Notes on the Girls

I wanted to make a few notes on things the girls are doing now, that I will possibly forget. So this is long and it's really more for me and my crappy memory than anything else.

On the way to our car, from our front door, we have to walk over a little storm drain type thing in the pavement. Wren has called this the "star pross" since we first moved in, and there's actually a pretty involved mythology around how you deal with it.

You can walk around it, if you're very deliberate about it. You can jump it, (preferred method) or if you step on it, either accidentally or on purpose, you must "bear walk" (hands and feet on the ground, butt in the air). You have to go really fast though, because touching the Star Pross unleashes the lions (or tigers, or in yesterday's case the "bat tiger"), and they will "get ya" if you don't get to the edge of the parking lot before they do.

Keep in mind that these are Star Pross lions, totally different from the cheetah who lives down another row of condos next to the pool. The only way to survive that pathway is to run full out as fast as you can (or if you happen to be on a tricyle, pedal really fast). This has caused more falls for Wren and Jane than I want to remember, but happily neither has yet been devoured or even seriously mauled by the cheetah.

Janey is "Jane Puppy" for at least 30% of the time currently. This involves talking in a super high pitched voice, lots of high pitched barking, and, depending on how filthy the ground is in any given place, walking on her hands and knees like a dog. Obviously the more filthy = the higher the likelihood of hands on the ground.

Right now Janey likes to enter any room by declaring herself "Here comes Super Jane!" Or if she's been jumping, "Here comes Jumping Jane!" Or if she's been running, "Here comes Running Jane!" You get the idea.

One nice thing about having a big sister is they'll usually tell you the truth about important things, and you can trust them. Jane tends to take Wren's word for it when she says things like "Monsters aren't real Jane, it's okay." It's nice to have someone to "reason" with Jane. Wren can talk her into doing all kinds of things that I can't. Like finding her shoes, putting her clothes in the laundry basket, etc.

However the reverse is true too. No one can bother you like a sister.

Wren really likes to be quiet in the car. I mean REALLY likes to be quiet. She will ask us to turn down the music, and to stop talking. Anytime we're in the car for more than 5 minutes close to the end of the day, Wren decides to fall asleep. Unfortunately for Wren, the car is some kind of talking machine for Jane, and she seriously cannot go more than 20 seconds without yelling/shouting/expostulating if she's in the car (or honestly really ever).

Wren has yet to figure out that asking/pleading/demanding for Jane to stop yelling in her face only makes the situation worse. Usually, if we're in the car for more than 30 minutes, Wren has degenerated into a weeping puddle, alternately begging and screaming for Jane to stop talking, while Jane continues to babble happily, echoing Wren in tone and content between returning to her own observations: "That's a big puppy Daddy! Daddy! DADDY THAT'S A BIG PUPPY DADDY DADDY DADDY THAT'S A BIG PUPPY" This continues until Chase says "Yes Jane. That's a big puppy." And then she'll see the next billboard.

After a car trip I sometimes wonder that if it's okay to market leashes to parents, perhaps it would be okay to market muzzles to them too. I mean Jane likes being a dog more than anything, right?

The adorable world of mispronunciations at the moment:

Jane says:
umblella
candy cans for candy canes
tummy cake for stomach ache

Also she is inconsistent in her use of "s". She has it down when she tells us to look on the "other side" of her drawing, but not when she draws a "NAKE" (snake).


Wren says:
ambliance
amimals

And my favorite, I will be so sad when this finally disappears, and I know it's on its way out - shirtles- shoulders. Shirtle rhymes with turtle. I love it.