DisneyLand, the Small World

For a wonderful Christmas and Hanukkah gift, my mom treated us to three days at Disneyland. We spent four nights at the California Grand Hotel. The hotel is so beautiful, maybe the prettiest hotel I've ever stayed in. It is all Craftsman style: stained glass, lots of wood, Mission-style furniture. So beautiful.
In the lobby they play Mickey Mouse cartoons and have little Mission rockers for the children to sit in. Very smart on their part!

Here is probably the best picture I got of our three. They are at Goofy's Gas Station. If you are (rightly) thinking that the pictures from this trip aren't quite up to snuff, you are right. More on my camera situation in a later post.
Karen, my sister, said we needed strollers for Disneyland. I scoffed. I chastised. I made fun. However, I did acquiesced. And boy am I glad. Every one, and I mean everyone, takes strollers to Disney. Apparently everyone knows more than me. To make it through the day, to traverse the paths of Disney, you need a stroller. I will never scoff, chastise, or make fun of my dear sister again. Karen, from here on out, I will always acquiesce. Without strollers, I think the days at Disney might have been unbearable.


Pluto was the first character we got to visit with. It was such a great experience for the children--one I will never forget. Pluto was very sweet and looked so cute in his antlers and holly.

In FrontierLand they had a coloring area for the children. A great idea because it was something different for them to do and allowed them to rest a little bit.

Mazie and Charlotte showing one another their work.
Mazie on Small World.
H and Lu going into Small World.
The rest of us on the boat going in to Small World. (J.D. and I--on the middle seat--are the only adults on this boat who are not in the last trimester of pregnancy. Go Karen and Deirdre! They were fantastic troopers.)


Karen and Avery.

Just in case you needed proof that even Disney (or expecially Disney?) is subject to advertising pressures: It's A Small World was proudly brought to us by Sylvania.
This last picture is of Small World all lit up. They light it up after the parade each night while blowing freshly made snow down onto the crowds of people. So beautiful.

The Burger Mecca

While in California we went to The place to get hamburgers: In-N-Out. lemonade, shakes, fries, cheeseburgers. They have the best and we had a fantastic lunch.
I am glad they don't have In-N-Out in our neck of the woods.

Irvine

Our next day, down in Orange County, we met up with our dear friends, Melanie and Alex. H and I have known them since Alex in six--she'll be 16 next year. Arrggg! We met at the Irvine Spectrum--a big ourdoor mall with some rides and fountains and live entertainment and lots of shops and eateries.
We rode the carousel. Lucia still talks about how she chose the cat with the fish in its mouth.





Dancing to live music.





There was a fun man who worked at the Spectrum who played with the children. They loved him and followed him all around.


Our first Pinkberry. Delish!

Mazie, shopping at Anthropologie with Mama.

Elliott developed quite the little crush on Miss Alex.
We love our friends and hope they will come see us soon!

Venice

We spent our first day in Venice where my sister's family lives. We walked from their place along the beach to the Santa Monica pier. It was a beautiful day. We got lemonades and rode the ferris wheel--which everyone enjoyed except Elliott. He was afraid of falling into the water below.
On the ferris wheel: Elliott with me, H with Mazie and Lucia.

Elliott helped Uncle Jon make us some yummy smoothies in their VitAMix.
Then we spent the rest of the afternoon going to look at Cousin Avery's new house that they are going to move into at the first of the year. We had a great time before heading south for the rest of the trip.

Airplane Ride

So the three took their first plane ride over Thanksgiving. H and I were rather nervous about making the cross-country trek. I solicited advice and packed a large carry-on with little games, puzzles, and snacks. I thought I was over-packing, but I think it turned out to be about enough stuff.
They did well and we got several compliments on their behavior. Our only issue was pottying. We had some turbulence on the way to California so the seatbelt sign stayed illuminated for a good portion of the flight. H had words with a flight attendant and passenger over getting up to take them to the restroom. But that was really our only problem. When we returned home, we limited their beverages so we didn't have to get up as much, but also the seatbelt light was not on very much.
H and I are not jumping up and down to get all five of us on a plane again anytime soon, but overall we feel it went well and will go even better next time.

Where are we going?

Lucia, Elliott, and Mazie are about to take their first plane trip. Can you guess where we are all going?

Artists and Bangs

On our way to the beach in September, Lucia said, "Look, Mama. I drew a cyclop." I turned and looked and saw her one eye creature. Then she said, "Let me put a shoe on him" and drew the shoe below him. Of course I had to pull over and take a picture of my Lu and her cyclop.
For the three's birthday, my sister and her family gave us MagnaDoodles. Avery had one when she visited us and LEM loved it. Well, now they get to love their own. They are great toys because they are easy to handle and operate. I don't have to tend to them if they are playing with their MagnaDoodles. This makes them great for travel.
Over Halloween weekend the girls were playing with theirs. Lucia drew a cat and Mazie drew a monster. I thought they were pretty good.
Tangentially: I included both pictures of Mazie to show her bangs. I am not a fan of bangs on my children. Somehow Mazie started out with bangs so we've been trying to grow them out. She has fine hair so barrettes don't stay in really well. Unfortunately the above picture is how she often looks. The picture below was taken after H told me to get her hair out of her face. We've been growing her bangs out for what seems like a year. Over the Fourth of July weekend we left the three so we could have a night away. When we came back to get them Someone--who will remain unnamed--had decided to cut Mazie's bangs to get them out of her face. So, we were back to square one. Now they are about to the length they were in July. They won't be grown out for the holidays, but maybe by Easter.

sayings, v. 3.4

Bubby to H: Can we watch one episode?
H: Go ask Mama.
Me: I don't know bubby. It is so pretty outside.
Bubby went back downstairs to H and said: I think she said yes.

Mazie: I'm gonna have (instead of behave)

Lucia calls restaurants meetings or restrooms. So, she is always saying: Let's go to the meeting and eat or How 'bout we go to the restroom for lunch.

Lucia: I saw a handicrane. (What she calls cranes.)

Mazie: I want to separate the table. (set the table)

Lucia: Hey Mama, where's the goph? (ghost)

Elliott to one of his sisters: Hit the stool. Hit the stool. Don't hit me; I might cry.

Lucia, when I ask her a question, like What state does Avery Mae live in: she'll whisper, You tell me.

Elliott, with a flashlight in hand: I can look through the dark with this.

Me to Lucia and Mazie: We are going to vote.
Lucia: We are going to the river?

Lucia loves the word similar. She says it all the time. She'll say things like 'Mazie and Maggie start the same. They are similar.' She'll also use it incorrectly, like 'Tree and chair are similar.'

Mazie: Yes, I'm appreciate it.

Lucia: When we are driving will ask every few miles: What state are we in now? Sometimes she'll say What steak are we in now?

Me, when the wind was blowing the leaves down from the trees: Look at the pretty leaves.
Lucia: That means it's fallen time.
Also lately when the wind blows she'll say: It's windy. That means it's winter time.

In the pictures above, Elliott made himself an onion mustache and goatee and kept saying, "I am the doctor. I am the doctor." (Our pediatrician is a female and she does not have facial hair.)

Amazing, Chapter 3

So...it has been quite a while since I did a chapter summary of Tim Seldin's How to Raise an Amazing Child the Montessori Way. Chapter Three is "Help me to do it myself." This is a good chapter for where we are. As I think I've mentioned before, I need to be fostering more independence in my children. I value independence; often times I can the easier, quicker route and just do it for them. I need to slow down and let them do more for themselves.

Here are the high points from the chapter that I really loved. I bolded the ideas that especially resonated with me. I put in brackets any ideas that are mine.
______________________________________________
Chapter Three: Let Me Do It

The lessons your child learns can be broken down into three areas:
care of self
everyday tasks around the house
grace and courtesy

Children who feel respected and competent develop a greater sense of emotional well-being that children who are doted upon. [This idea is one of the ones I love the most about Montessori theory.]

It is important to teach the skill itself but also help your child develop a sense of calmness, concentration, cooperation, self-discipline, and self-reliance. Parents have to set the tone and serve as a daily role model for everyday living skills. We need to be poised, purposeful, precise, caring, and giving.

The best way to encourage your child to try new skills is to demonstrate them precisely and slowly in simple ways he can understand. Then give him time to practice, and to be allowed to make his own mistakes and correct them.

How often do we find ourselves continuing to bundle our children into their coats or shoes long after they are capable of managing to put them on by themselves? [I am totally guilty of this.]

Mastering an everyday skill is made easier by careful planning, and patient instruction and support from parents.
If taught where things belong and how to return them correctly, children internalize this sense of order, and carry it with them for the rest of their lives. [Again, this is such a weak area for me. Order in the home is a constant struggle for me.]

Establish a ground rule and gently but firmly teach your child that while she may select anything from her shelves to work and play with for as long as s he wishes, she must return it when she is done, and may not remove something new until the last thing has been put away.

[The author gives many specific ways to help foster independence in children. Just a few of them that I've tried are brushing teeth, washing hands, sweeping. Ones I need to work on are brushing hair, snaps and buttons, washing dishes, setting table.]

The rationale behind letting children use cups and bowls that break if they are dropped or misused is that children quickly learn to be careful and controlled when they use them.

Young children absorb and remember every nuance of their early home environment.

Avoid things which are cheap and made of plastic. Children respond to the beauty of wood, glass, silver, brass, and similar natural materials.

Children learn by practice and repetition. [This is one of my favorite things about this age. I love that they enjoy things over and over again. I love listening to them sing the same song or recite the same nursery rhyme or story over and over.]

If you approach things correctly, without nagging, impatience, criticism, and redoing something your child has done because it is not quite perfect, she will take delight in helping care for her home.

One way to encourage your child to eat healthy snacks is to get him involved in making them himself. Make sure your child can easily reach all the ingredients and utensils he needs to make a snack without help.