At least I won't be able to say I wasn't warned

Me: Anna, why did you draw your name and pictures all over your arms and legs with purple marker?

Anna: I never saw anyone do that before.

Me: Is that a good thing to do or a naughty thing to do?

Anna: Naughty.

Me: So are you going to do that again?

Anna: Not today.

Ode to Rachel

Rachel has this bizarre need at bedtime - no, not Scooby Doo, who by the way is still in the picture and even came on vacation with us but that's a whole separate post - she needs to go potty in the upstairs bathroom, the one right across from her bedroom. Even if we make her go potty downstairs before bed, she will do so and then march right upstairs (usually chanting her mantra, "I do it myself!" along the way) and immediately go potty in that bathroom. And she will still have some pee for that potty because that's just how she is. The child is a force of nature, something to be reckoned with and I think I'm only just now realizing how much control she really has in this family.

From the very start Rachel was a sweet baby. So good-natured that she once patiently sucked on a bottle that had a clogged nipple for a good ten minutes before I noticed that the bottle didn't seem to be getting any emptier. During her whole first year she took all of Anna's poking and prodding with nothing but smiles and giggles. Most of this past year she spent a lot of time harmlessly imitating Anna. I always assumed she would be the mellow one. Even typing that last sentence now makes me shake my head at my own misjudgment. Sometime about eight months or so ago I realized that I was having to reprimand Rachel more than I did Anna. More recently Rachel has been honing her manipulation skills.

Case in point: we were headed up for bath time one night last week and Dan had just gotten home from work. Seeing how tired he was I jokingly mentioned that he should come up and help with the baths. After he declined the offer Rachel threw herself on top of him and pleaded her case. "Please Daddy, we can be a family - all together like a FAMILY! Pleeaaaaase?" I've also more than once come rushing to soothe her as she cried over a boo-boo only to have her crack up lauging once I try to see where it hurts. And then go back to the fake crying just for... practice maybe? (Yes, I said more than once. The girl can act.)

One thing that I love about Rachel is the way she talks. She often repeats Anna (or me) but when expressing herself, she is pure Rachel. Lately she's come up with some gems.

Anna hid behind a wall and jumped out at Rachel, who screamed, "I got a little scared!"

After stubbing her toe she announced, "I have pain!"

Upon falling into the toilet she yelled "I tried to be careful!"

"I'm so frustrated!" (Apply to pretty much any situation that pops up during a normal day)

My personal favorite - "I need to be alone! I need some space." Then she crawls under the dining room table and plants her head into the carpet. Facing away from us, of course.

Overheard in my bathroom

Our girls like to announce when they are going to use the bathroom. Sometimes they do so in excessive detail - I have had to speak to Anna more than once about telling her preschool teacher that she has to go poopy. Each time I make her repeat the phrase "I have to use the bathroom." Because I'm mean like that. Tonight I was upstairs when I heard Rachel tell Dan that she had to go potty. A few minutes later I hear her call for him.

"Daddy! DADDYDADDY! Daaaaaaaaaaaah-deeeeeeeeeeeee!"
"Yes Rachel?"
"I DON'T NEED YOU!"

Sharing

I have a huge update that I am working on (yeah I know, try to control your excitement) but in the meantime I had to share THIS because it just gave me a much-needed laugh. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Have a great weekend.

This one's for Shey

On Tuesday we came across a bunch of gorgeous flowers the day after a wedding at our synagogue. Mostly white roses tied up with ivory ribbon and I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of them before they started to wilt. At any rate, as I was sorting through them today the girls ended up with a handful of the roses. I let them play so I could steal a few minutes to clean up the kitchen without any "help." When I was finished with that task I walked into the family room to find Rachel snuggled into the couch with her blankey in one hand and a single rose in the other. Turning the corner I find Anna curled on her side on the floor, eyes closed, peaceful expression on her face. Surrounding her in a circle are the rest of the white roses. Not that she has a dramatic streak or anything.

Priorities

One recent Sunday morning my darling husband decided to bring in breakfast from our favorite fast-food coffee and donut shop. The girls anxiously awaited his return from the family room window. When Anna spotted him, she shouted: "Daddy! FOOD! DONUTS!" Just like that: Delight! EXCITEMENT! EUPHORIA!

But I can't really blame her. They are really, really good donuts.

One track mind

One of Anna's favorite toys is her magna doodle, which she calls her Game. Rachel loves her Game too but it's hard to tell if that love is genuine or if she's just copying her big sister. Anna has become quite an impressive little artist, drawing people, whales, elephants, mermaids, unicorns as well as regular horses. She can watch us draw something once and then instantly copy it. We signed her up for a drawing class over the summer and she learned to draw ice cream sundaes, lobsters and a dinner plate complete with burger, corn and watermelon, not to mention the silverware.

With all of those items and the rest of the universe to chose from as the subject of her art, Anna's favorite is - can you guess it, can you, can you - mermaids. So every session of Magna Doodle Madness begins with Anna calling to me, "Mommy, do you want to see me draw a beauuuuutiful mermaid?" Exactly the same question every single time, phrased exactly the same way. Rachel responds by offering up her most complicated trick: "Mommy, you want to see me draw, um, a circle?"

So tonight I was encouraging Rachel to expand on her circle. I explained that she could make a circle that looks like a face. Or a circle that looks like a pizza. Or a circle that looked like a cookie. Anna pipes in, in all seriousness: "How about a circle that looks like a beauuuuutiful mermaid?" No one can say the child isn't focused.