Birthday Bonanza

One of the added joys of having moved to Philly is that for the first time ever, the kids' grandparents could share in feteing the kids on their birthdays. (Well, not on the actual day, but they were here for their one and only birthday party.) I made whoopie pies inspired by living near Lancaster County and going to college in Maine. They turned out quite well. Adelaide was a little overwhelmed by the singing, but she got into playing with her presents. Both kids had so much fun playing with their new toys and their grandparents. Thanks for coming!

Pearls before Noon

In case you didn't know we live right next door to the church:


Adelaide climbed up her changing table to change her baby doll's diaper:

Please don't jump!


As of late, Adelaide and I have had quite a bit of one on one time. She usually entertains herself very well. Lately, while I have been showering she has been dressing and undressing her Madeline dolls. In fact, the other day while I was drying my hair, she brought each doll to me for a quick blowdry. Today she got into my jewelry box and insisted on wearing pearls. Then she told me she was going on a trip--on an airplane. I wished her well as she headed off looking spiffy with two dolls in tow!

Elias' vision of the eschaton

Right now, Spiderman is it for Elias. Happily, we were at the local orchard where face painting was being done. Daddy treated Elias to getting his face done. You can imagine the joy and the rest of the afternoon being punctuated by poses and jumping. Unfortunately, bathtime was a real disaster because good, old Spidey was gone!

Speaking of being gone, I had a parenting low light this afternoon. I was walking the kids to the car after working out at the Y and I said to Elias,"You are really my big boy." He said, "No. I am Daddy's boy." I said, "Well, you have two parents so you can be both of our big boy." He replied, "No I'm just Daddy's." Me: "What about your mommy?" Elias: "Oh, she died." HMMM.

So, maybe our transition hasn't been as smooth as I had thought. Or maybe they just would like to get on without me. Wait until he is a teenager and he tells me he wants me to die.

Our Four Year Old!

Yes, four years ago today this little boy refused to come out until we tried everything. Looking back, I now understand the bruises on the outside of my belly. I know a mom's perspective on her child is somewhat skewed, but it's fun to try and capture the existence of this wonderful and wild child of God.

Elias still remains a busy and active child often striking poses of superheros. Lately, he has been drawn to my yellow washing/cleaning gloves and using them as Batman apparati. He likes swords and all matters physical. Yet, he has really calmed down from the activity level he used to have. He is less likely to randomly knock something down or climb walls, bookshelves, or other furniture. Every once in a while we need to "shake his liver" or something of that ilk to get the body energy out, but overall he's quite good.

Elias is still as inquisitive as ever. Almost all questions have multiple whys as he tried to unlock the secrets of the universe. Particularly, Elias is concerned about order. Do boys do this? If Elias does xxx, then do all boys do xxx? Am I daddy's boy? Is Adelaide mommy's girl? Along this reasoning, Elias is very proud of being a boy and having a Daddy. He asks his father to introduce him to people as "his boy."

While he has a clear passion for Daddy, he seems to be more like his mommy. Elias is quite sensitive. Sometimes, he is quite concerend with other people's feelings and even aware of them. He also can still have considerable breakdowns--often towards the end of the day--and have quite a significant cry.

And social is truly the key characteristic of this child. he loves listening to books on tape, doing iamginative play, reading, but his true love is people. He even managed to sneak his way into more preschool yesterday afternoon. The kids were playing right outside our house and he asked the teacher if he could join them. She said, "as long as your mom says it's OK." Soon, we all came out and joined them. Having only been to Christ Church one morning, by the reception Elias was sitting with another family as they served him his lunch. As the reception was ending, he was already playing with four other boys, and continues to thrive socially.

Elias can be an exhausting child, but he is sweet, easy-going, malleable, and lots of fun.

Happy Birthday, little guy!

Sesame Place

When we knew we were moving to Philly we were told about a spot the kids would really enjoy. We bought twilight tickets to Sesame Place and told the kids yesterday afternoon after their naps that we were going to see Elmo. They were really pleased. It was perfect because about 2.5 hours was all they(or we)could take. It also doubled as their birthday present. So, after a full first day at the parish--and naps for every member of the household except for the one with the initial E- we topped off a full day.

Everybody goes off for a first day!

Addie and the transvestite

I neglected to mention this story two weeks ago when we worshiped at a downtown church. Addie was sitting on my lap and singing her usual "Hosanna, my body" refrain during the Eucharistic prayer. But, she started to get fidgety and reach over the chair towards the brightly colored bag with gold links. I tried to stop her, but it was too tempting. The man (dressed as a woman) leaned over and said, "That's OK. She can play with it. But, don't let her touch my sweater. It's a designer sweater." Christain charity at its best.

Dress-ups

The other bit of imaginative play that has been great the last few weeks is that my friend left dress-up clothes at my mom's house. Her daughters have outgrown them and they live in Russia. However, they made the time to come and leave them at my mom's house so we could take them to our new house. I think the picture says it all:

Kids and Boxes: Part II

The box magic continued yesterday. The kids painted a rocket ship. They then painted each other and ended up getting hosed down in the church parking lot--in the buff. I still couldn't get all the paint off so we christened the clawfoot tub on the third floor where they had a great bath. The rocket ship was converted this morning to an airplane and wings were added as were crayon markings--flight i.d. numbers, I mean. The only real problem was that Eli insisted on being the pilot and his little sister was having none of it. I know I am so glad that they moved here together. I can't imagine how they (or we) would have survived without each other's companionship.

Kids and Boxes

We have been trying to get little projects done each day, but with Adam working it was hard for me to accomplish much. Today he was free and we decided to hang pictures. We threw all the boxes and the wrapping out back and it just so happened that Elias was in a Bob the Builder mood. He kept requesting "more materials." He and Adelaide built a house which they then hid in. About an hour later, I brought out a snack for them to eat in their fairy castle. All was going so well and we were getting so much done, I decided to then bring out a bucket of water so they could wash their cars. This resulted in them washing their har and putting on Eoyore tails. Later, I got out some chalka nd Elias colored his fort. What a great day. Nothing like boxes and fences so that parents can ignore their kids and put the finishing touches on this house. We all knew kids love boxes, but this was just so cliche, that I am astounded that no one has not gone into the "box business" and made some money off of this simple phenomena.