What a Great Way to Wake Up

I had a rough time sleeping last night.  Angela woke up with teething pain and had a hard time settling back into sleep.  One of those fast and furious summer-esque storms hit.  My sciatica flared due to the weather.  I did not want my tossing and turning to wake John, so I moved to the guest bedroom.  I put a heating pad on my back and hoped to salvage the rest of the night.  

I must have passed out because next thing I know Alice is in bed next to me.  Angela let out a cry.  "Mommy, Angela's awake," Alice informed me.

I grabbed Angela who was standing in her crib waiting for me, and I brought her back into bed with Alice and me.  Whereas Alice is content to snuggle alongside of me, Angela likes to drape herself across my chest.  I was enjoying the quiet (something I don't experience too often) when I discerned a series of odd puckering noises coming from Angela.  It took a second to register that she was practicing her kissing.  She is very adept at blowing kisses; but, lately, she has been trying to make actual contact with the person she is trying to kiss.  I shifted my gaze down to her at the moment she lifted her head to look at me.  Upon making eye contact with me, Angela stopped her training momentarily and said, "Happy."  She then planted a kiss on my lips.  

I wonder if she registered my heart's reply of "Me too."

Never Say Never

Here is a picture of the girls in their Easter finery.  Yes, I realize that Easter was a few weeks ago.  Unfortunately, Angela does not nap anymore so things like downloading pictures from the camera are hard to fit into the day.  I want to state for the record that the matching outfits were NOT my idea.  Although they look cute, I will never be the type of mom who would do matching outfits of my own volition.  Apparently, I am the type of mom who is a total sucker for my four year old who so wanted to match with her sister.

The shopping trip for the Easter outfits started innocently enough.  I had Alice help me find her sister's dress.  We then went into the Little Girl section of the store to look for Alice's.  Right away, she found Angela's dress in her size and she was thrilled.

"Alice, isn't this yellow one pretty?"  I asked hopefully.

"No Mommy.  I want this one."

I pulled a bright pink dress from the rack (another thing that is totally makes me cringe inside; it figures pink would be her favorite color).  I had her now. I had brought out the big guns, or should I say the pink ones?  "How about this one?  It's pink."

"No Mommy.  I want to match Angela," she replied steadfastly.

I was screwed.

As I paid for the dresses, I figured I could shake things up with the shoes. 

No such luck. 

We went to the shoe store and I allowed Alice to find her shoes.  One we got hers, we trooped to the section of shoes in Angela's size.  Before I could even focus on the choices in front of me, Alice honed in on the perfect pair- the ones that matched hers.

She joyfully showed me her find.  I sighed and brought the two boxes to the cashier.  I realized I had been beaten.  Now my only consolation will be the horror Alice will feel as a teenager looking at the Easter 2011 pictures.  It will be a horror that will only be intensified when she learns it was all her idea.

True to Form

Today is Angela's birthday.  I cannot believe that she is two years old.  Actually, there are certain times when I can totally believe she is two.  They generally correlate with the times that I want to pound my head into a wall repeatedly.

After I served the girls their breakfasts, I sat down in my seat next to Angela and sang "Happy Birthday" to her.  Upon its completion, she smiled and demanded, "Cake."

It is nice to see that some things don't change.

Easter Mass

One day I will look at my well behaved children after Easter mass and think, "When did they become so boring?"  In Alice's defense, she was great.  Thankfully she did not pledge her allegiance to Satan like she did two years ago.  Peanut, however, was your typical two year old (read- a pain in the butt).  I spent more time walking outside the church than actually inside listening to the mass.  Props to the grounds crew of the church.  You did a beautiful job.  Thankfully it was a nice day, so I guess God was smiling upon me in that respect.  I am sure it was in appreciation for the laughs He got while Angela was inside the church.

• Angela apparently really loves her Pop Pop.  Unfortunately for all the white haired gentlemen wearing glasses around us, she adopted them all as her honorary grandfathers.  She kissed and hugged the man sitting next to me much to the amusement of his family and persisted in kissing the back of the man in front of us throughout the time we were actually in the church.  I hope they were flattered more than annoyed.

• During the "Glory to God" a hand bell chimed.  Angela exclaimed, "Oh no!  Telephone!"  I guess she took the reminder to turn off all cell phones to heart.   

Another Alice-ism

Today we took the kids to Dairy Queen.  Alice enjoyed her chocolate and vanilla twist tremendously.  As she ate, Alice surprised us with the information that ice cream has to stay cold or it will die. 

Apparently, she watched Frosty the Snowman one too many times.

I don't think I will view melting the same way ever again.

Lord Help Me

Alice has been home this week for her school's Spring break.  Consequently, the girls have been spending more time together which has lead to good blog fodder for me.

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Two mornings ago, Alice decided to teach Angela how to draw.  Apparently, those seven months I taught English to high school kids while pregnant were internalized in utero.  Or, perhaps, she is just bossy- take your pick.  Anyway, it was amusing to witness this instruction unfold.  Alice was pretty patient until she realized that her student was more interested in eating raisins.  Exasperated, Alice exclaimed, "Angela, if you eat more raisins you will have to deal with a big poopage."  Angela, unfazed, continued her raisin eating. 

Those lessons on digestion that were part of her school's body unit obviously made a big impression on Alice.

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A rainy day this week lead us to explore a new birthday place nearby.  It has lots of those inflatable slides and bouncy houses (read- great way to exhaust children).  I put Angela into one of the obstacle ones and waited outside.  She is generally pretty brave and enjoys stuff like this.  Plus, there was a very nice male attendant on duty who would fish out the little ones who got stuck.  After about five minutes or so, he emerged with a smiling Angela who went right back in.  I waited and again the young man fished her out.  She went right back in and once again the attendant emerged from the bouncy caverns with my daughter in his arms.  As I watched this unfold, I looked at Angela only to realize that she was flirting with the gentleman.  The coy glance, the sweet smile...that little sneak.  She was in charge of this situation all along (at least until I realized her ploy). 

When I spoke to John later that night, I informed him of his daughter's use of feminine wiles.  I dread when she is old enough to date.

Anatomy Lesson

Lately Alice has been into drawing.  The amazing thing to me is that her drawings are now recognizable.  Gone are the colorful scribbles of her modern period.  Last night we did some drawing after dinner while Daddy gave Angela her bath.  I decided to make an Easter basket filled with colored eggs, which inspired Alice to draw the Easter bunny.  Because Alice cannot do anything silently, she dictated to me all the steps that she was following.

She explained how she needed to make an oval for the body, ears, teeth, legs, arms, and a belly button.  Belly button?  I looked up to see her place a dot in the middle of the bunny's oval body.  I don't know why but this has me still chuckling.  Actually, as I write this blog entry, Alice has drawn another Easter bunny complete with belly button.  I guess she has entered her navel period.