Princess and the Pea

A couple days ago, Eleanor and Gemma were playing in the living room while I made dinner. They had the couch cushions down off the couch and were bouncing. I kept hearing muffled cries of frustration from Gemma, and I finally asked Eleanor if she thought they could find a game to play that wasn't so rough.

"How about Princess and the Pea?" asked Eleanor. Not a good idea, since a big part of the roughhousing involved squeezing Gemma between cushions. "No I don't think so."

"How about Winnie the Pooh, that's not so rough?"

"Great."

Eleanor then turned to Gemma and say, "Hello Pooh, how would you like to play Princess and the Pea?"

Tattoo Counting

Eleanor had some tattoos left over from Halloween -- she took them out of her bag and asked if she could put them on herself. I asked her if she knew how, and she explained the procedure:

"You go in the bathroom and put it on your hand. Then you run water over it and count to the number that is one after the number before the one that you count next."

Gem loves to dance

The Harcasema Reunion

It was so much fun visiting with the kids, Ray, Joel, Josers, and Matt (and Jack too) in NH! We all missed Uncle Thom and Aunt Jonelle, but tried to catch them by phone to have them there in spirit as well. The Caswell girls could only make it for one night of a slumber party, which of course included very little slumber. Ray and Joel were gracious hosts, even giving up their bed for the Caswell Clan. Uncle Joel wins a prize for BBQing in the middle of a wet noreaster downpour. Michigan beat State. Local Brews. Euchre. Gingerbread pancakes. And of course, Jude stole the show with his sweet little burbles, smiles, and cuddly sleep in our arms (Ray and Joel changed diapers - we just enjoyed the precious little one.) Thanks guys for a great visit!

Rosie Red and the Googah Band

Eleanor latest identity is Rosie Red, the cowgirl. She has the fringed red leather jacket from Grammy, a true "Texas Hat" from dad, and a denim cowgirl skirt from nana. To this she adds pink or leopard print leggings, mismatched bright blue socks, and her rain boots. Give this girl her horsie, and she's off. Of course Gemma and Googah can't help but join in the fun!

Strike!!!!

The girls go candlepin bowling for their first time while visiting with their aunties and uncles in NH. Eleanor bowled a spare and earned the highest score. Gemma dropped and hurled the poor balls for half the game before retiring to her role as score keeper. Her favorite part, of course, was the stylish pair of bowling shoes.

A new cousin!

Eleanor and Gemma are so pleased to announce the arrival of their little cuz, Jude Lawrence. We went down to visit the little dude, his parents, and his grammy at his home in Newmarket, NH. Eleanor was not a bit disappointed that his name is not actually Cucumber Geoff Caswell Hartter as she had suggested. And yes, he is way too cute!

Today tomorrow

Eleanor has got this sense that whenever she wakes up it's tomorrow. It extends to whenever she's in "quiet time" (which is neither quiet, nor a lot of time...) -- before she goes up to her room she'll ask, "what are we going to do tomorrow?" meaning what are we going to do when I come down. We've had lots of conversations about how it's not actually "tomorrow" yet when she comes down from quiet time. Yesterday before quiet time she asked, "Will it still be today tomorrow?" Zen koan anyone?

Family Reunion

All five sibs were reunited when we traveled to Michigan to see Thom (for the first time in three years), meet his fiance, Jonelle, and attend a big engagement fiesta, celebrate Matt's graduation from GVSU, and shower Rachel and her little "soccer dude". We had such a great time visiting and there are many stories to tell.

One quote from Eleanor keeps passing through my mind. "Momma, Momma! Hoover doesn't listen just like I don't listen!" she says excitedly after Grammy explained to her what it meant that Grammy's older dog, Hoover, is deaf.

Tales from Nana's

Eleanor is now wanting to play "petanarian" at my house....and has chosen the name of "Doctor Lucy....no, Fred" (names from the "McDuff" book I read to her). She wanted to put drops in Maggie's eyes but we settled for letting her "examine" Maggie's belly, as she was "four legs up" wanting to be scratched (like Fergus, in another book).

Gemma is following in the "pawprints", too.......I ask, "What does Maggie say?" and she says, "Woof!".....Then I ask, "What does Gemma say?"....and she says "Woof". That's why she and Maggie get along so well.....they speak the same language.

No no no...

Eleanor: "Daddy?"
Daddy: "Yes?"
Eleanor: "No, no, no! I was talking to Mom!"

Birdbumps

Some of just a couple quotes from yesterday...

Elly was talking about "Otter Space," letting me know that, "a spaceship is like a planet that flies when it's really dark."

She also observed that "in the Beauty and the Beast movie they don't sing. They just pretend: it's just their voices singing."

She also posed this jokey riddle, "Daddy, do gooses have bird bumps?" And followed it up with, "Do birds have goosebumps?" She explained that, "That's a funny joke," and when I asked her who told it to her, she said, "The trees, the plants, the butterflies. And our lamp."

Bugs, Mammals, Fish, Birds, Trumpets...

Eleanor asked if Bumblebees were bugs. I told her they were and decided we'd spend some time with the "aminal" kingdom -- she knew right away that dolphins were different than sharks, say, and that mice were certainly not bugs. She rattled right along until I hit her with, "what are hornets?"

"Trumpets! Doot-do-DOOO!"

Learning Language

Both girls are definitely into communication. Gemma definitely understands quite a bit. For awhile now, if you ask for a hug, she'll drop what she is doing and walk over to you, arms outstretched, and give you a little squeeze. She looks a bit like Frankenstein when going in for the hug (Jud says maybe more like one of the early Draculas going in for a bite). In the picture above, she is coming in for a hug and to grab the camera as well. Makes taking pictures a bit more tricky than when she was inert on her back.

Today, Gemma learned her first official word of sign language (other than "hi", "bye" and "up"). With Eleanor's help, she learned to put her hands together in the sign that means "more". So, I peeled an entire grapefruit today and between Gemma and Eleanor asking for more, I had only one bite.
At night, routine for Eleanor includes two books and either songs or a story made up by yours truly. Often she will tell a short story after mine that always seems to hit on the same themes and characters as I talked about. Tonight, she asked to tell the story of Mulan. Granted, she knows nothing about Mulan other than that she is some sort of Disney "Princess". Don't get me started on the Disney princesses. So, she started telling the story about Mulan.
"Is it scary? Why is it scary? What happens?"
I let her know that asking questions is not telling a story. So she starts again.
"Is the story of Mulan going to be too scary for you, Momma? Are you sure? We'll fast forward through the scary parts. Why is it scary? What happens?"
So I told her that if I answered all her questions, I would be telling the story.
"Got you again, Momma, " she says with a sly smile.
We are definitely in for some trouble with this one...

Boys vs. Girls

"Momma, do boys wear underwear"
"Yes..."
"Do boys go potty"
"Yes..."
"Boys go potty backwards. Daddy goes potty standing up. Girls go potty frontwards so they can see their mommas."

Morning with the Girls

Elly wanted to change the music away from Bob Dylan -- the next song was Jim Croce. I told her who it was and asked her if she knew anyone else named "Jim." Her eyes lit up: "Jim-Nastics!"

Gemma came up to dance with me, held her hands up and Elly said, "She's marrying you! Gemma can be the groom and you can be the bride. ---Posted by Jud

Colds and Warms

Elly's Dad says, "You look a little pale, Eleanor -- a little flushed. I'm not feeling too well either. I think I'm coming down with a cold."
Elly answers, "I think I'm coming down with a warm."

Learning to Walk in Michigan

Poor Ms. Gemma got sick over our stay in Michigan (note the pink cheeks). But she was a real trooper. She focused on developing her walking skills. By the time we returned to Maine, walking had become her primary mode of locomotion.

We're Inseparable!

From our newest poet to her mother when putting her to bed:

"We're Inseparable.
Like Zach and Wheezy ----(A two headed Dragon)
Like the Walrus and the Carpenter -----(Alice in Wonderland)
Like Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle Dee
Like You and ME!"


The picture is misleading, but I could find no decent pictures of me and Eleanor.

A Very Jasmine Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas in Michigan, travelling via MINH (our mini-van) with Jud driving through the night in both directions. Eleanor's top two requests for Santa were a Jasmine Barbie and Jasmine costume, and here she is in all her glory.