Freeze it and they'll eat it

I haven't written because I'm working on a major fashion shoot for work and my days are spent picking out the most beautiful clothes in the world for a magazine we're putting out.
Seriously. I actually held Prada Lace in my hands.

This means the girls have been spending this week of their vacation with Matt. On their first day together, Matt took them to Sea World AND the Zoo. On the first day!

So both of us have been pretty exhausted.
Do you really want an idea just how tired we are?

Somehow Marina got a hold of a bag of frozen corn. And, of course, it spilled all over the kitchen floor.

Picking objects off the floor and putting them in her mouth happens to be Ella's most favorite thing to do. So imagine! An entire kitchen floor full of cold yellow things!

Before we even had time to clean the mess, both girls sat on the floor as if I'd just presented them with a glorious feast. They ate every single piece of frozen corn and then demanded more.

And Matt and I looked at each other and were all, "Well, at least it's nutritious."

That's what sisters do?

Over my week-long vacation with the girls, our best days were those that were totally planned out.

Tuesday: Library, naps, Play House Cafe
Wednesday: Restaurant day, naps, pool party
Thursday: Children's Museum, nap, Zoo

But after the megadose of Thursday's activities, I had no energy to plan anything for Friday except putting our hair up and torturing Ella in the jumpy.


Untitled from Nina Hall on Vimeo.

Vacation, day four

The new Children's Museum = best place, ever!



We climbed pillows! We painted cars! We ran around! Wooohooo!!

No nap Wednesday, a tale in photos

Notice how Marina's "guys," normally squished at the end of her crib, are now carefully arranged throughout her sleeping space.



And she's feeling so very clever about this plan.



Now she's just been cheeky.



This only explanation for this look is that I let her read Vogue. Obviously it makes an impression.

No nap Wednesday

Right now, Marina is in her bed "napping."
She's been in there for an hour, talking to herself and playing with her dolls and animals. "Hello Hippo! You taking a nap?"

Marina is doing everything one can do in a crib except sleep in it.

I think it's because she was super busy "working" and now she's all jacked up.

Paper crazy

You thought I was kidding about Ella's obsession with paper?


Paper from Nina Hall on Vimeo.

Vacation, day one

The girls have many, many days off from school and I am taking care of them this week.
Yes, I'm terrified.
Here's our day one summary:

Sea World Shamu show. It was hot. The whales were acting all lazy and not splashing anyone. (BTW, the more I go see this show, the more I sympathize with that Free Willy movie.) Then naps. Then backyard time.

Most terrifying moment: Marina's post-nap tantrum in which she ran around the house yelling, "NOT YOUR SHAMU, ELLA. MY SHAMU." As Ella followed her around, crawling and sobbing. And then I got a call from work.

Happiest moment: Watering the grass and making water messes.

When Marina is a bratty teen, I will tell this story and she will be mortified

We're starting to test the whole potty training waters.
Which basically means that every now and then Marina gets to run around without a diaper and if she happens to tell me she has to go, we run inside to the potty. But she hardly ever says anything and before I can do anything about it, there's puddles on the floor.

The other night, I had to water the front lawn and Marina likes to hold the hose and drink from it. And I let her because she looks like a kid from the olden days, like when kids would cool off by the fire hydrant or something. But inevitably this causes her clothes to get wet so I let her strip naked. In the front of the house. Where neighbors could see.

I figured if she had to use the bathroom, she'd tell me. Even though, as I said, this only happens in my imagination. A few minutes after I removed her Cookie Monster diaper, Marina comes running with something brown in her hands.

"Put this in the potty, Mommy," she says not at all grossed out that she's handling her own poop with her BARE HANDS.

"MARINA!!! ARE YOU TOUCHING YOUR OWN POO???"

"Put it in the potty!" she repeated all proud of herself.

So, well, what could I do? I had to rush Ella inside while screaming "DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING" until we were able to dispose of it properly.

And while it was gross, I secretly applaud her for maybe, possibly mortifying the mean neighbor lady from across the street who already thinks we're a bunch of low-class renters.

The Queen

Marina's been pretty bossy lately. And if she says she's going to stand on the table she is GOING TO STAND ON THE TABLE and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

The fever. Olympic fever.

For someone who isn't very athletic, I'm surprisingly into the Olympics.

Maybe it's because my Aunt Nancee took me to the 1984 Equestrian Event. Or because my grade school best friend, Samantha, her dad had 1984 Olympics personalized license plates and we were all in awe of them.

So I was super excited for the Opening Ceremonies, which is obviously the best part of the entire games.

The bummer is that Matt was going out and the babies would be asleep and I'd be stuck watching it alone all night. No fun.

Instead, I told Marina that on this one day, if she was good, she could stay up late and watch Olympics. She has no idea what Olympics means. But stay up late? Watch TV? On Mommy's bed? Hellsyeah she's gonna be good.

We cozied up under a blanket, five pillows propped her up so she could see the TV. Every few minutes she looked at me and whispered "Olympics!" like we were sharing something secret.

And then they started. With all those Chinese drummers playing at the same time. It was amazing. Marina was mesmerized.

This picture is dark, and sideways. But here she is imitating the drummers:


The spectacle and the lights left such an impression that I think I found my lifelong Olympic buddy.

(Next time, she'll be old enough to stay up for the Parade of Nations, aka global fashion show. Woohoo!)

Ella, Ella, Ella

This has been a crazy Ella week.



OK, so first the kid learns how to crawl. It's only been a week and she already crawls on grass! Down steps! On tile! And across the hall fast enough to poke her head at the door when Matt comes home from work.

Then.

The other day while Marina was off seeing boats with Mima, Ella and I grabbed the Bjorn and went on a walk to Windmill Farms. Anytime someone walked by us, Ella waved at them. She waved with such confidence and charm that it felt like I had the mayor of Del Cerro strapped to my body.

Later, we got home and I was like, Ella, you're so nice to everyone. BRAVO! And what did the kid do? I swear to you, she clapped.
And then she got another teething biscuit for her efforts.



I realize that this mundane stuff is only interesting to me and maybe her dad and grandparents. (And you too, Kim! Squirrels Forever!) Sometimes, though, I just gotta brag.

Speaking of bragging, my genius child also sprouted her first teeth.

Watch out, Marina. You're about to be smooshed back. And smooshed hard.