Housebound

Sometimes I get this terrible idea in my head that I'd like to have the car for a day. So Martin and I get up extra early (or at our usual time and rush to get ready) and Martin catches the bus so that I can have the car all day long. And then, EVERY TIME, I regret it. Because if I have the car I'm tempted to go places. And when I go places--ANYPLACE--then someone is missing a nap, and a missed nap around this place makes for a VERY unhappy baby, no matter who it is. I know that some kids do fine without daily naps and routines, and I know that some kids can fall asleep wherever they are in any situation; unfortunately, my girls are not like that. Anja is extreme, but even Greta has her little naptime routine (which is still a pretty frequent nececssity) and it's rough when we get away from it. When I go a long stretch of time without having the car, the girls start napping at the same time; they become predictable and good sleepers. But when I have the car and am all go, go, go, for a day, they don't get naps at all. The problem is, when I have the car I get to do fun stuff like go swimming with my sister and her crazy monkeys. I can do things I need to do like run to the grocery for milk. And even if I don't run all over town in the car, it's sometimes a comfort just to be able to see it sitting there in the driveway and know that the keys are right there on the table, should I ever desire to go somewhere. So. I'm deciding whether or not Annie Car Days should come to a complete end for awhile, just until Greta is a little older and not napping so much.

Speaking of Greta, have I mentioned she's a total roller-overer now? She started rolling over a week or so ago and now if I put her down on her back she MUST be on her stomach. It is an immediate action. Pretty funny. She suddenly seems huge to me too and is in 3-6 month clothes. I've already packed away the newborn stuff. *sigh* Newborn stage isn't even my favorite, but I still get a little sad when the tiniest clothes go into their box and are shoved under the bed. Who knows when we'll see them again!

When Anja was a baby I thought she was in the best stage and I kind of worried about toddlerhood and was afraid it'd be too much, too scary. Ha! Toddlers are awesome. She does the weirdest stuff, and she KNOWS things now. We can give her any instruction and she does it. We can ask her questions and she answers us by showing. Who cares that she doesn't talk? She is SUCH a good communicator! And she does have words, they are just complete nonsense. For instance, she's started saying "ghee" for snaps and buckles. If she wants to buckle something (the carseat straps, or the swing straps, or snap up a onesie or her baby doll's clothes) she says "ghee! ghee!" while she's trying to do it. She still calls horses "jews" and cows "goos" and inhales long and hard for "cat," although she's not meowing... a meow is when she closes her eyes and squeaks. "Shoe" is a short throatal sound, "stroller" is a long throatal sound. The only real things she says are "Mama" and "Dada" and I consider "Rah-Rah" for Bella to be pretty real too. Although I'm not quite sure that "Rah-Rah" is just for Bella.... I think it might be the word for any and all of her cousins.

Anyway. We spent Sunday working in the yard. Martin did some heavy duty brush clearing and I tried to raise my garden from its weedy grave. We got a lot done and it feels good to have done it. Hopefully I'll be able to keep up with my garden now. Hopefully it'll give me some vegetables.

Martin is taking a week of vacation next week and we've been planning out our days so nothing is wasted. We have a few dates in mind, and a number of things we've been meaning to do but have never found time for, but mostly we just plan to laze around at the river eating watermelon.

My newest idea is to move to Hawaii and live in a grass hut. So far, Martin is not on board. Meanwhile, my neighbor Tara has been talking us into various Utah areas...

I love summer.

I think if I had to look back over my life and pick out the best gift my parents have ever given me, it wouldn't EVEN be my old golden retriever, Micky. It would be the porch swing we have now. Boy. We spend so much time out on that porch swing!

I'm supposed to meet my sister at the swimming pool at 3, but nobody is awake yet. Hmmmmmm..... Anja definitely won't mind being woken up if it means swimming! But Greta might be kind of annoyed with me. Last time we went to the pool Greta stayed with her Ooma and it was great. This time I tried to talk my mom into coming to the pool with us, but she said she'd rather stay home and keep Greta. Suit yourself, Ooma, but you're missing out on seeing Anja's new swimsuit!

On Saturday (RIVERFEST DAY, that was loads of fun until Anja decided not to take a nap at all and it rained really hard for awhile) the Cooks had a yard sale. After awhile they put it up on Freecycle so I went over and helped myself to some cute clothes and stuff. One of the things there was a very cute swimsuit for Anja. I'm glad we are getting so much of their stuff because we will miss them and they have to get rid of all their stuff because they are moving so far away, and I like the idea of certain things coming to me instead of to strangers.

Okay, time to get ready for the pool!