Is it really starting this early?

As high school teachers, Steve and I witness the good and bad interactions that girls have with each other every day.  I like to think that the mean girl antics that I see are restricted to girls that are 13 years old or older.  Unfortunately, it starts a little earlier ... like when they are 3 years old. 

Lucy has done a fantastic job with the transition to a new school.  She was so comfortable at her old school (so were we) and she had been with all of the kids in her class since they were infants.  Her new school has been as good as we could have hoped for, but Lucy has struggled at times to find a close friend. Steve and I have not really been concerned because we just figured that it would take a while for her to feel entirely comfortable with her peers. 

This week has been tough though.  Lucy has come home crying multiple days.  When we asked her why she was crying, it basically amounted to this:  I wanted to play with Jane and she said she didn't want to be my friend.  She told me to quit following her and go away. 

Sad.  So, so sad.  Is there anything worse than seeing your child cry about that?  Sometimes as a teacher I get on my high horse about how parents need to butt out and take a step back, but things like this shed some light on how those parents are feeling.  No matter what the situation is, there is nothing worse that seeing your child suffer, and if there were something you could do to protect them, you would.

Of course, in this case there is little we can do.  Lucy needs to toughen up and realize that if people are making her sad then she needs to find new friends to play with. 

So while this may not seem like much, it does make me anxious for the future.  Girls certainly don't get any nicer when they get older. 

Oh, Lucy Goose, hang in there.  We love you.  We always will.

Happy birthday, Caroline!

Today was Caroline's second birthday.  It's hard to believe that she is two years old already.  She seems so young and yet it is hard to remember life without her.  Here are some highlights of the day.  Please don't mind our dark/blurry pictures - our camera is on the verge of dying and we have not yet replaced it.

In the middle of the day I was greeted by an email from Caroline's teachers who sent me a picture of Caroline enjoying the muffins I made for her class:

Please note the Flock of Seagulls hairdo - she took
out her pigtails which were trying to mask her mullet.

We came home and Lucy and I spent some time decorating Caroline's cake.  Then, in Fleischman family tradition, we had a birthday dinner which was chosen by birthday girl herself.  She couldn't quite articulate what she wanted, but because of her limited tastes it was pretty easy to guess.  We had chocolate chip waffles, scrambled eggs, and grapes.  Here is the birthday girl enjoying her dinner sans shirt - syrup ground into her sweater was just not a challenge we wanted to deal with.

You know what's better than grapes?  Grapes dipped in syrup.

They both love it.

After stuffing our faces with waffles and syrup, we decided to continue the sugar binge and jump right into the cake.

This was actually where she yelled, "Yay! Cake!"

After a ridiculously soapy tub (you would be surprised all of the places syrup can go) we came downstairs and gave Caroline a few presents.  Lucy had a tough time with the idea that Caroline should get a turn with her own toys, but we eventually worked it out - read: Lucy was threatened with timeout and then magically figured things out.

So happy birthday, my sweet girl.  May this be the year that you finally give protein a try.

A look back

As we celebrated Caroline's birthday today, it was fun to look back at pictures from that first week we had her.  How different times were:

Minutes old

Lucy's first meeting with Caroline - giving her snuggles

Cookie and Nana meeting sweet Caroline

One of my favorite pictures

Lucy often insisted on "holding the baby."  This was as close
as we would let her get.  Note how tired I look - I don't miss that part :-)

Daddy and his little girl

Oh man

Oh man.  You ever have a day that you just wanted to end?  Me too.

Instead of dwelling on the tough parts of today, I am going to post some of my favorite pictures that I have taken over the past month or two.  Enjoy :-)

My Lucy Goose

Caroline and Grumps

Caroline and her favorite monkey hat

Sisters

Being silly

Our dog Boog - you can probably smell his breath
through the picture.

One of my faves

Weird?

What word does Lucy use most when playing with Barbies?  Some logical guesses:  princess, Ken, pink, clothes, girl.  Nope.  Instead she uses the word "Costco" in at least every other sentence.  Is that weird?

Youth Sports

Our camera is on the fritz so you will have to read my random blathering rather than see pictures of the girls.

Today I had to "supervise" a youth basketball tournament. It brought me back to my own days playing CYO sports and going to my brother's games.  Of course I would love for Lucy and Caroline to play youth sports, and we will sign them up when they are old enough.  Steve and I both loved sports and they were a part of our lives from elementary school through college.  Even though we can no longer don the jersey, we love to watch and coach sports at all levels. 

There are so many great things to be learned by being part of a team: pushing yourself, working with teammates, and accepting your role on the team. Youth sports can be a great way to introduce children to sports, and it can be an incredibly positive experience.  But holy crap there are some CRAZY parents out there.  I saw some fantastic examples today during my three hours in the gym. Part of me is a little freaked out that I will be a crazy parent.  That same part of me is hoping that Lucy and Caroline will participate in sports that I know nothing about.  I hope they play soccer, swim, run track, play golf - luckily there are plenty of sports I know absolutely nothing about. 

But what if they play volleyball and their coach is teaching them the wrong way to do a basic skill?  What will I do?  I will now publicly state that I am going to keep my big mouth shut. And please hold me to it.  Because the last thing youth sports needs is another parent in the stands who is sure that her way is the right way and feels the need to publicly proclaim it.  Or worse yet, who pulls the coach over during half time to explain what she thinks the team should be doing in the second half.  Not that I saw that today.

Tubby Time

Our girls have always loved bath time.  No matter what came before that moment, they are always willing to get into the tub, and they are always happy while they are in there.

Since we moved into our new house, there have been two developments.  First of all, the girls are now old enough to take a "tubby" together.  Caroline is old enough to hold her own, and Lucy is now old enough to know that water-boarding her sister is unacceptable.  The other change in our routine has come in the pre-tub festivities.  If you are ever a guest in our house, you will get to see "the nakey dance." It sounds sort of sick and weird, but it is HILARIOUS.  Both of our girls strip down and then do a silly dance around our front room before sprinting up to the tub.  I would post pictures, but I am unsure of the child pornography laws and how they apply to blogs.  In any case, even after a long and tiring day Steve and I always giggle when Lucy yells, "Nakey dance!" Caroline always follows with a similar yell but it sounds more like "Nate-ney dan!"

Then we all head upstairs and everyone is happy. 

Whether we had a fantastic day or perhaps we are just ready for the day to be over, the nakey dance is the perfect way for the day to end.