Goals, Snow and Comments from an Angry 2 Year Old

Lots of catching up to do. I'll start with...

Goals
Sophie's school has something called "student-led conferences". According to the paper they sent home, it's a time when "parent, student and teacher are able to work together for your child's education!" When I saw it the first time, I thought it was interesting, but I assumed it was for the older kids. I was wrong--even the kindergarteners are supposed to "lead" their parent teacher conferences. Anyone who has a five year old in their life knows how that will turn out...

Sophie: I'm really excited about my student led conference!

Me: I'm glad.  I'm excited too.

Sophie: Except I don't really understand it.

Me: Well, when we get there, we can explain it so you'll understand what we're supposed to do.

Sophie: Well, I understand the goal...and, Mom, it's not like a soccer goal.

That's right. And hopefully they won't have those really loud horns either.


Snow
In the end, it snowed here--enough to shut everything down for a couple of days--and the student led conferences were postponed. But the kids in the neighborhood had an awesome time playing in the snow. Sophie, Ava and Lucy geared up at the first flakes...

I love the purple marshmallow

Day 2: midget snowman

After about three days, Sophie had had enough. We were in the car driving to pick up a pizza after ballet class. She was disgruntled about having to put on clothes over her leotard...

Sophie: Mom, some day I think we should move.

Me: Okay. Where would you like to move to?

Sophie: Hawaii.

Me: Well, we probably wouldn't move to Hawaii.  I love it there too, but it's really far away and it's hard for moms and dads to find jobs there.

Sophie: Well, I really don't like having to put mittens on.

Me: We could move to southern California.  It's warm and sunny there too, and then we'd be closer to our family.

(Sophie considers this for a few moments.)

Sophie: Nah.  It's not as good.


Comments from an Angry 2 Year Old

Ava is a more terrible two than Sophie was. She's hot headed and she's very, very loud. These are some of her favorite protests:

Maaa Muh! (this is said as two words, usually in total exasperation)

Mama, why you do dat?!?!?! 

YOU...Mama! (like, "No, you go to bed, Mom." this is sometimes said in jest)

and, of course...

NO!!!!!!

She's also cultivated a very loud roar that we're used to, but that alarms other parents.Two nights ago we were having cocktails with a group of neighbors and the kids were all downstairs playing when Ava roared. Conversation stopped and the is-everything-okay-or-did-someone-accidentally-amputate-their-own-arm moment started when KC said, "Oh, that's just Ava. She's being scary." (Let it be known that Ava is the youngest child in the group with Sophie as the next youngest.)

I also recently had a friend and her two kids over, girl is Sophie's age and boy is 3. Ava was roaring at him and I overheard my friend saying to her son, "You need to use your words to let her know that she's scaring you."

I, too, am afraid.

Angry Birds and Boogers

Angry Birds

We've discovered Angry Birds at our house. If you have an iphone and you don't yet have it...I can only say that I was up until 2am last night playing.  It's goooooooood. And it's also fun for the whole family...

Sophie: I'm going to make a new version of Angry Birds.

KC: Oh yeah?  What is it?

Sophie: Well instead of the birds and pigs, it's going to be me and Lucy [who lives across the street]. It's going to be Jewish against Catholic!

I actually think Sophie's concept would outsell the original. Rovio, you are about to be usurped.


Boogers

Ava is a savage. She does every gross thing that Sophie never did (note that we've had 2 more poop smearing incidents since the one I wrote about a couple of weeks ago). Among those gross things is booger eating. I am constantly telling Ava not to eat her boogers. Most of the time she looks at me and says, "Yum!" but yesterday we made some progress...

(Ava is sitting on my lap, facing me, while I play Angry Birds. She picks her nose and eats it.)

Me: Don't eat your boogers. Yucky! Do you need a tissue?

Ava: No mama. (She digs in for round 2, holds it out to me and then wipes it on her shirt.) There!  All better.

Fear and Candy

It's been a very Halloweenie time here at the Bonnem/Friedman household. These are the highlights:

La Mariposa
On Thursday, I pulled up to Ava's school only to discover that she was the only one NOT in costume (I am a model parent). I promptly drove to the Bartell's down the street and bought some wings and a wand/crown combo—50% off...bad parenting has its perks. She loved her wings so much, we had to pry them off of her body so she could go to sleep that night.

The cutest princess butterfly ever

Noodle Grave
On Friday I made carbonara for dinner but with insect-shaped kid noodles instead of spaghetti. Ava ate none of it. Sophie at about half and then asked if she'd eaten enough to qualify for dessert.

Me: You need to eat a little bit more.

Sophie: I ate half!

Me: Well if you're hungry for dessert, you must be hungry enough to eat more dinner.

Sophie stuffs a series of bites down her gullet.

Sophie: (Showing us her bowl. She's eaten a trough down the center of her pasta.) There. I made a little grave in my noodles.

So creative!


Fear and Candy
We started the night of Halloween at a neighbor's house up the road and trick or treated our way down the hill back to our house. About half way there we got to one of those houses that was completely decked out—crazy Halloween people. As we were walking up the driveway, a life-sized, plastic skeleton popped up from the ground and made a creepy sound. Sophie screamed bloody murder.

Me: Don't worry.  It's just pretend.

Sophie is frozen in place. I pick up Ava who is getting ready to cry.

Me: Some people like to make their houses all spooky, but they still give you candy.

Sophie and Ava consider this, then...

Sophie: I'm not scared!

Ava: (clinging to me like a cartoon jelly fish) I nah scare!

We go get the candy.