I think this is the most random post I've ever written. The pictures below are a combination of gems from my phone and my camera, and none documented big events or any particular occasion. But, I love what they show -- just our everyday life!
Mary loved cheering on the Giants for their World Series win :)
She was equally excited about SI's Bruce Mahoney win in football (a big game between St. Ignatius and Sacred Heart every year)!
She's also supportive of academics, though. In fact, I think she's a little annoyed at me disturbing her quality time with Megan here. She sat like this for a long time with her big sister, just soaking up some "math sentences."
One of them is doing her own thing.
She's definitely doing her own thing! Bridget has been a little bit of a, ahem, challenge lately. She is an absolute bear to be around most of the time. Her mood swings wildly from one extreme to the other. Apparently, she's a model child at school, the most obedient and pleasant child in her class. However, she turns into a serious pot-stirrer by the time she gets buckled into the car after school (if she makes it that long!).
"It's a looong day, Mommy. I can't be good all day long."
"It's a looong day, Mommy. I can't be good all day long."
We've been trying, desperately, to reward her for good behavior. She has a little poster up on her wall to document her "good girl" days. It's pretty blank, unless you count the random scribbles and drawings all over it. Just one day with no whining, screaming, tantruming, or drama. That's all we need for her to earn a toy from my "secret stash," and she just.can't.do.it. (Although, as I'm writing this, she actually had a day today that may qualify. Thank God!)
I know she's not the first or last kid to have a rough transition to the big, wide world, especially transitioning to the longer hours of a full-day kindergarten. She is a great napper when she's not at school, so she's definitely missing a couple hours of sleep by being at school until 3. Picking her up after school is like picking up a tiny little bomb that may go off at any given moment. The keys to handling this bomb are holding it very delicately, insulating it from any sudden movements, and keeping it from realizing it's explosive potential with lots of distraction and activity! Lately, our little bomb can be kept un-detonated with an uninterrupted stream of arts and crafts, lots of paper and tape, constant attention and purpose. If she's busy, she's an angel. Recently, she had her kindergarten class' Barney the Bear over a long weekend, and she made herself very busy (and me by association, with her demands that pictures be taken documenting their every move together) with the entertainment of this little guy. She orchestrated a seat for him at the breakfast table, and even smuggled him along for a Bridget/Barney/Mommy Costco trip.
Poor Barney was also subjected to this little photo shoot as well. Welcome to our house of girls, Barney! Are you sure you don't want to stay longer than the weekend?!
In other Mary news, she is obsessed with both (clean) underwear and her belly button! She now knows a few body parts (teeth, hair, toes, and most hilariously -- to her -- her belly button). She rubs her belly button like it's a little lovey when she's tired. And, if it's been covered up all day with pesky clothes, she just can't wait to have access to it :) Kids are so weird and each one is so different. We've never had a belly-button rubber or an underwear-obsessed baby before!
Speaking of all those kids, I took all of them to cast my vote! We were quite the sight as I juggled Mary on my hip, made sure I was voting for the right candidates, and had four more girls swarming at my feet, including Tessa lying on the floor with a coloring book below my voting booth :) But, they were all rewarded for their civic duty with stickers,
and swinging at the "outside park" conveniently located next to the polling station!
These three little girls are still a little crazy pack during the day while Megan and Bridget are at school.
The girls are in love with a game that Bridget received for her birthday. It's called Fairytale Spinner Game, and they all get into it. It's so, so fun to hear them each make up their own different story at the end of each game after they collect the components and characters. I know I would have been terrible at this as a kid, so I'm so proud of their imaginations, especially Megan's. It's a testament to the hundreds of stories Matt has told them at bedtime every single night. I can't recommend this game highly enough for building story-telling and writing skills. In the words of Megan, "The moral of this game is to have fun. It's not about winning or losing." Okay, so maybe we need to go over the word "moral" again, but you get the idea :)
Reading is always a favorite activity. And when I say reading, I mean "reading." :) You can be sure I would dedicate a whole post to this topic if our three-year-olds were truly reading.
Mary doesn't get to swing too often because her mean mommy thinks it's easier if she stays in the stroller when we're out at the park. When she's free, though, she will swing and swing...and swing some more. And she thinks she's pretty cute and coy, too. I tend to agree.
That's all for randomness. For now.
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