Cece!

Me:  Oh Cece, I love it when you sing.


Cece:  Thanks Mama.  I got a lot of songs.

#bighairdontcare

On Saturday morning Cece looked in the mirror, gasped in surprise, and said, "Oh mine hair so big and so curly!"

Chatterbox

Cece has become an official chatterbox.  And she's pretty funny.  Sometimes it's even what she says but the intonation that cracks us up.


She'll answer a request with , "Of course!" Or greet us with, "Good morning!"


Yesterday she had her first dance class.  I would not consider it a huge success as the teacher held her for the entire 30 minute session (in pajamas and crazy hair) while she cried.  This morning our babysitter, Megan, asked her about it.


Megan:  Cece, how was dance?

Cece:  Dance with friends.  Me cry.


Megan:  You cried?  Why?


Cece:  Me scared.


Megan:  What were you scared of?

Cece (very seriously):  Ghosts.


Another example...we were sitting outside yesterday, enjoying the beautiful weather while we waited for the kids to get home from school.


Me: Cece, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Cece:  Baby.


Me:  A baby?  But you're already a kid! 


Cece:  Ok, fish.  Me be fish.  Blue one.

Cece's Latest Selfie

Cece and her Bubby

Sisters in Jammies

Maggie turned 5 earlier this month and she received a Barnes and Noble gift card from her grandma and grandpa in Idaho.  She couldn't wait to spend it and so we headed out to the mall one night last week while Cate and Ben were at their activities.

"Mom," Maggie said to me on the way there. "I"m going to be a cowgirl when I grow up."

"That's great," I replied.

"Actually," she continued. "I'm going to have two jobs."

"What will your other job be?"  I asked.

"Oh, I'll be a baby doctor too."  she said.

Sisters in Jammies

Go Hawks!

Iowa vs. Wisconsin

I don't have any photos of Ben because he was curled up on my lap for the entire game. Knowing how few opportunities like this I have left with him made me treasure every second!

Baby's First Haircut

Cece wasn't quite sure what to think of her first haircut.  No tears...although she glared suspiciously at the stylist, Mariah, for the entire 30 minute session.

Jump!

I was worried that Cece might attempt the jump from the coffee table to the couch on her own after watching the big kids successfully execute the move on a daily basis.  

Anyway, fast forward to Saturday morning when I glanced up from the kitchen counter and saw Maggie, very helpfully, "helping" Cece make the jump.

The words, "Put the baby down!" were literally about to spill from my mouth.  Loudly.  But then I heard Cece roar with laughter.  Hysterical laughter.

She would rather be in the middle of the action, even if that means being smushed onto the couch by a sister that outweighs her by a good 20+ pounds, than on the floor watching the action.

Oh the life of the fourth child...

Duct Tape

It's time to stock up on duct tape.  Cece just figured out how to take her diaper off.

Not a skill that I am ready for her to master quite yet...

Me:  Cece!  Where is your diaper?

Cece:  All gone!

A Week of Family

 

Following the triathlon on Saturday we spent Sunday in Zearing, Iowa celebrating my Grandma Hyland's 90th birthday.  All of mom's eight siblings and the majority of my cousins were in attendance.  It was a great day and I'm so glad that we were able to be at the party.

 

My uncle Tim came to Iowa City for a few days at the end of the week.  My kids loved having him here and loved all of the attention they received from my cousins Leslie and Rachael. 

 

There's nothing my kids like better than a new audience who hasn't seen all of their tricks. 

Cece: An Update

It's hard to believe that Cece is almost 18 months old.

She is a busy, busy little girl.  Who can blame her?  There's a lot to keep up with in our house.

She's starting to be quite the little chatterbox although her vocabulary is heavy on the names of her siblings' friends---Emmett, Henry, GG---and the neighbors' pets----Molly, Tessa."  Her demand for "more lemonade" is surprisingly clear.  And the other day we swear she said, "Let it go."  (We do listen to the Frozen soundtrack quite a lot).

Cece likes to do everything herself, including eating, and has recently started climbing everything in sight.  Her latest trick is to use her little piano as a stool that allows her to climb on top of the couch (see above).  She then tightrope walks along the top edge of the couch, burrowing into the pillows when an adult comes to pluck her to safety.

She adores popsicles, dogs (aka "woofs") and her siblings.  She loves to try on Ben's socks and shoes and walk around the house.  Today she brought a pair of Maggie's undies to us and proceeded to wear them over her diaper.

Cece has a fake cry that she will deploy when one of her siblings is up in her business and she wants her parents to intervene.  She has a "surprised!" face that never fails to make us laugh.  She hates her car seat and would play in the car for hours, if we would let her.

She is an astute observer of the world around her.  Earlier this summer we were in the car on our way to Cedar Rapids.  She and Maggie were sitting across from each other, buckled in their respective car seats.

Suddenly, we hear Maggie start to cry.

"Maggie! What's wrong?"  I asked.

"Cece's playing want-it-you-can't with me," came Maggie's response.

"What is want-it-you-can't?" I asked, confused.

"You know---want-it-you-can't!" Maggie says and pantomimes giving me a toy to hold and snatching it away from me just as I reach for it.

"Oh," I said.  "I wonder where she learned a game like that..."

"I don't know!" cried Maggie indignantly. "But it's not very nice!"

It seems as though things will get even more lively around here once Cece begins to really talk...

Reunited

Maggie's Second 1st Day of Preschool

Maggie had a hard time with preschool drop off last year.  And she had a hard time with the idea of going back to preschool this year.

Early in July we dropped of her preschool deposit.  This left Maggie in hysterics.  She sobbed, "Please don't send me back to that place."

She was so upset at the thought of going to preschool that even Cate and Ben, who usually have little patience for Maggie's flair for the dramatic, tried to console her.

"But preschool is fun!"
"You get to paint and do art projects!"
"You get to play with your friends every day---and your best friend will be there."

Maggie was unmoved.  She. Was. Not. Going. To. Preschool.

Ben tried to reason with her, "But you need to go to preschool so you can go to kindergarten.  And you need to go to kindergarten so you can learn math."

"I don't want to learn math," said Maggie.

"But you need math to get a job," explained Ben.  "All jobs need math.  Well, unless you're going to be a caveman."

There was a brief moment of silence as we all contemplated this wisdom.

Ben thought for a minute and said, "Actually, I think even cavemen need math so you should probably go to school."

This set off a new round of hysterics.

And so I was a bit worried about how Maggie would fare on her first day of preschool.

But, in the end, it couldn't have gone better.  She was up at 5:30am, and dressed by 5:35. 

The only person crying at drop-off was Cece, who was sad to leave her big sister (and the small sink and great toys) behind.

Traditional first-day-of-school photo on the front steps

Before school with her BFF

By her cubbie, wearing the outfit she picked out for the first day.  She insisted on the pink sweater to match her maxi dress.

Cece, plotting her escape

Cece and Mags

More Tri

Not only did Ben finish first overall in his age group today, Cate was the second girl to cross the finish line in her age group. 

Location, Location, Location

 

 

The kids really wanted to have a lemonade stand last week.  We live on a cul-de-sac with not a lot of outside traffic but learned early in the week that our neighbors were going to be part of a garden tour and that we could expect 500-1000 visitors on Saturday afternoon. 

 

This, Chris told the kids, was the perfect time to have a lemonade stand as there will probably never be this many people on our street again.

 

The preparations consumed our week.  The kids made signs.  We bought pitchers and lemonade.  Maggie was convinced that we need to sell treats as well so we baked (and decorated) several batches of cupcakes.  We considered our pricing strategy.  (Chris recommended pricing everything at $0.75 and hoping that customers would round up to $1.00).  They discussed how they would spend their earnings.

 

The sale opened at 3:00pm and there was a steady stream of customers until a thunderstorm closed everything down at 6:00pm.

 

I wasn't sure how the day would go.  There a lot of pent up anticipation---the kids were ready to set up at 7:00 in the morning and so it was hard to convince them that they should wait until the garden tour started, mid-afternoon.  There had also been a lot of fighting during the week before the sale---who would be in charge of the money, who would pour the lemonade, how would they split the profits, etc.

 

But during the actual sale everything went smoothly.  They decided on their jobs ahead of time:  Cate poured the lemonade, Maggie served up the cupcakes, and Ben was the cashier.  There were surprisingly few disagreements and their customer service was pretty good.  (Family members and adored babysitters got hugs with their lemonade).

 

And they each walked away with $48.33 in their pocket. 

A New Era

Last night we went for our second ever family bike ride.  In contrast to the first bike ride, Cece didn't cry at all.  We packed the Burley with books and her bink (in case of emergency) and made Maggie promise to "be a good friend."

We first stopped at Dairy Queen and then headed to "the lookout" on the way home. 

I think Chris and I are even more excited than the kids to have a family activity that everyone can participate in.

Baby's First Sweet Corn

Baby Artist

Otherwise known as anything-Cate-and-Maggie-can-do-I-can-do-too!

The Lemonade Obsession Begins

Delicious!

Proof that Cece was at the lemonade stand.

If the bosses (Cate and Ben) won't let you sample the inventory, you have to get creative.

Claire at the lemonade stand.

The Crew

Ben working on advertising.  (He dislikes writing so I'm always excited when I see him voluntarily writing something).

Cate:  I'm writing napkins with our logo.

Hoping that more signage will attract more customers.

And yes, they did realize that the arrow was pointing away(!) from their stand.

My kids obsession with lemonade stands began with a spur of the moment stand at their cousins' house.  Although they only made around $1.00 each, they were excited about each step of the process. 

The kids' disappointment whenever a car drove by without stopping was immense.  I told Chris on the way home that our resolution from this point forward should be to always, always stop by any lemonade stand we see. 

And tip the workers.