Backyard Birthday Party

Josiah is 7! Like all parents, I find it hard to believe he's grown up so fast--and yet it's hard to remember him as a baby and toddler! He's growing into a fun, creative, curious boy--and has recently started arguing with us in a way that makes me tremble a little as I anticipate the teenage years.

He requested a host of friends for his birthday party, so we compromised and invited two families and also had his cousins Elias and Cedar here (plus their parents, of course). He had a blast:

In keeping with the last couple years, Josiah requested an ice cream cake. I baked a thin chocolate cake base (using a recipe from Smitten Kitchen, in case I need to refer to this next year) and then spread a layer of mint chocolate chip ice cream, then a layer of crushed oreos, and then a second layer of ice cream. On top I piped (via ziplock) "Happy 7th Birthday Josiah" with chocolate sauce. It turned out decently and tasted great--and it wasn't a huge amount of work. I kind of like the ice cream cake trend--it eliminates the need to make a pretty-looking cake and frost it, at least!

Josiah with sisters and friends: l-r Abby, Leo, J, Niko, Lydia, and Massi

Niko, Massi, Josiah, and Leo

Lydia and Cedar

E and L enjoying watermelon

What fun to have cousins come visit!

cutie Cedar

We gave Josiah a dwarf mine Lego set from the bin Jeremy bought from someone on Craigslist. It was a hit! He's been designing impressive "sets" of his own, typically using a "map" (directions) as a jumping-off point and then embellishing or changing it based on his own imagination. He often has an extensive set to show off to Dad when he arrives home from work!

Josiah continues to be our socialite. He regularly asks if and when we can have someone--anyone!--over for supper, looks forward to every Friday park day when he can run wild with his friends, often declares a new acquaintance as "one of [his] best friends," and still says hi to random strangers in the grocery store. I love his outgoing frankness that encourages me to reach out to others and get out of my comfort zone! 

But for all his extroversion, he does look forward to "nap" time every afternoon when he can get some time alone to work on Lego sets and listen to audio books. His recent favorites are Peter Pan, The Jungle Book, and Otto of the Silver Hand. He loves our history and literature books for Ambleside Online's Year 1, especially Just So Stories, Aesop's Fables, The Blue Fairy Book, and Viking Tales. While he struggles with phonics and has been slower than many of his peers to start reading, his capacity for good books delights my literature-loving heart.

I love overhearing the kids' discussion of books and watching them play out the stories they've heard. It's been a lot of Peter Pan recently--with gales of laughter over some funny exchange between Pan and Hook, or the way Peter tricked Hook on Marooner's Rock. In April our kids and some of their friends performed a scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream in a Shakespeare festival another mom hosted. Josiah was Puck and did a wonderful job remembering and delivering his lines! (The girls were fairies in Titania's train and dressed to the nines. They got a little shy and quiet during the performance, but they stayed on stage and said all their lines.)

The Twins Are Five!

Another year brings another birthday--and just like that, my baby twins are practically big girls! 

They had been SO excited about their birthday since about, oh, last fall. They ramped up their birthday planning after Christmas, at least once a week debating the type of cake they wanted and what meals to order. When the day approached and someone would ask, "What do you want for your birthday?" they'd immediately answer in terms of food: "An ice cream cake! With chocolate and vanilla and whipped cream and chocolate chips on top! And pizza! And Dutch baby pancakes for breakfast!" etc. 

They were so pleased Great-grandma McNinch was still in AZ and able to come over for the day of their birthday! She knitted the cutest shawls and matching hats for them.

Abby on left, Lydia with Grandma on right

Josiah was excited to help us get their "big" present ready: a dollhouse we found on OfferUp (like Craigslist). He set up the furniture in it and "wrapped" it in his blanket. Here you can see the three of them in front of the present before the big reveal:

The girls ended up choosing a breakfast of croissants, bacon, and eggs, so we enjoyed that together and then spent some time cleaning around the house in preparation for Grandma and Pa from Flagstaff and Great-grandma's arrival. Great-grandma came in time for lunch (the girls wanted quesadillas); the kids had a rest time; and then Grandma and Pa got here in the late afternoon. We let the girls open their presents before dinner. They (and Josiah) were so antsy!

Grandma got them both horse barns (with horses), which were a huge hit!

Clara woke up part way through the present-opening and was so happy to cuddle with Grandma!

Great-grandma's knitted gifts--so cute!

All the pictures of cake, candles, etc. are on Jeremy's phone, so I'll have to get those and insert them here at some point. We were sad Pa felt so sick while he was here, but the girls were thrilled to have him and Grandma and Great-grandma part of their big day. (Thanks for making the trip, Grandma and Pa!)

They loved their chocolate-and-vanilla ice cream cake, on which I wrote their initials, "Happy Birthday," and the number 5 in chocolate fudge sauce. They each blew out five candles (and Clara was upset because she didn't get to blow out any!). Josiah is making lots of plans (added to daily) for his birthday now.

The next day (Sunday), the girls wanted to wear their new matching dresses. I snapped a bunch of pictures of all four in hopes of getting a good one. I'm not sure I really got what I had in mind, but the kids are so cute and funny that all the pictures are good in some way . . .

Josiah's trying to perfect his winking skills

And Clara just steals the show!

Clara's Birthday

Clara turned two over two weeks ago now. "Are you my baby-love?" I ask her, and in true two-year-old fashion, she says, "No." She says "no" to lots of things these days: along with "mine!" and "me!," it's one of her favorite words.

She's definitely adding to her vocabulary, though. Today she said her first three-word sentence ("Done this side," in reference to nursing. Then, "Sich sides!" [switch sides] in the cutest-ever sing-song. Her bunny, nursing from her, switches sides on that cue, too.) I love how she says "oh" when I
inform her of something and "es" or "yah" in agreement (much less often than "no"!).

She still pantomimes and uses sounds to augment her verbal communication. For instance, she'll make sad faces and say, "Ow!" when pointing to an owie (usually an old scab), and then "eh? eh?" while pinching her fingers together--which means she wants a bandaid.

She still refers to many animals by their sounds: her sheep is "Baa," she barks when she sees a dog, etc. She loves to pretend to be a puppy (especially in company with Lydia). She crawls around and sticks her little tongue out to pant, and gets up on her knees with her hands curled in front to "beg."

Hardly anything escapes Clara. She's attuned to every privilege the big kids get and notices when she's deprived. They all got new water bottles to replace their worn-out, chewed-up, broken-handled ones the other day. "Me? Cup? Me? Me?" Clara asked. She's so proud to have joined the crew with Contigo water bottles, and her sisters encouraged her in choosing a color, too--so hers is the pink one. She just delights to drink out of it.

Clara has begun to really enjoy books in the last couple months. I try to spend time with just her mid-morning after we've done some schoolwork and before I send the three girls outdoors so I can do some one-on-one work with Josiah. We usually read through a stack of picture books: One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish is her current favorite (she loves the "new fish," and says "Mama!" in her baby voice while pointing to it; she also thinks Ned and his bed are so funny). She also enjoys Green Eggs and Ham, Hop on Pop, Old Hat New Hat, Ten Apples Up on Top, A Sick Day for Amos McGee, Harry the Dirty Dog, Goodnight Moon, Fox in Socks, and others of that ilk. She's starting to sit for some of the longer picture books the other kids choose--sometimes even a Beatrix Potter story. She's funny about picking who she wants to be (i.e., which animal/character), and often reminds me of which character she's picked on every new page. Sometimes she assigns everyone a character. Dada was both the owl and the bus driver in Amos McGee this morning: "Two Dada!" she said.

Abby and Lydia like to play with her, mother her, and boss her around. She doesn't put up with much bossing, though she loves to be included in their games. They find ways to manipulate her into doing what they want or to appease or distract her when she's ornery. Her sense of pretend play is certainly more sophisticated because of the example and instruction of her older sisters!

Clara is possessive with the fierceness of a fourth child: she knows which few things are hers, and she guards them. Her baby doll, phone-on-a-string, animal counters, board books, puppy coloring book, red cloak, and owl puzzle are precious to her, especially if a sibling wants to play with them, and most especially if the sibling takes them without asking. She screeches from across the yard if she sees someone so much as consider a ride in her coupe car or on her push-bike (hand-me-downs from the bigger ones though they may be!). She's not yet reconciled to sharing when friends come over, either.

But oh, Clara does enjoy a stolen session alone with the Lego or with Lydia's stuffed animals! She can entertain herself for a half-hour at a time if she finds these coveted toys left unsupervised.

When Clara's birthday was approaching, I felt the autumn itch to make a pie--but I gave Clara the choice of birthday dessert. She was very definite in choosing"cake." So we had apple cake, and I made butternut squash pasta (which the kids all love) for dinner.

Clara picked up on the big kids' excitement over her birthday. She had practiced saying "two" when asked her age and tries to hold up two fingers (unsuccessfully). We had a pre-birthday celebration before my mom left with some chocolate cake and presents from Grandma, so Clara knew "birthday" meant "presents."

I just love the progression here :)

Lydia and Abby were quite excited to purchase and wrap presents for Clara; Josiah was somewhat indifferent. But they all sang to her with gusto, demolished her birthday desserts, and had to be restrained from ripping open her gifts for her. They shoved each new present in her face the minute she unwrapped one.

But all in all, her second birthday was a success. "Now are you a big girl?" Abby and Lydia ask her. She nods, "Es," holds up her hand, and says, "Two!"