We're having a marathon of "home days," since Christmas break and now snow (ice) days. Farah is actually really missing school. A few days before winter break was even over she asked, "Am I ever going back to school?" I'm so relieved that she likes it so much. Yesterday, during another day of just staying home and playing, Farah and Blake were in one of their favorite spots, the papasan (without the mattress), where they were pretending it was a boat and they were "capsizing" (new word for them that they used over and over and over). Blake told Farah he wanted to use it as a trap, a booby trap, to which Farah replied, "What's that? When Mommy hides and squirts milk in your face!" What in the world! She has the most inappropriate sense of humor...and I have no idea where that came from (wink, wink).
Lenah is walking all around the house now and her vocabulary (at the end of 13 months) includes: cat (her favorite), hot, hat, da-da, Sissy (for Farah), maybe she says Bubba for Blake (I'm pretty sure she does), a one word combination of what'sthat?, and cup. She used to say duck, but I haven't heard that one in awhile. Blake is in a major "why" phase. He's worse than any kid I've ever been around. It's almost getting exhausting just to talk to him. He asked me today at noon why we were awake. A couple of days ago he asked me why Target was a store. And he doesn't take being ignored well. I know it's important for his development and he's exploring, and at first we were amazingly patient, but it's starting to wear on me now. Farah says, "He really asks some hard questions, doesn't he?"
We recently got back from a great post Christmas vacation to Massanutten. The kids loved the waterpark and the condo was great too. Tubing was too much for them though. It may have been because it was our third day there and it was after naps, or maybe it was the cold weather, but whatever the combination, we pretty much wasted our money on that part of the trip. At the top of the hill starting our second run, Blake announced to Heath that he had to pee. There was no lift down and there was a line to tube, so Heath had to walk him all the way down the hill. When they got done, Blake didn't want to put his snow pants back on, and Farah didn't want to even go in the first place, so we just threw our hands up in the air and went home. But that was not the only "oh my gosh, I can't believe you just said that" moment. At the waterpark there was an African American couple that Blake was standing near as he came down from the frog slide. I noticed that he was saying something over and over in their direction. Then he came closer to me and I realized he was basically chanting, "why they black, Mom, why they black?" Instead of launching into an explanation in the middle of the kiddie pool, I just redirected him to the sprinklers and made a mental note of expanding the diversity in his life.
The only photo I took at Massanutten (sometimes it's liberating not chasing the kids around with a camera, hoping to get the perfect picture to post on Facebook).
I guess I should mention Christmas too. It was a lot of fun all around. We went to my mom's, had Christmas morning here, and Heath prepared a feast for our parents on Christmas night. We also saw the lights at Clearbrook park a few days before Christmas on an unseasonably warm night. Of course we were not the only ones with the brilliant idea to see the lights on a warm night. When we got off the exit and saw the line of cars, I thought, "How long is Heath really going to wait in this line?" But he gritted his teeth and did it. Of course, it was 6:15 at that point and he was convinced that we wouldn't get into the park until 8 p.m. As we were leaving, I had to point out that it was just turning 8.
I'd say we did really well with the present selections as well, except for the fact that we went overboard again. Farah got a pet stroller, toy store set, lots of stickers, dress up clothes that were edgier than just princess dresses, she loved the temporary hair dye in her stocking, plus she got a ladybug terrarium, a globe, books, a new Monster High doll (just what we needed, but all she really asked for by name), and a baby that she had picked out weeks earlier and was patiently waiting for. My mom got her a microphone and cool wooden barn with ponies, and Heath's mom got her an easy bake oven (which we already had and got rid of years earlier!). Blake loved his Buzz Lightyear (which we already had one and destroyed, so basically we just are getting the same toys over and over again), he got lots of things with engines and wings, plus tools, and his favorite thing might be the Melissa and Doug magnetic ice cream set. That boy loves anything to do with sweets! Lenah loved the little couch from my mom and the big puppy we got her. Even Lenah got more toys than the average child, but they did have a great time opening and playing with everything, and we're still enjoying the new toys together.
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