Anticipating Halloween

This morning, Emily came running out of her room--she is one of those people who wakes up raring to go--leaped into my arms for a hug, and said, "Is it Halloween?" She can hardly wait! I told her she'd have to wait until tomorrow, but that today we would make chocolate covered spiders. She LOVED that idea. We just finished making them. I saw Sandra Lee make something like this on Food Network yesterday, but I changed the recipe a little.


Chocolate-Covered Spiders
12 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 C peanut butter
6 C Rice Krispies cereal
1/2 C white chocolate chips
thin pretzel rods

In heavy bottomed sauce pan, melt together semi-sweet chocolate chips and peanut butter. Reserve 2/3 C mixture for "gluing" and decorating and pour remaining mixture over cereal. Stir to combine. Spoon onto waxed paper and add pretzel "legs" and white chocolate chip "eyes." Coat tops of spiders with additional chocolate-peanut butter mixture. Allow chocolate to harden (place in refrigerator or freezer to speed up the process).

We also made some spider "webs" which were just balls of the cereal mixture decorated with the chocolate. The spiders were taking a while to assemble, especially with my 3-year-old helper who kept eating the pretzels and white chocolate chips!

Imaginary Friends

Emily all of a sudden has an entire cast of imaginary friends. A few days ago, she came parading into my bedroom and announced, "Mom, see all of my friends? This is Charlie and that's Neefan (I guess she meant 'Ethan' but she said 'Neefan'). See? They are all behind me!" Well that was the first I'd heard of Charlie and Neefan. Today Jolie joined us in the van on the way home from Target; she wasn't sitting in her seat or wearing her seatbelt. She was being a funny clown. But Mommy laid down the law: if Jolie was going to ride in the car, she had to sit in her seat and wear a seatbelt. Emmy assures me that she got right into her seat and buckled up, but she was still being a funny clown. I wonder how long this phase will last? :)

To the mall!

Today I had some errands to do so I told the girls I'd take them to the mall for a snack and to play a bit. They usually enjoy that and the bonus for me is that it is inside and air-conditioned (still in the 90s here in Florida in October!!) On our way to the playground, we passed the Disney Store, so Emily wanted to go in and look around. We checked out the princess costumes and shoes and looked at the toys and clothes. Then we headed over to Auntie Anne's to get a pretzel. Emmy was so sweet; she shared her pretzel sticks with Bailey and me. When she got to the last one (which really should have been hers), she broke it into three pieces so we could all have some. What a sweetie.

Then we headed downstairs to play. It was a quiet morning, with only a few young children around, so I had a seat and let Emmy and Bailey play for a while. After a few minutes a couple more families came to play, so the area where I was sitting started to get a little crowded. I scooted down a bit to make some room. Then I noticed Bailey looking for me. She was playing on this toy rocket, a huge smile on her face, and she wanted to show me that she had climbed up there by herself. Well, when she looked over to my seat, I wasn't there! I'd only moved down a couple feet, but I could see the panic rising as she looked at the faces of these other women: "Not Mommy, not Mommy, NOT MOMMY! Where's MOMMY?" But then she saw me and all was right with the world again.

There was a little boy in the playground who kept trying to hug Bailey for some reason. She IS super cute so that may have had something to do with it! Emmy goes up to him and says, "Be gentle to my little sister!" That made me laugh--if only she'd follow her own advice!

Finally, on our way out of the mall, Emmy said my favorite thing of the day: "Mommy, maybe I can find some pennies or pickles for my piggie bank!" So funny!!

Bedtime stories

Will usually reads Emily her bedtime story; he's really good at it and I like that they have that time together. A few months ago I checked out a library book called I Will Surprise My Friend by Moe Willems. Well, both Emily and Will loved it. In fact, Will has declared Moe Willems his favorite author. Now, every time I go to the library, I look for a Willems book that we haven't read yet. Unfortunately, I think we've exhausted our library's supply. So the other night Emily chose a book from her own bookshelf for her bedtime story. Then she took it to Daddy in the living room and said, "It's The Giving Tree [by Shel Silverstein]. But it's not by Moe Willems." Hah!!

Also on the reading front, Emily is doing so well learning how to read. She checked out Go, Dog, Go! from the library and when we got home, she started reading it by herself! This is a book she's never seen before, and she just cracked it open and started reading! I was so proud.

Bailey also loves books although she rarely sits through more than a couple pages. She is just too squirmy right now! But every time she disappears, it is into Emmy's room to pull books off the shelf and look through them.

Shower Time

When most people take a shower, they are alone, enjoying the quiet, relishing the warm spray, possibly planning out their day or maybe unwinding from it. Well, I am not most people. When I take a shower it is like a three-ring circus. Those ten minutes are virtually the only time (except nap time and bed time) that my children are unsupervised. I have my shower down to a science, and I am rarely in there for longer than ten minutes, but BOY, the heck that can break loose in ten minutes never fails to amaze me.

First, Bailey comes in with a toy, which she starts banging on the shower glass. Once I get her to stop doing that, she plays peekaboo with me by looking in the door, then looking in the panel right next to the door. (Mind you, this is all clear glass so it's not like she can hide behind anything.) She leaves and Dioji comes bounding in. He likes to check things out. He usually sits guarding the door for a few seconds, and then he's off again. Next is Emmy. "Mommy, can I take a shower with you? PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE?" Me: "No, you are already dressed and I am almost done." (Leaves, pouting. Sometimes manages some crocodile tears.) Then comes the really fun part. Now everyone is out of the bathroom, and I can't see them, but I can hear them. And what do I hear? Thump. THUMP. THUMP THUMP. "WAAAAAAAAA!" Never fails. Every day. I yell, "WHAT'S GOING ON OUT THERE?" Emily yells back, "NOTHING" (which she pronounces "nuh-fing"). Bailey comes back in, crying. I say, "What happened?" Bailey doesn't really talk yet so she just cries some more. Then she leaves. Emily and Dioji run back in. Emily has Dioji's toy. She starts bopping him on the head with it. He jumps up and grabs it, and she runs out, dragging him behind her. Bailey comes back in. She's happy again. I turn off the water. She starts trying to pry the shower door open. I open it, and she gets so excited like she hasn't seen me for a week. I'm wrapping my towel around myself and she's practically jumping up and down, arms raised, yelling, "Up, up, up!"

Nine minutes have passed since I turned on the water and got into the shower. It's no wonder I am exhausted! :)

Princesses

I bought the girls' Halloween costumes today. Emily has been telling me she wants to be a "cowboy girl" for a few weeks, so I got her a cowgirl costume, but she refuses to wear it because it is itchy. We've been dealing with that issue for a while; last Halloween I bought her a Snow White dress and she freaked out when I put it on her ("It hurts! It hurts!"). For the longest time after that she wouldn't even look at a princess dress. I got her a beautiful pink one for her birthday, but it's only within the past month that she'd even try that one on! So, I wasn't really shocked when she didn't like the cowgirl costume. While we were shopping, she chose several costumes but each time, I'd open the package, show her the costume, and say, "Are you going to wear this?" Her response: "No." This morning she tells me she wants to be Cinderella, but I am not buying a Cinderella dress unless she tries it on in the store. she does have some princess costumes that came in a trunk and she'll wear those because they are all "satin," but because they are designed to fit a wide range of kids they don't really fit her all that well. They are totally open in the back and just tie together (that is what she is wearing above).

Bailey, however, has no issues with princess dresses. She went CRAZY over a Snow White dress so I went ahead and got it, figuring if she wouldn't wear it, I could always return it. Well, she LOVED it. She paraded all around the house, twirling and lifting the edge of her skirt just like any good princess would do! And when Daddy got home from work, she CURTSIED. Hah! This morning as I was eating breakfast, she went into her room, got her gown, and brought it to me! She was even trying to take off her shirt so I would put it on her! So cute!

Reading

A few mornings ago I was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking my coffee and reading a magazine while the girls played together in the living room. I heard them both talking (well, Bailey was babbling) at the same time, so I went over to check it out. This is what I saw:


They were both "reading" to themselves. SO cute!! Bailey's book of choice was Once Upon a Potty, and Emily's was David Gets in Trouble.

Bailey!

Bailey is getting to be more and more fun every day. She is finally at that point where she can play with Emily (kind of) unsupervised. They are actually having a tea party right now, and aside from the table being pulled back and forth between them, they are doing really well! Emily is "cooking" and she keeps sending Bailey off to get her ingredients, which Bailey happily does. It's so cute!

Bailey is also rapidly expanding her vocabulary, or at least her understanding. Lately it's been body parts, like if you ask her where her nose is or whatever, she points to it. But my favorite is her belly. If you say, "Bailey, where is your belly?" she tickles herself! It is so cute and so funny!! She also likes to get everyone else's belly, and watch out if you have any exposed skin because she's apt to do a raspberry on it, then giggle hysterically. You can't help but laugh along.

She discovered an old photo of Mommy and Dadddy that I keep on Daddy's nightstand. It's a tiny picture, maybe 3" by 2", in a tiny frame. Well, she LOVES that picture. She ADORES it. Every day, and I mean EVERY day, she goes into my room, gets the picture, and carries it around, all the while pointing at it and yelling, "Dada! Dada!" She also likes our family picture that I have as the desktop background on our pc--she loves to point at that and yell "Dada!" as well. I try to get her to say "Mama" when she sees my picture, but I'm Dada, too. It's funny, she can say Mama, but I don't know that she ever CALLS me that.

Last night my poor baby Bailey was sick with a stomach bug that I recently had, so I was up with her from 1 until 3:30 am. She seemed to perk up a bit but I didn't want to put her back to bed until I was fairly certain the vomiting was over. So, we sat in the living room and watched this totally strange show on Noggin called "Oobi." Man do they have some weird things on at 1:30 am. But she was totally captivated, and when I turned off the tv, she kept going "Ahhhh!" and pointing at it. Then (now this is the child who is sick, remember) she goes around behind my back and yells, "UH-OH" because she wants to play "Where is Bailey?" Stinker!! I love her, love her, love her!!

This is my dog, Bolt!

I haven't featured the furriest member of our family yet: our dog, Dioji (although most of this post is really about Emily and how she plays with him). He has a funny name, or at least one that looks funny in print. His name is the word "dog" spelled out, so it sounds like Dee-oh-gee. Emmy has had a bit of a hard time with that, and she mostly calls him "Yoshi" or "Buddy" (which she gets from me, since I call him that sometimes). Sometimes she shortens "Yoshi" to "Yoj." I'm not really sure what nationality our dog is but it sounds pretty exotic.

Lately Emily has started calling Dioji "Bolt." She LOVES the Disney film, so she has decided to become Penny and our dog, therefore, becomes Bolt. She gets him to play Bolt by tempting him with one of his toys. Basically she either dangles it in his face or bops him with it until he grabs it. Once he's got it, she starts running around the house with him in tow. Our dog cannot be accused of being smart, so if you're thinking, "Why doesn't he just let go?" the answer is: because he is too dumb to think of that. So off he goes! All the while, Emily is yelling things like, "Come on, Bolt!" and "Let's go, Bolt!" When she sees me, she says, "Mommy, this is my dog, Bolt."

We assigned Emily the chore of feeding the dog, which we felt was an age-appropriate chore and also one to teach some responsibility. Well, more often than not, when I tell her to feed the dog, she runs into the room where his food and dish are, yelling, "Come on, Bolt!" Once she gets him in there, she says to him, "Are you hungry, boy? Here you go, Bolt." And then she gives him his food, one pellet at a time into his bowl (until I tell her to just dump it in there already!!). The poor dog. He's probably like, "I don't know who Bolt is but I'll eat his food if that kid would just put it in the dish already!" HAH!

As for Bailey, she just calls him "dog" which is actually a pretty close approximation of his name! She loves him and she especially loves watching him run around with her big sister.

more Disney visits

Last week I took Emmy and Bailey to Animal Kingdom by myself. We stayed about 3 hours and had fun but it was SO hot that I left before 2:00. Actually it was really good timing, or maybe God watching over us, because when I decreed that it was time to leave, we got right onto a tram, and by the time we got to our car, it had started raining. Now I don't know if this happens in other places, but sometimes in Florida, you can see the rain coming. It looks like a wall that is quickly moving towards you. Well I saw this wall headed for us when we were 4 or 5 cars away from ours, so I started running. I have automatic doors on the van so I opened them (while pushing the stroller and holding Emmy's hand!!) and as soon as we were there I tossed the kids in, ran around to the back, folded the stroller, and jumped in. Just then it started to DOWNPOUR and I mean it was torrential! But we didn't get wet!! This is just one of the MANY times so far that I am so glad we got that van! I can climb in with them and easily do their seatbelts and then climb into my seat without getting out. Plus it comes in handy for a place to sit down and eat, too!

Anyway, I told Emily I'd take her to Animal Kingdom (Daddy's not too crazy about that park) and she was really excited about it. We all rode the Triceratops Spin which is basically the Dumbo ride. The girls loved it. Then we walked around a lot. We missed Nemo--we'll have to go back to see that sometime--so we headed into the different jungle trails to see the animals. We missed the hippos somehow. I am not sure how one misses a hippo, but we did. We took the train out to the petting zoo but maybe because it was so hot all of the animals were resting in the shade, so not too much petting went on. Emily did get to pet and brush a goat and she thought that was great. Bailey just liked being able to walk around since I had to leave her stroller at the train station.

Sunday night we went to MGM with Daddy and it was fun. It wasn't too crowded but disappointingly, a lot of the attractions were closed by the time we got there. Even though the park was open until 10, some things had closed at 5 or 6:00. We tried to see the Voyage of the Little Mermaid but it broke halfway through. It was so funny, because when it stopped working, Bailey yelled, "UH-OH" but Emily said, "Mommy, that was a GOOD show!" Emily and Daddy rode the Star Wars simulator ride and she LOVED that--she said, "We went up, up, up, and then we bumped and bumped!" We also rode a Toy Story ride that I honestly never knew was even there--it is called Toy Story Midway Mania and I always thought it was just an arcade or something! But it's a fun ride with 3D effects and you control a "gun" that launches balls at the different games. The kids loved that and we enjoyed it, too. We'll go again and hope to catch everything we missed.

Emily's first haircut

Today Emily (and Mommy, too) got her hair cut. She'd never had her hair cut before. I'm proud to say she did very well. I had only the split ends trimmed off, so she still has her beautiful, long hair.

China

We just had an adorable, hilarious moment and I wanted to write it down before I forget!

Emmy just picked up the map of the US, pointed to Florida, and said, "Mommy, want to know where we live? We live here."
So I said, "Yes, we do. Do you remember what that is called?"
She thinks for a second and replies: "China."

HAH!

I wish I...

Many conversations with Emily lately begin with, "I wish I...." Some of my recent favorites:

"I wish I had a scooter like Penny. Then I could ride with Bolt!"

"I wish I had a fishing pole!"

"I wish I was in the snow and I could make some footprints!"

"I wish I could go there (somewhere she sees on TV, a movie, or in a book or magazine)!"

"I wish I could have that Ariel dress."

"I wish I could do that (she says 'dat,' meaning anything Mommy is doing)."

And the best of all... I was watching something on Food Network while folding laundry and she came out to watch, too. There happened to be a commercial for something called the Neckline Slimmer (http://www.asseenontvguys.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=111) which is used to tone up the neck and chin (and looks absolutely hilarious while it's being used, I might add). Anyway, Emily saw that, and declared, "Mommy, I wish YOU had one of those! Then YOU could go like this (moves head up and down in imitation of the model on the screen)!" LOL!!

We're going to Disney World!

Well, the McDowell family is now the proud owner of 3 Disney Annual Passes, and on Saturday, July 25, we took Bailey to Disney World for the first time. Emily had been there a few times before but she didn't remember it, so it was all very exciting for her, too. We had a great time despite the 100 degree weather (well, it might have been a little cooler than that but it sure didn't FEEL any cooler!!). Emmy rode the Barnstormer rollercoaster and Bailey rode the Dumbo ride! The kids loved It's a Small World (especially Bailey, who was fascinated) and the Winnie-the-Pooh ride as well. We missed the Tiki Room this time around but it is definitely on our list for next time--I know the girls will love that.

Just wanted to share a few fun shots from our day!

"I 'berry' sad..."

Lately whenever Emily is disappointed about something, she says, "Mommy, I berry (very) sad about..." and puts on the biggest, most heartbreaking pout you can imagine! The other day she'd asked me to buy her some gummy worms at Target, and I told her that if she behaved while we were in the store, I'd get them. Well, I forgot, and she didn't say anything until I was strapping her into the car. Then she works up her pout, puts on these HUGE puppy dog eyes, and whimpers, "Mommy, I berry sad about the wormies." I felt so bad!

All this week, it's been, "I berry sad about my bed being all white" because I changed her sheets on Monday (like I always do) but I didn't ask her which sheets she wanted (and I usually do). She only has four choices but she is a girl who knows what she wants, that is for sure! Well I happened to choose the plain white sheets but apparently she wanted the white ones with the purple flowers, and every night when I put her to bed she gives me guilt about it. I told her when we change her sheets on Monday she can choose. What a stinker!

Conversations with the girls

Lately I have been having some very interesting, funny conversations with Emily and Bailey. Here are a few memorable ones:

At Chick-Fil-A, Emily, Bailey, and I were eating dinner in silence, so I said to Emmy, "What should we talk about?" Her reply? "Hmmmm. We can talk about Twinkle [Twinkle] Little Star!"
Me: "Okay."
Emmy: "Well, Twinkle Star was up in the sky. VERY high. And then she saw a diamond! And then she played for five more minutes, and then she went home and she slept in her bed ALL NIGHT! And that's all!"
Me: "Wow!"

Bailey was eating her breakfast, a cereal bar and some of those freeze-dried yogurt bites that Gerber makes. Well apparently I didn't give her enough food because she's in her high chair yelling, "'Nack, 'nack!" So I went over there and said, "Bailey, what do you want?" She picks up a yogurt thing, holds it up to me, and says, "MUH!" (which is how she says "more"). Too cute!

After swimming one day, I asked Emily if she'd like to take a shower to wash off the chlorine. She said yes and we headed inside. Once the water warmed up, she got in the shower and said, "Mommy, you have to wait your turn in line (which she pronounces "lion"). Wait there on the blue (not sure why she said blue; nothing in the bathroom is blue) line." Hah!

Bailey doesn't say too many words, but she is very good at communicating what she wants. Last night I tried to get her to go to sleep, but she was still hungry because she didn't eat her dinner. So I'm holding her, telling her it's night-night time, and she is shaking her head no. I said, "What's the matter, Bailey? What do you want?" She points to the floor and yells, "'NACK!" I put her down and she headed to the kitchen, where she started banging on the pantry door, saying, "'nack, 'nack!" over and over.

While we were swimming, I asked Emily if she wanted to play a game. She said, "Sure. I'm Ariel, Daddy's Prince Eric, and you're the Sea Witch." :(

And my favorite of all: this morning Emily said, "I love you, Mommy. You're my big girl."

More duh-duh

Emily used to call any food that she couldn't name "duh-duh." If she didn't know what it was called, or couldn't say the name, it was "duh-duh." And she would always say, "More duh-duh!" Well, I couldn't think of a good title for this blog so there you are.

We had a fun weekend. Emmy had her class at My Gym on Saturday morning and while we were there I signed both girls up for their sibling class, which is for 1-4 year olds and focuses on building the sibling relationship through teamwork! I am very excited for them to start.

On Saturday night we went bowling with our families and friends to celebrate Will's birthday. It was lots of fun, even though I was outbowled by three 3-year-olds. :) Emily LOVED it; she keeps asking when we can go back to the "ball pit." Hah! Bailey didn't really like it but then she doesn't really like anything that involves large crowds or lots of noise. She didn't get to bowl, either.



On Sunday we had a family shopping trip and I chose some new paint colors. I want to repaint my family room, kitchen, hallway, and bedroom. I'm planning to go a little darker in the family room and also a little more "mossy" green than "minty" green. I want to do some kind of beige or tan in our room and get rid of the border, too. I think it'll give our house a good facelift since it's been almost 8 years since it was painted last!

So, that's it!

Happy birthday dear Daddy...

Yesterday was Will's birthday, so we made a special dinner of salmon and asparagus with crescent rolls and salad. Emily was a huge help in the kitchen; she made the crescents and helped with the salad, and she broke off all of the stem ends of the asparagus. After dinner we served Daddy a brownie with a scoop of ice cream and Emily and Mommy sang "Happy Birthday" while Bailey clapped. Then we had an impromptu dance party in our living room: I turned on the Kids Only music channel and we girls danced around. Emily was the instructor, saying, "Now, jump three times. Now spin around. No, not like that, Mommy. Like this!" Bailey was dancing too, exactly how SHE wanted to. It was absolutely adorable and such a nice evening. Happy birthday, Daddy!

Left foot, right foot, feet, feet, feet

Well we McDowell girls had a great day today!! We went to the park and although it was hot, hot, hot, we played for about an hour! Even Bailey was climbing all over everything (so Mommy was, too!) When we got home, the cutest thing happened: Bailey chose a book from Emily's shelf (The Foot Book, actually), came over to me, sat in my lap, handed me the book and said, "Buh!" So I read it to them (twice). It was like our own little story time.

Emmy and Bailey are really starting to interact with each other a lot more. Yesterday they had a tea party together--so cute! And today they played cars on the floor--Emily has one of those "road rugs" and they were all over it.



My friend Susan referred me to a great website that Emily LOVES--I could hardly pry her away! I am teaching her to read and it is so great for that. Here's the address in case anyone is interested: http://www.starfall.com/n/level-a/learn-to-read/load.htm?f

Will is in VA tonight and tomorrow so keep me in your thoughts (although I think I mostly have this mom thing down for now).

Things that made me smile this week

This conversation:
“Oh, no! Look, Emmy, it’s raining!”
“That’s okay, Mommy. We’re safe in the house.”
“I know, but we have to drive to the pet store.”
“Well, we’ll be safe in the car.”

Where is Bailey? Where is Emily?
I’ve been singing (to the tune “Where is Thumbkin”) “Where is Bailey? Where is Emily? Where are they? Where are they? I can’t find my Emmy; where’s my baby Bailey? Where are they? Where are they?” While I do, they both stand behind me (and dance—soooooo cute!) and then at some random point one of them will pop her head around and look at me. That’s when I act shocked to see her/them. They giggle so much that it makes me laugh every time.

Emily’s explanation of The Little Mermaid
Emily is watching The Little Mermaid in the car. Since I can’t see it while I am driving, she feels that she needs to give me a play-by-play (never mind that she has watched this movie 5287 times and I could probably recite it by now). She always says the same things at the same parts of the movie. Today was, “Mommy, Ariel has to get her voice out of her and then she gets legs and she turns to a HUMAN!”

My personal trainers
Bailey loves to climb on me whenever I get on the floor, so it really shouldn’t have surprised me that when I try to do an ab workout, she is all over me! She especially loves to sit on my tummy when I am doing crunches, or to climb on my legs when I am lifting them up so she can go for a ride. And this morning Emily joined me for the workout: “Look, Mommy, I exercising too!”

Emily’s conversation with her friend, Bella
While driving to lunch after visiting the pet store, I overheard the following conversation between Emmy and Bella:
B: “Where we going to eat?”
E: “If you eat your lunch all up, then you can play! That’s the rule!”
B: “But what we going to eat?”
E: “Bella, you eat your lunch all up, then you play! Does that sound like a [good] idea?”

And finally…
Bailey walking around the house with a plastic colander from Emmy’s kitchen in her mouth! Even funnier, she knew we were laughing at her, so she kept doing it to TRY to make us laugh!