This-n-That

Libby and Mommy had a date yesterday and went to see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." My God, was that movie ever horrible! It was so bad that even Libby did not like it. Pure dreck. Nice to spend some time with my little monkey, though. We had a ball together!

As for Emma, she and Daddy had fun together at the farmer's market and Old McDonald's. Speaking of her Emma-nence, Emma is not crazy about getting her picture taken. This is why we have so few good photos of her. I thought these pix, though, really show her gorgeous smile -- both the little one and the big one.

More photos for ya:

Cheese-dog! Doesn't she look like a dork here?

Libby had a weird mystery fever one day, and we had to cloister ourselves at home. We had a tea party to keep our (OK, my -- I'm not ready for flu season!) spirits up.

Hard Lessons

Both girls have learned hard lessons this weekend.

It began with Libby yesterday morning. Our first-floor neighbors have several trailing plants from their deck planters. We were playing on the sidewalk below their deck, and Libby decided to try to swing on the "vines" (a la Dora). Needless to say, it didn't work. Note to all of Libby's blog readers: TV apparently is NOT grounded in reality. Who knew?

To make the lesson even more painful, she was trying to swing over a sunken section about three steps down. She was fine, but she scared the poo out of me when I saw her falling down into the pit. There she landed, surrounded by broken leaves and other bits of plant. Poor thing. (Kim, I keep flashing to the "swimming pool" you made out of Mom and Dad's shower. I'm sure Libby had just as clear a mental image of her swinging as you did of paddling around in your pool.)

Then it was Emma's turn for a typical childhood lesson. She and Libby were playing "go to work" at our back door. They both stand by the screen door, and Libby shuts the back door so I can't see them. I have long known this would end in tragedy, but what're ya gonna do? After months of this beloved game, Emma finally forgot to keep her fingers out of the door crack. Smash! (Poor thing really got it, too. It's nice and purpley.)

Our brave Emma has managed to soldier on and only mentions it five or six times an hour. It requires constant visits from our boo-boo fish (an ice pack), several Band-aids, lots of kisses from Libby, and -- mysteriously -- occasional bites from Emma herself. ("Eat boo-boo." I don't know what the heck that's about.)

Emma's the biggest chicken you ever saw and is terrified of slides at the park. This eensy-weensy slide at Libby's preschool is the only one she enjoys. Who cares that it's shorter than she is?

Libby on her first day of school sans Mom and Dad. The teacher told me the other day that she asked Libby if she was drawing an apple (they're studying apples right now). "No," Libby said. "I'm taking notes." Ahhhh. Already a little nerd. I love it.

Overheard

Emma just put a little jar into a bigger one, looked up at me and said, "Oh my gotch. Look." Hilarious.

Even more funny? I swear she sang this last night while I was changing her diaper (sung to the tune of "I Want a Dog," which should explain the third line of her invented song lest you think she has some gender identity issues):

Daddy has penis.

Daddy has penis.

I want a penis.

I want a penis.

Vagina!

It was a little garbled, but I'm pretty sure these were the song's words. Honest to Gotch.

A Coupla Pix

Emma must have sensed that I finally sat down to post a new entry and get Aunt Kimmy off my back because she just woke up and started to cry. Sigh. Such is parenthood.

Enjoy the pictures, sans cute stories about my kids. But expect cute stories to come soon. (Or not. You know me!)

Who knew?

Kerri found some Toy Story action figures at a yard sale and yesterday Libby found them. It took her about three minutes before Woody and Buzz were in a passionate make-out session. Who knew?

Libby's First Day at School, in her own Words

Insert Camping Pictures Here

Martin just realized that he accidentally deleted all of the camping pictures. Oh, well.

We had a pretty good time, although I'm not anxious to repeat it anytime soon. The girls had a ball! They loved having a killer playground in our "back yard." They insisted on using the pool Sunday even though it was foggy, drizzly, and about 65 degrees. Woohoo!

Sleep wasn't great, but I suppose it could have been worse. They could have stayed up alllll night long and instead of just waking up allllllll night long.

The most fascinating part of the trip? We were next to a family with SEVEN kids. The oldest was maybe 12 (at the most). And while that was interesting, the most interesting part was that the parents paid not a lick of attention to anyone but the baby. I'm talking, 2- and 3-year-olds sent to the playground for the entire day. And the baby sat in a playpen the whole time except when her diaper needed changing. It was quite remarkable.

The most amazing part to me? The parents sat and talked for hours and hours on end. Not sat in companionable silence but actually sat and talked, talked, talked (well, the man talked; the woman mostly listened and laughed). I don't think Martin and I talk that much in a month, and we only have two kids! (Sorry, honey, but it's the truth.) Apparently, when your parenting style is non-parenting, you A) feel no need to ever stop breeding, and B) can still court each other like you're childless.

A-Camping We Will Go

We're taking the girls camping for the first time this weekend! Just a quick little trip about an hour away. May the force be with us.

Libby keeps shouting, "We need a tent and sticks and marshmallows." She's repeated this endlessly since we told them this morning. Emma has started adding, "And lollipops." The kid knows how to work it. (Needless to say, we now have some lollipops packed.)

A Penny Earned

And there was much rejoicing!




P.S. It was a penny, not a quarter.
P.P.S. No, I did not save it. The logistics of saving it would have been ... unpleasant.

All Better!

Well, she still has some minor wheezing (as well as a quarter lodged somewhere in her innards), but she's much, much better. She was quite the little trooper throughout the whole ordeal.

I now vow to be hyper-vigilant with her asthma, and we also now have a firm "asthma action plan" in place from the doc, so we know exactly what to do to avoid trouble in the future (we hope, hope, hope -- I shudder at the memory of my breathless little baby).

Thanks to all of you for calls and texts and Facebook well wishes. Sorry I haven't been able to respond to many. Yesterday was a blur of getting back into the routine and making sure she didn't do too much. I'm looking forward to getting back on track this weekend.

Libby's home

Libby came home yesterday and no doubt is driving her Mom crazy at this very moment.