Independence

The way they were....


The way they are...

Something very nice has happened in my house. The change has been so subtle, that I can't even pinpoint when it happened. There is a growing independence among my children and I LIKE IT! Don't get me wrong, I still make mental notes every day of how fast this time is going and I still measure each of their hands against mine when I hold them. And, yes, I still inhale deeply every time they sit on my lap after a bath. I truly treasure these days. But, I don't want to be the mom of little ones forever.

Today I celebrate that I go to the bathroom alone. Did you hear me? ALONE! They can totally get themselves in my truck BY THEMSELVES and BUCKLE THEMSELVES! I shower alone with no interruptions and my kids prefer to play with each other, rather than me, IN A DIFFERENT ROOM THAN WHERE I AM! Here are a few comments I heard over the monitor today while the kids played downstairs.

"Seriously brother, I don't want to wrestle or you'll mess my hair up and then your mom will have to redo it." (YOUR mom???)

"Lal, Cooper no like. You stop. You go time out!"

"Brother, you're not supposed to put that in the toilet." (Yup, independent play time was over when I heard that one!)

A Whistle and a Tie

My Grandma Leona taught me to whistle. She was beautiful, industrious, and always up for the unexpected. It was sitting at her work table in her flower shop when I finally got it. I think I was Layla's age. Layla never met Grandma Leona. Her funeral was the morning Layla was born. But, Layla loves stories about Grandma Leona. And I love telling them, she was one of my favorite people.

Since telling Layla the story of how I learned to whistle, Layla has been working diligently. In the last week, not only has she learned to whistle, she can now whistle songs.

The other skill Layla's has been working on is tying her own shoe laces. Today was the day! She tied her own shoe laces twice. And really, I'm not sure who is more excited...her or me!

"Cannon in the hole!"

Do you notice little phrases and sayings your kids pick-up....but not entirely? Like Layla used to call a hair rubberband a hairberband. I still find myself using the word from time to time. Layla also combines the word annoying and ignoring to make annoring. Cooper, well, he has too many to mention! But soon, the whole family adopts these funny words and sayings.

This summer I noticed Layla doesn't call a cannon ball jump a cannon ball. When she jumps off the side of the pool or dock with her knees tucked up she yells "cannon in the hole!" She calls it a cannon in the hole jump.

Brother has picked this up. No matter what he's jumping off of, including the couch, he plugs his nose with his fingers and yells, "cannon in the hole." Yesterday, Layla's bed was the dock and the two of them were doing cannon in the hole's for an hour.

Another Thirty-Something Birthday

Layla keeps forgetting how old I am (thank you, baby) so she keeps saying "Mommy's thirty-something." I wish she were saying I'm twenty-something, but I had barely married her dad in my twenties and she didn't come along until I was already in my thirties. So yup, she has only known me as thirty-something.

Dave is out of town today, so we celebrated my birthday Saturday with my brother and his family. It was fun to spend time with them and share my cake with my sister-in-law as her birthday was just 1 1/2 weeks before mine. Dave made a great birthday supper for us...grilled steak, crab legs, green beans with brown butter, fettuccine and spinach salad. Darci was right, we had a food hangover Sunday morning. It was worth it!

This morning started with both kids waking me early so they could tell me happy birthday, we stayed in our jammies until 10am watching The Music Man (a new favorite of Layla's), we got a picnic lunch at Trader Joe's and headed to a little lake for a picnic. The highlight for the kids was feeding bread to the fish and geese. The highlight for me is it was 70 degrees! That doesn't happen very often when you have a November birthday and live in Iowa! Thanks family and friends for making this a great birthday!

His First Crush

I've always said that if a 2 year old can have a crush, Copper's would be on Tayia. Tayia is a favorite babysitter and friend of the our family and Cooper always gets a little goosey at the mention of her name or the sight of her sweet face.

Yesterday, however, I think she was replaced. I walked into Layla's room to find Cooper holding a Barbie and passionately telling her, "I love you Barbie." This wasn't a little boy holding a toy he was excited about. This was a little man, serious and in love. I wasn't sure whether to laugh or take it away before he started making out with her!

Retained?

Dave and I have always taken the kids to vote with us. Yup, it's not really the easiest route, but we feel like it's of great value. And here's the interesting thing....Layla remembers voting with me at a church when she was 1 1/2 years old (which I had actually forgotten about since we haven't voted there since) AND, this year she asked me if we were voting for Barack Obama and John McCain again. Proof they are never too young and they are always paying attention!

This year, when Layla asked me why we vote, I explained to her that it's a privilege. She was very perplexed when when I explained to her that there was a time when your skin had to be white and you had to be a boy to vote. She processed on that one for quite some time.

I also explained to her that voting is my chance to decide who gets to be boss. She processed on that one for quite awhile as well and then asked me if we were going to have an election in our family. I decided not to pursue that conversation. It's been a tough week and I doubt I would be retained!

If I were a Professional Blogger....

...I would have long since been fired! Wow, what a crazy last two weeks. The Pumpkin Ranch is officially closed for the season and I'm not exactly sure what to do with myself this week. I'm giving myself little pep talks like, "Yes, you can just sit down on the couch and read the paper while Cooper naps. Do it, do it!" It's been a long time since we've had free time! We truly enjoyed our first year in the pumpkin business and were incredibly blessed with a great crop, amazing staff and CUSTOMERS! We are already making our plans for season 2.