Swimming Lessons
Monkey and Bug started their first session of regular (not Mommy & Me) swimming lessons this week. I'd been really talking it up and we visited the pool (to tour and watch, not to play) where they take place last Saturday, so they'd at least be familiar with the space. Despite excitment leading up to it, Day 1 did not go well (cue Monkey's total meltdown poolside when the teacher arrived). They had barely gotten their toes wet as they huddled together about as far from the teacher as she would let them get. I've been very impressed by the lifeguard staff who would sit to talk with the girls to help them warm up to the idea and do things like bring them security objects--diving rings, floaty noodles, and rubber ducks--to play with. One lifeguard even jumped in to help with the reluctant swimmers (one little boy in addition to my girls). By the end of Day 4, they let the teacher tie a floaty around them and help them kick around the pool! Bug proudly informed me that she even got her hair wet. I'm excited about what improvements next weeks lessons will bring, and how they'll do in our neighborhood pool.

So Busy!
In addition to swimming lessons, this has been an extremely busy week. Here's the day-by-day rundown:

Sunday: We went to Sunday school and worship as usual at our new church. The entourage and I continue to enjoy it, and we're excited about bringing Daddy with us when he comes home. Monkey and Bug even received compliments about their good behavior during "big church," where they sit with me for 15 or 20 minutes before leaving for children's church. That night we were invited to a cookout with members of a Sunday school class I visited that day. We all had a great time getting to know some new friends.

Monday: After their first swimming lesson they asked if we could go to the library to "just chill and read books." We had a lovely, quiet time sitting at one of the little tables reading books that Goose brought us. I wrote down what we read, and we almost finished our summer reading program assignment of 35 books! That evening we headed to the Y, so I could attend a pilates class, and they all got to play in their classes.

Tuesday: We followed up swimming with another trip to the Y. Goose was excited, because on Tuesday our neighbors LA and H are in her class while Miss N and Miss J come to spin class with me. Monkey and Bug are a little jealous, but they're too old to play in the toddler class. That afternoon the girls and I celebrate Daddy's and my wedding anniversary by baking chocolate chip cookies. (That morning I showed the the card and present that Daddy hid for me before he left and told them how he sent me a note to tell me where to find it. This just a few days after he set up an Edible Arrangement to be delivered as a belated Mother's Day gift [we were out of town on the day].These girls are going to have very high expectations for their future husbands!) That evening we joined the neighborhood crew (four families this time) for a bounce house playdate at LA's house.

Wednesday: After swimming, we went to our little branch library for the first summer storytime (we skip the school year storytimes in favor of the homeschool playgroup which is on summer break now). We got to see lots of familiar faces, including the new friends that we made at the library party on Saturday, and we came home with these books:
Zin! Zin! Zin! A Violin!
Jabuti (South American folk tale)
ABC
Miss Bindergarten Plans a Circus with Kindergarten
Let's Say Hi to Friends Who Fly

Thursday: Our new friends (Miss K and her boys, N (3 years) and G (20 mos.) came over for a playdate after swimming. I think all the busyness of the week was getting to Bug; she informed me before they arrived that she didn't want to play with friends and she didn't think she could handle sharing. I was very proud of her for being self-aware enough to realize that, and she found fun things to do while they were here anyway (sitting in my lap while Miss K and I chatted, retreating to the landing of the stairs with her bear where she could still watch everybody, and making a bracelet at the kitchen table away from the other kids). Monkey and N hit it off immediately. Within 10 minutes of walking through the door they were animatedly discussing how best to fight off monsters with their light sabers, and Monkey was cheerfully showing off her trucks and showing him the best ways to get to the top of the climb-and-slide. Miss K and I were thrilled to discover that we really are running our households and raising our kids in remarkably similar ways. Since they're only a few minutes away, I think we'll be seeing a lot of them! That evening the girls said they wanted to go somewhere, so I packed up our dinner and we headed to a new playground for a picnic. The girls didn't eat a whole lot, but that playground is really cool! Goose's new favorite word is now "Climb!" Despite the late hour, it was still really hot outside, so we decided to stop and splurge for ice cream for their bedtime snack.

These were not the most exciting parts of the playground,
but these were definitely the best photos I managed to get. These girls are fast!

Friday: No swimming lessons today, so we just had our usual trip to the Y, followed by grocery shopping. Goose got to sit in the car part of the cart at the front for the first time. She handled it beautifully. When we got home we pulled in at the same time as Miss N and LA along with some friends of theirs and they invited us for a bounce house playdate. Miss N and I pooled our leftovers to feed everybody and the kids had a great time.

Saturday: I decided to try something new today and stay home all day! I informed the girls of "the plan," and they were thrilled. They spent most of the day playing relatively quietly. Our only real excitement was going for a walk in the neighborhood and finding things to start our "collection." We filled a tupperware container with pinecones, magnolia leaves, a sparkly rock, a smooth piece of wood, and several dandelions. At home I set the girls up with their magnifying glass and handheld microscope, and spent the next 20 minutes or so listening to a chorus of "whoa!" "cool!" etc.

Pretend Play
Monkey and Bug's pretend play continues to get more complex. It involves actual storylines now (usually a cycle of bad guys attacking someone who is then rescued only to be attacked again). The really new piece is how they've incorporated external thing into their play. When Goose started destroying the series of roads, tunnels, and bridges they built, instead of getting upset, they simply declared her the "bad guy" and started rebuilding and coming up with defensive measures. Saturday morning when I turned on our iTunes Instrumental library to listen to while we worked/played, they started taking their cues from the music as to what should happen next, and even asked me replay songs that had obvious cycles of ominous then triumphant sounding sections.

However, my favorite pretend play moments of the week were the following: Bug requested that I make her a construction paper crown. Initially I wondered if this was the start of what I hear is the inevitable preschool girl obsession with princesses. Far from it! She carefully placed the crown on her head, stood on the couch, raised her arms, and declared, "I AM THE QUEEN OF EVERYTHING!" Who needs to be a frilly princess when you can have cosmic powers, right? (A few days later she walked into the room wearing the crown, and I asked her an unrelated question. She answered me, then politely requested that I address her "Queen of All." Well, of course, your majesty.) Monkey meanwhile was pretending to be a hunter. She gathered up a bunch of empty paper towel rolls which she explained was her gun collection and went off in search of animals. I don't think she ever "shot" anything, but she invited the Queen of Everything to join her, and they had a grand time.

The Queen at her computer.
Monkey requested a pink crown, but it didn't last long after this picture was taken.
She requires far more durable accessories.

Math Games
Monkey and Bug invented a couple of new math games to entertain themselves. The first involves asking me at random times to count up to a certain number that they name. I have agreed to count up to anything below 20, and they've been greatly impressed by my skills at getting all the teens in the right order (this may be the only time I ever impress anyone with my math skills so I'm enjoying it while I can). The second game involves adding up different groups of people on their fingers. For example: They say, "There are four of us girls. When Daddy comes home, how many people will we be?" We count them up. "Ok, if Daddy's home and we go to Nana and Papa Bear's house, then how many people will we be?" This continues with increasing complexity to include any friends and neighbors whose names they know. At some point we added up quite a list, and Bug exclaimed, "Wow, that would be a very exciting party!"

Hooray for Family!
I realized yesterday that I forgot to write a post last week. My weeks kind of ran together since we spent my usual writing day on the road to my folks house. Which, in fact, brings me to the theme of the past two weeks: Extended family visits!

Nana arrived Sunday, May 6, and gave me a long much-needed break about a month into Daddy's "big trip." I don't think I cooked a single meal in the three days she was here, I had another adult around the house to help and talk to, and I think I totalled about eight hours out of the house without the entourage! The girls had a grand time hanging out with Nana, playing, reading books, playing games, and of course shopping. The highlight of one outing was the entourage getting to play on the quarter-fed vehicles in the mall (and unlike Mommy, Nana actually has quarters!). Their favorite: a simple, simulated roller coaster ride. Monkey was the brave one who tried the moving vehicles first and showed Bug how much fun it was. The other highlight of the visit for the girls was that Nana arrived with new books and accompanying buddies for each girl: Ladybug Girl for Bug, Cheeky Monkey for Monkey, and Duck & Goose for Goose.

Nana drove away in time to give us a day or two to prepare to hit the road for our own "big trip" to Grandma and Granddad's house--Uncle N, Aunt E, and Aunt A were also home. (The entourage are great travellers, which is fantastic because I see lots of road trips in our long-term future. Car trip only toys, movies, and snacks kept them happily occupied.) We were there nearly a week and had a lovely time. We visited the zoo. Highlights included: a great merecat exhibit, a turkey who was really into our wagon (he followed us around all puffed up and showing off), a peacock showing off his tail, howler monkeys, goats (the girls actually touched them this time! I think that might be a first), and tigers who were being very cooperative and visible. We also spent some time in the neighboring science center to check out the dinosaur exhibit and kiddie section, which the girls loved. They were most into the animal- and grocery shopping-related pretend play. Other highlights of the trip included going to church with the family (where Grandma stayed in the nursery to be the helper teacher since the arrival of the entourage doubled the typical size of the preschool class), visiting the local butterfly house (lots of butterflies, caterpillars, and chysalises to watch and we even spotted the elusive resident turtle), visiting Grandad at work and getting to see the mural with all the animals, listening to Uncle N's school band play a few songs at the end-of-year concert (it was bedtime; Monkey and Bug were interested, but Goose had had enough), and last, but not least--in fact probably their favorite event--hiking the trails in Grandma and Granddad's woods. We got to walk through a "jungle" (pawpaw grove) to see a little waterfall in the creek, find Jesus bugs and salamanders farther downstream (Goose was particularly into turning over rocks to find critters), hike to the old swimming hole in the river, see two turtles (a very brave baby one and a larger bright orange one), and admire an impressive spider web or two. Later that afternoon Granddad also took the girls around to the birdhouses to see the baby birds. All three girls are getting braver about Grandma and Granddad's dog too. This visit they were playing fetch, chasing her around the yard, and even trying to give her commands. Of course, they also spent lots of time playing on the playset outside, playing with the Little People town, playing Aunt E's baby grand piano (all three of them at the same time frequently while singing at the top of their lungs), and playing with all the bigger toys in the basement (kitchen, playhouse, bouncy horse, etc.). And I loved that they got to do all these cool things with lots of extra adults around to help!

Top: Dancing in Aunt K's old costumes
Middle (L to R): Chillin' with the merecats at the zoo, feeding geese after our picnic, petting the goats
Bottom: fascinated by the goldfish pond in the butterfly house 

Mother's Day
Daddy may not have been on hand to organize things (he sent an email, and an ecard, and an Edible Arrangement), but the entourage still recognized the day--even if unintentially. For example, when I woke up that morning, I could hear Bug trying to keep Goose quiet and checking on Monkey. When she heard me stirring in the bathroom, she peeked her head in and whispered, "Did you get a few extra minutes, Mommy?" They made special cards for me in Sunday school, and that afternoon they picked wildflowers from Grandma and Granddad's backyard for me. Even Goose participated, though she failed to bring the stems with her--just the flowers clenched her tight little fist. Made me smile!

Emotional Maturity
In Daddy's absence, it's become obvious who has the emotional maturity to keep this household running smoothly, and it isn't always Mommy. Bug has proved herself a Godsend in helping me keep it together. The first occasion was a real calling out, and provided the incentive I needed to beg a neighbor's help in giving me a break. Imagine Bug, hands on hips, admonishing me sternly, "Mommy, we do not have meltdowns. We do not scream. Take deep breaths. You need to apologize to [Monkey]." Fortunately, Bug herself was behaving perfectly, and I did as told instead of lashing out at Bug--an entirely possible outcome. (This had to be the most humbling experience of motherhood so far.) Since then she's become an expert at noticing my "tells" and appearing at my elbow to whisper, "Mommy, you need to stay calm." Just the reminder I need to take a deep breath and dig for those extra reserves of patience. It has at least been an affirmation that all the things I'm trying to teach them about how to handle themselves are actually sinking in--even if I don't always succeed in following my own advice.

On a related note, Bug recently made known that she was tired of sitting in the middle carseat and having to do things like help Goose and distribute snacks. I told her that she and Monkey were welcome to trade carseats, but that they both had to agree to it--I wasn't going to force anybody to move. And that was the last thing I said on the matter. The two of them worked out a compromise: Bug would sit in the middle for short trips, and Monkey would sit in the middle for long trips when that position requires more responsibility. They have since successfully negotiated who sits where every time we get in the car without any referreeing from me! It's been a couple of weeks since they started this, and I am still a little in shock about how well they've handled it all on their own.

Library Party!
The entourage and I headed to the library today for the kick off of the summer reading program. It was a perfect sunny day for it. The librarians had sidewalk chalk and crafts to do, a free hot dog lunch, and of course picking up our summer reading packets and the usual checking out of books. We came home with:
The Doorbell Rang
If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
The Barn Party
George and Marth: Round and Round
Fiesta Babies
This Is the House that Jack Built
While the entourage was oblivious, my favorite part of the morning was striking up a conversation with a fellow Christian, military wife, and homeschool mom who has a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old, who just moved into a house maybe three minutes from us. I see playdates in our future!

Zoo Day
Beyond a doubt Monday was our favorite day this week. I decided to venture to the zoo with the just the entourage and I, and it was a huge success. The zoo was a lot less crowded this time, so the entourage actually got to see more animals and to see less of the backs of people's heads or knees. We got an earlier start this time around, so we also made it into the fish and reptile house--very popular! Some highlights of the day: getting face-to-face (through the glass) with a 6lb. bright blue pigeon (exciting because Pigeon is one of our favorite book characters), getting to see the zoo's two gorillas up close (they were napping right by the glass and we had the gorilla house to ourselves), watching a baby baboon wrestling and chasing with his parents, playing on the bronze animal sculptures scattered throughout the zoo, noting that the zoo had lots of billy goats with a bridge but no troll, and seeing lots of fish/sharks/rays like in Finding Nemo.


Enjoying the real animals



Enjoying pretend animals

Projects
At some point this week Bug requested that I come up with a project for her--something more complex than her usual throwing paint around. Here is what we came up with:

Cotton ball clouds + raindrops from hole-punched aluminum foil + a construction paper person with umbrella built from shapes (Bug told me what shapes to cut out and she took it from there).
They also wanted to do something with tissue paper, so we made butterflies (tissue paper strips + wooden clothespin).

Art in the Park
This Saturday the girls and I attended the annual arts festival at the park beside the "big library," and it proved a great low-stress way to take in the arts with the entourage. We started the morning by watching the county ballet company perform in the amphitheater (the girls didn't have to be still or quiet--particularly good since Bug asked completely appropriate questions throughout and Goose just wanted to run back and forth on the grass). Then we perused the artists booths. There were a number of kids arts and crafts activities available, but the entourage was more interested in seeing all the local artists, which suited me just fine (paintings, pottery, wood carving, etc.). We did stop to acquire some balloon creations from a local radio station, though (We came home with a purple dog and a pink sword. Anybody want to guess who requested what?) The big event at this festival is the chalk art contest. A Star Wars drawing done by a high school artist was definitely the entourage's favorite entry. The festival also designated a section of pavement for the preschoolers to have a chalk art free-for-all, which all three girls loved. And of course, we couldn't leave without playing on the playground for a bit.

Bible Verses
Monkey and Bug seem to have mastered their first verse, so I added a new one this week: Be kind to one another (Eph. 4:32). Bug was very excited when she discovered the new "special verse card" up on the fridge one morning and insisted we sit down, talk about it, and learn it immediately. They both enjoy going over the verses everydat before naptime, but in very different ways: Monkey wants to sit in my lap, snuggle up, and chant or sing them softly with me, while Bug is incredibly proud of the fact that she can stand up and say them all by herself. Goose just picks up on the happiness of her sisters and cheers from the sidelines. One of my favorite moments of the day.

Classical Music
I forgot to mention this last week, but I added a new CD to our rotation in the car. The girls and I have been enjoying Dvorak, particularly his Slavic Dances.

Pool Time
Our neighborhood pool isn't open  yet, but it is HOT. So the girls put on their bathingsuits and went swimming in the bathtubs and in the kiddie pool.

Library Day
Monkey and Bug requested that we go to the big library again this week. They were even ready to leave early, so I agreed (it's a bit farther away, and there's a playground we can visit before the library opens). We didn't actually stay in either location very long though. The playground was getting overrun with playdate group, and the girls decided they weren't up for that much competition for the slides. Then in the library Goose started getting tired and decided the best way to keep herself awake was to start pulling books off the shelf and throwing them. We cut that visit short, especially since she managed to nail Bug with one. We did, however, still come home with these books:
The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Alphabet City
What's Your Sound Hound the Hound?
Velveteen Rabbit (The girls declared that it didn't have enough pictures, so we may or may not make it through this one.)
Brownie and Pearl Step Out
Arbor Day

Sometimes you just need to pull every book off the shelf and read them all.

[This belated blog post brought to you by uncooperative photos. I had a couple more pics I wanted to share, but I finally gave up.]

Alice in Wonderland

A while back Nana gave the girls several Disney books, and the favorite hands down has been Alice in Wonderland. I ordered the actual movie from Netflix, and we had a pizza and movie night. All three girls were enthralled! Even Goose actually watched most of the movie. Partway through I had to give them a spoiler though. Bug was really concerned about how Alice was going to get home. She loved the idea that it was just a silly dream. We had a number of conversations afterwards in which the girls listed things in the movie that "don't usually, really happen." Since then, Alice and commpany have found their way our everyday lives. Perhaps the most amusing incident was Monkey racing across the house, waving her arms and yelling, "I'm late! I'm late!" before settling onto the potty. A couple of times I've found them dancing around their climb 'n slide singing "We're painting the roses red!" Bug pointed out that the Brown Bear, Brown Bear book has a purple cat just like the Cheshire cat ("only he doesn't have stripes, and he doesn't disappear"). Toward the end of this week we went to a McDonald's that featured a huge twisty slide. Monkey and Bug emerged from the bottom bursting with excitement: "We fell down, down, down, and our shirts bloomed out like Alice's dress!" They spent most of the time there "playing Alice" and going down the rabbit hole. For the evening's purposes they also decided that Goose was Dinah (Alice's kitten--it makes sense: they're both small, mostly nonverbal, and unable to follow Alice down the rabbit hole).

Finger Painting

We made finger paints this week (flour + water + food coloring). This was a brilliant idea I found online somewhere. Not only did the girls love making their own paints, but it's cheap, easy, and edible--that's the preschooler activity trifecta, folks!

Emerging Social Skills
My little introverts faced several socially challenging situations this week, and they handled them all gracefully (over the past couple of months interactions with new, if very friendly people, have resulted in total meltdowns.) We've been having lots of discussions lately about appropriate responses to new people: We do not fall to the ground and start screaming. It's nice to say hi and tell them our names if they ask--that's how we make friends. If they're not up for talking, they can hide behind my legs if I'm there, and simply walk away if I'm not. This week when we had this discussion before attending an event, Monkey noted that we could also remember our special verse (Ps. 56:3), and God would help us be brave. Talk about a proud Mommy moment! The first event was a birthday party--a rained-out pool party, which means about 50 people (mostly under the age of 3) crammed themselves into a little 3-bedroom apartment. Monkey and Bug managed to make their way out onto the relatively quiet balcony several times during the party. They didn't actually try to play with anyone, but we had not a single meltdown! Then Sunday we visited a new church. Not only were there no meltdowns, but they both introduced themselves properly to several new people. We attended another birthday party today (Saturday). This one was mostly people they knew, but Monkey informed me ahead of time that she didn't want to talk to or play with anyone. She stayed within arm's reach for a long while; we had a few iffy moments, but she kept her cool, and dashed off to play outside as soon as her best buddy LA arrived.

Tent

When the girl's beach tent kept blowing over in the backyard,
we pulled out a big sheet and made the climbing dome into a tent.

For-the-Car Toys
Since Daddy's been gone, I've been working on a collection of toys that the girls can only play with in the car. We have road trips planned for this summer, and the church we're looking at attending is a bit farther away. I'm hoping it'll save me having to listen to the whining, and make it for happier car rides for them too. I bought magnadoodles, which have already been keeping them entertained on shorter trips. I also bought 3 small cookie sheets, which are perfect for magnet-based play, in this case puzzle cards (line up two or three to build words and/or form pictures) and a set of roads and tiny cars. I have more magnet activities in mind, but this is what I've gotten done so far. I also punched holes in several sets of flashcards and strung them on binder rings for the girls to look at.

Library Day
The girls asked to go to "big library" this week, and we had lots of fun--especially since storytime is on a hiatus. There were only a few kids, so the girls could have a little more freedom and no competition for the favorite toys (puppets and oversized checkers). They even made friends with another three-year-old roaming the children's section (more positive social interactions!) She sat down with them at the checkers table and Monkey and Bug cheerfully handed her a stack of checkers, so she could build too. They don't really get competition yet, so I haven't bothered attempting to explain the game. We came home with these books:
Pigeon Wants a Puppy
To Market Street (alphabet book with really neat illustrations--people made out of objects beginning with each letter)
1 is One
Bartholomew and the Oobleck
King Bidgood's in the Bathtub! (Interesting, both this and the previous book are about kings behaving badly and the page boys who solve the problem. Monkey and Bug distinguish between books by referring to the "naked king" and the "king with clothes.")
Elsie's Bird
Prehistoric Life Size (full of life size illustrations of dinosaurs--or parts of them. We've watched some episodes of dinosaur train lately, so the girls thought this book was awesome.)

Moments:

• A fire truck came down our street! No emergency, so I'm not sure why they were there, but the driver was kind enough to turn on his lights when he spotted three excited preschoolers.
• Bug "teaching" me colors when I joined her in doing coloring sheets (I'm colorblind--all crayons look brown to me once the papers come off, and I needed her help finding colors.)
• Monkey and Bug successfully cooking a sidedish for dinner tonight. They made roasted asparagus (spread out asparagus, "paint" on the olive oil, sprinkle on the seasonings). All I had to do was put them in the oven, and they disappeared quick once they came out!