March Madness

By MAGGIE WANG

I know, I know! I'm a terrible blog mother! Where have I been? Let's see ... busy fixing life's disasters. They included but were in no way limited to dealing with the water-pipe leak in our girls' bedroom closet. (It required us to redo our downstairs guest-room closet from scratch also, and Kevin was out of town for much of the work.) But through it all, we're having some great times.

One of those fun times was building a crib for their new "American Girl" babies.  Sedona had a great time using the screwdriver. I think it is really neat that she knows how to use these tools from her Montessori school time. They teach play with real activities.

The crib is a gift from Laney and Kira Williford. Julie and I decided that rather than sending each other gifts for our birthdays (she and I are a year and 5 days apart) or sending our daughters gifts for their birthdays, we would send the girls a gift for our birthdays. We have been giving each other presents for so many years we have run out of ideas for each other, and getting the girls so many gifts for their birthdays when they are getting so many others doesn't make sense either of us. So we have this special pact! I love it!

Reading by their babies' new crib ...

The girls love to read these days. They hang out in our "library," which is what we call the guest room downstairs. In lieu of actual reading, Sedona makes up creative stories with the pictures, based on what she remembers about the books or just rooted in things going in her life, and tells them out loud for a long time. (She also likes to display the page for any audience, the same way that Miss Valerie and Miss Brittany do at school.)  Both girls are both becoming more self-sufficient each day.

Here is a picture of the girls' room since I moved furniture around (Dec. 23. 2009) so we could transition Maven to a big-girl bed at the time we installed our new carpets. (P.S. Maven's name is on the wall in there too, just not on the wall shown here.) 

Dinner at Melting Pot with the girls ...

 Their first time eating fondue! Here is Maven continuing to prove what a messy eater she is compared to her meticulously clean sister.

Fun at Art Zone with Maven and Dylan McCleary ...

Riley joined us while her mom was enjoying some friendly Marine League tennis. (Kidding. Marine League is fun but definitely not necessarily friendly. It is women's tennis in the middle of the week. Many of the women are fortunate enough to not have any other lives but to take Marine League way too seriously, which can be scary. I am guilty of playing too, but I'm far from one of those fortunate women with no work responsibilities!)

Doing a workout at My Gym ...

We have been to quite a few birthday parties at My Gym, but I never joined becuase the first time I brought Sedona she caught some illness, which was her very first time being sick. As I'm growing into a more laid-back parent, I realize this is something the girls would love to do, so here we are.

Maven had a great time at My Gym, but then we won five classes to My Gym's rival, Wondernation, in our Mommy & Me class! So, it was off to Wondernation!

I love bringing Maven to these classes. It's so amazing to see her interact. She is so outgoing, ready to do anything and a great listener. I feel so fortunate that I can still do these neighborhood activities with my girls despite having a job.

Our big little girl is growing up. Last year we tried to take her to the dentist, but she wouldn't open her mouth.  This time Sedona happily enjoyed the visit despite being told she has a cavity that needs to be capped. I am uncomfortable with this stuff, so I'm waiting for Kevin to bring her. Yes, I'm a wimp!

I am documenting it here in case it does happen and I can say I thought it might happen: I wouldn't be surprised if Sedona is a dentist when she is older. She loves brushing and flossing (we just started that post-dentist visit). She has always been this way since she started ... unlike Maven who is still fighting the process.

 Maybe we will enlist Sedona to talk some sense into her. Sedona more and more will try to reason with Maven and explain things to her. The other day on the way home from Sedona's school, Maven was being fussy and crying about Kevin and Sedona not giving her the car seat she wanted, so Sedona calmly said: "Maven. You're getting to be a big girl now. You're wearing underwear; you're not wearing diapers. If you want to be a big girl, don't cry. Maven! Big girls don't cry."

At Downtown Disney with Teddy Liaw (visiting from S.F.) & Debbie (from Houston) ...

The girls absolutely LOVE Teddy and Debbie (and Kevin and I got carry-out crawfish from this venture to Orange County, too!).

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The girls ate caramel kettlecorn before dinner ... only because Auntie Debbie wanted it and I didn't have the heart to tell her the girls couldn't have any.

Hanging at the Hermosa Farmers' Market with Ethan and Riley ...

Birthday party action ...

Today we hit up Katie's 3rd birthday party at Live Oak Park before attending Sabrina's 2nd birthday party at Under The Sea for this face painting!