Frozen

I woke up this morning confused. I looked out the window. Snow. That's normal and the fact that it looks fresh makes sense since it snowed a few days ago. But wait. The street is covered in snow. My inquiring mind wakes up my inquiring mouth and I ask Karl, "did it snow again last night?" He scoffs and tells me he's already shoveled the driveway and yes, in fact, it snowed a good 3-4 inches and will drop another inch or two during the day.

This has been my personal groundhog day. Someone get Elsa to fix this eternal winter. (singsong voice) "Palatine's in deep, deep, deep, deep snow." But even still, the kids around here have continued to grow and change even though their world never does.

Ironically in this cold weather, June has become quite the swimmer in the last 2.5 months. She's halfway through her second session of swim lessons at the Y and the teacher has moved the class onto skills usually reserved for the third level. Today they practiced frog swimming and the ever awkward freestyle. Watching all three kids today at her lesson was good for me. It made me realize that every child at this stage in swim education comes up to breathe and looks like they are drowning but in fact are almost always in control of their movements and that's what they were trying to do. So when she actually does swallow a mouthful of water no one is quick to respond because it looks just like the previous breaths. But she's moving independently across the pool that is amazing.

June has also picked up a behavior from some friends (and a particular cousin) that involves picking up Iris. At first it was cute to watch her wrap her arms around her sister's tummy and heave her through the air while Iris's little feet swing helplessly. And Iris doesn't mind...exactly. As is her style, Iris will go with anything her brother and sister suggest even if it means physical discomfort for her. When Ruben saw June carrying Iris around, he thought he could do that to, and that is when I started making new house rules. "No carrying Iris." Our kids are smart though, so they stay seated, grab Iris around the waist and heave her onto their laps and either roll around on the floor or (my personal favorite) hold her on a lap while scooting down the hardwood floors. June, with Iris in tow, scooted from the dining room to Ruben's room in record time. At least they're following they rules.

Speaking of Iris, she's still a one knee, one foot crawler and boy, does she get around. Her new favorite activity is opening the cupboard doors of the kitchen and banging around the items inside. Thankfully, our cupboards have drawers with a two inch lip so she can't pull much out, but did manage to dump a lot of baking soda on the floor the other day before I figured out what that rushing sound was coming from behind the cupboard door. Her new words are "naanaa" which means "boob" and "DAAA" which means "Dad, don't walk away from me!" or "Dad just walked into the room!" She also will say a word that June thinks sounds like "June" but just sounds like "do" to me but I won't break any hearts. She still wheeze laughs and has added a prominent open mouthed tongue to the act.

My nickname for Iris lately has been "my parrot" because every time I put her in her carseat she screams and then I pull the blanket tent over and she's instantly quiet nearly every time. And then she falls asleep. This poor third child naps in her crib maybe 2-3 times a week because she always catches her naps when we're out and about. She has slept in the YMCA nursery amidst numerous screaming children more often than she's played in the nursery while awake. The staff are amazed and always excited when they actually see her awake.

One of our favorite family activities lately has been turning on the Frozen soundtrack and belting out lyrics while we stare out at our own winter wonderland. While he only does it when he thinks he's alone, Ruben can actually sing most of the words and is usually the one to request the music to be turned on. When the music is off in the house, I know his personal soundtrack keeps going because the boy just keeps singing. He's always made up songs more than June ever did, but since Nana did therapy with him, he's a regular radio. His favorites are anything from frozen and Father Abraham and jibberish about what he's doing. And if he's not singing he's either talking or absolutely silent for hours on end. The other morning he read books in his room (his choice) for nearly an hour while I managed to do more laundry and chores than I cared to do. When he came out he said that long book made his tummy hurt and asked for a banana which is the only food he can get himself so he asks for it often.

Funny random story about Ruben telling random stories. There are two other little boys in June's swim class. Last week after class, we walked out with one of the boys and his mom and sister. While we were in the locker room, Ruben interrupted my conversation with the mom to tell me he had something to tell her. Go ahead, Ruben. "I have a yittle sister and a big sister." That was it. No embellishment other than finger points to said sisters. After June was dressed and we were still chatting, Ruben once again interrupted and said, "I have a dog named Nova." Great, Ru. Interacting with adults isn't his strong point. He tends to be shy in public. Now the other family is leaving while I finish gathering towels and coats and boots (neverending in this tundra) and Ruben stops what he's doing, looks up, and screams "I HAVE SOMETHING ELSE TO TELL THOSE GUYS!" And with that he is racing out the door yelling at this poor family to stop. I scoop up the rest of our junk along with the girls and struggle to catch up. Ruben catches the family at the corner and tells them (this is obviously really important) "we also have a really big couch."

Speaking of the Y, Ruben is also taking a gymnastics class. This is his first real class without mom and due to some classes canceled due to cold (yes, cold, not snow) it took a while to get into the routine, but no matter how much of a fuss he made before the class, he always walked into the room upon his own volition and never cried once he was in. He's learning how to listen to a teacher, how to walk on a balance beam, and all sorts of other gymnasticy things. More than anything, I love how much the class wears him out. Tuesday afternoons have been prime time for naps in the car. With the subzero temperatures, getting outside to play is nearly impossible with all three kids (seriously, by the time everyone has all the gear on, someone has to pee again). I am really looking forward to the day when I wake up and look out the window and see grass and mud.