Wonder Woman Then and Now

Will has many superhero figure from his youth. He was saving them for the girls (or I guess his future children) who love to play with them. Our girls have lots of different superheroes that span many years. When we purchased some new figures to go into their collection, I was amazed at how the proportions of Wonder Woman have changed in thirty years. Look how much happier she looks with a little meat on her plastic bones. She looks a little bitchy and hungry in her new, "improved" version. Her fists are clenched, not like she is about to fight crime, but like she wants to punch someone who dares mention pizza. The old Wonder Woman looks satified and ready to take on some serious shit. She appears well nourished, in shape, and ready for action. Plus her head is an appropriate size for her body, where the new Wonder Woman looks sort of like a lollipop with that giant melon. How is she going to take on criminals when her knees don't bend? It sort of clears up a lot about distorted body image, no?

M-A-Y-A

Maya can spell her name. I was lying in bed with her last night and we were talking about the day and I asked her what letters were in her name. She said, "M." I asked her how all the letters go and she said, "m..a.....y.a. Maya, that's for me!" I love that she can do that. She had to call Nana and Auntie Joan to tell them, and then she spelled her name over and over until she fell asleep. We were both so excited.

Balancing, Teetering

It still seems untrue that Irish Grandpa is gone. It's really funny trying to get back in the regular routine after such a life changing event. We are all absolutely exhausted and teetering on the edge of hysterical laughter and hysterical grief. It is really odd to be balancing there. Will's Mom died seven years ago. She also died in December, and also of Pancreatic Cancer. We had much longer with her, after her diagnosis. She fought for a year and a half before she died. On the one hand it was nice to be able to prepare longer, but in the other, it was harder to watch her suffer for so long. The one thing that Irish Grandpa always said was that he didn't want to go out suffering. He didn't. He was comfortable and with his children when the time came. I cannot think about it for too long without crying. I really loved this man like I love the rest of my family. For us there was no your family my family, it was all our family. We discovered after returning from the funeral that we had a few messages on our answering machine from him. I guess it is a blessing that we don't check it very often, otherwise they would surely have been deleted. I am so thankful that I got to have him in my life. The wake had an interesting cast in attendance. There were Iron Workers from his working days, there were neighbors and old friends we haven't seem in forever, and then there were my girls. We decided to let them choose wether or not to attend. They all wanted to go and surprisingly did very well. They all went up to the casket and looked at him and said their goodbyes. We explained to them that it was just his body in there, and that his spirit, what made him Irish Grandpa, was in heaven. I told them that his body was like the car and his spirit was like the passengers. You can leave the car and you are still you, but the car is still there, too. They seemed to get that. I cannot quite believe he is gone.
I made a really great soup the other night. He loved soups, and would always eat more than he should have, leaving him feeling overfull, but he would rather eat the soup and feel that way than not have that second bowl. I couldn't eat that soup without thinking of him. I know he would have loved it and it sort of made it hard to eat, as funny as that may sound.
It is taking a really long time to start living again. Everything feels so unfamiliar. Allie has had a really hard time with Irish Grandpa being gone, but Lilly hadn't said much until two nights ago when she lost it at bedtime. She cried and cried and really let it all go. Lilly is so different from Allie, and a lot like me in her processing of things. She and I are very much internal processors, so I was glad that she was able to discuss things and just cry about them and that she let me be there for her. I know that Will is having a really hard time adjusting, too. His Dad always has been his hero and best friend, so for him, it is doubly painful. I know that time heals, but that doesn't really help now, when everything is still so raw. I wish there was something to help with the healing, but I think talking about Irish Grandpa and making sure we have his picture around is a good first step.

Ticklish. Or Not.

Allie is ticklish when she wants to be. I have never met a kid who can decide when to be ticklish. Some days she is so squirmy with the tiniest touch, and on others I can do the best tickle monster and nothing. I don't get it. I didn't realize it was a choice. She is willful, that's for sure.

In the car

After dropping Lilly off at school today, Will was having a conversation with Allie about crying at every teeny tiny non-thing. Seriously, I know we are all going through a tough time lately, but she will literally cry if you look at her funny. And yes, we have looked into grief counselling, but she is sort of using the sadness as an excuse for everything. And yes, I can tell when she is really upset and when she is trying to get out of something. Anyway, Will was demonstrating how it is really hard to have Allie constantly hysterical by recreating a scene this morning where Allie burst into tears when Will used a tone of voice in a joke that was undesirable to her. The tone, not the joke. So we are all discussing the example Will has provided (by fake crying and whining himself) and Maya says, "Daddy, that's enough! We hear you." and then, very quietly under her breath, she mutters, wait for it.... "asshole." Will and I lost it. It is a good thing we were at a stop light, because I was laughing so hard I was crying and could not see. Apparently she really does understand that she is not allowed to swear unless she is in her bed because she tried to hide the fact that she said asshole by saying it so quietly. Plus the fact that whenever one of us slips and swears she says adamantly, "Mommy, you no say that, you not in you bed!" So she gets it. I have not laughed so hard in a long time.

Yet another thing I never thought I would say

"Maya, please don't stick your cheese to the couch."

Allie's Own Personal 'A Christmas Story'

It is snowing here today. Again. We are expected to get about 15 inches. This has been a snowy snowy winter so far, and we still have a long way to go. The girls all wanted to go out and play. Desperately. So we all suited up and made our way to the yard. We were out there about 15 minutes when I heard Lilly say, " Mommy, come look at Allie, she's st..."

"AHHHHHHHHHH!!!" then Allie came around the corner, tongue hanging out of her mouth, dripping, and I do mean dripping, blood. She had been eating the snow off the fence and her tongue stuck. (like in "A Christmas Story." Unfortunately she hasn't seen it or she would have known tongues + metal +17 degrees = not good.) She ripped off the whole right side of the skin of her tongue. I know mouths bleed a lot, but wow. It bled and bled and I just kept giving her snow to eat to hopefully make it feel better. Oh, and I had to snap a picture being the good blogging Mommy that I am. She is currently holding a washcloth on her tongue adamantly stating that she is never going outside again. I tried explaining to her that it would be fine outside as long as she doesn't try to lick anything. She's not buying it.

A Blue Sticker For You

Maya had a potty accident today which for her is pretty rare. It involved footy pajamas (she calls them flippy pajamas) I was cleaning her up and she handed me a blue smiley face sticker and said, "Mama, here is a blue sticker fa you for being so patient while you cleaned my bum." I have no idea where she got the idea that I needed a sticker, but it was so cute and she was very proud of sharing.

Fun In The Sun

Maya and Ryleigh.

Maya and her giant tongue.

Maya and the "I am pretending to be mad but really just look like a chimp.

Sister love.

Well, the sun shining in the window. It is below zero here today. Without the windchill. I thought I would trick us into thinking it was not so cold. It didn't really work, but I got some cute shots. Maya and Ryleigh have been friends since they were four months old. I think they think they are sisters sometimes. They are sweet together, and I hope they will be friends for a long time.

All Things Equal

It's amazing to me how as a parent of multiple children I have learned to parcel things out equally, and more quickly than I would ever have imagined. I was fixing a bed dinner ( when we all sit on my bed and have a sandwichy type meal and watch cartoons) which doesn't happen often, and put chocolate chips on the plate as dessert. As I was putting them on the third plate, I thought to myself, 'that is two short, the other plates have two more' and sure enough, the third plate had 13, and the other plates had 15 chips. I have come to realize that it benefits all of us to have everything even and equally portioned out. I don't have to hear anything about how someone got more/less than someone else, and the girls don't have to wonder if all things are even, because they know they are.

Daddy Duty Christmas Eve

Since I have enjoyed the activities Will has been doing with the girls lately, I thought I should write about this activity done for the girls without their knowledge. Christmas eve we were in good shape. Everything was wrapped, and there were only two things that needed to be assembled. The baby care center was annoyingly over directiony, and the blocks were simple but tedious to build. Will got the baby care center because frankly, I did not want to do that one. He sat for about an hour and a half putting that thing together, and thankfully, it was among the favorites on Christmas morning. Oh, and Luke also got in on the act...he looked about as thrilled as we felt.

Restaurant

One of the specials.

Last night Will decided the kids should go out to eat. He had Lilly empty her bank and put it in a purse. Then he told all the girls to dress up in their best princess outfits. He printed out a menu with prices, set the table, lit some candles and dressed up as a waiter. He escorted all the girls to their seats and took their orders. I was the chef and bus boy(which wasn't really any different than any other night) and custom made each order. They all ordered dessert, and after dinner tea. It was actually really cute. They kept yelling, "waiter!" from the dining room. Will said that his Mom used to do the restaurant night for him every so often and he loved it. I think the girls will request it quite a bit.

The Waiter.

The Dogs

Luke and Sully have taken to chewing on each other's faces. All. Day. Long. They play around the house, dancing and chewing. What's up with that? It drives Will crazy, I think it is unusually funny and Lilly calls it "the dog show". I took them on a 3 mile walk yesterday and there was less face eating...I guess they need more exercise...