Winter: January and February were hectic (frantic?) as usual, as I (Emily) was busy with teaching and an otherwise demanding workload. The girls were pretty great about it, though there were many (many) weeks of illness -- nothing serious, just colds, stomach bugs, and the like. Oh, and pink eye for both kids, timed to coincide with spring break. Charming.
Lizzie began reading and writing in earnest, and I now get daily notes from her. (I'll post a pic soon.) Mostly they're very sweet ("I missed you while you were at work today" themed), but when she's feeling grumpy... boy, watch out. She'll draw some pretty evil little pictures with accompanying notes ("this is me, crying, and this is you, the mean monster..."). [Yesterday morning I got a note explaining that I was stinky, poopy, and that Lizzie no longer loved me. Ever. (I think I'd suggested that Lizzie needed to share the barrettes with Alice (since all hair accessories are shared in our house...)) But at least she's expressive!]
In March we took a family trip to Mexico -- first time on a family vacation by air, and the girls' first time outside the US/Canada. They. loved. it. (And so did we.) Stayed in a nice family resort south of Cancun, with a great beach and perfect-for-little-ones pools. Eric and I had grand plans of staying up on the balcony every night after the kids went to sleep, but truth be told, we were too tired! Fun in the sun with little ones is exhausting. (But boy is it nice when the waiters will bring cervesas and smoothies on the beach while we're all making sand castles!) We'll be going again...
Later in March through May were again busy with teaching for me, and resuming work travel (DC, TX, DC, DC...). Again, the kids were (and are) pretty darned good while I'm away. Eric is a super hero. We'll leave it at that. March and April were their usual muddy mess, but by May the weather improved, allowing all to go outside more and more often. Eric built a sandbox, which has been a huge hit with both girls.
The only major challenge these past months has been Alice and the potty. Oh my. This is not easy. She manages pee just fine -- more accident prone than Lizzie was early on, but otherwise amenable to the idea and procedures of getting herself to the potty in time. But poop is another matter entirely. She has tried so hard, so many times, and she just can't quite get the mechanics. And indeed, it got so frustrating that it was backfiring (more literally than you want to know...). So about 3 weeks ago, we took a time out from potty training and put her back in diapers, just to try to defuse her stress about it all. She's been back in undies for about a week now and is doing well on the stress side, and has few pee-accidents, but we're still waiting on, umm, solid success...
This month, June, promises new excitements and challenges. Last night was Lizzie's spring school concert and (tra-la-la!) she sang! Fourth concert is a charm. She was standing right in the middle (and very proud to be in the second row, not the first (the youngest in chairs)), and SINGING (mostly). Delightful. School lets out early next week.
Starting shortly thereafter, summer camp. Lizzie has been to this morning day camp before and LOVED it, so she's really excited to go. More exciting, Alice will be going too. This will be Alice's first (!) formal out-of-home program. She's over-the-moon excited and so are we. (Especially Eric...) About that potty training, though. cough cough. Well, fingers crossed. This will be good training for school in the fall, when Alice will join the East classroom, across the hall from her sis.
All in all, it's been a great 2013 so far. Some (rather acute) potty training woes, some whining, plenty of viruses... but truly, Al and Liz are great kids. They play together beautifully, help each other (Lizzie gets Alice dressed many mornings!), and are just really great friends. I'll keep `em.
Oh, and even though we rarely update this blog (insert assurances of improvement here), we DO keep the pictures relatively current. Check out the links. ---->
