Quick 5

I usually write the quick 5 on Thursday, just to have it ready to go.  However, I woke up this morning and found it was Friday somehow.  If it weren't for Becky, I may have forgotten entirely.

1.  We had a completely successful full week of Alaina and Joya sharing a room.  Any minor problems that we did have came from Alaina, not Joya, and that's a good thing.  I was afraid that Joya might not be able to adjust and spend a lot of time crying when everyone should be sleeping.  Not so.  She cried that first day, and hasn't had a problem since.  Alaina, on the other hand, has not been so easy.  I've been keeping her up an hour later, hoping that she gets all her playing done before she goes to bed.  For the most part she does, but on Monday I put her to bed as usual.  Joya was peacefully sleeping.  About 15 minutes later, I heard Joya laughing hysterically over the monitor.  Sure enough, Alaina was standing at the crib, entertaining her.  Alaina got in big trouble.  About 30 minutes later, I hear Alaina singing in a normal voice.  Again, big trouble.  Then last night, at 9:10, a full hour after I put Alaina to bed, I heard Joya's singing seahorse faintly playing.  The only way for that to go off is for someone to squeeze its belly.  And Joya hasn't mastered that skill.  So I go in the room, only to see Alaina leap back into bed.  Joya was sacked out, but her seahorse was on.  I don't know how long Alaina had been getting up to turn it on.  Again, trouble.  But Joya has been a trooper.

2.  Lee took Alaina to Cold Stone last night for their birthday ice cream.  On a sad note, Cold Stone no longer offers just a free ice cream.  It's now a buy one, get one free.  That's sad to us.  Anyway, we had already been talking to Alaina about it, so we followed through.  I stayed home with Joya so she could get her pre-bedtime nap in, and so Daddy and Alaina could have a little date.  Lee told me that Alaina yelled "Surprise!" and "Happy Birthday!" to everyone who came in the door. 

3.  Lee's birthday is tomorrow!  Anyone who knows Lee knows how hard it is to celebrate his birthday.  He never asks for anything, and doesn't seem to care either way.  But, in the words of Kitty from the That 70's Show, "Sometimes your birthday is not about you...it's about the people who want you to have a nice birthday!"  So the girls and I bought some presents, and I'm going to make some cookies that he thinks he'll like.  And we're going to Noodles and Company tomorrow for his free bowl of noodles. 

4.  A lot of the conversations around how house involve the topic of why Joya uses some things and Alaina doesn't.  They are all baby things that Alaina used to use, but doesn't use anymore.  But she has a funny way of putting it.  She usually says, "I can use that when I'm a little baby!"  I just agree with her, and I'm waiting for her to ask when she'll get to be a little baby.

5.  Now that school is out for the summer, I have been amazed to see that our townhouse neighborhood is teeming with kids.  I had no idea there were so many.  And they spend so much time outside.  Especially in the evening.  They spend hours playing and shouting in the greenbelt behind our house.  I find it encouraging to watch so many kids playing outside so often.  So I've been trying to take the girls outside more often, especially in the afternoon.  We've blown bubbles and drawn with chalk.  And Alaina calls "Hi kid!" to every kid who passes by our yard.  It's been fun.

That's it!  See you next week!