Reflections on Birthday Gifts

Reese was showered with many wonderful and thoughtful gifts at her birthday party...and they may be the only things getting me through the last few days of summer before she returns to school.

Some quick observations on a few gifts so far.

1. Because this is the most over-the-top outfit imaginable Reese is in love with it. Yes, my first reaction is "Toddlers and Tiaras," but since she's only wearing it in the house who can blame her for loving all of those bouncy tutu layers? Seriously, there have been days since her party when all she's worn is pajamas and this--we get up, pajamas come off, tutu goes on, tutu comes off for nap, pajamas go on, nap's over, tutu's back on...you get the gist.


2. Reese also got two gift cards to buy some new school clothes for fall. One of her must haves? Headbands. Don't ask me where this intrigue came from, but she HAD to have a package of three plastic headbands. She insists that she knows how to put them on herself. The results are comical.


3. Wow--we've finally reached an age where we can actually PLAY board games. And not just spin the spinner and move the pieces in all different directions while making up a story about going to grandma's house, actually play by the rules. Reese has shocked me with her skill at Memory, and Candyland is a thrill. They've redesigned the board since the last time I played and now ALL of the candy-people are intriguing, not just the ice-cream princess; or was that just me? Then there's Chutes and Ladders....I would now like to make a formal apology to all the babysitters and family members I made play that game as a child. It is essentially the Monopoly of toddler-gaming; and by that, I mean that the game takes FOREVER. I swear no one ever gets the ladder that takes you from space 4 to space 82, but I manage to hit EVERY chute I come across. Reese thinks it's particularly fun to slide down the chutes and the fact that the game takes an hour is no problem for her.

4. Daddy has gotten to watch Beauty and the Beast twice already in the past week. Is it possible to wear out DVDs? I think we may find out. I was surprised at how much Reese understood about the plot the first time she watched it and she wasn't scared by the Beast character at all. Now she likes to conjecture about Belle. Today in the car it was, "I think Belle is a grown up. Maybe she's 17." (She's really stuck on the number 17 lately, she even told Daddy that she thought he had just turned 17.)

I'll spare you the run down on every gift she received, she's enjoying them all and I can't thank you enough for all your generosity.

Reese Turns 3!

Reese has been talking about being a "bigthreeyearold" (pronounced in the most run-on-way imaginable) for months. Everything important was going to happen after she turned three:
* starting school in a "big-three-year-old-class"
* putting toothpaste on her toothbrush by herself
* sitting in the BIG chair at the dentist's office
* and on, and on, and on....

To celebrate the big 3, we planned a party at our neighborhood pool. This was Reese's first "real" party with non-family members invited. I reserved a pavilion at the pool two months in advance and even checked with the mom of a fellow classmate about their party plans since her son and Reese have birthdays the same week. We ordered three cupcake cakes (shaped like a fish, seahorse, and crab) and got plenty of food, drinks, and balloons for the big day.

Ehren and Aunt Kim dragged themselves over to our house at nearly the crack of dawn (large cups of coffee in hand) to help coordinate lugging coolers and children to the pool for our 11am party. Just as they arrived, the pool called me to report that they had to close the pool due to a "fecal accident."


In planning a pool party, I mistakenly forgot about this possibility. A rained out birthday party? Possible, but not likely considering we going on our 50-billionth day of triple digit temperatures and no rain. A pooped out party? I guess it happens.

Our options were to cancel and reschedule for another day (yeah, I'm not explaining that one to Reese), hold the party at our house (my brain might have exploded), or postpone until later in the day after the pool had been thoroughly disinfected. We opted for the postponement. Kim and Ehren came back later in the day, we got everyone and everything to the pool, lost the large bundle of balloons to a gust of wind and a nearby tree, and no thunderstorms or poopie diapers threatened the rest of the party.

In the end, Reese got to see all of her family and most of her friends. She played with her cousins in the pool, ate at least one icing covered cupcake, and spent most of her day opening and playing with her new presents. She may not remember the "fecal accident" when she looks back on this birthday, but for me it will be a story that sticks.

Paige On The Move....Some More

Paige began crawling and there's been no looking back. Not that I expected there to be, I just don't think anything can prepare you for having two little bodies in motion that need perpetual observation.

Crawling very quickly gave way to pulling up, and now we're moving into cruising. This didn't seem to happen as quickly with Reese. If I had to make bets I'd say Paige will be walking before her first birthday.

And with all her walking and pulling up has come more and more trouble. No cabinet, hand towel, electrical wire, or toy with small parts is safe. Paige has decided that Reese's room is the most fun room of the house and she is constantly getting into Reese's toys. Half of the time Reese is willing to share, the other half there are tears on both sides. And if it can be toppled or swallowed, Paige will find it instantly. On the rare occasion that Paige is awake before Reese, Paige will crawl to Reese's bedroom door and bang on it because she wants to go in.

Other fun notes about Paige:
* She LOVES to dance! I guess it's the influence of big sister, but if Paige hears music, whether from the radio or a toy she starts to boogie.
* Paige has started clapping. She'll do it when excited or when we praise her about something.
* She is VERY resistant to drinking from a cup. At the mere sight of a cup instead of a bottle she goes into hysterics. I'm trying not to give in, but geez, she's killing me.
* When Paige gets REALLY upset she vomits. Yes, uncontrollable spewing brought on from her sheer frustration or distress. So, you can only imagine how that's playing into our cup training.
* Paige is a TOTAL ham. Whenever I get out the camera, she stops what she is doing and will start smiling and posing for the camera. It makes getting a candid shot hard, but it's oh-so-cute.
* Whenever Paige takes a bath she plays peekaboo with the bowls and cups in the tub. She will hold them over her face to hide or sometimes "pretend" to sip water out of them and then start laughing hysterically. Even when she gets a mouth full of bath water, she still thinks it's hilarious.


* As all younger siblings do (I imagine), Paige is learning to "fight back" when Reese takes something from her. Initially, if my back was turned I could tell that Reese had taken something from Paige by the terror in Paige's scream--a little over dramatic, but effective. Now, if Reese swipes something, the screams are coming from Reese, because Paige will lash out and hit or pull her hair. There's a lot of stern talking and explanations when I intervene, but secretly it makes me laugh a little to see Paige try and put Reese in her place. Oh the sisterly arguments we have ahead of us...

Buddies

Once upon a time Reese used to sleep in just PJs with Ellie. Oh how I look back on those days fondly. Reese now has a full fledged crew that must accompany her everywhere.

At bedtime (or non-existent naptime) we must begin with the roundup/roll-call for all her important "friends." Reese MUST have Ellie, pink blankie, Teddy Bear, Birdie, and Clifford before she will even consider letting her head grace the pillow. I completely support having a security blanket or "lovie." Heck, it's probably my doing that she's so attached to Ellie, but I'm having trouble dealing with this new crew. It's not just their number, it's how we must arrange them every night. They are on some kind of rotating schedule that completely eludes me. Their heads must be above the blanket line while sharing some small fraction of Reese's pillow.

They've even moved beyond the bedtime routine recently. Now they accompany her on the couch during viewings of Sesame Street, and we may need to look into starting college savings accounts for them soon....until then, I'll just tell myself she's her Daddy's girl in this respect.