The Hunger Strike

Sometimes I think that if Emma were old enough, she would call the authorities on me......
Yesterday I was giving Bela her medicine (which is a difficult task and requires complete attention, leaving Emma with escape time), when I heard the most dangerous sound you can here around this house- silence. Yikes! So Bela and I jumped up to see just what her big sister had gotten into (the diapers, the wipes, how bad could it be?) when I heard "YUMMY!" coming from the rocker in Bela's room. Knowing there was no food anywhere in there and that she was on a hunger strike (that comes later I promise), we started running. Turns out Emma had schemed and climbed a few things to get at her tube of toothpaste. Darn those things for being flavored like candy. A call to the grandma and the 800 number on the back of the tube reassured me that Emma was not going to spontaneously go into seisures, so we went about our day....as usual- er well, rather unusual. You see, Emma chose yesterday to go on a hunger strike. Like every morning she started off with a cup of milk and a little Sagwa (the Chinese Siamese cat- a show written by Amy Tan). Then I asked if she wanted cereal or eggs and neither made the cut. So I offered a few other things and she declined everything. Finally I allowed her to have grapes alone (this is a treat to her). She later asked for juice and, after drinking her one cup (yes we ration here), she wanted more along with "sishy crackers" (goldfish). Since figuring out last week that Emma has been outsmarting me these last few weeks, I refused to give in. I figured she could drink water and wait to eat until lunch. Lunchtime came and I gave her a plate with some tuna casserole and veggies. As soon as her little butt hit that chair, she was "alllll done!" with a smile. Hmmmm...I saved her plate and, sure enough, ten minutes later she was ready for snacks. Okay, this time I was ready- this toddler was not outsmarting me!!! NO WAY!!! So I offered her lunch again, and she threw another tantrum (she had already thrown about 10). Off to bed with no food. I thought she would surely want her lunch when her rumbly tumbly roused her after only a 45 minute snooze. Nope. She decided she wanted "pa-cakes" and an apple. I told her she had to eat lunch. Another tantrum. This time, the tantrum lasted from about 2 until 5:30....with a few minutes in between to catch her breath. Although a little hard on the eardrums (especially when both the girls would launch this beautiful song at once), it was nice on the housework because I spent a lot of time ignoring her and doing laundry. Finally, at 5:30 she broke down and said "hu-gry!" So she ate her dinner a little early. The poor thing was shaking as she shovelled in the food with both hands. She ate two helpings, coming back for a third when her daddy and I sat down ourselves to eat. After that, she was happy as a lark! I must say, I had to hide my grin when Emma ate every meal today without any issue. I feel like Mrs. PiggleWiggle sometimes (remember those books as kids? with all those silly "cures"?)
Here are a few pictures- it's been awhile since I've posted really recent ones. Smiling Bela (doesn't happen much these days), crying Bela (that's more like it!), and Emma proudly displaying her artwork on OUR WALL!

Attention Parents of Colic-y Infants

WOOOHOOOO!!! We found the cure and boy howdy are we thrilled...so thrilled in fact, I thought I'd make this little known secret public!! It worked for Emma and it works for Bela too!! And they say two children are never the same, HA! See, the secret is, play really loud, super inappropriate music and sing right along, swears and all!! We've tried dozens of lullabies, but those don't seem to do the trick like Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get it On". But I mean really, how many future psychiatric bills am I willing to pay for an extra hour's sleep? Hmmm....I'm willing to pick up the tab I think to move my sleep meter from four to five hours.
Some of their favorite songs may include stories of drunken mistakes (Alkaline Trio "Sorry Bout That") and even- GASP- the f bomb (Red Hot Chili Peppers "I Could Have Lied"), but I guess in the end it's better to give the babes what they want right?
Sooo we took a day trip to grams' and gramps' house today and Emma was literally requesting Bob t.b. before she even got carried over the threshold. Nice. She got all her faves- pizza, Bob, Street (Sesame Street), many a game of "I gonna gichoo" and treats. Really, what more could a one-year-old ask for? Oh that's right, parents who allow her to do the same. The WHOLE way home, she dramatically sighed and said "Bye t.b., bye Bob, bye grappa" (notice the order of importance). I tried to reassure her these things were not gone forever, but the rolling tears at the dinner table let us know she didn't believe a word of it. Ah well. Until next weekend. Then Aunt Namie's coming to town and supposedly will allow all the t.b. and moomies (movies) a girl could hope for....sorry to say mommy's going to put a slight kabbash on that.
Anyways, the girls are finally asleep, so perhaps I should turn in. They're just so much fun to talk about.

Goodbye Gahkweese

As Emma was putting together her Jungle Animals puzzle tonight (YES, we've finally mastered the puzzle!!!!), the usual "gahkweese" suddenly became a "speebra" and then evolved to "seebra" within a few minutes!! For a few months that thing has been a gahkweese, not sure what changed her mind about finally calling it a zebra, but that was pretty exciting....and a little sad. That was one of the last made-up words she was holding onto...
The stomach flu has been so unkind to poor Emma who puked for the first time in her little life. She didn't know what was going on, and we didn't know what to do. It hit her sooo hard, with a fever, chills, loss of appetite (this is soooo not Emma!)- you name it. Things were coming out both ends (you sure you want her Jamie?) So we relaxed on the t.v. rules around here and allowed Cinderella and Curious George on for most of the day. Now that she's getting better (this sickness is taking FOREVER to leave....er maybe I'm just being taken advantage of), she's still asking for "t.b" and "moomies" all the time. Oy yoy yoy.....hopefully this whiny child will give up the battle soon :)
Since becoming sick, Emma has also realized that she doesn't get nearly enough mommy time and demands that the baby go "swimming" (be put in the swing) all the time. Hopefully this too shall pass.
And if we thought she was attached to her monkey before- holy moly! Now when we do our "milk and rock" routine at night, the monkey has to also sit on Emma's lap- there's just no more room for the book which has to be held up about an extra foot and even then Emma still can't see it over her giant monkey.
Lately Emma has begun singing all kinds of songs. The first really recognizable one was "Stars" as she calls it. Braden and I were driving and all of a sudden she starts singing along to the cd "Tweeko Tweeko star". The rest of the words were totally made up but sounded just like the real lyrics. It was hilarious! Since then, she's added many a song to her repertoire.
The fascination with the timeout corner has now made it to the cat. Emma chases her around saying "SCOUT! Get down! Timeout!". She yelled at her tonight for touching the cat food (which Emma is of course not allowed to touch).
Bela is getting increasingly louder in her sharp cries. She cries longer and harder now too, which is sad. But in the times when she's not doing that, she makes the cutest little sounds and actually smiles! She is sleeping a lot better on her own, though she still finds her way to my arms on occasion (usually when I'm feeling a little impatient or just plain tired). But we'll get it soon enough and then I'll miss our little bedtime buddy.

The GOOD Life

My Grandma Charbonneau is a very smart lady, and she reminds me all of the time to write down the silly little things Emma says and does on a daily basis because in 10 years (heck, ten minutes) I'll probably forget. Here are some of the things I'll miss most when she's twelve....

"t.b. YEAH!"-- it's her special way of requesting t.v. so that you can't say no (since she says "yes" for you)

the art masterpieces currently on display in the kitchen (crayon on the fridge, pencil on the wall)...the best part is that she shakes her finger at them when she passes, saying "crayon, no no"

the fact that she can count to twenty (but usually leaves 5 and 11 out) already- thank you timeout corner!

singing the bathtime song (set to the tune of the old batman t.v. theme song- just like the "bat turn" song-- remember that dad?!)

Emma putting herself in timeout (even when we forget to enforce rules, when she breaks them, she walks herself to timeout and starts counting)

the sounds of fire engine sirens that she makes when we put Balmex on her bottom to "put out the foo foo fires"

whenever she makes a big mess, we usually hear "oh my" or "oh no" followed by "kweeb up" (she likes the barney cleanup song, so sometimes she'll make this mess on purpose so that one of us will sing it)

the excitement she gets when "sachines" (Mighty Machines- a five minute blip on t.v. about real life construction equipment) comes on or the last 20 seconds of sesame street ("street")- the credits where the kids dance and the train comes around

when she shouts "OH DADDY!" whenever she hears the door (even if it's just the cat playing with the handle)

how every color is "YEWO!!" despite the fact that she knows blue, red, yellow, and green (she just likes the word yellow better than the others)

her infatuation with "Siwuhwuh" (Cinderella) and constant begging to watch the entire movie!

the way she slow dances with her monkey whenever the ball scene comes on during Cinderella (the version from Fairy Tale Theatre--thank you Aunt "Namie" (JAMIE)!!)

I'll add on as I think of them. These are just the ones I can think of for now.
Yesterday the girls and I took a trip to the mall to get their portraits taken. I had a stash of secret weapons just in case Emma got bored or decided to wander, but I only ended up needing one, so it was great! We got there early (an hour before the appointment) so that Emma could play at the play place and eat "pacakes" (pancakes, a special treat usually reserved for Saturdays) while I nursed Bela. She listened so well, and didn't even try to run and play, though she was itching to so badly. When it was time to leave, I only had to ask once and she stopped playing and held my hand. I put Bela in the stroller and Emma in my Mayan sling (which is WONDERFUL by the way for any mom who has to carry both a baby and a toddler at once!) and we made it, only five minutes late :) The pictures went as well as could be expected. Emma was soooooo good and so patient when I asked for a quick second session (because Bela had finally stopped crying in the waiting area and fell asleep). As a reward I gave her a pen and paper (way cooler than crayons) and let her go to town. The photographer looked at me like I was nuts and said "Uh, your daughter is drawing all over her face". "I know" was all I said. She likes to experiment what can I say, at least she was naming the body parts as she was coloring them (toes, "wips" (lips), hands....) As I ordered my prints, Emma found a very strange friend, but she seemed to like her. They had fun while Emma learned all about bodily functions (I'm hoping this little girl's fascination was coming from being potty trained). She was sooooo good and sat when I asked her to, held my hand when asked, and so much more...so I took her to Mrs. Fields and let her pick out a cookie. While I nursed Bela again, she kept shouting "TREAT!" and getting chocolate all over her face. Mom benefited from the treat too since I got to eat three quarters of it!!! (don't tell emma!)
Emma also got a little taste of the snow when the storm hit. Daddy took her out on a sled (a special St. Val's day present) and poor Emma was so bundled up she just couldn't stay seated on the sled...so she had fun laying down! What a riot! In the end, she was too cold for a ride on the "tracor" (tractor), something she looks forward to all the time.
Bela is waking up a lot more now, smiling and cooing....that is until about 5 o'clock. That's when the ear-piercing (just talk to daddy) symphony begins. When I was pregnant everyone used to say "Well at least this one won't be colicky, God doesn't give you two like that". Well, I say God has a sense of humor.....no, we love our girls. And really other than feeling terrible for little Bela when she is obviously uncomfortable, it's not so bad. Emma paved the way for the "spirited" temperment in this family, so it's just funny to watch Bela follow in her footsteps. I enjoy every precious moment with this little one, knowing they're all too short. As much as I know we should insist on ousting the family bed notion, I enjoy watching her sleep in my arms. There's nothing sweeter than watching her little chest go up and down in the middle of the night when everyone else is asleep. We are so blessed to have two absolutely beautiful, sweet, hilarious little girls. They make life so sweet!

Swim Lessons

Emma and daddy started their swim lessons. Although Emma enthusiastically requests "wimming" with "kiz" (kids) every day of the week, the lessons always ends up the same.....Emma clutching onto daddy like a cat in water, saying "home" and "hug" the entire time....well, she does enjoy when they get to do the group "Wheels on the Bus" sing-along. Then she requests "more wheels". Mom just enjoys watching the toddler-sans-mullet (YES WE CUT THE MULLET- imagine the lead in the movie THE MESSENGER as an 18 month old and that's our Emma)sport her cute little purple skirted swim suit!
Bela was quite perturbed at the last pediatric visit when her doctor told us that her preferred sleeping arrangements (literally ALWAYS in someone's arms) is "completely unacceptable". Yikes....so we've started to try and use the bassinet again. The little cuddlebug is starting to spend some time during the day and night now in her own cacoon, rather than in mommy's arms. But otherwise, she's healthy and growing (mostly in the chin department, we're gaining those in mass quantities). In fact, she's put on 2.5 pounds and gained an inch since birth. Her reflux is under control too, so there's less crying (that is, unless mom leaves her alone with dad, then the screaming symphony begins!)
Emma mastered the slide at Java Jungle on Friday night- she and we were very proud! What a feat! Now she can't get enough of slides! She's such a sweetheart and generally a very "goo gorl" (good girl). Although she spends many a minutes in the time out corner (and we usually spend every minute of it stifling our own giggle at her antics). What an amazing big sister she is turning out to be- we love every minute of this little clown's entertaining antics.....