This morning

Trying to make breakfast at 6:00am, with one hand, because Lanie needed to be held and play with my hair at the same time.

My "I need coffee and two hands" face.

"What do you want for your birthday?"

We spend a lot of time on birthdays between late February and the first week of April.  Essentially six weeks of birthday obsession no matter how I try to tone it down. (Vivian is currently planning her party for next year, even though we just had her party two weeks ago).
In all of this, Lanie is the one who gets overlooked the most.  I literally planned her party yesterday to be held Saturday at the park, as the weather will be warm.

So we asked her what she wanted for her birthday the other day.
"Oh," she said.
"A stuffed puppy, like this one Jack chewed up?" Vivian asked, holding up a stuffed animal with a severed stuffed leg.
"No." Lanie said shaking her head.
"A Barbie for the Barbie dreamhouse?" asked Sam.
"No," said Lanie.
"Um, a Peppa Pig doll?" asked Vivian.
"No," said Lanie.
"Playdough?" asked Sam.
"No," said Lanie.
"A Curious George book!" said Vivian (although we have four Curious George treasuries).
"No," said Lanie.
"Why don't we ask her what she wants and let her answer?" I asked.
"What do you want, Lanie?"
"An American Doll and a bicycle," she said definitively. Pretty much the most expensive presents possible, unless she wanted to throw a pony in there.
"Oh," everyone said.
"Well your birthday is on Tuesday Lanie! Are you excited?"
"NO!" she yelled, "my birthday is on April!"
"Yes, Tuesday is in April," Sam explained.
"NO IT'S IN APRIL!"
"Okay, and we'll leave it at that." I said.

A day or two later, Sam had a stomach ache and I asked him if he wanted some tea.

"Sure," he said.
"Lanie, do you want some tea?" I asked.
"No," she replied. "I'll have a bicycle please."

Update: She got a bike!  We went to pick up Vivian from a playdate and the family gifted her their old balance bike!  It even came with streamers they had once tied to it.

A very happy Lanie last night.

Park

It's finally getting warmer out, enough to brave the park.

Bloody Mary

There is a (sub)urban legend that the third graders at my school seem to discover each year, the story of Bloody Mary.  I have heard several versions of the story over the years so it wasn't all that surprising when Sam started reading the books Scary Stories and More Scary Stories this winter.  I distinctly remember these from my childhood and tried to dissuade him, especially after he couldn't sleep one night, but he was determined.

One night recently after dinner, I was cleaning up and making lunches for the next day, when the children disappeared upstairs to play.  I was listening to music and noticed that it had gotten quiet, but didn't pursue it.  Suddenly I heard a wail and Lanie appeared, "mama! Vivian is scared! She no like Bloody Mair-we!"
As I approached the stairs, the wails became louder, and Lanie continued, "Bloody Mair-we is very, very sca-wy for Vivian.  It makes her sad."
"Samuel!" I yelled. Silence.
"Sam!"
"Yes?" he finally answered.
I found Vivian crying and almost trembling at the top of the stairs.  Sam was in his room looking very guilty.
Vivian told me some garbled story about a bloody queen who comes and takes children away and they disappear and then something about the curtains moving.  Sam looked considerably more guilty.  I finally got Sam in the shower and talked Vivian out of her hysteria and got her pajamas on.  I turned on lullabies on my phone and went to get Sam's pajamas out.
"Oh, mama," Lanie says, "what is this song called?"
"I don't know Lanie, I'll look in a minute." I answered.
Lanie thought briefly, "is it called Mair-we?"
Vivian started crying again.
I got her settled again, went into the bathroom, gave Sam his pajamas and lectured him on scaring people.  He seemed contrite enough.
I returned to start reading the girls their stories.  When I finished and got them headed towards bed, Lanie asked for a Barbie that she likes to hold.  I retrieved it and she said, with perfect innocence, "yes, her name is Sasha.  No... I call her Mair-we."
Vivian's face crumpled, Sam burst into laughter.

Lanie, where are you?

We came inside after a busy morning and Lanie disappeared.  I had seen her come in the house so I wasn't too alarmed.  Lately she has been hiding in her bedroom.  After I got the older kids settled I went to check and she wasn't in her bedroom.

"Lanie, where are you?" I called.
Silence.
"Lanie? Where are you?" I asked again.
"I don't know," she said, this time I could pinpoint where her voice was coming from.
I found her, sticking tissues up her nose, which she is not allowed to do.

Vivian Climbing

 Vivian climbed to the top of a high structure at a playground when we took Sam to soccer.  Lanie was a little wary of the height, while she stood safely on the ground beneath.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

"Get a New Lanie"

I just tried to kiss Lanie and she yelled at me and said, "No, Mama!"
I said, "well that was rude."
"Yes, she said, "it was mean, yelling Lanie. That wasn't nice."
"That wasn't nice," I agreed.
"Maybe you need a new Lanie," she said.
"Maybe I do.  Where do I get one?" I asked.
"At the store," she said.  Then she left the kitchen and returned. "Here it is! Your new Lanie!" she exclaimed.