Maeve and Lilly

Christmas eve we had our traditional lunch out. Though since the Five-and-Diner closed, we went to the Pancake Cafe. In the afternoon we made our traditional Christmas Eve rice pudding. Then, we went to see the girls in the St. Olaf Christmas pageant after which I beat my traditional retreat to escape mass. Despite the giddy heights of excitement, both girls were able to fall asleep and didn’t get up until 6:30.

Lisa and I puttered around feeding the dogs, making coffee, making a fire, and getting out the traditional Christmas kringle. We let the girls down one step at a time and finally set them free into the front room. Maeve stated the obvious: “there are so many presents!” The heavy hitters were American Girl dolls Emily and the Bitty Twins, Maeve’s boombox, and Lilly’s Hannah Montana CD (which we heard approximately 20 times over the course of the day). The girls were well-behaved and charming today (in contrast to Maeve’s recent behavior) and the day was an absolute pleasure. (Photos are up documenting the Christmas season.)

I just finally got around to posting photos for the fall season: first day of school, Door County vacation, and Halloween.

We went to the Madison Ballet’s production of the Nutcracker Sunday night. The girls were pie-eyed. Maeve looked like she was going to climb over the seat back into the row in front of us she was so enthralled. At intermission, Lilly breathlessly whispered: “Oh my. I liked that…” I fell asleep.

Maeve was an absolute hellion this weekend — so defiant that she lost 20 of her 25-cent allowance. She knows how to twist every situation in the end though and turn us inside out. We were paying at the restaurant before the Nutcracker on Sunday and she leaned toward me and whispered demurely “I LOVE you Poppa.” I told her that the way she could show it was by doing what I told her, when I told her. She reprised an old tactic purring ever-so-innocently, “But Poppa, I’m ONLY a little girl…”

Watching Lisa log in to her laptop: “Is that thing you starred your super-secret word?”

Maeve made some nonsensical, non sequitur statement the other morning and followed up by telling us all that it was a joke. I chuckled and absently, I mumbled something about the fact that jokes were supposed to be funny. Maeve pouted for an instant and then jumped on me: “It is funny because you’re laughing.” Well, alright…

The other day Maeve was eating cereal and looking at the box. Suddenly, she asked Lisa “How much fat is in this?” After further questioning, Maeve told her that she doesn’t want to be fat, she wants “to be skinny like Sissy.” Uh oh. How did we ever instill that notion in her. Looking back, we have always talked about how skinny Lilly was and when Maeve was much younger and chubbier, about how fat she was. But I don’t think we ever attached any value judgments to those statements. Apparently we’ve somehow introduced her to the social feeding frenzy about female body image. I’ve been trying to tell her how despite how different (in all ways) she is from Lilly, we love her just as much and will continue to love her no matter what. No one said this was gonna be easy…

We’re worried about how Lilly responds to discipline. She hangs her head and withdraws into a corner like, as Lisa puts it, “a beaten dog.” I realized it’s probably my fault for showing too much anger and raising my voice way more than I should. I’ve made a vow to myself to be calmer and more even-keeled with Lilly. (Hell, I guess I should do that with everyone, shouldn’t I?)

I tried to coerce some good behavior out of Maeve the other day by reminding her that Santa Clause was watching. Without a trace of regret or remorse, she shot back “So is the Easter Bunny.”

Lilly’s cough continued for some days following Thanksgiving prompting us to wonder whether it was it really due cat allergies or some sort of respiratory aliment (like asthma). Anyhow, her cough was so wracking one night that she couldn’t sleep. She sheepishly came to my bedside saying “Poppa, I don’t mean to bother you…” I took her in my arms and told her it’s a parent’s job to get up in the middle of the night with sick kids. Not only is it a job, it’s a privilege. Some cough medicine got her back to sleep and the cough faded after a few more days.