Ainsley Is Imaginative

Tonight, while I was grading portfolios, Ainsley decided to shred the bag that the newspaper comes in.

She came to me with the plastic dangling from her hand:

"Look, Mommy! A jellyfish!"

Awesome.

This Happened Today

Holy Shit.

Geniuses and Gentle Giants

Guess I'll be holding that Mensa application a few more months

I am well aware that I often espouse the brilliance of my children.  Tonight during the Twilight Hour, the kids and I started to watch Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. (I haven't finished watching it, but the kids abandoned it. I'm finding it interesting. Plus Jason Stackhouse uses his real Australian voice in it...so there's that.) Anyway, I went to find Ainsley doing this:

For those of you unclear on the happenings, that's Ainsley, rubbing two sticks against her dresser and blowing spit bubbles.

Sabine the Scavenger
Several days ago, Xander and I were finishing up a lazy dinner, he was getting tired and this happened:

After watching the video, I now see where "keeeetty" comes from.

Gates Are Bullshit

My children have a long history with gates.  This video was taken when Ainsley was 11 months old; she loved to try to go up the stairs, fall down them, and die.  So, we gated for her safety.  This was her reaction:  

Now, as Xander nears 11 months old, we have experienced a similar situation. Xander is protected from the kitchen, with its delicious dog food and joyful water bowl, by a gate.  However, the inherent differences between Xander and Ainsley are apparent here.  Whereas Ainsley will whine and cry to get her way, Xander attempts to POWER THROUGH THE GATE.

We keep that big bottle of fruit punch there to hold the gate closed when we're too lazy to latch it (if we're running back and forth between rooms, for example).  However, after this morning, it looks like we'll be latching the gate from now on.

Happy Easter!

We had a pretty awesome Easter this year.   

Xander's Loot

Ainsley's Loot

The Easter Bunny brought lots of fun things for the kiddos.  Since this was Xander's first Easter, he got a BIG bunny (it's as long as he is!).  He also got some board books and Little People to play with.  Ms. A got a pig (which I think will end up being named Piggy), Peeps (yellow chicks and purple bunnies: "I eat EYES first!"), Strawberry Shortcake coloring book and Easter book, a Slinky, a Mrs. Potato Head, and Playdough. EB got pretty sneaky with his hiding places.  The boot was my favorite.

PlayDough Bunny!

Ainsley and Xander slept in pretty late today. (Sean has been playing Fallout 3 into the wee hours of the morn lately, so he wasn't going to be up any time soon.)  When she finally did wake up, she was excited to see her Easter basket. She immediately knew which basket was hers, and she was digging into it with careful purpose. She initially grabbed the little people things that had Playdough in them.

Slinky!

The Slinky became an element of particular interest.  She probably played with that for about 5 minutes.  I tried to show her how it works on stairs, but she was having none of that. She just wanted to hear it make its Slinky noise.

We grow nerds. Proudly.

She lined up her Peeps so they could watch her. Then she then broke into her books.  This was for sure my favorite part of basket discovery. She got three books (a Curious George Easter on top of the Shortcake booty).  She wouldn't do anything until she looked through each of the three books. 

I love you most of all
Piggy.

Next Piggy was found and given an obscene amount of lovins. She then demanded that Mrs. Potato Head be opened so she could play.  She didn't really get the idea behind Mrs. Potato Head, but she was obsessively playing with her—to the extent that she took Mrs. Potato Head to bed with her at nap time.

Can I haz Little People?

All of Ainsley's shenanigans finally woke up Xander.  He was particularly interested in grabbing his Little People egg. I wondered why the EB didn't unwrap the Little People from the packaging (and Mrs. Potato Head too for that matter).  I'll have to send him a note for next year.  I was ultimately proud of EB's thriftiness; I'm pretty sure I saw some of these toys on clearance last year at Target.  So, I suppose I'll forgive EB this transgression.

His first shiner

I gave Mr. X his bunny.  He was very happy with it.

*side note* Yes, that's a shiner on Mr. X's face. Last night, in a post-egg-coloring fit of energy, A and X decided to start wrestling.  This, of course, could only end in sorrow.  This time, the sorrow manifested in Ainsley somehow clocking X in the face with her Disney Princess chair.  I am looking into professional wrestling association training camps for Ainsley.

Big boys smile for Mommas

Once I freed all the Little People, Xander was very happy.  He's also entered into that awesome phase of babyhood where he's realized that he's supposed to smile for the camera, but doesn't yet recognize that his smile is power and hold it against us (I'm looking at you Ainsley!).

Xander also got some board books—one of them is a touch and feel book.  Ainsley the Book Destroyer decimates all of her books (this is a huge issue for me, by the way), so this was his first experience with a touch and feel book.  He digs it. A LOT.  He spent at least 5 minutes touching and feeling the lamb, duck, and bunny.

Touch and feel

I let the kids play with their Easter loot for a while...and then Ainsley discovered one of the hidden eggs.

Ainsley: "I found egg!"
Me: "That's right! Remember that the Easter Bunny hides eggs inside when it's wet outside.  I think I saw some in the dining room and living room."
Ainsley: "Let's find them!"

Discovering the egg

We left Xander to his Little People as she started gathering eggs. One of the eggs was structurally unsound and when she touched it, the candy popped out. 

I don't know if I can properly express to you with words how Ainsley reacted when she discovered that the eggs were packed with candy.  The closest I can come is this: it's similar to that scene in Scarface when Pacino does the HUGE PILE of coke combined with that scene in Over the Hedge when the squirrel drinks coffee.

Basket OCD

At first, Ainsley was putting the candy in the basket in order—the bunnies went with the bunnies, the Twix with the Twix.  However, as she realized exactly how much candy she was amassing, she went kinda crazy.

Mostly it involved her running around "I find eggs!", finding an egg, smashing it open "CANDIES!", and throwing the candy and egg husk into her basket.

Action shot...candy falling
into the basket

Xander, for the most part, hung around playing with toys on the floor; he just didn't really care.  When he did make a move for an egg, I thought Ainsley was going to scratch his face off.  I convinced her to share the empty eggs with her brother.  She did but with hesitation.

I can only imagine what this is going to be like next year, when I believe that Xander will be larger than his sister and will accept no such shenanigans.  At this point, she should be thanking her chosen deity that Xander doesn't know what candy is because I swear that boy will KILL you for food.  KILL YOU DEAD.

Xander: Not Really Caring

After a while, X found some joy in chasing Ainsley.  She became more and more Golum-esque with "MY BASKET!"  She would run with the candy and basket and try to keep it from him.

This sharing thing is a bitch and I want it to end. Thank you very much.





For your enjoyment (and because Sean was sleeping), I took A LOT of video of the egg hunt. Honestly, it was cracking me up.  In this video, she tries to be lazy and get me to an egg for her, discovers the boot egg, and shows the world that she has been cursed with my hair. So, here you go, enjoy!

MESS!

After egg hunting, there was PlayDough and breakfast (at noon), then Momma/Babies bath, then precious, precious nap for babies.  I snapped this picture right before I went downstairs to have a beer and some candy.  The only real work I did to clean up was put the PlayDough in zip lock bags so it'd stay soft.

One final note:
 

MY PARK!!

I took the kids to the park today. I gave Ainsley the option of park or store (she needs a new spring coat). "PARK!!" She demanded.  She was so excited she could barely contain herself when we got out of the van.

She ran as quickly as she could to the playground.  Seriously, it was like grown women and the Victoria Secret's SemiAnnual Sale.  She'd have shanked you to get to that playground.

I booked after her with Xander in tow.  He didn't really seem to care, but Ainsley was ALL about the slides.  She's always greatly enjoyed slides, but at first she was hesitant.  She kept reading forward and asking me to hold her hand to help her down the slide. 

That lasted for all of about five slide trips.  Then it was: SLIDE!!! SLIDE!! I SLIDE!!

Xander didn't get too into the slide.  I put him on it and he slid. He didn't giggle or laugh, but once I put him down on the ground, he discovered The Most Awesome Thing in the World: WOOD CHIPS.

Wood chips are awesome for several reasons.
     1.  There are a million of them.
     2.  They cover DIRT.
     3.  They are deeelicious!

Hold my hand &
tasty woodchips!

Needless to say, I spent most of the time at the park holding Xander to prevent excessive wood chip consumption.  At one point, while Ainsley was slideslidesliding, Xander made a break for it. He crawled completely away from the park at Top Xander Speed, which is quicker than you'd think!

There were a few other kids at the park--we went at around 5pm. Late enough that the "normal" families have to get home for their dinners, but early enough that the hoodlums haven't come to the park to smoke and be surly.

There was a girl Ainsley's age and her bigger sister playing at the park. Miss A had more fun chasing after the big girl--she's still leery of kids her own age.  I'm not too concerned about it; she'll adjust soon enough.

Peekaboo!

Ainsley became super adventurous. The slide had a tube that connected to a larger, spiral slide. Because the bigger sister was in the tube, A followed her. Then she slid down the spiral slide. She wasn't really prepared for the spiral slide and sort of shot down it backwards and sort of upside down. She landed face first in the dirt/wood chips--her glasses fell off her face. It took EVERYTHING in me to not rush to her. She got up and dusted herself off, but couldn't get her glasses back on. So I helped.  It was nice to still be needed a bit. *grin*

She ended up becoming quite skilled at maneuvering the spiral slide. I didn't have to teach her anything...she just knew to hold on to the side to balance herself.  In case there was a doubt, she is a genius.  There are decidedly fewer pictures of Xander because he lived this trip on my hip.

When it was finally time to go, Ainsley protested something wicked.  If you heard a great wailing coming from the Fort Waynian direction? It was Ainsley...lamenting our abandoning her beloved park.

MY PARK!! WANT
MY PARK!!

Do it again!

Then she noticed that I had taken her picture...

Ainsley Is a Nerd and Xander Bats Clean-up

This morning, when we got up to get Ainsley out of bed, she ordered us out of her room.  You see, she was reading to her babies and needed to finish the story.  She'd lined them all up along her bed and sat in the center reading her book about trains.  I found this adorable.

Sean then informed me that her new ritual when she wakes up is to say "good morning" to each baby and give it a kiss.  Because she sleeps with approximately 4,000 babies (remember her bed?), this takes her forever.  Also, because I sleep like the dead and never wake up, it's what wakes Sean up every morning.

Nom Nom Nom

Today, while we were at Target I decided to get her a new plate--as we're going to need them because Mr. Big Boy is practically off baby food now; he only wants people food or a bottle.  She was given the choice between a plate with flowers, a plate with monkeys, and a plate with letters.  "Want letters," she said.

"But look, baby! This one has monkeys!  They're so funny!" I tried not to push her one way or the other--but that monkey plate was really cool. 

Alas, my child did not want monkeys, "NO. WANT LETTERS."  My kid knows what she wants.  On the way home, I let her hold her letters plate and told her she could have lunch on it today.

"Cover up letters?" she wondered.

...or Not So Nom Nom
Ainsley's "leftovers"

"Well,  yes, but then you can eat and find them again!"

"Ok!"  Her excitement made me think that maybe she'd eat better, as Ainsley's diet has been a point of discussion and concern since she was born.

We got home and I fed her hot dogs and stars with cheese--two of her favorites.  While the plate was awesome, it did not make her more inclined to eat.

Currently, she's in her bedroom "napping."  I can hear her dictating things to her babies, who knows if she'll go to sleep.

Leftovers shmeftovers

Her loss, however, is Xander's gain.  He already knew stars and cheese are awesome.  But today, he has discovered that hot dogs are also awesome!!

I honestly think that Xander is going to skip Stage III baby food altogether.  I can mash up practically anything we're eating for dinner--and it's so much cheaper.  Plus if we aren't feeding him what we're eating... He. Knows.  And he gets really ticked off if we have something that he doesn't. Lots of "MMMmmmMMMMM"ing and grabbing.

We're so lucky to have one kid who picks up the other kid's slack!