Monday, March 30, 2009

Sisterly Love

Today in the car Maddie was being super grouchy (no nap and not enough sleep last night). Anyway, I began teasing her, trying to get her to laugh (note to self: do not tease a 3-year-old when they are in a bad mood). So I started calling her Miss Grouchy-Grumps. I said "Miss Grouchy-Grumps, did you have fun at Julie's today?" etc etc. So she was getting annoyed and sort of whining at me saying "I not Gouchy-gump." All of sudden Emma chimes in and says "mom, stop being mean to Maddie, she my sister!" So cute! I told Maddie I was only teasing her and I said "do you forgive Mummy? Are we friends again?" And she said "no, you not my friend, you my mummy." Indeed!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Baby Bump (no, not mine)

Emma and Maddie were at Val's last week, as Julie's father-in-law passed away and their family went to Florida for the funeral. Val is 6-months pregnant and told me that Emma is fascinated by the baby in her belly and was asking tons of questions and feeling the baby kick etc. When the girls came home I was already there and Emma came running over and she said "mom, we at Val's today." John had been dropping them off and i guess she assumed since I wasn't taking them that I didn't know where they were! lol Anyway, I said "yes, I know you were at Val's." Then she says "Val has a baby in her belly." I respond "I know" to which she says "do you have a baby in yours?" "um, no, but you and Maddie were in my belly together." She pulls my shirt out and puts her head under it and says "like this?" and I laugh and say "kind of." Then I tell her stories about how they were when they were little, and the rest of the night she wanted to be my baby (when she has her own kids she will realize she will always be my baby). It was super cute.

Maddie wasn't interested in babies or the conversation, she is in a phase where all she wants to do is watch Dora on tv. I have to jump through hoops to get her to do other things. Thank goodness the weather is warmer as she will never say no to the park or riding her bike outside. The girls' bikes from last year are in good shape and Emma can ride it no problem, but Maddie is still too short much to her dismay. John will put blocks on the pedals so at least she will be able to ride it. I have registered them for dance class and am still waiting to see if they got in. I hope so, they (esp. Emma) love to dance. I will put music on for them and they will dance away. When I start singing they are quick to cover my mouth and Emma even said to me today "mom, your singing is too loudsy, it hurtin my ear!"

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Mummy, you my best friend!

Maddie said the cutest thing tonight. She was super, super cuddly and of course I loved it! She kept giving me kisses and then she turned to me and said "mummy, you my best friend!" So sweet! Then when I was tucking her in at night I gave her a kiss and said "I love you Maddie" like I say every night and she said "I love you too mummy, forever and ever and ever...!" This is something I have said to the girls before, but she was the first to repeat it. Melted my heart!

This morning was my turn to sleep in. John is really good and he takes the girls out for breakfast, or they make pancakes at home. He always waits for me to wake up (I am a pretty early riser anyway and up by 9-ish even on my sleep-in days) and keeps the girls out of our room. It must have been around 8:00 a.m and I felt something touch my side (I was burried under the covers). I ignored it and felt it again, this time it tickled and I jumped. I heard a giggle. I poked my head out from the covers and Emma was standing there. She looked like Maddie and I said "Maddie, go downstairs, it's mummy's sleep-in day." Her face totally fell and she said "I Emma and I want to say hi to you." So of course I felt badly and pulled her into the bed with me and we cuddled for a bit. John thought she was downstairs (he had taken Maddie to the bathroom). He said he came up to look for Emma, and came into our room but she must have been hidden under the covers at that time. After a few minutes Emma said "ok mama, I go downstairs now and you have your sleep-in!" I went back to sleep and they came in an hour or so later with my morning cup of Timmy's! If I have to be woken up, the best way is with a cuddle and a cup of coffee!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Um, but your heart is up here!

I forgot to write about this funny story. Those of you who have seen The Little Mermaid may remember the part where Scuttle, the seagull, us trying to decipher if Eric is alive or dead. Being the sort of goofy character who gets things wrong, he checks his heartbeat by putting his ear to Eric's foot. So at the doctor yesterday, the doc said to Emma "ok, I am going to listen to your heartbeat now." And what does our Emma do? She sticks her foot out and says "ok!" The doctor looks at me and says to Emma "um, but your heart is up here!" I explained and we had a good laugh.

Happy Birthday to my girls!

The girls celebrated the big 3 last week and it was a great day. They woke up and were a tad cranky and I was worried, but they got more energy as the festivities started. We rented a play gym and then went back to our house for pizza and cake. It was a much smaller affair than the last two years, and I think it was the best birthday yet. They got lot's of amazing stuff and I need to find room for it! I decided that both girls deserved their own Happy Birthday song so we sang twice, once for Emma and once for Maddie. Maddie didn't ask me to stop singing for once! I guess everyone else's voices blocked mine out (she doesn't like it when I sing, but Emma does so it can't be that bad)!

We went to Disney's Stars on Ice last night. I was worried as it started at 7 (their bedtime) but they surprised us and had a 3 hour nap before we went downtown. They were so well-behaved John and I were truly impressed. Emma sat on my lap the entire show (2 hours long) and was completely mesmerized by the skaters (she called them ballet dancers) and the princesses. We danced and sang to all the disney songs. Maddie preferred to sit on her own or with Uncle Daniel, and was a bit ansy after intermission, but overall was fine. Of course Daniel and John bought them Ariel wands that light up and this other princess thing and a hat and a necklace etc etc. Super expensive night but worth every penny. I had as much fun as they did as I knew all the songs and characters and I am so glad we went. They got home and in bed at 10:30 and were up at their regular time to say and they were exhausted. They are napping right now and I bet I will have to wake them to make sure they get to bed on time. They need to get back into their "school" schedule as the break is over.

This March break was so much better than last year. They are easier and it was much more fun. Monday was rough and I was worried. I didn't have anything scheduled as they had their 3-year check-up. The girls fought all morning. Ten minutes before we left Maddie said "there is something in my hair." Yep, her electric train was in her hair and her hair was caught on the wheel! I had to give her an impromptu haircut. They were great at their check-up. Very curious and because I had prepped them before, they knew what to expect. Emma was telling the doctor what to do "check my eyes, now my ears, and my belly." It was really funny. Maddie had to pee in a cup as she has been complaining about pain when she pees. Emma insisted on holding the sample and as we were walking down the hall to give it to the doctor, an elderly gentleman passed us. Emma thrust the pee cup in his face and said "Hi, Maddie peed in the cup and we going to give it to the lady" (the lady being the doctor). The man laughed and said "I recognize that sample, good job to Maddie" and Emma said "good job Mads!" Turns out Maddie has a UTI and they want to do more testing as this is uncommon for toddlers. I am a nervous wreck. A good friend of mine's mother once told her "you will never know such intense joy or such sheer terror as when you have a child of your own." Man is this true. I was up all night reading about UTI's in toddlers and what it can mean. I read everything from it's caused by holding in their pee (which Maddie does) to kidney failure (hence my being sleepless). We will just have to wait and see. They will do blood work and an ultrasound. Not sure how they will draw blood from a 3-year-old, should be interesting!

The other day in the car Emma said "mummy, I need to kiss you." I said "oh Ems, I would love that but I am driving. Why do you need to kiss me now?" and she said "because I love you!" Nothing melts my heart more than when the girls tell me they love me. Today we went to the Bulk Barn and they got to pick out their "Friday Treat" as I like to call it. On the way home in the car Emma said "this is the best candy I ever met!" Ha ha. They say funny things. Maddie has been thanking me every day for the princess dress (really a nightgown) that I got them for their birthday. Every morning she says "thank you for the princess dress." What else do they say that i want to remember? Oh, I can't remember the context, but we were talking about mummy, Maddie, Daddy and Emma and Emma said "we a family because we a team!" Yep, we are a team! The girls wanted me to pick them up and spin them around. They are getting big now (Maddie is 22 pounds, and Emma is 30) and I was explaining that I can't pick them up at the same time anymore. Emma said "just try it mama" so I did and she said "see, you doing great!" I have my own built-in cheering section! What a great team I have!

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Been gone too long!

Ok, so it's been ages since I've posted. Way too long! I've been taking an online course and that takes up much of my computer time. So, I will update as best I can from the last couple of months.

The girlies will be 3 in less than 2 weeks. I can hardly believe it. I vividly remember the day they were born. I have this image in my head of the first time I held them. Emma was all red-faced with this tuff of jet black hair, sound asleep all swaddled in those hospital-issue blankets. Maddie was the teeniest thing I had ever seen and she was wide awake, these dark blue (her eyes were blue at the time, like all babies) staring up at me. I remember wondering what these tiny, beautiful creatures were thinking, observing, feeling etc. Fast forward 3 years and here they are, the same beatiful creatures, who are not so tiny anymore (well, I guess Maddie still qualifies as tiny, more on that later) who can fully express what they are thinking, observing and feeling.

Emma has a wonderful sense of humour and is still very affectionate (yay for me)! She is very intuitive about people and situations and her memory never ceases to amaze me. Maddie is sweet and active and strong-willed (well, they both are, I wonder where they got their stubborn streak, hmmmmmm......) and she also has a cheeky sense of humour. They play really well together and they even act out scenes from various movies (Barbie and The Diamond Castle is their current favourite). There are two best friends in the movie, and Maddie and Emma keep the same roles. I have no idea what they are doing, but they definately both know the script! It includes a dragon named Slider and I often see them running down the hallways screaming "here comes the bad guy run for your lives!"

As much as they will play together they can also fight, as sisters do. Their fights don't get as physical anymore, but sometimes there will be pushing over who gets to go into daycare first, or who gets to go with mummy to the car and who goes with daddy etc. They can really screech at each other but are getting better at saying what they want/need. John and I encourage that when they whine and scream at each other so now we will hear them yelling "Emma leave me alone, don't do that!" or "I don't want to play that, I want dis one, dis mine." You get the idea.

There was an incident yesterday where Emma wasn't cooperating while getting into her jammies. I being the softie was struggling to get her to comply, so John stepped in and used his "daddy voice." She started fake crying, which often turns into real tears. John said "why are you crying" and Emma said "cuz you screaming at me and I don't like that voice!" lol It was really cute.

We moved the girls into big girl beds last week (which are their cribs minus the side rail) and it went really well. It's funny because they never climbed out of their cribs, so they don't know that freedom yet of being out of bed and in their room at night or in the morning. So they don't get out of their big girl beds until John and I go into their rooms! As soon as we walk in they hop out! Not sure how long that will last, but it's really funny!

Two nights ago I was on the computer upstairs and I heard a big crash. I thought it was coming from downstairs, but then I heard John running up to see what it was. I stood outside the girls' room and I heard Maddie whimpering. I went in and she was in her bed but her blankets were on the floor. Emma immediately told me "Maddie fall out of her bed and she sad." I was so proud of our little trooper because she just hopped back into bed. I said "Maddie, good job of getting back in by yourself, are you ok now?" and she nodded and that was that.

After school, Emma likes to come up with me while I change out of my work clothes. We've started a routine where she comes into the closet with me and chooses my clothes for the next day. She loves jewellery and wants to look at mine. The other day she said "mama, I like your pokes." I couldn't for the life of me figure out what she was saying. She was getting increasingly frustrated as I continued to have no clue what she was saying. She finally said "I like your ear pokes." I said "oh, my earrings?" and she nodded and said "yeah, can I wear your pokes?" So cute!

Maddie loves to run to greet John at the door when he comes home from work. She hears the garage door open and screams "I hear Daddy, dad is home!" and she will sit and wait until he comes in the door. Then when he comes in she runs away!

I will try and do better at my blog updates!