Eagle Madeleine in blue and Eagle Emily in black.
Chipmunk Emily in front of Chipmunk Madeleine.
Playing with animal "footprints"
Emily (L) and Madeleine looking at some fish.
Emily (L) Madeleine (R) looking at the Red Fox.
Emily (L) Madeleine (R) feeling very brave in front of the dinosaur. Madeleine did have a nightmare during that day's nap about dinosaurs...but thankfully it hasn't been an issue since.
Madeleine feeding fish to the eagles....seems to have been a rough landing.
Emily Chipmunk.
"Why are you cooking waffles?"
"You said you wanted waffles for breakfast."
"Why you use that pan?"
"It's called a waffle iron and if I don't use it, the waffles won't cook."
"Why you use a spoon?"
"Because it is hot and I don't want to hurt my hand. We don't touch hot things."
"Why?"
At this point...the first waffle hasn't even cooked - have a good day!
The girls had their three year check-up and passed with flying colors. Both of them are basically about 50th - 55th percentile for height and weight (both are 37" tall and Madeleine is 30.5 lbs, while Emily has her beat by a whole 8oz!) - pretty much the percentiles they've been since birth. At the three year check-up they no longer measure head size...both girls were always high 90th percentile - a bit top heavy. I really like our doctor, and really hate his office. They are always running behind schedule and the women who "register" patients are always overwhelmed and three steps behind. We had an 8:45 appointment on a Monday morning. The office opens at 8:30, we were there at 8:30 (you have to arrive 15 minutes before your appointment to allow an entire 45 minutes of waiting in the waiting room) and yes, they were somehow already behind schedule!
When we were finally called back I was handed two cups in which urine specimens are collected. I glanced around quickly and as I didn't see cameras set up for Candid Camera looked at the nurse and said "You're kidding, right?" No. See the issue is, we "tinkle" at certain points in the day and we generally are home during those times. When I made the appointment I asked if there would be any "labs" and was told no. (Last year I learned if you ask if there are any shots, you are told no, when in fact there is a "lab" that involves drawing blood for a lead test. I'm in favor of this....I just want to know so I can have the Infant Motrin already in their systems when they get poked! I now bring it in my purse just in case...) So, I don't think we will be producing a whole lot. I finally convinced the girls it would be fun to tinkle at Dr. DeWitt's and go about locating the restroom and potty seat (the kind that adapts a regular toilet to a child-sized bottom - not a separate little potty - not a fan of those). They don't have any sort of potty seat. That makes perfect sense as this is a pediatricians' office and you wouldn't want to be too prepared!!
The girls will use adult toilets, but only with a potty seat. We have tried to use them without the seats, and it isn't happening folks. In fairness...it must feel like the Grand Canyon to them. So, I'm faced with taking two children into the restroom (knowing it won't be successful) and using both hands to hold one of them over the gaping chasm of the commode while using a foot to pin the other to a wall/steer her away from the toilet/sanitary napkin depository while screeching "Hands on your tummy!" because we are in a public facility (this really happens) -all the while holding the collection cup with my....other foot? I refused to even try and we took the cups home. Madeleine and Emily took great delight in "tinkling" in the cups and have requested to be able to do so again on several occasions. The routine urine tests (I don't even know what they were looking for) came back normal - thank God, because I'm not doing that again. And to think, if I had been told "yes" when I asked if there were any labs, we could have picked the cups up in advance and come in prepared!
The other totally amazing part of their check-up was when I was presented with pediatric paper gowns and told the girls needed to strip to their underwear and put on the gowns with the openings in the front. Excuse me while I fall on the floor laughing: 1. They have no sense of modesty 2. They LOVE to be naked 3. They are very excited to show Dr. Dewitt they are big girls who wear underwear 4. They are champion paper shredders and these gowns will be confetti in nothing flat. We skipped the gowns (save your money and buy a potty seat!) and were happily in just our underwear (and socks) when Dr. Dewitt came in the room and graciously commented on our wearing "big kid pants".
I was actually glad the Emily and Madeleine had an appointment scheduled as they both picked up a cold at school. It started with just slight "nose water", as it is called in our house, and then dropped to the chest for a nasty cough about a day later. I learned the upside of both colds and Big Girl Beds. Colds - you have an excuse to put them back in cribs (running a humidifier and using Children's Sudafed Plugins - both of which would have been too tempting to free-range children) and they sleep more. Big Girl Beds - when you hear the scary cough and want to sleep in their room so you can keep an ear open and grab the coughing child to prop her up at 2AM - you have a bed to sleep in because the children are in cribs....I used to sleep on the floor in such situations - beds are so nice! Anyhow, the cold seems to leave fairly quickly and managed to hit us one at a time. Madeleine had it first and her basic attitude is "drug me and put me to bed" which makes her pretty easy to handle. She likes to be held, but is willing to just be propped on the couch if a meal needs cooking, etc. In addition, Emily is a very solicitous healthy child, bringing Madeleine her security blanket ("Essie"), water cup, books, etc. I foolishly thought this isn't too bad.....then Emily got sick and Madeleine got better. Emily is a clingy sick child who must be held at all times and finds it completely unacceptable to leave your lap for any reason. She also tends to whine and did announce "I a little bit gumpy (grumpy)." I told her that's no problem, the grumpies would go away soon. Simultaneously, Madeleine was feeling much better and making up for lost time by swiping things from Emily, hiding Emily's "Essie" and making direct eye contact while defying what I had just told her to do. After two weeks of being up to my elbows in nose water....the girls are doing better, I have the cold (Zicam is working its magic so it isn't too bad) and hoping Till dodges this one - not likely.
Emily and Madeleine discovered the joy of sidewalk chalk and we have a colorful driveway and back deck. There are rumors the Easter Bunny may bring chalk shaped like bunnies and eggs to our house....
Recently, Madeleine and Emily went to the Virginia Living Museum to see the animals - photos above. We went there once before, fairly soon after moving here, but haven't been back as it is a bit of a drive and a pretty big place. It is amazing how much of a difference age makes. The girls had a lot more fun and were able to handle all the walking outside well enough we ended up with a family membership and have already made a second visit. I will say this time they were more fearful of some of the exhibits, those housed in the dark, but we did get to see some nice fish, etc. A lot of the critters are rescue animals and one is a large sea turtle with a seriously injured front flipper. Madeleine has decided to be an animal doctor and she will fix the turtle. When I asked her if she wanted to be a doctor for big animals like cows and horses or little animals like dogs and cats, I was informed "both!" Okay. Currently, there is a traveling exhibit, Animal Secrets, that is designed to educate small children about forest animals. We had a lot of fun in this area and thought it was great getting to be chipmunks, feed fish to eagles and move all of the animals (puppets) into the cave for "night-night time". I have no science background, but I'm thinking with bats, eagles, raccoons, foxes, fish, chipmunks and wolves in one cave...things may get a bit cozy.
Today Emily and Madeleine helped me take our kitties to the vet for their check-up. This is always an adventure in humiliation as Lincoln makes such a fuss and is truly embarrassing. Sure enough, Lucy went through everything fine....It took three adults to get Lincoln out of his carrier (I was bitten in the process - rude cat) and he hissed, growled and spat so much the girls backed against a wall and were on the verge of tears. Dr. Madeleine, who had previously agreed to take care of Lincoln and Lucy when she is a grown-up lady, said Lincoln doesn't get to go to the doctor anymore. Emily (who wants to be a Mommy doctor - "Only for other kids' mommies.") is worried Lincoln will consequently get sick. At least they didn't have to provide urine specimens.
