It’s Ellery’s turn to be sick. I tucked her in on the couch and went off to do a few things. I glanced over a short time later, and this is how I found her.
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Ellery turns three
Today you turn three. There are no more babies in this house, which is bittersweet. I’m happy to sleep more and see your personality emerge, but I do miss that baby thing where they snuggle into you in a way nothing else can.
I suppose this transition has been helped by the fact that you were hardly a baby when you were a baby. You really are about 43 years old in your head.
You are forever making order out of the crazy we live in, which is good, because someone needs to do it. You’re continually bringing me my things—coffee, shoes, phone. Clearly, I have not left them where they are supposed to be. If something in the house is lost, we know to ask you where it is. 9 times out of 10, you scurry away and return with the missing item. When we check on you before we go to bed, you have often lined up all the things in your crib in neat stacks before you dozed off.
You’re now a professional eye-roller and brow furrow-er. You sometimes give us this look of exasperation, as though you’re thinking, “These grown-ups! Shouldn’t they know this by now?”
Even in your play, you have this controlled sense of self. You could spend ages just playing by yourself in the play kitchen. Cooking, talking, lining up your babies and blobs for dinner, you play with stamina that I only heard about in tales from other moms at the park. You adore playing with Neko and Shep, and they’ve discovered the real joy in playing with you these days.
This year was the first year I think you really understood it was your birthday. When I got you up this morning and wished you a happy birthday, you squealed with excitement. You love your cake and your presents. (Underwear! You were thrilled to get underwear!) You are so excited that this is your day. But what makes me even happier, is how excited Neko and Shep are. There are just overjoyed that this is your birthday.
Happy birthday, little one.
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Quilt
We went to the school fundraiser last night where we had loads of fun, lost at the trivia challenge, but came home with this quilt filled with love.
There was a silent auction, and the big kids, along the amazing Heidi, crafted this crocheted quilt. All the kids have immediately fallen in love, and are fighting over who gets to use it next.
Neko spent much of her sick day curled up inside it, but by evening she was ready to share. A little bit.
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Snow
I know the snow has been inconvenient. There have been accidents, and it's a real pain to be stuck indoors. Folks are without power and heat. But I can’t help it…it’s SO BEAUTIFUL.
One road away the snow is so heavy that the trees on either side of the road bend toward one another, creating this tunnel of white that’s like something out of a fairy tale. (I tried to photograph it, but I’m just not sure it’s possible to do it justice.)
The trees are covered in white after white after white. There’s that quiet that only snow creates.
Sadly, we haven’t had much time to play in it. Neko started throwing up late last night, and has been keeping it up all day. We had to cancel a playdate and swimming.
But she’s already announced she will be better tomorrow in time for school. You know, just in case, heaven forbid, we were making plans to keep her home.
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Shaving cream bath
Did you hear? We got a little bit of snow.
Tom and Neko have been gone for hours, plowing driveways of friends and family. Shep, Ellery, and I have been holding down the fort. We’ve made breakfast, played games, watched tv, and played Boy and His Blob. We’re running out of things to do.
At school, the kids do letter practice in shaving cream on tabletops. With these little people, I wasn’t sure I was that brave today. The mess sounded a bit overwhelming.
So I threw them both in the tub. We blew through a whole can of shaving cream, making mountains and messes.
My apologies to the environment for all the CFCs we released today, but Shep has been in the tub for well over an hour, and that, my friends, is time well spent.
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We’ve set the bar too high
I think we’ve been too crafty too early in our children’s lives. Shep wants a baby blob for his blob. And Neko came home from school with Celeste’s Zhu Zhu carrier and blanket, requesting me to duplicate it.So while the kids watched their evening shows, Tom and I sewed in a frenzy. Tom produced three baby blobs. I produced a Zhu Zhu pet carrier.
And now, tucked in with their creations, we’re hunkering down to watch the premiere of Lost, with a glass of wine and no assignments.
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Zhu Zhu mania
Allowance day was yesterday, and an executive decision was made by Neko and Shep that they would like Zhu Zhu Pets. This request would have been impossible a month ago, when that little hamster was the hottest holiday request, but now you can find them at a few stores if you poke around.
So off to the toy store we went, and adopted three little friends.
I have to say, at $10 apiece, these little friends have been money well spent. They have been played with non-stop since yesterday. Today we created mazes and obstacles courses. They went sailing off benches. Got handled by someone with blueberry hands. Traveled in my purse during swim lessons.
I still don’t understand why it occasionally crows like a rooster and makes a few other un-hamster-like noises, but you can’t beat that there’s no one to feed and no cage to clean.
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