Elton, continued

The girls' love of Elton John shows no signs of waning.

We've watched his episode 25+ times - and there's no end in sight. One of the sweetest parts of my day is asking Charlotte what she wants to watch before bed and hearing her say (phonetically):

"Eh-tin Jah-on, PEAS!!!!!!"

He's the ideal guest, with his crazy costumes and catchy songs. On the show he sings "Goodbye Yellowbrick Road" / "Don't Go Breaking my Heart" / "Crocodile Rock" / "Bennie and the Jets." Six months ago I was pretty indifferent about his music, but I'm now a big fan. We all are.

Emily's clearly in love with his costumes and lyrics. No question. The first time we watched she asked if Elton's real, since she knows the muppets are not. We told her he is and that he lives in England. (Maybe?) Of course her next question was: can we visit England and meet him?!? Not wanting to squash her dreams, I said something along the lines of, "We'll see..." (So much for honest parenting.) As I was tucking her in that night she seemed a little distracted, and when I asked why, she confided, "I might be a little bit nervous. To meet Elton John." I still didn't have the heart to tell her it's not gonna happen, so I said I wasn't certain we'd be able to travel all-the-way to England, but if we do, she's not to worry because he's probably a really nice guy. (Let's hope!) Since then she's asked me if he's married - and later that same day she posed the question, "Do you need to ask someone before you marry them?" Seems she's got big plans for this trip. Yikes!

Charlotte's initial fondness for the show was a bit of a mystery. She's really loyal to her Dora and Diego cartoon friends, so she doesn't usually get excited for new stuff. (Side note: From the beginning Charlotte's referred to Elton as a "she" - and still does. We think it's the long hair & sparkly outfits. When he's in pants she'll ask, "where's Elton" and say "that not Elton, that a boy.") Elton's first song features some muppet crocodiles, and at the end they lure him to the edge of their lake where he slips in and reappears wearing a very sad face. After the fall, it was a struggle for Charlotte to reconcile that sad, wet face with the upbeat-ness of the rest of the episode. Later that evening Charlotte said, "Girl sad, but Mama make happy cuz dry off!" Our smartie was able to figure out why Elton was happy again after such a nasty fall :)

There's also a great Elton-less skit in the episode with a piano duet featuring Ralph and Fozzie. In the beginning Charlotte's quick to point out that they're sharing the piano which "makes everybody feel REALLY happy!!" Later there's a big flourish and both Ralph and Fozzie topple to the floor. Charlotte attributes the fall to the fact that they stopped sharing, "guys bonk heads and now everybody sad." Obviously *sharing* and *feelings* are a being emphasized a lot in her world these days ;)

I know this is huge amount of detail, but I really want to remember their excitement each night when we press play and Elton appears, and how mesmerized they are by the entire episode. Emily is completely engrossed. And while Charlotte has a lot of questions (why close eyes? / why get wet? / why say AHHHH?), she clearly enjoys watching. She's started singing "Don't Go Breaking my Heart" when lying in the tub. And we hear she's been humming "Bennie and the Jets" throughout the day at Hope's. Their giddiness surrounding him is "SO cute"- as Charlotte herself would say. Wish I could bottle it up!!



This cell phone video is a grainy snippet of how entranced they get. The audio isn't great, so here's a little play-by-play. The girls both show their muscles at the beginning, just like Elton does. Then Emily notes that Elton likes the piano and has played it twice so far. Later Charlotte points out that toads are like frogs. Then she asks why Elton closes his eyes. Every.Single.Time :)

Elton John

Amy and I have made it a point to introduce the girls to some of the amazing TV shows we've grown up with. The Muppet Show circa 1978 is one such show. In season 2, there's some really great guests like Steve Martin, Julie Andrews, and Lou Rawls but the favorite by far has been Elton John. The songs and costumes are mesmerizing. Bonus points - the Swedish Chef has a recurring spot in the episode as well.

Halloween, 2014

It's amazing how much sweeter holidays are when you have two girls to celebrate with!

This year Em wanted to be a mermaid, but not Ariel. She chose to be Merida (from Brave) // Rapunzel the Mermaid. We went with it and made her a tail, along with a sparkly crown and necklace. She LOVED her costume. It was totally her.

Charlotte had been exclaiming for weeks and weeks, "I'm a coot, I'm a coot!" so we figured her choice was obvious and made her some fancy wings & a white nose. Except she didn't really know what a coot was, and she wasn't entirely on board with it. So that morning she decided she wanted skip the nose and call herself a duck, which was ok with us. (Coots are rather obscure.)

We celebrated at the zoo the Sunday before Halloween too. Since costumes weren't assembled yet, the girls dug into their dress-up box and put together mouse and rabbit/bride outfits. Lots of pics below :)

 

On Halloween, Charlotte had a cold and we weren't quite sure how (or if) she'd hold up - especially since going up to strangers isn't her cup of tea. But it only took one house to convince her Halloween is awesome. She walked back to us wearing a huge grin saying, "I got candy!! Makes me feel really HAPPY!!!"

And both girls really cleaned up - coming home with overflowing pumpkins. However, this year we learned about the Switch Witch, a friendly witch who comes overnight to take any candy left out in exchange for a small toy or two. Emily really wanted to make a trade, and even wrote a note to the witch putting in her specific toy request.

Fortunately, the witch has keen foresight and anticipated this request so she had the right toys with her on her broom!! She was kind enough to leave a couple pieces of candy behind for the girls to enjoy over the weekend too :) 

It was a super fun Halloween!!



Emily's dream car

Emily has been seeing this van around Polka Dot pre-school recently and has taken a liking to it. When she grows up, she wants this one. She likes how it has "comfy" couches, a sink, apparently a potty, and she also likes the color. Maybe it'll make it to her Christmas list book in the next week.

 

-Matt

 

a little soccer practice with Charlotte

While Emily practices with the big kids at soccer, Charlotte took to the field and practiced some dribbling.

 

PS More on Emily's soccer later. She's an all star.

-Matt

Sisters

I've been excited for Emily to have a younger sister from the moment we found out Charlotte was going to be a girl. Mostly because I have the raddest sister around, and I can't imagine my childhood (or adulthood) without her.

It's been so fun watching Emily and Charlotte's relationship change and grow. I remember hyping-up how much fun having a sister is before Charlotte was born, so much so that Em looked thoroughly confused when we brought home this tiny (well not so tiny) helpless baby who couldn't even hold up her head, let alone *run* and *sing* and *dance* and *play* with her.

Luckily, Charlotte's quite capable of keeping up with Emily these days, and each week seems to bring on more and more things they can do together. Unfortunately, the girls have been taking turns getting sick the past couple months, and each time one gets hit with a bug we do our best to keep them apart so the other won't catch it. (Which has worked!)

Recently after a few days apart, Emily wistfully whined, "I really miss playing with my sister." And with all the times Charlotte tried to run into Emily's germ-infested room, we could tell the feeling was mutual. Thankfully the moments they are reunited are so-so precious and joy-filled, something we all need after an exhausting couple of days.

A few weeks ago Emily surprised both me and Charlotte by puffing up her chest and really taking on the role of being a big sister.

We were at the park on a playdate with another family with a 4 and 2 year old. (Having kids two years apart is all the rage these days, apparently. We're so hip.) The girls were across the park, having a ball. Charlotte, our little monkey, was climbing up a ladder, which she does all the time. And Emily was patiently waiting on the ground for her turn.

Somehow when Charlotte got up to the second step, her foot went passed the ladder rung and instead of stepping up she sort of sat down.

I was in the middle of meeting another mom (of a 5 and 3 year old, naturally) and wasn't sure if I should excuse myself and run across the playground to rescue my kid. Maybe it would be better for her to figure it out on her own?

During my internal "to rescue or not to rescue" debate, I watched our skinny (some might say scrawny) Emily use all her might to try and lift Charlotte's bottom up so she could regain her footing and continue climbing the ladder.

Now even though Emily's got 2 years on Charlotte, they both weigh-in right around 31 lbs - Charlotte's just a more... compact package. So honestly, Emily never really had a chance. But it was super sweet to see her try.

Then, in a the blink of an eye, both girls tumbled down to the sand. My heart skipped a beat when I saw them lying on their backs until I realized they were giggling. Giggling. I'm not sure exactly how it happened - I do know Charlotte lost a shoe in the process. So I excused myself, saying I needed to help her put it back on.

But really I just wanted to give my girls a hug. No one got hurt, and I loved watching them work together and seeing Emily step up to care for her sister.

I'm certain they'll take turns lifting each other up in the coming years. And although they might not always succeed, I can't wait to watch them try :)

Quotations

I once had a witchy, but effective, English teacher who berated students for using the word "quotes" when referring to snippets of conversations. She insisted we call them by their proper name, "quotations." Something about one's a verb and one's a noun... ;)

Anyway, here are some good quotations, from our conversations as of late:

Emily, at 10pm, was coming up with excuse after excuse about why she couldn't fall asleep. This was our favorite: "But it's so hard to NOT think of Pumas."

Charlotte: "I.did.it!!!!" Whenever she does something, or anyone does something for her. So in a way it means "I did it - I got Daddy to give me more pretzels / cheese / yogurt / blueberries!!!"

Emily, in a super inquisitive voice, "Why do I get hurt so much?!? I just don't know."

Emily often asks us why so-and-so does something, and then she'll answer her own question by saying, "Because that's how God made them, right?" Which has proven very helpful in appeasing our quizzical girl who asks about all sorts of tricky situations. Although, this backfired on us once when we were complaining about her s-l-o-w eating habits. She wisely asserted, "Well that's how God made me." Touche' Em. Touche'.

Walking home from gymnastics in 85 degree weather, I said, "I sure hope the house is cool when we get home." Emily then said, "I sure hope the house is clean when we get home." What!?!? She followed that up with, "I don't know why, I just like a tidy house." Agreed, Em. Agreed.

Charlotte wakes up every morning and asks excitedly, "Hoper day?!" (She spends weekdays in Hope's care.)

While watching me brush her hair in the bathroom mirror one morning, Em got all serious and asked, "Mom, don't you sometimes wish you had long hair like me??"

One evening while playing on the floor Emily suddenly asked, "Can we make some dust carrots?" We didn't quite know how to respond, until a couple seconds later when she said," You know, for the dust bunnies to eat??" Guess we need to clean under the couch more.

Charlotte's tasked with being a "good girl" so often, she now instructs Mama and Emily to be "gooh ghirls" too. After bedtime hugs, before leaving the house, when Emily runs to use the bathroom. And she wags her finger at us when saying it too, so we know she means business.

These girls of ours are chatterboxes... so more to come soon!

Those were the days...

We've got lots of friends who are pregnant this year, so we're hearing lots of fun stories about their experiences. Especially the first timers. And I remember, back before we had kiddos (I still can't believe that's plural!), my mom telling me one of her friend's daughters really enjoyed her pregnancy. "Huh?" I think I asked. "How's that??" Because I honestly couldn't understand what she meant. At all.

Wasn't pregnancy something you just sort of had to get through because you wanted kids? A means to an end? All the signs/ symptoms/physical changes had me convinced there was no way it could be or would be an enjoyable experience.

And I'll be the first to admit it (which is rare - just ask Matt), I was wrong. Totally wrong. Completely wrong. I couldn't have been more wrong.

But maybe you can't understand the awesomeness of pregnancy until you experience it? Well that's my theory, and I'm sticking to it.

It only takes a minute of talking with someone about their pregnancy before Matt and I will exchange a quick glance and small smile because we remember those days. So well.

His late night hamburger/caesar salad/sandwich runs, because that's all I could stomach and we knew I needed protein. Or Emily floating around under my ribs when I had a 2+ hour car ride home - and trying to gently guide her back down my abdomen. Or Matt giving me little pushes as we walked up and around these hills of ours. Partly because I was huge, and partly because my center of gravity was completely off. Or how I shamefully ate Taco Bell at 10am during those first few weeks. In the parking garage of course, so no one at work would see. Or how my water aerobics class was convinced the baby in my basketball-shaped belly was a boy. Both times! Man oh man, how that messed with my head. Or how winded I got leaving a simple phone message. So winded that I had to take awkward pauses in the middle of each sentence to catch my breath. Or how stunned our doctor was when Charlotte was born, because she was so much bigger than anyone had expected.

That's not to say there weren't some rough days. There were. But whenever I see or hear about someone else's baby bump, oh how I miss it.
At this moment we're a very happy family of 4. Juggling 2 girls, 2 careers, 2 cars, 1 house with a fridge that always seems empty and floors that are carpeted in crumbs keeps us forever on our toes. So it's possible those pregnancy days are behind us. But I know we'll never forget how magical that time was.

And while I count these two little girls as the biggest blessings in my life, the fact that I was graced with two easy pregnancies is very high up on the list too. I'll always be grateful for that special time with them. And the bond we created over late night hiccups (Em) and karate kicks (Charlotte). Some of the best months ever.

One day, when our girls start to wonder if there are any enjoyable aspects of pregnancy, I'll tell them all about it. And how it was an honor.

Truly, an honor.

Go Giants!!

We took Emily to her first Giants game a few weeks ago, and to say she loved it would be an understatement. She LOVED it. She was excited from the moment we parked the car. We all got Giants t-shirts for the occasion, and she tirelessly cheered on our "orange guys" until the game ended around 11pm. Sadly, we lost our 2 run lead (and the game) in the 9th inning. But it didn't dampen Em's spirits. Because next came fireworks!!

These proved to be equal parts thrilling and scary for her. She didn't trust that the little explosions of fire weren't going to reach us, so for the first half of the show, after each one she'd ask, "Is it going to get us?"

She was finally starting to trust that we wouldn't get hit, when Matt and I began talking about the finale and Matt said to Em, "I'll tell you when it's getting close." Can you guess what she thought that meant??! From then on no matter what we claimed, she was pretty much convinced it was only a matter of time before we got hit by a firework. But once the show ended she was all smiles.

When we got home Charlotte was fast asleep with the sitter, so despite the Giants' loss the night was a HUGE win for us!

Giggles

This girl is a goof. A giant goof with a capital G. She'll be 2 this week (how did that happen??!) and she's become so much more of a person in the past few months. Here's a few things we've discovered:

She loves to giggle. Which means she loves to be tickled. Loves to be tickled. She'll ask for them and when you stop, for fear she can't catch her breath, she'll just chant "more, more" until you start tickling her again.

She loves to clap and say a enthusiastically high pitched "yay" whenever she gets excited, which is easily and often. This happens whenever she's around water (bathes, pools, sprinklers, oceans, lakes, sinks) and parks. The climbing and sliding. The running and chasing. She loves parks.

She also loves to note when things are big. BIG jump. BIG tree. BIG hole. Her favorite colors seem to be blue, purple, and red. In that order. Favorite animal is definitely a kitty.

And Emily. She loves her Emily.

Fortunately the feeling's mutual.

4th o' July!

Emily turned 4!!

Emily had another birthday, 2 months ago. Yikes! She celebrated with friends at a nearby art studio, which was chaotic but super fun! They each got to sculpt a clay pirate or fairy to bake and take home that day.

Even though we didn't need to decorate, we hung some ruffly streamers around the splatter studio - in the hopes of creating a photo booth. The kids thought it was more of a romper room, but that was ok. At least they enjoyed using the props :)

Aunt Beca made a fancy princess castle cake AND cupcakes which everyone loved. Appetizers were fruit kabobs and cheese crackers, at Em's request. We brought along juice boxes too. And pretty much all the photos are courtesy of Uncle Glenn.

Of course this special day wouldn't have been complete without a handmade item, a crown I sewed the night before her party. To my surprise she wore it the entire time! These might become a new birthday tradition, along with a fancy-pants dress of course ;)

 

^^ These don't do justice to the total chaos in there! ^^

And on Em's actual birthday we had a fun family day at the pool, followed by dinner and ice cream with Becky and Glenn!

^^ The coveted Anna and Elsa dolls!! ^^

And I just have to say, this little girl is so fun and ... surprising. As anyone who's spent time with us knows, she's a sensitive soul who gets hurt and sad more often than we'd like. But she's a rockstar too, and surprises us with how brave and independent she can be.

From her first day at preschool, when she shocked the pants off me by jumping in with such excitement, to her first day at summer camp last week when according to Matt she was one of the few kids with a dry eye that morning, we're so so proud when she shines as our big girl.

So "Happy Birthday, Em"- we can't wait to see what's in store for you this year!

^^ Just because the "before" pics are fun too!^^