Leah Loo, Jelly Boo, and Teddy Too: May 2020

Randomness

We got mulch! We all worked together to spread. I was proud of our family effort.

Leah got 2 frogs. That was fun.

FILTHY BOY

Teddy and I taking silly pictures before bed. I love how he's signing "more" in this picture.

Juliet caught her FIRST FROG!

Teddy loves the space helmet, too.

Juliet turned EIGHT in quarantine. She had been planning an "Escape Room" birthday party for months. Despite the fact that we couldn't do that, and she couldn't see her friends, she had a great day. I think kids adjust so much faster and better than adults. She was up early, before me, dressed and ready to open her presents. She wanted to open all of her presents first thing! She got a NASA space helmet, a hydro flask, a planet bracelet, a space dress, and an assortment of crafts and Juliet kitch. She was pretty thrilled with her loot.

Juliet is so funny, dramatic, emphatic, and smart. For my birthday, I asked her to learn to love to read, and she did. She is so sweet and imaginative. Our house wouldn't be the same without her piles of craft supplies, stuffed animals crafted out of cotton balls and cereal boxes, decorated pots and sticks, and other creations. She loves to plan out extravagant dances and plays. She loves to design things. She's been designing a tree house for the "new house" for YEARS. I don't know what she's going to be when she grows up, but I hope she can channel her creativity into whatever she does so that it is never lost.

Juliet loves fruit and macaroni and cheese. She has a memory like an elephant and still talks about how she used to bring macaroni and cheese in her backpack to preschool to have with Anna after school.

Juliet loves to dance and loves gymnastics. She also enjoys soccer and Girl Scouts. She isn't interested in the competition dance team, because she can't imagine giving up her Fridays. She also just loves being at home. As a baby/toddler, she was always more of a homebody than Leah was. It was always interesting to me, because Juliet has such a magnetic personality, while Leah has always been a bit more reserved. Juliet always notices the drama of second grade, though she does her best to stay away from it. She loves to report back who said what. Her plopping down in my office at the end of the day and sharing the days gossip was always one of my favorite parts of the day when we went to school.

Juliet loves to laugh and say zany things to get a reaction. She always appears right beside me when it's time to bake something, eager to help. She never stops talking. She doesn't always pay attention, and gets lost in the TV often. She isn't naturally clean at all. She always forgets that she's not allowed to stand/prance/dance/balance on the furniture and Teddy's toys. Her room is always a disaster and it gives me hives to imagine cleaning it out. But, LOOK AT THAT FACE. She has a lightness that always brings joy to us and lightens the mood. She is a fierce friend and giving sister. She is so much more giving and considerate to Leah than Leah is to her. I can't imagine having an only child during quarantine. Leah and Juliet need each other. Even though the bickering has increased 1,000% (and is actually happening right now!), these 2 are the best of friends and would be lost without each other. Juliet and Teddy have a bit more fire and ice relationship. Either they play together nicely, or Juliet's in Teddy's personal space too much and he's bopping her. One of my FAVORITE memories of quarantine is walking into the living room and seeing Teddy all tucked in with blankets on the nugget in the dark, and Juliet rubbing his face singing "Hey Diddle Diddle".

Juliet designed a space cake with Daddy and decorated it with help of Daddy and Leah. She was so proud of her cake. She wanted to make sure I posted it online so people could use it as an example if they wanted a space cake.

We love our Boo so much. We can't imagine life without her. We would be lost! Happy EIGHTH Birthday.

More of Everyday

Chromebooks were out of stock for so long! It was really hard to "teach" the girls using a 10 year old iPad and a Kindle. They finally came into stock and we scooped 2 up fast! School got a lot less frustrating on my end once these bad boys arrived.

Teddy likes to sleep like a puppy at the bottom of the bed.

I'm not a big fan of the drive by birthday parade trend, but we did it for Mr. Burt! It was so sweet to see LINES of cars in all directions waiting to drive by him. It was also very surreal to have the girls wear masks.

Teddy showing off a monster roar. We have the Kona truck come almost every week now. It's the little things in quarantine!

Daddy turned 40! I had some plans, but of course they were derailed. We made him his usual strawberry pie. We tried to take a hike, but it was too muddy. At least the weather wasn't too bad and he didn't have to work. We love him so much!

I will forever remember quarantine as the time we caught a ton of frogs! This is Leah's first time. Juliet caught one for the first time last week. Teddy loves the "jump crabs". We catch them regularly, keep them for a few hours, and set them free. I even ordered some tadpoles from Amazon so we can watch them grow.

I dyed the girls hair. Leah's turned out much brighter. I owe Juliet a re-do!

The bird house that Uncle Terry built with Juliet has occupants! The sweetest little blue swallows. They are very protective and loyal to each other. Watching them make a next and lay eggs has been another highlight of quarantine.

Celebrations in Quarantine - Happy 2nd Birthday, Teddy!

Look at this picture of Brain! He looks so young and dapper! This was during one of my staff meetings.

For my birthday, the girls made me and Chris crowns. We had Mexican delivered and it was yummy! My birthday pretty much sucked besides that. Chris worked a lot. The weather sucked. A house that I was watching closely that I loved sold during complete real estate lock-down. At night, we realized our hot water heater had broke and Chris was trying to deal with that.

Teddy's birthday was much better! Teddy Bear turned 2 years old. He got a cupcake for breakfast and a present after each meal. He was very excited. For lunch, I braved going through the McDonalds drive thru to get him a happy meal. Teddy loves blueberries, yogurt, macaroni and cheese/buttered noodles, stale bread we save for the ducks, and cheeseburgers. He loves chocolate milk and juice. He loves to push the boundaries of where the sippy cup is allowed in our house, and tries to bring it into the living room. Teddy likes to be sneaky in general.

I worry that Teddy has gone feral during this quarantine. He watches more TV than I'd like. He's gone through several phases of favorite movies. When it started, it was Moana and we watched it every night. Then it transitioned to Frozen and Frozen 2. Then it changed to Muppet Babies for a brief minute. Then to Toy Story 4. Then Monsters Inc and Monsters University. Now we seem to be in a Cars phase- primarily the original and the shorts. We watch a movie every night now!

It's a lot to manage 2 working parents, 2 school aged kids who need help with distance learning, and a toddler. But, he's so stinking cute and I just can't imagine being stuck in quarantine without him!

For his birthday presents, Teddy got a Maui hook, some new golf clubs (he immediately ripped off the club and prefers them as "sticks"), a play guitar, and probably some monster trucks. Monster trucks are his favorite. I wish the world was open and we could take him to a Monster Jam!

Teddy LOVES to play outside and loves to take baths and play with water. He loves to dig in the mulch and mud. He doesn't care at all if he's filthy. He LOVES to roar and scare us like Sully from Monsters Inc. He also likes to tell us what sounds different animals make. His cat is especially good!

We were so worried about his speech, but it seems to be coming along more. His favorite words are, "mama", "dada", "NO", "OW!" (His sisters taught him to say that if he is at all annoyed with who is in his personal space), "please" and sometimes even "pretty please" and "mote" for remote. He loves to talk about the dog and cats. He can say "Leah" like "Ee-ah". He's working on Juliet's name. When he wants to play he will say, "play!". He's starting to put a few 2 word phrases together which always makes us cheer! Like Juliet when she was young, I think we understand him more than others, but that's okay and normal.

All well visits have been postponed, but I assure you that Teddy is a beast. He has the biggest baby hands that we've ever seen-we call them meat-hooks. He wears almost all 2T with some 3T mixed in. He can totally fart on command (which he does every morning much to his own amusement), and I think we could potty train him now if we really committed.

Teddy would spend all day, every day outside if possible. Failing that, he's like to be building, climbing on, and destroying forts. He loves to push around the play shopping cart, lawn mower, and baby carriage (especially if Tilly is inside!). He loves all animals. He loves to wrestle with Daddy in bed after he wakes up.

Teddy thinks quarantine is the best. He loves having us all around. We wonder what he thinks about how drastically our lives have changed. In the beginning of quarantine, he would stand by the car and whine. We would sometimes drive around, but not stop. He got sick of that pretty fast. He seems to understand that Chris works during the day, not that he watches his volume when Chris is on a call!

Teddy absolutely loves to blow out candles. It's so sweet to see.

I wanted this boy for so long. I tried to get pregnant with him for over 2 years. It's crazy how that time now seems so short, though at the time it was felt like it was going on forever. It seems like he's always been here. We love him so.