Do as I say, not as I do!

So tonight as Nate was reading the kids their bedtime story, I was doing something that I constantly tell them not to do: I was standing on their plastic picnic table while I was trying to plaster up some holes so I could paint tomorrow. I was trying to hurry, because Sean was screaming his head off, so I jumped up on the table instead of getting a stool. Well, the kids found out first hand why I tell them not to stand on the table: it collapsed under me. Of course, I weigh about four times as much as them, but details, details. Bethany told me, "Mommy, you shouldn't get on the table, you broke it." I had to take Sean out to feed him and put him to bed, but Nate told me that when it was time for songs, Meagan requested "The broken table song." When Nate told her he didn't know that song, she said in a sing-songy voice, "The table is broken, the table is broken", or something similar. I'm never going to live this one down. I'm sure that a year from now, Bethany will be reminding me about the time that I broke the table. (Just the other day, she brought up the time I was gone overnight--I was in the hospital when Sean was born--and how she didn't like it. It was almost a year ago, sheesh!) I did manage to put the table back together--it has just popped apart--but it is a lot wobblier than before. I'm wonder what the kids will have to say about that.

Sean's first steps

Sean took his first unassisted steps today. It's just been over the past week that he's started standing alone, so I was surprised that he's started walking already. I guess I shouldn't have been, though, since he's been walking along the edge of the couch and behind his scooter for several weeks now. But once he started stepping out alone, it was like a light clicked or something, because I saw him doing it all day.

Farm with Old Donald

Meagan's current favorite song we sing at night is "Farm with Old Donald", i.e. "Old McDonald Had a Farm." Old McDonald has had some pretty interesting animals on his farm lately, too. Most often he has "a mommy pink horse and a daddy pink horse", and yes, we say all of that, sometimes with a baby thrown in as well. Bethany will branch out with a red or green mommy horse. Then the other night Meagan wanted "a different kind of mommy pink horse" and we had to say that whole phrase, too. Tonight took the cake, though, when she wanted "a green teddy bear". I just looked at her and asked, "And what does a green teddy say?" She lifted her little fist in the air and with a punching motion said, "Mirn, mirn!" So tonight, the Farm with Old Donald had a green teddy bear on his farm, with a "mirn, mirn" here and a "mirn, mirn" there, everywhere a "mirn, mirn!" I wonder what we'll sing about tomorrow night.

7 Feb update: Nate said that the other night Meagan requested Old Donald had a "picture of a pink teddy bear." I wonder what she'll come up with next.

25 Feb update: Tonight Meagan said Old Donald had a "pink backpack" on his farm. Why? "Because it's my favorite thing!" she said. I asked what a pink backpack says, and she said, "Nothing." So, Old Donald had a pink backpack, EIEIO, with a {pause} here, and a {pause} there. Here a {pause}, there a {pause}, everywhere a {pause}....

1 March update: Now Old Donald has people on his farm, who talk, talk here and talk, talk there. I wonder if Old Donald puts them out to pasture, or what?

12 March: The two latest additions to Old Donald's farm are a snowman (who said some made-up word that I can't remember), and Sean. Old Donald's farm is turning into quite the menagerie.

16 March: Now Meagan wants Old Donald to have a car. When asked what a car says, she said, "Talk, talk." I asked, "What about vroom, vroom." "No, it says, 'talk, talk' ".

20 March: I bought the girls balloons today, so of course that was what Old Donald had on his farm tonight, only both girls wanted that this time.

It's soccer time!

We've decided to enroll the girls in a winter indoor soccer league at a local YMCA (Meagan calls it the YCMA, and no one can convince her other wise). Since they can't go out to play, I thought this would be a good way for them to get some exercise, and have interaction with other kids their age, as well as learning to listen to other adults. Those are the goals, anyway. Today was a 'meet your coaches' day, as well as an introduction to basic drills. We've seen people playing soccer a few times at parks over the summer, and it was all I could do to keep Bethany off the field, and not mess up the game, so I'm hoping she'll really like it.

They are in two separate leagues, split up by ages. Meagan's is age 3-4 and Bethany is age 5-6. It seems awfully young to me, but I actually found a lot of 3-year-old leagues. Soccer is a serious sport around here.

Bethany and some of her teammates. Out of the nine of them, Bethany and one other boy are the only ones who have never played before. Soccer starts young out here.

Lining up on the wall for a drill.

It looks like a free-for-all, but there was method behind the madness.

I had a hard time finding gym shorts for Meagan. These are actually some boys' shorts that were given to me. Believe it or not, they're labeled size 18 months. Meagan is also modeling her shin guards. Shorts and shin guards and decent shoes were the only dress requirements. The shin guards are built into some socks, so they're easy to get on and keep on. Unfortunately, the sock portion is too big for Meagan, with about twice as much material as she needs for her feet. I'm looking for alternatives. Today, they also got t-shirts in their team's color (white for Bethany and green for Meagan), with their names across the back. They'll wear those for their first game next Saturday.

Meagan getting ready to kick the ball.

Meagan's team chasing the ball.

Sean amused himself by getting into the cones they used in the drills.

Partway through Meagan's drills (they were at different times), Bethany got bored, so I gave her my camera and she went out and took pictures with Nate. The rest of the pictures were taken by her.

Nate and Sean walking down the hallway at the YMCA.

Bethany was fascinated with the scoreboard. She really loves numbers, so she especially loved watching them go backwards. Sometimes it was hard getting her to pay attention to the soccer ball, because she kept staring at the scoreboard. So it figures that she'd want to go get a picture of it.

Nate giving Meagan a little encouragement.

The drinking fountain? No idea why she wanted a picture of this.

Meagan's coach's wife, who ran things today since her regular coach was out of town. All the coaches are volunteers.

Bethany's bus

In spite of the rocky start, Bethany has come to love her bus rides. Every day when the bus pulls up in front of the house, she runs out to it and happily climbs on board. She watches out the window as the bus pulls away, and waves goodbye. I'm so glad she loves it so much.

Walking the dog

Meagan keeps pretending that she is a dog. She ties her snake around her waste, and wants us to 'take her for a walk'. The other day she decided Sean could do it just as well as us, so she gave him the end of the snake and he crawls along behind her, both of them having a blast.

Green Eggs and Ham

So Bethany's really been into Dr. Suess books lately, and her current favorite is Green Eggs and Ham. We read it just about every night before bed, and Bethany has a good chunk of it memorized. Then one night she started saying, "I didn't got any green eggs and ham." I made an off-handed comment that I could maybe make some for her sometime, and she remembered and asked me for them...a lot. So finally, the other night I actually made some for her. They looked pretty vile, if you ask me, but I was all pleased with myself because I was going to make Bethany happy.

She took one look at her plate and said, "I don't like green eggs and ham." Haha. I thought we'd have to go through the whole book, and then she'd finally consent to eat them and then like them, but the joke was on me, because she never did. Well, I think she did nibble a bit of the eggs, and said she liked them, but she hardly ate any, and refused to touch the ham at all. What a bummer.