Our oldest drew this picture today. As we were talking about how small the baby looked we compared it to how small her imaginary friend Doka was. I asked her were Doka was? If he had remained in NY. I was told he is still here and the man at the airport never found him in her ear. That lead us to discover her imaginary friend has been living in her ear illegally this whole time.
Teagan
W Sister Shorts – Bedtime Kisses
I came home late tonight. I almost should’ve been sleeping however I was up and heard me. She came downstairs and insisted on a kiss good night. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and then proceeded to tell me that I need to shave since my cheek scratched her lip.
Apparently everyone is a critic.
The W Sister’s And The Story of Why We Are So Excited About Explaining Stuff
If you have kids you might be like us and explain stuff to them. I have done it since T was a baby and wasn’t possible for her to understand. On one hand I think it’s a good idea. It is is also something to pass the time when dealing with little kids.
As the girls get older both MC and I continue to do it and try to make it into a conversation with the girls. Sometimes it sparks their interest and others they could care less.
On a weekend in November we traveled to MC’s parents house for a visit. We were driving over the new Tappanzee bridge and MC was explaining that it was a suspension bridge. MC was trying to go into details about how it works so the girls would understand how it works. T instead blurred out “Mommy why are you so excited about this bridge?”
MC broke out hysterically laughing. It was pretty funny. T just wanted to know why MC was going on about this bridge. Hopefully comments like that aside T grows to appreciate engineering even if she doesn’t choose to study it.
A on the other hand was quiet during the encounter. I can’t remember if she was just sleeping but that is likely since we were driving.
The W Sisters & The Story About Doka in The Ear
This was a story that happened back in February. I am finally getting around to writing about it.
For almost as long as she could talk and sentences T has spoken about Her friend Doka. I don’t remember if I journaled about him/her before. At first Doka was just a friend that was a baby. Then she became her baby. Consistently she has been very small and resides and T ear. Since as long as T is been her mommy she’s been living into T ear.
Later on T started saying that she has 10 children. Doka was always discussed first. Recently she went from having different names for each of the kids to all of them being named Doka. Only one of them lives and her ear, the original one.
Today while looking at my photo screensaver on my laptop T commented that a baby did not have any hair. She then said that no babies have any hair. I corrected her and said some babies have a little bit of hair and that she had some when she was a baby but not much.
After telling her that she told me that Doka in her ear has no hair. She offered to show me and came over and turned her head so I can look into her ear. I moved her hair away from her ear and looked inside and put my finger right at the edge of her ear and said oh yeah I see Doka. T smiled and stepped away and then told me that when I touched Doka she giggled.
The W Sisters and the Story About The Ribbon
Today T and A saw some ribbon on the dinner table. T said she thought that Santa might see it and take it. He would then put in his closet and go to sleep.
The W Sisters and Stories About The Letters A & T
At the time of writing this post over the past few days I’ve gone to both T and A’s school orientations for the year. At both girls orientation their teachers talked about things they would be doing and learning. T’s teacher talked a bit about what she would need to be able to do at the end of the class A’s teacher talked about the alphabet and I thought of a few things from the past that the girls have learned that I thought were funny and wanted to write down.
The details are vague over time. That’s why I want to start writing this stuff down sooner however while I still remember it at all here we go.
T when she started to learn her letters first would identify the letter T. It’s not really that surprising since whenever we would point out the T we would identify that it’s the first letter in her name, T. After a while she started to see it and then repeat T for me. To this day she still identify T in that way. Nowadays she’s able to identify all of her letters however I find it funny that that’s how she remembers.
With A I can’t remember if she first remembered the letter a or the letter T It’s no surprise that she was able to identify T almost as easily as she was able to identify a because of her big sister Even though I find it funny her that T would say “T for me” Amelio would identify “A is for A” With A she’s not quite there knowing all letters. One challenge I’ve noticed in identifying how much A knows is when you ask her question it’s almost like she’s deliberately not giving you the right answer. She does know several of her letters.
One of the things T needs to learn to do in pre-k is right her name. I know that our babysitter was spending time with her tracing letters of the alphabet. And then letting her free-form right letters of the alphabet. Hopefully that extra help will give her leg up. Of course like she really needs a leg up in pre-k.
While on stories about letters and numbers one thing I remember recently is that there is a book we read at bedtime about a boy named Oliver and his birthday party. It’s a counting book and each page has an kit coming and then going. At the bottom there is all the kids lined up and has you do a simple math problem when someone’s added or removed from the group. Most of the time when we read the book T insists on every page to count up all the kids to get to the right number. She still hasn’t figured out subtraction since when kids are leaving she counts out all the kids +1 since she does not realize that it’s subtraction instead of addition problem. I tried to explain it however I don’t think she understands the concept yet. On the other hand she does realize that there’s only one kid left at the end. Math was never my strong suit.
This amalgamation of stories isn’t as funny as some of the other ones I’ve written recently however it was topical in my mind and I wanted to write it down I have several other ideas I need to find time to sit and write about. At present I’m writing this article on 9 September and it is likely to be scheduled to post On 12 October so I have a little bit of time before need to write out a few more posts.
The W Sisters and The Story of The Last Day at The Beach for The Summer
The last day at the beach for the summer was a bit anticlimactic. We originally thought we would have Monday of Labor Day at the beach however due to the tropical storm the weather wasn’t looking good. Even on the Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend it was not looking like the greatest beach day however we wanted to get one last day in. I went with my mom and the girls to the beach since MC was not feeling well. In the morning it was pretty empty. By the afternoon some people it should however we didn’t use the key poles or go to the regular pool since it was too cold. I didn’t stop the girls from enjoying the sand and running around. I think they had a blast in the morning since the court was empty and they got to run all over without having to worry about getting in the way of anyone.
After lunch and A nap the girls discovered the world of the beach down the stairs at the end of the court. We normally don’t let them go down there however since it was pretty empty we were able to watch them from where we sat. The girls enjoyed running around near the volleyball court and looking at all the umbrellas and chairs stacked up since no one was really using them. The best thing for them however was the platform cart that the cabana boys use to move chairs and umbrellas out onto the beach. It had four big inflatable wheels and a large flat surface to stand on for someone that’s 2 1/2 or four years old. The girls quickly realized that if they stand on the cart and jump it bounced a lot. I had a blast just jumping up and down the cart. I personally as a parent wasn’t the happiest about them doing it however was relatively benign since it was on sand if they fell. It was better than T’s original idea of playing nearer climbing on the pile of chairs that I had to stop her from going to.
The girls kept moving out of view from my vantage point so I walked down the stairs and stood around where they were planning to keep an eye on them. At one point T went to the other side of the sand volleyball court where there was a plastic chair and look to be just goofing off with it. I was about to tell her get away from it when I had to step way back to the court for a minute. When I came back the chair T went to was now right by where I was standing in front of the sand cart. T then tells me “daddy sit down” as she motioned towards the chair. I was liking how good she was taking care of me and was glad that I didn’t say anything to her about going over to the chair in the first place.
After some more jumping on the cart the girl grew bored of that and proceeded to move there play over to a wooden ramp that went from another court entrance a little bit out into the beach. It was on an angle and both of the girls would take turns running down the walkway until they got into the sand. I don’t know what fascinated them about it but they did it for about 20 minutes. I didn’t move from where I was sitting since I was pretty comfortable in the chair taking got me. I would have to periodically yell for them not to go outside of my field of view. The walkway they would run up went into an enclosed area of the beach club and after they left the beach I couldn’t see them. I mentioned several times to both girls that they needed to stay where I could see them. After having a walk over there at one point to get A when she wasn’t listening T immediately said for me to move the chair. I asked her why and she said I should move it closer so I could see them better. I couldn’t help but laugh at that.
Soon after being asked to move the chair we had to go back to the cabana anyway since it was getting ready for me to pack up our stuff since the season was over and I need the girls to come be closer to me.
On an unrelated story that happened the same evening the girls wanted to play with ice. I’m not sure why. I think it was because I took ice out for a drink and they wanted to touch it. I decided to show them a little science lesson and had them feel the ice until it started to melt a little in their hands. I then tried to explain and probably didn’t do a great job of it how and why I ice melted. I then had them get their chairs and stand by the sink and show them how to melt it a lot faster with the hot water. That blurb isn’t as funny as beach antics however I thought it was cool to be able to show them something using science like that. I look forward to doing that more in the future.
The W Sisters and Stories From The Beach
I just finished writing another post about the last day at the beach this summer and I was looking over my notes about other stories from the summer. Two of them stand out in my mind. The first one concerns children safety and preparing the girls in the event to get lost.
When she can one day a week my mom would take one of the girls to the beach by herself. Sometimes she would take our babysitter and both girls however usually it was just one of them. This summer it was A since her camp schedule accommodated for it versus T’s that really didn’t. While together my mom tried to teach A her cabana number in the event she got lost and needed to tell someone where she could go. If our cabana was A40, A would always repeat back A28 when my mom asked her. What’s interesting is A always said A28. My mom and I for that matter are pretty convinced that A knows the correct cabana number but is just messing with my mom. Every time she would reply with the answer she would have a big smile on her face and giggle and tilt her head when she answered. The fact that she was consistently wrong helps that conclusion. There’s just enough doubt for us not to be 100% sure.
The other anecdote of note concerns both girls. I swore I wrote about this earlier in the summer however when I searched I couldn’t find any reference to it. If this is a repeat enjoy it one more time.
The beach club we goto is laid out where there are baby pools set up in the sand in the middle the court. That way little kids play in the water and in the sand while parents relax in the sun or in our case in the shade under an umbrella while watching the kids. When it gets really hot or we want to change of pace offer to the girls if they want to go to the Kiddie Pool that is next to the big pool where the adults can swim. After a few trips the girls caught on and began asking to go to the pool on their own. What was interesting was that they started asking to go to the Hello Kitty pool. For a few minutes we were a bit confused why they were asking to goto the Hello Ktty pool then it dawned on me that they thought we were saying Kitty pool so they assumed it was the hello Kitty pool. When I realize that I thought it was hysterical. I know they’re my kids however I thought I was pretty smart.
For the remainder of the summer whenever anyone talked about the pool it was the big pool or the hello Kitty pool.
The W Sisters and The Story of Assorted Stories From The Last Week In August
Now that I am trying to make a conscious effort to write some stories about the girls I’ve been trying to remember to take quick voice notes so I can remember details in order to jog my memory later. I’m not in a call that a success yet since I only did it two days this week. The result of that effort however is this post combining a few small events from Monday and Tuesday, August 29 and 30th.
Before I get into the kids antics at home I can’t help but throw in something from an email exchange with M’s sister-in-law from earlier this week. We spent the last weekend in August at M’s sister-in-law’s house in Pennsylvania. After we left she emailed asking if we had seen a magnet of hers that the girls were playing with. I haven’t but I really didn’t go through their luggage. I was gonna check with M however she hasn’t been feeling well. Before I was able to do that however I got another email from her saying never mind she found the magnet. It turns out the girls hid one magnet on top of another one. It looks like she was outwitted by one or both of the girls since tt took her a little while to figure that out.
One Tuesday (30-Aug) night after I got home and we had some playtime before bed the girls were playing with their dock McStuffin’s doctor toys. T insisted on me putting the pager on her. I then tried to explain to her what a pager was and how people use them especially doctors before there were cell phones. I’m not rly sure if it was the fact that T’s four and a million is 2 1/2 or that not having a cell phone was foreign to them however I got blank stares when I was explaining how page works.
I find it funny that T almost always notices when I get a haircut. The night before I got a haircut and when I came home she immediately noticed that I got one. T likes to rub the back of my head since it’s been cleanly shaved and the hairs very short. The day I got my haircut T pretend wanted to cut my hair. I commented that I just had my hair cut and I questioned whether or not she thought Leon my hair cutter had done a good job I thought he did a great job.
The next night as we were playing with the Doc McStuffin’s medical set T insisted on cutting my hair again. This time she commented that “ the man did a bad job”. I’m going to have to remember to tell Leon he’s got a critic.
At the same time I was getting my hair cut A was cutting my nails. She likes to do that. That consists of taking the place that tweezers and snapping at my fingernails. As she is getting stronger it really does hurt sometimes when she does it but I find it so funny that she keeps trying to do it. After hurting my hands with her nail cutting I did get a checkup. I showed her where to use the stethoscope to listen to my heart.
Since I had bug bites from being out at M’s sister-in-law’s over the weekend I bought some aloe ointment to stop the itching. After my medical checkup by the girls two days in a row they got a cup and proceeded to put ointment on my skin to help my itching so I didn’t itch at bedtime.
After all this I am gaining confidence that I will be well taken care of when I get old. Fingers crossed!
The W Sisters and The Bedtime Stories Circa 15-August
What I have realized even before I had little kids was that parents of little kids find the most normal or minor actions from children to be pretty funny. Even when I was not apparent I could totally get the point. I am not sure of everyone else does however I keep saying my kids are my entertainment budget. They really are. And I love it. Instead of writing little blurbs on Facebook like I know some people do I’ve been trying to turn comments are funny things I remember in two small stories.
I’ve been in a good place when it comes to writing recently so I have a backlog of things to publish and write about. This scratch that these minor anecdotes are from August 15.
Prior to getting ready for our bedtime routine T was complaining to me about something Amelia was doing wrong. I think Teagan takes it upon herself as big sister to do that. Or she just wants to annoy us, I’m not really sure. Now that T is understanding things more I try to explain to her stuff. That is probably not the best use of my time in a lot of instances however I try. In this case I tried to explain to T that she should worry about herself and not worry about what Amelia was doing if it’s not directly impacting her. I will give myself credit since I thought but didn’t say to her and nobody likes a rat. Teagan’s response to my commenting to her was that I shouldn’t worry about her and I should worry about myself. Touché Teagan, touché.
Later that evening I was reading stories to the girls. In recent months A likes to snuggle and have my hand around her waist. She says that she’s buckled in when I do that. T is hit or miss on the smuggling. For a few weeks she will needed to do it and then she stopped for a little while. As I was reading A blurts out “no, no, no, hold on”. She then proceeded to take the book and flip back a page. She had unanswered questions about the picture that she wanted me to address.
I believe this was also the same night that the girls insisted on having me have Alexa (aka our Amazon Echo) play the song “Fight Song” about three or four times. They danced around during the whole song. They even got crazier in their dancing is the temple of the song picked up for the chorus. I was lucky enough or smart enough to remember to take a video of one full song so I could send it to M and share it with our parents. I think Teagan started liking that song from Morgan’s bat mitzvah otherwise I have no idea where she heard it from. I would like to give a shout out to my brother-in-law Michael for the “Dance Party” idea. I can sometimes get them to dance around to other songs however this is their favorite one. Based on the lack of response from our downstairs neighbor pretty sure he works late during week.