Happy Birthday, Dear Mama

The following conversation was repeated at least a dozen times (maybe even thirty?) this weekend:

Mama: Can you sing me a song for my birthday?

Mika: Happy birthday to you AllisonMika, Happy birthday to you*

Allison: No, it's Mama's birthday. Happy birthday dear Mama!

Mika: (with a big cheesy grin) Happy birthday dear Mama, Happy birthday to you.

*They usually skip the first two lines of the song. And who can blame them? It's a bit redundant.

They are actually having whole conversations! I guess it follows that words grow into sentences, which in turn become paragraphs and dialogue. That's the whole point of language, after all. But to actually witness the whole process is beyond cool.

And they even gave me presents for my birthday. Allison pooped in the potty yesterday and Mika peed in the potty today. Okay, not the most exciting presents I could have received but they at least showed foresight if not thoughtfulness. (Cleaning a poopy potty chair was not on my birthday to do list.) I much preferred the choclately kisses I received after snacktime.

Operation Romantic Bedroom Makeover is under way. Jason and I have cleared out the room and set up camp on the futon in the library. Spackel and sanding is scheduled tomorrow, then painting will begin on Tuesday.

I think Mika's head is going to explode when she sees the pumpkin walls. The combination of her favorite activity (painting) and her favorite color (orange) might just send her over the edge. We planned to do all painting while the girls were out of the house, but we may have to find a way for them to contribute. Mika wants so badly to help with this project. How can we say no?

Corn on the Cob!

The Very First Firefly

Allison and Mika met their first lightning bug this evening. They didn't seem very impressed at first, since neither has the attention span needed to watch a bug for 5 whole seconds. Daddy persisted ("Keep watching... keep looking at it... hey look back over here... oh you missed it, look again...") and eventually they saw it light up.

Fortunately it's a cloudy evening so it wasn't nearly as bright in their room as it normally is this time of year (yes, the poor lightning bug had found its way into our house and has probably by now found its way into Rambler's belly). Also fortunate that I learned to change diapers in the dark 'lo those many months ago. The girls delighted in seeing the firefly light up the twilit room as they got ready for bed.

We chose Eric Carle's The Very Lonely Firefly as our goodnight book to commemorate the occasion. It's been a while since we read it and the girls (particularly Allison) were enthralled with the book. After Jason finished reading it, she grabbed the book and proceeded to read it aloud to us again.

Night, night lightning bug.

Summer Solstice Resolution: Blog More!

So we have better things to do than blog... like spending lots of time outside taking fantastic pictures!



Allison and Mika are talking in sentences now and quickly becoming wise little smartasses, just like their parents. We're so proud.

Dinner conversations lately have centered around near-constant reminders that forks are not toys. After what seemed like the 10 millionth reprimand, an exasperated Mika said "We know, we know" and proceeded two minutes later to play a delightful fork drum solo on the dining room table.

Today's fave YouTube video is Kiwi! The girls can narrate little kiwi's every action but are blissfully unaware that the bird is plummeting to his death. All for the best, I suppose.

See you next season.