Summer is here!

Whoa.  It's June, the weather is warm, the sun is shining, it's not raining....while this is normal everywhere else in the country, it's definitely not the m.o. here in Seattle, where we are used to waiting until the 4th of July to glimpse actual summer.  The kiddos are loving it and goodness knows we're ready for it.

So how do we kick off this gorgeous summer?  With the end of Kindergarten, that's how!  I was in LA the first week of June for E3, but thankfully was back in time for both the last field trip of the year (popsicles in the park) and last day of school (Lily stumbling out the back door with overflowing backpack and huge paper bag of stuff....didn't realize till the next day that both her jacket and lunchbox were missing, never to be found...after a whole year of not losing a single item...sigh).  We also celebrated by getting Lily her very first pair of roller skates.  In true Lily fashion, she took to it like a fish to water - plugging along skate-walking with a look of grim determination, yet insisting she loves it.  I got a pair as well - thank goodness for muscle memory or I'd surely have a broken something.

While he isn't moving up a grade, Matteo wasn't going to be left behind and graduated in other ways.  The biggest of these was his leaving bottles behind.  This has been my ongoing mama-shame - my inability to wean him off a bottle at home and get him to use sippys.  At school?  No problem!  At home?  No way!  Then suddenly this month I offered him one and he polished it off without a peep.  Same thing the next day.  And the day after.  But wait - there's more!  Not as significant, but his humor has also kicked into high gear.  He found a box of green latex gloves with the band aids and bandages and decided to wear one around the house all day.  Just one.  All day.  Accompanied by a mischievous grin.  Not sure I want to know what that was about.  On a less worrisome note, he has also embraced sharing, especially with Lily.  At her school there is a cracker basket by the door so the kiddos can have a snack on the way home.  The kids all love it and Matteo is no exception.  Lately, he not only grabs a packet of graham crackers for himself, he gets one for Lily then presents it to her when we get her.  She's unimpressed but I think it's the sweetest thing ever.

Now that she is done with Kindergarten she suddenly seems so grown up to me.  She still adores My Little Pony (the longevity of that franchise is amazing) and has an affinity for princesses and dressing up, but more and more I see the signs of an older girl.  She sings along to Macklemore, requests "#6" on the radio dial rather than Caspar Babypants, enjoys drinking green tea on chilly evenings and reads to herself in the car. When searching the kitchen cupboard the other day I found a bag of her old binkies I'd hid incase the Binkie Fairy didn't pan out.  They were old, gross, and needed to be tossed....but I held on to them and had a tough time throwing them away.  My girl is so grown up and they were a reminder of the tiny sprout she was.  In the end I did get rid of them, but all the memories they hold will live in my heart forever.

And now some quotes...because I need a laugh after my sentimental spiral:

"Seet down Mama, seet"  - Matteo, patting the lawn chair next to him (and it's a full sentence!!)
"This will entertain me" - Lily taking my phone and walking away with it
"A little help here!" - Lily trying to move an end table while carrying a mug of tea
"I like your highlighters" - Lily complimenting my haircut
"Beep - beep - beep" - Matteo, backing up
"I would prefer a sweater because it is not that cold" - Lily, explaining the deep thought that went into her wardrobe choice
"inkle, inkle, weeeowwwaaa" and "ahhh...beeee...ddd...mmee" - Twinkle Twinkle and the ABC song, both only decipherable by the tune.  I'm not sure if Matteo is trying to sing them in English, Spanish, both, or just making up his own version
"Santa comes in quietly by taking off his boots, then he toots and toots again on all the presents so they are nice and stinky" - Ummm.  Yeah.  Don't know.
"They're so cute they made me burp" - In reference to some puppies.  Again, don't know.
"Wait!  You named me after a FLOWER?!" - Revelation while talking about all the pretty flowers on a neighborhood walk
"Choo choos!" - Matteo's favorite.  If I am holding him it is said while leaning around me so he can look me right in the eye for maximum effectiveness

Me: "How did you hurt your arm?"
Lily: "I was trying to lift a tree stump"

Me: "I don't know"
Lily: "You should go online"

Ok, I will.  But only to blog about you both.