Ability vs. Maturity

I was a big Calvin and Hobbes fan as a child, and Cora has enjoyed my book collection in recent years. Violet is reading them now, though Stace and I have been reminded of the truth that you might be old enough read, but not mature enough to handle the material.

Violet loved the Sunday strip with Calvin dreaming that Santa Claus has changed his parameters for doling out Christmas gifts - it would be the naughty girls and boys getting the goods.

In a rhyming poem, Santa humorously advises children how to earn gifts that year. 

Violet loved it. She set to work copying the verses with her special glitter gel pens, and pinning them to her wall.

In the end, she came up with her own fourth verse. She finds it hilarious, and kept repeating it, while cracking up.

While we see the humor, we've advised her to stop reading Calvin and Hobbes until she is a bit older.

Tidbits

 Cora and I have been reading the Chronicles of Narnia series, and one evening Stace snapped this pic of us getting ready to read, the cats by our side. More often, I'm lying on Cora's bed next to her, when Sebastian clambers onto my stomach. He makes for a fine heater.

 I asked Violet to hang up a few dresses one morning after taking Cora to school. She assured me she had.

Later, after Vi was at school, I found this pile of clothing stuffed under the glider/rocking chair in her room.

That afternoon, we discussed what happened, and she thought of her own consequence - no games on my phone while we sat at Cora's 90-minute softball practice.

We visited Kelly, big brother Noah and baby Ethan with the girls. Kelly is doing remarkably well considering she has two little guys under 22 months old! We had a very nice time together, and Cora and Violet had fun entertaining Noah.

 Sometimes, after our morning walk after taking the big girls to school, Melanie comes to our house to play, and I take the littles to kindergarten. Or, Violet goes to Lanie's house, and Christina takes them to school.

One day last week, I looked in the back yard and found the girls sweeping out the trampoline, all by themselves.




We picked up Sophia for softball the other day, and the teammates had fun cheering on Violet and the Phillies.

Cora has a new bike helmet, with lights in the back instead of just reflectors. Stace took her on a couple of night bike rides, which was very exciting for her.

They then headed out on an early morning bike ride on a Saturday, so she could use her lights again. They stopped for breakfast, and ended up riding about 10 miles altogether. Go Cora!

Week in Review

Stace was able to take the MG out early Sunday morning for a long canyon ride.

Ain't it purty?  It's nice for him to have it up and running, and he's looking forward to the cooler days of autumn when he can take it to work more often. (No air conditioning can be rough here in the summer!)

After our morning walk, Violet and I tidied out the garage so we could put my car in, out of the heat wave we're experiencing.

Violet decided that SHE was going to sweep out the leaves and bits of who knows what. I was so proud of her, since she isn't usually the first girl eager to work hard like this. She was proud of herself, too (though she wanted to photo to just be of the work itself, not herself).












On Monday evening, we went to Lazy Dog so Melanie could be our server there for the last time. She has a new job at a restaurant in Pasadena, much closer to her home in Glendale.
This week she worked her final shifts at her restaurant of the last two-plus years. We'll miss seeing her here!

Violet's homework this week was to create a Book Box, so she has a spot to collect all the books she makes in class. She took it to school Thursday, and then it came back home so we can reread her books at home. It also was "Green Day" at school.

Violet is still loving kindergarten, especially the social aspect. Ahem. She has received numerous official warnings about talking too much, or on one occasion, making a distracting noise. But, she is quick to reassure us, she hasn't lost her penny yet!

Not that we expected Violet to be just like Cora in school, but Cora probably had just a few warnings her entire kindergarten year - she was the kid "shushing" everyone around her when they were talking out of turn.

Mrs. Hawthorne assured me that Violet is fine, and I don't need to worry about her behavior in class, warnings aside.


On Thursday evening, Stace and I went to "Back to School Night," where we got to meet the girls' teachers and hear what they will be doing this year.

We knew what to expect in kindergarten, especially with Violet having the same teacher Cora had. But third grade - whoa! It is much more intense than second grade. Cora will be learning how to write in cursive, how to multiply, how to make Power Point presentations, how to write and present book reports, and how to type.

This page about her family was up on the wall. Cora wrote, "Mom, my mom loves me and I love her. She enjoys going to the ice-rink with me. I love her. Dad, we work on cars and play soccer together. We like brekfast at Carles Jr. Violet, we fight and argue but as a sister... I will always love HER!"

We all love you, too, Cora!

Here is poor Sebastian.
He and Spencer got out Monday night, and they didn't come in when we went to bed. This has happened a couple of times before, and it's always nerve-wracking.

Stace and I awoke to the sound of a cat fight, and once again, it was the evil black-and-white long-haired cat from the next block. He likes to come harass our cats in our yard. Stace broke up the fight and scared off Evil Cat.

A few days later, Cora noticed that Seb was hurt, and sure enough, he had two bite marks, one by his ear and one under his chin. We went to the vet, and the wound under his chin was infected. The vet shaved and cleaned the wounds, and gave him a shot of antibiotics. Now, I hate that Evil Cat $135 more.

Thankfully, he is healing well now.

Violetisms

I have a collection of random Violet photos and Violetisms that need to be shared.

Such as this, said on a recent drive home: "Oh, I like that blue minivan. When I'm older I'm going to have a minivan. Then I'll have lots of kids, so I can stuff them into my minivan."

(Please notice how Violet's owl friend Swoops is safely buckled in next to her.)

The preschool letter of the week was "Y," and the animal letter friend was a yak. While having a snack of "prencils," Violet proudly showed me how she had written, "YAK."

Then, she made her pretzels into cat whiskers.

When Cora was home sick for a week, the togetherness had become too much. Violet came up to me and asked for help writing, "I don't like you."

I've been paying Violet in dimes for completing her chores. She said the other day, "I really want to trade for a big green thing. (Pause.)
"A real dollar. And that has George Washington on it, our president, right?"

Speaking of national symbols, Violet was waving around her little Union Jack, courtesy of the Sun newspaper back around the time of the Queen's Jubilee.
Violet said that when Miss Lorrie's flag (pole) breaks, she can use Violet's flag. Not sure how the other parents would feel about their children pledging allegiance to the United Kingdom, though.

I noticed that Violet had a stack of books in her room near her bookcase, and suggested she put them away.
"But that's how I get into the playroom!" she answered.

(Never fear, grandparental types, the stack is put away and she's been warned that she is to use doors, not windows!)

Violet happened to take a rare car nap the other day, after an afternoon playdate out of SClarita. Predictably, that night she was up until nearly 10. I heard her calling out to me, "Mommy, I can't go to sleep."
"Talk to your animals, then," I suggested.
"But my animals are tired and can go to sleep!"

And, speaking of that...
Violet interrupted Stacey, who said, "Violet, what should you do when I'm speaking?"
"Be quiet."
"And what else," he prompted (hoping for the answer "listen").
But she said: "Sleep!"

Violet and her preschool friends have been very excited about their upcoming birthdays. In fact, Violet has gotten into a little trouble for not containing her enthusiasm when the time has come to be quiet.

This was the conversation she had with me the other day on our drive home: "Is Caleb's house close to Norah's house? Because I'm inviting him to my birthday, at Norah's house. ... I told him it's going to be a dragon party. Austin was screaming, because he loves dragons."

This was all big news to me. Since then, she's changed her mind. The party will be at our house, and it will be a zoo/animal facts/Wild Kratts party. With a trip to the park to play. With all her preschool friends. And another list of friends.

I'll end with this... Cora, you probably know, is a great eater and loves salad. Violet, well, she's learning. After pulling her one piece of lettuce out of her chicken burger, she declared, "My tummy says 'no' to the salad."

Violet at 2

Here was Violet's first time in the 2-year-old class at church. She was more than ready to move up from the 1's. The week before was the first time we've heard a bad report from the workers - she spent the service following other toddlers around, saying "no" and "mine," and trying to take whatever they were playing with.

Stace found Violet acting similarly when he took her to My Gym this week.
And at home, after disagreeing about turning the bathroom light off, Violet bit Cora on the leg hard enough to leave imprints. Poor Cora had been a sitting duck, you might say, as she sat bare-bummed on the toilet. A bit later, Cora screamed again as Violet was pulling a handful of her hair.
Um, yep. We are TWO!

But of course, she's not naughty all the time. Often when I look for Violet around the house because it's too quiet, this is what I find - Violet reading a book, or tucked into something or other, playing the night-night game on her own.

In this instance, Violet pulled out the "cat care" book and was saying, "I love you, kitty."







Violet can be a very silly girl. Here, she found an old diaper cover of Cora's with bad elastic, called it "panties," and needed to wear it.

Violet loves singing. She wakes up singing - at the moment, "Happy Birthday" is her favorite. She also loves seeing her friends and trying to ride Cora's old scooter.

She makes us laugh by shouting out, "I see Magic Mountain!" when we're in the car, when we're either nowhere near Magic Mountain, or she's looking the wrong way out the car window. And, when we drive past Genia's house, she usually asks, "Is Ave Johnny awake?"




Violet's two-year well check went well. Very well in fact, being that she wasn't due for any shots. There was just one she could have had, but since Vi is old enough to remember things a bit, and the appointment was going so well, I figured we'd hold off so she remember a positive experience.

She remains a peanut: at 32 inches, she is in just the 14th percentile. Violet weighed 25 pounds, 5 ounces, which put her in the 32nd percentile. She's finally getting her last incisor, and I'm sure she'll be due for her two-year molars when we are on the plane to England next month.

Dr. Brockett noted the correlation between speech and high intelligence, and said that we're in trouble! The other day at the grocery store, I stepped briefly away to check the price on a product. When I got back to Violet in the cart, she asked, "What you looking for, Mummy?" She asked a sleepy Cora the other day, "Are you tired, Cora?"

Not all of Violet's talking is as cute, of course. We've been hearing a lot of "NO!" as a three-syllable word, with the "nnnnnnn" sound stretched out. Example: "NNNNNNNNNNNOOOO, Mummy! I NO go to bed!" or "NNNNNNNNOOO, I no want it dinner. I want yogurt!"

In this picture, Violet was proud because she had put on her own shoes! (This particular pair is especially easy to take on and off.)

Here, Violet is playing with her new Thomas bath toy from Uncle Bill and Aunt Patty. She loved it. Violet still prefers to sit in her bath seat, and asks for it if we don't automatically put her in.









Here she is showing Daddy some love at the end of her birthday party...

It hit me a few months ago that, this year, our family would consist of a 5-year-old and 2-year-old, and not the preschooler/baby combo I've been used to. It hit me like a ton of bricks, actually: "Wait! I just had a two-year-old! I don't know if I want another one!"

It's hard to believe Violet is two already; such a big girl and no longer our baby. But when she flashes us her big smile, her blue eyes sparkling away, we know how blessed we are to have her in our family

Happy Birthday, Violet Mae. Daddy, Cora and I love you bunches!

Good times

Another nice week in the books...

Cora had school Monday and Friday this week, but was off on Wednesday because Miss Lorrie follows the school district schedule, and the district had a day off for teacher conferences.

We made the most of the day off by going to Scooter's Jungle with some friends, including Brooke and Michelle.

We haven't been there for five or six months, so Cora especially enjoyed it. Violet did too, though she was a bit nervous at first and wanted to hold my hand.

After our Scooters time, we all headed over to lunch - yes, four moms six preschoolers and two babies! After waiting a little bit, we managed to snag two booths next to each other. A fun time was had by all.

Speaking of fun, Violet had a great time emptying the baby wipes out of the container.

When it gets too quiet... and the toddler has closed the door behind her...

Later, Stace, Cora and Violet played together in the cardboard house.

Yep, the house is still around! And it's still a source of fun and merriment.

Toddler Violet

Violet is 13 months!
OK, I'm just a couple of weeks late in marking the occasion on the blog.

She's walking everywhere, still in that stiff-legged and cute way. And she's a toddler in more ways than that one - she's having little temper tantrums when she's mad, and she doesn't put up with Cora doing whatever Cora wants when they're playing together.

In these photos, I'm learning and relearning that I can't leave things on the changing table within Violet's reach from her crib. First, it was the toilet paper roll. Then, the diaper drawer was open and she pulled out a lot of diapers to play with.

Now that Violet is walking, I find her often attached to my leg. For several days, she would bite my leg when she was holding on - I had to nip that one in the bud! No biting for the last week or so, thankfully.

This week has been a bit rough for Violet. Monday and Tuesday nights, she was up in the night and wouldn't settle down to sleep.

On Wednesday she had a fever, which lasted for over a day, and then progressed into the cold Cora has also had.

Wednesday and Thursday nights Violet slept fine, but then on Friday night she woke up at 1:30 and didn't fall back to sleep until after 4. Violet's never had a night this bad.

Flipping through the toddler sleep book, it mentions teething, learning to walk and illness as all being reasons to wake up in the night. Hmmm. In addition, I've weaned Violet to nursing only in the morning and evening in the last week or two. So I guess I shouldn't be shocked that all the above is affecting her sleep.

Uh Oh

I heard a tap-tap-tap noise, and looked in to find this.

Our (frequent) instructions to keep all writing implements up on the
high table, out of Violet's reach, aren't always listened to. (Along with the rule about
keeping caps on markers.)
Needless to say, all the markers are now in a cupboard in the kitchen.
And the Magic Eraser is my new best friend!

How could I even be upset, though? Look at that big grin!