Thursday's List: Super Heroes, Captured Souls, the Energizer Bunny and Eiffel Tower(s) in New Jersey

1. Art and Photography:


Leo recently completed his best to date (in my humble opinion) family portrait. (Left to right): Mommy (Wonder Woman), Leo (Spider Man-OF COURSE), Lucy (Super Man), Harry (Bat Man), Ellie (The Flash Girl), Mama (Green Lantern) and flying high above is of course our dear, sweet, beloved Ruby the Super Dog.


Meanwhile Lucy mastered her very first face.

Ellie's first grade "spring portraits" came home. I never order these and consider them to be somewhat of a scam-- (I'm a traditionalist and normally just do fall).

But then then they had to go and CAPTURE HER SOUL. I mean, really.

2. Food:

The Nutella obsession continues. Every day, post-nap.

Is there anything better than Nutella? Well. No. And by the way, we are now the family that goes through three to four loaves of bread. A week. (Did I mention I finally realized in the midst of last Friday night's "pizza night" that we have officially graduated to needing two pizzas? Thanks Lucy who eats just the cheese off of three slices).

Speaking of Lucy and food, she and Harry have switched places when it comes to their eating habits. He used to be the "easy" voracious one, willing to try anything (Seasoned tofu! Dried seaweed!) and almost always cleaned his plate and asked for more. Now he pushes many of his former favorites away. You know what else is fun? Aside from macaroni and cheese, neither of them like to eat the same thing. Wait. Do Goldfish count?

This morning Lucy ate three pieces of toast and asked for more. Growth spurt? Perhaps. I mentioned this and Ellie piped up, "Maybe she's getting ready to hibernate! That would be relaxing for you, Mommy!"

3. Lucy:


Hello my name is Unadulterated Joy!

It's such a cliche but I have to use it. Lucy is the Energizer Bunny. She makes her presence known at all times, from the moment she awakes at 6:15, softly singing "Let It Go," (it quickly builds to an urgent, pressing crescendo of "MOMMYMOMMYGETMEOUTMOMMYMOMMY!"). Much of the time she is full volume, going 110 miles per hour while the rest of us are strolling along around at 25 (or if you're Harry it's closer to 15). She is insistent, demanding, unreasonably verbal and often hilarious. She does almost everything with a smile on her face, including pouring a cup of water on the floor or taking her pajamas off right before bedtime, making it difficult to get too angry with her, even if her behavior is ridiculous.



 The other day I overhead Harry and her playing together. She'd injured some body part and began pleading with Harry to "KISS IT! KISS IT! KISS IT!" That's when Harry piped up with "Relax."

I don't think any conversation in the history of conversations has better summarized the personality of two little people.

And yes, I MIGHT tell Lucy to Relax! oh, about 97 times a day.


I read something recently that said that said when you start to lose patience with your mind-numbingly impossible almost three year old (OK those were my words), you should look at their tiny feet, as a reminder that they aren't this small for very long. In short: Yes, I lose my patience every once in a while  And yes, I'm an incredible sap.

4. Harry:

Harry's speech continues to explode. He's starting to have little conversations (with himself and others) and it's SO nice that he's finally able to TELL us what he wants and needs and likes (no surprise there: Super Man, dump trucks, garbage trucks, police cars...) He repeats everything (See: "Relax!" and has picked up some adorable little expressions like "That was a close one!"



Harry and Lucy now mostly have free reign of the house. I've pretty much given up on keeping the upstairs gate closed because it never fails that right when I'm in the middle of making scrambled eggs, Harry decides he HAS TO HAVE HIS RACECAR, the one that's in his crib. Oh sure I could send a big kid up to open the gate but it's much easier to let them go up and down as they please. The same now goes for the basement playroom which is VERY EXCITING. Things can get a little too rambunctious sometimes when all four of them are down there but often during the day I send just the twins down while I make lunch or prep dinner. Invariably Lucy spends more time marching up and down the stairs to "Show me something" (Can you say Social Creature) but they still enjoy a bit of independence. As do I.


They love to "hide" in our bed. Or Ellie's. Or Leo's. And pretend to be "sleeping." Trust me they are SO not sleeping.

5. When the Past and the Present Come Crashing Together in a Beautiful and Heartbreaking Way:
A few days ago I drove into the city with the twins and as we sped along the New Jersey turnpike Harry kept pointing out the "Eiffel Tower" (also known as cell phone towers and verrrry tall utility-type towers? I guess?).  Poor kid. (By the way, he knows about the Eiffel Tower from books, "101 Dalmations" and a small Eiffel Tower pendant that I wear on a chain around my neck-he's not that well traveled yet).

Today on our way downstairs from nap, a photograph caught Harry's eye, it was one of my mom and me, almost fifteen years ago, standing in front of, yes, the Eiffel Tower. He'd never noticed it before but was immediately ecstatic and repeated "Eiffel Tower! Eiffel Tower!" over and over again. That's when I crouched down and pointed at my mom and said, "That's Grandma Eleanor. And that's Mommy." Again, Harry repeated. Lucy, standing just a step below Harry on the stairs, looked on with equal interest.


My mom and me, 1999. 

And then just like that the moment passed. Lucy took Harry's hand and said, "Come on Harry, I'll help you go downstairs." They proceeded to scoot down on their tushes as they are apt to do. But this time they were holding hands. Holding. Hands. "Here Harry, I'll help you," Lucy said.

And as I looked down at the backs of those two little heads, Lucy's a wild mess of untamed blonde curls and Harry's, a ruffled, chocolatey brown and growing out little boy haircut, that's when, just for a brief few seconds I felt so overcome with grief that it almost took my breathe away. I was once again reminded: She's missing this.

And then we had to get sweatshirts and shoes and a race car to hold and just the right My Little Pony to carry. It was time to pick Ellie up from school.

Looking Back and Laughing Part 979: Twin Bath/The Bathroom Formerly Known as Clean Edition

Last night I left work early because of a tornado warning (I know! What is it with New Jersey lately?). Most nights I don't make it home in time to bathe the twins which means...they don't get bathed as often as one might hope.

But last night I had an extra hour. And since Harry's favorite pastime is to dig in the dirty (we don't call him Dirty Harry for nothing) I figured, carpe diem. Bath time.

Did I mention our house cleaners (a once in a blue moon occurrence) came yesterday? Believe me, this detail will be important in a few sentences.

We have a running joke that whenever the house cleaners do come, that same day, inevitably one of the children will spill something, usually something quite voluminous and sticky: orange juice and chocolate milk are a few examples of liquids spilled on House Cleaners Days.

But on to happier things. A soothing bath before bedtime. There was Harry, splashing around in the warm bubbles, a Percy train in one hand, mini Buzz Lightyear in the other. There was Lucy, gleefully announcing she was "Going to lie down Mommy!" They are finally enjoying the water and learning they need to sit (there was a good month there where neither one would do anything but just stand there which produced...very clean feet and ankles).

Then it was time to get out of the bath, which, with twins is another way of saying All Hell Breaks Lose.

Getting two toddlers dried off at the same time, or at least dry enough so that they don't slip and fall on the bathroom tile or hardwoods in the hallway, well let's just say it's even more difficult than it sounds. I corralled Harry into the twins' room, trusting that Lucy would be ok in the bathroom by herself (I have a clear shot of it from the twins' room and the bathwater was almost gone). That's when Lucy announced she wanted to wash her hands. Fine. I wrestled Harry down to get a diaper on him, because, nothing says pee all over the floor like getting out of a warm bath (I know this from experience).

"Mommy! I'm washing my hands!" Lucy called from her perch on the step stool. It was right as she was attempting to help herself with the foaming hand wash that the flood works opened up. Pee. Everywhere. All over the step stool. All over the floor in front of the sink. All over Lucy.

"Mommy! I pee pee!" Lucy exclaimed. (Don't even get me started on this one. Any child who can announce "Mommy, change my die-py (diaper), I stinky" should be potty trained. But that's another post.)

I groaned inwardly (and maybe a little outwardly). No orange juice or chocolate milk on the kitchen floor tonight. Our newly cleaned bathroom floor would not be so lucky.

I jumped to my feet, told Harry to stay where he was (Yeah Right) and lunged for Lucy, quickly dunking her in what remained of the bath water. Grabbing a towel, I spun around and there was Harry, running toward me. Before I could scream No Harry! he landed on his bottom, feet up in there, marinating in a little puddle of Lucy pee.

Seriously? Is this happening? Do I just live full-time in a ridiculous, screwball comedy?

Yes, pretty much.

I will look back and laugh. I will look back and laugh. I revisited my near-daily mantra that I try to remember when I am about to feel supremely overwhelmed (and possibly, just a tad, aggravated).



I remember when toddler and preschooler Leo delighted in emptying dressers full of clothes or playroom buckets full of toys. I thought that was chaos.

Not. Even. Close.*

*Notice how calm and mild mannered they appear in these pictures. Don't believe it. Not for a second.

Another Reason Big Brothers Rule

Because you're never too little


To learn


To sling webs.*

(With thanks to big brother Leo ("I'm not Leo! I'm Peter Parker!") for teaching Lucy to be an excellent web slinger at such a young age).

*You can see that Harry is terrified. Ha.

Summer, So Far

Please excuse the unscheduled break. But, you know. Summer.



Lazy, hazy, crazy (with a bit of emphasis on the Crazy) days.




I had the incredible luxury of an entire week off work last week. The timing was perfect as the big kids started camp (extended school year aka "summer school" for Leo in the morning--he's bussed to camp after lunch). I was nervous about this summer, our first foray into camps, so it was wonderful to be home this week to help them settle into their new routines. Previously the kids have done the "camp" at daycare/preschool but they had both unquestionably outgrown that one. Leo and Ellie will both do our town's camp for the month of July, then in August Ellie starts a binge of specialty camps (I may or may not have gone a bit overboard, ahem) while Leo heads to a month at another camp that I'm also very excited about (more on that later). Aaaand that concludes my attempt to say "camp" as many times in a paragraph as I possibly can.



The "break" was downright luxurious, affording me the opportunity to share little moments with the kids that I feel like I often miss out on since I work.





I had so much fun watching these two play together in the water the other day. It was like they were working! Took their little "jobs" very seriously.



This week Harry also developed a love of vacuum cleaners. Here you can see him telling Ellie all about it.



And Lucy is getting even more brazen with her fashion choices.


She's also discovered dollies. "Look Mommy, I have two babies!" she said to me, just before I took this picture. I told her two babies was crazy and who would be silly enough to have two. Ha.



Someday I will publish a book: My Babies Through the Years, in Costco Carts.



Hard to cry over heart-shaped spilled milk. (Others called this a bat but I, a hopeful optimist stand by my heart vision).


Knock on wood, the big kids seem very happy at camp . I picked them up each day last week at 4 p.m. red faced, dirty and subdued. They were tired, too tired to bicker in the car, even. This is huge. And to to me, tired + dirty = happy. Case in point: Friday night after dinner, Leo disappeared into his room to play Legos. When we checked on him around 8 p.m. he was in his bed, still wearing the clothes he'd worn to camp. He had tucked himself in and he was fast asleep! Unprecedented, I'm telling you.





Taking these two to a large playground gives me heart palpitations but Ellie begged and begged to go to this certain (not our usual park). I counted it as my cardio for the day. Note them walking in opposite directions and times that by infinity (did I mention it was 95 degrees?).



I'd always wanted to try out the "mini-van" carts. Last week, my dream came true! (Don't ask me what Ellie is doing in this picture, but look how pleased Lucy looks!).



It was mostly a hit. Until the end, of course. I dream of the day I can end a shopping trip with these twins that doesn't involves tears and serious misery. I know it will come.



Harry the hippy, aka Seventies Surfer Dude, got a haircut this week.



And now I want to eat his cheeks even more than I already did.





The better to see his eyelashes.



We kicked off our holiday week with a trip with just the big kids to The Land of Make-Believe, or, Ellie's favorite place on the planet.



We spent the bulk of our time at the water park portion, so I don't have a lot of pictures. But Ellie rode her beloved "Thriller" (kiddie roller coaster) at least a dozen times and I put on my big girl swim trunks and conquered my extreme dislike of water slides (the things we do for our children). And yes, I'm proud to say, I actually enjoyed myself. Screaming while careening down a slide is fun and actually kind of therapeutic! Who knew?



Giant pirate ship with fountains and slides. Disney World What?



Relaxing after all that hard water park play. We always say, Leo knows how to enjoy life.



Speaking of enjoying life, Leo was so exhausted at the end of that day that I looked over and at one point he was eating his pizza--as a special treat we let the kids eat in front of the tv, they're favorite show du jour: "Wipeout" -- Leo was eating horizontally. Too tired to be vertical.

Are you sensing a theme for this summer? I believe it's Break the Children. So far, so good.

According to the Girl With the Yellow Head

After more than a few days above sixty degrees, after a bounty of daffodils and tulips and forsythia and an explosion of cherry blossoms and plum blossoms and I-don't-know-what-they're-called-blossoms, I hereby declare, spring has finally arrived (here).

She turned to the sunlight 
And shook her yellow head,
And whispered to her neighbor:
"Winter is dead."
-A.A. Milne, When We Were Very Young

Good weather can make people kinder, more generous.

Have you noticed this?

"In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt."
-Margaret Atwood, Bluebeard's Egg

Just ask Harry about the dirt. He is our in-house Dirt Expert.

Spring means the return of dining al fresco.

Goldfish just taste better outside, don't you agree?

The view from inside isn't bad.

The company is pretty good too.

"When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people, and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness, except for the very few that were as good as spring itself."
-Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast

As It Should Be

It's so rare that I get time with just the babies. When the big kids are at school, I'm at work.

And then I come home and it's instantly four against one. The "Mommy! Show" begins: as in "Mommy can I have cheese crackers? Mommy will you play ball with me? Mommy will you draw fairies me?" And that's just from the two out of four who can speak in complete sentences.

When it's big kids + babies, much of my time is spent doing damage control. Lucy and Harry have officially entered the stage of wanting to do exactly what their big brother and sister do (Newsflash Lucy: You are not, I repeat NOT ready to climb the ladder (see above) to the outdoor playhouse, sheesh).

These babies and their love of chair standing will be the end of me, I'm telling you.

And when I'm not trying to keep Harry from standing on Leo's train table (no, Leo doesn't stand on that table but Harry, well, let's say he really gets into playing trains), then I'm monitoring Lucy as she caps and uncaps everysinglepen in the marker bin, all while balancing on a chair at the kitchen table (next to her big sister Ellie, the master fairy artist/princess colorer).

Then there's the ever important detail of making sure the comforter-on-Leo's bed-turned-parachute-game doesn't dissolve into something requiring a visit to the ER.

I like to think (I hope!) that every one's needs are met at more than just the minimum. But I will be honest. Sometimes the din of constant demands becomes too much. I just want to stop. I am the proverbial only child that wants quiet and order and our house is...neither quiet nor terribly orderly (I try my darnedest though, I do!).

"I don't feel like I've been able to get to know these babies the way I got to know Leo and Ellie by this age," I wrote in an email to a friend (also a mom to twins) when the babies were about ten months old. I had just returned to work after an extended maternity leave and was feeling completely out of sorts. "Sometimes I look at them and I still can't believe they're here! And that there are TWO of them! Do you think it's because there are two of them or because they're the third and fourth and there's just so much going on?"

My friend replied that it was probably a combination of things but probably more a virtue of the fact that I now I had four children. Over time, she thought, I'd feel "closer" to the babies, especially as their little personalities began to emerge.

Fortunately, my friend was right. And those little personalities? Have become big ones.

Lucy adores her big brother and sister, walks from room to room looking for them when they're at school. "Hi! Hi Leo! Hi! Hi! Hi Ellie," she chirps and waves, when her older siblings emerge from the basement playroom. Harry meanwhile, pounds on Leo's door whenever it's closed, so desperate is he to play with not just the train table, but his big brother (he is, after all, the one with all the cool action figures).


Earlier this week our nanny was sick. With a quick 6:45 a.m. phone call from her, my day shifted gears. There would be no commute into the city, no need for the skirt and sweater I'd set out the night before. I would stay home. With just the babies.

First Leo left, then we dropped Ellie at school. And for a few hours, there was relative quiet. (Well, as quiet as things can be with twin toddlers).

Of course Lucy spent much of her day going from room to room and calling, "Ellie? Leo?"

As I folded laundry, she stood by me and named each item of clothing by who it belonged to. "Ellie!" she cheered, when she saw Ellie's well-worn light blue kitty cat nightgown. "Leo!" she announced confidently, at the sight of Leo's beloved Angry Birds t-shirt.


I will give these babies toddlers baths in the sink for as long as I am able (we save actual bath tub baths for the weekends when we have time to throw the whole lot of 'em in the tub).

Like clockwork: sweet potatoes at lunch = post lunch bath.

Harry is now moonlighting as an eyelash model. Inquire within.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly the days at home go by. Breakfast, morning nap, play, lunch, play, laundry, and before I knew it, it was time to get Ellie at her dance class. At 4:00 I zipped and buttoned babies into fleece and coats and into the stroller.

In the blinding, late afternoon sun, we waited for Leo's bus to chug down the street. When he hopped off, we made our way down the avenue, toward Ellie's school. It was a perfectly cold wintry spring day, with the final vestiges of last Friday's little snow storm still piled up high enough that I had to push the stroller on the street in some places.

When we reached the school, Ellie, expecting our nanny, screamed happily (as only five year old girls can) when she saw us.

And just like that, two became four, once again.

As it should be.