Opal at 23 Months

As much as the last two years have flown by, in my mind Opal is already a two year old.  She has matured so much in the last few months, and I am breathing a sigh of relief in many ways.  She is talking so much more, which is helping her frustration and patience levels as we can understand more fully what she wants or needs.  She is becoming less of an endangerment to herself, which helps us be able to relax more on our constant diligence to keep her alive.  We are not out of the woods yet, but she is starting to have her curiosity balanced with a healthy sense of caution.  She has a great sense of humor, and loves playing with each of her sisters in different ways.   Here Opal is below in clockwise order from top left:  Lucy, bouncing Opal on the ball which is something Opal persistently demands from us, Emma feeding Opal "bites", Lucy putting homemade lip gloss on Opal that we had just made, and Violet getting a great big hug from Opal.

 In this past month, Opal has started doing "make believe" play.  It is so cute to watch.  I think this is part of the big change we are noticing in Opal - instead of her usual destroy and conquer play, she has moved into actual playing which is helpful to all of us on many levels.  Here she is below in clockwise order from top left: driving three daddies and one little girl Barbie around (Opal loves Daddies), Opal drinking pretend tea, Opal taking her "guys" for a walk, and Opal giving her favorite two "guys" a donkey ride.

When my dad comes over he likes to play the game Othello with the older girls.  Opal now refers to this game as "Gandpa's Game".  One of my favorite things that she has been saying this past month though is after she gets hurt and we ask if she is okay, she says "Fine, fine" and moves on with her day.  She either has a high pain tolerance, or just can't be slowed down by bumps or bruises as she continues to live her best life.

Emma still has taken it upon herself to teach Opal all there is to know about the world, and now has Opal counting to 10, and naming most of the colors correctly.  At this point, I'm anticipating that I will not have to teach Opal to read - Emma's got it under control.  Speaking of read, I am so happy to report that Opal now has the attention span and desire to sit for stories.  I absolutely love reading stories to my kids, and the older they get, the less they want me to read to them.  I still do, but there is something to be said for a child snuggled in my lap with a story of their choosing.  Especially with my fourth child now, I have so many favorite books and memories from her three older sisters, it is such a bonus to be able to enjoy them a fourth time.  Here Opal is below with her favorite Daddy, playing Barbie and dress up with him, and in the next photo, taking a nap on his shoulder.  If she has a choice, she chooses Will over me when she doesn't feel good and wants to be held upright while sleeping.  I can't blame her.  I love them both, and am so glad that all four of my girls have such a special bond with my favorite guy.

Opal, you are a full-fledged two year old in our eyes already, but we can't wait to see your joy and excitement on your birthday this coming month!  We are so very glad that you joined our family two years ago, and we couldn't imagine life without you in it!  Our family just wouldn't be the same.

January Shenanigans

January, where it's back to a regular routine after the holidays.  In some ways it is nice to be back on a schedule as much as we miss having Will home with us.  Here the girls are below, back to school.  My favorite was finding Emma playing the piano in a Wonder Woman costume.

We had some snow this past month, which I think is always the best way to pass one of the coldest months of the year.  Playing in snow is a great reason to get outside.

Charlie has enjoyed playing in the snow with us.  In clockwise order from top left below: Charlie hiding in a snow fort, Charlie drinking "glacial" waters from the melting ice in our yard, Charlie doing his own Ninja Warrior and climbing to the top of our swing set, Charlie whining for wet cat food, and Charlie trying to get away from Opal's advances.  Charlie eats more food than any animal I know.  He eats the cat food we give him, he eats the chickens' food, he eats the neighbor's food, and he eats the local wildlife as well.  We came home from out of town a week or two ago, and we found woodpecker feathers in the garage where Charlie had been locked up while we were gone.  That was the only time I didn't feel badly about the wildlife he eats.  That woodpecker has been destroying our garage over the last few years.  It must have finally made a hole big enough to get inside, and Charlie took it from there.

We had a cold this past month, and friends stopped by to pick something up and positioned their car in our driveway so that we could chat through the window without passing germs.  Drive through friends sure brought a smile to all of our faces!

My brother came over for dinner and games this past month, and the girls had fun teaching him their favorite card game.

 We had lots of play time indoors this past month and let's just say I cannot wait until warmer weather is here to stay.  In the above photos in clockwise order from top left: the girls doing watercolor, the three older girls being brave together while watching a scary-to-them movie, all four girls playing dolls, and Emma and Violet playing dress up.  In the below photos from top left in clockwise order: Lucy finding a creative way to get some "alone time" away from her sisters - she made a fort next to the refrigerator in the kitchen which is the last place I'd go looking to find a sister, Violet displaying some artwork, dolls relaxing on Violet's bed - with four girls in the house, we have a lot of dolls, Will playing a riveting game of dominoes with the girls, and finally, Will giving three of his daughters a piggy back ride.

Will loves to horse around with the kids, and after dinner is prime wrestling time.  In a small house, it gets a little intense, and to be honest, drives me crazy because it always ends with someone crying.  I can't wait until the weather warms up again and the kids can blow off the last steam from the day OUTSIDE.  I try to stay out of their shenanigans for the most part, and it seems to be a good compromise.  The photos below in clockwise order from top left: Emma helping Will hardwire the TV to the internet, Will being greeted by Violet and Opal when he came home from work, Will utilizing a plastic kid chair to make fixing his snowblower more comfortable, and finally, Will and all four of his daughters watching something fascinating on his phone.

Will and I got out for a couple of kid-free hikes this past month, and the girls and I took a couple of walks from our library to the park and back to see the ducks.  Violet also had impressions made for her upcoming dental appliances.

 We cooked and baked away the winter blues, despite that I don't think there was a single day the entire month of January where the sun shone for more than an hour at a time, and there were many days were there was no sunshine at all.  I'm so glad the days are getting longer and the sun is coming back, slowly but surely.  Below in clockwise order from top left: Will made meatballs in bulk to fancy up our spaghetti sauce from a jar the next couple of months, I made several batches of herb infused soap this past month and this photo shows straining the oil out of the herbs, a screenshot of the text I sent my friend after I had to hang up on our conversation when a loud crash came from our kitchen, and finally, bulk banana bread to be put in the freezer and taken out on mornings where we need an efficient and easy breakfast.

 The plate smashed to a million pieces all over the floor was nothing compared to the poop I cleaned up the night before which fortunately Will was home for because it was an all hands on deck kind of poo-mergency.  In the interest of privacy, I will leave the story at that, but know that it has already become family legend.  Life with four girls is work.  Exhausting, and mostly thankless.  However, the smiles, love and laughter that we share more than makes up for the work, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Opal at 22 Months

Opal has grown so much this past month, and she really is more like a two year old now than a one year old.  I can't believe how big she is, and how far we've come from the newborn days.  Although I miss the newborn snuggles, I do love this current age, as watching her zest for life, and all of the connections she is making as she discovers the world keeps joy tangible in my life.  Here she is below, riding Donkita, a relative of Donkers, who deflated just days after Christmas.  Donkers is one of our kids favorite toys, and despite all of the new presents on Christmas, when Donkers bounced his last bounce, we knew we needed a replacement as soon as possible.  So, meet Donkita.  Opal loves to bounce, loves to swing, and loves to dance.  I think it's safe to say that Opal loves movement of any kind, and a bonus if it is repetitive.

 With all of that movement though, it is inevitable that boo boos will happen.  Opal fell and hurt her mouth the other night, and the next thing we know, she is walking around the house with a band aid on her mouth.  We asked her what she was doing with the band aid, and she said, "boo boo".  Life is never boring with a toddler, and this is one of the many reasons I love this age so very much.

 Lately, when something breaks or there is a spill or accident of some sort, Opal will say, "Oh, gosh!" in the most despairing little voice.  It is adorable.  Here we found her below, after she had carried the bathroom stool into the kitchen all by herself, to help her reach the chocolates left over from Christmas that I so carelessly left out on the counter.  She is a problem solver for sure!

 Emma loves teaching Opal her letters and numbers, and cute little phrases.  The power that Emma has with this is kind of scary, and we've had several discussions on using her power for good and not evil.  The below photos in clockwise order from top left: Emma drawing with Opal, Opal drawing with Will and I, Opal at the top of the slide in our backyard, Emma feeding Opal bites, Opal discovered with play scissors (they don't work, but belong to the kid's beauty parlor set we have in our basement), and Opal dancing with a friend's Elmo while at their house.  They knew just what to get out to keep Opal happy at their house.

Opal loves to demand that various members of her family feed her bites.  Sometimes this concerns me and I worry that she is going to be spoiled.  Other times, it is a blessed relief, because at least she is eating her food and I'm able to get something done.  I usually read to the kids over breakfast, and as long as Opal is fed bites by the sister of her choice, I can read aloud without too many interruptions.

The play scissor incident was hilarious to Will who discovered her, because she knew to get a piece of paper, and she also knew to hide in the corner because she knows she isn't allowed to have scissors by herself.

Will is still Opal's favorite person.  She loved him home with us for two weeks over the holidays, and on Will's first day back to work, the only thing that would soothe her broken heart when she woke up in the morning and found out he was gone, was Elmo.  That's right, not me, not her sisters, but Elmo.

 She loves Will so much that any man that she sees that is a stranger to her she calls Daddy.  Picture me pushing Opal in a cart through the grocery store while she points and squeals in delight "Daddy!!!" at each man that we pass.  Sometimes this is super awkward for me.  Will thinks I should capitalize on this, and make it fun by loudly telling Opal, "Mommy's trying her best to pick out a good one!"  At one point in a store, Opal saw two different men near us and yelled, "One Two Daddies!!!"

This little lady now refers to herself as Opal, and if she is feeling left out from something, she will yell, "Opal too!  Opal too!".

She is talking so much.  When I am giving a spelling test to Lucy or Emma, Opal will start saying random letters.  When I am doing Violet's mouth exercises, Opal will count "One, two, three, one, two, three" really fast, which is hilarious to us.  She knows the names of colors, and knows when to point out that something has a color, but she rarely gets the color right.  She'll squeal "Orange!" while looking at a blue ball, but always the color red she refers to as "Elmo."  Perhaps our favorite phrase that Opal says this past month though is an exuberant, "GOT IT!" when she finds something she was looking for, from a lost toy to a tricky booger in her nose.  

Opal was sick for quite a while this past month, and it broke our heart to see her feeling so miserable. Besides the sleepless nights and our feverish baby with a scary cough, we did enjoy soaking up all of her snuggles, as when she is well, she doesn't sit still for very long at all.

We were so very relieved when she started feeling better though, and we gladly traded in the snuggles for our spirited toddler being back to her loud, persistent, funny, mischievous, independent and adorable little person that she is.  Opal has been such a handful for us, and is different in many ways from her older sisters at this age.  My cousin sent me a book that has been so enlightening in how we handle the challenges that Opal brings.  After reading it, I am proud to call her my spirited child, and after seeing all of the challenging traits disappear for so long when she was sick, I am happy to say that I have reached a new appreciation for exactly who Opal is, and I wouldn't have her any other way.  She takes life on so boldly, so intensely, and so fully that I can't help but be proud of who she is, and I will gladly do my best to channel all of her gifts for good.  Opal, I end each day with you utterly exhausted, but also knowing that you ensured I experienced life to the fullest with you!