Stormy Weather

The winter storms predicted to hit us this week have not disappointed.

With tons of wind and rain outside, we've been busy building forts, reading stories, baking cookies, painting the weather, and eating snack after snack to keep the cabin fever at a minimum. Not that we all haven't had our moments of feeling a bit stir crazy — with kids singing the "Handy Manny" theme song on permanent repeat, it's hard not to feel a little batty.

Our usual routine is to walk home after preschool, but because of the wet and unpredictable weather, we did preschool pick-up in a taxi instead. I told Lucie and Ryan to pretend we lived in New York City, not our suburban streets of SUVs and minivans. Ryan thought it was terribly exciting. Lucie wasn't feeling quite as cosmopolitan, shivering from the cold and declaring she was carsick.

In the storms' milder moments, Lucie and Ryan have put on every piece of rain gear they own to splash in puddles and find fallen sticks and leaves. The ladybug and frog umbrellas seem happy to get so much attention.

Bikes!

As promised, Santa made a visit to our house while we were away over Christmas. We came home to treat-filled stockings hanging from the handlebars of two shiny new bikes with training wheels.

Initially, the kids were focused on their stockings, pulling out a stuffed unicorn for Lucie, stuffed baseball for Ryan, their own sets of flashlights, chocolates, and Santa's favorite, fruit leather. Little attention was paid to the bikes. We're convinced the kids thought the bikes were not theirs, but on loan from Santa to hang up the stockings.

After a little encouragement, Lucie and Ryan came to the mind-blowing realization that the sets of wheels in their living room were all theirs -- purple with flowers for Lucie and blue with green racing stripes for Ryan. After that first spin, they haven't left their bikes since.

We agreed to let the bikes stay in the house for practice before hitting the pavement. What we thought might just be a few days of practice has turned into weeks. The kids are just having too much fun.

Lucie and Ryan come downstairs each morning, hop on their bikes, ride to the breakfast table, hop off to eat, then hop back on again for a few more rounds through the house. This pattern repeats itself over and over again. All hours of the day you're bound to see little cyclists pedaling around dressed in everything from pajamas, party dresses, slippers, socks and as Lucie shows here, even new snow boots.

Lucie and Ryan have devised little games and routines on their bikes, with rings of their bike bells (thanks Uncle Greg and Jessica) to call for a "tow truck" whenever someone gets in a jam, and personalized parking spaces through out the house. Their current favorite trick is to do laps through the kitchen while I'm cooking, hoping to be fed a chocolate chip one lap at a time.

What a life these little cyclists lead. We just hope the scuff marks come off the floor eventually...

The Fun of Four

A book I'm reading describes age four as the age of exuberance. I love that portrayal, as it seems everything these little guys do is accomplished with such gusto, from the joyful to the challenging.

There is glee and excess and unrestrained wackiness in everything, from running to dancing to protesting parental requests to roughhousing to singing to feeling sleepy. These four-year-olds are present, and excited to be present, each and every moment of the day (and night).

Here you have some exuberant room clean-up that turned into a fence composed entirely of hangers, meticulously constructed (mostly by Ryan) until the very last millisecond before bathtime. And, some sweet and exuberant cuddling, as only these two can do.

As with each and every age, we're loving four.

Tights, Not Just for Party Dresses Anymore

If Lucie had her way, she'd wear a sundress and sandals every day of the year. That's too chilly to pull off in the winter though, even in our climate. Since we'd never dare suggest giving up dresses, we thought adding pants and socks underneath would be a good stay-warm plan.

We quickly learned that this plan was not so popular. Many a morning battle ensued where she made it very clear that she does "NOT yike pants!" no matter how soft or fuzzy or elastic-waisted they may be -- only dresses, and maybe some slippers to keep her toes warm, thank you very much. But that leaves some very cold legs in between.

Peace has returned to the morning routine now that Lucie has discovered a love of tights, preferably pink ones. She wears them every day and every where, thrilled that they meet all her needs because "they have built-in socks with pants in the middle!" Now if only we could keep one or more pairs clean and hole-free at all times after all the digging, playing, jumping, sliding and bike riding that's done in them.

When we were out for a New Year's hike with friends, a woman stopped us to tell Lucie how much she loved her polka-dot stockings. "What are stockings, Mommy?", Lucie asked. As I explained that it was just another word for her tights, Lucie broke out in a smile. Now not only does she love tights, but she loves stockings too. Apparently pink polka-dotted ones are great for hiking.