Travelingjenny

Navigating the hilly terrain of motherhood

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  • Swimmer

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    Gracie is making huge strides with her swimming skills – and she finally thinks swim class is the most fun thing ever. She is getting much more confident, and will actually swim on her own towards the wall without circling around to head back to the teacher because she’s scared. And she’ll even dive into the deep end without hesitation! I’m not sure if this newfound comfort in the water will make our beach days easier, because I know she has basic skills in case something happens – or harder, because she could be too confident and get herself into trouble. What I do know is that I love watching our little pipsqueak squint at me through her goggles.

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  • Measuring up

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    We have a special spot on the wall by the kitchen where we measure the girls on their birthdays. We got this idea from my sweet grandfather, who made a big deal of measuring his grandkids each year during family get-togethers. Grace loves to get measured frequently to see how much she’s grown, and there are several unofficial (i.e. colored pencil and marker) lines that have appeared on the wall when mommy and daddy weren’t looking. Tess has caught on to the fun of this measuring “game” and has started to measure her toys. Yesterday it was rolly bunny’s turn. Tess will probably want to measure our baby chicks next, but I don’t think their little heads even reach above the baseboard trim yet – and they’re not very good at standing still.

  • Chick update

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    Yesterday I took the chicks on a field trip to Grace’s classroom. The kids loved seeing them, but had a hard time grasping the fact that they are only a few days old. And Gracie proudly explained how we have them so that we can get eggs, and that they are all girls, and that one actually fell asleep while she was holding her.

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    Today, Tess introduced the chicks to a distant cousin – the easter wind-up chick. Our chicks were not as excited about this as Tess had hoped, although that was probably because the wind-up chick very rudely pecked at their box.

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    Before bed, Gracie held a couple of the chicks, and one of the bigger ones (Lucy) decided to snuggle into the crook of her arm, sticking her head through to the other side. Of course, Gracie loved this: “What is this silly chick doing?” Check out the genuine, delighted smile on her face!

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    Finally, at the end of a long busy day, I held a few of the chicks myself in the peace and quiet. And one of them (Bernadette) actually fell asleep while I was holding her. Adorable.

  • A girl and her chick, part one

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    This afternoon, Gracie told me that she would like to sleep downstairs from now on, because her bed isn’t comfortable anymore. Luckily, I can see right through that one. This kid loves the chicks. She held each one of them twice today, and she held Rosie four different times. Grace is getting very good at being still and making the chicks feel safe – something that requires quite a bit of effort on her part! She is getting so good, in fact, that baby Bernadette – the smallest of the chicks (and only two days old) – fell asleep in her hands. Sweet Grace is a very good mama hen.

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  • It doesn’t get cuter than this…

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    Today we welcomed six baby chicks into our home… Rosie and Bernadette (day-old buff orpingtons), Sally and Stella (four-day-old barred plymouth rocks) and Lucy and Penelope (four-day-old araucanas). Grace was very excited, and drew them a picture, which she taped to the side of the box we brought them home in. She also brought along a musical instrument and serenaded them during the (thankfully short) drive from the feed store to our house. Weeks ago, Grace decided that she would choose her favorite chick and name her Rosie. Today, she was beyond thrilled to be able to hold her new pet – even though she insisted on holding Rosie on a washcloth at first (this didn’t last long). Sweet Tess really wanted to hold a chick – “Hand? Hand?” – but she hasn’t yet mastered the art of being gentle with tiny, fragile creatures. Stay tuned for more chick adventures!

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  • And I thought I was getting smarter

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    This time, when Grace asked if she could do some stamping while I was putting Tess in bed, I said: “Sure – just don’t stamp your face.” Of course, she replied, “Why not?” And I made up some excuse about how she might get ink in her eyes or her mouth and it would be bad for her. Of course, she did it anyway – stamping her lips this time too, just because I specifically said not to. So, next time she asks me if she can do some unsupervised stamping, I’m going to say: “Sure, do whatever you want!” And I bet she’ll draw a picture instead.

  • A first for Tess

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    Every day when we arrive home after picking Gracie up from school, the girls entertain themselves while I fix lunch. For some reason, they always play together well at this time of day, and I often delay lunch just because I hate to interrupt them. So today, while they were drawing pictures – with markers – I took advantage of their supposed good, harmonious behavior to run upstairs and check my email. What was I thinking? After a couple of minutes, Gracie yelled, “Mom! You have to come here! Tess is doing something very unkind!” Due to her choice of the word “unkind,” I assumed – wrongly – that Tess was merely drawing on Gracie’s paper, so I took my time going downstairs. And when I did, I was surprised to see that sweet, good little Tess had drawn on the wall and kitchen island with marker. She squealed when she saw me, as if she had discovered the most fun and amazing activity ever, and surely I would be proud of her. I have to admit that I did laugh before I realized that was not the appropriate response, and then I spoke to her in a stern voice and gave her a time-out in her crib. Tess was very upset about this, as she has seen her sister get countless time-outs (“Dodo bad!”) and she understood that this was not good at all. As I brought her back downstairs after her very first time out, she said, “Me bad.” And my heart broke a little.

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  • At the aquarium

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    We drove to Boston on Saturday to spend the day at the amazing aquarium there. The last time we did this was two weeks before Tess was born, as a special outing with Grace before we rocked her world with the addition of a sibling. Of course, she doesn’t remember that trip at all – but we do, and we knew she’d love it this time, too. We were right, and although Tess was alternately scared and overwhelmed much of the time, she also had fun. Tess’s favorites were the penguins (specifically, watching in anticipation as they prepared to jump into the water) and the seals (their barking caused her to squeal in delight). Grace loved the touch tank, but her real favorites were the blind sea turtle and the blind seal. This makes sense for a kid who wants to be an “animal rescuer” when she grows up – and now she’s added animal trainer to the list.

    [There was way too much going on at the aquarium for me to take any photos, but I did pull my camera out while we were waiting for the fur seal show to begin. This was very entertaining, because one of the seals waited by the door – and barked – waiting for the trainers to appear.]

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  • Lessons learned today at the beach

    1. Even if you put rain boots on them and roll up their pants, kids will always end up barefoot and pantless at the beach – even if it’s only April and and not quite 70 degrees.

    2. When watching a four-year old wade out into the water, it is important to tell her to stop before she gets to the spot where you really want her to stop, because she will always want to go deeper. The lure of the waves makes it really hard for her to hear you. Or maybe it’s the sand in her ears.

    3. An almost two-year old who won’t eat without wearing a bib and having her sleeves rolled up will eat food that has been dropped in the sand without a second thought.

    4. No matter how many times you tell a four-year old to stop staring at the big kids, she simply cannot because BIG KIDS ARE AWESOME. And they do cool things like bury their brothers in the sand.

    5. No matter how many times you tell an almost two-year old not to destroy the sand castle you are building, she simply cannot stop because WALKING ON SAND CASTLES IS FUN.

    6. No matter how happy and injury-free your children are when you get ready to leave the beach, things will inevitably go haywire because BEACH OUTINGS ARE NEVER EASY. And no matter how much fun you have, the story your four-year old will keep telling over and over is about how she fell and was bleeding while mommy was loading up the car to go home, because SOMEONE ALWAYS GETS HURT.

    7. While my children were romping in the ocean in their skivvies, I was wearing jeans, rubber boots, a long-sleeved shirt, and a fleece vest. The girls seem to be well on their way to becoming thick-skinned Mainers, however, I most decidedly am not. Hopefully it will be a long time before my girls are aware enough to be embarrassed by me. In the meantime, we have a lot of over-dressed, but very fun, beach outings ahead of us!

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  • A friendly morning

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    Today was an amazingly beautiful day – the kind of day meant for lounging around outside, soaking up the warm sun, and feeling grateful that spring is finally – finally – here.

    We spent a lovely morning at Wolfe’s Neck Farm with Elyse and her mom, visiting the newborn lambs and baby chicks – and of course, rolling around in the grass. After all, what good would a beautiful day be without a friend to share it with?

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