Siblings and Snow Days.

So.  Today is a snow day!  The first official school cancellation due to snow since I've had school aged kids.  She missed a few days with Sandy but that wasn't an actual snow day.  So to mark such an occasion and keep with the spirit of Snow Days I was thinking we would bake, do some valentines crafts, maybe get out the play dough, and really spend the day all playing together.  Except that my kids currently want nothing to do with me.  Because they have discovered that a sibling is the best thing in the world:

It's adorable how close they've been lately.  When they are both home they are basically inseparable:

Playing under the dining room table with a sibling is the BEST!

I usually get up and shower before the kids are up but SNOW DAY!  I decided to sneak one in when I heard my son stirring thinking that I'd be quick and out before he wanted out of his crib.  But just in case I gave my daughter these instructions: "If your brother starts crying while I"m in the shower bring him some books and keep him amused.  I'll be right out." Done and done:

Yes.  She had FILLED his crib with every board book in his room and then climbed in after him. 

 I... don't even know what to say.  They were both so happy I left them there while I got dressed.  I'm guessing this will not be the last time this happens.  Especially when they start sharing a room.

I think part of it is that they both have lives of their own now.  She's in school and he's got a whole network of friends/playgroups that don't include her.  It took him awhile to gain the confidence to socialize and play without his sister there leading the way for him.  But now that he has they both really enjoy their time apart - and have become closer because of it:

Watching the snowplow in my neighbor's driveway.

It was thrilling.

And let me show you the zoomed out view.  The dog is almost always right there as a part of the action.  She might as well be a third sibling at this point:

So if they'd rather play together than bake or craft or whatever under my direction I'm more than fine with it.  I waived my "Put one thing away before you take out the next thing" rule - it is a snow day after all - and they are having a blast playing with ALL OF THE TOYS.  Together.  I love it.

My house is TRASHED but everyone is happy.  Life is good.

Edited to add: As I was writing this post my Dude decided he wanted to wear his bear outfit.  So of course his sister wanted her Merida costume on.  So now they are running around the house as Merida and her brother bear:

TOO MUCH CUTE I CAN'T HANDLE IT OMFG....

Wordless Wednesday - Leaves!

3 Things Disney related

Thing 1: Disney on Ice. So thanks to KaKaKaKaty Matt and I took our little girl to Disney on Ice.

  


It was pretty amazing. Disney certainly doesn't do anything half-assed and this was no exception. Ridiculous from the perspective of a 2.5 year old and pretty enjoyable as an adult, too. Especially from the seats we had:

Although seeing something like this as an adult brought up so, SO many questions. Like how do you get into the Ice Show's game? What career path led them here? And how often does this cast have to travel? And learn new choreography? Or do they recycle past shows? And who did this guy piss off:

Yes. That would be a costume that requires the skater to skate on all fours. Amazing and awful all at the same time.

Matt and I had a ball speculating about these things. And I think I showed great restraint in that I made it to the second act before making a toe pick joke.

The ice was way to fascinating to look away from even for a picture.

 Thing 2: Brave.  On Friday we had our daughter's 6 month follow up for her broken leg. She had to have another x-ray and go through another doctor's appointment. Which she is rightfully pretty terrified of. But she once again was BRAVE and handled the whole thing so well. No tears, no fits, just stiffened her lip and got through it. And we got the best news we could get:


Her leg is perfect. We never have to worry about this ever again.

We celebrated with an impromptu trip to the zoo. Totally unplanned, totally unprepared. On the way home from the doctor I said to her, "we should go somewhere fun to celebrate. Maybe the zoo?" She responded in the same tone and inflection that I use when someone asks me if I want a jack and coke:

YES.

I did a u-turn and we went immediately.

I had no idea we would end up at the zoo today! This is crazy! And my leg is all better! BEST DAY EVER!!!!

Ok that one wasn't all that Disney related except that it once again shows that their next movie is about my child.

Thing 3: Maleficent for Halloween. My daughter decided waaaaaay back when that she wanted to be Maleficent for Halloween. They don't make Malificent costumes in a 2T and my sewing skills aren't that impressive.

Ok.  Now picture her with crazy curly red hair.  And as toddler.

Stay tuned!

Edited to Add:  Thing 4.  THIS:

Brave

So the other day Matt sent me an email and all it said was Jeanne!!! with this link:

Pixar's New Movie.

Yeah. I'm not sure if they planned it this way but Pixar's next movie is about my child:

Blue-eyed little girl with crazy, curly red hair who is BRAVE? Yup.  That's her!

Her name is even insanely close - Merida.

 Dancing with her BLACK LEEOW ONKEY to her current favorite movie:  NIGHT NIGHT GIRL.

And Brave is a word that is very important to her. Throughout the whole purple leg ordeal she was so, SO brave. Braver that I was that's for sure. She would tell me "BRAVE STICKERS XRAY." Meaning I got these stickers for being brave during my xray. So we've already planned that this will be her first theater movie. I can't wait!

It goes so fast.

So. I was prepared for the whole newborn phase to go by in a blink. Not a problem. In fact it's a damn good thing it goes so quickly b/c there's only so much sleep deprivation anyone can take.

Pictured: A child who sleeps through the night in his own bed.  AKA Not a newborn anymore, thank God.

And I tried to prepare myself for the thing everyone told me would happen with my first born. That she would instantly transform into this ginormous kid the second I laid eyes on the newborn. That I wouldn't have patience for how big she was and that she would seem so, SO different.

Those last few weeks I tried to force myself to remember her being small, remember her being a baby, before she wasn't. But you know what? That didn't really happen. She was still a little toddler and I really didn't know what everyone was talking about.

If anything it was the newborn that was odd. Impossibly tiny and fragile. He was the one I didn't know and didn't understand yet.

And then over the next few weeks she Grew Up.

No really. Somehow while I was distracted and sleep deprived she turned into this kid:

She has 5 new teeth since he was born. Including her molars (yeah that was fun).



She's measurably taller and her 2T stuff finally fits.

She's potty trained.

She no longer has her own little language. Yeah there are still some things I have to translate but not really.  Pretty much anyone can chat with he now.

Chatting and coloring with her buddy.

She speaks in whole sentences that make sense. Subject Verb Object type sentences. And uses pronouns correctly (most of the time.) It's no longer NEEEAH It's I and You and We.


We have whole conversations now. To the point where she *might* not speak in all caps anymore.  For example it's no longer just JUICE.it's "I have Juice Please?"

MORE AGAIN SPARKLER

 And she really taken to the role of Big Sister. She took it seriously from the very beginning:

Helping him get dressed to go home.  In the outfit she bought for him.

Leaving the hospital.  I thought she would want to ride with me.  Nope.  She wanted to help push b/c she?  Is a Big Girl.

Always with the helping.

But now it's all the time. "I help you. I help mommy."  "No. I do it." Or the phrase that she's been wanting to say since she was born:

"I do it myself."


And she just... looks like a kid. Her face has lost that baby roundness.

I'm not the type of mom who freaks out about my kid growing up  To be sad that the next phase is starting or any of that.  But when you take a step back and look at the big picture of what can happen in just a few weeks.  Let alone a few months.  Or a few years:

May 2009.  Same age as her brother is now.

It's pretty damn amazing.

Outtakes

So. I finally, FINALLY got the birth announcements in the mail. I think people probably got them today so I thought I'd share some of the outtakes.  Because to get one semi-usable photo where both of the kids look... sane... there are a billion that look like this:

Is she winking?  What?

Or this:

Redfaced angry baby.  Awesome.

Or this.

Screw it.  I'll use clipart or something.

Yeah. Noone was happy that day.

She's crying b/c she didn't have creative control over their outfits.  Seriously.

Perhaps I should have just used a picture of the dog.  She's pretty cute.

In the end - with some creative photoshopping - I think it turned out ok.  But I can only imagine what I'll have to do for this year's Christmas card. I'm guessing candy bribes will be involved.

Bitch, Please. (I tried so hard to caption this with something less cussy but... no. This is her "Bitch, please" look. No way around it.  She's 2 and has the death glare of a teenager.)

So anyways here's the final card.  Meh.  Could have been worse, I guess.  At least he looks adorable.

Initially Yours Blue Birth Announcement

To see Shutterfly's birth announcement designs, click here.

View the entire collection of cards.