The Chatter: Gymnastics

It's Friday!

Grandma and Papa are leaving today (insert sad face).

I'm seeing Les Miserables tonight {prounced: lay mizerabLUH} (insert winky face).

And Friday is also gymnastics day for Maia.

(Ruby is napping right now, so we'll just hear from Maia this week)

So, in honor of our Friday schedule, today's topic is: GYMNASTICS!

What day do you go to gymnastics?
Friday

Do you like going to gymnastics?
Yes

What do you do at gymnastics?
Forward rolls.

Anything else?
Somersaults.

Anything else?
Um, my teachers.

What are you teachers' names?
Christy and Miranda

Can you tell me how you do a bear walk? Can you just tell me and not show me?
You go on your hands and feet.

On the ground?
Mmm hmm.

And what do you do?
You put your feet up or you walk regular, like this. Walking forward, like doing this.

With your hands and feet?
Mmm hmm.

What kind of clothes do you need to wear to gymnastics?
My leotard.

How do you spell gymnastics?
J.

Then what?
I don't know. Can you help me?

(I proceed to make the sounds and she tells me the letters. When she says gymnastics, she pronounces it "gymastics")

What is your favorite part of gymnastics?
The trampoline and the pit.

What is the trampoline?
It's something you jump on, can you please get me a toothpick? A red one?

Ok, but first answer my question. What's the pit?
It's where there are lots of blocks and this morning Lizzie found a little hole at the end of the pit. Yeah, and there was an end, and there was act- and she found the end of the pit actually.

She did? Did she fall through?
No

What does the end of the pit look like?
It's in a dark hole where you can't go.

Wow, exciting. Ok, toothpick time?
Yeah.

Happy weekend y'all!

Summertime

Summertime happenings are in full swing at the Sternfeld-Dunn house.

We've checked a few things off our summer bucket list (Austin trip, movie night, swim lessons) 

and are working on a few more (potty training, reading).

My mom and dad are visiting and we are soaking up as much of their loveliness as we can.

We're just starting to step into the heat that Kansas summers bring.

Despite school being out of session, we've been busier than ever.

There's just so much to DO. (I hope you read that in Julia Child's voice)

Each day brings some sort of new adventure.

And we're drinking in as much as we can.

The Chatter: Princesses

Today I found termites on a step leading to our house from the garage.

I feel like I'm admitting that I have an STD or something.

I was in full panic mode several hours ago, but I think it's going to be ok.

Seriously though, owning a house is no joke.

The other day Maia dropped the stopper from her piggy bank into the actual bank part. She was very distraught and tried to find a way to get it out. 

She got some markers out and stacked them together to form a long stick.

I asked her what she was doing and she said she was making a solution.

With that incident in the back of my mind, I thought today's Chatter could be about problems.

The girls weren't impressed.

I asked them what they wanted to talk about and they said, "princesses."

This blogger sums up how I feel about princesses.

With a sigh I obliged.

(Over the weeks I'm going to continue to develop my interview questions, they're a little bland.)

Also, my girls have not watched any princess movies. Anything they know about princesses so far has come from books and/or Aleks and I telling them what we remember.

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RUBY
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Tangled

What is a princess?
Um, Tangled!

Tangled is a princess? What else is a princess?
Rapunzel!

Who is your favorite princess?
Tangled!

What color dress does she wear?
Purple

Can you tell me about her story?
She combs her hair. And she cleans up her room.

What else?
I don't know!

Do you think princess are smart?
Yes

Do you think princesses are pretty?
*nods*

If you could be a princess, which one would you want to be?
Tangled!

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MAIA
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Um, a princess.


What is a princess?
A girl.

Anything else?
No

Who is your favorite princess?
Rapunzel

What color dress does she wear?
Purple

Can you tell me about her story?
She gets trapped in a tower. Then she's happy when she gets down.

How does she get down?
She uses her hair.

Do you think princess are smart?
Yes

Do you think princesses are pretty?
Yes

If you could be a princess, which one would you want to be?

Tangled

(Ruby: "No! I'm Tangled")

Oh right, I mean Rapunzel

Happy Friday everyone! I hope it's filled with lots of fun Chatter.

Big Day

I should have known today would be special when Maia walked into our room at 7:00, crawled into bed with me and promptly fell asleep.

She's usually up and at 'em by 6:30 at the latest.

Speaking of my eldest daughter, Maia is finally big enough for a booster and we were all soooo excited.

Ruby really wanted to use the big seatbelt too.

At the chiropractor this morning, unprompted, Maia said that she wanted to get on the table after Mommy.

So, Maia had her first adjustment. 

She seemed to like it and was giggly and energetic afterward.

I took these photos later when she was supposed to be having quiet time.

It started out innocently enough...

Then Daddy and I were trying to talk schedules as I headed out the door to work...

Forget the chiropractor, this girl is like Gumby.

(Anyone remember Gumby? Anyone under 30???)

Meanwhile, Ruby was napping in her crib, but wasn't wearing a diaper.

Why? You might ask.

Because, today we bought her princess underwear and she immediately went pee in the potty.

 Now, she did pee in her bed after nap time, but hey, I'm pretty impressed.

Here's the difference with the first kid and the last kid.

First kid: 

-I thought she needed to be potty trained at 17 months. 

-I would spend 2 hours sitting with her on the potty, waiting for her to go. 

-We bought huge bags of potty prizes. 

-It was super stressful and traumatizing for all of us.

Second kid: 

-We're at the grocery store and Maia says she needs to go potty too. Ruby chimes in that she wants to go potty. I tell Ruby "no, you're wearing a diaper, just go in your diaper." 

-I've put off potty training as long as possible. 

-The first time Ruby went in the potty was because Maia took her.

Ha!

Seriously, it's fun to see how proud Ruby is of herself and how proud Maia is of Ruby. Maia keeps saying, "yep, my younger sister is potty trained!"

And I'll leave you with this oldie, but goodie picture so that pee isn't the last thing you see.

You're welcome.

The Chatter: Fathers

Here is the first interview of my new series, The Chatter.

The topic today is Fathers, in honor of Father's Day on Sunday.

I interviewed Ruby first, over the breakfast table.

Who is your Daddy?
R: Aleks

What does he look like?
R: looooong pause. Daddy

How old is Daddy?
R: um, This *shows me 4 fingers*

What does Daddy do for work?
R: um, does triathlon

What is Daddy's favorite thing to eat?
R: um, fruit loops?

What is Daddy's favorite thing to do?
R: um, play with animales (note the Spanish pronunciation of animals)

What does Daddy say?
R: no.... bedtime! (with a huge smile)

What do you like best about Daddy?
R: A hug. I like Daddy to go.
Me: Go where?
R: Go to a triathlon.

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And then it was Maia's turn.

Who is your Daddy?
M: I want to do you!
Me: no we're doing Daddy today
M: *starts crying* I want to do you! I don't want to do Daddy!
Me: This interview is all about Daddy because it's Father's Day on Sunday.
M: What about Mother's Day?
Me: We'll do Mother's Day in May.
M: ok. *clears throat*
Who is your Daddy?
M: Aleks

What does he look like?
M: *points to Ruby*

How old is Daddy?
M: um, 32

What does Daddy do for work?
M: um, um, teaches students how to read

What is Daddy's favorite thing to eat?
M: um, graham crackers

What is Daddy's favorite thing to do?
M: um, play princess

What does a Daddy say?
M: Hello, I'm Daddy! (in a Daddy voice)

What do you like best about Daddy?
M: Nothing. Acutally, the problem is that Dads are boys and I just don't like boys.
Me: Well, Maia, Daddy is not a boy, he's a Daddy.
M: He IS.
Me: Can you think of one things you like about Daddy, please.
M: um, his hair.

The Chatter

I've decided to start a new series on my blog called The Chatter.

Each week I will interview my kids on a specific topic and post the transcription here.

I have high hopes that it will be entertaining and at times surprise us with insight.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's first edition.
Topic: Fathers

Busy week

Aleks has been gone this weekend.

Last weekend he had what I call a procedure and he calls an operation.

One of the differences between boys and girls.

The weekend before that he did the CapTex triathlon.

I'm tired.

Anyway, this weekend Aleks has been in the Bay Area, (where its been super hot, a small consolation) and the girls and I have been enjoying the mild Wichita weather.

I always get a bit down when Aleks leaves us.

I suppose it's a good sign that our lives have been successfully melted together after these past 10 years.

So, to combat the blues the girls and I have been staying busy.

Both girls had swim lessons and gymnastics.

(here's my biggest girl on her back, eyes tightly closed)

We celebrated National Donut Day.

Maia and Ruby had pink donuts with "sprinklers."

I finished making 4 Christmas gifts.

Well, I should clarify, I've sewed 4 gifts. 

That I'm planning ahead is nothing to scoff at, but the true miracle lies in the fact that I've made several things that are really (and I mean REALLY) cute.

With my sewing machine, nonetheless.

We had a small birthday party for our sweet friend who turned 1.

We met up with some of Maia's school friends for a play date.

It's the first time she's seen them since school ended and Maia ran, squealing, to each friend as they arrived at the park.

I re-caulked our shower.

The most stressful part of this process was getting the old caulk off and being sure it was clean and dry. I'm not sure how great of a job I did, but now I know how to do it, so I suppose I can just rip the old stuff off and try again.

(In fact, since starting this post, I've looked at it and I think I need to start over)

I've been cooking and washing A LOT of dishes.

Aleks and I are making a concentrated effort to eat dinner with our girls this summer. In the past, they've gone to bed so early that Aleks and I would eat after they were asleep.

Which means that it was really easy to make food I knew the girls (Maia) would eat. And consequently, I wasn't trying too hard to get Maia to try new foods.

It's a slow process, but she's been eating a larger variety now, thanks to innovative techniques, such as using toothpicks to eat blueberries.

And there have been a few moments of peace and quiet.

So, Aleks gets home late tonight and we can't wait!