Popping Balloons

Lotta and I have been working on figuring out how to do only two hours of screen time a day during the summer.  The challenge being, she's four and doesn't totally get the concept of time.  And then the challenge of screen time on my phone versus screen time on the computer versus television screen time.  There are just a LOT of screens with which to interact.  AND I really want a balance of utilizing these screens for fun and education and doing other creative, interactive activities.

As Zibbi was napping, Lotta finished a movie and wanted to watch a television show (a "short" one of course...)  I explained that she needed to find something else to do.  She was not happy with this idea and stormed out onto the front porch.  I wasn't sure where this was leading.  Was she running away?  Just checking for neighbors?  I went back about my business when suddenly the doorbell starting ding dong ding dong ding dong.  Right below where Zibbi was slumbering.  I was instantly momma bear furious.  Nobody wakes up my baby!

I flung the door open and started whispering furiously to cease the bell ringing.  But before I started in, I saw Lotta's face, so excited and filled with joy at finding something fun to do with her time, at being so grown up as to be ringing a door bell.  And as I began to "yell" in a whispery way, her face and entire body deflated.

She came inside, and told Ben and I that she would play in her castle.  She crawled in.  Ben and I then heard sobbing sounds.  I responded, "That sounds more like crying than playing...."  I went over and gave her a big hug, explaining how disappointing it is when you are so excited to share something and then you get in trouble instead.

We decided because it was Ben's last day of school we would make brownies together.  I want her to learn the value of chocolate now...Just kidding.  Kind of.

Nailed It!

After much research, Zibbi decided she wanted an Elmo cake for her birthday.  Every time I would mention her birthday, she would say, "Elmo" meaning she still wanted an Elmo cake. 

Originally, I thought I'd have the professionals at Hy-Vee Bakery create the masterpiece.  Having recently discovered Pinterest, however, I decided I would make the cake.  Ben and I looked up You Tube videos on how to make a cake.  One chef promised us it would only take an hour as she went through 65 easy steps to an Elmo cake...it was as if part of her instructions were in a completely different language.  The cake she made was gorgeous.

Finally, I decided on a cupcake pull apart cake.  It is a bunch of cupcakes squished together to look like Elmo's face.  Because Zibbi's two favorite Madison people could not attend dinner on the same evening, we were having two celebrations.  I thought we could just take cupcakes from the bottom of the face the first night and it wouldn't even look like we'd actually eaten anything the second night.  Sneaky. 

With the craziness of after school and the day in general, I was rushed to get the project completed before our first guest arrived.  Then I realized we had a function at Lotta's school that night rather than the next night as I'd previously thought.  So I raced through the cake baking and then frosting making. Needless to say, the Elmo cake did not turn out the way I had anticipated.  I texted a friend that I was hating on Elmo after my fail.  She told me that I couldn't possibly hate Elmo, he is after all, all about love. 

I did learn some valuable lessons that day.
1.  It is so much funnier to fail than to succeed.  Go to pinterest failures for loads of laughs.  Here is my pinterest "nailed it".  I mean, yes, not even Zibbi recognized my attempt as Elmo.  Still, it will be a story to tell for years to come...

2.  You can't rush.  Part of the problem I had was feeling rushed, putting the frosting on too early.  Rushing to make the frosting before the butter was softened, etc. etc.  Apparently, "they" have all those baking "rules" for a reason...

Our great friend Brittany kept saying, "It tastes great and that's what matters!"  Lotta, on the other hand, decided she will have brownies for her birthday. 

Big...Little...

Zibbi and I were reading a book about big and little.  (By the way, Zibbi LOVES reading books.  We seem to have a houseful of book lovers!)  I read the first couple of pages which went something like...Big Bear.  Little Bear.  Big Dog.  Little Dog.  We arrived at the third page, I said, "Big Cat..."  allowing Zibbi to join in on the fun.  To my surprise, instead of saying, "Little Cat", she exclaimed, "poop". 

Unmentionables

Lotta is not into wearing underwear right now. She will wear all other clothing just not undies. 

She does not however like to wear anything when she uses the potty. Thus going to the bathroom is a very lengthy process she avoids as long as possible. Even after sleeping all night she will wait hours before she goes. Lotta is very into taking a bath. Sometimes in order to get her to go potty I sometimes suggest a bath. Which is sort of funny as this was a technique I also used on Ellie. 

Sucky

Every Wednesday evening Thom plays badminton.  So every week after Thom leaves, Ben baby sits Zibbi while I put Lotta to bed. One Thursday afternoon Ben shared with me how he loved having special time on Wednesdays to connect with Zibbi. He felt like it was excellent for their relationship. 

Last week Ben had a friend attend family fun night at Warner park. This event is amazing. For five bucks the entire family can go and play basketball, bounce in a bouncy house, do pottery, do an art project, play air hockey, they even have special classes each time such as hula hooping and zumba. Makes me so glad to live in Madison Wisconsin!! 

After FFN (that's family fun night to you non Madisonian) we dropped Ben's friend off.  I commented on how impressed I was with his conversational skills.  He was asking great questions and listening really well. I suggested that this most likely made his friend feel really good.  Ben explained that at school they have been studying how to have a conversation. However he didn't feel like he needed the instruction because he has the opportunity to converse with me every day during our walk home. 

What other 9 year old boy talks this way about connecting with his little sisters and having conversational skills?  

I feel so lucky. Or sucky as Ellie would say. 

Hopital

Lotta stood on the couch announcing to her audience members (Ben and Zibbi and I) that she would never ever go to the hopital again.  She repeated this adamantly.  Suddenly she stopped.  She realized the more she said the word, "hospital" the less it sounded like the word hospital.  Until finally she proclaimed that she had no idea how to say that word.  (Which I actually thought was pretty self-aware since most of the time she has no idea that the words she is saying sound nothing like how we are expecting them to sound). 

Ben loved going to the hospital when Ellie was alive.  He would choose the next room he wanted her stay in during her current visit.  So when he was admitted to the hospital on Friday, I told him his dream had come true of getting to stay in his own room and control his own bed.  The reason for the hospital stay was that we had just discovered that Ben has type 1 Diabetes at his pediatrician.  Standard procedure is to go to the ER to be admitted to the hospital.  Now for a guy who does not in any way like blood or needles all of this is a pretty daunting diagnosis.  Whenever he would start freaking out, I would bring sweet Zibbi over and she would lay her head on his shoulder and wrap her little arms around his chest in a big wonderful hug.  Then how could he possibly stay freaked amidst all that?  Basically now we are in the hospital to decrease his glucose level slowly and learn how to administer the insulin his body is no longer producing in sufficient quantities. 

Almost immediately after we learned of Ben's diagnosis, our superb endocrinologist friend texted and said she'd heard that Ben had been diagnosed and wondered if we wanted company in the ER.  She arrived at the ER with a bag of art supplies for Ben and a big hug for Thom and I.  She let us know that Diabetes is actually her specialty so if we wanted her to be, she could be Ben's doctor.  I mean, getting to spend more time with the awesome Jen Rehm.  "YES!" to that one.  (I mean of course we'd rather meet for croissants than at a doctor's appointment, but sometimes you take what you can get.)

Lotta went on a playdate with our magnificent friend Wendy (pronounced the same as "windy" in our household).  Wendy and her son Max took Lotta to a farm that has a house filled with tiny kitty cats.  Lotta is in heaven in this house and when we visit the farm, we spent a great deal of time there.  Wendy told me that on the ride there, Lotta became extremely sad because she was worried that Ben was going to die like Ellie had.  Wendy reassured her that this was not the case, that Ben is extremely strong and that he is in fact at one of the best hospitals in the country.  (I know the details of this conversation because we had the same conversation on the ride home from the hospital and Lotta told me "Windy already told me that...") 

And once again I am reminded of how being in the hospital throws all the other insignificant things (laundry, dirty house, e-mails) to the wayside and puts my family right smack dab in front of me with nothing to do but enjoy each other (and learn about carbs and insulin and pokes.)  And Ben, feeling perfectly well, is having a great time ordering room service and watching movies and playing in the play room.  He said he is going to pretend he is staying at a really nice hotel.  Told him I used to do the same thing.  Even like to use the words "Checking in" and "Checking out" (although I rarely leave tips). 

Thanks for all the love and support flowing in!

Dog starts with "P"?

Lotta dressed for puddles, mud, and melting snow.

At breakfast, Lotta was sitting at the kitchen table, saying aloud how much she wanted a kitty cat over and over.

Then at dinner, we were playing a game where you try to come up with the most outrageously positive word for each letter of the alphabet.  Lotta of course wanted to join in. So she would say kitty cat for almost every letter.  After a bit, she switched to saying "puppy" for each letter.  So when we arrived at "p" I told Lotta, "Ok now say your word, now its time!" She enthusiastically responded, "doggie!"