A few things to share from the weekend:
-Yesterday morning as I was peering into the abyss otherwise known as the refrigerator I heard a small Ellie voice “one, doo, wee…” and turned to see her pointing at figures on a box of Clifford Crunch Cereal. The words probably weren’t that perfect (or that much like the actual numbers) but it was clear. She was definitely counting.
-We’ve been working on the sign for “I love you” with Leo for months.
He’s now doing it spontaneously. The other day he was calling to me with his usual, insistent urgency (Dee-Dee! Dee!). I was distracted and driving, and just a little frazzled. Finally I looked to see what all the fuss was about (and I'm sure called What is it Leo? in a not very sweet tone) and saw him in the rear view mirror, modeling a perfect “I love you” sign. Guilty mom moment for sure.
Speaking of the car, when they’re not aggravating the you-know-what out of each other in said car, Leo and Ellie are doing this.
Would you believe me if I said it was not initiated by anyone but them?
I leave you with this little bit of info. Friday night in a moment of desperation I took the kids to Costco (I think Ellie had four diapers left at home and she’d been “borrowing” from one of her classmates--sorry daycare classmate’s parents). Did I mention this was at night? After a long day of preschool and daycare and work? That means it’s about 6:30. The kids, well, Ellie mostly, begin their meteoric plummet to meltdownness right around that time, so taking them to the store, especially a full on sensory experience like Costco, well let’s just say it puts fear in my heart. Also I am very routine oriented (am I five?). Seriously, I like to do the same things the same way. During the week, a normal evening is pick-up, home, Dora or Diego for Leo while I make dinner and Ellie runs around whining "uppy." And then it's dinner, bath, bed. Deviation from that glorious path can make me a little sweaty and not in a good way.
But the kids did great. Leo now refuses to ride in the seat next to Ellie (our Costco cars have the double seats) but it was fine. This refusal to sit in the old "kid part" of the cart happened last time and at first I FREAKED, thinking he would do what he had done when he was younger: tried to crawl out, throw items from the cart. But no. He sat calmly and contentedly. Lesson learned there: give Leo a chance to surprise me, to realize he can mature. So back to Friday night, when he again sat sweetly in the cart, supervising where I put things. I swear he says “No, here!” (as in, don’t put the seltzer there, put it here) with the diction of the Queen of England.
We left Costco, a chill in the air, the sun beginning to set a bright, startling orangey-pink over the big box stores of Northern New Jersey. It was quite stunning, and I felt a little shiver of pride for how well we all did at big scary Costco After School.
Ellie started whining as we set off for home and I reached into the bag of Easter Crap from the daycare and presented her with an Easter basket. It looked to be a couple of plastic eggs and some stickers, nothing serious.
I guess I overlooked something.
By the way, in case there was any question, Ellie likes chocolate.
1 comment:
Funny, just this morning at Safeway, Sophie and I were talking about the meaning of "I love you." (Harder than you'd think, to explain that one.)
Those photos from the car and Easter are priceless. And the sibling love (we call it sister love in our house) is absolutely the best, isn't it?
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