Get all of your Soden family updates here first. The updates won't be exciting or life changing, but this is certainly the only place you will find them.
Lucy has always been a good eater, but that is not to say that she always ate everything in front of her. She certainly went through her phases. For a while she would only eat mac and cheese and hotdogs. (A shout out to the women who took care of her at Undermountain for not judging us too much on those lunches!) Thankfully she has broadened her horizons and will now pretty much eat anything. I credit a lot of her eating habits to living at a boarding school during those first 3 years. The dining hall had a lot of options, and she got to eat things that I (or make that Steve) wouldn't cook at home.
I need to keep all of this in mind these days as we struggle to get Caroline to eat. It's not that she won't eat, it's just that she won't even look at or touch anything that does not fall into one of her favorite food groups: fruit, bread, or yogurt. I write this without exaggeration. The child actually cries when we put dinner in front of her some nights. What we struggle with most is how to get her to eat protein. She will eat scrambled eggs, but I feel like I shouldn't be force feeding the child eggs everyday. First of all, I can't imagine that it's particularly healthy and most importantly eggs are not allowed at her daycare. We have about a 40% success rate with chicken nuggets, but again I feel like that isn't the healthiest option.
I know what you're thinking: why don't you just feed her non-breaded chicken?
Let me just give you a snapshot of what that looks like:
Yes, those are real tears, ladies and gentlemen.
This was the scene at our dinner table tonight. Caroline promptly ate her strawberries because they fall into one of her favorite food groups. She refused to eat anything else, including the chicken breast everyone else was eating. As I have mentioned before, the child loves chocolate milk, so we tried to bribe her. Simple exchange: you eat one bite of chicken and you can have some chocolate milk. This may not be the best parenting strategy, but it was worth a shot. As you can gather from the picture, Caroline was not impressed. In fact, she burst into tears every time we said the word "chicken."
You know who really got the best deal out of this meal? Lucy. She ate her chicken, salad, and strawberries (which she likes anyway) and she got to have some chocolate milk afterward. Just look at that smile:
The evening ended with a sad Caroline and long conversation with Lucy about not gloating when you get something and someone else doesn't. It actually went about as well as I had hoped.
We will playfully call Lucy a "wacko" or a "wack-a-doo" or talk about her high energy antics. On film she looks so sweet that sometimes it seems hard to believe (or to remember) those slightly out of control moments. That is, until you look at this picture:
And here she is two seconds later and totally back to normal:
Yesterday we decided to take Lucy to her first women's basketball game. Off we headed to Sacred Heart University while Caroline stayed home to nap (with a babysitter there, of course). Lucy was coming off of a fun morning playdate and she was VERY wound up for the game. Luckily the minute that we got on the highway we turned around and found this scene:
This can't be comfortable.
When we got there we found it odd that there were so many people in the lobby and outside of the athletics center. We soon found out that high winds had knocked out the power on campus. Since this was a televised game, we were sure they would be motivated to get it fixed as soon as possible. Lucy was a trooper and we were able to burn some of her energy by having her run sprints up and down a long hallway. This activity, along with books, coloring, and snacks, helped to fill the hour or so delay. When the game finally started Lucy was mesmerized. Between the student band, the cheerleaders, the announcer, the large crowd, and the basketball game itself, Lucy was impressively well behaved. Eventually we did resort to buying some food simply for entertainment's sake. There's no harm in a hotdog or two, right?
We only stayed for a half because of the late start, but we will surely take Lucy again. It was a great day!
Since moving from boarding school, Steve and I have really come to appreciate the two day weekend. Tonight we are celebrating with chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and a show or two courtesy of Nick Jr.
Well done, Nick Jr. My children love your programming. While we do limit the amount that they watch, I still feel a bit guilty about letting them watch your station (even though it very clearly saves my sanity in most of those situations). The way that my girls zone out and get that zombie-like stare just makes me think that it can't be good for them to watch these shows. And just in case you are wondering, your slogan "It's Like Preschool on TV" does not make me feel like a better parent. It just makes me feel like you think I'm stupid enough to believe that statement.
But I digress.
I am congratulating Nick Jr. on a job well done because it broadcasts the only show that both of our girls latched onto: Yo Gabba Gabba.
Yo Gabba Gabba has been a part of our household for the past 3 years. In fact, out of Caroline's first 20 words, I swear 5 of them were Muno, Foofa, Toodee, Brobee, and Plex. For a while we couldn't even say "Yo Gabba Gabba" out loud and were forced to speak in code if we were referring to the show. DJ Lance Rock might as well be a member of our family.
Lucy and Caroline, meet your Uncle Rock
To be honest, I find Yo Gabba Gabba mildly entertaining. Who doesn't want to try out one of Biz's Beats?
They have good musical acts that come in for the Super Music Friends Show (The Roots, MGMT, Hot Hot Heat, Weezer, The Shins, and the list goes on) and they have notable celebrities who come in to teach a Dancey Dance. Lucy and Caroline appreciate these appearances far less than Steve and I do, but it makes it bearable for the adults in the room.
Slowly but surely the Yo Gabba Gabba vernacular has crept into our everyday lives. If someone says, "There's a party in my tummy!" Someone else in the family will immediately follow it with, "So yummy, so yummy!" And the number of times that either Steve or I can be found humming, quoting, or singing a Yo Gabba Gabba song is somewhat embarrassing. We are particularly fond of The Aggrolites' rendition of "Banana"
I know that you may not find this song entertaining, but you know who does? This girl:
Before we had kids I would hear people say, "Oh you don't need to get kids anything fancy. They will just want to play with the wrapping paper" - or the tags or the whatever nondescript item accompanied the ridiculously expensive children's toy you had just bought.
I'm not sure that I fully believed that until I had kids of my own.
For example, one of Caroline's favorite activities is to putting on our
shoes and walking around the house. She also enjoys playing with measuring
cups. In her spare she likes to play with tissue paper.
Today,
however, this idea was really brought to light when the girls got out
of the car and promptly began playing with PIECES OF CONCRETE. Yep, no
super expensive bikes or sports equipment. Instead our girls were
entertained for quite a while with pieces of our driveway.
Caroline sounded especially pitiful as she cried and yelled, "Rocks!" as we dragged her back into the house.
I guess we know what to get her for her birthday.
Caroline is looking awfully defensive of those "rocks," don't you think?
Okay, it's time to come clean. I know some of you have noticed it in our pictures. Some of you have even seen it in person and didn't think it proper to comment. We have tried to hide it long enough. I'm just going to come out and say it:
Our child has a mullet.
Business in the front.
Party in the back.
We didn't plan for it to happen. It sneaked* up on us, and before we could do anything the damage had been done.
We try to hide it with pony tails and such, but the hair in front is so short that it can't even make it into a hair elastic.
We have toyed with the idea of getting her a haircut. Why are we just "toying" with the idea, anyway? Why not get her in the chair and hack off those flowing locks which are only located on the back of her head? Not shockingly, part of the reason is just sheer laziness on our part. Another factor is that I have this strange fear that the hair on the front of her head will never actually grow and she will be doomed to a life of bowl cuts.
I tell myself that there are worse things in life. Sure, that's true. But middle school could be pretty tough if you're the kid with a bowl cut.
*Side note: "Sneaked" sounds absolutely wrong in my mind, but my computer begs to differ.
Apparently "snuck" is not a word. Am I as dumb as I sound right now?
Hi, my name is Caroline. I spent the hours from 1 pm to 3 pm (when I usually nap) talking and singing and jumping in my crib. To tell you the truth, I had a really great time. My mom and dad were less than impressed. Here I am after they finally set me free:
Then when my parents least expected it (when we were on the way to go for a walk at the beach) I decided that it was the perfect time to get that nap they had been talking so much about. Then they had the nerve to wake me up. I don't get it.
For a variety of reasons, I have been thinking a lot about the future lately. How will my actions now affect Lucy and Caroline later in life? I don't mean to get all philosophical right now, but go with it.
A former administrator of ours once told me and Steve that he only had 3 rules for his children:
1. Be nice.
2. Be honest.
3. Don't whine.
I have always liked these rules. They cover so many situations no matter what age you are, and if my girls are following these rules then I will almost always support their decisions.
This really is all I want out of my girls. I joked with a colleague today that I just wanted the girls to graduate from high school and not get arrested in the process. Clearly I was kidding, but as long as my girls are good people who are nice to others and try to make the world a better place does it really matter whether or not they go to an Ivy League school?
Then again, with goofballs like these two, are Ivy League schools really going to be a possibility?
Time will tell. In the meantime, Steve and I will do our best to show them right and wrong. Some of it will stick and some of it won't, but those goofballs will know that they are loved.
Happy Valentine's Day! While Steve and I are past the point of celebrating this day (were we ever there?), we now celebrate it through the girls.
We began the day with a Valentine's themed breakfast. Okay, it's just heart
shaped toast and I know it's not nearly as good as what my rock star
sister-in-law creates (see Bobbi's Bentos for proof), but it's impressive for a totally not creative math nerd such as myself.
Lucy seems to enjoy it.
Lucy and I also spent last night getting her valentines ready for her classmates. I would love to say that I was a crafty mom who helped her daughter create handmade valentines, but instead I am just proud that I bought the pre-made ones at Target two weeks ago.
Side note: the past two years I have had the scarring experience of frantically searching CVS for some girly valentines the night before the big day. Another note: this is not a successful strategy.
Anyway, Lucy and Caroline's had a Valentine's Day celebration and PJ day at school today. They celebrated with pancakes and hot chocolate as well. Best day ever?
Ready to go to school in their PJs!
My day was made even better by the great women who work at Lucy and Caroline's school. As I was about to walk out they handed me these beautiful handmade "flowers" from Caroline:
Caroline recently discovered chocolate milk, and I don't think there is any turning back. She will still drink other beverages, but even speaking a word which begins with the "choc" sound makes her turn around and yell, "Chocolate milk!" Well, actually it sounds more like, "Chalk Muck!" We treated Caroline and Lucy to a little chocolate milk earlier this afternoon. It really is the simple things in life, isn't it?
