Wordless Wednesday: First time “using” the potty

Things I love, #354

When The Little Sis leans in, out of the blue and unprompted, with her lips puckered, giving a perfect kiss complete with That Kiss Sound.

And when she does the same thing when walking up to The Big Sis, right after an unprompted hug.

Eep! I just want to squeeze her all the time.

SIX (years old)

The crib

I hear a timid mumbling coming from the backseat.

“I’m sorry, sweetie, I can’t hear you, ” I say to The Big Sis as we round the final corner to reach The Little Sis’ daycare.

“If she wants to, can we do it again?” The Big Sis asks me in a tiny voice, afraid that I’m going to say no to the thing she wants to do most when we get home.

See, this started a few weeks ago. One weekend morning when we went to get up The Little Sis, The Big Sis asked if she could get in the crib with her. Their combined weight in the crib probably makes this a bad idea, but she agrees to a “no jumping in the crib” rule and we lift her over the rail as we used to do so many years ago — though time and growth spurts have served to make this a more difficult task now.

She looks very out of place in the crib — an almost six-year-old, nearly as tall as the crib is wide. But she lays down on her back and The Little Sis climbs on top of her, and suddenly it’s the most natural place for her to be. They play with baby dolls. They snuggle in blankets. The Little Sis rests her head on The Big Sis’ chest. The play little games of peekaboo. I don’t really believe in the concept of soulmates, but if I did, they would be soulmates. Most definitely. They are both very alike and very different from each other and it’s hard to imagine one without the other. Sure, there’s occasional screeching when one of them gets tired of the current game, but that quickly turns to giggles and spontaneous kisses and a knowing look shared between them.

Their relationship will evolve over the years. There will be times it’s not all sunshine and roses. They will butt heads. They will annoy each other. They will wish they didn’t have a sister. But hopefully their giggly moments will always return; hopefully it will be their default…their norm. Hopefully the special time they share in the crib now will always happen in some form as they grow older and long after the crib has been put away for the final time. The Big Sis helping The Little Sis with her homework. Huge, genuine hugs at graduations. Stealing a few minutes to meet for coffee in between final exams. Catching a quick martini after work.

The crib is where it all started. It was The Big Sis’ first home, and now the same is true for The Little Sis. It’s their safe space, where they can shut out the noise of the world. And when I see them playing in the crib together, I see — both literally and figuratively — how they can shut out the world but still have each other’s company.

So whenever The Big Sis asks if she can get in the crib with The Little Sis, I try to make sure I always say yes (as long as there’s nothing else we need to do then). I want to give them their space. Their time together. Their chance to make memories with each other.

The crib won’t always be there, of course. But hopefully the foundation that was formed there will last a lifetime.

Giggle spray

The other day, The Big Sis was taking her bath, but it wasn’t bath night for The Little Sis, so she wandered in and out of the bathroom while The Big Sis was in the tub. At one point she found the open box of bath toys right in front of the bathtub, and the spray bottle caught her attention. She handed it to The Big Sis, who filled it up with warm water and gave it back to her. (Partners in crime, I tell ya.)

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, but wouldn’t you know that she figured out how to pull the trigger of the spray bottle within a few minutes.

And I shouldn’t be surprised, but every single time, she managed to spray it right into my face.

And I really shouldn’t be surprised, but every time she sprayed it in my face, she let out the biggest and best giggles in the world.

Fumble with trigger.

Spray.

Look up at me.

See my surprised face. (Confession: I exaggerated it sometimes.)

Erupt in giggles.

Second (and third, and forth…) verse, same as the first.

So by the end of it, my face ended up pretty wet, and my shirt was rather damp, but OH it was worth it to get those giggles. She gives them freely even on off days, but there’s something so sweet about it every single time.

Even if it meant water in the eyes every 20 seconds.

Wordless Wednesday: Spending time with sis

Nothing but the tooth

The big excitement in our house this week is that yesterday The Big Sis told us she felt a tooth in the back of her mouth on the bottom right. She said she was at recess and felt it with her tongue and said to herself, “Hey, is that a tooth?!” And sure enough, it is her first permanent molar coming through!

The Big Sis is at the age where most of her friends are losing their front teeth, but hers will probably not come out for a while, according to the dentist — maybe not for another year. (This is good, however, because her mouth is small and even her baby teeth are crowded, so it’s a good thing for them to come out later.) I feel kind of bad for her with everyone else experiencing this milestone without her, but she’s definitely excited about the new tooth. (Though she’s quite confused on why she’s getting a new tooth if she hasn’t lost one first. I’ve tried explaining it, but it hasn’t quite sunk in yet.)

I looked at it with the flashlight last night, and pretty much the entire surface of the molar has broken through and it just needs to rise up further. Clearly with so much tooth showing at this point, it’s been cutting through for a little while now, and I’m surprised she hasn’t felt more discomfort up to this point. She said it is a little sensitive when she brushes her teeth, and we did give her some Tylenol for pain the past couple of nights, but all in all it was a good experience.

Let Teething Round 2 begin!

(Just for record-keeping purposes, I’m going to add here that The Little Sis now has 12 teeth — all but the two-year molars and the canines. I think I’ve seen one of the canines just below the surface, but I can’t get a close enough look.)

Quite contrary

We had a great weekend.

No we didn’t.

Unfortunately some plans we had fell through on Saturday.

No they didn’t.

It was cold but not too cold outside…

No, it wasn’t cold. It was hot.

So I suggested that The Husband take The Big Sis snow tubing at a ski resort about an hour and a half away.

It wasn’t that far. We could walk if we wanted.

So after lunch they packed up and headed north to go snow tubing. I’m told they had so much fun.

It was boring.

And The Big Sis loved it even more than the first time, though that was three years ago and she doesn’t remember that trip.

Yes I do.

Anyway, they had a great time, and The Little Sis and I stayed home and had a lovely time hanging out.

No you didn’t.

She loves to play ball, so we did that a lot.

No, she hates to play ball.

We took the dog for a walk.

She hates walks.

I got a few spontaneous real kisses, complete with puckered lips and a kissing noise.

No, she doesn’t kiss anyone but me like that.

We enjoyed a quiet dinner together.

Nuh-uh. She hates to eat dinner.

And then I got her to bed before doing some light chores while waiting for the others to get home.

We didn’t come home. We got a hotel and spent the night.

They finally got home close to 10 p.m., with The Husband carrying a sleeping and exhausted Big Sis to her bedroom.

I wasn’t asleep. I really wasn’t.

All in all, it was a good day.

It was a BAD day.

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And that, my friends, is a typical conversation in the vicinity of The Big Sis these days. She is unbelievably contrary at the moment, disputing every single thing that comes out of your mouth, regardless of the facts of the situation. To say it drives me batty is a major understatement.

For the record, they DID go snow tubing, and they DID have a wonderful time. Our little thrill seeker had a blast, and she’s already asking to go again. Unless I suggest it, of course. Then I’m sure it’s the last thing in the whole world that she wants to do. Or, so she says. I know better.

Foto Friday: First ponytail (kinda sorta)

Hey, gotta start somewhere, right??

Perhaps some real curls thrown in too? We shall see in time…