its not all fun and games.

and here we are on the way home from the museum. they both cried and cried the whole way back. luckily its only a 10 minute drive. and even though it was sad, it was also really cute, and this photo still makes me smile...

water play.

wren and olive at the children's museum. they had a great time, but kept me busy. the only photos i was able to take were of them at the water tables...

art.

this is a project we did the other day. i really love the video because it shows how easily the girls are able to play together and imitate each other. they had fun stamping with paint stampers (basically bingo dotters), writing with pens, and using masking tape to finish up their project. originally i used the tape to hold the paper in place, but then olive became utterly fascinated by it and spent a great deal of time sticking more tape. i think the pictures of annabelle holding the pen are hilarious. she looks so professional, as though she is taking very serious notes.

beet-dough.

here we are making playdough. luna and annabelle poured the ingredients into the bowl, and luna mixed it up. i didn't have any coloring, so we used beet juice. it smelled a little beet-y, but made a nice pink color, so it worked...

olive and wren.

barack obama. barack obama.

i watched the inaugaration with a tiny trio, luna, olive, and wren. we wore tutus and ate animal crackers. the girls were quite curious about the whole thing, and i did my best to explain it all in early childhood terms. i think they mostly liked the fact that we were eating a snack in front the tv, in dress up clothes. they enjoyed all the people clapping and cheering. luna kept yelling, "there he is!" and olive kept saying, "barack obama. barack obama." when barack finally came onto the tv screen i said "there he is." and luna yelled, "thats him? thats him! that one! with the red tie! and the brown hair!" she then fixated on the red tie and brown hair. olive continued on with "barack obama. barack obama." oh, and wren? she screamed and clapped and bounced. she loves what everyone else loves.

fingerpainting?

the third bedroom in our apartment is an office/art space. i have big plans for this room, but right now its just a big mess. eventually i hope that tons of creating and dreaming and imagining will be done there. so far luna is the only one to have used it. unless you count mike's computer boggle addiction...luna did some great painting with rainbow colors and a brush, that turned into bubblewrap painting, that turned into finger painting, that turned into the paint becoming a kind of sensory hand lotion rubbing craziness. this is exactly what i hope to see more of in this space.

minnesota.

it takes about 5 times as long to get ready to go outside, as it does the amount of time we actually spend out there. sometimes longer if wren or annabelle decide to have a big poop right after i get all their snowclothes on. it may even take 10 times as long with luna, because she has a baby of her own who usually needs to get dressed. luna is very particular about what her baby should wear. i usually have to offer several items of doll clothes. my clothes, scraps of fabric, and wrens newborn clothes before she will exclaim, "yes! thats perfect! thank you, ara." and it seems as though as soon as i have one child completely dressed and ready to go then they take off their things while i am getting the next girl ready. wren and annabelle usually get strapped into a stroller or onto me, in which case they give some sad little howls until that first blast of crisp air hushes them.

i try to get out for a walk with a couple of the girls at least once a week. i think the fresh air is good for all of us, preventing some cabin fever. i am also amazed at my own ability to get all of us organized, bundled up, to wear wren(who is now around 20 pounds), push a stroller (sometimes 2-luna's baby bits or baby kate), and still manage to buy groceries at the market or treats at the bakery. and even though its cold, and takes so much encouraging and singing to get all of us back home in good spirits, i always have a sense of minnesotan pride knowing we went out and stomped around a bit in the snow.

playdough and tutus.

its a hard knock life...

these pictures make me laugh. i have a rule "no kids in the kitchen". its basically one of the only consistent rules here, and they all know it really well. even if the gate is left open all the girls (except wren) will hesitate at the doorway, unsure how to proceed. until luna comes running over to bang the gate shut with a quick, "NO!". when i am getting lunch ready or washing dishes or trying to make myself a cup of tea, this is where they gather. peering over at me, asking me questions, repeating urgent needs (can you get this dress on my baby?) and waiting for me to emerge from behind the gates and out of the forbidden zone.

saucey babes.

here is wren and annabelle having an applesauce snack. i love the coy looks annabelle is giving, and wren is showing her trademark tongue pose. mike and i are always amused by annabelles hair, she comes in in the morning with these funny, sweet, flyaway dos that make it look like she was out late at a party or concert or something...annabelle and wren are probably the most complicated duo in my week, both having no official words, and never ending needs to meet. they also love to torment each other, but are always thrilled to see one another. i have a feeling in the long run they will be close friends. just like real sisters...

sharing.

this is wren and luna on one of luna's first days. luna is used to having me all to herself, and so her obvious adjustment has been learning to share my time, and toys, with this intruder baby. she spent her first day scooping toys into her arms and saying, "no! no! baby wren. these aren't for you." wren would crawl away, not caring at all, and find a new toy to play with. luna would quickly chase after her and grab the next toy away. we had many conversations about sharing the toys, which are actually wren's toys (tough concept), and the difference between baby wren and three year old luna and her abilities. luna has quickly become the "big girl" around our house, caring for (and sometimes bossing) the younger girls. she is quick to close baby gates, is aware when wren has things she shouldn't, and offers solutions when any of the girls are sad or mad. although the other day she did sigh and say, "ok, ara. can you please put wren away now? like, um, maybe somewhere up high??"

this is where.

this is wren's room and this is where we play. most of the time. sort of. really, this is where we drag things from and scatter them throughout the house. and this is what it looks like when its clean, and everything is put away, which is rare...

the new deal

wren and i started a new schedule this month. we have a few different friends coming over to play during the day.

on monday luna and annabelle come over to play. i took care of luna while i was pregnant with wren. i am not sure that she actually remembers this, but she says she does. she also likes to say that she's wren's big sister, which she kinda is. she often tells people when we are out and about, "yep! i'm a good big sister. right, mama?" and i am not sure if there is a big wink with that and we are playing a joke on people together, or if luna is still figuring out what all these family words actually mean...

i met annabelle in several funny ways. its a complicated story, but the short version is i met annabelle, and her mom susannah, through craigslist, and a co-worker of mike's, and she is friends with friends of erin (luna's mom), and she lives just blocks away from our new place. we find new connections all the time, but it seemed to be destined that we should meet.

on tuesdays olive (and luna!) come to play. olive is the cousin of irene, who was luna's good friend at her old daycare. olive's auntie was taking care of her, but is due to have a baby any day now. olive's mama, claire, is a special ed teacher and after emailing back and forth things really clicked for us and it seemed natural for olive to start spending her days with wren and me.

wednesdays are olive and annabelle. thursdays i still teach preschool classes at wonderment, and then have luna in the afternoons. friday mornings it is just olive. its a brand new schedule and everyone is adjusting. but i think so far it has gone really well. wren is happy to see her friends arrive in the morning, and is learning to wave goodbye when they leave. the girls ages are spaced so that they could almost be sisters.

luna is 3
olive is 2
annabelle is 15 months
and wren is 9 months

it is a busy house and i am excited to see what the coming months bring and the way the girls play and grow together...