Look Mom! No Training Wheels!

One of the wonderful (when its not infuriating!) things about Marian, is that when she sets her mind to something, she goes for it.  The problem is that it occasionally takes her a while to decide she wants to do something.  Take Potty Training, for example.  She knew what to do, and how to do it, she just wasn't going to do it.  She stayed in diapers for probably a year longer than she needed to.  One day, shortly before she turned 4, she decided she wanted to wear underpants.  And that was it. In 24 hours the kid was diaper- free and accident-free.

This year Dan and I thought Marian was old enough for a big girl bike, so she got one.  She got it on her birthday, which was nearly 6 months ago.  Marian refused to ride it.  Dan took her out a few times, but she wanted nothing to do with a bike with no training wheels, and preferred the old bike with the extra wheels.  Unfortunately, for her, that bike developed some serious issues, and went to the big bike rack in the sky.

This week, something switched on in Marian's brain.  I do not know what.  I do not know why.  All I know is out of the blue, I look up and here is my daughter, wheeling her bike out to the front and giving it a go.  We had some trouble with the chain coming off, which was really annoying.  Thanks to a wonderful and more knowledgeable neighbor, we got the chain thing fixed, and there was no holding her back!

She started a bit wobbly.  She needed to use the driveway slope to get started.  And then she was off!  She road up the street!  She rode down the street!  She pedaled slowly at first, and then she went faster!

And now, this is all I see of her.  8 am yesterday and 8 am this morning she was out there.  I sit in the house and watch her zoom by going one way.  2 minutes later, she's zooming by the other direction.  Dan took her on his run this morning and said she did great!  And yes, Dan does make her wear a helmet!

Fun at the Park

For a little variety, we went to the Preschool Park yesterday.  It had a two-fold mission: 1.  We got to play somewhere new, and 2. It got Callie excited about her new preschool.  It was a success on all accounts.   

Rather than the icky mulch found on most playgrounds, this one sported real, fine, sand-box sand.  And the kids played in it for most of the morning!  Check out Joshua, hauling a load for a project!

Marian was interested in making a deep ditch.  She wanted to see what was under the pristine sand.  It was more sand.  Then dirt.

Making Sand Castles with Callie!

Delaney was very studious about the whole thing.  She made lots of "ice cream cones" for me to enjoy. 

After over an hour, they realized there was more to this playground than just the beautiful sand.  Delaney holed up in this house for a while and had a marvelous pretend thing going on.  Very cute.

Callie stopped by to visit Delaney in her house.

Never the conformist, this is what Marian likes to do with the houses.  

And here is Joshua, hoping I hadn't noticed he was back on the roof after I told them to get off.  His sunglasses and hat made me laugh.  He is soooo cool! 

So annoyed!

I had been thinking about writing a totally different post, but I am so annoyed right now that I am going to annoy you as well.  Feel free to skip this post, since there will be no pictures and no happy thoughts.  Just crabbiness from me.

See, when I found out I was pregnant, I thought perhaps it would be convenient to have the 2 little girls enrolled at the Ft Belvoir CDC (Thats their child care center).  I thought it would be nice to have the option of dropping them off at the hourly care when I had my doctors appointments.  So, waaay back in February, I went in and got all the paperworks  and found out what I needed.  Since I decided Delney did not need to be vaccinated till she was 2, she had none.  So right there they would not let me register.  Since she had just turned 2, I was okay to start catching her up, but I have a 2 shot policy- I won't get them more than 2 shots per visit.  That means, several visits back to get her the shots they want her to have.  

Delaney was down to only needing one more vaccination when we left for the summer.  I figured I'd wait on Callie's physical until Delaney was ready too.  When I called to make an appointment for Callie's physical, I had a 5 week wait!  Today was that day.

Today I took all 4 children out, skipping naptime, because 1:20 was the only time I could get in.  I didn't think it would be too bad or take too long.  It wasn't too bad and it did take too long. It didn't start off too well- Callie forgot to bring her blanket and cried all the way there.  She did very well for the exam though and that went really well.  (Shocking that she weighs 36 lbs and Delaney is 32!)  I told the doc what we needed and why we were there.  She said no, Delaney didn't need the shot I thought she needed, she needed something else.  She said Callie only needed 2, and next year she would need 2 more.  Yes, the doctor was fully aware I needed this for preschool and the CDC.  She filled out the physical forms and we went to get poked.  Callie cried the whole way there.  She screamed the whole time in the office and absolutely howled when she got her 2 pokes.  It was not fun for me.  Delaney cried when she got her shot, but was so cute. She stopped immediately when she saw the stickers.  She had the cutest face- 2 big tear tracks and a big grin about the stickers.  I had to carry a sobbing Callie to the car.  On the plus side, Joshua and Marian were very good.

We were already on base and I had promised the kids donuts if they were good, so we went and got those.  I said we could go to the park if we went to the CDC and dropped off our paperwork.  They agreed, and we went in, faces covered with chocolate and powdered sugar.  And one hour later, Yes, an HOUR later, they tell me I cannot register the girls.  Delaney did indeed need the shot I originally thought they wanted her to have, and Callie either needs the Chicken Pox vaccine, or a note from the doctor saying she'll get it later.  I cannot register them now.  I cannot get them in the system and activate them later.  I can't do a darn thing but go home and take them back to the hospital later to deal with the shots.  Did I mention that I cannot even walk in to get a vaccine?  I have to see the doctor first.  So, let's see..... wait 5 weeks for another appointment, drag unhappy children back in, get the stupid shot, wait another hour at the CDC......  

Wow, that means there is really no point in doing it.  I'll have had the baby by then, so no need to find hourly care for the girls.   I'm just so aggravated about this right now.  I had wanted it as a nice back-up, but I really don't see that any of it is worth it right now.  (Except Callie might actually need the chicken pox vac for preschool).  And I'm ticked off that I wasted so much time on it.  We did go to the park and the kids had a great time.  We got home about 5pm and I called Dan and told him to pick up pizza for dinner because I was too stinking cranky to make dinner. 

That's my gripe for today.  I'm going to eat pizza, out the kids to bed early and do the same thing myself; and tomorrow I will think I was so silly for being so mad about today!

That's how I roll

I know that my neighbors think my children are completely wild and unsupervised.  I'll allow that it may be half true.  My lovely friend and neighbor across the street will not let her children play out of their yard, and it must make her crazy to be enforcing that with her children while my brood is racing off in all directions.  For anyone who thinks I am unaware of what my children are doing outside in the front, I'll have you know, I AM watching them.  Check this out:

The computer is strategically located right here, in front of this window.  That means I can sit here, doing my thing, AND I can look outside and see that yes indeed, Delaney is, in fact, riding her Big Wheel (Dan calls it a Hot Cycle) down the middle of the street, wearing nothing but her crocs and a swimsuit. 

Yep, here's the view from inside the house.  See, I can look out and check on my minions, no problem.  And, lest you worry that Delaney was completely on her own, worry no more!  Joshua and his friend were riding escort on their scooters with her as she raced down the road.  We don't have a very busy street, by the way.  We get very little traffic, and most of it knows to slow and look for kids. Predominantly, my kids.

Here's my swimsuit-clad darling. She took off the crocs and managed to skin her toes, since she scoots with her feet, rather than peddling with the pedals.

And yes, I can watch most of my children all at the same time.  We have a couple kids in the area and I think most of them were out this day, having a very good time.  However, Delaney was the only one in a swim suit!

The Pool

Since we had such a good time last week at the pool, I thought it might be a good idea to go again.  Plus, with school not starting for another week and a half, I needed stuff to keep the kids busy and entertained.  The children were quite delighted to go to the pool, and I had fun because we coordinated to go with our friends.  So I got to visit and stay cool in the pool while they played.  

In a surprising turn of events, Delaney decided she was done after about an hour.  At first she was okay to just sit here.  Then she demanded to be changed into her clothes.  She spent the last 20 minutes of our swim time fully dressed on the deck.  Such a pickle!

I love this shot.  It makes me laugh.  Here we have Joshua, chillin' on his floats, completely oblivious to his irate sister, as he mows into her.   And we have half of Callie, who is certain that I am focused on her, and she is oblivious to the drama below her.  Yes, it does make me giggle.

Now I am focused on Callie.  She's turning into quite the ham.  And she's getting pretty comfortable in the water.  She had me in stitches, because she would tell me she was going to swim to me.  Then she would plop her face in the water and run towards me.  It was quite amusing.  While her technique needs a bit of work, she at least is putting her face in!

And I had to get a shot of Marian, my fearless one.  I love the way she hurls herself at the water with 100% commitment. I  love to watch her.