birthday treat:

Nice Day for Everyone (except the pigeon)

2012-01-22T19:20:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, we had nice weather and a tantrum free afternoon in Boulder with John, Aya and Zia. We even went down to Boulder during nap time and had a mostly pleasant lunch experience. The only one that screamed was me (after Stella dumped over a container of oily dressing that nearly landed in our laps).

After lunch, the girls each got a toy. Myra got a leopard to add to her animal collection and Stella got Silly Bands. She loves bracelets and proudly placed each bracelet on her wrist one by one.

As we were waiting at a cross walk, this hawk swooped within inches of Chris’ head. He could feel breeze put off by the hawk’s wings on his face. As you can see, the hawk had proudly claimed a pigeon as his afternoon feast.

Most people found the hawk to be more interesting than the street performers and a crowd formed around the tree to gawk. Unfortunately for the hawk’s pocket book, he refused to devour his prey in order to appease his audience and people slowly disbanded.

Myra built him a nest though I doubt he will ever use it.

Stella had no interest in the hawk or pigeon but did manage to find a rock in this massive rock garden. Way to go Stella!

Myra’s all too frequent picture face.

Unsupervised kids with Dirt in the Kitchen

2012-01-22T19:19:00.001-08:00

Yes, we gave the girls three large containers of moon sand (essentially dirt) to play with in the kitchen and then decided not to supervise their play. It was a great idea for the hour it kept them busy and an absolute horrible idea for the hour it took us to clean it up.

Yes, that’s a sharpened pencil in Stella’s hand.

Clean up required:

1. Three sweeps of the floor.

2. One vacuum.

3. One mop job.

4. Two pairs of hosed down shoes.

Dirt cake she insisted on trying to feed to Miles. No, he did not eat it.

5. Two showers.

6. Several washed toys.

7. Several “works of art” in the trash.

8. One injury requiring a bandaid (I wacked my broom into the pot rack, causing a pan to fall down onto my hand).

Nevermind the knives. WTH is a shoe doing on the table?

9. One dessert given without having finished dinner (attempted to keep Stella out of kitchen).

10. One highchair torn apart and washed (guess we should have put a bib on her to eat that Jello…)

11. Unburying “buried alive” baby doll in carseat.

See? I wasn’t kidding when I said we weren’t watching them at all. We might as well have left them home alone.

School Blues

2012-01-18T19:31:00.001-08:00

Today, Myra’s teacher told me that Myra faked not feeling well both today and yesterday to get out of activities. Over the last couple weeks, she has been complaining that school is “boring” and “there are too many kids.” When I ask her who why it’s boring, she can’t really explain why. A few times she said it was too cold to play outside or that she doesn’t like having to wait for activities. Every day, she tries to come up with a reason to stay home or asks how many more days until it’s not a school day. She claims Sophie is her only friend and she doesn’t like anyone else.

Then on the other hand, she gets really excited as soon as she gets to school. She never cries or carries on about going to school like I see some of the kids do. After school, she’s full of stories about what they did all day and wants to show me around her room so I can see the different centers and art projects.

Her teacher says she plays with Sophie more than the other kids but does play with other girls (not so much the boys which is odd as most Myra’s stories are about the boys). Her teacher says she has been participating a lot in circle time and does well in all the centers. They don’t get the impression she is bored or unhappy in anyway.

In short, I have no clue what’s going on with her. Is she just trying to get attention? Is this just the common age to start disliking school? Is she just a negative person (this wouldn’t come as a shock considering her parents)?

Vocabulary

2012-01-15T19:39:00.001-08:00

Stella’s vocabulary is growing in leaps and bounds. She’s becoming quite skilled at stringing words together and can say several sentences (admittedly, I doubt many people besides me and Chris could understand her sentences). Here’s a few examples of things she says:

“Draw daddy.” “I want cookie.” “Mama put coat (on).” “Gloves/shoes/hat/sock on!” “Doggie outside.” “Window in car.” “Dinner in bowl.” “Bye-bye doggie/pony/car/mama/etc.” “Baby in lap.” “baby go night'-night.” “Cookie bucket!” “Mama/dada walk.” Here’s a couple videos of her talking:

This video is a decent representation of Stella talking. She says “I want picture dada.” meaning Daddy draw pictures. She also says “A doggie.” “I want picture doggie.” “I OR Da drew duck!” “That’s a eye.”

Stella loves My Little Pony because Myra loves My Little Pony. She’s picked up on the name of Myra’s least favorite pony “Pinkie Pie.” She’s either saying “more Pinkie Pie” or “Myra Pinkie Pie.”

Milestone Alert! Myra said her first swear word

2012-01-11T19:34:00.001-08:00

Myra has officially uttered her first cuss word. Today was actually the second time she said it but I forgot after the first time. I am shocked about so many different things: 1. That she just now swore. I mean, I have absolutely no cuss filter. How can she just be picking up on these words now?? 2. Her choice of words. She said “hell” as in “What the hell.” I rarely, if ever say “hell.” It doesn’t rank anywhere near my top five most used cuss words. 3. That she’d say “What the hell” to express her disgust of lasagna for dinner. She usually loves lasagna!

I asked her where she heard “the word.” She initially claimed not to remember. Then she said a girl at school. When I pressed for the girl’s name, she said it was a boy who said it. Then she blamed Peyton, a boy she blames often for things. In short, I think she’s lying.

Regardless, she clearly didn’t learn it from me and, I must admit, I am a little saddened. I mean, even Ciera picked up her first swear word from me! Does Myra just not listen to me or does she think the words I use are “uncool” because I’m her mother.

(I know I don’t normally recolor pics but Myra’s skin is looking rough and the black and white effect kind of covers it up…)

Stella saying “vegetable”

2012-01-08T19:08:00.001-08:00

Stella started saying “vegetable” tonight. I was trying to get her to say “vegetable for dinner” but she was a little confused by that. She kind of says it at the end. After dinner, she found a toy cupcake and started calling it “vegetable.” Guess she now thinks all food is called vegetable.

Trying to catch lice and other fun at the Children's Museum

2012-01-08T18:59:00.001-08:00

We went to the WOW Museum late in the day on Saturday and, WOW, was it crowded. Lots of people and the end of the day has to be the best time to stock up on ailments and the such. The girls decided to dive into the play clothes in hopes of lice or pink eye.

A rare genuine smile from Myra.

Stella loved this dog costume but was getting apprehensive at this point. Several kids also liked the dog costume, grabbing and yanking the nose or trying to pull the whole costume off Stella.

Cute Matea in a firefighter hat.

Old tired Chris in a firefighter hat.

My daughter has the most expressive face recently.

Yes, most of them are scowls or yells but still expressive.

Matea and Stella riding the car. Stella restarted the car at least 5 times and, by the third ride, insisted on riding in the car standing up.

Stella’s Kazoo Skills

2012-01-04T19:18:00.001-08:00

After Myra almost kicks her at the end of the video, I turned off the camera and told Myra to go in a time out. Thinking she was being cute, she said “no” with a big smile on her face and jumped into the armchair, at which point she promptly fell out of the chair and onto to her face, cutting her lip open. Sigh.

What else we did in Michigan.

2012-01-02T19:30:00.001-08:00

Besides playing with the new kitten, Harriet, we did other things in Michigan.

We did lots and lots of playing at Auntie Katie’s house.

We saw some friends (Stella made Josh an animal pile which I am sure the Barnes and Nobles team appreciated).

Some of those friends had babies.

And, though I don’t want more babies, I sure do like holding someone else’s baby for brief periods of time.

We went to a party in which it was required we dress like crap. Since our wardrobes are only full of the best clothing, we were forced to purchase new clothes for the occasion.

We went to the Children’s Museum.

And the Henry Ford museum (no idea who that other kid is but she would not leave Stella’s side).

And we got some all around…

family time…

which involved a lot of book reading.

(Oh, and played with ponies. Who doesn’t love a pony?)

Fifth Christmas on New Years Day

2012-01-01T19:26:00.001-08:00

As per usual, we celebrated Christmas in Michigan. Christmas Day always consists of four Christmas present sessions: 1. First thing in the morning with Santa gifts and presents from the kids’ parents 2. After breakfast, gifts from Colin and Alec’s Grandma Cindy 3. In the afternoon, presents from Grandma Jeanne and Ted 4. Stockings after dinner. It makes for a full day of eating, presents, playing and cleaning up. Today, we celebrated our final Christmas at home with Ciera, unwrapping a few other gifts we didn’t lug to Michigan and gifts from Grandma Karan and Grandpa John and Grandma Trish.

A Christmas miracle. Four kids looking at the camera and smiling (albeit, some of those smiles are a bit forced).

The extra special “Santa” gift was Harriet the kitten. Cousins Colin and Alec were given Harriet a couple weeks prior to Christmas since Santa’s elves were too busy online shopping at Toys R Us, Target and Walmart to take care of a kitten. Colin and Myra spent the entire week fighting over who got to hold Harriet.

Stella’s prized gift was a baby doll from Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Ted. Stella would take in every orphaned plastic baby in the world but we just don’t have enough fake bottles and pretend grapes.

It’s important to note that this Christmas was actually snow-free and warm enough for a trip to the park. Unheard of!

Which brings us to today, our last Christmas! Ciera loved her wooden cookies (actually, she loved all her checks, cash and gift cards. The wooden cookies were ultimately a disappointment.

Thanks to all our family who made sure our girls were properly spoiled this Christmas.

Butterfly Pavilion Living Lights

2011-12-21T19:14:00.001-08:00

Last Wednesday night, we took the girls to the Living Lights display at the Butterfly Pavilion. It’s basically a Christmas Lights display with giant glowing insects thrown in. Myra decided she was a afraid of the dark so it took some coaxing to get her to go through the display. Luckily, Elyas was there to help encourage her. Stella was super tired and pretty much just lounged in her stroller. I did pick her up for one picture just to prove she was there. And, it’s fun to see the lights change my kids different colors.

A Moment for Stella

2011-12-18T19:13:00.001-08:00

It seems that Myra has been getting the picture spotlight recently so here are a few recent of Stella.

Stella loves bracelets and stickers. She confuses hair ties for bracelets and we will often find she has a hair tie tightly wrapped around her wrist when she gets up in the morning.

She currently loves playing pretend like Myra. She roars like a lion, meows like a cat and barks like a dog. She is constantly passing out magic dust.

She is insanely jealous. She will stomp her feet impatiently if Chris and I hug or kiss and MUST be where Myra is if that place is anywhere near me or Chris.

She loves music and taps her foot to the beat whenever she hears any song.

Gingerbread House

2011-12-18T18:59:00.001-08:00

Myra was nostalgic for last year’s gingerbread making experience so we decided to do another one this year, inviting Elyas and Sophie over to help decorate. We (meaning Chris) also made some sugar cookies for decorating. I am certain there was more decoration eating than decorating but it was still pretty fun.

Myra got to use a knife! She was psyched. After handing butter knife out to Elyas and Sophie, I handed one to Myra and she said, “Mom, I’m not allowed to use a knife!”

House decorating (and decoration eating) time.

The finished product. Looks like Sophie and Elyas were more impressed with their handiwork than Myra was.

Immediately after making the house, we made them destroy it. Seriously, who wants to have gingerbread house sitting on their kitchen table for 3 weeks?

They all tried the gingerbread…some of them liking it more than others…

And simply because I’ve been doing more pics of Myra than Stella recently, here’s a couple ones of Stella.

4 Year Checkup

2011-12-15T20:26:00.001-08:00

I’ve determined it is impossible for me to adequately explain how horrible Myra was at her 4 year doctor’s appointment. It just does not translate into a story. You truly had to be there to fully understand how terrible Myra behaved. So, I’ve decided to list out a top ten list. Here are the top ten ways to tell that your child’s doctor’s appointment was absolute hell.

1. Your usually very articulate child spends the first ten minutes of the appointment smacking you on the head and saying “Eh-Ah! Eh-Ah!” at the top of their lungs to the point you don’t hear anything the doctor says.

2. When asked to perform simple tasks that most kids would love to show off with (writing name, drawing picture, leaping like a frog, standing on one foot), your child throws her head in her lap and exclaims “It’s too hard!” as if you just asked her to dance a Tango while singing the alphabet backwards to the tune of “Sweet Chariot.”

3. Your child promptly covers her mouth, ears, eyes and nose when the doctor tries to examine said body parts. When asked to say “Ah,” your kid snaps “NO. I’m not doing anything for you.”

4. You are pretty sure your child broke at least one medical instrument that she grabbed out of the doctor’s hands. Doctor actually briefly loses composure and exclaims, “Oh no! Not that one! It’s brand new.”

5. When made to lie down between your lap and the doctor’s lap, your child repeatedly kicks the doctor in the boob. Unable to stop your kid’s kicking foot, you look at doctor in awe as she continues to carry on conversation, never once flinching at your child’s repeated jabs to her breast. You wonder if her boob is even real.

6. Unable to yell or smack your kid in the doctor’s presence, you resort to snapping at the doctor. (I mean, really, I understand the value of a sticker chart but, my god doc, stop droning on and on about it!)

7. At the end of the appointment, you inform your child that she will not be getting a sticker upon leaving the office. Child throws self on floor in a massive tantrum. Doctor is forced to step over your kid to exit the room.

8. When you peel your kid off the floor, you see a massive pool of salvia on the floor, meaning your child just licked up a day’s worth of viruses. You realize you will actually have to return to the doctor, possibly sooner than later.

9. As you are trying to exit the office, the doctor hands you the following as reading material (yeah… I’m proud…):

10. After dropping child back off at daycare, you call spouse to suggest dropping child off in the woods to be raised by wolves. Several names are used to describe your child but non of which could actually be said in front of child.

SOO, Myra’s perfectly healthy, weighing in at 32.2 pounds and 39.5 inches. They project her to be 5 ft 4 inches as an adult.

School Holiday Concert

2011-12-14T20:13:00.001-08:00

Today the girls had their Holiday Concert at school. It was your pretty typical concert. Lots of noise, some crying, lots of parents laughing at noisy and crying kids. Stella’s class actually performed 4 songs and by “performed” I mean Stella’s class watched their teacher perform 4 songs. Myra’s class did 5 songs. Myra did participate but looked horribly nervous and seems to work her mouth in a way that looks more like lip syncing than actual singing.

At the end of the concert, Santa showed up in his old, beaten up Accord with license plate SANTAICU and handicap sticker. He was very sweet and loved Myra’s name. In fact, he shared with me that Mrs’ Claus’ name is actually Myra but at age 13 she started going by “Mikki.” I did not torture Stella with Santa this time around. She appreciated that.

Here is a portion of Myra’s performance:

So, as you can see by the video, 3 and 4 year old kids are just plan obnoxious. It’s not just my kid. This is Myra’s reaction to the boy screaming behind her.

And a portion of my performance as Stella’s puppet master:

Look at Stella’s face and you will understand why she is sitting on my lap instead of sitting with all her friends. She crumbled the second she saw us. Parents were not allowed to remove their kids from the performance but were welcome to join them if crying ensued. Besides, I always love being up on stage.

Busy Weekend

2011-12-11T19:12:00.001-08:00

This was a busy weekend. I don’t know if it was actually any busier than a typical weekend but it definitely felt like it.

After ballet on Saturday, we did a playdate at Avery and Teagan’s house. Notice Stella is not sitting with her big sister? As per usual, she could not handle a group shot and is sitting on my lap.

Poor Elyas cut stuck playing with two girls pretending to be kitties, with extremely loud, high pitched meows.

Little mamas and teenagers…

In the afternoon, we went to SIobhan’s birthday party.

At a pottery place! It was a bit of a nerve wrecking experience but the kids stayed surprisingly calm through most of the party. But, near the end, they started to get a tad hyper and even I was contemplating a glass of wine.

In the evening, we attended Natalie’s companies holiday party. Yes, that sounds odd. But, technically, since we are house hunting, we are considered clients and can go to the party legitimately. AND, to note, it was the FIRST time ever that we hired a sitter for our girls.

To make it extra fun, it was at the Wings Over the Rockies Museum.

On Sunday, we went to John and Aya’s house to see their house addition.

Those were the highlights but we also did shopping and closet cleaning. I don’t have pictures of those things. This was a super boring post but cut me some slack. It was a busy weekend!

Bangs

2011-12-07T19:51:00.001-08:00

On Sunday, I did two things I thought I’d never do as a parent.

1. Cut my own child’s hair.

2. Give my child bangs.

In my defense, both the cutting and bangs are extremely subtle. And, I don’t think she is ready for a professional haircut. Did you see her with Santa? He was a stranger trying to give her candy and toys. Could you imagine her with someone trying to take something away from her??

Stella’s haircut was just one quick snip:

Before:

During:

After:

Santa!

2011-12-04T19:42:00.001-08:00

This year, we went to see Santa at a local garden center. It was the perfect place to see the big guy in red. Absolutely no crowds or lines. We could take as many pictures as we wanted and the garden center staff also took pictures and printed them out for us. Santa wasn’t the best portrait of Santa that I’ve ever seen, but for a 1 and 4 year old, he was good enough. Myra later said she liked his beard best of all.

Myra, who was naughty, bossy and whiny all morning, was nervous to sit on Santa’s lap, probably fearing we would blow her cover of sweet little girl in exchange for the truth. She decided to look around the garden center (a place we visit every summer and Myra loves. We’ve been known to spend over an hour in that shop). Elyas and Matea met us at the garden center. Once they arrived, Myra quickly gained the courage to sit on Santa’s knee, provided Elyas sat on the other knee.

Myra stood her ground and asked Santa for the Pinkie Pie and Princess Luna My Little Pony set she’s been eyeing for weeks. Elyas asked for an Alien. Then, Myra rambled on about all the ponies she received for her birthday.

Stella, on the other hand, saw nothing charming about St. Nick. I am sure it didn’t help that, in response to her cry face, Santa laughed and said, “Girl, now that is a face for YouTube!” Luckily, I thought it was pretty funny…

People, don’t feel sorry for her! She has a cookie.

And there was a puppy in the store. (Look at Stella’s glove. That’s mine. She loves herself some mittens).

Candy, cookies, puppy, Santa and fun merchandise to play with. Who wouldn’t smile at that??

Super Hero Birthday Bash

2011-12-04T19:09:00.001-08:00

On Saturday, Myra and Elyas once again celebrated their birthdays together with a super hero themed birthday party at a local gymnastics center. The gymnastics center sets up parties with three huge bouncy houses and free roam of all the trampolines, foam pits, balance beams, rope swings, etc.

And my kids…

loved it.

I actually lost track of them several times. And it is rare for my girls to be independent.

Particularly Stella. But, I actually saw complete strangers picking Stella up and putting her on the slides (people that worked there…but still strangers to Stella).

She jumped on the trampoline!

The cookie cake.

Martha and I made capes for all 18 party kids. In retrospect, I don’t know if we would do it again but they were a hit at the party (I’m sure they fell apart by the time the kids actually got in the car but whatever).

I cannot believe it has been 4 years to the day of this post that Myra and Elyas met for the first time. Myra 1 week and Elyas 1 day old.

Even though, as they get older, their interests have moved them in a little bit of different directions, these two still love each other so much. They get super excited whenever they see each other and even have a special hug and kiss they give each other. Just today, Myra wouldn’t get on Santa’s lap until Elyas came to the store to sit on his lap with her.

Tree Trimming

2011-11-30T19:32:00.001-08:00

It’s that time of year again. We pulled the ole fake, lead painted tree out of the garage and squeezed it into the corner of the living room. To make it a bit more festive, we slapped tons of mismatched ornaments all over the tree and turned on the lights. From a distance, it looks beautiful.

Stella was much more into the idea of ornaments this year but seems to think they are for taking off the tree as opposed to putting on the tree. Myra liked looking through all the ornaments but was quite confident enough to place them on the branches. So, once again, Ciera did the majority of the decorating.

After decorating, the little girls wanted to touch the star on top of the tree.

Then I wanted to get a picture of the three girls in front of the tree. I think it went well. To put Stella at ease (a.k.a. to keep her from crawling away), we suggested Myra hug Stella. But Stella turned out to be a little too strong resulting in Myra kind of falling over on top of her. I think it’s exactly what I wanted in a picture.

How Myra spent her 4th Birthday

2011-11-27T19:07:00.001-08:00

After an initially rough start to the day, (tantrum about not getting to watch Cat in the Hat…I know, I know. It was her birthday! But we had to get to ballet.) we had a very nice day on Myra’s birthday.

At ballet…

Myra got to hand out the stickers she brought at the end of class. Usually the instructor’s job, this was a big deal for a little lady:

Then we opened presents at home:

Someone had a hard time with the realization that it wasn’t her birthday:

She got to FaceTime with her cousins whom she adores. On Thanksgiving, I asked her what she is thankful for and she responded “My cousins.”

Then, we had a play date with Myra’s two best friends. She got a couple more gifts which they all opened together:

And had the cake we made and poorly decorated (Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark):

Luckily, it tasted okay:

She ended the big day snuggling up with her favorite kitty. She loves him so much and he has become quite fond of her in return:

All in all, a good 4th birthday. And there is still cupcakes for school tomorrow and a birthday party next weekend!

Myra Moo is 4 years old

2011-11-26T13:34:00.001-08:00

It’s hard to believe that only four years ago, Myra was just a tiny, furry, cuddling lump of baby. The last four years have been a fun (and often obviously painful) road watching her grow. At four, I love nothing more than having a conversation with her. She is curious, funny and imaginative. I am endlessly surprised by the things that come out of her mouth.

The 3 to 4 year was a rough one for Myra. Here’s a few of her obstacles for the year:

1. Broken arm leading to surgery, pins and 6 weeks in a cast that put a decent damper on her beach vacation.

2. Ear wax so impacted that she temporarily lost hearing in one ear and had to go under anesthesia to have her ears cleaned out.

3. Six fillings requiring another “surgical” procedure.

4. Moving daycares mid-summer and then having her favorite teacher quit three months into the school year.

5. She fell off a horse.

6. She almost drowned at the rec center pool.

7. She jabbed her throat with a plastic magic wand, fell off multiple sets of stairs and whacked her head on countless table corners.

Though the obstacles brought with it tantrums that seem more animalistic than human, the last year was also a huge growth year for our little girl. At four, here’s just a few of the reasons we love her so:

1. Every night, Myra insists on giving Stella her dessert. She loves to show Stella off to her friends and to make her baby sister laugh. She told me the other day, “It’s fun to hold Stella’s hand.”

2. Myra sets herself apart by loving things other than princesses and babies. She is passionate about super heroes (mostly girls), My Little Pony, Lion King and horses.

3. There is nothing more fun than listening to Myra play pretend with her toys. She can get lost in her pretend land for hours.

4. You can carry on a great conversation with Myra. She is full of questions about everything she sees and hears. She will even occasionally ask about our work and friends.

5. Myra is very generous with her friends. She loves to let them borrow toys. The first thing she always says when she gets a new toys is “I will have so-and-so over. They would love to play with this toy!”

Happy birthday to our sometimes sweet, sometimes sassy, always silly, gorgeous girl. Four years ago you changed our lives and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

(Current weight and height: 31.8 pounds (22nd %ile) and 39.5 inches (43rd %ile).

Sweet baby Myra, 4 years ago.

And not-so-sweet Myra four years to the minute from her birth. 8:55 am.

Thanksgiving with Grandpa John and Grandma Trisha

2011-11-25T20:49:00.001-08:00

This Thanksgiving, we were able to spend the week with Grandpa John and Grandma T who drove in from Texas. We were lucky in the fact that the weather was pretty nice all week. They were unlucky in the fact that snow is predicted for their drive home…sorry guys.

The girls had a great time with their visit. Grandpa definitely took some abuse from Myra – both physically and mentally (still sorry about her poor present attitude…)

He pushed her bike all the way to and from the park ((yes, she has training wheels. She’s just terrified of falling off the bike and doesn’t steer very well).

And, he let her stomp, jump and push on him for extended periods of time.

In true Stella form, she took a little while to warm up to Grandma and Grandpa but, once she did, she was quite pleased to be entertained by them.

Grandma did slide races, read books, played games and listened to endless My Little Pony chatter.

Chris cooked a good portion of Thanksgiving dinner. The rest was prepared by Natalie and Ken who once again hosted us for the holiday.

Stella sat (jumped, crawled, walked and slid) at the grown up table.

While the big girls got to play and eat their dinner later (it is exhausting yelling at them all the way through dinner. It’s easier to yell at them to eat post dinner).

Thanks for visiting Grandpa John and Grandma T! It made for a great holiday week.

To be thankful for

2011-11-23T20:10:00.001-08:00

I don’t typically do a Thanksgiving “thankful” post. I am not a huge fan of the holiday. It doesn’t have costumes or presents or fireworks. It’s just a meal and most of us eat those two or three times a day.

But, this year, I was feeling motivated to write a “thankful” post. Of course, I’m thankful for my children, husband, family, job and my children’s extensive Pediped collection. These are the things that make me who I am. But, what I wanted to write about was my friends. Particularly the ones that have really been there for us over the years.

Choosing to live away from family isn’t an easy choice. It can be hard on us, our families and the kids (mostly Myra who asks about her cousins several times a week). Luckily, we have some friends that make being far from family a little easier.

All our friends in here are great (Ashley and Dan watching our pug, John and Aya being force to entertain Myra on every visit, etc) but, over the years, Martha, Natalie and Leslie have truly gone above and beyond in our friendships. So this year I’m thankful for:

Martha, Jeff, Elyas and Matea. They’ve loved our girls from the moment they were born, shrugging off the time Myra, as a baby, vomited over every item in their living room, taking care of Myra when Stella was born, doing joint birthdays and always willing to babysit. I hope to capture another million pictures of Myra and Elyas wresting and laughing (until that’s simply inappropriate…)

Natalie, Ken and Sophie. Over the last 4 years, we’ve spent countless holidays together. Our daughters have been mistaken for sisters on more than one occasion. They kept Stella overnight when Stella broke her arm. Ken even stepped up to the plate and babysat all three kids alone while Natalie showed us houses to purchases in her spare time.

And Leslie who has treated our girls as if they were her own nieces. She seeks out occasions to babysit, purchases them thoughtful gifts, plays silly games with them and never misses one of their very dull birthday parties.

So that is my sappy Thanksgiving post. Next year, I plan to be thankful for Starbucks coffee, various ice creams and kid shoes.

Llama’s Day

2011-11-20T21:55:00.001-08:00

For weeks, Myra has been chanting “Llama’s Day, Llama’s Day” all around the house. Turns out, she just can’t say “namaste.” Today, she shared with me all her yoga positions learned at school. Among them are: the octopus, the rocking horse, the lizard, the “ballcano” (volcano), the butterfly, the cow, the cat, etc. It’s quite the animal centric yoga routine.

The butterfly. She does both an arm flutter and leg flutter:

The volcano. This is a big volcano. There is also a small. Difference cannot be notice by the naked eye:

The Octopus. The Octopus is done both in a seated position and on one’s side:

The Rocking Horse. To note, “It is not easy!”:

Christmas Pageant Preview

2011-11-16T19:55:00.001-08:00

Myra’s class has been diligently practicing for the Holiday Concert since before Halloween. I appreciate their dedication. After all, kids only sing Christmas carols in front of a room full of parents but once a year. They better get it right. Myra has been practicing her songs both at school and at home, sometimes to the point of us wanting to tape her mouth shut. So, here is Myra’s Christmas Pageant Preview (and, I cannot wait to see Stella cry on stage with all her peers doing the same!):

M-Y-R-A

2011-11-13T20:49:00.005-08:00

Myra has been writing her name for a couple month’s now. In the last few weeks, she has started showing interested in learning how to write other letters and learning letter sounds. We have some work to do to get her writing on the lines. (Hear Stella wailing in the background? She’s in a time out).

AND, almost more exciting, she will sit down and color for extended periods of time. I love coloring.

She’s a Danger to Herself.

2011-11-13T20:49:00.003-08:00

We’ve come to accept the fact that Myra is simply dangerous to herself. She injures herself constantly, typically doing stupid things like, well, spinning in a circle to the point of absurd. Climax at the end of the video.

Shortly after this video and a little more spinning, she fell down the stairs. I have to say, the only thing scarier than seeing your child roll down the stairs is hearing it without seeing it. I think this is the second or third time I’ve heard her roll down. Anyway, she’s fine. No injuries to anything other than her pride.

Why she must wear her hair back.

2011-11-13T20:49:00.001-08:00

She didn’t want me to do her hair before nap. After nap…she was desperate for a pony tail.

So, if you’re ever wondering, yes, she does usually sit still and willingly to get her hair done.

Stella’s groove

2011-11-06T19:05:00.001-08:00

I know, I know. You’ve already seen her dance. Whatever. She cracks me up and it’s my blog so I’m posting another Stella dance video.

My favorite fuzzy pictures of the weekend (and a couple regular pics)

2011-11-06T19:00:00.001-08:00

I love how it looks like Miles just blasted through time.

Totally fuzzy but too rare an event to pass by. It’s like snapping a picture of an endangered bird or something.

She found a leaf!

Halloween Recap

2011-10-31T20:13:00.001-07:00

I think Halloween is becoming my favorite holiday. Kids and costumes and candy is so much fun. And the holiday just seems to last forever. But, at the same time, I am happy to see it come to an end. I’m kind of tired of dressing and undressing my kids. On Saturday, I got them dressed a total of 5 times. So, here’s how we spent Halloween weekend in reverse.

Halloween with Sophie and Elyas. Myra is posing just like Wonder Woman poses.

The obnoxiously banged on doors and yelled trick or treat. Myra only fell off one porch.

This is her terrified face. She was afraid of all the flashing lights, spiders, bats, fog lights, etc.

At my work trick or treating. Stella was in heaven. She got a ton of candy, much more than Myra. She also calls her Elmo bucket “Abby” as in “Abby Cadabby.”

Halloween event at Ciera’s school. Matea and Stella Supergirls. I think they detect danger in the area.

Elyas and Myra posing. I love this school event. The school neglects to advertise it so there is practically no one there. The kids get to play games and get candy without any lines.

Myra met another Wonder Woman who actually chased Myra down to get a photo.

Barnes and Noble trick or treating a story time. Kind of a bust but at least they got to wear their backup costumes again.

Super Heroes Rock

2011-10-30T19:59:00.001-07:00

Myra had been telling us she wanted to be Wonder Woman for Halloween since early summer after reading a Wonder Woman comic book at Barnes and Noble.

I hardly even looked for a Wonder Woman costume to purchase as I knew they’d all be trashy or cheap or both.

So we made our own. Chris did all the gold stuff (vinyl and spray paint, Aunt Katie’s idea) and we tag teamed the cap (last minute idea after the snow storm). I knotted her hair earlier in the day to make it kind of wavy. Coolest thing are her boots. Those things are simply sexy.

Since Myra was Wonder Woman, we decided on Super Girl for Stella. Boy onsie, ladybug outfit tutu, and Miles’ old cap and belt.

Miles circa 2007.

I didn’t want to miss out on the fun and got myself a girls size large Super Girl costume from a consignment store. Great idea…unless there is any wind whatsoever.

Two months of prep and we are finally nearing the big day. Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t just buy the costumes.

Steampunk

2011-10-30T19:58:00.003-07:00

No, I can’t explain what it is. I suggest Googling it. But, regardless, Ciera put together an awesome costume for herself.

Most impressive is the gun she made using a Nerf gun as a base.

I know I said I was done with monthly Stella posts…

2011-10-30T19:58:00.001-07:00

But I didn’t want to forget some of her words and phrase at 19 months.

‘Nother cookie peas (complete with sign lan guage for please)
Mom, I want that.
Again. Again. (Said for anything fun like being throw up in the air).
Where is it? (complete with hands upturned and shoulder shrug).
Zip it. (for her coat she is constantly unzipping).
She always says “Down” when she wants to be picked “up.”
She calls all drinks “juice” despite rarely getting any actual juice.
She calls Myra “My-ma.”
Bubbles, bucket, pumpkin.
Read this book.
She calls her pacifier “bink-bink.” If you ask her to give you her binky, she typically happily pulls it out of her mouth and gives it to you.
Shoes, socks, snack.
Baby go night-night.
House, horse, cow, duck, car, plane.
Strawberry, cracker, banana (nana), goldfish.

And on another note, I haven’t really documented her teeth. They are coming in slow and in a strange order. In order, she got her bottom two teeth, an upper and lower molar, her top two teeth, the two other molars and one other bottom tooth. We are awaiting the others.

Goodbye Fall

2011-10-26T19:24:00.001-07:00

I will miss you.

I love you when are all yellow and red and just beginning to flutter from the trees.

And then again when you turn brown and crunch under my shoes as a shuffle through your many piles.

You make sunsets extra beautiful.

And I’m always a bit sad when you start to make that leap into colder and shorter days.

And this year felt exceptionally short.

Hello Winter.

I’m sure I don’t need to ask you to stay awhile.

You always do.

Thanks for visiting Grandma, Grandpa and Tallulah!

2011-10-25T20:15:00.001-07:00

I asked Myra what she liked about Grandma, Grandpa and Tallulah visiting. Here are her replies.

Grandpa: “I like that he is funny and gives me lots of treats to give to Tallulah and Miles.”

Grandma: “I like that she’s a girl and that she likes My Little Pony just like I do. And she bought me the pony I wanted and she reads lots of books.”

Tallulah: “I like that she jumps up on me and she’s cute.”

Thanks for making the journey across country for us. (And babysitting our kids overnight.)

It was a good time had by all (except maybe Seymour).

Halloween Backup Costumes

2011-10-23T18:48:00.001-07:00

So, my kids have more than one Halloween costume. What of it? We do several Halloween events prior to the big day and I don’t like to look at them over and over again in the same outfit. Besides, it helps preserve the actual costume for the big day. OK, now that I am done making excuses for myself, here’s some pictures of the girls in their backup costumes.

For school, Myra will be Tinkerbell.

I found this costume for about $7 at a consignment store and it will keep her Wonder Woman costume from getting destroy at school.

And it’s really cute.

Stella plans to wear Myra’s old ladybug costume to school.

She loves everyone telling her how cute she looks and will walk around showing people her tutu.

Myra was insistent that she match Stella’s ladybug costume for the Butterfly Pavilion event. Lucky for her, I had to buy a cheap ladybug costume to use the tutu for Stella’s Supergirl costume.

Pumpkin Patch with Grandma and Grandpa

2011-10-19T19:49:00.001-07:00

This year we g0t beautiful weather and the company of Grandma Jeanne and Grandpa Ted (who celebrated his 70th birthday today).

Stella loved the pumpkin patch. There were giant orange balls, dirt clumps and weeds. So much freakin’ fun! She added the words “pumpkin” and “wagon” to her word vocabulary as well.

Myra was in a bit of a mood. She seems to have a hard time just enjoying fun things. The anticipation makes her kind of, well, bitchy. She did enjoy selecting her pumpkin and checking out the corn. Having some accident prone tendencies, she also got knocked down by a big kid in the hay maze and came very close to cracking her head open on a pumpkin shelf (Grandpa stuck his hand over her head just in time).

At the patch.

Chris did a bit of a dance to get this picture. Too bad you can’t take video of the “Smile Maker” while still taking a picture of the kids.

Fairies

2011-10-16T19:09:00.001-07:00

Boulder loves their fairy festivals. Good thing. Most moms love dressing their little girls up in wings and tutus.

And Stella loves wearing wings too. But not as much as catching bubbles. She watched the bubble lady for nearly 30 minutes. The bubbles wearing so sticky, she could catch them.

Myra loved the wands, fairy dust and…

face painting. That’s Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark (My Little Ponies).

Stella, genuinely happy.

Myra and Stella: Totally staged and forced.

Because this blog is really the girls’ journal…

2011-10-16T19:07:00.001-07:00

I must post that Stella pooped on the adult potty today. It was her very first time ever sitting on a potty and I think she accidently pooped. Afterwards, I clapped for her and asked if she could see her poop. She looked in the potty, totally confused and replied “no.” Later, when asked if she wanted to sit on the potty again, she replied “no.” So, if you asked me if we are potty training a 1.5 year old, I’d reply “no” in order to be consistent.

Happy Birthday Old Man

2011-10-13T20:20:00.001-07:00

Chris turned the ripe old age of 36 today. 36! Lucky for us, even though he is super old, he still manages to get down on the floor and play with our kids.

Chris is hard to surprise. And, if you do manage to surprise him, he is often less than impressed by his surprise. But, this birthday, I came super close to actually surprising him with something he’s been wanting for over a year. Dinnner out at…

The Country Buffet! And let me be the first to tell you. It. Was. Awesome.

As for an actual gift, we got Chris yet another Transformer, mainly because of this conversation with Myra:

Me: Daddy’s birthday is next week? What do you think we should get him?

Myra: A robot. From Target.

Me: OK. What should we do for his birthday?

Myra: Maybe have Sophie over?

Me: And her mom and dad? Maybe we could have them over for dinner?

Myra:: Mom, that’s silly. It’s a party. Why would we have dinner?

Me: Well, what should we have?

Myra: You have cake, ice cream and toys at a party. (Pause) Mom, what toys do you want for your birthday?

Me: I’m not really a toy person. Can you think of anything else I’d like?

Myra: (Exasperated) Fine. I’ll get you clothes.

Third Time’s a Charm

2011-10-11T13:12:00.001-07:00

Today, Myra had her dental procedure done under anesthesia. That marks her third “surgical” procedure in less than 6 months. In fact, she had received enough procedures under anesthesia to be classified as level 2 surgical patient. The nurses tell us that the only other patients at Children’s Hospital North classified as level two are some teenagers who have received multiple ACL surgeries.

Myra is an old pro at the surgery game. She is excited until the minute we head to the pre-op room. Then, she focuses in on her Iphone movie, completely ignoring every nurse and doctor who speaks to her. I think it is a coping mechanism. Myra once again selected me as the lucky parent to accompany her back to the “operating room.” She remains calm until we wheel into the operating and then she freaks the hell out. Ever see one of those movies where the unexpecting human is about to be experimented on by aliens and tries unsuccessfully to escape? That’s exactly what it’s like with Myra.

Post surgery, Myra did surprisingly well. She woke up calm and handled the removal of her IV with grace and patience. The nurse described her as the model patient. In the end, she received 6 fillings. The dentist blames the divots and pits of her enamel. He also gave her an awesome gift basket with a book, crayons, stickers, magic wand and stuffed animal. At her insistence, we got her Nala and Simba figurines from Lion King and Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony. Chris drove to four stores to fulfill her request. Unfortunately, he could not locate the hyenas from Lion King. Maybe next surgery…

Seventeen

2011-10-09T18:50:00.001-07:00

This little girl turned 17 years old today.

That’s right. Driving cars, thinking about college, making honor roll, piercing her nose, making the earring holes creepy large, taking the PSAT, going out for a fondue dinner with her boyfriend. In short, she is old.

We rang in Ciera’s birthday one day early so she could spend her actual birthday with her boyfriend.

We let Myra pick out a birthday present for Ciera. We told Myra that Ciera liked funny t-shirts. Myra couldn’t think of anything funnier than Pinky Pie with a cupcake on her head. Oh that Pinkie Pie! She’s a riot (Ciera wore it for a couple hours and then returned it. Can’t really blame her…)

We went bowling because bowling is AWESOME (and Myra has been begging us for months). And it was so fun until it wasn’t anymore.

I think she’ll stop asking for awhile.

Happy birthday Ciera!

Pony Lesson Part Two

2011-10-05T11:25:00.001-07:00

We decided to take Myra back for a second pony lesson since she enjoyed the first one so much. This time, she really wanted a small pony as her friends Siobhan and Malaya had ponies. So, enter Ruby:

As you can see, Ruby is a teeny pony. Who wouldn’t feel safe riding such a small creature? (yes, that was foreshadowing). Ruby even let us braid her hair and gallop a little:

But, really, sweet Ruby isn’t much of a riding horse. She doesn’t come out for riding often so is a bit stubborn and insistent of hanging with her other pony friends. But the real issue? Ruby is small and most girdles don’t fit her.

So, as we watched on (okay, really, none of us saw it happen), Myra’s saddle slid to the side of Ruby causing Myra to fall off the pony. Yup…Awesome.

Luckily, Myra wasn’t hurt. She cried some and didn’t want to ride anymore but was gracious to Ruby, saying goodbye and feeding her an apple. We plan to take Myra back for one more lesson as we don’t want her last horse experience ending on a sour note. But, truth be known, I am less than impressed with an equestrian center that would allow a child to ride on a horse with a loose saddle (and they knew the saddle wasn’t fitting properly).

Stella is 18 Months Old

2011-10-02T19:32:00.001-07:00

Stella is a year and half old. She has reached the age at which I conclude the monthly updates. This is her grand finale for what’s new with Stella:

1. Stella loves to copy everything, particularly the things Myra does. Today she pretended to be a lion like Myra.

2. She is obsessed with buckles, baby dolls, ducks, shoes and cups.

3. Our little girl has a temper. If something does not go her way (and it is often very hard to determine what “her way” is), she will throw a colossal tantrum. Interestingly, she never throws tantrums at school. She is extremely easy going for her teachers but, at night, watch out.

4. Still not sleeping through the night. We’ve moved her into Myra’s room (she was primarily sleeping in the pack n play in our room) which means we now have two kids that rarely sleep through the night and we have to walk farther to deal with Stella.

5. She’s very good at stacking rings and is starting to kind of understand the concept of a puzzle.

6. Today was a huge day for Stella. She climbed down the stairs on her own with an object in her hand. She took a shower without screaming (she also screams in baths, no winning). She played in the sand without crying. And she stood up on the scale to get her weight and stood against the wall to measure her height.

7. Stella is 21.8 pounds (13th %ile) and is 30.5 inches (15th %ile) (probably 31 if measured lying down).

Race for the Cure Weekend

2011-10-02T19:31:00.001-07:00

Race for the Cure weekend always means a visit from our dear friend Sarah who now lives in South Carolina. This year marked the 8th year we’ve done the race for the cure together and the fourth year Sarah has flown in for the big event.

This year, Sarah brought along her friend Ashley. These girls pretty much spent their vacation exercising and eating.

They also did a little entertaining of our children. Myra talked their ears off about everything from ballet to My Little Pony.

Race for the Cure. Doesn’t it look like I was super imposed into the photo. But, seriously, I was there. I even got a new laptop bag for work to prove it:

Good thing too. My old bag was starting to tear.

Thanks for visiting Sarah!

Stella’s Body Part Identification

2011-09-28T10:47:00.001-07:00

Just weekend pics

2011-09-25T19:24:00.001-07:00

Pretty quiet weekend around here. Saw some friends, dealt with some tantrums (best one was at Red Robin courtesy of Stella. She is capable of screaming through an entire dining experience), did some shopping.

This girl loves to try on sunglasses. And shoes. And jewelry.

Did you know girls go through a stage where they love swords, stabbing and superheroes? Well, they do.

Jack and Myra. Myra loves hanging with the boys. She is obsessed with an older boy at school named Trey. She’s been begging me to meet his mom and invite him over.

But, still, her heart belongs to this boy.

This little girls NEVER stops asking questions. She can seriously ask questions nonstop forever unless you beg her to stop. And they range of questions is really broad: What if we didn’t have a home? What if everyone in the world was named Ciera? What would happen if a butterfly landed on water? Where does the moon go during the day?

With Elyas and Matea (who are clearly better at looking at the camera than my kids).

Cousin Pictures

2011-09-25T18:57:00.001-07:00

When my sister’s family was in town, we decided to get some pictures done of all the kids together. This is a near impossible feat for any person but toss in a very sunny, hot morning, a toddler terrified of the camera and only happy with a cracker or cup in hand, and a 3 year old with an overall bad attitude, and you’ve changed the near impossible to the impossible. Still, we got a few cute pictures.

Because Myra has been getting the spotlight

2011-09-21T20:09:00.001-07:00

Since it seems that I’ve been posting more Myra than Stella recently, I thought I’d do an all Stella picture post.

Right now, everything for Stella is about being a big girl. We finally moved her back to her crib after months in our room in the pack n play. She still screams on and off at night which can wake Myra. The other night, she was screaming bloody murder so Chris went and got her. He asked what was wrong and she replied with a head shake, “Don’t know.”

She talks nonstop, both real and made up words. She is super into zippers, clips and buckles. A buckle can keep her busy forever.

She isn’t really a fan of younger kids. Here she is with Zia. Doesn’t she look so tall compared to Zia? But she loves older kids. Her best friend at school is a year older than her. She follows the girl everywhere. At the end of a school day, Myra likes to bring Stella to her class where all the preschool kids pet Stella and Stella beams with joy.

Stella likes to use spoons, forks and napkins. At lunch, she insisted on having her own cup with water.

And she really didn’t do too bad using it!

Horseback Riding

2011-09-18T13:56:00.001-07:00

Originally, I planned to title this post “Pony Lesson” but Myra definitely did not get a pony and the session wasn’t really a lesson. A local equistrian center offers pony riding every other week for an hour at a cost of $20. We figured we would give it a try. Myra loves horses and isn’t really satisfied with the $5 for 3 minutes rides at local fairs.

This was Myra’s “pony,” Rainy. I’m pretty sure that’s a horse, right? As they were bringing us into the ring, the instructor looked over each child and then assigned them to a horse she thought best suited them. This was her selection for Myra. Good thing too. Myra wanted a big horse. She was very pleased with Rainy.

Myra had requested that I be the parent to help her with the lesson. Within 10 seconds of working with Rainy, I was practically begging Myra to let daddy help her instead. I do not know the first thing about horses.

I did walk Myra and Rainy around the ring once but Chris did most of the lesson. He said Myra was getting antsy during the petting/brushing/get to know the horse part but was quite content once the ride started.

Myra’s friend, Siobhan, went to the lesson too. Now, that’s a pony.

Stella sat there frustrated and bored for most of the lesson. She did get to sit on this saddle at the end though.

Best Fall Festival Ever

2011-09-18T13:54:00.001-07:00

There is this weird little harvest festival that takes place on a farm off a very busy road in between two apartment complexes, just a quarter mile down the street from a Super Target. It is very poorly advertised with all activities either being donation based or less than a $1. For example, $10 minutes in the jumpy castle costs $1. Unlimited time in the petting zoo costs $.25. In short, it is the best festival ever.

Stella loved the petting zoo…minus the ground covering. She would stand in the petting zoo but wouldn’t actually walk. Goats were gently head butting her and she loved it.

Feeding the goats.

Since it is the best festival ever, several of our friends also went. Elyas and Myra on the jumpy castle slide.

This particular balloon animal was very popular at the festival. The sword with belt and tail.

Following the best festival ever, we went to the best place on earth.

After we got home from the best festival and place on earth, Ciera and her friend showed us the biggest frog ever that they caught on the golf course. They uprooted it for a couple hours so it could feel terrified and uncertain of its future before returning it to its home.

Daddy and Stella Look-a-Like

2011-09-14T19:54:00.001-07:00

She’s so lucky.

Dinner Conversation

2011-09-14T19:44:00.001-07:00

We babysat Sophie last week and I listened in on their dinner conversation. Here’s a couple of my favorites:

Myra: Sophie, you have long hair just like Rapunzel.

Sophie: Do you want long hair like mine, Myra?

Myra: Yes.

Sophie: Maybe Sunday (meaning someday) you will get long hair.

Myra: There are bad strangers. Some bad strangers are girls.

Sophie: What’s a bad stranger?

Myra: Some bad strangers take you away from your mommy.

Sophie: And some kill your mommy…like in Little Red Riding Hood.

Myra: You can go potty on the little potty if you want.

Sophie: No, I’ll use the big potty.

Myra: But the little potty is easier. You just need to bend your knees and sit. That’s all!

This next conversation took place after dinner over a course of about 20 minutes:

Myra: Sophie, Ill be right back. I hat to take a poop.

Sophie: OK, when you’re done, I need to take a poop.

Later:

Sophie: I have to take a poop. Myra, did you already go to the bathroom.

Myra: I already took a pee and a poop, thank you.

Later:

Chris: Hey guys! I took a poop!!

Myra and Sophie in unison: Eew! That’s gross!

Goose Attack at Sunflower Farm

2011-09-11T19:19:00.001-07:00

Since Ciera, Chris and Stella missed out on our last trip to Sunflower Farms, we decided to invite a few friends and head on over for another day of fun. And it was fun…

until…

the geese…

attacked.

So, we were kind of standing around, looking at animals and chatting. Elyas and Myra wandered off (but still in eye shot) to check out a couple roaming white geese. I don’t know exactly how close they got to the geese but probably pretty darn close. Myra doesn’t really respect animals’ personal space and, even though I am afraid of all things rodent and flying bird-like, I do a good job of not projecting that onto my kids.

I glance over and seeing Myra and Elyas trying to run from two extremely pissed off birds. Elyas is faster and Myra trips so the birds are practically on top of her. I scream and run toward her. Luckily, Jeff, Elyas’ dad, is a better parent and was standing much closer to the situation. He yanked Myra out from under the bird. (To note, Chris later punished the birds by chasing them. The geese were actually making the rounds at the farm, chasing and attempting attacks on several little kids. Guess they weren’t ready for the fall season).

I pick her up and carry her little wailing body to the bathroom (thought it was a great opportunity to force her to pee). She screaming that her arm hurts which just causes that “oh shit” feeling. In the bathroom, the arm is moving fine but has a decent size bruise forming. She claims the goose bit her but I’m not completely sure. Luckily, she recovered quickly and moved on to more important matters…

throwing a tantrum because she didn’t get to be the one to release a toad she and Sophie caught.

My only regret? That I decided to scream instead of grab my camera. I mean, I could have run towards her while shooting a picture, right?

Walk for Apraxia

2011-09-11T19:18:00.001-07:00

We once again participated in the CASANA Walk for Children with Apraxia. Apraxia is a motor speech disorder in which children have difficulty producing the series of movements with tongue, mouth, lips and jaw needed for intelligible speech.

Myra’s friend, Siobhan, was diagnosed with Apraxia somewhere around the age of two and has made amazing strides in her speech in a very short time. Every time we see her, I am amazed by the new things she can do. She is now able to say some simple sentences and has added tons of words to her vocabulary. Not only is she a hard worker, but her parents are extremely dedicated to helping her. They single handedly raised just shy of $16,000 for CASANA. In addition, the number of walkers seemed to have doubled from last year with an additional seven teams participating.

Myra and Siobhan after the walk.

It was also nice to have Leslie and Elyas’ family join us for the walk this year.

Warming up before the walk.

And cooling down post “race.”

Bonus Pic: You all went on a WALK and all I got was this t-shirt…

Myra Firsts

2011-09-07T18:29:00.001-07:00

While my sister and family were in town, Myra had several “firsts.”

1. First tantrum in Starbucks (no picture). I believe that is sacrilegious or something.

2. First time holding a baby goat. This goat was 3 days old. All the kids got to hold it several times.

3. First time rocking climbing. She didn’t make it super far up the wall but she tried.

4. First (and second, and third, and fourth, and so on…) on the water slide. Thanks to Uncle Ethan who kept taking her over and over again.

5. First time almost drowning (no picture..). Hopefully she will learn not to wander off by herself in the water ever again. I got to watch the whole thing happen from the side of the pool with Stella. The lifeguards got to watch too because inaction is more powerful the action. (Aunt Katie noticed her missing and pulled her up within 20 seconds, not even enough time for her to suck in water.)

6. First time on a paddleboat.

Stella’s first time too. She fell asleep instantly.

7. First time catching a toad.

8. First time being so dirty, I could write on her legs.

9. And, a first for Stella, feeding ducks.

McClure Family for Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-05T13:22:00.001-07:00

Aunt Katie, Uncle Ethan, Colin and Alec came out to Colorado for their yearly vacation. We made sure to keep things as busy as possible with very little downtime.

At Sunflower Farms, we got to meet Osama the Llama, feed goats, catch toads, ride ziplines and ponies, get dirty in corn, ride swings and climb hay bales.

We checked out the Butterfly Pavillion where the whole McClure family got to hold Rosie the tarantula.

We spent several hours at the rec center water park and then all the kids (and Ethan) tested out the rock climbing wall.

We forced the kids to take family pictures in a local park. This caused a lot of crying from Stella and a fair amount of whining from Myra.

We did the usual Boulder trip, playing in the creek and on Pearl Street.

We went to Red Rocks where we spent too much time walking down and then up stairs plus a little rock climbing.

Followed by lunch and creek time in Golden.

We went on the Parade of Homes where I convinced at least two kids that we were looking for Aunt Mildred who lived in one of the houses. I described her as a woman with short blonde hair and glasses. Myra located a woman fitting this description on the tour who was kind enough to play along with the game, pretending to be Aunt Mildred.

We did paddle boats and canoes.

Feed masses of ducks, geese and a couple swans.

And basically had an all around good time. Thanks for making Colorado your Destination Vacation for another year in a row!

Modern Dance

2011-09-05T13:09:00.001-07:00

Stella is a dancer. She stops in her tracks whenever she hears music, takes in the sound for a bit and then begins to dance, typically modern dance. Here she is dancing on Pearl Street. I call these moves “rainbow arms,” “the bow,” and “stirring the spoon.” Being the trend setter that she is, within a couple minutes all four kids where dancing.

Stella is 17 Months Old

2011-09-01T13:56:00.001-07:00

The world has been honored to have Stella in it for 17 months now. I mean seriously, that’s one lucky world. It is rare to be out and about with Stella and not have someone stop us to comment on her eyes or general cuteness. Because, she is cute…unless you’re making her breakfast or doing her hair or telling her no. Then, she’s a screaming, fiery mess. Lucky for the world, it is rarely in my house during these times. Lucky world. So here is what is new with Stella now.

1. Words. Stella is our talker. She picks up on new words extremely guickly and occasionally strings some together. Current Stella words: Hi, Bye, Dog, Cat, Cow, Goat, Car, Boat, Cookie, Cracker, Mine, No, Yes, Go, Juice, Book, Look, Baby, Night, Duck, Ball, Sky, Bugs, Fish and some others I’m forgetting.
Words she repeats: Elephant (Elphan), Monkey, Zebra, Blue, Girl, etc.
Sentences said but not often used: “Read this book.” “I want a cookie.”
2. Stella loves to dance and has some really stellar moves. I often catch her chair dancing in the car.

3. Her current favorite foods are cookies, tomatoes, strawberries, melon, graham cracker goldfish and cucumbers.
4. She currently hates getting her hair done but loves getting her teeth brushed.

5. Stella is into the babydoll stage big time. She is constantly dragging a doll around.
6. Current tooth tally: 7. Two top, two bottom, three molars.
7. I forgot to weigh and measure her tonight but as of her doctor’s appointment a week and a half ago, Stella is 30.5 inches tall and 20.75 pounds.

Brings back memories

2011-08-28T19:21:00.001-07:00

I remember going to the bluegrass festival (I think it was bluegrass…) with my parents and sister. My sister and I would play on the hill with all the other kids. We would roll down the hill, one holding the others feet and vice-versa. We would also do this:

Stella wanted to be a big girl too. As the older kids ran down the hill, she gave it the old toddler try…and landed flat on her face. She stuck to hand holding down the hill after that.

Portrait of a little girl torn. Too small to hang with the big kids, too old to consider herself a baby. Sigh.

Chris also wanted to rediscover his youth on the hill. Impressive for an old fella.

Ducks–An emotional rollcoaster

2011-08-28T19:20:00.001-07:00

Stella wanted to embrace her love for ducks…but not to the point of letting them come near her.

Thanks for visiting, Grandma Karen!

2011-08-24T19:54:00.001-07:00

We had a nice, low key visit with Grandma Karen. Both Myra and Stella really warmed up to their Grandma quickly.

So, we wanted to thank you for carrying crackers in your purse,

playing board games and cooking with Myra,

babysitting Stella and wiping her booger face,

and letting me win at Scrabble. I’m a really poor loser…

Mountain Trip with Grandma Karen

2011-08-21T19:50:00.001-07:00

Grandma Karen is in town visiting from Virginia so we decided to do a little “show-up” of her “mountains” and took her to Summit County (all in good fun folks. Grandma used to live in Colorado). I think the coolest thing we did was ride up to the top of the mountain in the gondola (correction: The group thinks the coolest thing was the gondola. I think it was the outlet malls).

Before gondola ride in Keystone.

Riding up. Myra was nervous. Moo’s foot was soaked from her sucking on it. I told her Ciera would help her off the gondola so she suction cupped her body to her for the duration of the ride.

Stella, on the other hand, got more and more excited the higher we got and was thrilled to be running around on the mountaintop.

Beautiful view up there. Do you want a close up?

Oh…you thought I meant a mountain close up…

Though Stella loves to run, she hates unstable ground. Rocks, grass, dirt. So she got a little hand holding. And the close-up is below…

(Cutest shoes ever.)

Isn’t it weird how the photo is all dark right around Myra and Stella’s gloomy faces. My girls don’t like no stranger snapping their picture. Back away stranger. Back away.

Stella’s Dance

2011-08-17T19:57:00.001-07:00

Looks like Stella wants to be a dancer like her sister. Let’s hope she doesn’t also want to be a big whiner like her sister was in this video.

Ballet Recital–The difference a year makes

2011-08-14T20:31:00.001-07:00

We signed Myra up for ballet again this summer through the recreation center. You get 5 or 6 class for about $35. Unbeknownst to us, our lessons turned out to be semi-private (most of the classes only had Myra and one other girl) and had a recital at the end. We were a bit worried how Myra would do at this year’s recital since last year her biggest on stage move was picking her nose.

As it turned out, Myra did great in every dance class and was excited to go up on stage for her dance (once she saw some other kids do their performances. Prior to that, she had no clue what a recital was). We got to the stage at 6:15 for the 6:30 dance recital and were told Myra’s class was number 29 of 34. In short, a looong wait for a child, her toddler sister and their parents in the heat.

So, we did a little watching of dancers and a lot of running (and wrestling) with her friend.

Stella was a trooper and even showed her support in her blue tutu.

An hour and a half later, it was Myra’s time to shine. She got her nose picking out of the way early:

Then, she got up on that stage and did ALL of her dance in front of 200 people like a champ. So proud of her. I would have never done that at her age. They did Teddy Bear by Elvis:

And she is already asking when she gets to dance on a stage again. (But, she also asks on a daily basis when it’s going to snow and when she’s going to be bigger than me and when it’s her birthday, when am I going to clean out the drain again and when she can go “to that girl’s house with the white pool. Remember??” and so on and so on).

6th Wedding Anniversary

2011-08-14T19:46:00.001-07:00

Chris and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary yesterday which marks approximately half of our 12 year relationship. Twelve years later and I can still remember the funny things he said that made me overlook the fanny pack, black shoes with white socks, and Muppets t-shirt. Twelve years later and he still makes me laugh. In another twelve, I think he will be bringing back the fanny pack. Another twelve after that and he will be rocking the white socks and black shoes again. But, I bet he will still make me laugh and for that, I will continue to love him and stick around.

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Inquiring minds want to know

2011-08-10T19:25:00.001-07:00

Myra is in this phase where she is constantly asking questions. I never realized how complex a 3 year old's questions could be until getting stuck in a fifteen minute dialogue with Myra. I often walk away from one of our conversations boggled by all the things I simply have never really thought about understanding.

On car accidents:
Myra: Mom, if a dog gets hit by a car, he’s gonna get dead, right?
Me: Probably. Or hurt really bad.
Myra: And, when a dog gets dead, he never gets up again.
Me: Yes, that’s right.
Myra: What if a cat gets hit by a car. Does it get dead?
Me: Probably.
Myra: Or does his bones get crushed.
Me: Um, maybe?
Myra: What if we hit a car?
Me: Our car would be really broken.
Myra: What if we drove through that store?
Me: The car and store would be broken.
Myra: And the people would be really scared. Like AAH scared.

On our body parts:
Me: Myra don’t wrestle on that. If you fall, you could crack your head open.
Myra: What will come out of the crack in my head?
Me: Blood.
Myra: What’s inside my lips? Blood?
Me: Yes.
Myra: What’s in my foot?
Me: Blood, muscles, tendons, fat, bones. (this game went on for 10 body parts).

On the forest:
Myra: Mom, is that a forest?
Me: No, that’s just a few trees.
Myra: How many trees are in a forest?
Me: Lots. You can’t see from one end of a forest to the other.
Myra: Have I been in a forest?
Me: Umm, I think so… In Michigan.
Myra: Were we the only car in the forest.
Me: We walked through it.
Myra: Was it a small forest.
Me: I guess.
Myra: So was that a forest but small?

On grasshoppers:
Myra: What would happen if a grasshopper got in our house?
Me: I guess it would just jump around.
Myra: Would it bite us?
Me: I don’t think they bite.
Myra: But they have pinchers. Can they fly.
Me: Just jump.
Myra: Lets say they fly. What would Stella do if a grasshopper landed on her face?
Me: Probably brush it off.
Myra: What would daddy do?
Me: Pick it up and take it outside.
Myra: What would you do if a grasshopper landed on your face?
Me: Scream and jump up and down irrationally until it hopped away. Then yell for your dad who would be mad because I freaked out so much that I didn’t know where the grasshopper was anymore.
Myra: NOOO. Are you kidding me? You’re kidding me.

Boulder County Fair

2011-08-07T19:31:00.001-07:00

For the first time since I’ve lived here, we attended the Boulder County Fair.

As it turns out, the fair is a great occasion to spoil your kid. As soon as we walked into the fair, Myra spotted a man making balloon animals. Though we have told her ‘no’ to balloon animals on a zillion occasions, I gave in right away this time. She was starting to fuss and it was just the beginning of the day. So, 10 seconds and $2 later, we had a balloon ladybug bracelet.

She cannot get enough of the animals. This was the main reason we went to the fair, to let her pet the animals.

One of the coolest parts of the fair was the Stony Field Organic booth. You could make a 7 second video that Stony then turned into a flip book and sent the video link. The book is really cute. The kids didn’t understand the whole concept so after the first three attempts in which they just stood there waiting for the camera to take their pictures, the dads had to step in.

Stella went to the fair with us…think she hated it. It was so unforgivingly hot with little for a toddler to do besides sit. Her highlights were getting a duck sticker (she has quite the passion for ducks) and sitting on Myra’s lap in the stroller.

Hair Idea Gone Bad

2011-08-07T19:09:00.001-07:00

A few nights ago I put Stella’s hair in a little top bun. When I pulled it out at the end of the night, it was a big mess of curls and spirals.

So, naturally, I wanted to see what her whole head looked like in curls. On Friday night I literally chased Stella around the house, putting mini buns all over her head:

In the morning, I excitedly took all the rubber bands out, laughed hysterically (Myra did too) and quickly reached for the water bottle:

1. Don’t worry. We did indeed send her hairdo back to 1983 so “Flashdance” didn’t have to do without it.

2. Yes, she IS crying. Not because she knows what her hair looks like, but, because Myra kept rubbing her hair and laughing.

3. It took maybe 5 seconds to water spray the frizz away. Lucky for Stella, High/Markowski hair does not keep its curl.

National Night Out 2011

2011-08-03T20:23:00.001-07:00

We once again took part in National Night Out, the local safety night in which trucks and emergency vehicles are on display for the kids to climb on and check out. This year, the helicopter landing was cancelled due to threat of storms. But, that didn’t stop us and our friends from heading on out. We weren’t going to let a little lightening stop us from learning about safety!

The most amazing part of the night was Chris and I managed to unload the girls from the car after school, feed them dinner, wash faces, fix hair, do potty/diaper breaks and reload them in the car in 15 minutes. We consider ourselves amazing.

OK, so this picture was taken at National Nite Out but has nothing to do with the night. I just like how she looks like one of the wives from Big Love when they are falling from the sky during the open credits. And her knee is bleeding though neither Chris nor I know when or how she cut her knee.

Just another plastic fire hat to add to the collection.

Acting insane in the front of the police car. Hope this does not replay itself from the backseat of the police car in 15 years.

My girls love animals and have no natural fear. Stella went nuts for the animal shelter dogs and cats at the event.

Biker babes.

Living dangerously on the robe climby thing on safety night.

Stella is 16 Months Old

2011-07-31T20:16:00.001-07:00

My baby is turning into a kid. I will probably call her my baby forever but in reality she is growing up. Myra used to ask me all the time if Stella is a “big girl” yet or “is she growed up as big as me?” But, recently, those questions have stopped. Because, now that Stella can walk, talk, eat with a spoon, Myra is started to see her as more of an annoying kid sister and less of a baby. Just as I did with Myra at 16 months, instead of listing what’s new with her, I will give you “a day in the life of Stella.”

5:45 – Cough for about 15 minutes straight. I have no idea why. She doesn’t have a cold and doesn’t cough all day or night. It is simply how she wakes up, like an old lady who smoked since she was 12.

6:00 – Talk to self and cry. Repeat over and over.

6:15 – Give up on the nice act. Scream bloody murder until someone gets her the hell out of bed. And she means NOW. Not in a minute. But NOW!

6:15 to 7:15 – Drink milk and eat cheerios which is shared with the dog.

7:15 – 7:20 – Throw fit about getting dressed and having hair fixed. See Myra getting breakfast and wail uncontrollably as if she hasn’t been fed anything since birth.

7:20 – 7:30 – After insisting that she can feed herself oatmeal (done via screams, heading shaking and pushing), make mess of oatmeal, eat a fourth of it and scream to get down.

7:30 – 9:00 – Play and be cute. This typically means pulling Myra’s cups out of the cupboard and pretending they are full of beverages. She also likes to wipe her face and pretend to blow her nose, make messes in her toy kitchen and carry balls around.

Stella’s two favorite things in the world: daddy and cups.

9:00 – 10:00 – Nap

10:00 – 12:00 – More play and cuteness. Following Miles around, pointing at him and saying “doggie.”

12:00 – 12:30 – Toss lunch on the floor until some adult has the good sense to replace her crap food with a cookie.

12:30 – 3:00 – More play and cuteness.

3:00 – 4:00 – Nap.

4:00 – 6:00 – Feel cranky. In between burst of play, throw tantrums. Mix the tantrums up some. Pull out cookies from cupboard and cry because someone takes them away. Trip on toy and cry. Fall down as much as humanly possible, crying when anyone is looking. Beg to go outside. Stella loves being outside and playing in water. She will stop crying for such activities.

Stella’s cry face. Always done with fingers shoved in her mouth. We used to think it was teething pain but, at 16 months and only 6 teeth, I’m thinking not so much.

6:00 – 6:45 – Toss dinner on the floor until someone shows up with a cookie.

6:45 – 7:15 – Carry milk around spitting it on floor. Cry when milk is taken away. Pull dirty dishes out of dishwasher.

7:15 – 7:30 – Get ready for bed and go to bed with little issue.

7:30 – 5:45 – Scream on and off throughout night without waking herself but waking everyone else in house.

Current stats: 20 pounds, 14 ounces (12th %ile). 30.5 inches long (33rd %ile).

Fun Fact: At home, we do not ration Stella’s pacifier. We give it to her whenever. The girls recently switched daycares and Stella’s teachers asked me about pacifier use. I told them I didn’t care what they did. Turns out, they only give it to her at naptime and she’s fine with that. Hmm, guess we should cut back on it at home…

Bubbles!

2011-07-31T20:15:00.001-07:00

I love their faces in these pictures. You would think it was raining cotton candy, Skittles and Target gift cards from the heavens.

Such concentration. Such form.

She can hear!

2011-07-28T19:46:00.001-07:00

Myra’s hearing test came back in normal range. She heard all the pitches (except the two she decided to talk about cupcakes during). S0 I guess only one question remains…if she can hear, why does she talk SO loud?

Talks with Myra

2011-07-27T18:58:00.001-07:00

First talk:

Myra: Today at school, I called Sophie a “handful” and we both laughed and laughed.

Me: What’s a “handful?”

Myra: Ice cream in a little tiny cup.

Me: That’s a sample, not a handful.

Next day -

Myra: Today I called Sophie a “sample” but she didn’t laugh this time. I did, I laughed. I’m still funny.

Second talk:

Myra: On the playground, someone dropped their posizzle (popsicle) and then another kid stepped in it.

Me: Oh, she must have been sad.

Myra: Yeah, so then me and Sophie we took our finger like this (holding her finger out to me), stuck it in the posizzle and licked it. Yum.

Stella videos

2011-07-27T18:49:00.001-07:00

Stella feeding her baby doll (and sneaking in some bites for herself):

What Stella might look like at her 21st birthday celebration:

“Just Another Brick in the Mall”

2011-07-24T19:40:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, the demolition began on a nearby mall. The mall means very little to me. It has been pretty trashy for the last ten years. I’ve been to it several times as, no matter the ugliness of a mall, it still deserves my love. And, it housed the closest JCPenny’s and Sears. Sometimes, you just need something for classic department stores like rugs or curtains.

We decided to go watch the first phase of the demolition because 1. destruction is cool 2. there might be free stuff (I did get a free oil change) 3. it gave me something to write about in my blog.

Pre-destruction.

Destruction in action.

Not only did I score an oil change, but we also got free popsicles, a tray from the cafeteria (replicas as the originals probably went to donors, employees and Macy’s credit card holders), AND a rock from the mall. Priceless…and dusty.

Our group. There were over 200 present.

Stella was riveted. She cried every time Chris blocked her view.

Conversation with Myra regarding the demolition:

Myra: What are they going to put here when the mall is all gone?

Me: They’re building a new mall.

Myra: Why do they need a new one when there’s already one?

Me: Because…because we don’t want to shop in stores that look ugly but we will shop in those same stores if they look pretty. So they have to spend lots of money to build a new place to put the same stores so we will buy more stuff.

Myra: Oh. I like things that look pretty.

Pool Party

2011-07-24T19:08:00.001-07:00

Ever since moving into our house, we have been working on improving our backyard. We put in a fence, laid new sod, had a patio put in, expanded the fence, laid some woodchips, added a guest house and installed a pool. OK, those last two things are really just a used plastic playhouse and a blow up pool but kids don’t know the difference. Anywho, with all the upgrades, we decided it was time for Myra to have a small pool party. Just three kids but more than enough action for our backyard.

Stella was a bit afraid to swim in the big pool with the older kids so decided to develop a love affair with watermelon. She had like 5 slices and screamed all through lunch because we wouldn’t give her more.

The big kids in the big kid pool.

The previous day we had the smaller pool out which Stella much preferred.

And this is the new “guest” house which I am sure will accidently receive overnight guests in the form of stuffed animals.

And a view of our fenced in backyard addition.

I wanted to take a “break.”

2011-07-21T19:36:00.001-07:00

Dear Dentistry and Children’s Hospital,

I wanted to take a “break,” some time off from our relationship, but you just won’t let me go. It’s not that I don’t appreciate all the good things you’ve done for me. I mean, several of my teeth no longer throb in pain because of the nice things Dentistry has done for me. And the recent shading job on front crown is absolutely perfect. They hygienist even said so. And, Children’s Hospital, without you my daughter’s arm would have a hunk of bone floating around in it and her ears would still be caked in wax (see post below).

The thing is, even though you’ve both done such great things for us…well, I simply wanted some time to myself. I wanted a week to go by without having to tell my boss yet again that I needed to visit one of you. I wanted to open the mailbox without having to see another of your love letters, a reminder of a recent rendezvous.

So, when the two of you demanded ON THE SAME DAY, that our relationship continue to progress without so much as a day break, I was a bit taken a back. I do find you both clever, the way you combined forces and managed to suck Myra into the endless spiral or pain and love Dentistry gives. Of course a child terrified of anything medical cannot have two fillings done in the dentist office! It can only be done under anesthesia at a hospital.

But then for Dentistry to dig the knife just that much deeper only 5 hours later, as the finishing touches were being done on my crown, to tell me another crown and filling must be done. Well, that was too much.

So, Dentistry and Children’s Hospital, I will let you pull my daughter into your web. It’s my hopes that she will be able to escape Dentistry’s clutches now, at a young age, if I have her submit to you now. But, Dentistry, for me you will have to wait until the new year. You have taken to much from me in 2011. I am at my max (insurance coverage). Even if it means adding a root canal to my punishment, I will not let you have me anymore in 2011.

Until next time (that I need you)…

Sarah

(For those you got bored reading that, Myra has to have two teeth filled under anesthesia, third anesthesia procedure in 2011. According to the dentist, she’s cursed with my weak enamel.)

She did great with her Xrays but freaked out when the hygienist tried to polish her teeth. The hygienist tried to show her how the polisher worked on her own arm and Myra thought the woman was planning to jack with her arm which is simply a “no-no” in Myra’s mind.

Ear Vacuum

2011-07-21T19:00:00.001-07:00

Today we took Myra in for her ear vacuuming. Since she could not stay still enough trying the cleaning in office, we had to put her under anesthesia for the process. All in all, things went really well. Myra watched movies while we waited, ignoring all the nurses and doctors who stopped by to see her. One nurse said, “It was nice meeting you even though you didn’t acknowledge me at all.” I thought that was funny.

I believe her only communication with this nurse was “I can’t see the TV.”:

I was the chosen one to accompany Myra back to the ER to “hold her hand” while the put on the “magic candy mask” to put her to sleep. As soon as the doctor tried to pull the tie out of the back of Myra’s gown, relaxed Myra jumped into combat mode. Arms and legs flailing, mouth screaming, body and head doing their exorcist mode. We managed to hold her down long enough to get the mask on her face though she still continued to claw at the mask until her body started to forfeit to the power of the sleepy mask. I sincerely hope that is as close to wrestling a rabid cat as I ever get.

I know! I look like I walked right out of Grey’s Anatomy or something:

Ten minutes later we were being called back to Recovery to calm a still mad but now clean eared Myra. Tons of wax was removed but no ear drum hole found. I have an appointment scheduled for next Thursday to see if her hearing has returned to full range.

Post surgery misery. The nurse said, “You weren’t kidding. She’s a fighter.”:

If you open the following photo you can see the dry blood discharging out of her newly vacuumed ears:

Home and happy with her new Lady dog:

Stella’s words

2011-07-20T19:41:00.001-07:00

Stella is starting to talk a fair amount. She still primarily does single words. Occasionally she will combine something. Like tonight she said “My milk” but mostly it is one word communication. Her current favorites are baby, doggie, milk, me (instead of mine), more (moh), ball, cracker, cookie and hi. Here she is saying her words. I could not capture them all in one video.

Saying doggie (which means any animal except birds. For birds she says bird).

Saying ball (always ba-ball).

Saying baby:

40 Minute Tantrum

2011-07-17T20:25:00.001-07:00

Before going into the evilness of Myra’s tantrums, I wanted to say that she was perfect this weekend. Not one tantrum and 95% agreeable for three days straight. At her dance class Saturday, she was the only child that did the dance routine and, to an outsider, appeared to be the model of cuteness and sweetness. It is extremely rare that my child comes across as anywhere near angelic so I will carry the moment with me for many many days.

So, back to the tantrums. Myra has tantrums on a regular basis. In a tantrum, she pulls out all the stops – tears, screaming, punching, kicking, wailing, sharing the unfairness of the world in a very high pitched whiny voice, drooling, throwing and making her body work in the most uncooperative ways possible.

I’ve always wondered why she would go to so much work for something she knows won’t actually get her what she wants. Sure, a tantrum is awesome exercise for the whole body, including lungs, but is it smart to exercise 5, 6, or even 7 times daily? I think not. What I didn’t realize was that Myra was in training for a Guinness Book World Record: Longest Tantrum Ever for Stupidest Reason Possible.

Myra’s 40 minute tantrum started on a nice Wednesday afternoon. We picked her up after school with the mission of taking her to the toy store. Yes, the TOY STORE. I can only assume “We are going to the toy store.” is in a child’s top five favorite phrases next to “Yes, eat all the candy.” and “Watch movies until your body is catatonic.”

The problem? Myra hadn’t finished the last two drinks from her morning juice – 9 hours earlier. I did not have the juice in the car and had no intentions of going home for more juice (as she never gets juice in the evening).

It was then that we learned, Myra actually hates the toy store. She only ever wants juice. She has lots of toys at home and does not need any new ones EVER. We learned these things over and over and over again, primarily through screams, tears and gasps for air.

Chris tried to distract her by repeatedly opening her car window. This did not stop her rant, but did give her something else to scream about briefly. Once at Toys R Us, Stella and I went in the store, leaving Chris in the fine company of our sweet three year old.

Myra was still throwing her fit when I returned. She paused briefly to say, “Mom, I am ready to go in the toy store now.”

Chris and I laughed, said a couple sensible things about throwing tantrums and missing out on fun stuff. Blah, blah. To which Myra replied, “I WANT JUICE!” and continued her fit all the way home.

Once home, she was fine. She drank milk, refused her dinner and played with her awesome stash of toys that never needs to be increased.

Here’s the thing. We were going to Toys R Us specifically to use a $10 coupon to buy Myra a bike helmet. Without her, there was no point in the excursion. Yet, we couldn’t let her win and just go home. It was critical that we waste gas, test our sanity and spend money on two t-shirts I really didn’t need just to prove a point. The tantrum thrower never wins… wait… something seems off with this lesson…

Raspberries

2011-07-13T18:47:00.001-07:00

In Colorado, there aren’t a lot of options to pick your own fruit. The closest place to us is about an hour away. Luckily, we have been able to gather our own raspberries right on the side of our house. For a home where it is practically a science to grow grass, it is amazing that we get a decent crop of wild raspberries every summer. So far, Myra and I have gathered a pint of berries nearly every night for the last week.

Don’t they look pretty?

Truth be told, Chris and I were afraid to try them. Last year, we didn’t pick any because the neighbors got some sort of spray on roof treatment that most likely covered the berries. So, this year, we used Myra as a guinea pig to test the berries. Chris and I still didn’t eat many because Myra and Stella love them.

Despite being told not to eat them off the bush (we wanted to wash them first), Stella kept sneaking them in her mouth.

We had to move her inside with some washed berries.

She also liked Myra feeding them to her.

Only problem with our berry patch is the over abundance of Aspen trees trying to grow. See them all? I guess with the raspberries, we would never have the desire to chop the Aspens down. I think I cut down 15 saplings just today.

Freedom!

2011-07-11T20:42:00.001-07:00

After six weeks of confinement, Myra’s arm is free. We got permission to remove her splint permanently. Good thing because it was getting filthy. The doctor was impressed by the range of motion she is already exhibiting (probably because we’ve let her be cast free for at least an hour daily for the last week). Her break is healed but the pin cavities are still there. I guess this is common. As for Myra? She was beyond hyper tonight (so Chris tells me. I picked the perfect night to have dinner plans elsewhere). Think she’s happy to have two arms again.

Baby Croquet and Other Things

2011-07-10T12:34:00.001-07:00

Over the weekend, we had the opportunity to play some baby croquet at Dan and Jill’s house. Our old mallets were getting heavy and squeaky so it was nice to have the updated models.

If you don’t remember the original mallets, check out Elyas and Myra at 18 months here: http://myrahigh.blogspot.com/2009/06/baby-croquet.html

The older gals had a great time catching ladybugs and hanging out on the slide.

A small miracle. She is wearing pants! Quite the rarity. She considers her top a “dress shirt” which cannot be worn without bottoms.

Yup, we let our child healing from a broken arm go down the slide with a person next to her. We are apparently the kind of parents who would be expected to have a child with a broken limp.

Playing with a ladybug. The ladybug did eventually escape Myra’s grip. I highly doubt it managed to get away without a few broken legs and severe head injury. Sigh, to be the “pretty” bug means to be torture before death. To be the “ugly” bugs (a.k.a. flies, ants, spiders) means sudden death by stomping or smacking.

Besides baby croquet, these girls aren’t quite ready to play together, as you can see from the looks on their faces. “You want us to what??”

4th of July

2011-07-05T20:27:00.001-07:00

As per usual, we started the 4th off with Independence Day outfits. Myra did not want to wear her outfit as it wasn’t a dress but a mere skirt. I had to bribe her to wear the skirt and she never truly warmed up to the striped shirt.

I thought she looked cute no matter what she thought.

In the afternoon, we went to a pool party at Natalie’s house.

Lee and Ciera joined us. Lee spent a great deal of time entertaining the kids. I don’t know why I like the below photo so much. It just makes me laugh. The tears were about a rolly polly.

We did some fireworks in the front yard.

Myra loved them.

Stella was in awe.

Then Myra and I went to the big fireworks show in the evening.

The best part of 4th of July was that the fireworks from Myra and Stella were practically nonexistent. They were super well behaved which is always a treat, particularly on a holiday.

Only in a small town

2011-07-05T19:52:00.001-07:00

Only in a small town can you run outside barefoot when you hear a fire truck coming,

have the firemen invite you on for a ride,

cruise around town picking up more and more people,

before being dropped off in front of your house again.

She’s Electric

2011-07-03T20:41:00.001-07:00

On our last day in Grand Haven (see below post), Katie and I took the three older kids to the beach one last time. A storm was blowing in. We could see the rain out on the lake but figured we could at least give the kids 30 minutes of beach time. Myra and I stay in the sand. I took a few pictures of her as she hunted for see shells. When the rain came, we rounded up the kids and headed for the car (a decent walk). Katie looked at me and said, “Your hair is standing on end.” Umm, so was her hair. Electric charge from impeding lightning! So we started running through the sand to the car. I picked up Myra and the hefty towel bag and raced to the car (insert labored breathing).

Later when looking at my pictures, I noticed Myra’s hair was standing on end too.

Before:

After (it’s subtle but definitely standing up):

She’s electric in more than just her personality!

Grand Haven family vacation

2011-07-03T20:29:00.001-07:00

This summer, my family and I decided to do something a little different. Instead of just flying to Michigan for a week, we rented a house in a small beach town on Lake Michigan. None of us knew what to expect from a week spent in close quarters and were surprised to find that we rather enjoyed ourselves (minus sleeping. Our nights were horrible. Chris and I had twin beds that we sandwiched together and the girls sleeping in the room. Most nights both girls ended up in the bed.)

We spent some time at the beach. Myra has been to the beach before but not for very long stints. This was Stella’s first trip.

Shockingly she liked it! To note, she didn’t really want anything to do with the beach on our next couple visits. But that first day, she loved the sand and water.

We hiked through the woods in Saugatuck to get to the sand dunes and beach. Absolutely beautiful. Though the walk back was killer for me and Chris as we carried both girls for the entire mile journey.

Downtown Saugatuck.

We made smores on a couple of nights.

Some of us really enjoyed our smores.

All beach vacations must have at least one ice cream outing.

The Grand Rapids Children’s Museum where we multiplied Stella, decided dozens of her wouldn’t really be as much fun as a dozen puppies and ended up just keeping our original model.

We went to a petting farm. Myra LOVES animals. She asks every dog walker to pet their dog. She had no fear of any of the farm animals, held all the ones she was allowed to and fed or petted the rest.

Stella will also make a beautiful farm gal in another year. She also loved the animals laughing and pointing at them all.

All in all, a successful trip. We just may do it again sometime.

Stella is 15 months old

2011-07-01T12:01:00.001-07:00

Stelly is growing into a toddler. We are now having to pay admissions for her a several kid type museums and events. That is the true sign of toddlerdom. In addition to costing money, here are some of the other toddler type things she is doing.

1. She is walking! All the time. I haven’t seen her crawl in over a week. She is clumsy though, frequently falling down. Luckily, she is falling on her butt more often and her face less often. A couple weeks ago was rough. Three face plants with bloody gums in three days.

2. She loves to point and gets excited when she sees colorful stuff, animals and cartoon characters.

3. Her current favorite word is “more.” She is saying several new words but most of them just once or twice like “cracker,” “duck,” “cluck, cluck, cluck.”

4. She hates getting her hair done and often pulls out her pony tails when tired or mad.

5. She is working on her fifth tooth, one of the top two teeth.

6. Her very favorite activity is making a mess. It is really time consuming cleaning up after her.

7. She is starting to like giving kisses.

8. Stella weighs 20 pounds and one ounce (9th%ile) and 29 inches (9th%ile).