Well, it snuck up on us again — the first day of school dawned bright and early this morning, but all the girls faced up to it well, and with nary a gripe from anyone (even me!).
Outfitted in new clothes (and please note, matching shoes in the exact same size, which was their idea not mine), Maddie and Sophie felt ready to go, and even had time to spare to take some pictures in the backyard before we strolled down the street.
Sophie is a 2nd grader this year. It was her idea to pose in front of the sprinkler. I should have had Josie push her into it.
Doesn’t it look like she would do it if I asked? Poor Josie doesn’t start preschool until next week, so she was just along for the ride this morning.
And look out, Maddie has graduated to the “big kid” side of school as she starts 3rd grade. Here you can see that 1) making bunny ears in pictures is still funny when you are a 3rd grader, even when you have to do it to yourself, and 2) posing in front of sprinklers is just as attractive as it apparently is to 2nd graders.
What a threesome! And such great smiles to start out the year!
Hooray for cheap disposable underwater cameras!
As you can see, Josie got the hang of goggles just fine.
And needless to say, she’s going to make the most out of the rest of the summer!
They look like trouble, don’t they?
[Cue “Jaws” music now. Duh-duh. Duh-duh.]
Backtracking a little bit…a couple of weeks ago we took our 2nd road trip out to VA to visit family. Our girls got to spend lots of quality time with their cousins; Maddie and Sophie took full advantage of being around so many teenage girls, partaking in lots of giggling, staying-up-very-late, cooking concotions, and other general mischef!
Josie, of course, rolled with it all, not letting a silly thing like age stop her.
“Hey, JieJie - I see Cookie Monster in that tree!”
“Kate, what does this button do?…Oops.”
Cousin Kate taught Maddie how to dive off the side of the pool (our own pool at home is too shallow for diving). Note how Sophie remains perched on the edge - she kinda thought Maddie was crazy. Ironic, isn’t it?
Now this, THIS is crazy. Sophie’s attempt at a glass-bottomed boat. Except her head is underwater. Ladies and gents - I present to you the next great genius of our time…(wink).
Of course, with all that action, you had the occasional accidental nap.
And there was the beach, in stormy days…
…and sunnier ones.
“I can jump too!”
Most importantly it was a great chance to do nothing but sit back, relax and enjoy each other. The mark of succesful vacation, I’d say!
Oh, London Olympians, you have NOTHING on us.
Great form.
Dedication.
Oh, and of course, lots of personality!
We’ve added a third munchkin swimmer into our pool, as Josie figured out how to swim on her own this weekend! Inspired both by her sisters and all the races we’ve been watching on TV, she decided to discard her floaties for good and go for it. She got so excited, and wanted to practice over and over — going in the pool twice a day all weekend long. Needless to say, great naps have been had lately!
Since she’s her own little person with her own big ideas, we’ve been trying to gradually coax her into trying new things to make her swimming easier - but she’s a tough nut! First, she was swimming with her eyes screwed tightly shut and her arms stretched out in front of her (swimming by the braille method). After finally convincing her that opening her eyes would be more fun, we then worked on getting her arms moving too. Goggles are a harder sell - but we’re working on it (but she says such a polite “no thank you” each time we ask her to). Next step - learning how to come up for breath!
But maybe by this time next week she’ll be swimming laps. Around all of us, to be sure.
Ahh. Where did we leave off? April? Well, it almost seems like we’ve been using the pool that long. Most of May was in the 90s - and that wasn’t even summer yet!
Josie is getting lots of pool time already and we’re thinking she might actually figure out the swimming thing soon. That fearlessness of hers will get her far!
Of course, there’s a lot of motivation - Mad and Soph can be pretty rowdy in there - so Jo will need to hold her own!
Onward…At the kids’ school one of the milestone second grade projects is something called “Living Museum”. Each student researches a famous person (either from history or the present), writes a speech about that person, memorizes it, and creates a costume. All the kids gather in the cafeteria and stand like statues in a wax museum. When a visitor approaches each student and steps on a big “button” on the floor in front of them, the student recites their memorized speech for their audience.
Anyone that knows Mad would know that this would have been an impossible thing to ask her to do even last year. But look at her now!!! She decided to be J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series. Maddie is dressed like Hermione, since she discovered that Rowling based this character on herself at age 11. Doesn’t she look cute?
Did I mention that the kids had to repeat their speeches for a full HOUR? Even though she got hot and uncomfortable, Mad just kept going and never gave up. Her speech ended up being among the longest ones too. I was SO proud of her!
Amazingly, we still had a happy Maddie once it was over. Hurrah!!!
Sophie also had her first piano recital in May - the first of many, I have a feeling! She was great too.
Last but not least, Josie finished her first year of gymnastics. The little monkey has gotten stronger and better each week - and has shown that she’s an awesome listener (preschool, watch out).
I think Josie likes the monkey part the best, how about you?
Whee!! Look at all that air!
And THAT, folks, gets us to summer. What a threesome! I’ll be sure not to wait so long in the upcoming weeks…unless I’m having a hard time catching up to the three of them…:)
Josie sends you a big, messy, blue-icing kiss. And a big “sorry” from Mommy for holding onto new pictures for so long. For shame! So hold on to your seats, we have 3 months to catch up on…
Here’s Sophie back in March, singing and dancing in her first-grade program. Even though Maddie did the same program last year, Soph put her own twist on it to make it hers. Josie will surely know every move by the time she gets there!
See what I mean?
“Wait a minute, Mom. We’re not done yet!”
As I mentioned, Josie is studying every move!
And Daddy loves all his little performers!
Next up, Josie’s 3rd birthday. So hard to believe - plus she acts like she is twelve on the inside. Recently, she’s learned how to snap, with attitude. Our house is quickly becoming an episode of “In Living Color” - we’ll have “snaps in a “Z” formation” before too long…
Josie MUST put her own touches on the cake. Honestly, it’s the only thing she said she wanted for her birthday - “Blue and Green icing, please, Mommy!”
Little Miss Three had to eat every morsel with a knife and fork - how proper. And seriously, not a crumb was left!
Josie knows it’s better to give than receive - as witnessed by how many birthday stickers she applied to everyone!
OK, so I only got through March - we’ll have a little bit of April and May shortly. The kids just woke up though, so must run for now. Not that I’m complaining - having three kids that can sleep late during summer vacation is a gift!
…that all our children are part monkey. Or bat, or something that climbs all around and likes hanging from things. Witness Josie’s preferred sleeping position, at least for the past week or two. That’s right, she is half hanging, half standing at the corner of the bed. And COMPLETELY asleep. In fact, I think she was snoring when I took this picture. Each time I’ve put her back into place, she groans and eventually ends up on one corner or the other at the foot of her bed.
(Lovable little freak.)
I am yet again given a glimpse into what college life will be like for them…*sigh*.
The beanbag, silly, not Josie! Do you think she caught it?
Just before spring break, Mad and Soph had their elementary school “Open House”. Andy was out of town, so it was just me and my girl herd (”gherd”?) running around the school that evening, looking at this and that. The girls wasted no time showing me all the projects they and their friends had been working on in the past several weeks. Josie did her best to get in on the action too - notice her industriously “reading” the research project she snagged down from the wall (oops)!
I dunno. I find the first grade anatomy study a little disturbing. Where is the spleen, Sophie?
And of course, it’s always illuminating to read the kids’ self-definitions - in this case “I feel happy in my bed”. Who knew that Maddie was such a lounger?
Josie has seldom met a snack she didn’t like. Last week we went to watch Maddie’s Girl Scout “Thinking Day”, where the various troops celebrate traditions from different countries. Jo helped herself to the goodies at the first-graders’ “China” table…which reminds me of a story…
J. recently displayed her first effort at stand-up comedy. We were finishing dinner at the nearby Chinese restaurant, and Maddie and Sophie were reading their fortunes out loud at the table. After they were done, Josie nonchalantly picked up her cookie, broke it open, took out the fortune and deadpanned: “I will get pop-pop (her word for dessert) if I eat all my dinner.” I about lost it at the table laughing. And you know what? That fortune actually came true! That kid’s too clever for her own good.
“Yeah, Mom. You know I’m so cute you can hardly stand it!”
Tell me, who could resist that smile?
Especially when she scrunches up her little nose like this???
But really, onto the real star of the day! Maddie’s troop presented a short show about Peru. They wore some pretty adorable hats and skirts, played traditional instruments, and recited the Girl Scout promise in Spanish. Not bad for 2nd grade! But, as always now, I was reminded again how at ease Maddie is now with herself and her friends, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy and giddy for her. I love it.
Sadly the hats didn’t protect Mad from all the mosquitoes that day - the poor girl is now walking around looking like a chicken pox victim after getting over eight bites on her face! She may forbid me from taking any pictures until she is looking less…spotty.
I think it’s her fault for being so sweet!
Oh, Josie just can’t wait to be a big kid like her sisters. She runs around asking to do “homework” every afternoon (probably thinking it’s something very special since she’s not allowed to bother the other girls when they are doing it). We finally got Jo her own pad of paper to do her “homework” on, which made her very happy.
She’s looking pretty confident here, drawing a masterpiece. Look at that grip!
But wait…here comes the switch…she changes hands…and…
Kapow! Maybe she thinks that hand is closer to the page she wants to work on! So far I still can’t tell whether she will be a lefty or righty. I wouldn’t put it past her to be able to use both for a long time.
Of course, it doesn’t matter which hand you use to eat a yummy potato chip, does it?
By the way, I’ll be investigating Maddie and Sophie’s gap-toothed smiles in an upcoming post - the Tooth Fairy has been doing some serious business here in the last few weeks!
Josie has discovered a love for stickers. Can you tell?
Several times now, when she is offered a sheet of stickers to bring home, she immediately starts removing them and sticking them on herself. Methodically, she’ll remove every last sticker and place them on any space she can find.
OK, so that’s all totally normal. Until she started pulling up her pants leg, sticking a sticker on, then quickly pulling the leg down. Repeated continuously until she had about twenty stickers surrounding one knee and about ten on the other!! She didn’t take them off for a couple of hours!
Any bets on what her first tattoo will be?
I’ve just been shown (once again) that the minute you think you know someone, you’re WRONG. I thought for sure this morning that Josie would just LOVE to splash away in the puddles made by last night’s storm, but all I got were some cautious toe-taps and “It’s a big mess!”
I bet if Mad and Soph weren’t in school they’d all be stomping away…note to self to try that soon!
It’s springtime already, or at least it’s felt like it the past few days. We spent a really beautiful afternoon out on the school playground yesterday, soaking up the sunshine. It’s always good entertainment watching the girls play together, with the inevitable displays of “hey, I can do that too!! Watch THIS!!”
Josie, of course, has the most to prove.
“Yeah, no big deal, Soph. I’m catching up to you…just one more rung on this ladder…”
\
“…er…um…maybe we have a situation here…my feet…uh….”
“…uh…Mommy??? a little help please????”
Josie wasted no time getting even with Sophie. Serves her right for baiting someone half her size!
“And take THAT too!!! Next time maybe you’ll give me a hand!!”
“Whoa. What are you looking at, Mommy?”
Oh, nothing, dear. Just how big that silly helmet looks on your melon. Think you have enough padding on yet?
“Yeah, you’re not nearly as funny as you think you are, Mom. Don’t worry, I’m fine over here.”
Lest you think otherwise (like they were joining the roller derby or something), the girls were suiting up for a new game of…dodgeball! We had been playing it in the street in front of our house a couple of days ago, and Maddie took a spill and scraped herself up a bit. So, we thought (I *was* joking, however) that maybe some extra padding would help. Clearly Sophie (and Maddie, too) took it seriously and dug out every safety device they could find. And Josie, well - she just tried to copy them as well as she could. She even figured out how to put on her helmet herself! And trust me - they were quite the spectacle in the front yard. Sorry I don’t have any pictures of THAT - I was too busy being “it” and pegging them with the ball! I bet you can still hear them yelping now.
“MOMMMMM!!! NO FAAAIIIRRR!!!”
Revenge really is sweet.
Rather than just having three sisters together, lots of the time it feels like we have five. The girls’ cousins, Megan and Sarah, are amazing friends, mentors, and caregivers to all three of ours. Especially with Josie being so young, it’s been awesome to see how much they look after her without even thinking about it. No wonder she asks about them every day!
Josie even calls Sarah “jie-jie”, which is Chinese for “big sister”. She started off that way because she couldn’t get the “S” sound at first, but it has stuck all this time. And very fitting, indeed.
The weather was so mild this weekend we took as many chances as we could to play outside. Our local playground has one of those merry-go-round things that I have vivid childhood memories about, all involving feeling sick afterwards. In fact, I got a bit queasy just watching them go! Obviously there must be some immunity of small people to spinning, because it was endless fun for them! Just look at Maddie go…
Then of course, Josie had to have a try at being the engine.
“I think I can, I think I can…”
And whoooosh! she got that thing going pretty fast, actually. It was even funnier when she tried to push it in the opposite direction it was already going - she looked just like a little fish swimming upstream. And yes, she slept very well that night!
Santa got me a new camera, and maybe this will translate to more regular updates on the girls! They are beautiful as ever, and we’re having a great start to the new year.
Little J got her own scooter! Can’t decide yet whether that is a good or bad thing (refer to the last post about stitches). But, she’s delighted to be keeping up with Mad and Soph.
Meanwhile, they are not making it easy for her to catch them!
What a bunch of sillies.
Our friends invited us to overnight at their house on the beach, so off we went to play in the sand. Josie kept calling it “dirt”, as in, “Can I go back to play at the dirt?”
“Better watch out! Dirt is going to fly!”
“Told ya!”
Oops. Josie’s clothes don’t fit that well at the moment. Wardrobe malfunctions happen often. Though, she solves that with the fact that she absolutely loves being naked. But that’s for another post…
Meanwhile, our Maddie just gets longer and longer every time we blink.
Like an elegant bird, dontcha think?
I just don’t know where the time has gone.
When the kids look as long as their shadows…
…or longer…it’s time to let out that large sigh. Thank goodness Josie is small for her age so we’ll still have a midget around!
Please? Will you stay small forever?
“Mom, the crazy cow puppet says no. We just all have to grow up.”
Maddie told me the cow said the same thing to her! Dumb cow.
That’s why we’re training Josie to take care of everyone. My niece Sarah broke it to me that Josie will be in the high school graduating class of…2028. Goodness - I’ll be in a walker by then!!
“Forget about it Mom! I’m hopping up here with the rest of them! Can YOU push?”
Of course. It’s important to know my place in the pecking order here. Happy New Year to all!
Hello December. For some early Christmas presents, Josie got her first six stitches…
And Mother Nature threw our grill into the pool (unrelated events).
Sophie just can’t stand it anymore. She’s about to explode with all the stress (wink). But…let’s rewind a bit. It has been a long time since I’ve updated you on the girls…
As most of you know, ’tis the season of special events and holidays, all conspiring to confuse and fatigue me. First off the bat: Sophie’s 7th birthday!!! I can’t believe it. In my weakened state I actually succumbed to getting Sophie the nauseating pink princess cake. We all remarked that the Barbie figurine on top really looked like she had Botox and was very vacant-looking. I’ve since pushed it all out of my memory, thank goodness.
Yikes! Two days later is Halloween! As cute as Josie and Maddie were, Sophie of course wins for “Most Transformed” - or perhaps she is channelling her inner-opera-star. Her costume started from a joke I made about her being “a little Chinese girl” for Halloween, of course meaning that she had to do nothing at all. But alas, I had too much time to think about it and instead decided that she should be a Chinese opera singer — not just the girl-next-door!
Josie definitely got the concept of trick-or-treating this year, though she was full of pragmatism about it. She would go up to a door, get candy, go back to the wagon, sit down, and proceed to unwrap and eat it, passing however many houses it took to finish it while being pulled. Then when she was done, she would get out and get some more. Or maybe she just wanted to protect the cheap beer.
Onward past Halloween - Maddie and Sophie agreed to double-up their birthday party again. This time we had it at the bowling alley, and we made custom-shirts for each group of friends so they could play on teams. It was great fun!
And then, of course, let’s not forget Maddie’s birthday too. Eight - incredible. And since she doesn’t like cake, she had just put her candles in a cherry pie, yum!
In between all of that, the girls and I flew up to Boston to visit my parents and Denis’s family. Luckily for us, it was milder than normal in Boston so all the “fake” winter clothes they sell in Houston did the job OK to keep them warm.
The older kids are all roughly the same age and they got along like gangbusters. If you can’t smush your cousins out on the golf course, then why go out there at all?
Smush. Smush. Smush. Josie even tried it out too.
I love this shot of Mad and Soph. I hope they stay like this forever.
“Stop looking at me like that, Mom. I’m going to grow up anyway, you know!!”
You guys don’t get to grow up either. That includes you, Josie. You hear me??
The girls’ cousin Jessica had a birthday party during our visit, at a laser-tag/arcade. I’m feeling like I should be a little afraid that Josie was very attracted to the driving games, seeming to have an innate sense of where the “turbo” button was for each one. Note the hand reaching for the green button, here…
…AND here. Coincidence? No.
A neighbor described Josie recently as “the little one that just wants to be big.” I couldn’t have put it better myself. Here, she’s trying to conquer yo-yos before Sophie figures them out.
The ladies all loved visiting with their A-ma and A-kong…and even five days seemed too short.
But alas - there’s Christmas to warm up for, so we’d all better get some rest in order to be ready for the last push of the season. Though I think the three of them are way ahead of me.
Maybe I’ll just sneak out while they’re sleeping…get some presents…oh yeah. I forgot I have zero ideas since they got everything they wanted for their birthdays! Suggestions are welcome.
Love, one frazzled Mom
“…of the Year…” Isn’t that what the TV commercial used to say?
Well, we can’t believe it’s come already, but this morning was the first day of school. We managed to make it out the door with no cattle prods, raised voices, or (too many) poopy pouts, and were even a few minutes early!
With Josie walking her sisters to school on her own two feet now, there were no hands left for documenting “the walk”. So we’ll jump straight to the classrooms. Sophie is thrilled that she is in the same first grade class as her very close friend Ava (right behind her). They’ll be able to get used to the longer school day and greater responsibilities in class together! And hopefully not cause too much mischef in so doing.
“Hey! What are you looking at???? Don’t you have somewhere to go?”
Maddie, meanwhile, snuck off to her new second grade class on her own while we were getting Sophie set up. Proof once again as to how far our Madeleine has come with her confidence - I was pleasantly shocked to not see her anywhere! Josie and I then set off to at least wish her a nice day, and there she was, 3 classrooms and 2 corridors away, already sitting at her desk with a grin on her face. Here, I am almost positive Maddie is telling Josie secrets on how she can sneak away from mommy too. And that’s ALL I need!
As we hung out in the school cafeteria for a few minutes afterwards with the PTA, it once again struck me how much Josie has changed and grown and blossomed. She is so at home with herself and with us, she’s just about ready to go to school too!
“So what do you say, Mom? How about I start 5th grade…tomorrow? Please?”
Sorry, kid. You’ll have to settle for establishing your presence at school through Maddie copying your hairstyle (like this morning). We’re going to selfishly keep you to ourselves for another year! Just think of all the damage we could do!