Lucky Number Two

Disney on Ice

2012-01-22T16:48:00.000-08:00

I took Maria to see Disney on Ice Princess Edition, or whatever it's called, today. My friend Katie had two tickets, and she was nice enough to invite us and BOY it was a treat! I didn't tell Maria until this morning that we were going, because I can only take so much. She would have hammered away at me about it, freaking out every day that it wasn't time to go yet, and I just knew it wouldn't end well. So anyways, off we went, we had a great time. She wore that dress, Laura gave it to her for her birthday and she seriously loves it. LOVES. IT. Laura has always been a good, thoughtful gift giver, but she really hits it out of the park with my kids and I appreciate her for it.

Oh, she was cute at the show! At first, she was sort of shy with me about it, kind of glancing over her shoulder at me to see if I was seeing what she was seeing. Then she started to get into it, and by that I mean, she peppered me with questions about what was happening. Unfortunately, she kept facing the action to talk to me and I was sitting to her left, so I didn't hear many of them. And actually, that was probably best, she was treating it like a movie, and by that I mean, hammering me with questions about what was going to happen. We watched about Princess Tiana and the Frog, then Cinderella, and then Rapunzel. Then for the big finale, they brought out ALL the princesses and their princes and I thought she would explode from the happiness. She was dancing, and so, so cute.

I said it on Facebook, and it's true: we have so many firsts with Maria, it's really exciting. Anthony would have probably not wanted to see Disney on Ice anyway, but who knows? It is fun to see a cute show with your child and have them really get into it. It's even fun to buy a $12 sno cone in a souvenir cup! She is always good when we are out, up until the time we leave. We never ever leave anywhere without her crying and screaming. It sucks and I hate it. I told my friend Marta the other day that it happens all the time, and she said (her kids are older) that I can expect it until she is five or six. But then, I told her, I have to get through it with Veronica and Felicity too? Six years? Six years of dragging some kid through the museum exit, the library, the store, everywhere? Sheesh.

Confidence

2012-01-03T19:55:00.000-08:00

Thank God for Maria - she doesn't have any confidence problems, does she? If I was given an option, if someone said to me, she could keep all her confidence AND her volume, or she could quiet the hell down and leave you alone sometimes, but not have such confidence in herself, I'd go for the former and wish for deafness. I'm that good a mother. Ha! She really is amazing. She marches in to the 'haircut shop' today, as she calls it, and picks out her chair, the lady combs and wets her hair and she just sits there, pulling her head this way and that so she can see the mirror better. She kills me.

Here's my Maria story for today: I told her that she could go to the store with me after Mike got home because Veronica couldn't go. Veronica was b-a-d all damned day and I had had it. So she goes to BLEAT to Veronica "Veronica! You can't go to the store cause you bad!". I said, shhhh! You don't have to say anything to Veronica, just worry about YOU! (I say this 1200 times a day). So she WHISPERS it: veronica! you can't go to the store cause you bad!. I said NOOOO! SHHHH! Do not tell Veronica anything! So she walks over and kneels down next to Felicity and she says, super sweetly in Fifi's ear, "Felicity! You know what? Veronica can't go to the store cause she baaaaad". I give! I give!, I want to cry, several thousand times a day. She is killing me.

They don't have school until Monday and I told someone today, I am getting so mad at the preschool for having off for two weeks I want to go and take my Christmas present back, ha! Oh well, tomorrow V has speech and we might get together with our neighbor in the afternoon, then Thursday maybe we'll go to the Y and Friday we are having a little Friday ballet playdate for Maria's birthday. She hasn't asked for a big party so I am not doing one. We're just going to have Emma and Charlie here, her girls from ballet, and their brothers and mothers and we'll have lunch and cupcakes. Maybe we'll go order them tomorrow. It is very challenging to take Maria where she wants to go and still let Felicity nap and hate the car like she does, AND workout AND shower. How I wish there were boarding preschools, sometimes. Kidding! I AM KIDDING!

Lame

2011-12-02T19:26:00.000-08:00

I was making our Christmas cards the other night and I realized I have SO few pictures of Maria. I ended up using one from August! What can I say, it's been busy. But Maria is ever present, don't you worry. Lately, Maria:

has taken to demanding to know the schedule for not just the next day, but the whole week. Lucky for ME, she only knows four days of the week. So we talk about Monday, she go to school. Tuesday, she go to school. Wednesday, she go to the library AND lunch, and Friday, she go to ballet. She doesn't know Thursday, and do you want to know why? Because we don't have anything scheduled on Thursday and therefore it doesn't exist.
is doing very well in preschool. Her teacher's name is Miss Stacey and another parent told Mike last week that she always thinks of Maria as "Miss Stacey Jr." because Maria stands by the door in the morning and announces which student is coming in. "Good Morning, PATRICK!", she'll yell. And then she says "Miss Stacey! PATRICK IS HERE!".
has been enjoying ballet, but she's not too serious about it. I notice the teacher telling other parents that their student is starting to do well, to maybe move up, but the teacher always just says hi to me. Ha! I don't care, she loves it and it's inexpensive. Today she told me she'd like to do tap dancing, so maybe we'll do that some day in the future. FARRRR in the future.
gets along well with Veronica. They are mostly pretty sweet together, still.
loves the baby.
loves to talk on the phone. We call my mom, my dad, and Mike's mom pretty often. She asks my mother the same thing all the time. "How's your new red car, Grandma?" is big and also "How's Grandpa?". She tells them about 'her baby' and about school, and ugh, just everything. She is hard to understand AND she holds the phone about two feet from her ear and mouth so it's interesting. It's not what old Alexander Graham Bell intended, that's for sure, ha!
is enjoying the iPad and Netflix. She likes Strawberry Shortcake, which Mike and I think is the dumbest thing, ever.

So, she's doing well, she's almost four. We talk a lot about Christmas. We have an Elf on the Shelf that we are all having fun with. She's fine. She's the least AND the most of my worries, ha!

Cinderella

2011-11-04T15:53:00.000-07:00

She was a perfect trick or treater. She looked great, she was polite, she loved to give out candy. She was just perfect!

Teeth

2011-11-04T15:38:00.000-07:00

So she fell out of bed last week and her teeth were loose and we were worried that she'd lose them, or have to have them pulled. Then on Tuesday of this week, she was swinging at school and she knocked one out - or almost out - Mike took her to see the dentist and I guess they walked in and the dentist just yanked it out from where it was hanging. I wish she would have done it and then maybe we wouldn't get charged for an extraction, ha! Maybe we won't anyway, who knows. She was upset the day it happened, but mostly because she couldn't go back to school for lunch. She has been fine and FINE ever since, she is a real trouper, I'll give her that.

They are both driving me crazy about this baby. My GOD they are loud and all they want to do is push their dirty fingers in her eyes and mouth. It's hard, but I'm assuming it won't last. It's hardest on Mike, because in the evening, I usually have the fussy baby in the sling and although I am hands-free and you'd THINK I could help get them in their pajamas and whatever, I really can't because they have to yank the sling off the baby's face, so they can JAM their fingers in her mouth. Oy. It's bedtime right now, if you couldn't tell.

Maria has had a good week, they must be working on letters at school, she knows all about what words start with what letters. She can count to infinity, she is really getting into books, she dances like a crazy person. Lately her thing is stepdancing and oh, my Lord, it's hilarious. She is a funny girl, she drives me mad but mostly I just love and like her a lot. She is one tough cookie.

Neglect

2011-10-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

Poor Maria. I assure you I haven't been neglecting her like I have been her blog. Here she is enjoying a bedtime snack with old Veevsalah Voo. The other night she fell out of bed, BOOM! it went, around midnight. I was downstairs with the baby and I thought either one of them fell out of bed or someone dropped a big bag of bricks in their room. Mike went in and I heard Maria crying and crying AND crying, so I went up to see her. Mike was just putting her back to bed, she had busted up her lip and was still crying but went back to sleep. Then Mike took her to the dentist on Tuesday and lo and behold, her two front teeth are loose and might have to come out! We are praying and praying that by giving her soft food and her staying off them, as it were, she will be better in two weeks and won't have to have her teeth pulled. That would be a long time to go without front teeth and I am loathe to think about getting her a flipper or whatever it is they use on Toddlers and Tiaras.

We felt terrible that we didn't know it was more serious but the thing is, she is so tough you just wouldn't know if there was something wrong. She wouldn't miss school for anything, so we can't ever find out how she really is.

She's so cute and funny, though. Mike said she was super brave at the dentist, he got her settled in and then had to go with Anthony and she was fine by herself. I had some friends come over this week to see the baby and she just chatted away with them, told them she poops on the potty but Veevsy doesn't, but Anthony does, etc., etc. She's gross but charming! She's so good with the baby but unfortunately Veronica isn't, so I have to run and go save Mike. I'll be glad when this baby is old enough to punch those little hands away from her face!

Pretty Maria

2011-09-20T17:29:00.000-07:00

Ooh she is a busy thing! She ran up to that teacher today, YELLING from way down the hallway, MISS STAAAAACEY! MISS STAAAAACEY! IT'S ME, MARIAAAAAA!". Her teacher seems to like her, I hope she's good. She seems like fun anyway, enthusiastic. I know how I feel about it but maybe it's different for just 8 hours a week.

Here's our latest fight with Maria. She wears a diaper to bed - she is in no way ready for night training, she wakes up soaking wet, I'm just not too pushed about it BUT she waits all day for that diaper to poop in, sometimes SECONDS after I've put her in it. So we're working on it, I tell her no, she can't do that,, I make her wait, I make her sit, blah blah blah nothing works. This week I started to put her RIGHT to bed after she poops, like I change her but that's it, no tv, right to bed. She cries and cries but up she goes. So tonight, she comes RACING to the toilet, yelling "I have to poooooop!", goes in, does it, all's good right? Well. She told Mike "I ALMOST pooped on the floor", which made Mike go check but he found nothing. So we're all happy, everyone's good, she gets to watch her Max & Ruby, all's well.

Cut to later, we all go up and all three kids go in the room and Mike tells a story, I put the girls in their beds and realize V left her blanket downstairs while she was playing. I tried to give her another one but she wanted hers so Mike went downstairs and got it. I covered her up and left. Later, I heard V crying so I went in and Maria told me that there was POOP on V's blanket. I was all, whose poop? and Maria was all "Anthony's! Veevsy's! Mommy's!". I'm slow, so I was like, what are you talking about? She said look at the blanket! and I did. And there was poop on it. I said, Maria - did you poop on it before when it was in the livingroom? She said "ummmm, no?". LIAR. I said, look it's okay if you did, but you have to TELL us before I put a blanket on Veronica that is covered in POO! She said, well yes, it's my poop. I said I KNOW NOW! Sheesh. So everyone is cleaned up and Veronica, who is no dummy, took the clean blanket and allowed me to clean hers overnight. Lord, lord, lord. We are getting there but it is a damned bumpy road.

Star of the Week

2011-09-13T17:09:00.000-07:00

This was Maria's first full week of school and she was the Star of the Week, so that was a good way to start. They do it alphabetically - I can remember being in school with kids whose last names started with A or B and being hella jella that they always lined up first. Then sometimes, to be fair, the teacher would start with the names at the END of the alphabet, but as I recall, the teachers at Catherine A. Dwyer grade school never started in the, say, MIDDLE, for those of us with a last name that started with K. Anyway, enough about ME!, ha!

When you are the Star of the Week, you get this painted coffee can to bring home and you bring one of your favorite things to put in the can. It has to start with the same letter as your first name. We kept thinking and thinking, what the hell are we going to do? What starts with M? Then one of my parents, I can't remember who, or maybe it was my sister Laura, said Monkey George! I still think of him as Curious George, but Maria thinks of him as Monkey George and he is, in fact, a monkey, so it all worked out. I had to make him hug his own neck and put his feet up by his ears to get him to fit in the coffee can, but he did so off he went on Monday and Maria let her classmates guess some things about him and then POOF! brought him out of the can and showed him off.

Also when you are Star of the Week, you get to bring the snack on Monday and Tuesday, so Maria brought strawberries and grapes for Monday and cheese cubes for Tuesday. Not to brag, but her teacher said I was a good snack parent. I was grateful and relieved because I had no idea what to do.

Lastly, Maria granted Miss Stacy an interview today, and when asked what she wanted to be when she grew up, the answer was "a kitty cat". That's super cute and funny on it's own, but I think it's funnier that that is the answer that Maria has for "what do you want for your birthday?" that Dora asks in one of her library books. I think she just has the one answer, regardless of the question.

She is doing very well in school and I am thrilled. I think it's a good fit. I think she'd be fine if she went on a longer day on Monday, or another day of the week, but this is what we started with and what I'd like to continue with if it's possible. We'll see - maybe I'll have the baby and Maria will go insane, in which case I will put her in boarding preschool. Kidding!

She loves her teacher and her teacher, of course, loves her. And she is so smart - because it is such a small world, there is a boy in her preschool class who is also in Anthony's school - that's crazy, right? I saw one of the case managers from Anthony's school there on the first day and she mentioned that she had a therapist there with one of the kids. Then Maria's teacher said to me, does Maria have a brother named Anthony? and I told her yes. She said that the kid's therapist said to her, "that has to be Anthony's sister, it looks just like him!". Miss Stacy said she told her, "I only know about Veevsy Voo!". Ha! Anyways, back to the genius of Maria - today we were picking up Anthony, and the little boy came out with his ... grandmother, I think, and she said "heeeeey Mooooom! That little boy - that boy - I know that boy from my class and my school!". This was only her third day!

I told Laura today - I am a wreck. Thank God I have preschool to send Maria to, and speech therapy for Veronica, because I don't know what kids are capable of, and I fear I'd hold them back if it was just me. I am so used to NOT pushing them and NOT expecting too much that I don't even know what they can do. I'm learning, but it's lucky that there are other, professional people involved.

So she is doing well. Tomorrow we are going to a story hour at the Library and Friday we start ballet again, so we are moving along on our fall schedule. Things are going to be so different four weeks from yesterday, I can't even imagine it, and I bet our sweet Maria can't either.

Sunday

2011-09-04T15:41:00.000-07:00

Ooh wee she has been insane today. We got up late, SUPER late for us, which is 7:30. I heard her knocking on the door so I went in. Maria and Veronica were lying on Maria's bed together, which just never gets old to me, they look so cute. I sat down, or went to sit down, and I felt that her bed was wet. I asked her about it and she said "oh, yes, Mommy, it's wet from PEEEE!". So proud. So we got up and stripped them and started our day, as we have to leave for church at 8:30.

We got it all together and offed to church. We all went in at the start, but then Mike took Anthony out once he got too noisy. Maria said "WHERE IS DADDY GOING?" and I told her, he is taking Anthony out because Anthony is getting noisy and she said 'I NOISY TOOOO! I NEED TO GO OUT!". I kept them in there for a while longer but then we had to go out and regroup because Veronica was losing her MIND and so was I. Maria and I ended up going back in and she was fine, adorable even, but still. It's hard. I think Veronica is going to have to skip it for a while and I think that means the others will too because it's too hard to take Maria and Anthony because they have to be in two different places and ... it's just too hard. We'll try again in a few months, I guess, and in the meantime I will take the baby by myself and Mike can either take just Maria or just Anthony or go alone. We'll see.

Maria and I went to meet her teacher last week. Her teacher seems lovely and like she is going to be a great fit for Maria. She seemed to really like Maria, but who wouldn't? She is great, at first. :) But like today - we went to church, we got pancakes and potatoes to bring home, we went to a friend of mine's house to get some baby stuff that she was gifting me, we went and GOT DOWN and got lunch afterward, we watched Snow White in the van, we got ice cream., I mean, big day right? We got home for two minutes and she was all 'WHERE WE GOING NOW? WE GOING TO GRANDMA AND GRANDPAS? WHO'S COMING OVER? WHAT'S A HOLIDAY? I WANT TO GO PLAY IN THE DRIVE THROUGH!". And this was like seriously the first five minutes after we got home.

But now she is all bathed and sweet and ready for bed, and Mike is off from work tomorrow, and I am not as HORRIBLE as I usually am on Sunday nights. I can make no promises for tomorrow, ha!

Friday

2011-08-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Fridays are becoming one of my favorite days with the girls. I think it helps because we don't have Anthony's home therapy anymore on Fridays and that used to sort of LOOM over my mind all day until it happened.

Today we went to our friend Marta's house, and we brought DONUT HOLES. Maria is very big into donut holes and now we have made converts of her friends Charlie and Emma. Emma's mother told me that Emma didn't even want breakfast today because she knew there would be donut holes later, ha! Anyway, then Marta put aprons on each of the girls (adorbs) and they made pizzas and ate them. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen and Marta is INCREDIBLY good with those girls and they all listen to her and spread that cheese on the pizza, rolled out the dough, so cute and good. I took some pics with my phone and I'll post them later but I really want to type stuff as it happens. It's been two weeks since I've posted here and this is WITHOUT the new baby so I'm trying to catch up. Maria is downstairs SCREAMING and CRYING so I can't be here long.

God I wish I could ever have just a minute - like a minute or two during the day where I am not being screamed at or cried on, or forced to pick somebody up and carry them or whatever the hell. By the time I have a minute, after they go to bed, I'm exhausted. Anyways.

Bad mothering aside, it was a good day for Maria. She likes her friends and even though she can be a little bossy, she is trying to be better. It's hard for her, she bosses everyone around here and then she plays with friends who are NOT Anthony or Veronica and they don't want to hear it from her! But I think she's doing well and we're lucky to have met these friends her age. I want to tell them, be patient with Maria. She can be a pain but she is worth it. I mean, wouldn't you want to have her on your side in a fight? I can't stand it when kids are mean to her, or don't seem to like her. I feel like it's breaking my heart. I know. I KNOW I have to get tougher about it but not right now. I'm the opposite of tough right now.

Yesterday Maria went on a picnic with my Mom, after hanging out in the morning with my Dad. She really, really likes these Thursdays. The went to a picnic, to Mass, and then shopping at 'the Red Store', which my mom deduced (correctly) is Target. My mom bought Maria a new backpack on wheels, and one for Veronica. She also bought her a Dora/Diego DVD, cupcakes, Princess toothpaste, and apple juice. Maria can wear anybody down, this I know, because as I recall I NEVER would have gotten all that out of my mom on a trip to the grocery store!

We go and meet her preschool teacher this week, which should be fun, then they'll start next Tuesday. I can't wait. I'm excited for Maria, I think she'll like it and I am excited for me, too. SUPER excited.

2011-08-10T06:10:00.000-07:00

Maria asked that Mike get the camera the other night, when they were all in the tub, so he did. I had to crop V out, and Maria's hands, which are dancing hands, because she's naked and we all have to suffer because there are a million pervs out there on the Internet. But it's adorable, trust me.

Maria is doing well, but she is driving me crazy and I am already kind of crazy. There are many, MANY good things about her. MANY. She is a good sleeper, she has moved into her big bed and she loves it and has adapted very well. She is loving and sweet to Anthony and Veronica. She says YAY! and gets as excited as anyone when Anthony has success with toilet training. She is so smart, she has never forgotten one thing in her life, she knows how to do everything - turn on the hose, fill the pool, get herself into her carseat, etc. etc.

HOWEVER. She negates all the good things she does with one thing. Every day of my life, she starts hammering away at me about what we are doing that day. She starts when her eyes open and she doesn't stop until they close. I try to ignore it, I try to answer her, I try everything I can to not make it so freaking miserable but I can't help it. She is like an interrogator, it's awful. WHERE MARIA GOING TODAY? WHERE MARIA GOING TODAY? WHERE MARIA GOING TODAY? WHERE MARIA GOING TODAY? And God help you if she doesn't like the answer.

Monday

2011-07-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

We are off to swimming today, we're starting our second week. We just go twice a week for three weeks and that's the summer session. At this rate, we'd have to go for like 10 summer sessions in order for there to be a person who knows how to swim at the end. But it's exposure to the water, I guess. Maria doesn't like going to THIS Y as much as she likes the LAST Y that we went to, but I attribute that to her overall difficult-ness more than anything, this Y is fine, too.

ANYWAYS. She is doing well, her friend Carlotta and Carlotta's sister Maddelena are taking swimming too so that's fun for her. It's also fun for ME, because I get to hang out with their mother Marta, and their little brother hangs out with Veronica, so it is all good as the kids say. She is going to ballet on Wednesdays, she is napping about half the time during the week. She is sharing her room with Veronica, and it's going ... okay, but not great. It's better than it was. I am hopeful in a few weeks it will be just like they've always been in there together and they'll be okay.

She'll start preschool in about six weeks, I guess, and she is going two days a week right now but I might change it to three. I just don't know how it's going to be with these two girls at home and a little baby. My guess is that it's going to be crazy, but who knows? Maybe she'll surprise me and be a big help, loading the dishwasher, doing her own laundry, ha ha ha boo hoo that will never happen.

Big Girl

2011-07-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

She's really turning into a ... I don't know what to call her. A child? She's not grownup, of course, but she does so many grownup things. She answered the phone for me the other day and said hi to Laura, and then delivered the phone to me. Laura said, how is that possible? She's just a person who can answer the phone, say hi, and give the phone to you? I know. I KNOW. It's such a weird way to be, to have a six year old and a three year old and still be so shocked and amazed at the three year old because the six year old still wouldn't do some of this stuff. No wonder I am crazy.

Too Bad

2011-06-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Too bad she's so sad and miserable, right? This is how she is 95% of the time, I swear it. But LORD GOD, the other five percent is insane. Last night she got mad at Anthony in the tub and she was crying. Mike told her she was going to have to come out of the tub if she kept it up and she did and he took her out and I went to get her and she was, like, FURIOUS. Like stiff as a board, so mad, she just - she didn't know what to do with herself. It freaks me out when she gets like that, because it's so the opposite of how she normally is, plus I am tense about tantrums because of Anthony. She calmed down after a minute or two and wanted to go say she was sorry to Mike, and she did. It's very upsetting when she gets mad like that but I can't let her KNOW it's upsetting to me because I have the feeling it would happen a LOT more if she knew what it did to me. So I'm not teaching her to read yet and no one tell her, okay? :)

Friday

2011-06-24T11:26:00.000-07:00

Have I said she calls the driveway the drive-through? She says "can we play in the drive through?" almost every day when we get home. She loves it and I hate it, because it's hard to watch all three of them.
She is getting very entertaining in general. She tells the story of the three little pigs, and she pretends to be the wolf, and she makes a scary voice, it's adorable. She sings Broadway Baby, and she calls Times Square Times Squares. She just adds in consonants where she feels they will give the song something extra. Like she sings the end and she says "In a great! Bit! Broadwait! Shooooooooowt!" because she likes the way the T sounds at the end.
I screwed up and stupid ballet started TODAY and not next week, PLUS the class is full, so we have to do Wednesdays at 12. This will screw with the nap schedule pretty good but it's only seven weeks and also, she is probably outgrowing her nap enough that one or two days won't kill her.
In a few weeks, she'll be three and a half. Crazy. I hope that in the second half of her third year, she'll start to not wear a diaper at night, but I am not too pushed about it.
She is the most loving sister ever. Sure, she can be a complete rat to Veronica if she wants something. She and Veronica had a fight at Trader Joe's yesterday that I can only describe as operatic. Seriously, it was insane. Tears! Yelling! Screaming! Wrestling! More tears! I've never seen anything like it. But mostly she is lovely to her and she is always, by some miracle, so sweet and kind with Anthony. She loves him so much. I think this is because girls always like boys that don't like them, ha! But she is a sweet thing, I have to admit it.
Her friend Emma has been away and we saw her today and she was so, so happy. It's so hard to explain to someone Maria's age that her friends are out of town, or at their grandmother's house in NJ, or God forbid Italy. Maria has no reference for it and she just gets mad.
Speaking of mad, she has gotten, like, ridiculously angry this week, at least once a day and sometimes more. I guess the cold hard truth that you can't always get what you want is finally hitting home for her and - well, let's just say she's displeased.

Pretty Baby

2011-06-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

Maria is having fun at her camp, and I like it too! She's pretty quiet about what they do, but she always shows me her little projects and seems to be having fun when I go and get her. I think she'll be glad to be back into two days a week this fall. Today when I picked her up, we were pulling out of the lot and she said "I sure would like to go to the Children's Museum!". I said, well today we went to camp, that was our activity today and she said "hows about Thursday?". Ha!

Overserved

2011-06-18T10:16:00.000-07:00

She is crazy. She's also sick, today, which stinks. I had no suspicion when she wanted to take a nap at 9:30. I was up early and I heard her yell at 5:30 but didn't go get her until 6:30, which is still pretty early for her, here lately.

So she napped for an hour at 9:30 and woke up hot and crabby and headachy. Now she's napped again and is doing a little better, I guess. She got her haircut yesterday and was the best haircut-tee ever. Sheesh - when she wants to do something and is happy about it, no one is happier! She was charming and sweet at the hair place.

But I'll tell you how she is. This morning at 6:30, I brought her in to Mike, who was still sleeping, and we all lay down for a while. I put her on the pillow and pulled up the blanket and put my arm around her and snuggled in and she said "Mommy?". I said, yes?, thinking she'd say something about how nice this was or something. Instead she said, "what Maria doing today?". Sigh. Even sick, she wants to go go go.

Pretty Profile

2011-06-10T05:40:00.001-07:00

Reading

2011-06-03T15:00:00.000-07:00

She's such a weirdo - she never, ever relaxes for more than two minutes. Then I find her in this baby swing, making up the words to this book. She's funny but crazy. Maybe she was hot? She's sitting right by the AC vent.

She had ballet today and it ends next week. Next week is a big one - she is starting swimming lessons at the Y, she'll go Monday and Wednesday. Tuesday, she and Veronica start at their summer camp. She is happier when she's kept busy, and that makes all of us happier, too.

Jungle Cat

2011-05-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

Ha, she looks like a crazed lunatic here, right? She loves that driveway and she is a heck of a runner. What she lacks in ability, she makes up for with sheer ferociousness! Lord, no one has ever driven me so crazy and made me so happy. She didn't take a nap yesterday, we were busy all day and she just never got time, so it was a long day, but she was pretty good about it. Yesterday she slept until like 7:45, which is unheard of, but today (Saturday), she of course was up before 6:30. Soon I am going to get her a clock that shows what time she can get up, and I hope she'll just bum around in her room until maybe 7:00.

She'll start her summer camp a week from Tuesday and I am going to start her in swim lessons next week, too, I hope. Then later in the summer, I am hoping she can take some swim lessons with some friends. I want to talk about what our goals are for this summer for Maria, but I feel like she has had so many goals met here recently, I hate to push it. I guess I'd like to her mind me more. I'd like her to learn to control the volume of her voice, because sometimes I think she is seriously going to shatter my eardrums. She is LOUD. She is screaming her head off right now, out in the driveway and I am in the front of the house and I feel like she is sitting next to me. Mike will get up with her in the morning and take her downstairs and try and keep her quiet and I still feel like she is there on the pillow. I hope she has fun at her camp and I hope she makes some friends, I hope she keeps up with ballet and I hope she learns some swimming. That should be okay, right? But mostly I hope she can do the volume control thing.

Old One Eye

2011-05-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

This is a dirty look, with just one eye, can you tell? She was mad today because we couldn't go outside on the deck and go swimming, because there was a tornado watch. I let her go out later, when it was better. She's not really a weather girl, ha. Today she was watching Dora and they interrupted to say the National Weather Service has issued a blah blah blah you know and she kept saying "okay, weather! Thanks, weather! BYE, WEATHER!". Ha!

She just went to bed, which is always my favorite time of day. She is so much of a person. She is like hanging around with Liza Minelli or something. We went to a playgroup today and before we left we had a conversation that went like this:

M: Can we go now?
J: Not yet.
M: Now?
J: Not yet.
M: Now?
J: Not yet.
M: Now?
J: Not yet.
M: Apple juice?

Then we went to the playgroup and she kept coming upstairs and asking "do you want to come play?". I told her no many times but she kept checking, maybe so as not to hurt my feelings? Ha, so considerate! We start at the camp a week from Tuesday. I'm really looking forward to it, I know she'll do great. Two of her good friends from ballet are going away for a while and she'll miss them, I'm glad she's going to be busy with something. She's so gorgeous though, right? My sister Laura pointed out how good her hair looks in this picture. It's the little things, sometimes.

Wednesday

2011-05-18T14:33:00.000-07:00

We are almost halfway through Maria's first week with no preschool. We have kept pretty busy, Monday we went to my mom and dad's, Tuesday we went to the museum and today we went to a playgroup. I was telling my sister today, I have to find a way to ... to receive Maria better. I was almost crying to Mike today on the phone, I can't take it, I told him, if she is going to DEMAND to know what we are doing from the time she wakes up until we do the thing. Then we get in the car, I told him, to go to the playgroup, and she demands to know if we are there yet, again every five seconds. It's insane! She is the most relentless person I've ever met, with the best memory of anyone I know. But I can't get mad at her because she's smart! I am happy that she's smart, I'm HAPPY that she talks to me, and I guess I shouldn't be too choosy about how often she says things.

I took this picture Monday, she was THRILLED that she still needed to wear a jacket. She loves to wear jackets, because she doesn't really associate it with the fact that it's still FREEZING in May. She wears those headbands of mine like that, it's very Olivia Newton John/Let's Get Physical, right?

Tomorrow we are going to the Y, after Veronica's speech therapy. I always pray and pray on Wednesday nights that speech therapy goes well, that I'm not too crazed by the end. Then I always march into that Y, ready to explode because it went so badly. But maybe it will go better tomorrow. Some day it's going to go better. Some day. I hope it's before October, because then I really will go nuts.

Happy

2011-05-13T14:31:00.000-07:00

She's a happy person, mostly. Of course, I'd be happy to, if I just screamed orders at people all day and they did whatever I said. Not really. I was just telling my Dad, in the last five months, Maria moved houses, moved out of her crib, got toilet trained, and got rid of her pacifier during the day. She does all this with her brother spending a large part of his time at home screaming and yelling and flopping on the floor. Maybe not a LARGE part but a significant part, I should say. She is also, for the most part, incredibly nice and kind to Veoronica. She is super smart and precocious, I think.

She goes to ballet with her two friends Carlotta (Charlie) and Emma. They love each other and get very excited to see one another. Apparently, they are WILD in class, their teacher told me today. I think she likes them though, and I can see why, they are sweet. Even when she is driving me crazy, I can still see it.

This week we opened the pool, which is just a big tin bucket that I fill with water. I have a pool for them but I forget where it is - probably in storage, so this bucket seems to be working for now.

Maria has slept until 7:00 the last three days, which is like a miracle - it's like noon for her, practically. She has also been napping not at all or for a shorter time, so I guess maybe her nap is on it's way out.

I'll miss it, but mostly because I like to have a break sometimes from her talking at me. So maybe I'll get some noise canceling headphones, ha!

Me and Maria

2011-05-04T10:05:00.000-07:00

Ugh, pictures. The worst. But I have to have pictures of us, so I am not caring if I have two pens in my hair or I am all pregnant and horrible looking. She is ... it's so weird, she is always with me, ALWAYS. Even when she goes to bed, she shouts out every 15 minutes or so until she goes to sleep. She wakes up in the night and Mike goes into her, and she wants to know if it's time to get up yet. We have those long drives to school, she goes with me to get Anthony, she is part of Veronica's therapy, she is just - she is the most present person ever. I'm lucky that she is so smart and charming and funny, I suppose. Still, on days like today, when she won't take a nap because she fell asleep on the way home from school, I am still sick of her. Ha!

She is wearing her Dora shirt in this picture, she loves it and is obsessed with it. If she could wear that shirt or her Kai Lan shirt every day, she would. I do laundry every day and it's still not enough to keep up with her demands for these two shirts, it's crazy. And it's getting small! She seems to have shot up here lately, she is tall and getting a little leaner.

Today at school she was sent home with a little plant for me for mother's day, but I had to get her teacher to REMIND her that it was for me and not her. She is not really down with the concept yet, ha!

Shasay, Shante

2011-04-26T11:57:00.000-07:00

Maria, at the Barbie runway at the Children's Museum. She had a great time there today but I am worried that all she'll remember is the way she screamed bloody murder for 30 minutes - all the way walking out (which takes forever), all the way home in the car, until she cried and coughed herself to sleep. Mike was with me today, but I told him, just picture her leaving that way, with only sweaty old me carrying her and pushing the stroller, and that's every other time we go. She is ... difficult.

Friday

2011-04-22T18:35:00.000-07:00

Oh this child. She has had such a big week! We moved her into her toddler bed on Sunday night, she asked to sleep in it and she just - did - and it's been great. Her crib is still in there, I guess our plan is to move Veronica in it but maybe we will wait a little while, until Maria gets used to being in her bed. She has been terrific about it, about 90 percent of the time, which I think is really good.

She also has her nuk only when she is up in her bed, which has also been going incredibly well. She gets up and puts that nuk in the basket and boom! that's it. Except when it's NOT okay and she wants to have it just because she feels like it. Last Saturday she wanted her nuk and we told her not until naptime and she told us she wanted to TAKE A NAP and we sent her up, at 10:00, ha!

The toilet training is going very well, she is getting a little lazy about it, kind of pushing her luck. She wants to know if she poops a "little bit" is that okay? Um, no! But I can't complain, she is really doing well and she has no example of what to do, we are both kind of doing it for the first time, so I am proud of us.

She can be super bad. SUPER. BAD. She is the most impatient person I have ever met, and I know me, even! But someone just told me, I think my friend Emily, the difference between three and four when it comes to instant gratification is very big. So I am hopeful. I am hopeful that she will continue to grow and thrive and be super cute and kind and love ballet and swinging and all sorts of stuff and she will start to dislike being a horrible shrew.

My parents came home this week and everyone is happy to see them, but especially Maria. She really actively missed them, I think and it's nice to see her with them. It would be even nicer to see her LIVING with them for the next two months. Ha! Kidding!

Toddler Bed/Pacifier

2011-04-13T11:12:00.000-07:00

Maria went to the dentist yesterday and although she had no cavities, she only got a B for teeth brushing and the dentist said she could tell Maria used a pacifier, although she didn't tell Maria to never use it again, which I would have appreciated. Maria did VERY well at the dentist, according to Mike, and I'm glad he got to take her. It's nice to have some experiences with Anthony and then right after with Maria, because Anthony of course hates the dentist and is now getting really smart about even being there and being difficult about going back to the room, while Maria, I guess, opened her mouth WIDE and was very cooperative and good. So. That's nice.

I have to get rid of this nuk. Anthony chewed his to bits and then stopped using them but Maria isn't too rough on hers. Today I told her that she was going to only have it in her room and she's been pretty good about it. Well, in fairness, she was good for the morning and then sort of forgot. I am going to leave it room-only for a few weeks and by the end of April take it away completely. It's ridiculous, it's not medicine, she doesn't need it, she can live without it, so we are getting rid of it.

I would like to move her to a toddler bed too, by the end of the month. Anthony broke his, which I have had for a LONG TIME waiting for Maria, so that's a bummer. I was trying to find a used one but couldn't, so I bought one at Target for $80. Then this woman came up to me last Friday at ballet and she said she heard me yakking (my words, ha, not hers) about wanting one the week before and she didn't mean to eavesdrop but she had one, and did I want to see it? She wanted $35 for it, and I said great. I gave her my email address and then I had to run because OF COURSE Veronica was running out the door. So I haven't heard from her, which is a GIANT pain in the ass because I want to get going on it but I don't want to open the one from Target if I am going to return it. So now I have to wait until Friday and hope I see her again and she just had my address wrong or something. So. Pain. As usj.

We only have a few more weeks of taking Maria to the other side of town for preschool and although I am not excited at the prospect of nothing to do all damned summer, I can't wait to be done with this stupid drive. There has been construction going on on the way down there since Anthony was in therapy down there, YEARS and YEARS ago and I hate driving in it. I hate that Veronica and I have to hang out down there for more than two hours. Veronica is starting to hate it too and she was super bad today. I went to Kohl's and I had to go to the bathroom while we were there, which Veronica HATES - she literally screams and cries the whole time I am in there, which is a total pain, plus there were like FIFTY people outside the bathroom there today (does anyone have a job? What the hell is everyone doing at the Kohl's at 9:30 on a Wednesday morning?) and I am afraid they think I am beating her or something. We are coming out of the *bathroom* and she is wiping tears and - oh, it's just weird. I feel like I have no home or something.

I don't know about this summer. There is a playgroup in my 'hood that we can go to, I can continue to go to my old playgroup from before Maria had preschool, so there will be stuff to do and not as far away. So it will be a nice summer, once it starts.

Happy

2011-04-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

She was happy because she stole the dress off of her sister. We have had a long week. I shouldn't post on Friday but it's the first time, it feels like, that I've sat down all week. Maria is fine, she is sleeping fine, she is toilet trained, except for a very rare occasion. She is enjoying ballet and we are signing up for another session as soon as this one is over. Now that I have my Flip, hopefully I'll be able to take some video of her 'recital' this coming week. Hopefully Mike will still be home because of the Government shutdown (of which I am fully in favor, and I don't care about anything like money so I can't be reasonable about it) and he can watch Veronica so I have a chance to actually watch Maria this time. She has two little friends in ballet, Charlie and Emma, and she loves them both. They are very cute, holding hands and being friends. Anthony is yanking on my hands so that's it!

Sticker

2011-03-27T15:40:00.000-07:00

I have been buying stuff for their Easter basket and today somehow they got in the drawer where I had everything hidden and got out these stickers. Maria has stuck them all over her face and hands and as you can see, she is unwilling to share them with Veronica. We have not had a great weekend and Maria is on spring break from preschool this week, which I think is NONSENSE. Spring break? From Preschool? To escape all the ... pressure? Ugh. It's such crap, but off we'll be and it will be trying, I'm sure. Some days my only hope is that they don't remember these early years.

Video - Forget You

2011-03-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

Glasses!

2011-03-17T05:03:00.000-07:00

They love to mess around with glasses, especially Mike's. Sometimes Maria will give me the Mr. Potato Head glasses (seen here) and say "be Daddy!". So I always put them on and say "I'm Daddy, I have to go to work, good bye!" but that's just for his benefit. Maria is especially adorable and infuriating lately.

Peek a Boo

2011-03-09T09:43:00.000-08:00

She was playing while I was taking pictures, she is a funny girl. Today she had a pajama party at school and brought in her 'teddy bear' which to her means her Monkey George (Curious George) doll and her pink bear. She had a good time at school, she always does. It's really the only thing with Maria that I can count on, it's nice. It will be so much nicer next year when she likes school AND it's not 30 minutes away. We are getting our fence installed tomorrow and I will be glad because yesterday I tried to go outside with all three of them and they seriously all three go in three different directions and it's terrifying. I can't wait to cage them in, ha!

Carousel

2011-02-28T15:41:00.000-08:00

At the Museum, last week. Its' the first time we've gone since she turned three, so she could go on a horse that went up and down. I was afraid she'd be scared, but of course she was fine. She is a tough girl. We had a hell of a crazy time at the museum. It was crazy crowded, I didn't have my stroller, and the girls have reached an age where neither of them want to do the same thing AND they are both able to get away from me. I lost Maria once - thank God my friend Nami was there because she went to the one exhibit to look for her while I looked where we WERE. I won't go there again with the two of them unless I have the stroller, because at least then I can strap V in while I chase Maria. She went to school today and she did great with the potty thing ALL day. She always does well there, potty-wise. She's only had one accident in months. We are working on it at home more, both of us, and it's going well. She is doing fine, although I wish she ate better. I wish she liked juice less and wasn't so obsessive about having her own way. I feel like all I say, all day, is NO! Lucky for me, she can be super hateful, so I don't feel as bad as I would if she were nice about it.

Reading to Veronica

2011-02-22T14:41:00.000-08:00

I've been using this new editing tool that's part of Picasa, which is free from Google. I really like it, I never have time to do anything serious, so I like to just try something and save it. Someday, what would I do, if I had time? If I could just sit and my desk and work on pictures? It feels like a dream.

What I would like for my birthday, not that this blog is about me, is a Flip Video Camera. I had one, I think I got it for Christmas the year before Maria was two but she broke that damned thing. THEN when we got our house broken into, the stupid thieves didn't steal it so I couldn't claim it on the insurance. Anyways, I never take video anymore and they are all doing such cute things, Maria especially, with the singing, I'd love to get some of it. So. In case anyone who reads this also is in the habit of getting me a birthday present, I would like a Flip. :)

Maria had a pretty good day today. We had to stay close to home because I had a fence guy coming over mid-morning. But we went to the store and the two girls drove in one of those car carts. Those are a pain and I hate them BUT it was super not-crowded at the store so I figured it would be okay and it was.

Lately, Maria's been using toothpicks for her food, and I totally approve. It makes it a lot easier for her to eat, she can't work a fork wonderfully yet, the toothpick is a great transitional tool, I figure, and it's fun. Today she ate a whole hot dog before we went to the store, even! She spears the pieces and then dips it in ketchup, she's a crackup. She really doesn't like a lot of food. I am trying to have her snack less so that she is actually hungry and will try stuff but she can be a LARGE pain about a snack when she wants one. We're trying to have more fruit but she never likes a veg.

I hate to end this so abruptly but everyone is FREAKING out because I am sitting down. The nerve.

Pretty in Pink

2011-02-19T09:05:00.000-08:00

I know it's cliche but she really is, right? Pretty? In Pink? This sweater was from Christmas, from Mike's mom and we have just gotten her in it. Maria doesn't believe in wearing sweaters over a shirt or something, she thinks they are all JACKETS and yesterday was the first day it was warm enough to have her wear a sweater as a jacket. She loves to go outside, she can put on her own clothes and boots, even though the boots are rarely on the right feet. She doesn't like to do things for very long, so it's nice to have this weather break and not have to put on every piece of clothing in the house before we go out, since we're only going to be out their for two or three minutes. She loves to ring the doorbell at the back door and when I answer it, she says "Helooooo!".

She has been singing a lot, she loves the songs from Beauty and the Beast and she really likes Cee Lo's "Forget You'. She has a sweet voice and is a good singer. She gets that from me and I'm just going to say it because although Mike is a good singer, I'm sick of hearing about how she gets EVERYTHING else from me - the incessant talking, etc., so I'm go ahead and take the singing.

Valentine

2011-02-14T18:04:00.000-08:00

Maria had her Valentine's Day party at school today and I think she had a good time. She said "Ben HIT ME!", right when I got there to pick her up. I said "did you do anything to him? Did you hit him first?" "Yes!", she answered. Sigh. She said he hit her right in the EAR. God only knows what the truth is. She drives me bonky bonks on Monday because she's so tired she falls asleep on the way home from school and then she won't nap so she is UP IN MY FACE all day. She yelled and screamed today after we got Anthony because I woldn't stop for apple juice. Sheesh. She is a wonder - I love her so much and she is so affectionate and great. She is also a genius and she carries a pretty good tune. But sometimes I can't take one more second of her. She is SO loud and SO up in your grill all the time. But super sweet. Look at her. I picked out a red shirt for her today and said "how about this?" and she got that AC DC shirt and said, How about THIS? So that's what she wore. Anyways, first Valentine's Day party, one ear hit, several valentines, one hundred lollipops. I'd say it's a success.

Sick

2011-02-07T15:31:00.000-08:00

Hoo boy. She just has a cold but Lord is she a sicky looking child or what? She just took a short nap today, too, so she's been *charming*.

Cute

2011-02-06T15:37:00.000-08:00

She's so cute, right? She missed school one day last week and ballet last week and she really wants to go back to school tomorrow but she has a pretty bad cold. I just put her to bed and her cheeks are so, so red. Fingers crossed!

Putting her arm around Mike

2011-02-02T11:59:00.000-08:00

Snow Days

2011-02-02T11:56:00.000-08:00

Hoo boy. I hope we can get out tomorrow! Maria loves to go out, anywhere, and she loves to go to school and she can do neither. She woke up from her nap today and said "I want want go shopping!". I feel bad for her but as usual I feel bad for us too.

Mike

2011-01-31T10:31:00.000-08:00

I was looking at Mike's pictures on his phone and found this, isn't it cute? You can tell how much she loves him in this picture. I was reading this thing the other day about how you shouldn't, like, tell your husband what to do with the kids because if you get too harpy they might find themselves separating from the kids, because they can't take the criticism, or something. I have to admit, I kind of though, oh boo hoo, poor babies, they can't take any criticism for when they are doing something WRONG and now you have made them ignore their CHILDREN, is the message, right? But anyway this is all to say that Mike is an excellent father to these three and he has more patience than anyone I know and they all love him so much. Look at the way she is looking at him! It kills me, kind of.

Pretty

2011-01-30T08:32:00.000-08:00

Isn't she pretty? I just noticed V's little hand down there on the left, ha! Poor Maria - I just put her down for a nap, she was up early early again today and then she spends the morning so tired. And so, so bossy. She really doesn't like to see you idle, she's all 'time to lean, time to clean'. We got home at 12:30 last night, which, sure, is late, but it's later still if Veronica is up. I went in and gave her some water and a hug and put her back and she yelled for quite a while. Then Maria was up way before 5:00 and I went in and told HER to go back to bed but when Veronica started howling again at 5:00, I guess it was too much so Mike went and got them both at 6:00. Now they are both napping by 11:30 and they'll be up by 1:30 and then around 4:00 everyone will go insane and all of our heads will pop off. Fun!

Ooh she is an actor!

2011-01-25T11:12:00.001-08:00

Contemplating her Feet

2011-01-25T11:12:00.000-08:00

Stairs

2011-01-25T11:11:00.000-08:00

She wanted to get her picture taken too, once she saw that I was taking Anthony's on the stairs. She is a funny baby, she did very well at this bounce place we went to. She is afraid of nothing, which I'm sure is no surprise.

Sweet

2011-01-23T16:41:00.000-08:00

She is a pain, as ever, but she really is a joy, too. Mike's mom was here today and she said we must have such fun with her and we really do. She is so smart and funny. Lately, she has been doing her 'dancey dance' from Yo Gabba Gabba and it's perfect. I mean, it is line for line memorized and she's so cute and enthusiastic about it.

She used to be so grumpy when she was a baby, remember? And now she is truly the sweetest thing. She's very demanding and she still drives me crazy - she cries, loudly, because she knows it bothers Anthony and that we'll do almost anything to make it stop. But mostly I think that's smart and wiley, as well as annoying. We will all be happier when the weather gets a little bit better, but for now, she's fine. She has school tomorrow and she CAN'T WAIT. SHE LOVES SCHOOOOOL!

Three!

2011-01-13T05:42:00.000-08:00

She's been three for two days now and while I'd like to report that we've had a big turnaround with the potty training, I can't. But she is a fun three year old, I have to say. She is smart and she has a crazy big vocabulary. She has some trouble with saying, like, "she" about Veronica. This morning she kept saying "he has it! he haaaaas it!", and Anthony was lying on his bed, so I was like WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?, but she meant Veronica.

We have finally finished her cupcakes. We made 18 of the damned things and she had them morning noon and night and now, thankfully, they are gone. I used this great cupcake icing, which I totally recommend. It's Betty Crocker or something and it comes with a few different tips but I just used the flower one and it made for really good looking cupcakes. Sadly, I don't think I got a picture, because - well, because I was always icing the damned cupcakes and couldn't get the camera too. It's very hard to do anything around here. I wish I could wear a large apron, like ... oh, I picture a welder or something, like a big leather apron, with hooks and pockets. Then I figure I could put my camera, my phones, the clicker, wipes, tissues, like everything I need in it all day. Because I never have what I need. Veronica has had a runny nose for six months or so and I am always running out of tissues.

We are going to open gym today, my friend Emily's tomorrow, and then it will be the weekend. I still hate the weekends, especially in the winter, but these weeks are such a grind and so hard that I'm always grateful for the possibility of rest, even if it doesn't materialize. Maria starts ballet in two weeks and I'm excited. It's such a good deal, from our parks system. She can really find out if she likes something before we sink a billion dollars into it. I don't know if she'll like ballet, but a lot of my friends' kids have done it and it looks super cute. Plus I like the idea of someone telling her to do something and her doing it. God knows that doesn't happen much around here.

Sweet

2011-01-10T11:48:00.000-08:00

She read that whole book to Veronica. She wasn't great with the words, but her intent was great! She had her birthday party snack time thing at school today and I think she got a kick out of it. She also peed on the floor today, I'm hoping for a 'last hurrah' type thing. What else. She is doing this cute thing, where she puts her hands in the pocket of her coat, while we're outside. She does it as soon as she goes out and as soon as her hands get through the car seat straps. It's super cute. She has been enjoying Cinderella and Peter Pan a lot, lately. She gets up on a chair, takes out whatever DVD is in there, grabs the one she wants and puts it in the player and hits play. I know that this might seem sort of nothing to others, but it's a big deal to me. Every day I feel like I have a new experience with Maria, like I've never been a parent before. It's interesting - it's great and it's also sort of sad, to me. Anyways, she's three tomorrow!

Haircut

2011-01-09T14:28:00.000-08:00

I took the girls to get their hairs cut on Friday. It was snowy, and we usually go to my friend Emily's house on Fridays and Maria was all pushed (as usual) to go somewhere, so off we went. It went really well, especially with Maria. She went first and watched her Dora/Diego video that she had picked out.

I never understand these kid haircut places, though. I suffer through taking them when they are this little but that's it. I think that the hair girls are kind of clueless about children and I'm not asking them to be an expert in child development or anything, but to be disappointed that Maria couldn't "freeze like a statue" or "look down at Dora!" for a long time is kind of stupid, to me. I *understand* that they have to look down in order to cut the back of their hair, but here's an idea - bend at the legs! I sort of stood behind Maria to sort of hold her head and she was fine but I mean really.

Veronica didn't do so great, and it reminded me of how weird expectations are. Veronica used to be so sweet and compliant and Maria has always been, well, Maria, and I couldn't be more wrong about how I thought they'd behave at a place like this. One thing that is always true about Maria, though, is that she NEVER wants to leave anywhere. I do everything, I tell her five minutes, three minutes, etc., before we leave and it never fails. She ALWAYS yells and cries before we go.

She will be three years old on Tuesday. Tomorrow at school, she (we) is bringing the snack and I'm going to send in birthday cupcakes. I'm also thinking of getting her a little birthday crown for school. I really want to have a fun week of birthday-ness, since we're not doing a big party. I can't believe she's three, but what I can't believe MORE is that she is still not going to go to school for two and a half years. That feels so long to me, I think really? Really just a little less time than her whole LIFE up til now is how long we wait before she's in school? Maybe once we start ballet and have a little more going on, it will go faster but for right now? STILL PRETTY SLOW.

The Artist at Work

2011-01-03T14:50:00.000-08:00

She was sick today and couldn't go to preschool, after a two week break! Can you imagine? It was horrible, HORRIBLE, but even she knew she couldn't go this morning when she had thrown up twice before 7:00. She got better all day, then worse, then better, and now I think she really is better. She wanted to paint on the easel, which was a gift from Laura, and she stopped and said "I need my hat! Mommy, you know where my hat is?" So I told her it was in the trunk and she went and got it and went right to work. It was a super funny and cute thing during a long-ass day.

Hat! I need my haaaaat!

2010-12-30T15:47:00.000-08:00

Isn't she so pretty? She had a good time outside, we played basketball and she got to wear her hat (hood) the whole time. HOO BOY, will she be glad to go back to preschool on Monday. She is loving having Mike home but I think she is eager to get back to her schedule. I signed her up for pre-ballet, to start in January! I'm so excited, I think she'll really like it. She's such a go-er, I really admire that about her.

Dress up

2010-12-28T09:08:00.000-08:00

Ohhhh this dress up trunk. Today she watched Snow White while wearing her Snow White dress and I thought her head would explode from the happiness of it all. Mike's mom gave it to her, there are shoes and hats and wands and necklaces and boas and it's just great, she really really loves it.

Wee ha!

2010-12-28T09:05:00.000-08:00

She's riding on Veronica's gift from Mike's mom, it's super cute but she is too big for it! "Weeee haaa!", she always yells. She's hilarious. Thank God, because she is a big pain too, but boy can she be sweet and wonderful. She loves her grandparents and aunts and uncles. My brother John was in town for Christmas and she really loved him. She had a great Christmas.

Ha, look at her face!

2010-12-28T09:00:00.000-08:00

Boxing Day

2010-12-28T08:59:00.000-08:00

Maria, with Mike's mom, on the day after Christmas. Maria was very into Christmas this year. She loves to have people come over and she loves presents, so it's a great time of year for her. She opened a big box from Mike's mom and she said "Ohhhh, thank you! I love it!" and she hadn't even opened the box yet, just taken off the paper, ha!

Pretty

2010-12-22T14:33:00.000-08:00

I think she is such a pretty thing and I think she looks just like me, ha! I don't mind saying that because I don't think it's braggy. If I still looked like I used to look, it might be braggy but at this point what it is is wistful. And sad. :)

Snatching her hand back

2010-12-20T15:50:00.000-08:00

The reindeer sort of moved her head and Maria snatched her hand back so quickly it's almost a blur. She's brave but not stupid, ha!

Reindeer

2010-12-20T15:49:00.000-08:00

Ooh she was so proud of herself, so brave!

Cute!

2010-12-19T08:09:00.000-08:00

Long time readers might recognize that shirt, it's the one I bought at Costco for Anthony and then realized it was a girls' shirt. I've been waiting for YEARS for someone to wear it! She was completely charming and great at Anthony's party. She was the best of the three. They had these two reindeer there and she LOVED them. They were in a little pen with two handlers and you could line up against this rope to look at them, but if you wanted to pet them, you could go under the rope. Maria felt compelled to pet them, so she was the only one under the rope and she kept looking at the reindeer, and then turning to the crowd of people behind her and making pronouncements about them. "Niiiiice!", she'd say and then turn back. "Cuuuuuute!". People were cracking up, she was really adorable. She is a brave girl, too, just sticking her hand right in the pen.

Evil

2010-12-19T08:01:00.001-08:00

That's some look on her face, huh?

Family Portrait

2010-12-19T08:01:00.000-08:00

Ha, this is from last week. Anthony fell asleep on the way home from school and I carried him in and he stayed asleep on that couch, with those girls all up in his grill, for like two hours! Maria is seen here drinking his apple juice while he is none the wiser. Apple juice is like CRACK to her.

2010-12-13T07:58:00.000-08:00

I took this with my phone, it looks really tiny, God knows why. It's hard for me to blog anymore because Veronica is a pain in the ass! I'd love to sugar coat it but that's the truth. All she wants to do is climb up on the computer table and throw all of my papers to the floor. Oh, well, the papers and the phone. And the speakers. And the modem. You get the picture. When we moved here, I wanted to put the computer in my bedroom but it was shut down and so here I am, SMACKING hands away and screaming PLEASE JUST GIVE MOMMY A MINUTE! PLEASE LET MOMMY USE HER HANDS! It's as much fun as it sounds.

Maria. Maria is almost three years old. Mike went to get her last week at preschool and he asked how she was and they went on and on about how good she was and how polite she is and always with the please and the thank you. She does seem to be thriving there.

Her potty training is going very well, if you don't care about where someone poops. If you think it's great to pee in pants but poop in them too, then it is going SWIMMINGLY. Everyone says that at some point she will just GET IT and that's what I am hoping. I am hoping and praying. Because it's disgusting.

She is sleeping very well, she is a CHAMPEEN sleeper. Anthony and Veronica are kind of a mess, in that he stays up late and Veronica wakes in the night like a newborn but Maria has been sleeping great, sleeping in til 7:00, etc. Lately she wants to take a bath earlier and earlier, so we've started to go up like right after dinner and putting them, all three, in the tub, and then getting pajamas on and coming back downstairs. Maria really seems to like to be in her pajamas but not in bed yet.

She loves the new house, she seems the most well-settled of all of us. It's hard to believe that she's going to be three. She is such a lover lately, she is big with the kisses and hugs. "Ohhhh, Mommy!", she'll say, and hug me and pat my back. It's very sweet and so is she. Except when she isn't and then it makes you want to run away and join the circus.

Cheese!

2010-12-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

She is eating Cheetos and saying Cheese here. How meta. :) She's also waving, which is why the blur. She is so funny, she kills me. Lately she's been saying "I want" when she means "I don't want". If she wants something, she says "I want want" it. It's incredibly crazy and frustrating to figure out what in the hell she's talking about. As soon as you leave a place, she starts YELLING from her seat, "I want to go hooooome!" So I say, "we ARE going home and she says "I want to gooooo hooooome!", crying and crying and I'm all, what the hell? We're going home! But then I remember that want doesn't mean want. It means don't want. Oy.

Maria loves the new house. We moved on Tuesday and on Wednesday, she said to me and Mike, "we did it! We are here at the new house!". Ha. She and Veronica are still in together and they are doing about the same as they were before. She loves the new bathroom, the tub is super nice and there is a glass door that she can play with. We are not quite settled in, really, but Maria is. She's loved having MIke home this week and has really been fun this week, outside of that want/don't want thing.

Sorry

2010-11-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

Sorry I had to cut off her arm here, but she's naked. Potty training isn't going well. I am tempted to just put her back in diapers and start again in January when she's three, but I hate to admit to failure at her preschool.

No Pictures!

2010-11-12T14:43:00.000-08:00

That's what she yelled at me when I was taking this. We had a busy day today, we went to a friend's house this morning, then to the museum, then home for a nap and then Amy came over. Still, she is unfulfilled. What can you do?

Ass

2010-11-10T16:11:00.000-08:00

Ha ha, that shirt totally says "ASS" right there! Not really, really it says SASSY but come on! That's funny! Maria had a good day today, it's always a good day when she goes to see the teacher. Even though she did poop on the floor, here at home. Win some, lose some!

Pretty Baby

2010-11-08T14:21:00.001-08:00

Say Hellooooo!

2010-11-08T14:21:00.000-08:00

She loves to 'say hello!'. She and Mike play a game where she peeks out from the holes in the swingset and says, you guessed it, HELLO! She was sick today, she threw up SIX times at school. Her teacher seemed traumatized but she seemed unfazed. She told me she wanted chicken and fries (with ketchup) and juice for lunch and that's what she had, along with some birthday cake (it's Mike's birthday). Then she finally took some Tylenol and took a nap and the first thing she said to me when I went to get her from her nap was "my belly feels fine, Mommy". So. I guess she's okay. She's so determined, I told Mike, that even if she was sick, if she thought we were going to keep her home from school, she'd go holding her head in her hand.

Jungle Cat

2010-11-07T04:33:00.000-08:00

Waiting to make her next move. Doesn't her haircut look nice? This picture represents a lot of Maria's favorite things. Her Kai Lan shirt, climing on stuff, and not wearing pants.

Halloween

2010-11-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

Oh, she was the cutest little trick or treater. It was just the two of us, as Veevsy wasn't feeling well and had been up all (damned) night. But she said hi and trick or treat and thank you! and bzzzzzz when I asked her what a bee sounded like. She charmed the pants off of our neighbors, and me too. :)

Haircut

2010-10-31T08:46:00.000-07:00

Maria had her first official haircut on Friday. We are always looking for somewhere to go so that we can go out in the caaaaaar, and she needed it cut, so off we went. She did very, very, extreeeemely well. I was shocked at how good she is, although I suppose it is just more proof that she is a Street Angel. It was a different experience for me, because the last time I went to one of those places, I was super pregnant with Maria and I had to HOLD Anthony the whole time he got his hair cut. But Maria watched a Diego and Dora DVD, sat in the car, and had a high old time. She even followed directions well, the woman told her to look down and she did, she kept the clips in her hair, etc. Then we got balloons and home we went. It looks adorable, not too much shorter, just nice and neat.

She had a good week, I guess. Her preschool teacher sent home a sheet that said Maria knows all these colors! and it was a lot of them. She also counted 10 pieces of candy. She is a smart cookie. Not to say too much, but she is doing better with the toilet training. It's not great but we are getting there.

Hi!

2010-10-24T09:54:00.000-07:00

Hi! I have no intention of ever pooping in this thing, ever! NEVER! NEEEEEVVVVVEEEER!

Same Dress...

2010-10-17T18:03:00.000-07:00

...different day.

So. Maria saw Yo Gabba Gabba this week and then this weekend we started potty training. Big week! All week I've been telling her that we were going to start wearing just underwear, no diapers, starting Saturday. Friday night Veronica woke up - well, like 2:30 Saturday morning and she was up until FIVE, so I slept in Saturday morning but Mike started the training. It's been difficult, she has only had about half success, I'd say. But once we started, there was no going back. So she is going to go to preschool tomorrow in pants and we are going to send two extra outfits, just in case. We went to the park today and she peed through TWO outfits and we had to go home, so clearly we are not great at the going-out-in-the-world part of training. But I have faith in her, she is getting the hang of it. I hope!

Yo Gabba Gabba

2010-10-13T18:54:00.000-07:00

On her way to go see her first concert, ever. Mike took her to see Yo Gabba Gabba and she had a really good time. I'm so happy he thought of it and I'm happy he went and not me, ha!

Dip!

2010-10-10T08:44:00.000-07:00

Dance?

2010-10-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

She loves to make Mike and me dance, and yesterday, she asked me to dance, so I did. Sometimes I think I should practice saying NO to her more often, so that she's used to it for the real things, but I can't see denying her something like a dance, right? It's hard to say. The minute you let her do ONE thing, you have to do it forever.

Pretty Baby

2010-10-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

She really is pretty, right? I love this picture of her, I think her hair looks nice and it was a nice time of day for sun and shadows and I love that big face on her shirt to contrast her sweet little visage. Brag much, Joanne? Ha! It's rare that I take a good picture, Mike has a much better eye for photography than I do.

Tomorrow is a fun day, indeed. Mike is home from work and Maria has preschool and Anthony has school. So don't tell Maria, but Mike and I are going to go out to breakfast with just Veronica. Mike probably dreads holidays but I love them, because he's home.

Maria has had a pretty good weekend, but my LORD she never stops with the bossing.

Go car! Go play! Donut! Cookie! Milk! Grilled cheese! Go car! Go play! Go play now! It's exhausting. I told my sister, she drives me crazy with the talking and then she'll say "Mommy? How's your eye?" out of nowhere, and it's super cute and all is forgiven.

Say Cheese, Pooh!

2010-10-08T05:36:00.000-07:00

She is a funny thing. We had a showing yesterday and I was cleaning the house and put this little Pooh and another one in a bag and of course, they are into the bag today, playing with their long lost toys that they never played with before. Anyway, I had the camera out and Maria said "Come on, Pooh! You have to say cheeeeese". She is a real model lately, right? She had a good week, loved school, the usj. She has been sleeping just okay. What usually happens at bedtime is that we give them all baths and then say our prayers while we are getting Maria ready. So sometimes our prayers are punctuated with "stop that, Maria!", or "wait a MINUTE, Maria!", but we get them said. We have done this spiritual adoption of priests, so we always pray for our priests with Maria. Anyways, then we look at a book for a minute and then Mike puts Maria down and I put Veronica down. Veronica has been a little cry-y lately, right before sleep, but the minute she makes the TINIEST peep, Maria starts screaming like her hair is on fire. I used to stay in there and try and make V be quiet, but now I just put her down, tell them both good luck, and take off. She is sometimes still up once in the night, one of us (usually Mike, I have to admit) goes in and tells her to lie down and she goes right back. I think she is just checking that we are still there. We are, Maria. Because that is the law. :)

New Dress

2010-10-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

I bought her this while she was at school today, isn't it cute?
She had a good day at school, she likes it a lot, still. They are working on an All About Me thing this month, so today they measured her (37") and weighed her (35 lbs.). She is big and tall but not as big and tall as Anthony was at this age.
"Cheeeeese!"

Pretty Baby

2010-09-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Sisterly Love

2010-09-30T11:14:00.000-07:00

She was pushing Veronica in that thing and I'm SURE it was a MISTAKE that Veronica ended up in the grass. Those overalls that she's wearing are cute, right? They are a handmedown and from the Gap, they are so cute. But Maria hates overalls, she can't stand the bibs. She only wears them for five minutes before she is bugging me to take them off. So they'll go back in the bin for Veronica.

Yapping Away

2010-09-30T11:12:00.000-07:00

... as usual. BOY can this girl talk! It's like God himself gave me Maria so she could talk for two or something. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if what she said wasn't mostly orders.

Aunt Lori

2010-09-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

Maria with her Aunt Lori. LOOK at how beat up her legs are. The other night, she fell out in the hallway while coming in for the bath. She fell ON a cup that she was holding, broke the cup, and it cut the heck out of her legs right behind her knee. "Hurt the leg! Hurt the kneeee! HURT THE KNEEEE!". She falls 100 times a day, and more times than not, she chirps, "I'm okay!". She is back in school this week, she love love loves it. I was thinking she'll probably be able to have cupcakes or something for her birthday in January and she'll probably lose her mind from happiness. She loves birthday parties, whenever there is a balloon anywhere, she thinks it is for someone's birthday.

Awwww

2010-09-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

So sweet! Peeeeeepa!

Grandpa

2010-09-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

I am terrible about taking pictures of these kids with their grandparents, but I am going to get better at it, I swear! Here's Maria with my Dad, they were looking at a book together. Not to brag, but she really is a genius. She knows all the colors, how to count to twenty, how to bless herself. how to say a word over and over until you think you'll lose your mind, all kinds of things! She is real gifted and talented. :)

Sisters

2010-09-19T08:35:00.000-07:00

I just found this. I have to print a bunch of pictures today - for Anthony's speech therapist at school, for his ABA therapists, for the SECOND Maria doll that I am making for her preschool homework, etc. Anyway, I came upon this and thought it was so cute. Maria looks like a dream, right?

I'm sure she is just a normal 2.5 year old, but MAN does she get off on taking things away from Veronica. Veronica is the most PATHETIC victim you have ever seen, too. "Waaaaaah! Maaaaaaa Maaaaaaa!", she cries, accusingly, at ME. I didn't take it!, I tell her! Talk to Maria!

Have a Sleep!

2010-09-15T09:38:00.000-07:00

"Have a sleep!" is what she says when she puts her babies to sleep. We got chicken and fries and juice after school today, and Hansel came with her meal. After lunch, she put the doll on the floor and made a big to-do of covering him with the napkin. Super cute.

Poor Maria

2010-09-05T07:23:00.000-07:00

This is before she got as sick as I've ever seen her. By the time we were leaving the 100 Acres park, she was tired and didn't want to walk herself, but she seemed fine otherwise. We went to lunch and she didn't eat one thing, she was saying her belly hurt. I, of course, figured she was full of it, so we pressed on. We were blocks from home when she started to cry, really cry, and say her BELLY HURT! Then she threw up everything she's ever eaten or drank (or maybe it just seemed like that) all over herself, her car seat, the seat in front of her - ugh. I felt so, so bad for her. She didn't seem to have any idea that she'd thrown up, even. We took her clothes off in the car and Mike put her right in the bath and then she took a two hour nap and has seemed a little bit better ever since. I'd say today she's back to normal completely. In other words, she is driving us crazy! Ha!

One Year Ago Today

2010-09-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

This is the post from one year ago today. She seems so little, right? Now she is a big school going girl. The second day went very well, I think she's going to like it. It is a very strange experience for us, for me, to just go in and pick a two year old up from school and have it all have gone well. Anthony has been saying more words here lately and one of his therapists mentioned it's probably because Maria is talking so much (one of the things he says a lot is NO!, ha!). I try and remember that when it's hard when all three of them are together, that it won't be hard forever, that she really is adding to Anthony's life and he to hers.

Backpack

2010-08-31T05:01:00.000-07:00

She loves that Kai Lan backpack. She was so excited and cute leaving yesterday. Unfortunately, there is a playground right outside the building where she goes to school. She had a major fit yesterday because she couldn't go play there right after school (it's locked). That's going to be fun for the next ten months. :)

Gorgeous

2010-08-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

Preschool

2010-08-31T04:59:00.000-07:00

Maria started preschool yesterday, she did very well. She did so well, in fact, that she has been bugging me ever since to go and see "the teacher!". I'm taking her by myself tomorrow (Mike took her yesterday because I was sick) so I'm not sure how she'll do with me leaving her, but so far so good. She's so funny, they get up so early and then she wants to go outside when it's not even light out! She wants to go to the store and she doesn't CARE that they're not open yet. Bossy, bossy, bossy.

Determination

2010-08-25T16:19:00.000-07:00

She really knows where she's going, right?

Playing with Parker

2010-08-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

My nephew Parker came over today and Maria was shy with him at first but then she warmed up. He and she kicked and threw the ball around, so of course she loved that. I said, when she was being shy, "it's Parker! From our prayers? Remember?" and she said, really quietly, "Parker!".

We went to a playroup today, and she went and sat in the STROLLER to 'take a rest'. She wakes up too early but I think maybe she is getting sick, too. She's been a little warm all day. I'm keeping an eye on her and I am praying whatever it is is gone by Monday when she is supposed to start preschool. Mike went to the parent meeting last night and said they are going to work on colors and shapes this year, which of course Maria already knows so. I hope she's not bored, I have a bad feeling about how she'll be when she's bored. :)

Legs

2010-08-25T16:15:00.000-07:00

She's got some tough legs, right? She is a strong thing. You should see her pull that damned wagon around the yard. She can be so sweet here lately "Nice to meet you, Mommy!", she'll say to me, half way through the day. Or, "Mommy? I'm glad you're here". She's a funny thing.

Reading her palm, maybe

2010-08-25T16:13:00.000-07:00

I hope she sees a successful preschool experience in her future. We shall see, I suppose, next Monday.

Little Help?

2010-08-23T07:07:00.000-07:00

She was yelling HELP! to me. I was finishing my workout and she and Veronica went outside, she got V in the wagon and started running her around the yard, but she got stuck on the sidewalk. I moved it over the sidewalk and tried to finish working out but then I had to go back out because although Veronica could get IN the wagon, she couldn't get out. Please note that Maria was already dressed this morning and had disrobed by 9:30, when this picture was taken. Next Monday and preschool cannot come soon enough!

Workhorse

2010-08-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

She is a determined person. It's been cooler here this week, so we've been able to goooooo ouuuuuuuutsiiiiiiide, which makes Maria happy, as you can imagine.

Donuts, and Bagels ,and Coffees!

2010-08-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

She sings that - "get donuts, and bagels, and coooofffffeeees!" - on Saturday mornings when she wants to go in the car with Mike to get Dunkin Donuts. I don't know how it occurs to her to make up these songs, but I have to say, it is super cute and makes you want to do what she's asking. I love that she calls coffee coffees and tea teas.

Sweet

2010-08-18T10:33:00.000-07:00

They are all really into lollipops here lately. Maria especially likes the red ones. She is starting preschool a week from Monday! I can't believe it. I feel like I know how it's going to go at first, which is to say BADLY. She doesn't love change and she doesn't love people telling her what to do. But I know she's going to really succeed there and it's going to be a great first step. A lot of my friends on Facebook are all "oh, Nooooo, my kid is going to kindergarten and where has the time gone and blah blah blah" and I just do NOT understand that way of thinking. I can't believe Maria won't even start KINDERGARTEN for THREE years! I think this is a natural progression for children: they are little babies, then toddlers, then they do some organized type of preschool, then Kindergarten, then school and then they turn 18 and get the hell out of my house! Ha!