Ballet

Today was Monkey's first day in ballet class. (originally we called it "gym with music" as she had decided she "hated" ballet...OK, um, insane one... you don't even know what ballet IS!)

Needless to say, she loved it.

I'm not sure she is EVER going to take that tutu off....(that's her new friend on the left)

An oenophile in the making?

Every time I read an article profiling an oenophile, there is something charming (yet still pretentious) about tasting each wine for its "terroir," which while it may technically refer to a a group of vineyards (or even vines) from the same region, belonging to a specific appellation, and sharing the same type of soil, weather conditions, grapes and wine making savoir-faire, which contribute to give its specific personality to the wine blah blah blah....really it makes me think you're tasting the wine for it's dirt.

Today, Jellybean was testing the terroir.....of the sandbox.

It was her first time experiencing sand. When I took off her shoes and plunked her down in the sand, she got this amazing wide-eyed look of wonder on her face, and she kept scrunching up her toes to push the sand around. Then she leaned down, patted the sand, looked at me with that same look of wonder, and laughed. Laughed and laughed and laughed.

She was in LOVE.

She toddled around the sandbox, scooping the sand up and offering it to other parents (strangers to her), chattering away with glee. She had many admirers by the time we were done.

She also tasted the sand. TWICE. (um, genius, you didn't like it the first time!)

But, in her defense, it was at each far end of the sandbox....so really, she was testing for its terroir. Right?

Right.

The September Issue

When Monkey was little, I dressed her to the nines. Her outfit would match, including coordinated hair ribbons, socks and shoes.

Each day, I'd comb out her hair and put it into delicious pigtails. And she'd let me! She'd sit still long enough that I could get a straight part, adjust the ribbons, etc.

Now?

Not only does she NOT let me pick out her clothing or do her hair, she often throws a fit when I suggest that she wear - nay, even TRY - something on that she didn't select.

I have already written about her contempt for the color green. What I haven't written about is the battle royale that occurred last week.

Last week, the weather shifted from unusually cold to unusually warm. And I was caught unprepared to dress my children for school. Monkey's down-filled puffer jacket was way too hot to wear. So, we layered - threw a fleece on under a raincoat. The only problem was that this was a NEW raincoat, and Monkey didn't like it. Oh, the drama. The crying and whining and proclamations of "I don't like you; you're not my friend ANYMORE"...it was the pits.

So, I went to Baby Gap the very next day, eschewing lunch so I could shop for my beloved daughter, and I bought a cute pink windbreaker/spring jacket. I was proud of myself! (You realize that shopping, unless it is online, is limited to what I can do in ten minutes at lunch....(places like Duane Reed, CVS, and thaaaaaat's about it!) .....I have no other time to run errands in this vast city, so getting to the Gap was a coup for me! but I digress....)

The next morning I unveiled the fabulous FANTASTIC pink jacket. And it was worse that the day before.

It was an episode of Under The Table And Screaming (apologies to Dave Matthews...). When I finally got Monkey calmed down again, and the tears and shaking and shuddering had ceased....I asked her why she didn't like the jacket.

She told me that it was pink.

But you love pink, I exclaimed.

She looked at me like I'd pulled a kafkaesque metamorphosis into a giant turdball, rolled her eyes, and said "NO mommy. It's DARK pink."

****

Meanwhile, I was grateful that at least with Jellybean, she doesn't fight with me about her clothing since she's only 15 months old! Yeah, famous last words.

She threw a temper tantrum that very same morning, because she wanted to wear a different jacket than the one I'd picked out for her.

******

Part of me wants to know where in g*d's green earth these two get this from. After all, I don't think I'd looked at an issue of Vogue until I moved to NYC!

The other part of me? Is proud. My little (stubborn stinkers of) girls are going to do just fine.

My foody

Jellybean continues to be an adventurous eater. Which is great!

Only, now I have to make twice as many brussel sprouts.....the stinker eats my share!

You win some, you lose some....

Happy St. Patrick's Day to you

For the record, I have no less than 10-12 entries floating around in my brain. I'll get to them eventually, I promise....

I wouldn't have thought that the question of whether or not Monkey and Jellybean wore green today would be something post-worthy. But apparently I was WRONG. No less than 7 people I work with today asked me what cute little green outfits I put the girls into this morning......

And the answer? I know you are BURNING with curiosity, yes you are! Nothing.

Not one stitch of green between the two of them, unless you count the green on the front of Jellybean's diaper. (at least I'm pretty sure that there's green there - I googled Pamper's Cruisers to be sure and yup - there's a teensy bit of green).

Why? Because Monkey hates green. HATES IT! Hates it with the white-hot intensity of a star going super-nova. I tried to get her to wear a green shirt and once the tantrum ended and I mopped the tears off the floor, Monkey informed me that she did not like green AT ALL and therefore I should "give it to Jellybean..." (and apparently I haven't bought anything new for Jellybean that's green, either)

Sadly, yes, my eldest child has now learned that she can "give" anything she doesn't like to her little sister.....it's like the gambit of feeding veggies to the dog under the table. Not that we have a dog, or that she hasn't asked for one "when Oliver dies" every day for the past week. But I digress.

The point is? No green. Apologies to my children's Irish heritage.

And for the record? On St. Andrew's day they aren't going to wear tartan, either. Most days I'm lucky I can get them to put a coat on!