It’s all about the kids

Now I remember why I do not make New Years resolutions. I declared writing a post a month as my pseudo resolution and it is now March 10th and I neglected to write anything for February. I would like to say that it is because last month was so incredibly busy that there was just not enough time. The truth is last month was very mellow for us; in a good way. I’m just not that good at taking the time to sit down and type something out. Its too hard for me to sit at the computer and turn everything off enough to concentrate on forming more than a few sentences. It’s the same with returning emails and phones calls. I always have great intentions but I let the kids get in the way and I need to take more opportunities to step out of the room a bit more or find time to myself. I always go back to a quote from Ava’s first pediatrician when I’m feeling like time is slipping away. When you have small kids, he said, “the days seem to drag on but the months fly by.” As soon as he said it, it rang true and I come back to it all the time.

I thought I would write about something a bit different for this post. I want to take some time to preserve the kids, as they are right now. Things move by so quickly and I find myself forgetting the small day to day kidisms; the funny things they say and do. Preserve them for how they really are now. Truthfully.

I’ll start with Ava, because that seems to be the natural place to start since she is the oldest. Even if she were not the oldest just being Ava is likely enough to make her the starting point. She is literally the reason that I get up everyday. I have no need for an alarm clock, unless I should need to wake before the sun (like Michael). Without fail Ava wakes up every morning at or before 7:15. She starts each morning off with a demand for her choice of drink and breakfast. After about 30-45 minutes of waking up time she does not loose steam or slow down until its bedtime. She is a natural leader and does not back down for any of her peers or me. She is becoming a teachers pet at school, I have been told that she loves to remind her classmates of the rules of the class when they forget or act out. Her status within our house has lead her to believe that she is the boss of most any child she comes into contact with. The other day at the gym as we were leaving she says “good bye friend, now its time for you to play what you want.” It’s not uncommon for her to answer for either of her siblings when they are asked a question. She is constantly trying to delegate what little work or responsibility she may have, “Elise, come and pick up these toys now please,” after I have just asked her to pick up the toys and Elise is in the other room. She wants to do everything first and believes that everything belongs to her. She is also an eternal optimist, with undying enthusiasm. She takes great pleasure in encouraging her siblings in whatever they do, be it good behavior or bad. She has a burning desire to help you do anything possible. Mommy can I help you sweep, do dishes, brush Bella, get a diaper, etc. It comes in extremely handy in a lot of situations but it can cause problems at times as well. Envision two little hands trying to reach in to help you wipe up a dirty but.

She is tough as nails and plays rough. Constantly jumping all over the furniture even though its not allowed. Running from room to room, and spinning. There is a lot of spinning these days. She dishes out I love yous and kisses all day long. When I say “Ava, I love you to the moon.” She says “Mommy, I love you to the sun.” The first time she said it to me, I said, “well, that’s a lot farther. I like that.” her reply “yep, it’s a lot more”. She is learning to write and we have started to talk about sounds and letters a lot more. Her new favorite thing to do is to list off words and ask what letters they start with and what words have the same first letter. She wears her rain boots 6 out of 7 days of the week. She can not pass by a puddle without jumping in. At 4 years old I am still carrying around extra pants for her because of this habit. She is obsessed with Dinosaurs, Octonauts and sparkles. She answers to Aves, Goose and Ava P. Her favorite color is purple and she like to wear her hair in a braid like Elsa. She is a fierce little lady and an awesome big sister.

Thank goodness for our sweet Elise or Weese as we say most of the time. I know that all throughout our lives Elise will be the sweet, loving and nurturing daughter. She loves to be held and hugged and kissed. All the time. Every morning she needs to be carried to the couch or my bed to lay for a little bit while she wakes up. If you do not pick her up and carry her you run the risk of ruining everyones entire day. She is extremely sensitive and emotional these days. When she is having a rough day we all pay for it. She does not want to do anything or go anywhere, she’ll walk around the house “I’m sad, Mom. I feel really sad.” She’ll sulk away to a corner or her room for some private time. If she really wants you to come and get her she will sit and yell at you and cry and cry and cry until you pick her up and fix her. To fix her, she usually only requires a good squeeze and to be held. When she does smile she has the cutest little dimple and as Michael likes to call them little picket fence teeth. Her baby, Pippo is like a 5th limb. She does not go anywhere without him and is always very aware of how others are treating him. She frequently makes me give him kisses or hold him while she is busy with something else. She follows her big sister around like she is a goddess and is infatuated with anything that Ava likes. You’ll usually find her carrying multiple toys at once (generally about 3 more than she can handle), my theory is that she is afraid that Ava will take them if she is not holding them. Sharing is a big issue, daily. She is the most adventurous eater of the 3 kids and likes to try whatever is on Mom or Dads plate. She will not drink milk unless you call it chocolate milk. It does not necessarily need to contain chocolate. She loves to sit in my lap, or most anyones lap. She thinks all babies and “so sweet and adorable.” She loves tigers and cats and her favorite color is orange (we may need to keep a watch on her, for fear of her developing into a crazy cat lady). We’ve been taking a lot of walks while Ava is at school the past month and Elise loves to takes her time and listen to the birds, search for a perfect stick, skip and hop and swerve all over the side walk. When she doesn’t have her older sister to follow after she is usually pretty quiet and a stop and smell the roses sort of person. The other day I asked her to quickly get her shoes on so we could go, her reply “I’m finding my perfect, favorite, most special shoes, just a minute Mommy.”

Then there’s Enzo. Oh my goodness, he has already forced me to turn up my “mom game” on many levels. This kid is into everything. We’ve always kept the main cabinets and drawers in each room baby proofed but never all of the cabinets and drawers. He has managed to figure out which ones he has access too and on the daily empties out all the contents. It’s maddening. Should someone put him on our bed, he first move is to push any electronics off of Michael’s bed side table and sit on the table. The good thing about this situation is that once he’s sitting on the table, he’s stuck. He can’t get off by himself. Now that I have figured this out. I first clear off the table then I let him think he’d doing something he’s not supposed and put him on the bed. A few times in a row now it has bought me enough time to quickly get dressed and ready. He’ll tire of this game soon I’m sure. He’s loud, really loud. Sometimes for no reason at all he’ll just give a quick few screams. In the middle of the night his cry still freaks me out. I have no idea how the girls sleep through his cry at night but thankfully they do. He is an extremely light sleeper, but only in the morning and while napping not at night. He loves to be chased around the house, I’ll say “I’m gonna get you” and he takes off running and laughing. He likes to play hide and seek with the girls too. Both girls are horrible at hiding so much so that Enzo has no problem walking in to a room and spotting them right away. He loves it, he thinks he’s a big shot when he walks over to their hiding place and removes the cover. Its amazing to watch too because every time they go to hide it sets of spurts of uncontrollable giggles and they roll around laughing with each round for several minutes at a time. Enzo thinks it’s so funny to stand back and watch them. He has a fascination with balls and cars, go figure, it seems to be such a typical boy thing. He loves to take one or two cars at a time and carry them from room to room rolling them over the different floors. He has recently attached to a lovie of sorts, we call her Foxy, it’s a pacifier with a baby fox hanging from it. It took him a lot longer to attach to something than it did either of the girls. I have my reservations about him using a binkie but it does the job in helping to soothe him so thats what we were hoping for. He’s a sweet, adventurous little boy. He still loves to put his head in the crook of my neck when he’s tired or rub his face with a soft blanket. He likes belly and cheek kisses. He does a great job keeping up with his sisters but every so often he’ll wander off and play on his own. I assume thats his way of taking a break and I get it.

They are all changing before my eyes daily. Toady this is how they are, tomorrow will no doubt bring something new.