Pantry Monkey

Videos: Tristan Noises; Fashionista (Designs with Becky's Scarf)

Louisiana is in a celebratory mood this month, with the Saints in the Super Bowl (for the first time ever) today and Mardis Gras next week. When we went to tour our neighborhood elementary school on Wednesday, I was surprised to see Saints paraphernalia strewn throughout the library and halls. Toddler time at the library consisted of marching to "As the Saints go Marching In" and putting cut outs of the Saints team on a flannel board. Even the conducting member of the bishopric insinuated that he'd be watching football today.

I'm not in the party mood, however, because Landon is in California for 9 days, leaving me with 3 toddlers. He's attending a bird conference in San Diego and conducting research at an egg museum in Camarillo. Lucky dog. :)

Tristan is getting increasingly disruptive at church, and I've begun the countdown to 18 months (just 6.5 months away) so I can toss him into the nursery. Today he crawled under the pews without my notice and bolted under 4 families before another mom returned him. Later he made it to the front of the congregation before being caught. He constantly make exploratory noises with his mouth, too.

Chloe has been breaking into the pantry lately. She gets out a food storage bucket to stand on so she can reach the middle shelf and steal prunes. For obvious reasons, I don't let her eat all of the prunes she wants. She gets frustrated and takes matters into her own hands. When Joss wants something from the pantry that I've said "no" to, I often hear her whispering directions to Chloe: "Chloe, go get the chips. Shhhh."

Spotlight

Picture: Tristan with Keys

I thought I'd capture the girls favorites today (as they're bound to be different tomorrow). Here's what a short interview revealed:

Joss:
favorite colors: yellow and peach (she used to respond "blonde and silverware")
favorite food: noodles, quesadillas, enchiladas, bread (homemade)
favorite song: "Down By the Bay"
favorite princess: Sleeping Beauty

Chloe:
Favorite color: green
Favorite food: quesadillas
Favorite song: "I Am a Child of God"
Favorite princess: Belle

Jocelynne enjoys hearing the story of the day she was born, especially the part about how she peed on me as soon as the midwife caught her and placed her on my chest. When she spoke on the phone with Nona tonight, she burst out excitedly, "When I was born, Mommy peed on me!"

Video: "Down By the Bay"

Favorite Parts

Pictures: Me enjoying Sari's new clothes; Landon trying to rest.

Videos: Fort and Giggler



Our week-long stint of freezing temperatures has passed, and we are once again in the 50s. Still too cold for me, but if I migrated much farther south I'd be in the Gulf of Mexico. Joss, Chloe and I are enjoying the fact that it's too cold for mosquitoes and take daily walks. It's still plenty humid, however, as evidenced by the ubiquitous mold growth (on the stroller, my makeup case, the camera case, Joss' pillow, the baseboards, etc.).

Jocelynne is going though a phase with everything being "my favorite" or "not my favorite". At dinner, for instance, she'll look at what I've prepared and either say, "Oh, Mom! That's my FAVORITE!" or "Um, that's NOT my favorite." I think it's because of this obsession with the word that she became confused over the rudimentary sex-ed terms I recently taught her. She told me a few weeks ago to shut the door while she changed her clothes so that nobody could see her "favorite parts."

Pajama Year

Pictures: Nottoway Plantation; Uncle Mario and Joss; Chloe Close-Up

So I realize that I haven't been consistently getting dressed for the day, as pajamas are much more comfy to be in at home. But I didn't realize how bad it was until a few weeks ago. As I was putting on some pants in the morning, Jocelynne asked, "Mom, where are we going?"

Joss and Chloe enjoy eating corndogs. When they get through the cornmeal batter and see the hotdog, they shout out, "Surprise!" Tristan is still smiley and giggly. His newest favorite activity (well, besides biting) is switching the power off on our power strip that runs the computer and printer. He also likes trying to swing by the chains hanging down from the cuckoo clock.

Our Little Puppy

Photos: Chloe Walks the Dog; Future Ballerina; Concentrating Hard on her Letters; Daddy and Jocelynne; Sisters' Hug (Chloe seems unsure if she wants this affection)

Tristan is like the house puppy. He drools and chews on everything, likes to play in the toilet, and scampers under the table after mealtimes to eat whatever the girls let fall on the floor. His new tricks include babbling "dada" and "mama", cruising while holding on to furniture, and making Indian calls by clapping his hand to his mouth.

Joss told me today at breakfast that she "feels mad" when Chloe pretends to be a princess. "But I like it when she's a prince," she explained. When I commented on the princess castle on Chloe's pajama top, Joss yelled, "I'M a CASTLE!"

Landon got a "squirrel-proof" pole for his bird feeders, as they had all been knocked down and emptied by the rodents previously. The next day we watched as a squirrel shimmied up the pole like a fireman and easily ate the birdseed. Landon silently witnessed the incident with hunched shoulders. I ran to the pole with Pam cooking spray and blanketed it in oil. We had a good time for the next hour, watching the neighborhood squirrels challenging the pole as if it were the Sword in the Stone. After one squirrel would humiliatingly slide down the pole, another would get a running start, get two-thirds the way up, and then scramble with flailing paws before slipping to the bottom.

Joss is learning how to read, and it's humorous to hear her make associations with words she's read. Today she sounded out the word "nose", then said, "Nose. Like Moses had a nose on his face." She also read the word "sacks" and then said, "Sacks. like Quincy plays the saxophone!" I just smiled and nodded.

Quack Quack

Pictures: Put me down!; Chloe the Wet Puppy; Joss at Bathtime; Gremlin

I thought that Chloe's stint as a duck had passed, but it reared it's head again when I asked Chloe a tough question a few days ago. "Chloe, where did you put your Snuggle Bear?" All I got was a blank stare and "Quack quack."

Joss has discovered that she can pick up Tristan and enjoys doing so frequently. Tristan isn't as thrilled with this discovery (the picture depicts this beautifully), as he gets the wind squeezed out of him every time Joss transports him.

Landon has a stressful week ahead of him with finals and projects due, along with trying to whittle his burgeoning novel down to a Christmas list. We're expecting snow here tomorrow. Apparently that's a big deal for the Cajuns.

I often hear Joss coupling herself and Chloe into dynamic duos. Examples I have heard include, "Chloe, I'm Princess Fiona and you're Shrek," and "I'm Ariel and you're Nemo." Other couples I've heard include Belle/Beast, hare/tortoise, June/Catch-eye (the bad guy on Little Einsteins), and Jinny/Harry Potter. Rarely does Chloe complain, but I think the male role-playing has taken a toll on her. For the last month she has insisted that she's a boy!

Chloe and I have been having communication issues for the past few days. She has alternated between being a duck or a frog, and has been true to that role throughout the day. I'll ask, "Chloe, would you like more apple?" She'll look at me sweetly and say, "Quack." Hours later I'll ask, "Do you want to go pick out a book to read?" "Quack- Quack," comes the reply. Today her responses have been "Ribbet."

Tristan has 6 teeth now, and nursing him is becoming uncomfortable. With all of the teething, his nose has been running non-stop for the last 3 weeks. He's always been a drooler, but teething has exacerbated that too. His forehead seems to always have a couple of red lumps on it, as the mosquitoes have found him to be a delicacy. To top it off, his tear duct is still blocked in his right eye, so his lashes are usually plastered with goobers. The end result is a little Frankenstein-ish, with the snot, drool, green eye and bumpy head. Good thing he's not an ugly baby.