Meredith Carson... Across the Pond and Back Again...

I pretty much spend all day everyday with this little person... Most of the time this is a lovely fate.  Occasionally I feel a little suffocated, but since it's my third time around on this toddler merry-go-round, I know that this smothering sensation is indeed only temporary.  I am really enjoying being present for the rapid verbal evolution of my little buddy.  Several months ago her vocabulary consisted of only three words: Milk, More and Mama, all urgent and essential "m" words. Today she knows and says over 100 words.  Since she is my third, I have not bothered to make a list of them.  Sorry.  It is, however, very exciting to note that this ever-growing list of words results in less and less toddler-style frustration.  All people want to be heard and understood, and using one's words is a great first step.  Often when she is on the verge of a meltdown, I can stymie the tantrum by repeating her words/ feelings back to her.  For example...

Yesterday at the eleven o’clock church service I sat sandwiched between my two eldest daughters.  It was lovely.  Emma’s arm was linked through mine as we sang the processional hymn, Onward Christian Soldiers , together.  My heart filled with mirth as the little girl to my right sang out so loudly and joyfully even though the tune of this song was lost on her.  Standing there listening to Emma sing took me back to other occasions when I’ve stood beside a beautifully off-key singing loved one.  My late grandfather Lewis’s hymn singing resembled the sounds a tortured cat might make, but I always smiled inside when I stood next to him in church.  Even though the music was like an unknown foreign language to him, the lyrics were stitched into his heart.  Any person who stood by his side while he softly squealed along with How Great Thou Art could clearly discern the depth of his sentiment. I have equally fond memories of listening to my late grandmother ...

My youngest daughter is nearly 20 months old.  I know!  I cannot believe it either.  Even more unbelievable is the fact that she had her very first ever bubble bath this past weekend.  How is it possible that she has been deprived of bubble baths for her entire life?  We don't tend to take bubble baths at our house since several of us have sensitive skin, but when Sophie started to feel a bit unimportant near the end of Emma's birthday party on Saturday evening, I convinced her that a special jacuzzi bath with her baby sister would cure what ailed her.  My mom had just sent us some fancy organic lavender bubble bath, so that went into the water as well... and Voila!  We had just produced the world's happiest baby.  He cheers of, "BOBBLE!  BOBBLE! BOBBLE!!!" could be heard all over the house. I really love living with a toddler.  A toddler knows nothing of holding back emotions.  So while we sometimes have back-arching, howling t...

Once upon a time things were easier at my house.  Sure there were more diapers to change.  There were even more messes to clean up and there was lots of urgent "Feed Me Now, Mama" crying, but when we had two children under the age of two, everybody loved everybody ALL of the time.  (The littlest one didn't know she loved everybody, but I'm sure that love was in there.) Today things are less labor intensive but far more emotionally complicated.  Today those two girls are seven and nine.  They share the same space, hunger for the attention of the same haggard mama, and they look at life through the lenses of very different personalities.  (Don't forget the fact that we have also added another very spirited, cutie-pants baby sister to the equation.)  One moment Emma and Sophie may be lying on their tummies, side by side, coloring a beautiful picture together, and the next moment they are furiously screaming at each other.  This is foreign to me sin...

My favorite rock star turned nine today.  Yesterday we celebrated with bowling, homemade cake and several other rockin' nine-year-olds.  I have watched the interests of this girl evolve from pink princesses into rock stars and dragons.  In the years to come her passions will continue to change, and we will enjoy the ride. Some things have not changed like Emma's curiosity, creativity and concern for others.  She has so much love to give and she goes about showing it in very inventive ways.  Our oldest girl is a rock star with a heart of gold, and we can't wait to see what she teaches us next.  Happy Birthday, Emma! "Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You." ~Dr. Seuss

Mother's Day always makes me wonder if I am deserving of all of the praise that those Mother's Day greeting cards deliver.  I usually get handmade cards from my girls, and those are the very best.  This one from Sophia is very sweet... It reveals two important facts.  First of all, she "apreshates" me, and secondly she listens.  She hears me complaining about how unappreciated I feel.  Children are not particularly appreciative by nature, so perhaps my complaints are constructively instructive or...er... is it just more likely that I enjoy complaining about picking everyone's socks up off of the floor? Emma's card related the ultimate compliment...that I am "awesome" in addition to being loving and understanding.  I will accept all of those compliments even though I am pretty sure that there isn't anything literally awesome about me.  I love to read stories, sing silly moose songs, and bake unusual cupcakes, so that does earn me lots of mom po...

I have spent the last several months moaning about how over-scheduled we are.  I weep and groan about having to drag poor Lili out to swimming and gymnastics and whatever else happens to be the obsessed-about activity of the month.  My children don't want to give anything up, but they long for down time.  They put off bedtime so that they can have time to chat and argue with each other and just "be" children, unscheduled children.  Then they are tired in the morning.  Sometimes, as hard as this is to believe, they are grumpy and mouthy to their sweet mama because they are so tired.  I think there has to be a better balance.  I don't want to live like this anymore, and I am the grown up, remember?  I am the grown-up who happened to completely forget about the fact that I had registered and paid for my two older girls to participate in a gymnastics meet on Saturday.  I am sure the meet happened without us, but we didn't even give it a thought...