New Words

The girls vocabulary is slowly blossoming.  Some days I feel like I'm communicating with two brick walls and then... whamo!  Marlo will wave and say "Bye!" to me as she exits the room.  She also brought me a metal cookie tin, which I had filled with their Pet Shops, and held it up before me and said, "Hep.  Hep."  Translation = Help!  Finally!!  Now Sabine says it too.  Sabine usually follows in the word department.

I have begun brushing the girls teeth.  When Hugo was a toddler he/we struggled with brushing teeth until one day Cesar found a crazy Japanese video.  He showed it to Hugo sorta as a joke.  The video showed a Japanese mother brushing her child's teeth with the child's head in her lap.  It made an impression on young Hugo and during our bedtime routine that night Hugo insisted on putting his head in my lap so that I could brush his teeth.  I thought it was a bit strange at first, but it worked.  No more struggling!  Yaaaayyy!  Hugo actually liked having his teeth brushed this way and it gave us a good laugh most days.  Happily I can report that Hugo brushes his teeth all on his own and his sisters enjoy having their teeth brushed as their bodies are stretched across my knees.  Sabine must think it tickles because she giggles the entire teeth brushing time.

 

Teething

Our lovely Sabine is teething.  Remember how those bottom teeth seemed to magically appear?  Well, the top four, yes I wrote four, are all coming in at once and she is quite aware of the situation!  For the most part, she is a trooper.  She moans a bit and whimpers like a hoarse kitten with big ole' alligator tears running down her cheeks.  We snuggle and snuggle and I've let her nurse whenever she wants.  Thank heavens her sleeping habits haven't been messed with too much.  I've had to settle her during the night but, it's been easy.  She has only wanted a little patting on the back and she passes right out again.  Four teeth across the top.  Ouch!

Then there is Miss Marlo.  I love the above photo of her.  It's like she's swinging her legs, singing a little ditty along the lines of, 

"Ohhhhhh, I've got no teeth, I've got no teeth, 

No teeth are bugging my gummmmms!  

I get to eat crackers, yummy, yummy crackers, 

Whenever my sister criesssssss.  

Cause my Mommmm, she don't want me to feel left ouuuut.  

So, I get to eat crackers, yummy, yummy crackerrrrrrrs 

All - day - long!  Hooray!"

High Temps

The weather here has been steamy and hot.  Like hot, Hot, HOT!  104 degree hot the past three days, here in the Hudson Valley.  We are not used to this.  We do not have air conditioning in this old, old house of ours, the place is too hot for the children.  We have spent as little time as possible at home.  We haven't been blogging or cooking or reading books or playing outside or even sleeping in our own beds.  It's too Hot!  We have been attending swim lessons, watered our trees, eaten picnics in the shade, enjoyed many a popsicle, and have crashed Ruth Ann's chilly house from early afternoon till dinner time.  Once home, we gorge ourselves on fruit, feed and bathe the girls, bathe Hugo and a cold shower its been for me.

I moved us all downstairs to the first floor (Sheri's apartment, Hugo is reminding me) where the temp was a nice 77 degrees.  The girls were settled into pack-n-plays and Hugo and I shared the double mattress from Cesar's camper.  I pulled all the blinds down tight since the living room faces east and hoped for the best regarding the sunrise and our sleeping in till 7am.  Evie the Cat snuggled up next to Hugo.  The girls were out cold.  All seemed almost... normal.  I have to say that Hugo was in heaven having a sleep over downstairs.  He didn't even want a bedtime story.  Just wanted me to leave him be while he enjoyed the new bed and the view of his sisters.  Um, awesome!  Once upstairs on the second floor, my body baked in our living room.  The third floor has been all but ignored except to retrieve clothing and diapers.  The staircase has been wrapped in imaginary caution tape and we've avoided it like the plague.

* Hugo surprised me the past two morning by making our bed.  He pulled up the flat sheet and smoothed out most of the wrinkles.  He even neatly arranged our pillows at the head of the bed.  Marbles for Hugo!

** Speaking of marbles, I've been trying to bribe Hugo to jump off the diving board without help from his teacher.  Yesterday, I told him he could have 5 marbles if he jumped alone.  Not interested.  I upped the count to 10, but he still wasn't interested.  I then bribed him by saying he could pick out a new toy.  Really?!!! He was very excited telling me exactly what he wanted, although I can't repeat his description of the toy now, since I couldn't hear him over the noise of the van's aircondtioning fans on full blast.  He then told me he could wait till next year for his new toy.  The kid has no current plans of jumping alone.

*** Miss Sabine has sprung a bottom tooth without nary a tear.  Lots of spitting up, but no fever or tears.  Wonderful girl.

Teeth

Hello Halloween! We have a vampire in the house! Or maybe, (pause, pause, pause) an ogre. Just a short little one anyway. We've been waiting for Hugo's 2yr molars to drop in, and up. They rise up in his gums and cause all sorts of ogre behavior. Then after a bit, they fade away into the jaw line at which time our every day happy boy returns. They rise up and down, up and down, up and down. Enough already!