Christmas tree

Christmas has come and gone. Oom Maarten is here. And this is the post I drafted weeks ago:

Well, we got it! Tramped out into the half-frozen, half-muddy forest of Christmas trees and found our perfect one.

I have to beat down the urge to try to arrange the lights and ornaments perfectly. At one point during the decorating, Alexander said, "Mommy, you need to stop moving all the ornaments."

So what if there are big bald patches with no lights? So what if the kids hang four ornaments on one tiny branch?

Alexander has put himself in charge of watering the tree. The other morning he came dancing into my room with this urgent look on his face. I thought he had to pee.

"Mom, the water's getting so so low. We have to water the tree now!"

Latest Craze

So, Annabel's latest thing is to sit underneath a blanket and read a book. She can sit like that longer than she can do any other thing.

This is how she spent a good twenty minutes this morning:

She calls it her tent and will declare things like: "Mama in tent with Ah-bell!" and "Ah-bell read books in tent!"

I've begun to use this latest craze to my advantage. If she's underfoot while I'm trying to cook dinner, I just throw a blanket over her and she's happy. :)

Bunk Beds!

Well, Annabel has made the transition from crib to bed. There's no turning back now.

The kids are loving their new beds. And even better, we've rigged up curtains for the bottom bunk so they can have their own little tent/cave. (Inspired by Michiel's and Maarten's childhood bunk beds.)

Mind of His Own

Alexander got in big trouble the other day. The incident involved a parking lot, running away, and his little sister following him. Oh, and a bunch of yelling on my part.

Later, when we talked about it, he admitted that he shouldn't have run away, but he was angry because he wanted to get to the car a different way than I did. The conversation was going along fine until...

...I tried to get him to acknowledge that he should listen to his parents (and do what we say) even when he disagrees. I said that we can always discuss things later but if I yell to him, "Come back here right now!" he needs to do it.

It took quite a bit of talking and over an hour of sitting in a chair and thinking, but finally he managed to repeat after me: "I will listen to my parents, even if I think differently."

I could tell he didn't mean it. I felt dubious about the good of making him say it, but at least I could pretend to call it good, as if I had won. Ha.

A couple of days later, we were reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume and came to this part just after Peter promises his mother he won't call his little brother "Fang" anymore:

"But secretly, whenever I look at him, I think it. My brother, Fang Hatcher! Nobody can stop me from thinking. My mind is my own."

When I read that line, Alexander got an evil little grin on his face, and I knew he was remembering our earlier conversation. I knew he was thinking, "They can make me say it, but they can't make me think it."

Isn't he supposed to be a bit older before figuring that out?

First Poop...

...in the potty, that is. And it's not actually the first. She's had little plops here and there that made it into the potty, mostly by accident. This was the first time that she came running down the hall yelling, "Poop! Poop!"

"Do you have a poopy diaper?" I ask.

"Poop! Potty!"

"Quick!" I say. "Let's go to the bathroom."

Off we rush, down the hall. But she stops suddenly.

"Book!" she says and runs back to the living room to grab her favorite potty book, Everyone Poops. (For the record, her favorite potty books are In a People House, Goodnight Moon, Mi Amor Por Ti, and Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You?)

Back in the bathroom, we get halfway through the second book before I realize she's done it. She's pooped in the potty!

We'll see how quickly it progresses from here, but I'm betting she'll be out of her night diaper before her brother.

A Lovely Visit Comes to an End

Jeanni and Carel flew back to the Netherlands today, and it was a sad sad time--walking out of the airport and driving back home. We stopped at IKEA for a little fun, but my heart wasn't in it. I just needed to be sad for a while.

But it was a lovely visit. They stayed with us for a week, went off for 3 weeks to tour the amazing sights of the western US, then returned to spend the last week with us.

We spent lots of normal time together. Carel would bike with Alexander to school in the morning. We took walks around the neighborhood. And of course, there was lots and lots of playing with the kids.

We even got to share some special occasions. We went to Bauman's Farm to experience the crazy American harvest festival celebration. (Carel is pretty handy with an apple slingshot.) And they were here for Halloween too. Annabel wore a flamenco outfit they brought from Barcelona and Alexander went as a kangaroo.

As you can see, Alexander ate a lot of candy:

And of course, there were pannekoeken dinners, and lovely clothes for the kids from Jeanni, and books galore! I am so happy to have so many Dutch books in the house. Most of them I can actually read aloud without sounding like I'm in elementary school.

And what will the kids hang on to? Annabel will no doubt keep asking us for a certain fingerplay that begins: "Daar komt een muisje aangelopen..."

And she now knows the Dutch word "botsing," which means collision. She'll be bumping and crashing into things for months to come, always ending with a gleeful, "botsing!"

As for Alexander, he got heaps of attention from his oma and opa. He'll remember sleeping in the motor home with them, reading lots of stories, and playing trains. He's already talking about how "next time, when I go to visit my oma and opa, we're going to...."

He's got big plans, big plans. They involve the ballenbak, a certain boat, feeding ducks, sleeping in his own room, and of course, snoep (candy).

Jeanni and Carel, we miss you!

Fall Traditions

There is nothing like an apple pressing party in the Fall. I remember making cider in our backyard when I was a kid. In college, I used to head out to a friend's family orchard for a day of food, drink and dips in the hot-tub. Oh, and cider too. I remember the old cranky press at Innisfree that managed to spit out gallons of pear and apple cider each year.

And now, back in Silverton, we finally managed to make it to Dale Coleman's cider pressing party. Sausage, cider, sledding down a grassy hillside--what more do you need?

And for our second Fall in a row, we headed out to Bauman's Farm for their Harvest festivities.

Hay bale maze. Obstacle course. Animal barn. The nut house. The tire castle. This year we went on a Sunday, and it was crazy madness. Too many people. Long lines. We still had fun, but next year I think we'll stick to a weekday visit.

The Magic If

I just found a post-it note with a quote from Alexander scrawled on it. It was from a few months ago when he was helping me carry gallons of milk into the house. I was surprised that he could manage two.

"I could carry one more if I had three hands."

Pause.

"And what if I had three eyes?"

Pause.

"Then I could carry three more if my eyes had grabbers!"

Music Lovers

Alexander never danced much when he was really little. We would always try to get him to dance when we played fun music, but he rarely would.

Annabel is our dancer. It doesn't take much to get her out there stomping her feet and shaking her big-diaper booty.

But Alexander loves music and delights in having his own CD's that he plays at every opportunity. Recently, he has discovered the wonder of headphones and the Zune. His latest faves? Elvis Presley. The Guano Apes. And the other day he came to me with Zune in hand saying, "Mom, I'm looking for the roses and the guns, but I can't find it."

Welcome to the Jungle, baby.

If we let him, he could probably sit for hours flipping through songs. Already he's figured out how to use the thing better than I can.

I know that as I get older I'm going to get more and more crotchety about new technology. My children are going to get so impatient with me.

"Now, which button do I press?" I'll ask.

They'll roll their eyes.

I'll throw my hands up in despair. "I just don't know how to work these things!"

"You have to turn it on, Mom."

New Phase?

I feel like we are entering a new phase in parenthood. Shhh, don't tell the kids or they might catch on and regress.

Today, Alexander played with his trains in his room, BY HIMSELF, for about 40 minutes. And Annabel flitted around from stringing wooden beads on a shoelace, to doing a puzzle, to pulling all of her stuffed animals out of the basket. Her concentration only lasted about 15 minutes, but I was stunned that for 15 glorious minutes, neither of my kids needed me for anything!

I hardly knew what to do with myself. I wanted to take that lovely moment and stopper it in a bottle to take out later to sniff and savor.

The shift is subtle, but for the last two days we have felt like a family where everyone is getting what they need. The kids are getting enough attention, and Michiel and I are getting a little space.

Not that it has been bad up until now. But Annabel is a very clingy child. Normally, I am not able to walk down the hall to the bathroom without her running after me yelling, "Mama! Mama!" and clinging to my legs. Likewise when trying to put the laundry away or open the windows in the house. I've had to wait until she's occupied and sneak to another room or try to carry on cheerfully through the whining and clinging.

I am taking a deep breath and holding it lightly. This new phase may not last. But I am grateful for it and will enjoy every minute of it.

Talking up a Storm

Today, Annabel climbed up on the kid picnic table and said, "Papa, sit next me."

I am amazed at how quickly she's learning to express herself with words.

Milestones

This is a slightly sad one. Actually, many of Annabel's milestones are slightly sad for me because we don't plan on having any more children, so when she learns something new and gives up her babyish ways of doing things, those beautiful babyish ways are gone for good.

Of course, there are videos and pictures and memories, but there is not that sudden delight in the moment.

Annabel has learned to say, "here," when she hands you something, whereas she used to say, "me, me, me, me."

It took us forever to figure out why she always said, "me, me, me, me." I mean, we hadn't been showing her episodes of Beaker in the Muppet Show.

Finally, Michiel realized that she said it because we are always asking her to "please give that to me," or "can you hand that to me?" And she, being the lovely parrot that she is, tends to repeat the last word of the sentence said to her. Hence, "me, me, me, me," when she wants to give you something.

We had about a week to enjoy it with full understanding before she learned how to say, "here."

But, she still repeats the last word of sentences.

"Are you a good girl?"

"Girl."

"Do you want to go outside?"

"Side."

"Would you rather have a cookie or cantaloupe?"

"ca-lope."

I wonder how long I'll be able to get away with that one.

First Week of School

Alexander and Michiel have both started school again. Oh, where did the summer go? We could have used a few more weeks of it.

Alexander has happily slid right back into the school routine. Here, he is busy at one of his favorite activities: juicing oranges. He's not one of the youngest kids anymore, and it will be fun to watch him help the younger kids. It will probably go more smoothly than it does with his sister.

For Michiel, the transition is not so simple, but he is valiantly plugging away at his studies. In addition to working full-time, he has class 3-4 nights a week and most Saturdays. There will be some stretches where the kids won't see him for three days, since he goes to class directly from work. We have to remind ourselves that this too shall pass.

And Annabel? She tries to sneak (or barge) into Alexander's classroom every time I drop him off or pick him up.

Camping Beach Trip

We've just returned from what was probably our big family vacation for the year. Michiel starts school again next week, and his schedule is much busier than last year. I don't think he has a free weekend until Thanksgiving.

But our beach trip was awesome, except for the first night and following morning of rain that almost sent us packing...but let's skip past that. We rode bikes to the bay and saw a bald eagle. I stopped to pee and found myself peeing on a snake that was frantically wriggling away from me. Good thing I was already peeing....

On the way up the coast we stopped in Garabaldi for a ride on steam train.Alexander made a few friends on the playground and participated in the junior ranger programs. He got to use a compass on day and the next learned about horns and antlers.

When the sun finally came out, we had a lovely day at the beach. Alexander and Michiel built a castle that withstood many incoming waves. Annabel had fun running around in the sand and falling down and lying in it. That girl had sand everywhere!

On the way home we stopped at the Tillamook cheese factory. Alexander could have stayed there all day looking down at the factory floor, watching the blocks of cheese move along the conveyor belts, into the octopus machine, etc. Annabel kept pointing to every image of a cow she saw, loudly proclaiming, "Moo! Moo!"

Ice cream. Cheese samples. It was a good vacation.

Alexander Rides

When Uncle Eric was last in town he brought out this little pocket bike for Alexander to try. It has an electric motor, and he quickly learned how to use it. Before long he was zipping up and down the street. I started having all those motherly flashes that I thought weren't supposed to come until your kid is 15 and getting his permit.

At least I can content myself that he is not a wanton thrill-seeker and has inherited from me a healthy dose of caution, as evidenced by his frequent need to "stop and rest" between runs.

First Sting

Annabel got her first bee sting today, and she weathered it like a champ. I had to scrape the stinger off. But it must not have been a bad sting because her finger didn't swell up much, and a few hours later I had to examine closely to tell which finger had been stung.

That'll teach her not to grab a bee.

Camping at Silver Falls

The weather finally cooperated, and we took our first camping trip of the summer. Up to Silver Falls. Not far, but oh-so-beautiful!

Mom and Dad came with us, and Alexander and Annabel slept in the camper with them, so Michiel and I got the tent to ourselves! And we got to sleep in (one morning at least).

Other highlights:

Huckleberry pancakes! Annabel loved picking huckleberries and devouring them immediately, but we managed to save some for the pancakes.

The orange ones in there are salmon berries.

Other friends came up to visit us for the day: Miranda came with Sage and Willow. Together we made ice cream! Yes, ice cream. (Fun and easy recipe to follow in another post.)

Sheldon and Jude brought Gwyn and Karis up for the evening. And, having just returned from a trip to Belgium, he also brought belgian beer and s'mores fixings (including belgian chocolate). Yum!

The kids claimed all the flashlights and ran around aiming their beams of light at everything. I had forgotten what fun that is when you're a kid.

Annabel had a healthy respect for the fire and gave it a wide (sometimes ridiculously wide) berth. We brought our bikes, and Alexander couldn't stay off of his for more than half an hour. He just wanted to ride and ride, experimenting with how sharp of a turn he can make without falling over.

Oh, and Alexander drank directly from the milk jug. He was quite pleased with himself.

Family News

Some exciting updates for our family:

Michiel is done with his first year of his MAT program! One down, one to go. And he has almost the whole month of August off. I am also not working that month, so we're planning some super family fun...and relaxing, of course.

My sister, Jolene, has moved back to Silverton!!!!! I'm so excited to have her close by. She's been three hours away, in Bend, since we moved back here, and I can't wait to see her more regularly!

And congratulations to Therese, who just got the position of Assistant Principal at Silverton High School. No more commuting to Molalla! No more doing a job she's not getting paid for!

More Questions from the Mind of Alexander

I am constantly amazed by the things my child wonders about...and my absolute inability to explain things to him.

The other day he asked me what was here before we were, and I told him there were lots of other people living on earth going back hundreds and hundreds of years.

Alexander: No, I mean before that.

Me: Um, you mean the dinosaurs?

Alexander: No, before that mom. Before our earth, and before the other planets.

Me: Well, there was something called the Big Bang, but let's ask Papa about it when he gets home.

I am constantly referring him to Michiel or the internet. Seriously, what 4-year-old asks origin questions? Probably all of them, in one way or another.

He also recently asked how far the sky goes and my personal favorite: "How do they get the electricity to go through the power lines?"

Um...you got me there. I've got to brush up on my science.

Alexander's theory about the power lines was that it flows on water because he knows electricity is sometimes generated using water at dams. "You know, those high-electric dams."

And don't even get me started on religion.

We haven't raised him with religion, but now he's asking questions about holiday traditions. Those stories are pretty funky if you aren't eased into them. I tried explaining things to him this Easter but ended up confusing myself.

"So, there's a pagan holiday celebrating new life and fertility...hence, the egg. Oh, and there's also this guy who got nailed to a cross and died for our sins. But that's kind of a gruesome story. But beautiful too. Hey, um, let's go find your Easter basket!"

No wonder people tell their children, "Jesus was crucified and the easter bunny brings you candy," and leave it at that.

Airplanes

Annabel is really into airplanes right now. Whenever she hears one, she stops whatever she's doing, gets a look of complete wonder on her face, points upward, and says, "Airpane, airpane."

Alexander used to do that when he was her age, only it was firetrucks for him.

Oh, and she's a cool dude, too:

Strawberries!

Last week we went strawberry picking, and it was glorious! Annabel stuffed her face, and Alexander ran up and down the rows searching for the biggest berries. Hooray! Summer is finally here!

Here is a picture from the Silverton Strawberry Festival, held the week before strawberries were ripe for U-pick. Our guests from the Netherlands--Bram, Mirjam, and Marius--joined us.

Mouthful of Words

Annabel is talking more and more each day. She's constantly trying to repeat what she hears us say, and the mangled versions she comes up with are quite something. Her latest favorites are:

Jo-Jo!
She says this with such gusto that if she has anything in her mouth at the time, it's bound to come shooting out. We were so delighted when she first said "Jo-Jo," that we all cheered and clapped and now when she says it, she'll often cheer or clap for herself.

She'll point out Jo in pictures then point to Eric and say, "Erk."

She doesn't say Kevin yet, but when I try to get her to, she'll often say, "Tchees," because she knows they go together.

She also likes to look at books with the Alphabet in big block letters. When she sees the letters, she starts swaying back and forth, singing, "Aeeee, Beees.....Aeeee, Beees." That's all she knows of the song. But she'll also start singing the alphabet song any time she sees big block letters, like on signs. Whenever we go grocery shopping at Roth's and she sees those big green letters, she starts swaying and singing.

A couple of days ago, we were all sitting around the table talking about oma and opa's boat trip to Poland. Alexander was remembering when he had been on their boat and saying that he'd like to do that again. All of a sudden, Annabel threw up her arms and said, "Oma!" then grinned at us, looking very pleased with herself.

She Loves to Swing

We knew this before. From her very first swing experience in Bend a few months ago, we've known that we have a swing-loving girl. What we didn't know until just yesterday, was that she can hold on and swing all by herself--with pushing help, of course.

And she LOVES to swing. Absolutely loves it. Michiel was out there with her for half an hour just swinging away. Every time we try to stop to go do something else, she signs for more and runs back to the swing.
It's amazing what our children can do. I had no idea she was ready to swing by herself. I wonder what tricks Alexander has up his sleeve...

Let Them Eat Watermelon

Is it summer already or what?

If it were, we'd be eating outside and running through the sprinkler afterwards, but alas, it's still too cold for that.

Give it another month and I'll be complaining about the heat.

Little Helper

Annabel's got three more teeth now and is working on another...that'll be 8 in all! She's growing up so fast.

Lately, I've been discovering so many things that she can do. Last night, she helped me pick up the toys in the living room. I gave her simple instructions like, "Can you pick up the ball and put it in the basket?" And she toddled about doing everything I asked her to do. She loves to help put things in baskets, boxes, drawers, and bags, but I haven't often enlisted her help to do actual clean-up. Now I see that she is so ready to help.

She's been helping me with the laundry. I hand her the washed clothes and she puts them in the dryer. She's working on helping to hang up the diaper covers, but they're a bit unruly for her, and she gets easily frustrated.

Another relatively new development is that she's learned the meaning of nodding and shaking her head. When I ask if she wants more yogurt, she nods with gusto. If she's standing up or walking when ask her if she's ready for bed, she practically falls over shaking her head so vigorously.

She learned to say "no" a while back, and since then we've been trying to focus on "yes." Just the other day, she said "yes" for the first time. It came out a little more like "yesh," but her meaning was clear. I think it involved a "do you want to nurse?" or "do you want to go outside?" question. Those are her two sure bets.