An Interview with a Preschooler

Last week, the girls both headed back to school. Actually, I hesitate to say that Lucie started school because she had a brief meet-the-teacher appointment and then an abbreviated "first day." I had to sit through a parent meeting during the entire first day, so part of me feels as if it didn't really count!

To kick off the new schoo year, I did a little interview with Lu just as I did with with Ella last week, Oh, the things we learn about our kids when we ask them questions!

About L at age 4

• Who is your best friend? I have three best friends - Heather, Meli, and Roni.
• What do you like to do at school? Play in the loft.
• What do you like to do with Daddy? Go out and eat ice cream at Sweet Frog.
• What do you like to do with Mom? Bake with Mom.
• What do you want to be when you grow up? A Musketeer.
• What is your favorite thing? My doggie Minnie.
• What is your favorite color? Pink
• What is your favorite movie?  Eloise
• Who is your favorite movie or story character? Buddy (in Elf) is hilarous!
• What is your favorite toy?  Puzzles and Polly Pockets
• What is one thing that you really, really want to do this year?  Camp in the backyard.
• What is your favorite treat? Ice cream.
• What is your favorite food? Pizza.
• What restaurants do you like to go to? Chick-fil-a.

About the First Day of School

• What was the best thing about your first day at school? Sitting in the sunshine.
• What was the best thing about your new class? I like my new teacher.
• Did you make any new friends? No.
• What was the worst thing about your first day? That the castle was broken.

L and E Birthday Cakes 2012

Both of my girlies celebrate their birthdays in January, so we eat a lot of cake at the beginning of the year. Now, I am NOT a professional baker. I usually try to keep things simple but try to add touches that make the cakes special for them. I always use a simple box mix (of the birthday girl's preferred flavor), and we usually try to bake it together if time allows. However, I usually do the decorating on my own. Since I don't like canned frosting, I make this 5-Minute Buttercream Frosting. It takes just a few minutes, and it tastes sooooo good! Then, I make the frosting pretty by adding food coloring. (I prefer to use Wilton Food Coloring.) For decorations, I get sparkly number candles from Target and print out character images from the internet to use as toppers. I just print the images on cardstock, cut out and tape some toothpicks to the back. It's simple but the girls think it is so cool.

They always get to choose a theme, and I do my best to make it happen. In the past I've made cakes to go along with the following themes: Castle, Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire, TinkerBell, and Sleeping Beauty. This year, I'm adding Barbie & The Three Musketeers and Rapunzel to the list.

Lucie requested a Barbie and the Three Musketeers cake for her birthday. I recreated this Barbie Wallpaper image on a simple round layer cake. I printed the image on cardstock and cut out Barbie, the Three Musketeers and the castle separately to make cake toppers. Then, I created a "road" out of graham cracker crumbs for the road.

Ella requested a Rapunzel (aka Tangled) cake for her birthday. Originally, I wanted to make a lantern cake, but then reality set in. I just didn't have time to create something that elaborate. So, I decided to recreate the gondola scene. I used this image of Flynn, Rapunzel and Maximus in the gondola and this image of the kingdom island for the background. However, I'm a bit of a stickler for authenticity. Maximus was not in the gondola, so I cut him out. I made the water out of blue and white frosting and added some graham cracker crumbs around the island in the background.

The cakes were easy enough to make, but I still managed to get one of the best compliments from Ella: "You're the best mom in the world!"

Creative Solution for Lucie and the Lights

We've tried to teach our kids from an early age to turn the lights off when they leave the room. It worked pretty well in our old home in California - even petite little Lucie could do it. However, when we moved here to Virginia, we took a step back in that department. Our rental home here has light switches that are placed rather high on the wall. Even on her tippy-toes, Lucie can't reach the switches to turn off OR turn on the lights. So, she requires our help several times a day to turn the lights on and off. This gets a bit frustrating when I'm in the middle of something, and she needs help to go into a darkened room. It also gets annoying to find lights on after she has left said room.

The other night Brett said in passing that we needed to get Lucie a spatula or something to use to turn off the lights. Well, yesterday I put that idea to the test. I found a little bamboo spatula that is just perfect. She can use the end of it to push the lights on...and the little slot in the middle to pull the lights down. I love it when I can help empower one of my kids to do something on her own.

Happy Halloween!

It has been a busy Halloween! We've enjoyed a Halloween parade, a class party AND now trick-or-treating. Okay, technically I'm not doing the trick-or-treating. I participated in the other activities and am now exhausted. So, I'm on door duty while these little sweeties brave the cold to collect some candy with their daddies. Lucie is Belle, Meli (their cousin) is a beautiful ballerina and Ella is Snow White.

Happy Halloween!

Lucie's First Day of Preschool

How did this day come so fast? Lucie, my baby, had her first day of preschool last week. Since we visited the preschool right after we moved here, Lucie has been asking me over and over, "When do I get to go to my school?" Well, the time has come.

Overall, I'd say that Lucie is prepared for preschool. She spent the last year with my at my job providing childcare at a church in Solvang. However, Lucie was very specific in noting that this school is different from her old school:

"Mommy, this is not a not a baby school. My old school was a baby school because they had babies there. But, this school doesn't have babies. This is a preschool."

I might argue with that...my baby is going there. But while she is my baby, she is no longer a baby. I'm excited for her to explore, learn new things, and make new friends. I feel very confident that she will have a great experience at her school. Twice a week I will have the house to myself which I desperately need in order to do my part-time work. However, I really think part of me is going to miss having my sweet little munchkin around.

The Girls' Visit to Nanna's House

This past week has just been a whirlwind. Brett and I headed off with his brother and sister-in-law to check out our new town in Virginia and find a place to call home. We decided that it would be easier to make this trip without Ella and Lucie in tow, and my mom graciously agreed to watch them. Since my sister Jamie, the family paparazzo, lives near my parents, we got LOTS of photos of what the girls did while we were gone. In fact, Jamie even made a scrapbook for us. By the looks of it, they had a great time!

They went to the pool three times!

They played at the park.

They played with the dogs. We don't have a dog, so the girls love to play with their canine cousins Condie (shown here), Chipper, Dax & Danny. 

They had a slumber party at Jamie's house.

They had a tea party with hot chocolate and marshmallows.

Ella even managed to lose a tooth while we were gone. Apparently, the Tooth Fairy in Nanna's neighborhood leaves twice the cash as the one here at our house.

In all honesty, I don't think that they even had a chance to miss us. Nanna, Auntie Jamie, Uncle Rob, and Uncle JJ did such a great job watching them while we were gone. I am so thankful for my family and for all of their help in watching the girls while we were gone. 

Lucie's 3rd Birthday

Lucie's 3rd birthday was hectic, but it managed to please a sweet three-year old girl. That was really my only goal. Although I was exhausted by the end of the day, it was really a nice day.The morning started off a bit special because our friend Olivia had spent the night. Her expectant mom needed to go to the hospital for observation, so Lucie ended up with 24-hour playdate. What kid doesn't love that?

After we picked up Ella from school, we headed out for a picnic lunch, some frozen yogurt and a trip to our favorite toy store. While the girls were playing with the Thomas the Train playset, I steathfully bought a Sleeping Beauty figure for the birthday cake. Lucie just loves Sleeping Beauty.

Later that evening, we tried to fit in a bit of a celebration before Brett had to go to Mock Trial practice. We invited Uncle Troy, Auntie Aimee and cousins Meli and Jilli to join us for one of Lucie's favorite meals - Honey Chicken with Rice. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to move onto the cake before Brett had to leave, but we videotaped it for him.

As I mentioned yesterday, Lucie had requested a pink cake with pink frosting. So, I did my best to recreate this cake with Sleeping Beauty replacing Rapunzel. Although it wasn't perfect, it managed to please a three-year old, and it tasted pretty darn good too. I couldn't find any chocolate rocks in town, so we substituted some color-coordinating Jelly Bellies instead. Since I couldn't find a pink number candle, we used traditional ones along the top. It took Lu several tries to blow them out, but it was fun to watch.

Of course, no birthday is complete without gifts. Lucie seemed to enjoy them all:

• Favorite Moments Sleeping Beauty Doll
• The Sleeping Beauty by C.S. Evans (Everyman's Library Children's Classics)
• Hand Art
• Princess Sweets and Treats (cookbook with apron)
• Boz DVD "Thank You God for Colors and Shapes

When asked at the end of the day, Lucie told me that she liked the "cooking book" the best. Since she's my little sous-chef, I wasn't too surprised. It was quite the princess birthday for my little princess.

Happy 3rd Birthday Lucie!

Yes, today is the anniversary of the day that I became the mom of Ella and Lucie and that Ella became a big sister. I guess, technically, she wasn't named Lucie on this day three years ago. She was "Baby No Name" as my sister affectionately dubbed her. I didn't mind her no name status while we were in the hospital. It was great fun to let folks chime in via this blog with their suggestions!

Tuesday is a busy day at our home, but we're going to do our best to celebrate Lucie. We're keeping it simple. We'll have a special lunch after school, ballet lessons for Lucie and then a dinner of Lucie's choice at home. Of course, since no birthday is complete without cake, Lucie has requested PINK cake with PINK frosting. So, I'm going to do my best to recreate this cake. Let's hope she doesn't turn pink like Pinkalicious! I'll let you know how it goes.

Happy Birthday Lucie!

Potty Training

After nearly 6 years of changing diapers on a daily basis, it appears as if the end is in sight! Lucie is finally on her way to being potty trained.

It began a couple of weeks ago when I decided that it was indeed time that she begin at least sitting on the potty. If the girl can insist on color-coordinating her Bum Genius cloth diapers with her dresses, the girl is old enough to try sitting on the potty.

She protested at first, but eventually the lure of a jelly bean from our cute etched glass jar was enough to get her to try it. I still haven't been brave enough to switch her to underwear, but she is doing a great job.

Fairly soon, we will say goodbye to the cloth diapers. I admit that the BumGenius cloth diapers have served us well over the past two years. They have indeed fit her from 1 year until nearly 3 years. For anyone who is interested in cloth diapering, I highly recommend BumGenius. They have a wonderful product with a 1-year warranty and fantastic customer service. If we ever have any more kids, I think that I will cloth diaper again. I have saved so much money using cloth compared to disposables...especially considering that my kids have both taken until about 3 years to potty train!

Love. Support. Encouragement. Fun.

When I picked Ella up from school last week, she was very grumpy. I'm not sure what exactly was the cause on that particular day. Tired. Hungry. Missing home. A combination of the above. When we made it home, I fixed her some lunch and she asked, "Mom, can I watch Pride & Prejudice?" She even asked for the super-long BBC version! Obviously, I didn't let her watch ALL of it that afternoon, but it did put her in a much better mood.

Of course, I couldn't help but watch some of it with her as I did my work around the house. It got me to thinking about the lovely relationship between the two eldest Miss Bennetts -- Jane and Lizzy. They love, support, encourage, and have fun with one another. Although this is only a fictional relationship, I heartily wish that my Ella and Lucie will grow to share a loving, supportive, encouraging and fun relationship.

This past weekend as we were hanging out with just the three of us, I caught one of those precious glimpses of what the future will hopefully hold for them. They played and laughed together. They helped one another. And, Ella even helped and encourage Lucie as she was potty training. I felt so blessed as a mom so see that they are well on their way to having a wonderful relationship. It made my heart very, very glad.

Flashback

A couple of months ago, we checked out the Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper DVD from the library. Ella initally didn't want to watch it. Apparently, there was a mean-looking, white haired lady on the back of the case that freaked her out. Yeah, in the past she's had a thing about white haired people. I think it is a holdover from her fear of Santa Claus. Anyway, Lucie was totally set on watching it. She has no such qualms about white-haired people. I put it on while they were eating lunch and eventually Ella was hooked. Come on...princesses, singing. It's gotta be a winner for two princess-loving girls, right?

Oh yes. Yes, it is.

Soon enough, they were pretending to be the characters in the movie. I used to do that ALL the time as a girl -- The Parent Trap was one of my favorites. (The original Haley Mills version, of course...no Lindsey Lohan for me.) Not only were my girls pretending to be the characters, they were fighting over who got to be who. Yes, I confess that I used to fight over the same thing with my sisters. However, since there were three of us, we used to fight over which one of Charlie's Angels we were going to be. Because Jamie had the brown hair, she automatically got to be Jaclyn Smith's character. Because Jessica was the oldest, she called dibbs on Farrah Fawcett's and/or Cheryl Ladd's character. As the youngest, I was "forced" to be Kate Jackson's character. I was never happy about that one. She wasn't nearly as glamorous as the others.

And now about 30 years later, I sit and watch my girls fight over who gets to be Princess Annelise (the blonde) and who has to be the pauper Erica (the brunette). Strangely enough, it is my two-year old who insists on being the Princess, and my five-year old who gets upset. I can't help but laugh.

My Little Sous-Chef

Now that Ella is in school every morning, Lucie and I have been spending many more hours together. Honestly, I find this time precious. For some reason, I feel as if I haven't gotten much one-on-one time with her in these past two years. Even when Ella was in school three days a week last year, we rarely had time at home together -- one day was for grocery shopping, one she spent at her cousin's house, and one she spent at our house with her cousin. Our mornings are now filled with playdough, puzzles, educational videos (Brainy Baby French or The Letter Factory primarily) and cooking together.

Whenever I'm in the kitchen cooking up something, she nearly always wants to help. So, I carefully perch her on top of the counter, and we get to work. Some of the "big" things we've enjoyed making in the last month are homemade playdough and granola. Today, she helped me make my belated breakfast -- a fried egg. But, it isn't just during the morning that she likes to help in the kitchen. It's at dinner time too. She has become my little sous-chef. Although she really isn't much help, it is fun to have her "working" beside me and it feels good to be teaching her some skills in the kitchen. My heart just melts each time she asks, "What we do next?" or exclaiming, "It's makin' good!" when she thinks something looks good. Perhaps she won't always have this love of helping out her mother in the kitchen, so I am enjoying it now.

Blue Eyes, Brown Eyes

Looking at these two cuties, it's still amazing to me that they were both born with brown hair and blue eyes. Within a couple of months of birth, Ella's baby hair began falling out and began growing in lighter and lighter. I expected the same with Lucie and was not disappointed. Now people look at me and ask where they get their hair color. That always surprises me...in my mind I'm still a blond! But, I guess in reality, it looks a bit darker.

However, I always figured that if one of my children were to inherit my brown eyes that she'd have them at birth. Ella managed to keep her beautiful blue eyes, but over time Lucie's began to change. I wasn't sure what color they were going to turn...but now there is no mistake about it. Lucie has her momma's eyes. Funny enough, it is something that she likes to talk about nearly every day. "Ella and Daddy have blue eyes. Lucie has brown eyes like Mommy." She looks for brown eyes in other people...and animals too! Today we were swimming at a friend's pool and they have a beautiful dog that Lucie just adores. After getting up close and personal with the dog, she was very excited when she noticed "Hey, puppy has brown eyes like Lucie!"

Lucie and Her Pronuncation

My oldest sister Jessica claims she doesn't believe me when I tell her that Lucie can talk. The past few times that we've visited with Jessica and her family, Lucie has been pretty silent. So I guess I don't blame Jess for her disbelief. But, Lucie really CAN talk...granted, she doesn't always pronouce words properly, but I know what she is saying. Sometimes her pronuciation just makes me laugh...

• Like when she says "Goggy" instead of "Doggy". She can say "Daddy" just fine, so one would think that she could say the D in "doggy". When I try to work on it with her, she just switches to using "Puppy" instead.
• Like when she says "cocklate" instead of "chocolate". She LOVES chocolate...and I love hearing her mispronounce it!

One day in the not-too-distant future, she is going to learn how to say words properly. Right now, I just enjoy listening to her when she talks. She really is a sweet little girl, and I'm so blessed to have her!

Cousins & Best Friends

I feel really blessed to have family living on the other end of town...just about a two minute drive away. I also feel really blessed to have a sister-in-law who suggested doing a kid swap with me! On Wednesdays, Lucie goes to her cousin Meli's house for a morning playdate while I get two hours to do whatever. Then, on Fridays, it is my turn to return the favor and have Meli over for a playdate.

Just 6 months apart in age, Meli and Lucie are at a point where they really seem to get along and play well together. Lately, they've been enjoying some time in our backyard. It is so nice to be past that stage of whining and fighting over toys. Well okay, we're not totally over the whining, but they share pretty well together and truly enjoy each other's company.

On Monday this week, Lucie said, "I see Meli?" to which I had to reply "No." Their family was out of town for the morning so we weren't able to have a spontaneous playdate. But, this morning, we were scheduled have Meli over. When we were dropping Ella off at preschool, Lucie made up a song, "I see Meli, I see Meli" that she sang in anticipation of picking up Meli next.

I feel very blessed to see my little girl who is on her way to being best friends with her cousin Meli! And, I feel blessed to see Meli's sweet smiling face and pigtails on a regular basis.

Grandma Bonnie's Beets

This past weekend, we had a lovely dinner with my father and my in-laws -- Grilled Tri Tip, Mexican Rice, Green Beans, garden fresh zucchini, salad and Crumb Top Apple Pie for dessert. Oh, it was yummy! My mother-in-law Bonnie also brought a contribution to the meal -- BEETS! Now, I've seen my father enjoy them at a salad bar on many occasions, but I've never personally eaten a beet before. There was always something about the hot pink juice it left over everything that it touched that made me a bit wary.

But, my mother-in-law got some fresh homegrown beets earlier this week while she was walking through the Mission. She saw boxes and boxes of fresh produce and wanted to buy some. When she asked the woman how much it was, the woman said "Free!" Apparently, someone delivers fresh produce once or twice a month and just donates it to the Mission to distribute to whoever wants it. So, she ended up with some fresh, just-out-of-the-dirt, beets that she cooked up for us to try. My father enjoyed them, my husband thought that they tasted like dirt and was quite vocal about it and I thought they were okay. The hot pink juice is still a little weird to me. Ella wouldn't touch them...but Lucie? Oh, I think Lucie won Grandma's heart with her response. She ate...and ate...and ate them! She was quite disappointed when we cut her off from the beets. It was the first time that she had ever had them and I didn't want her to overdo it.

Overall, Lucie enjoyed her dinner -- she ate tons of everything. So afterward, I asked her "What was your favorite thing at dinner?"

Her response? "Um, candy."

Giggling Elmo's Hot Tomato Game

After Lucie was born, my sister Jamie and my parents took care of Ella as I recovered in the hospital. Generous soul that she is, Jamie came bearing gifts. One of the gifts she brought was Giggling Elmo's Hot Tomato Game. Ella was just barely three at the time and she didn't quite understand how to play "Hot Potato". Although she thought the Elmo ball was cute, she didn't play with it much as she was transitioning out of her Elmo phase and into the Princess one. And so, this sweet little Elmo sat waiting to be played with...until Lucie discovered him a couple of months ago.

Brett was out for the night working so we had a Girls' Night. Per tradition, we got some McDonald's and watched a movie...and as a surprise, I decided that we should try our hand at playing with Elmo. Basically all you have to do is press Elmo's orange nose and the Elmo ball starts giggling and shaking for an unknown amount of time. You can simply play "Hot Potato" with it or there are other cards for more advanced play. Ella was just able to catch it and throw it. Lucie, well, not so much. She thought it was hilarious and it brought her great joy. However, this is how she most liked playing with it....

Halloween Recap

Yes, it is the 11th of November and I'm just now getting around to posting pictures of Halloween. This is just how things go sometimes. But despite the delay, I thought that it was important to post about it since this year we had three firsts -- my Dad was with us for Halloween, Ella carved a pumpkin for the first time AND Lucie dressed up and went trick-or-treating. Well, I guess last year Lucie technically dressed up, but I don't think it counts as "trick-or-treating" if your parents have to carry you and say "Trick or Treat" for you.

Ella went on a preschool field trip to the Pumpkin Patch and picked out her very own pumpkin. Then, on Halloween day, she carved it with her Daddy. She really didn't want to reach in and pull out the insides though. We finally convinced her to try using the scoop.

For trick-or-treating, Ella decided to be Cinderella and oh did she feel fancy in her long white gloves. I looked in every local store I could think of but to no avail. Then I happened to hear about CastlesNCrowns, an online store owned by my neighbor's parents. They had one pair left in stock! Ella was sooooo excited about that because she got to look like the "real" Cinderella.

Lucie was a princess as well. Since she has had an aversion to wearing dresses in the past, I wasn't sure if she would go for it. But, she did. She also wanted to wear a "crown" (aka the blue headband). Before we left for trick-or-treating, we gave her a little tutorial about what she's supposed to do. I think she thought it was pretty cool when we put a lollypop in her bag. However, later when we joined some friends for trick-or-treating, she got a bit freaked out by Darth Vader and wanted Daddy to hold her. It took a few houses, but she warmed up to the idea again. She did not let go of her candy bag the entire time...no matter how heavy it got. It was really quite sweet.

Busted Lip 2.0

This past weekend, Lucie got her first noticeable busted lip. It's kinda amazing that she's gotten to 21 months of age without having cut her lip noticiably before. I think she's maybe cut the inside of it before, but not the outside.

Ella got hers when she was just over one year old and she still bears the scars today. So, whenever Lucie falls, I worry that she's going to hurt herself badly enough to get scarred or damage a tooth. Thankfully, Lucie's busted lip doesn't appear to be nearly as serious as Ella's was. I was in the kitchen when it happened, but Daddy saw it all unfold. Apparently, Lucie was jumping on the bed with Daddy by her side, jumped into his chest and bit her lip. She also ended up with a scratch near her nose somehow that makes it look worse. But, I'm very thankful that it wasn't too serious and it appears to be healing quickly.

Lucie's Language

Now that Lucie is almost 21 months old, her language skills are coming along. Not that everyone can understand her, but usually I can. A few weeks ago, Brett's parents babysat the girls so that we could go out on a date. To help them out, I decided to write down a translation for them of what some of her words actually mean. I thought it might be a fun thing to write down on the blog because all too soon she'll be talking like a normal English-speaking person.

• Wa-dee = water
• Ung-ee = hungry / I'm hungry
• Straw-bee = strawberry
• Sa-bee = sandwich
• Mung-ah = banana
• Bank-ee = blankie
• See / No see = I don't know where it is.
• Peas = Please
• Sissy = Ella

She's also coming along on identifying different things like animals. This week she just cracked herself up saying OVER and OVER "Keh-ee go ome" which was her way of telling Daddy that the neighbor's kitty had left our yard and gone back home.

• Pig = pig
• O-see = Horse
• El-pant = elephant
• Puppy = dog, puppy
• Keh-ee = cat, kitty

She's also quite good at naming different characters from Sesame Street...and we don't even get PBS! I guess from just the books and couple of DVD's that we own, she's managed to learn many of their names. Elmo and Zoe are her favorites of course. But, that doesn't stop her from shouting out the names of other characters whenever we see them either at home or in the stores -- Bert, Ernie, Grover, Cookie, Bird and Oscar.

Strangely enough, I haven't yet heard her say her name clearly. Perhaps the L-sound is just difficult to pronounce. The only name response I've gotten from her when asked "What's your name?" is "Zoe". So, either she is trying to say "Lucie" and it comes out "Zoe" or she really, really likes Zoe from Sesame Street and wants to change her name. I guess we'll find out when she gets older.