Hairy Matters

Some of you may have noticed that my fair-haired Susanna has been sporting a mullet lately.  Her hair is short on the top, and long in the back. 

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I promise you I have not intentionally styled it this way; the hair on top simply seems to grow at a fraction of the pace as the hair in back.  I’ve tried to clip little bows on the longer strands to somehow add a touch of femininity and function to her hairstyle, but her sister pulls them out in short order.  I guess it’s now just a waiting game to let her hair grow in and hopefully even out. 

I’ve noticed lately that her hair, though fine, seems to have a bit of a wave to it.  At least, I’m calling this a wave, and not just a lack of proper brushing on my part:

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Poor kid.  It’s bad enough that she inherited my fine, unruly hair, but she also inherited a mother who has absolutely no idea what to do with the best of hair.  I guess it’s a good thing the girls have been bald for so long.  By the time their hair sufficiently grows in, they’ll be old enough to style it themselves!    

Behind Closed Doors

When I got the girls up from their morning nap today, Becky went into my room instead of down the stairs per our usual routine.  She closed the door behind her, leaving Susie and I on the other side.  I waited for a moment, sure she would start calling for me as soon as she realized she was alone.  But I waited, and waited, and she never called.  I could hear her taking the books off of my bookshelf (an activity she’s permitted to do when I’m supervising).  Susie began to think she was on the boring side of the door, so she toddled over and knocked, hoping Becky would include her in the clandestine fun.  Yet Becky stayed silent, probably hoping we would get the hint and leave her alone.  I was rather flummoxed, because I wanted to teach Becky that she wasn’t allowed to close doors without my permission (I can see visions of slammed fingers and locked-out sisters).  But then again, I’ve been trying to encourage the girls to be more independent in their playtime and not need me to be sitting with them every moment, which is our current status.  I waited another minute while Susie impatiently knocked and whined at the door, and then decided Becky’s self-imposed isolation time was over.  I opened the door and found her sitting contentedly,  a half-dozen books spread around her.  When she saw us, she hopped up and started whining, evidently annoyed at the interruption.  I scolded her for closing the door on her own, had her clean up her mess, and then I herded them back downstairs. 

Of course, it only took a few minutes of downstairs play before I was half-wishing I had just let Susie into my bedroom with her sister, closed the door on both of them and let them entertain themselves for a while.  But I guess I ought to cherish this time when my girls want to spend time with me.  Soon enough, they will be independent young ladies who will greet my appearance in their room with annoyance, and will be quick to close the door once I’m gone.  Given today’s events, I think that time is closer than I was expecting!  

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Horsey Ride

The girls are starting to enjoy roughhousing with each other.  I’m not sure whether I welcome this pastime, since it almost always results in one or both girls in tears (actually, usually only one girl – the other one scoots off to another activity once the waterworks start).  But I guess it’s good that they’re enjoying more interactive play with each other, rather than just side-by-side play.  Here’s a video of Susie playing “horsey” with her sister.  Some of you may have already seen the YouTube clip – I’ve had it up there a while, but neglected to put it here on the blog until now.  The original video is quite a bit longer, and it does indeed end with someone getting bumped and bruised, but I thought I’d edit it down so you just see the part where they’re both having a fun time.  I can’t get enough of those giggles!

 

Look Who’s Coming to Dinner

The girls must think they’re old enough to start inviting guests to dinner:

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At least this guy won’t eat too much!   

Puppies and Presents

Last night, the girls and I attended a fun-filled birthday party/puppy shower.  The birthday boy was the 14-year-old son of our friends, and the shower was for my friend Beth who will today become the proud owner of a Bichon Frise puppy named “Lola.”  It was wonderful to catch up with friends who I haven’t seen in a couple months (thanks to these snowy New England winters that dampen my desire to drive anywhere unless under duress – see my post on my fear of snow driving), and the girls enjoyed playing with someone else’s toys and eating way too much cake and ice cream (me, too!).  It was a perfect evening!          

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Becky: “I’m on the edge of my seat!  This Sponge Bob is an intense show!”

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Susie: “I love ya, Gordon, but could we stop this picture taking and pay attention to the desert table for a moment?”

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Susie: “Now THIS is what I’m talking about!”

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Susie: “Keep the chocolate coming, Maria!”

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Susie: “Beth, I’ll help you open the puppy presents.” 

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Becky: “What?  You mean all these presents aren’t for me?  They’re for a PUPPY?”

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Becky: “I don’t care if you say this is a puppy brush.  It’s just the right size for me.” 

Time with Bubba

My mother-in-law (“Bubba”) watched the girls today while I put in a few hours at the office (I’ve got to keep my nonexistent skills up, you know!).  They wiled away the hours playing and reading and giggling and cuddling.  All of us were delighted with how we spent our day! 

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Hands Full

And I thought I had my hands full with only two kids!

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Becky: “See Mom?  I can handle THREE babies at once.  Eat your heart out.”

Fashion Follies

Remember how I blogged yesterday about being relieved that the girls do take after me at least a little bit?  Well, our activity today definitely put the matter to rest.  The girls put on a rainy-day fashion show for me using new spring sandals from their Grammie and hand-me-down hats and skirts from their cousin Katelyn.  It should be kept in mind that these two individuals, my mom and my sister-in-law Julie (Katelyn’s mom), have excellent taste in clothes/colors/fashion, etc.  But somehow, my girls still managed to make their outfits clash rather badly, with no help from my choice of striped rainbow pants.  So, my apologies to Mom and Julie -it’s me and my genes, not you and your gifts!  Hopefully the girls will compensate for their inherited fashion clumsiness by hanging around with you two some more! 

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Pass it On

When my mom visited several weeks ago, she brought a VHS with home videos that she and my father took of me when I was two years old.  It was surreal to view myself at roughly the same age as my girls, especially since I had a similar build and hairstyle (i.e. barely bald).  When I first watched it with my mom, we didn’t see any facial resemblance between the girls and I, although we searched intently for a familiar trait.  However, tonight I put the video on while the girls were with me, and being able to look from the TV screen to their faces made it easier to spot a few similarities.  My in-laws, who were watching with us, and I agreed that Becky looks a bit like I did.  We both had tall foreheads and narrow faces, and we laughed and walked the same.  And Becky, Susie and I all shared the same delighted, adoring gaze when we looked at our dads!

So I’m relieved to finally be able to say, after almost 19 months of hearing “Do those girls ever look like their dad!” and “That’s Jim all over!” and “Those are her daddy’s eyes for sure!”, that my DNA snuck in there as well.  My genes may not be as prominent as Jim’s, especially when you consider their love of motor vehicles, but I’ll take what I can get!    

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Night of Entertainment

We went over to our friends’ house on Saturday night for a delicious Bar-B-Que.  The last time we were there, it was Christmastime and the girls spent the evening entranced by my friend Carrie’s dancing snowman: 

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Last night, there were no musical interludes, but everyone was thoroughly entertained nonetheless.  Chris and Sarah showed Susie how to work an iPhone:

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And Carrie occupied Becky with her endless bag of toys (note Susie’s lesson in Apple software continuing in the background):

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Even Jim kept busy by showing Jon and Joe all the best motorcycle deals on the market right now:IMG_4022

And I had to get in on the fun by arranging a picture of Jim and the girls with their favorite stuffed animal at Jon and Carrie’s house (you can see Becky’s dismay that I dressed the girls in the same pajamas as I did several months ago…I’m obviously not fashion-forward enough for her):

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Here’s the monkey picture from December:

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We’ll see what the girls are wearing the next time we go to our friends’ house.  I’m going to need to mix up the pajama rotation if I keep documenting our late-night outings!