THE GREEN(wald) HOUSE … (growing rosemary & raising a little wolf)

OK - so technically it is already October, but I was so busy in September, and then we spent a week in Florida near the end of the month - and I just realized I never finished last month’s update… so here it is….

AAH, the cool fall air is starting here in Michigan, I love these days…..clear blue skies, with bright sunshine, and colorful fall leaves starting to turn..

Rosie started Preschool again at English Oaks Montessori school, and she loves it! This year she is going 2 half days and one full day (to prepare for her full-day kindergarden next year). She was very excited to stay at school for the whole long day and eat lunch with her friends. We bought her a small rug for at home so she can play “school” and get out her mat and her work and have space to do her own thing, and then she is getting very good about cleaning up afterwards. I am going to try to clear out the clutter in the playroom and put toys and activities on the shelves so they are easier to get out and clean up. This past week, Rosie’s school had a field trip to a local farm, and Sammy and I went along and it was a great time! We went on a hayride, and the kids got to ride horses, feed pigs and sheep and goats, and bottle feed some baby pigs and goats, and then the coolest thing was that they got to milk a cow!

It brought back memories of my own childhood on a farm and I am so glad that my kids got to interact with the animals so much.

We have been having a few issues with Rosie’s neighborhood friends that started over the past month. Rosie, being the youngest of the group, unfortunately has been the target of some bullying, leaving out of playing, name-calling, and a lot of things that I didn’t expect to have to deal with until junior high. It has resulted in a lot of tears and hurt feelings and conversations with the neighbors. On the positive side, Rosie is learning the golden rule (how to treat people as you want to be treated) and how to stand up for herself, and we have had lots of conversations about jealousy, and knowing right from wrong and not doing something just because your friend tells you to. Since school started and everyone is busy with school and other activities, there is not so much interaction with the neighbors and it seems to have cooled off a bit….

Rosie has been reading a lot more, she is getting pretty good and can read some books on her own (mostly because she memorized them I think). She has been practicing writing her whole full name and numbers too. She still loves to color and draw and is getting a bit neater with her coloring, staying mostly within the lines now… Her vocabulary is amazing, she knows so many words and expressions and she is constantly amazing me with the things she says and knows. She has been very good about cleaning up after meals, and she clears her dishes and Sammy’s too and she helps me wipe off the table. We are going to start experimenting with an allowance for her, probably just getting a quarter for every time she helps me with something around the house.

Sammy - OH MY is 2 a challenging age. I must have forgotten how Rosie was at this age, because I just do not have the patience to deal with him like I want to. He is hot or cold, either screaming NO and being extremely whiny and difficult, or he is giggling and cuddling and being the cutest boy ever. He drives me crazy most days, but his cuteness more than makes up for it. We are still working on his transition to the “big bed” in his room. He has not been very agreeable about staying in bed or in his room at bedtime, so I put a baby gate up outside his door and he is now climbing over the gate as well… Bedtime has been taking forever to finally get him down, and then he has been waking up in the middle of the night and I have been going and sleeping in his room, or bringing him in bed with us, as he wants to cuddle or “cull” as it sounds when he says it. He also requests “Mommy seep me” or ” mommy seep my bed”.
I am not getting nearly enough sleep, but it is almost worth it when he keeps me up climbing over me and lying on top of me and saying “I love you mommy” every 20 min.

He is really trying to be a big boy, insisting on climbing into the car and into his car seat by himself, and buckle top buckle of car seat by himself - things that add an extra 10 min into our leaving the house routine. He started doing a front roll, learning all by himself by watching Rosie. He is constantly repeating every word and action and move his sister says/does, and driving her crazy.
Our conversation from the other day:
Rosie: Mommy, is it still fall?
Me: yep, it’s still fall
Sammy: mama, still fall?
Me: yes Sammy, it’s still fall
Rosie: When will it be winter?
Me: After fall, in December, around Christmastime is when it will turn to winter
Sammy: Mama, when winter?
Me: In December it will be winter, at Christmastime
Sammy: oh, in ‘cember, kimas time
Rosie: Then it is Spring? After Winter?
Me: Yep, spring is after winter
Sammy: Mama, sping after winter?
Me: (sigh) Yes Sammy, spring is after winter
Sammy - oh, sping after winter.

And that is pretty much how every conversation goes, all day long… You can see how that can wear on your patience pretty quickly…

He is starting to show more interest in the potty and actually pooped on the potty the other day for the first time. He will start to go poop and tell me we will go and he will go in and finish on the potty. He loves to flush and is good about washing hands, etc.

Along with repeating everything, he just generally talks non-stop and needs 100% of my attention all the time or he will incessantly repeat
Mommy? Mom? Mommy? Mom? MOMMY! MAMA! MOM! MOM!
and I finally give in and say (in an irritated voice) YES! WHAT? WHAT DO YOU WANT? - and he sighs and says “I love you too” and he knows those are magic words that take my anger and frustration away…

He also always says:
Why mom? but why?
Daddy - you’re a goofball!
Excuse me mommy, I need to tell you something
Whispering, telling secrets at dinner (copying his sister)
Whew (wiping the back of his hand on his forehead) that was a close one! (when almost spilling/dropping something)
No MY do it!
Mmmm - it’s delicious!

and he really loves to love things - he tells us he loves us several times a day. He is so enthusiastic about everything:
I love it! I love daddy car! I love your shoes!

We spent a lovely end of summer week in FL.

I got to spend some quality time with my mom and sisters and the kids had a great time getting spoiled by Gigi and playing with cousins Ella and Stephen and Bailey. We also had a memorial ceremony for Grandma on the beach.

We got balloons and wrote little messages to Grandma on them, and read some of her poetry (really quite amazing stuff from when she was 17 and a new mother). Some dolphins came and were frolicking in the water as we were remembering Grandma. Then as soon as we released the balloons, a storm rolled in and it was pouring down rain, as if the universe was crying with us, it was amazing.

Joe and I took our first kid-free vacation for our 5th anniversary present to ourselves, we left the kids with GiGi and took the Ferry down to Key West for 2 days. We slept in and took naps and drank a lot of alcohol in the day and watched some gorgeous sunsets.


It was such a nice break for me to not have to be worrying about naptimes, and meals, and generally managing every detail of our family life for a couple days. I definitely missed the kids, and they actually did great without me. I kind of expected them to miss me a little more, since it was the first time I was ever away from them for more than a couple hours at a time - but the fact that they weren’t whining and missing me made me enjoy my time away a little more too… I am looking forward to some more vacation time for me in the future, now that Sammy is finally weaned and I know they will be OK.

So, goodbye to the summer, and goodbye for now - I’ll have more next month…

Over halfway through August, and once again I feel the time slipping by so quickly, I can’t keep track of the days…

We had a great July and celebrated the kids’ birthdays all month long, with one big combined party where we had a bounce house and crafts and a pinata and all that fun birthday party stuff….

Rosie’s big present was a “big girl bike” - specifically a princess bike, one that won’t fall down (i.e. training wheels). Sammy got a small basketball hoop and stand, and they both got tons of other great new presents. Our house is overflowing with toys and games and other fun stuff.


Oh, another big present for both of them (and Joe) was our new puppy! She is a shepherd mix that we adopted from a rescue agency, Rosie named her Daisy.

Since every other July for the last few years we had a baby - this year we got a dog instead. It’s almost the same thing, getting used to a new routine of waking up early, cleaning up pee and poop, keeping things put away that you don’t want broken or chewed on - all that other fun stuff that comes with a new dog or baby.

This past month, Rosie decided she was changing my name and is now calling me “mother”. She says “yes mother” when I call her or ask for something - and she is also calling Joe “father” and decided her name is now “Rose Rose”.
She is still playing pretend all the time, inventing new games like flutterfly, but also sticking with the standard stuff like house, doctor, and the various princesses - little mermaid, snow white, sleeping beauty, etc.

In my old school shirt….

She loves playing and running and giggling with her brother, teaching him jokes and games and such.
She is still stalling at bedtime, frequently coming into our room at 10:30 with some complaint or excuse. She once said her room was too itchy and she couldn’t sleep because she was scratchy all over. She crawls into our room with her lady bug blanket over her and when we say “Rosie go back to your room” she says “how did you know it was me?”

After a week of “Princess Camp” with her neighbor friends this past week…

I think she will be a lawyer, since she is so good at arguing and rationalizing. Another bedtime stall is saying she is not tired. One night I told her she could lie in bed and read books or play quietly, but she could not get out of bed. She asked “how can I get a book if I can’t get out of bed?” (got me on that one)
So I said, -”OK you can get out of bed really quickly to get a book or toy, but you cannot leave your room”. After I left the room, she started whining about wanting her big elephant in bed with her. After about 15 minutes of listening to her whine, I went into her room to tell her that if she wants her elephant, to get out of bed and get it then! She said, “well, actually mother, since you are already in my room, you can get it for me”.

She is so funny - she is always talking about her friends and what she said or did with her friends. She wants to play with her friends in the neighborhood all the time, anxious to go play as soon as she wakes up in the morning. She says such amusing things like telling me her hair was “shining like a star” or telling a story and then saying “isn’t that crazy?”
She has started watching “big girl” movies like Bambi, Charlotte’s Web, Alice in Wonderland, Horton Hears a Who, and Babe and loving them. I thought she might be freaked out by Bambi, but she was fine, and all talk of the killing of animals in Charlotte’s Web and Babe was not an issue with her either. She sometimes likes to cover her eyes, but also tells me that she is brave.
Another new phrase of hers is “give it to me straightaway” or “let’s do it straightaway when we get home”
She has been learning the value of money and she has been using the money in her piggybank to buy treats for her and Sammy. She was very proud to place a handfull of coins on the counter at Starbucks to buy a “special milk drink” for her and her brother.

She had me cracking up a few weeks ago when I had to take her to use a public restroom. I was hurrying her along as she was going to the bathroom with me in the room:
“are you almost done?”
“not yet, there is one little poopie left that doesn’t want to come out. I think it’s scared.”
(talking to poo) “Come on out little poopie, don’t be shy, it’s just my mommy”

She has also been saying
“It’s the exciting day of my life!” (said several times about different things, always omitting the “most” part)

We have been working on her having more responsibilities around the house and got a “good habits chart” for her room, where she gets to mark off the various things she should be doing every day. She gets to turn a little wheel when she tidies her room, or puts dirty clothes in the laundry, if she used good manners all day, ate healthy food, spent time with a book, brushed her teeth, and most importantly - going to bed on time. I told her I would give her a quarter to put in her piggy bank each day she could accomplish everything on the chart - I think she has done that once in the month we have had it (usually the bedtime cancels out all the other good stuff).

Sammy - has been super cute and sweet - and alternately super whiny and screamy and tantrumy. He has started singing a lot and loves to sing the ABC’s blended with twinkle twinkle, so it sound like “abdbqwq how i wonder what you are”.
He has been asking “what are you doing?” or more acurately - “mama, whadoing?” He loves playing games with Rosie like duck duck goose and tag, and will frequently be running around the coffee table, tapping us and saying “dut” or “tag, your’e it!”

He also loves singing all the songs on a Dora CD we have, his favorites being the boots song “I love my Boots!” and also “Isa turn the wheel” (from Dora’s pirate adventure) - he loves them both as his songs at bedtime and requests that we sing them over and over…
“Itsa turn the weel ‘gain mommy”
We also have a new bedtime tickle routine - he loves to be tickled and when I put him in bed and get ready to leave the room he calls out - “wait mom - tickle ‘gain!”

He is such a lover - still wanting to cuddle (or “cull” as he says) and hugging and saying “I love you”

He is always asking for (or usually- demanding) things and when I say no he asks “why mom?”

He recently started climbing out of his crib - so we are experimenting with a”big boy bed” - just a futon mattress on the floor. We have been back and forth because he keeps getting up and leaving his room when he is in his big bed, so sometimes he has to go back in his crib and then he usually will stay put and finally go to sleep.

He is repeating everything - if I say “let’s go upstairs” he says, “ok - less go upstairs”. If I say “go play with Rosie” he runs out of the room and says “Ok- go play Rosie”
He is so enthusiastic about everything - usually saying “Yep mom!” in response when I ask him something…
He usually wakes up before his sister and spends an hour or so asking “where rosie go?” and then he gets so excited when Rosie wakes up and says “Rosie wakey up!” and runs to her and hugs her and says “I love you Rosie”.

“how ’bout……” with a long pause - when asked what he wants to eat, or choosing anything…”dat one!”
He really wants to be big and to do all the big things his sister does, like when we get ready to go someplace, he needs to open his car door, and then close it, and climb into his seat by himself, and then buckle the top buckle in his carseat, all the things that add another 5 minutes to the “get out the door” routine…

We had a little family getaway to Chicago a couple weekends ago - we went on a boat cruise around the river, we went to Navy Pier and rode the carousel,

we went to millennium park and visited “the bean” and played in the fountain (it was HOT outside),


and we stopped by Lollapalooza and hung out mostly at the kidsapalooza area and watched the kids get punk rock hairdos and do some coloring and painting and other fun stuff.

The kids traveled pretty great and love being in a new place, especially sleeping in a new big fluffy hotel bed.

Lots more trips coming up in the next few months, Canada at the end of this month, and Florida in September.

WOW - I can’t believe it was 2 years ago that my little boy was born.

The last 2 years have gone by in the blink of an eye. Sammy has grown so quickly from the chubby, cooing, smiling, sleeping all the time baby into a walking, talking, laughing, running, jumping, cuddling boy, who actually still sleeps pretty great (aside from a few off nights)!

I can still vividly recall the late night/early morning birth adventure that brought my sweet boy to this world. Sam’s birth was truly a lesson in trust. Trust in my body. Trust in the universe. Trust in my awesome midwife. Trust in my baby. The knowledge that he was stuck and needed some additional maneuvering to fully enter this world could have and probably should have brought panic into my mind and thoughts, yet I was strangely calm throughout. I somehow just knew that everything would be alright. Moving out of the bathtub, getting on my hands and knees, putting my head down on the cold tile floor and PUSHING and GRUNTING with all my might, and still needing the midwife to grab onto his torso and pull him from my womb. He didn’t seem to want to leave my body, and he still is such a mama’s boy, needing me to hold him, carry him, cuddle him, and lately, wanting to sit on my lap at mealtimes.

We are becoming accustomed to dealing with the fierce independent streak he is showing. He is still a great (and loud) tantrum thrower, lying on the ground, kicking and screaming, throwing things, the usual tantrum stuff. Tantrums that crop up at the mere mention of “no” - he HATES being told that he can’t do or have something. He is such a sensitive little man, as I can usually thwart the tantrum by asking “do you want to cuddle with mommy?” and he will say “yeah, cull mommy” and climb up on my lap, bury his head in my shoulder, and dry his tears and calm down. He has also been fighting sleep at naptime and bedtime a bit lately, maybe because I am limiting nursing, trying to move to just rocking before bed.

In the last month, he has had a true language explosion, he repeats everything, he speaks in 4-5 word sentences, he tries to sing. He loves pointing out things, I think just to prove to me (and himself) that he knows the words. He says things like “mama, excuse me, open please”. He tries to do everything his sister does. He will get a cup out of the lower cabinet where we keep all the kids cups and plates and etc. and he tries to get water out of the dispenser on the front of the fridge. He can’t quite reach the water lever, but he can reach the ice one, so several times a day we have ice cubes melting on the kitchen floor from his attempts. He loves cars, and trains, and trucks, typical boy stuff. When we are driving in the car, he loves to point out every truck we pass - “mama, big truck”. Even when eating watermelon the other day, he took a rectangular chunk of watermelon, took a bite out, and he decided it looked like a train engine - and so he said “choo choo” and pushed his watermelon chunk around on the table.

He tries to count, but it usually sounds like “1, 2, 3, 10!” He tries to sing the ABC’s and it usually sounds like “ABD, FD, H, KOP, Q, S, T, W, Y, Z”. He loves to jump in the pool, and can spend hours saying “1, 2, 3 jump” and jumping into my arms and then kicking over (with my help) to the stairs and climbing up and doing it all over again. He loves playing in the play kitchen, and pretending to make food and eat it or give it to me to eat. He is getting good at doing a few puzzles we have, putting the letters in place where they go on top of the pictures, he knows W goes on the whale, and etc. and he is starting to know his shapes and colors. He still loves to imitate his big sister, and will do or say anything she does or says.

He is such a joy, his laugh can light up a room. He loves to tickle and be tickled. Every night after his bath he runs away, naked and wet and climbs up on my bed and waits to be tickled. He is silly, and smart, and sweet, and stubborn all at the same time. He is my boy, and he is two years old, and I am so lucky.

and today…

Happy Birthday (Birth Month) to me! It has been a great month, the weather is beautiful, and summer is just around the corner!

The kids have been enjoying popsicles and playing with the neighbor kids on their playstructures.

Sammy has become a real talker in the last month. He repeats EVERYTHING, and though it is not always perfectly understandable, he definitely communicates and speaks in short sentences now. When we are driving in the car or reading books, he is constantly interrupting to point things out - “MAMA - Air-pane” “Mama - truck” - “MAMA - cloud” etc.
He asks for things politely “mama, mo buberry peese” (he still signs “more” with a kind of clapping motion) and when I give him something he says “taynk ooo”. He is also becoming bi-lingual thanks to Dora and Diego, he says “abre” when he wants me to open a door or something for him. He is always saying “I do it!” or “I did it!” When he jumps or climbs or does something. He has been liking doing puzzles lately, and I am working on getting him to help clean up. Whenever he spills something (which is several times a day), he immediately runs to grab a towel or the broom and dustpan, saying “keen, keen”. He is starting to sing the “clean up, clean up, everybody clean up” song with me and he is trying to sing along whenever Rosie sings lately too…

He is so friendly, he says Hi and Bye Bye to everyone. A few days ago, we were taking a walk through the neighborhood, and Sammy was sitting in the stroller like the grand marshall of a parade, constantly waving and saying “Hello” to everyone we passed. He loves to be silly, and make people laugh - his latest thing is putting his food or fork on his head when he is eating - he thinks it is hilarious!

He is obsessed with pushing in chairs at the table. He will climb up in his chair and say “mama, puuuuush” until I push him in - and if I sit next to him and don’t scoot my chair up to the table, he will make a pushing motion with his arm toward me and say “mama, puuuush” until I push my chair up to the table as well.

He is still throwing tantrums when he doesn’t get his way, but he is a little more gentle about it now, instead of throwing himself on the floor, he will gently lie down on his belly and put his head in his hands and whine for a few minutes, then he gets up and is usually fine. He will also do his pouty face, where he looks down, sticks his lips out, breathes heavily through his nose, and looks up at me with just his eyes. It is so cute, I want to capture it on video. He has been throwing things lately when he is upset too, food or toys or whatever, so I have been really trying to stop that behavior before it gets worse.

He idolizes his big sister and wants to do whatever she does (even wanting to put barrettes in his hair too). He still sits on the potty occasionally (with his pants and diaper on), usually whenever Rosie goes to the bathroom. Sometimes I will take his pants and diaper off and let him sit for a little bit. He hasn’t actually gone on the potty yet, but he likes to pretend to wipe, flush and then wash his hands after, so at least he is getting used to the routine. Just in the last few days, he has started a funny thing copying his sister. When Rosie goes poop, she usually needs help wiping, so she will yell out to me “MOM - I’m ready to wipe!”. I think Sammy just thinks this is what you say when you are sitting on the toilet, because he has gone and sat on the potty (in his clothes) and yelled out “MAMA - RAY WY!” a few times this week.
He tends to run all his words together - so “carry me please mommy” sounds like “cayemepesemommy”

He is still a great sleeper and I can pretty much count on 3 hour naps in the afternoon, and 12 hours at night. He is down to nursing only at naptime and bedtime and I am hoping to make the transition to weaning as smooth as possible.

Rosie is in full-on princess world now. I don’t know how it happened, but all of a sudden - she wants to read princess books, watch princess movies from the library, wear princess clothes - etc. She even knows the Disney logo - so if we see something in the store, she says “look mommy, its from DISNEY!”. I think we are going to have to give in and make our first trip to take her to Disney World next time we go down to visit Gigi in Florida. I got a “Birthday Express” catalog in the mail of kids “themed” birthday supplies (matching cups, plates, napkins, gift bags, favors, cake toppers, etc.) and she has been going through to pick out what she wanted for her party and she of course picked out the Princess theme and is set on getting a Princess cake for her birthday. She talks about her birthday every day and asks me how many more days until her birthday.

She is so smart and inquisitive, always asking questions and wanting to learn new things. She has been playing a lot of games on her dad’s iphone and choosing the missing letter in words, she has been sounding out everything, and just for fun, I wanted to see if she could read a couple nights ago. I took a notebook and wrote “MOM” on it and showed it to her and asked her if she could read what it said - she sounded out “mmmmah - aaaaah - mah” and then said ” MOM!” I told her - “you did it - you can read!” and she was so excited - she said “do another one” so I wrote a few more words, she read Dad, Cat, Bat, Hat, and a few others before she got bored of it…

She also loves to play games. Her latest is learning how to play games like Rock, Paper, Scissors. She thinks it is so fun - she learned it from the older kids at her school, along with something called “who didn’t come from the barnyard” which I guess is kind of like an “eeny meeny miny moe” kind of thing…

She is always making cute, smart, funny and really thought-provoking observations. Some recent ones:

Driving through 2 traffic circles back-to-back near our house “Hey, mommy - those traffic circles are like an 8!”

Driving past a convertible on the road “Hey mommy, that car doesn’t have a lid on it!”

Noticing her name “Rosemary” on her school bag - her teacher told me she started spelling it “R, O, S, E, M - hey - that doesn’t say Rosie?” and the teacher explained that it says “Rosemary” and Rosie said - “Yeah - that’s my name, and Rosie’s my half-name”.

She is a big nature lover, and we have been spending a lot of time outdoors, collecting ladybugs, caterpillars, and worms for the garden. She brought her little ladybug friend, named Lilac, to school the last week of school to show her teacher and classmates, as they were studying caterpillars and tadpoles and other little creatures. Then we had to let the ladybug go, I told her that 4 days was the rule, then the ladybug had to go home to her family.

Rosie has been really good about sharing with her brother, teaching him to share, helping, pushing his chair in, holding his hand when crossing the street, etc. It is so cute and I can see how they are going to protect each other as they get older. I can’t believe next month they will be 2 and 4!

Happy MAY!

We have had a fun and busy month as usual. We’ve had some hot summer weather, and some cold thunderstorms. We had a power outage that lasted for 2 days, and we had a trip to Florida to visit Gigi and the rest of our FL family members. We’ve done a lot of playing outside and blowing bubbles, and visiting parks and sliding and swinging. We are looking forward to a fun summer and hope that the weather stays nice from now on…

Rosie has still been trying to assert her independence - which has been really difficult for me to deal with. She has been defiant just because she wants to be the one making the decisions. If I ask her to do something, sometimes she will cross her arms and say “No, I don’t WANT to do that!” She started saying “too bad” occasionally too - I told her she couldn’t have another snack before dinner - and she went to the pantry and said “Too bad because I already got out the craisins”. I have tried to explain to her that is not a nice or acceptable way to talk to your mom. We have had a lot of cuddle time and talking about words and attitude and I am trying to be patient and I know this is just a phase and hopefully it will pass soon. But, I have had several moments of screaming at her that I am not too proud of.

Most of the time, she is sweet and remembers to say please and thank you, and she frequently comes up to me randomly throughout the day and says “I love you mommy” and will give me a big kiss and hug - but then she will have a defiant moment out of the blue that will just take the wind out of my sails. I have been sending her to her room a lot - just telling her that I don’t appreciate her attitude and she can go to her room until she decides to be a big girl and be nice to me. She usually spends 5 min in her room and then comes down and says “I am ready to come down now” - or I will go into her room, we will talk about her behavior, I try to explain why I got angry and why she can’t act that way - we kiss and make up and then come downstairs.

One particular conversation - when she was running around naked and I wanted her to at least put underwear on and she was running away from me and screaming:
Rosie: “NO, I don’t WANT to put panties on”
Me: “You can put your panties on, or you can go to your room for a time out”
Rosie: (buries her head in her hands and cries) “I just don’t know what to choose!”

Bedtime has also been a bit of a battle, she usually requests one more book, one more cuddle, one more song, and then she needs a specific toy or doll, and if I can’t find it - she declares that she just can’t go to sleep without that thing. If I do fulfill all her requests, sometimes she just says “I don’t WANT to go to bed”. This is when I sometimes resort to yelling and threatening her. Then I always feel guilty about it - especially since she has recently started saying “I’m afraid that you’re mad at me”

Oh, but her cuteness is of such an extreme level and her sweetness the majority of the time makes the hard times so worth it. She was extra sweet around Mothers day this year and told me at least 20 times “Happy Mudder’s day”. We have taken a lot of pictures over the last couple weeks. We had a photo shoot when we lost power for a long weekend after a big storm, and she was so cute with her posing. We walked to the little playground in our neighborhood and she kept begging me “take my picture mommy”, “take a picture of me dancing”, and “take a picture of me swinging”.

We had a Mother’s Day tea at Rosie’s school on the Friday before Mother’s day, and we got dressed up in fancy dresses and had a great time eating little sandwiches and treats and drinking tea with lots of milk and a little sugar. I found a small teapot set at Salvation Army for Rosie later that week and we have been having our own tea parties at home while Sammy naps.

She is so cute with all her playing and ideas and things she says and knows. She sings me songs she learns at school, in her quiet, breathy, slightly off-key voice. She surprised me by knowing the days of the week (I guess she learned at school) and she has been talking a lot about using her ‘magination. She has a wooden giraffe pull toy that she recently named “princess” and she told me the other day “princess would like some more craisins please mommy”. I said, “oh, really - princess wants the craisins?” and she said “oh yeah, princess just LOVES craisins”.

She saw the neighbor’s lawn getting mowed the other day and she asked me:
“mommy, what’s that guy doing”
“he’s mowing the lawn”
“oh, he’s getting the grass all smalled up?”

Sammy is still an active 22 month old. He is seemingly in constant motion - jumping, running, climbing, etc. Every time he goes outside, he makes a bee-line for one of the neighbor’s playstructures. He could spend hours climbing up, sliding down and running around until I usually have to chase him down (giggling) and bring him inside. He is pretty coordinated and sports minded for a not-yet-two-year-old. He can run and kick a soccer ball with pretty good precision. He will see a basketball, and pick it up and carry it over to the neighbor’s basketball hoop and jump and try to throw it up towards the hoop towering over him. He is pretty good at throwing and even catching balls now when we play catch.

He is even looking more like a big boy lately. I just trimmed his hair a little bit, and he doesn’t have that babyish look about him anymore. He is still getting new words every day, and is talking more in 2 and 3 word sentences. Every night when I put him to bed I say “night night, love you” and he always repeats back to me “ni- nite” and waves with his hand, and he has started to say “love-oo” occasionally too. There are still things I don’t understand that he says, and I have to usually say “show me” and he will ask for my “hand” and take my hand and pull me over to whatever it is that he is requesting or talking about.

He usually asks to hold my “hand” and wants to “walk” when we go places. He will chant “ME ME ME” or “TOO TOO TOO” when he wants something. He has been trying to put shoes and socks on himself, and he will bring my shoes to me and say “shoe on” and try to put my shoes on me as well. He has been taking his diaper off occasionally, so I need to make sure I keep pants or shorts on him so he doesn’t have access to the velcro closures on his diapers. He is getting really good at eating with utensils and drinking from regular cups. He is starting to say “Peeese” and ” tayk too” pretty regularly.

He is constantly copying his sister and wanting to do whatever she says or does. Recently, she was dancing for me and holding her dress out and twirling and jumping and spinning around, and Sammy got up and pulled up the bottom of his t-shirt and was spinning around and saying “too, too, too”. He still is jealous and thinks he owns my body. Anytime Rosie sits on my lap or cuddles me he comes over and whines and tries to push her away. We went back to nursing a ton because the kids were both a little sick at the beginning of the month, and then when we traveled, our schedules were all out of whack, so now we are trying to get back on track..

We had a fun trip to Florida at the beginning of the month, and got to rest and relax and go to the beach and spend some time with family (Gigi, Auntie Em, cousin Ella, Aunt Jackie, Aunt Rochelle, and cousins Stephen and Bailey.) The last day we were there, a little parking lot carnival opened up right near Gigi’s house and Rosie and Ella got to go on a bunch of rides together and it was so fun.

Have a great month! Here’s a little video of the kids blowing bubbles outside on a nice (but windy) day…

Ahh - Spring in Michigan, where we had snow last week.



So we took advantage and made a big snowman and played until we were frozen, then came in for some hot chocolate by the fire - hopefully for the last time this year…

But today it is sunny and beautiful - hooray!

I was glad that the flowers we had ready to bloom didn’t get frozen in the snow.

here are the flowers before - and 2 days later

Sammy is 21 months and is becoming such a fun little boy.

He is so adorable and is really getting into playing on his own. Sometimes he tugs on my pants and requests that I come “pay” with him, but he is usually content to sit and play by himself, especially when Rosie is at school. He loves playing with trains, driving cars along the ground, and throwing and kicking and trying to catch a ball. The usual boy stuff. Occasionally he’ll pick up a doll and cradle it for a few minutes, rocking it back and forth and say “baby” - then he grows bored and tosses the doll off to the side and moves on to something more exciting.

He still loves bedtime and loves going to sleep. He also does the cutest thing every time I put him in his bed - he lets out this long contented sigh. It is like he is thinking “Finally! I get to go to bed!” We have been working on setting limits on nursing, and limiting the number of times he nurses a day. Right now, I have limited his access - so he nurses in the morning, at naptime, at bedtime, and I am letting him occasionally nurse if he wakes up in the night too. Hopefully we can drop the middle of the night one for good very soon. He is still happy in his crib, so I don’t see us transitioning to a toddler bed anytime soon…

He is still very much a mama’s boy. He gets VERY jealous whenever Rosie is sitting on my lap or cuddling with me and he will try to push her away and then throw himself on the ground and whine if he is not successful.

He is still into dumping and pouring things into other things. I did find the big container of pasta and dried beans for pouring and dumping, and that was spread all over the house for about a week straight before I had enough and put it away again.

He loves running and chasing his sister, and being chased by her. He has also been spending a lot of time pretend falling and lying on the floor and laughing and looking at things from that point of view. He loves to run through the house jumping and saying “jump - jump - jump”. We went to the zoo a couple weeks ago and he would run down the path, then stop and lie down and kick his legs and laugh and then get up and run and do it all over again.

Rosie is excited about turning 4 in a few months - and already talks about it and makes a pretend cake where we sing and pretend it is already her birthday.

She has been loving trying to read a lot lately, and likes to sit in bed at night and flip through the little mermaid books we checked out of the library. She has decided she can figure out what is happening in the story by looking at the pictures, and she makes up her own story following the pictures. She LOVES school, and even gets excited to do her “homework” when she occasionally comes home with something (like tracing shapes or practicing writing letters). She usually asks “mommy, can I do my homework right when we get home?” I hope this excitement about school and homework lasts throughout her school career.

She really loves playing computer games, she goes on noggin.com and pbskids.org and she can navigate the sites great, going from game to game, opening and closing windows, it is really impressive to see her computer skills. Joe has been uploading a lot of learning games on his iphone for her too. Games where she can spell words by looking at a picture and choosing the missing letter, and it has an app for practicing writing letters. It is pretty cool - she also loves to go to the “fart machine” app on her dad’s phone. He is so proud. I am not sure it is a good idea to give a 3 1/2 year old unlimited access to a $400 phone - but she is usually pretty careful.

Here is a short video of her playing a game on my computer - she is very good at maneuvering the touch pad…

She still loves to cook and has been really good about helping me with things when I ask her. We do dishes together, she helps me clean and sweep and vacuum. Her participation is usually limited, after a few minutes she usually tells me she is too tired to do any more, and she is ready for a snack (usually cheese, or dried fruit). We really try to have some good quality mommy-daughter time when Sammy is napping in the afternoon. Sometimes we paint our nails, or play a game, or take a bath, or read, or just cuddle and watch TV. She got a couple Dora card games in her Easter Basket, and she had fun learning how to play “go fish” the other day. She loved it so much she exclaimed “It’s my perfect game I never played in the whole wide world!”

We had a great Passover dinner at our new house for family. It was nice because Aunt P, Aunt Arlene, cousins Debby and Alissa did all the cooking so all I had to do was move a little furniture. It was a great chance for everyone to see the new house, and Rosie had a great time playing dress up and beauty shop with cousin Alexandra from NJ.

Easter was quiet and nice at home. The Easter bunny (named Esther, who comes to celebrate the beginning of spring) came and hid some baskets that Rosie and Sammy had fun finding. Then Aunt P, Uncle Lime, Marisa, Noah, Cory and Ari came over to decorate eggs and we hid them in the backyard several times and everyone got lots of chances to hunt for eggs.

Here are a few videos just to give a glimpse into our lives and how cute the kids are. The first one is from dinner just a few nights ago.

I have been amazed by the appetites on these kids lately. Rosie seems to eat non-stop all day long, she is constantly telling me she is hungry, and when I ask her what she wants, she says “Hmm, let me just take a look and decide” and she goes to the pantry or fridge and opens it and peruses the contents before deciding on something. She is still a cheese addict, and Sammy is quickly becoming one too. We seriously go through pounds of cheese every week, Sammy runs to the fridge first thing in the morning and starts chanting “cheese, cheese, cheese”. Rosie knows several different varieties and will ask specifically for gouda, or colby jack, or cheddar, or swiss, or havarti, or string cheese. She also likes cream cheese mixed in with her scrambled eggs in the morning (with spinach too) and she loves sour cream on her burrito or beans and rice at dinner.

This one is from last month and shows Sammy and his attempts to talk, and his personality and how cute he is…

This one is from February, right before Rosie started pre-school, and we were talking about what she thought school would be like and what she would learn…

Wow - March already! This year has just flown by so far….

Sammy is 20 months old and seems to finally be having a language explosion. He is babbling and trying to really communicate, and he is repeating a lot of words and putting 2 words together now. His enunciation isn’t that great still, so I am probably the only one who can truly understand what he is saying - but still….
New words I have heard him use this past month:
dinner, blackberry, strawberry, yogurt, map, sit, potty, jump, please, me, hand, hard, hole, stuck, wall, hot, cold, door, rock, banana, carrot, cereal, Aunt P, Ari, drive, car, hot potato, press play, smoothie, shoe, sock, home, house, i did it, happy, step, help, pants - just to name a few…
He also tries to count, but it usually sound like this “too, tee, too, tee, too, tee, too”. He counts before he jumps off something, and he counts when he is playing hide and seek with his sister and daddy.

Sammy playing in all his collanders

He is loving to dance and run and he taught himself to somersault last month. I looked over and saw him bend forward and put his head on the ground, and then flip over. I don’t think he meant to do the flipping over part, I think he was just enjoying the view upside down. He has also been loving dumping things into other things. I remember when Rosie went through this phase too, I have to get out the big container of beans, pasta and measuring cups I made for her so Sammy can experiment and pour to his heart’s delight, instead of constantly having to clean up the yogurt dumped on his eggs, or the cereal dumped in his water.

His adventures with the potty

He is still showing a little interest in the potty, and still tells me often when he has pooped and needs a diaper change. He’ll come up to me and say “poop” and I will say “oh, do you need a diaper change” and he’ll say “dupuh cha” and I’ll say “ok, let’s go upstairs and change your diaper” and he will run to the stairs and go up to his room. It is pretty cool and amazing! It would be REALLY nice to be done with diapers, but I’m not gonna push it, I’ll probably let him have a lot of naked time this summer, when the weather warms up and just see how interested he really is. Mostly I think he is just imitating his sister when wanting to sit on the toilet.

Rosie is obsessed with cleaning fuzz out from between her toes lately. She is constantly taking off her shoes and socks and removing imaginary “fuzz” from between all her toes. She got a new phrase from her classmates or new neighborhood friends, “oh yeah baby!” and she has been saying it constantly and laughing. She loves school now and is happy and excited to go, barely giving me a backward glance when she walks in the doors.

Rosie’s first day of school

She is really loving to sing, but still has a little shyness and sings quietly and has a hard time finding the tune sometimes, but she has been wanting me to help her practice the songs in her school songbook. She has been playing with the neighborhood kids a lot, now that the weather seems to be warming up a bit. It is great to hear a knock on the door and just be able to send her out to play for hours.

Aunt P gave Rosie all of Bubby Florence’s old costume jewelry, and Rosie has been having fun using it to play dress-up.

Rosie has been very observant lately and is always asking what signs say/mean when we are driving.

“what’s that sign with a deer on it mean mommy?”
“well, that sign means that deer sometimes cross the road here, so we have to be careful when we drive and watch out to make sure there are no deer trying to cross the road”

“what’s that sign say mommy?”
“well, that’s a speed limit sign, it says we can’t drive any faster than 35 miles an hour, because it’s not safe”

“what’s that sign mean mommy?”
“that means that the road is curvy up ahead, so we have to be careful and go slowly”

We took both kids to the Dr. for a check-up and to get a wellness form filled out for Rosie’s school. They were both at the tail end of the cold we had last month that just seemed to hang on forever, and Rosie had a mild ear infection, so she got her very first course of antibiotics. She seems all better now, and Sammy is still a little boogery, (as am I) but I am praying for 100% wellness by this coming week. Both kids had gone down a bit as far as the weight/height percentiles, but nothing to worry about. Sammy has definitely thinned out since he started walking (that was the last time we were in to see the Dr.) and Rosie has always been a little petite. She has days where she doesn’t eat much, but then there are other days (the majority of the time) where she snacks and munches non-stop all day. We promised to bring them back in in 4 months around their birthdays for another weight/height check. I can’t believe that I will have a 4 year old and 2 year old in just a few months!

This month has been crazy - as usual. Both kids are fighting a cold right now, Rosie more than Sammy. Rosie slept with us last night because she had a high fever and was so uncomfortable. I only got about 2 hours of sleep as a result, but I am trying to enjoy those moments when I am needed, because I know there will be times coming soon where she won’t be so eager to cuddle with mommy.

Anywho - here’s what’s up with the kiddos…

Sammy is now 19 months (closer to 20 as I write this). His latest hobby is sitting in the various sized collanders we have. He has been taking them out of the cabinets and playing with them every day. He usually sits in one, puts his feet in another, and wears the small one as a hat. He has also been showing interest in the potty - I know it is really early and I am trying to not get my hopes up that he will be one of those freakish early potty learners. He has actually been climbing up and sitting on the potty himself (fully clothed, and sometimes he puts his feet in the toilet bowl). I think he is mostly just trying to imitate his sister. I have been indulging his interest, and I’ll take off his diaper and let him sit for a while. He is pretty aware of his bodily functions, he says “Peep” or “peepee” and “poo”. I know he has a poopy diaper usually when he comes up and whines to be picked up and says “peep” or “poop” or when he sits on the ground and scoots his butt along the ground. We’ll see if this leads anywhere…

He loves saying cheese, and posing for the camera. Lately he has been pretending to sing (lalalalalal) and talk (babbling gibberish) and he will sit and pretend to read books. He LOVES books and wants me to read books over and over at naptime and bedtime. His favorites are ones where he can touch and feel or lift flaps - the interactive ones. He still loves playing ball and playing with his trains. He is now going down the stairs like a big boy, walking down facing forward, instead of sliding down backward on his belly. He has a few more words here and there, but I am still waiting for his big language explosion. He has been a little more clingy lately, and he has been nursing a lot, I don’t know if it is because he is trying to increase my supply, or if he just needs the comfort because he is starting to go through that separation anxiety phase again. Thank god he is still a great sleeper. He still usually naps for 3 hours a day, and goes to bed with no complaints (after reading several books and nursing). The night weaning thing didn’t stick around as long as I wanted. Since moving to the new house, he has still been waking up at least once (usually between 2-4am) to nurse, sometimes waking twice. He is only occasionally sleeping through from 7:30 bedtime until at least 5 or 6am. Then I can put him back down and he’ll sleep until 7:30.

Rosie started pre-school last week at English Oaks Montessori. I think I was more excited than she was. She only goes 3 days a week from 9-11:30. She really liked the first day, but then didn’t want to go second day (as expected and warned by the teachers). It really broke my heart to leave her that day when she was calling out to me “mommy don’t go”. Of course she was fine once she was there. I had to keep reminding her that I would be back to pick her up in just a little bit, just about 2 hours, or as long as 4 Doras. She has told her teachers every day since then - “I’m only going to stay for just this little bit” (holding fingers up to show 1/4 inch between her thumb and finger). I can already see the influence school is having on her. She seems more independent and comfortable with doing things on her own. I love having a break and having some one on one time with Sammy to read to him or just play (or get some dishes/laundry/cleaning done while he plays by himself). I know Sammy likes having free reign over the toys without Rosie dictating what he can play with or trying to take toys away from him.

Rosie is still a girly girl and likes to be a princess and wear a tiara and frilly ballet skirt and dance around and have me watch her do her “ballerina dance”. She loves doing yoga with me, and playing pretend. We have been reading a lot, playing hide and seek, and chase and tickle. It is really nice because she has made a lot of new friends in the neighborhood to play with. Along with her cousins, there are some great kids in the neighborhood and even right across the street and I love that kids can just come to the door and ask “can Rosie come out and play?”

She is still my little snacker. She seems like she is always hungry, some days she munches non-stop all day. She never knows what she wants when I ask her, so she usually says “let’s see what we have” and she will go open the fridge or cabinet until she sees something that catches her eye. Most of the time the selection is cheese, cereal, fruit, carrots and hommous, or these peanut butter rice bars that she loves.

We had a family oriented Valentine’s day this month. Instead of a romantic dinner for two - we took the kids to see Sesame Street Live - “When Elmo Grows Up”. Both kids had a great time and I was surprised that Sammy stayed in his seat and was entertained the whole time. He was clapping and yelling “YAY” and “Elmo!” As soon as everyone is healthy, Joe and I hope to get out to have a nice relaxing dinner by ourselves.

That’s it for now, I’m going to bed - I just wanted to finally get this update done before the month is over…

** Sorry no photos this month, something is up with my external hard drive and I can’t access my iphoto right now. I’ll have more photos next month.

Here are a couple recent videos of the kids:

Rosie singing Joni Michell’s “Chelsea Morning”:

Sammy playing Peek-a boo with my hat, saying “cheese” when he sees the camera - and waving bye to me:

Sammy playing with a ball, saying “ball” over and over (you can see how well I have him trained, as he stops and says “cheese” anytime he sees the camera or video camera):

And another one of Rosie, singing and dancing to her favorite Little Mermaid song “Part of your World”:

Greetings from the frozen state of MI! We have had constant snow basically all month long (it is actually snowing again as I type this). The way things are going - I don’t think we will see any green (other than on my clothes) until May around here.

We had a great time over the holidays, Our Christmas was mellow and relaxing

And Rosie was a big help lighting the Chanukah candles this year

We went sledding on Christmas Eve - it was a lot of fun, both kids loved it (as did Joe and I) and I think we are going to make it a new Christmas Eve tradition (weather permitting)

I almost forgot to get my monthly update done, with all the chaos of moving into the new house. Oh yeah, did I mention we just moved into a new house, in the middle of a huge snowstorm and below zero weather - not the best timing…

New House! (Summer view obviously)
I’ll have more photos next month after all the moving in and decorating is done
We now live around the corner from Aunt P, Uncle Emil, and cousins Marisa, Noah, Cory and Ari. It is so nice to live near family and be able to visit more often. Rosie can even walk to her cousin’s house once the weather gets nicer (and cousin Marisa can walk over to babysit

OK - on to this month’s news:
Sammy is definitely talking and communicating more - his new phrase is “Oh No!” which he says whenever he drops something or loses something - it is so cute!
He has been really using the “more” sign lately, though his version looks more like clapping. Some new words are: chicken, puffs, football, balloon, strawberry (ba-bay-e) banana (bla-la), train, and I know there are more - but I can’t think of them at the moment.

I finally bit the bullet and decided it was time to get him night weaned. After only a couple nights of him crying out a few times (for just a few minutes each time) he got used to the idea that I wasn’t going to go get him every 3 hours to nurse anymore. Now he sleeps most nights from 7:30/8pm until around 6am (sometimes as early as 4/5am)- then he nurses and goes back to sleep for another 1-2 hours or so. Yay for me finally getting more than 3 hours of sleep at a time!!! Though of course, this new sleeping pattern coincides with Rosie starting to climb in bed with us in the middle of the night, so I am still not getting the solid sleep that I would like *sigh* - oh well, someday soon….

Sam is also now learning to drink from a cup - he spills a lot, but he is really getting used to it and I can’t wait to finally be free from all the various sippy cups that seem to always be missing lids and other parts. He also really started to love coloring and drawing and frequently grabs a pen and requests to “daw” and scribble on any available paper. He painted for the first time when we were making our yearly batch of dough christmas ornaments, and he figured out pretty quickly that paint does not taste good. He loves the new train table that Santa brought him, but whenever the track breaks (which is often) we hear the inevitable “OH NO!”. But most frequently out of Sammy’s mouth is “ball!” he loves throwing balls and playing catch, he thinks it is the best thing ever. I think he says “ball!” at least 100 times a day, if not more.

Rosie has been talking a lot about the future and making plans for things she will do “when I’m 4″ or “when I’m a mommy”. Some of the things on her list:
Blow her nose (when she’s 4) - for some reason she refuses to do it on her own, but tells me she will when she turns 4.
Go to school (when she’s 4) - though Joe and I have been interviewing and visiting pre-schools in the hopes of getting her in someplace ASAP for a few mornings a week, just so I get a break and some one-on-one time with Sammy.
Drink coffee (when she is a mommy)
Watch whatever it is I tell her she can’t watch or eat whatever it is that I don’t want her to eat - she always asks (When I am a mommy, I can have/watch/eat/do that?)
I always tell her “Yes, when you are a mommy you can _______. But that won’t be for a VERY long time”

Her view of time is a bit skewed, she told me the other day that “It’s almost Christmas time!” and I had to explain to her that it was going to be another whole year until Christmas was here again. And I went through all the months and whose birthday was coming up next and she finally kind of got exactly how long it would be until it was time for Christmas again.

She still loves dancing, and will put music on and instruct me to watch her dance, and do her own version of “ballet” which is a series of spins and jumps and kicks and jumping and rolling on the floor.

She has been going through a phase of not eating much, or refusing to eat dinner, saying she is not hungry, but then asking for a snack 5 minutes later. Her favorites are cereal, crispy rice bars, or carrots and hommous - she would eat those all day long if I would let her (which does happen occasionally).

Her new big love is temporary tattoos. She thinks they are the best thing ever - and has gone a little overboard with decorating herself. Joe and I played around with it and Joe gave her a “prison tattoo” on her neck, and I gave her a “tramp stamp” on her lower back. It was pretty funny for a while to see a 3 year old bend over and see a little hello kitty face peeking up over the waistband of her pants.

Ok - that’s it for now, I just wanted to get a quick update in before the month was over, more news and current photos to come in February! And, stay tuned for my exciting WHEEL OF FORTUNE news!!!!