"The Letter Game"

Sometime over the past couple of months, Sophie and Eric decided to incorporate a new little game into the bedtime routine. Someone decides on a letter, and each person has to come up with a word that starts with that letter until you run out of words (or fall asleep?!).

While I am not oblivious to the fact that this is mostly a procrastination tactic on the part of Sophie, Eric has managed to see through that and has taken on the challenge of "The Letter Game" many a time. Since work limits his time with the kids during the week, bedtime is a special time for them to reconnect at the end of the day. Plus, it's fun for him to see first hand how her mind continues to tick away and that she can in fact think of 100+ words that start with the letter "D". Typically when it's my turn to tuck her in, my top letter choices are "X, Q and Z". This always guarantees a game that will end quickly and I figure there's plenty of time for us to play this game during the day rather than when she's supposed to be falling asleep (and Eric and I are supposed to finally be getting our time to chat!).

But tonight I decided to oblige her and let her choose the letter B, which resulted in a long but fun volley between the two of us. I had to laugh out loud at some of her words. While I had a seemingly endless list of more obvious words...bed, bedtime, blanket, bye-bye (anyone see a theme here?), Sophie belted out fancier words including balsamic, ballerina, belissimo, and finally, "Boo-hoo-hoo", which was her final response to me ending the game prematurely.

Weekend with the Wheeler Girls!

Starting a family and moving to Atlanta has made it challenging to have regular visits with my two dear college friends, Sandy and Sarah- especially since they started their families at roughly the same time and are both living in the Northeast.

Before kids, we tried to plan a once a year girls weekend, and this time the plan was for each of them to bring their oldest children to Atlanta. Sophie and Jack have both met Madison (Sandy's daughter) and Eli (Sarah's son) but we've never been all together at the same time. Unfortunately, Eli became sick just before the scheduled visit so he and Sarah were unable to make the trip. Jack was especially saddened as this meant he would be outnumbered.

Sandy and Madison arrived from Boston mid-day Friday, and after a longer than usual car ride home from the airport due to a much needed detour for fuel and Starbucks, we arrived home. Madison had picked out special treats for the kids at the airport - gummy lobsters (a dream for dietitians and dentists alike!). I found it ironic that Madison made this choice, since she was in the midst of a virtuous stage of avoiding sweets and juice after being told by her dentist that these things were not good for her teeth.

It's amazing how quickly being in the presence of an old friend (and her beautiful daughter!) can bring such comfort. Sandy has seen me through a lot of ups and downs in life, and we are always able to pick up right where we left off.




Sandy is Jack's Godmother so it was extra special for Jack to be able to bond with her. She even fixed his train tracks over and over again which won his heart from the very start of her visit!


The girls enjoyed a slumber party in Sophie's room and despite waking up earlier than usual, they did well. We enjoyed a pancake breakfast and leisurely morning on Saturday, after which it was time for us girls to head out for lunch and the Georgia Aquarium. I was thankful when we got to the aquarium that we left Jack behind with Eric to nap. It was a rainy Saturday and the middle of MLK weekend, so the aquarium was packed. Nonetheless, the girls enjoyed every moment.



Sandy and I had planned to head out for dinner after the kids were asleep, but we opted to stay cozy and dry and ordered take-out. This is officially a sign that I am getting old! But even more, it speaks to the fact that good friends don't need a restaurant or a change of scenery in order to enjoy each other's company and to reconnect. Simply chatting at the kitchen table proved to be more than enough for both of us.

The visit was short but sweet, and I only wish we could do this more often!

Yin/Yang

According to Wikipedia, "Yin yang are complementary opposites within a greater whole. Everything has both yin and yang aspects, although yin or yang elements may manifest more strongly in different objects or at different times. Yin yang constantly interacts, never existing in absolute stasis."

I can't think of a better way to describe what Sophie seems to be experiencing lately. On the one hand, she is embracing many new opportunities and experiences that come alongside a child who is about to turn 5. Despite her occasional passivity towards school and learning, she really does get excited about doing her homework each afternoon, and about her steady improvement at reading in writing.

The other day, she read "Chester the Horse" to Jack before his nap. Although I cut her off about half way through due to the length of the book, I was internally doing cartwheels over the fact that she was actually reading. This was not a book that she had recently looked at with us, so it confirmed for me that she really has come leaps and bounds this year since starting pre-K. While she's been able to sound out words and sentences for a long time, this was completely different. Watching Jack respond to his big sister reading made it all the better.

On the flip side, Sophie has been especially emotional about her increasing age and the fact that her baby years are long gone. Watching Jack's crib (which was originally hers) be taken out of his room proved to be hard for her. She loves to flip through photo albums from her early years, and she even has a picture of herself at about 8 weeks on her dresser which has caused her to shed tears more than once as she reflects during her quiet time.

At first Eric and I had a hard time taking this seriously, but it has clearly become a consistent discussion with her and we are at times confused as to how we should deal with this. We are careful to acknowledge all of the wonderful things about her age as she grows older - all of the things she can do that babies can't. Like chew bubblegum, and have a conversation with friends and family, sit in a booster seat, read a book to her little brother and even take a shower independently. But we would be lying if we said there isn't a piece of us that wishes it would slow down just a tiny bit!

Perhaps this is just a phase and she will overcome this fixation on babyhood, but until then, I can assure you that this phase is indeed real with the below picture. As we cleaned out the drawer ofblankets and crib sheets underneath Jack's crib, we came across a knit newborn hat. We have no idea which child this belonged to, but Sophie immediately scooped it up, supposedly for her doll "Huggums" to wear. After returning home from an evening out (a Kindergarten Open House of all places), this is what we walked in on after Sophie was sound asleep...


I suppose that each of us can relate to this Yin/Yang aspect of growing up and/or growing older. As a parent, I certainly feel the bittersweet emotions each day as I feel relief for where we are now with the increasing independence, interaction and ability to reason that I see in my children - which truly brings more ease to the day than in times past. But I do feel a longing for those precious early days, which were impossible to always appreciate in the moment.

Living "in the moment" is always a challenge, which is apparently true even for almost 5 year olds.

New Beginnings

The first week of 2010 proved to be a noteworthy one for our family, as Jack made his way into a big boy bed! The chain of events that resulted in this milestone began with our mission to get his room painted, hoping that the transition to a more boyish room (his has been the same since Sophie was in it as a baby), would prompt him to want to switch to a bed. Sophie moved out of the very same crib Jack has been using just after turning 2, mainly because we needed to put Jack in it when he outgrew the Moses basket. Jack has always been fond of his crib, and whenever we commented on a big boy bed, he seemed completely uninterested (just like with potty training!)

We planned to use Eric's childhood furniture, so there was no real rush, and our original plan was to just keep the crib in the room until we knew Jack was ready. The painters were available much earlier than expected, so we threw ourselves into this project rather abruptly. After the first coat of paint was finished, we realized that Jack wouldn't be able to sleep in his room since the 20 degree "Hotlanta" weather would prevent us from airing it out with open windows. So he spent the night in Sophie's bed with bedrails that actually resemble his cribrails, and his sister by his side on the floor to give him a little extra comfort.

Eric and I were afraid that our night would end up like a game of whack-a-mole, not knowing if Jack would protest the bed, or Sophie would talk his ear off instead of falling asleep, etc etc. We fully expected to take turns running up and down the stairs throughout the evening to deal with whatever issues might arise. We were pleasantly surprised when both of them fell asleep immediately with no conversation and slept until 8 the next morning! Hearing them wake up in the same room was something I'll never forget. Sophie climbed in bed with Jack and covered them both with her down comforter for a 10 minute snuggle session. When he asked for water, she got it. When he wanted his slippers, she got those too. She was clearly proud to take on the role of big sister and we were all proud that Jack made it through the night with no trouble.

The next night was a repeat of the first, so we decided there was no going back. When Jack saw his new room and the new bed, he was beyond excited to sleep in the bed. Once again, Sophie joined him on an air mattress next to his bed for his first night in his new room. Three nights in a row of brother-sister sleepovers!


Eric and I were a tad bit emotional when we realized that the crib had been assembled and used by one of the 2 kids for almost 5 years. For us, this milestone represents so many of the other changes that we've seen in our family in the past year. Many were gradual but it's as if they've culminated in a more dramatic way all of a sudden. Almost in the snap of our fingers, things just suddenly seem a bit easier, increasingly enjoyable, and we are less bogged down by some of the little things that make parenting of young children challenging. This isn't to say that we haven't enjoyed the moments up to this point. There just seems to be a little more freedom to enjoy those moments with less pressure and less stress. And having 2 kids that can fully entertain each other for more than 10 minutes at a time isn't so bad either!

Holiday Highlights

Yet another very tardy and almost outdated blog post, but I'm sure that's no surprise to all you faithful readers who actually still check this blog every so often!

I have promised myself that I will carve out time for this a little more often, and make it more routine and not so overwhelming for myself. As scattered as my posts have been over the past couple of years, I'm still glad that I have at least a small archive of the happenings in our household, so that Sophie and Jack have something to read and look back on when they're older. And looking back myself, it amazes me to see how much things have changed over such a short time. We are entering a whole new phase of life with Jack's growing independence.

Here are some of the highlights from our Christmas Season...

Sophie participated in our church Christmas Pageant as one of many 4 year old sheep. The children have worked on learning the songs and memorizing bible verses since early September, and it was thrilling to watch it all come together. Jack didn't make the age cut-off for the pageant, but he too learned the music and surprised his pre-school teachers by requesting, "Angels We Have Heard on High" during music time!

Here's Sophie in action.




The Loomis Family annual gingerbread decorating party was another favorite. The Loomis's never disappoint with the amazing array of candy that can be used for the house as well as the fact that Lorraine makes the cookie houses and icing all from scratch, and has assembled on for each child before they arrive.

This was the first year that Sophie was more focused on actually decorating the house than sneaking candy. She worked on her house for more than an hour, covering every possible space with a different type of candy. Jack on the other hand, was much more focused eating the candy in his bowl. All was well in his world until he shoved a handful of shredded wheat in his mouth (intended to be used for a thatched roof), which threw him for a major loop.



Sophie and I enjoyed lots of baking and some fun crafts this year. She definitely has a love for art and creativity. She especially enjoyed adding her own special touch to our frosted sugar cookies.



Having traveled to North Carolina last Christmas, we were content to stay put this year and have Oma join us for a few days. The kids always love it when there's a grandparent in the house and it made it extra special this year.

After several weeks of build up and excitement about Santa, Sophie gleefully ran into our room Christmas morning and declared, "Santa has come!". When we asked how she knew this, she confessed to glancing over the balcony on the way to our room and seeing that our stockings were filled. Interestlingly enough, she was content to hang out in our room for awhile until Jack woke up so they could venture downstairs together. She did end up popping down before him since he slept unusually late, but she was suprisingly patient.

The first thing they both did upon arriving at the fireplace was check out whether or not Santa had eaten the cookies they left out. There were several crumbs and cookie parts left on the plate, which Jack proceeded to chow down on without any urgency to open his stocking


It was hilarious to watch the different "styles" of the kids in opening their gifts. Sophie ripped into to everything quickly, barely glancing at the item before moving it to the coffee table where she lined up her loot and admired it. Jack was only interested in his new train set and still had gifts under the tree a week later because of this.

After a relaxed morning and our delicious traditional breakfast of egg casserole, we hosted a few of our neighborhood friends for a mid-day casual get-together. It has become sort of a tradition for those of us around on the holidays to share some part of it together, and it was lots of fun for the kids to see each other and exchange stories about what Santa brought for each of them. We have been blessed to be surrounded by such great families with children at similar ages who we can spend time with on a regular basis.

We capped off our Christmas with a trip to Stone Mountain Christmas on the 26th with Uncle Matt, Aunt Kori, Colin and Will. It was a bit cold but the kids enjoyed watching a few short Christmas productions, seeing part of Polar Express in 4D and a train ride around the mountain complete with Christmas lights and music.

The fact that Christmas and New Years both fell on Friday this year made for an especially relaxing and fun week for our family. Eric was able to take the week off between the 2 holidays, which allowed us to enjoy time at home with the kids, with no real agenda. Sometimes being at home like that is the best gift of all!