Happy everything!

Today, amidst the chaos that is the month of Chanukah (8 nights of gift giving), the month of Rowan's birthday party (a category 5 storm of gift giving) and the month of Christmas (the-seriously-another-day? of gift giving), falls the day of Rowan's actual birth.

A day in which my mom racks her brain to come up with something Rowan needs wants doesn't already have.  Like...say...a picture with Creepy Santa!

(Lest you thought Rowan already had one of those, that was actually me...)

Me - 2007

But while we're on the subject of nostalgic looks back at the good times of old, seems like the perfect time to release the Rowan: Age 3 video.

Happy 4th Birthday, my friend!

Losses and Gains

A few years ago when my mom discovered the wonders of the public library, the very first book I checked out was a Charlie and Lola classic, which was the start of a long and not-so-mild obsession with the series.  It was Lola that introduced me to the concept of wobbly teeth and the resulting financial gains, and so I waited patiently and spoke often of the day in which I would lose my first tooth.

And I only had to wait two-and-a-half years!

Last week I came running out of the shower without sparing a moment to dry off in order to make the exciting and completely urgent announcement that I had lost a tooth.  This was shocking news to my mom, who hadn't even received notice that any of them were loose.  Turns out I was not down with the tooth-losing jargon and had my terms a bit mixed up.

I revised my statement to indicate that I had a tooth that was VERY loose.  (And it was!)

And that tooth fought a noble fight, hanging on til the last possible moment, which turned out to be about 4 pm yesterday.  After it unceremoniously popped out while Rowan and I were practicing our headlocking techniques, it was only appropriate that we celebrate with a trip to the movies to see "Rise of the Guardians," which featured the real tooth fairy!

After the movie, I suggested to my dad that we set up a camera to catch the tooth fairy in action.  Amidst the excitement of putting my tooth in the alligator holder I received when I was born and scrambling to bed before the tooth fairy's scheduled arrival, we forgot. (My dad told me that, much like Santa, the tooth fairy knows when you are sleeping and knows when you're awake, and so I treated going to bed like it was my JOB.)
 

I woke up this morning $6 richer!  (The tooth fairy obviously heard that when it comes to money, I value quantity (the number of bills) over quantity (the value of the bill). And I'm going to assume that she dutifully emptied her wallet of every last single she had.)

But that tooth fairy left me something even more valuable than cold hard cash.

PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE OF HER VISIT.

Thank goodness I slept on my good side!
  

Crown?

As part of my ongoing efforts to raise capital for toy acquisitions, I started a new venture in the crown manufacturing industry.  At $1 a crown, I have yet to make my first sale, but I feel like I'm pretty close to closing a deal with my dad.  I hear all the good businesses took a while to get off the ground.

In the meantime, I found some cheap and only somewhat unwilling labor to model my wares. 

Remy thinks it's about time she had a word with her agent about these gigs.

Full of spit

Is emphatic spitting a milestone?  If so....check!!

The written word

In addition to making me a phenomenal kindergarten speller (I wrote the first line completely on my own), this picture also marks my foray into travel writing.

Kids!  They grow up so fast.

A month in pictures

Rowan had a sweet reunion with her luvva, Miss Staci.

Remy started eating puffies.  And can now consume up to five in between choking false alarms.

The weather got brisk.

Three kids in, Mom finally discovered bath seats. And bath literature.

We had open house at dance class...

...and Rowan showed off her best moves before refusing to go to dance class ever again.

I learned how to kinda knit...

...and made this bracelet.

Rem turned into a confident sitter and is seriously considering thinking about crawling.

We discovered that two's a crowd at the exersaucer.

Commence face clawing in three...two...one...

Pay Day

Last week I came home from a sleepover at my nannie's ecstatic about my latest acquisition -- Raggedy Ann.  It made my mom smile because apparently she, too, hung out with Raggedy Ann when she was my age.

And in the spirit of  everything old being new again, Rowan and I recently discovered Baby Looney Toons and enjoy watching whatever episodes we can find online.  We are not at all picky about which ones we watch -- nor whether they're in the English.  One episode that we particularly enjoy introduced the concept of chores, and the wheels in my small head began to turn.

See, I love me a good catalog -- particularly when it's a catalog about toys.  And every time I find a toy I never knew I absolutely always wanted, my mom tells me to put it on my Chanukah list.  She thinks this is probably the last year I'm going to be satisfied with that line of direction at the end of December.

When I saw the Looney Toons characters save their chore money to buy ice cream, I realized that I no longer needed a convincing argument for new toys -- I just needed a few odd jobs to take care of around the house.

The thing is when you're too short to reach the kitchen sink and too small to haul a garbage bag, that doesn't leave a whole lot a jobs you can apply for.  After much careful thought on my mom and dad's part, I am now Vice President of Wash Cloth Management, with a weekly salary of $5.

It is my responsibility to hang the used wash cloths up after bathtime in both my bathroom and Rowan/Remy's, and then transfer them to the laundry basket once they're dry.  Although I don't generally remember to do it on my own, I execute my responsibilities with great enthusiasm once reminded. 

I was dismayed to discover at the end of Week One that $5 doesn't buy much.  And though this would have been the perfect time for a Ward Cleaveresque speech about the value of a dollar and satisfaction in working hard for what you want, my dad thought it to be a good time to inform me that piggy banks not only store money, but release it, as well.

Which is how I happened upon $67 unspeakable riches.

Although I wasn't allowed to spend it all, I was allowed to take it (along with my $5 in allowance) to Target to buy the Tinkerbell Secret of the Wings box set I had been dreaming about for ten. whole. days.

Oh, sweet victory.

And as I prepared to take out my wallet and make my very first purchase, the very lovely lady behind the customer service counter was pleased to be part of documenting the important milestone.  Sadly, Target security put the kibosh on capturing video of me receiving my change, given the fact that it may reveal highly confidential trade secrets.  About how Target counts their change.  Or the signature manner in which they transfer it to your hand. 

You'll have to take my word that I took that change like I'd been participating in important financial transactions my whole life.

It's exhausting business, managing washcloths.  But every time I affix the microscopic ice skates to the feet of Tinkerbell and the sister she never knew she had, I am reminded of how hard work (and religiously snatching up and depositing spare change into my piggy bank) is so totally worth it.

Which could be the reason why Rowan's been looking to take on some more responsibility around the house.

The 8-Month Check-In

This month, Remy is sporting a shiny new pair of bottom teeth!  She has the enthusiasm to crawl, but apparently not the coordination.  She finds pretty much everything to be laughable.

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

8 months

Cousins unite!

Two weeks ago, we embarked on our first great adventure as a family of five.  We packed our bags (six carry ons, which in hindsight is really too many for two adults to squeeze down the narrow aisle of a plane whilst also toting two booster seats, an infant carseat and three kids) and headed to New York to celebrate the Bat Mitzvah of my cousin Morgan.

Which is truly phenomenal given that my mom says she looked like this only last year...

 

I saw her last three years ago, though, and I swear she was at least slightly taller than that.  At any rate, it was so fun to see our cousins again!  Hayden and I chatted and laughed as if we'd only seen each other last week.

Remy got to go on her first (and second!) plane ride, we survived two nights with her (and ourselves) in a hotel room, we ate a cake that looked like a suitcase and we got to hang out with lots of family that we'd never met before!  Which, by all accounts, means the weekend was a success!

And though Morgan was slightly taller, vaguely older and just a tad more mature than she is in my mom's mind, we reaffirmed that weekend that the more people change, the more they stay the same.

The Great Thumb War of 2007

The Great Thumb War of 2012

Congratulations to you, again, my cousinly friend!  Perhaps you can get back up on that big temple stage and perform a little more Hebrew next year to give us all an excuse to get back together again. In the meantime, we got a few good pictures to remember the fun!

Seven-month check-in

Two weeks ago, Remy celebrated her 7-month birthday and assumed the position for the ritual chair photo.

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months

7 months

And for anyone wondering whether Remy was genetically blessed with our impeccable taste in fashion...why, yes. 

Yes she was.

Mmmm, polyester.  With just a hint of spandex.