Pooped.

Jane woke up this morning, ate breakfast and, as the kids were rushing out the door with backpacks, packed lunches and forlorn faces, she found her way back to bed.

I found her a few minutes later like this:

I thought about waking her up. For a second.

She's still sleeping. She's such an angel when she's sleeping.

Miss Jane Elizabeth Turns Four.

Jane, blowing out her candles on her purple, pink and green cupcakes.

So even though it was a month ago, I guess it’s time to compose a tribute to Jane whose fourth birthday was on January 26^th. Four? You ask? Yes. Four. I know.

This year has been a great one for Jane. She:

· Learned to ride a bike without training wheels. Yes. Almost a year ago.

· Started preschool. (She pretends like she hates it, but really she loves it.)

· Likes to do everything ‘all by myself.’ Of course.

· Favorite color: purple

· Favorite thing to do: play Polly pocket while watching Davy Crockett. Did you say Davy Crockett? Yes. I did. She loves that buckskin pioneer who killed himself a ‘bar’ when he was only three. Ok. I get it; my kids have weird taste in movies.

· Likes to be in charge.

· Still loves to snuggle in the mornings.

· Has been going through a phase that consists of crying until she gets what she wants. We’re hoping she’ll grow out of it by the time she’s ten.

· Still, adorably, sucks her thumb.

And we love her. What a great four years it has been.

Happy Birthday Jane!

Five Hours.

Jane on her way to 'Pretty-school'

Five Hours.
I have suddenly moved into a new class of people. It’s strange, exhilarating, and sometimes a little bit sad. I now, officially, have five hours a week sans children. Wow. Not having a baby around has been strange for some time, and having everyone (sort of) sleep through the night has also been weird, but nothing is more alien than having a few hours at home by myself. Jane is in, what she likes to call, pretty-school twice a week for a few hours. She is adjusting to finally being like one of the big kids by crying and hanging onto my legs with an other-worldly force as I drop her off. As soon as I’m out of ear-shot, she happily makes friends and influences the more naïve three year olds. Let’s face it, she has a lot to teach them, after all—she’s the youngest of four.

What do I do with this time? So far I haven’t been able to steer clear of laundry, dishes, bed-making and Costco tripping. One of these days I’m going to branch out and do something for myself. Old habits are hard to break.

In other news: Today at school the kids were supposed to dress up like one of their favorite characters from a book. I love this idea. I’ve always wanted to dress up as Emily Dickenson, but haven’t come across any white Victorian gowns lately. However, the kids were much easier to manage. I made Canyon a camp half-blood t-shirt. Our obsession with Percy Jackson is slowly moving down the ranks of kids. Lily had it, now Canyon—Alice will shortly follow. I also made Lily a Hunger Games t-shirt. I know what you’re thinking: “You let your daughter read the Hunger Games?” And the answer is yes. And she loves it. And I know it’s violent. There. I made her a “District 12 Tribute” shirt. She LOVES it.

Percy & Katniss

We’re just gearing up for Halloween. So far Canyon wants to be an old-fashioned aviator (don’t ask me where he gets his inspiration), he’s been wandering around the yard for weeks with his bike helmet and swim goggles making airplane noises. Lily wants to be Elfaba from “Wicked” (you know, the wicked witch of the West). Alice wants to be Princess Leia (shocker)—but we’re going to mix it up a bit—she wants to be Leia of the Hoth persuasion (you know, white boots and furry vest). Jane, bless her heart, wants to be Snow White. If any of you have ideas for costumes on any of these…let me know.

Oh yeah, disclaimer: These are apt to change. Several times.

It looks like I have something to fill those five hours.

On Sleeping.

So I had mentioned in the previous blog about Jane and her crib climbing adventures. We put a stop to it by just removing the crib altogether. Alice was still using the toddler bed and so armed with a gift certificate to IKEA we went in search of another toddler bed. Alas, unbeknownst to me the toddler beds at IKEA cost more than $125. I just couldn’t see myself spending more for a bed that was hopefully, oh so temporary. In the mean time we tried a little toddler bed of our nephews. Jane was so excited about it during the day…however, as soon as the sun went down it became her worst enemy.

We were all in tears every night (and by we I mean Alice, Jane and I) as we searched for a bedtime routine that would be reminiscent of the ol’ crib days. Ah, the nostalgia for the crib. One night Jane finally hopped in Alice’s tiny toddler bed with her and slept peacefully all night (I was in such shocking awe that I, unfortunately, didn’t get a photo of it). So my problem was solved. We brought the mattress up from the guest bed downstairs, plopped it on the floor, threw some semblance of a quilt on top and—ta da—we have ourselves a bed.




Here are two views of the new bed; with the little kitchen, the Trieste grow chart and the other with the reading chair & table.

Don’t get too excited yet it’s taken a few ornery-mom nights to get them to settle down, but I finally found the formula: bunny books in chair, lights out, ‘Little House’ for at least a chapter. It seems to be working. And, bonus, we get to learn things from Mary and Laura like ‘children should be seen and not heard,’ and other classic phrases of the like.

The book routine; it's delicate, like mixing a cocktail. Ahem. At least I think it is.

The only problem now is—we don’t have a bed for Nana and Papa. We’ll have to remedy that soon because we are BEGGING for a visit. (wink, wink)

Jane Notices Things

There's ALWAYS a white butterfly in the lavender. And Jane ALWAYS finds it. I think it might live there.

Little Jane

It’s always a sad day when your kids favorite aunt or uncle starts a family of their own, because, suddenly your kids take second place to their own. So unfair. However, we have a bit of an anomaly in the Prusso family. Uncle Jeremy has always been a great uncle to my kids…as well as a great dad to his own. I guess he can split it both ways. He has a special bond with Jane, though—he can get her to sleep during Sunday School in about three minutes flat and she always has a particularly special, slobbery, wet kiss reserved for him.

He called me the other night and told me he’d written a song for her. He sang it to me over the phone…and I cried like a baby. He sang it for her the next day and she danced. I want him to sing it at her wedding. What do you think? You can find it here and it’s called “Little Jane.”