Nirvana

Genevieve is having a hard time falling asleep for her nap, and I have been short on patience all day long. And it’s not as if she doesn’t need the sleep. She was having multiple meltdowns with any frustration prior to lunch. I want to believe that she will be happy and cooperative after “nap” time, but…

Fact is, simultaneous napping is parental nirvana, and even if she nods off now, Reesa will be awake soon. For today, nirvana denied. Instead, I have to deal with a new Genevieve excuse to get up every 10 or 15 minutes. At some point, I will need to open the door and give in to the inevitable. I feel cranky and frustrated—heck, I need a nap!

I returned from a five-day conference on Wednesday night, and the children, with a little help from mommy, put together a calendar with daily updates and drawings for each day I was gone. It is very nice. I brought back a stuffed bear for Reesa (she already calls it “Boston”), a yo-yo for Genevieve (she claims that she can’t nap without it), and a book of games that you can play with only pencil and paper for my wife Marilee (she likes it).

Reesa is still in the super-cute stage. I’ll try to make some notes at some of the thoughts that she puts into words. She really works out how to say, or try to say, some amazing things. Her favorite and frequently repeated phrase is still “I wanna go run-chant eat!” Translation: I would like to go to a restaurant now.

Okay, it seems as if Genevieve has conked out. Quick, mini-nirvana!

Merry Go Round

They both love the carousel, in different ways. Genevieve was effusive in the moment. Reesa simply talks about "Merry Go Round again?" every day for the past week.


Genevieve, 2005, 19 months old.








Reesa, 2007, 23 months old.

Monkey. Bars.

Genevieve conquers brachiation.

First Fourth

We survived our first family 4th of July fireworks display. First, Marilee and I had to help the children with successfully staying awake and well-behaved beyond their regular bedtime. This was not a problem for Reesa; she was patient, communicative, and eventually ate a good dinner. Genevieve woke from her nap announcing that she was still a little grumpy and did not want to go to the party. She eventually agreed to go, and needed only one “pull-aside” parent-child clarification (not so much a discussion as some time to calm down and to provide a reinforcement of the consequences of more misbehavior).

We stayed a good half-mile away (from the fireworks, not the children) and that helped. Genevieve enjoyed it without reservation. Reesa needed to sit on a children’s chair with a favorite toy and my hand and arm on her chest and abdomen—she would complain if I moved away from her. It made me feel like the big Protector Daddy on a primitive level, with my little girl wanting the cover of my arm.

All that celebrating makes for a late night. We’re letting the girls sleep in this morning.

Art by Genevieve, age 3.

Safe

“I’m safe now,” Reesa will say to me when I come to get her after she has been sent to her crib for a time out.

What does that mean, I’ve wondered. Marilee thinks she understands.

Apparently, Reesa was scared in the pool recently, and Marilee calmed her down and then kept telling her, “It’s okay, honey, you’re safe now.” Reesa associates this phrase with the act of calming down. To her, “I’m safe now” means “okay, I’m much calmer now, thank you very much.”

Rock

Immediately following every bath, the girls demand to dry off with a game of “Rock.” Here’s how we play. After stepping out of the tub dripping wet, they each get a towel from daddy. They cover their heads and back sides with the towel and drop to the ground face down with their legs tucked under, and they wait for daddy to say:

“I wonder where Genevieve and Reesa are? Hmm, I don’t see them anywhere. Ooof, oh, I stubbed my toe on this rock. Where did this come from?”

Giggling. Then daddy says: “Hmm, I don’t remember any rocks here before. I wonder how they got here?”

Genevieve will frequently stick a leg out and wiggle her toes.

“Hey, wait a minute…what’s this? Toes! Do rocks have toes?”

(Reesa usually says, “nooooo.”) Tickle feet. Much laughter.

“Oh, and right here, and here…two doopahs! Do rocks have doopahs? I don’t think so!”

Pinch doopahs. More laughter and squirming.

“And wait, that’s a belly button! These aren’t rocks! They’re little girls!”

Huge dose of tickling, lots of squirming and laughter. The moment I stop, Reesa stands, re-drapes her towel over her back and exclaims, “Again!”

Repeat.

Back in the (blogging) saddle

Whoa! I haven't been posting for many-a-day, in part because the computer was in the shop for a few days, and in part because we are enjoying summer. Oh well, time to hop back into the saddle and get blogging!

Summer seems exciting for the children--so much goes on. Genevieve will stay up late even if put to bed early. Reesa sometimes will recognize her limits and ask to be put to bed. Correspondingly on the other end of sleep time, it is Reesa who is likely to be the early riser.


No photos (of our own) until we get out photo software updated, might be a week or so. Let's see... what's going on here lately? Today, Mommy had a day in which she used up all of the "good mommy" just before daddy got home, so daddy and the girls took a dinner picnic to a park and ran an errand with daddy. Since I last wrote, daddy has also had a couple of days in which the "good daddy" tank was near Empty, and mommy helped rescue me on those days.

We've had three campouts in our backyard this summer. Everyone learned a little more each time. I've become much less aprehensive about using mosquito repellent on a child (Reesa). Compared to the alternative suffering and week-long swelling, I'm going with the repellent. The kids are learning to sleep through a couple hours of morning light on these campouts, so hurrah for that.

Brooms are popular. They both pretend to be be witches. Reesa says, "I'm Kiki!" Yup, they sure love that Kiki.

The backyard, five-foot diameter, 10 inch deep wading pool is popular. Slip and slide is more of a hit with the older neighborhood boy. Sprinklers are fun for everyone. And another fire-pit and grillout will be held Friday. Hopefully, pictures will be available next week.