New At This

We've been through a lot with the girls over the past two and a half years.  Becoming a parent for the first time was obviously overwhelming and filled with more "new" things than two people could ever imagine.  Then there's the world of two children.  Last year at this time, I was learning the ropes of juggling '2 under 2' and becoming a permanent stay-at-home-mom.  Needless to say, there were lots of new things that rocked my world!  And now that Monkey is a little older and able to actually play together with Bug, the days are filled with lots of fun and lots of laughs (not that they weren't before, but it was just a little different!)  But over the past few days, my eyes have been opened to many new things that we haven't had to deal with yet...and I'm welcoming any suggestions, thoughts,  & help that may be out there!

~As I posted on my facebook...the ice cream truck is a daily occurance in our neighborhood.  Last summer, Bug would simply ask, "What is that?" and be satisfied with my answer, "The Music Truck."  (I'm terrible, I know!  But if the crazy thing didn't come everyday I would tell her the truth and treat her to it, but at this rate, we would have to go everyday and then we would be broke and she would be 100 pounds!)  But this summer my answer doesn't go over that smoothly...because now she asks the ever so dreaded question that everyone said would drive me nuts someday..."WHY does that music truck drive around everyday?" I'm not really good at making up stories and I feel horrible not telling her the truth!  I know that by explaining the truth to her is the best option and telling her that we can get ice cream on special occasions, but I'm just not ready yet!  However, I think I only have a few months left of keeping her sheltered from it...soon enough she WILL notice all the ice cream pictures on the side of the truck...

~Bug's been a talker from the start...and hasn't stopped in 2 years!  Monkey on the other hand...is the quiet one.  Enter our newest big dilemma (which after years of working in daycare, I prayed none of my kids would ever do...)...biting.  Ugh.  I don't even know where to go with this...it just started over the past week and it is driving me crazy.  I'm praying the 'talking fairy' will visit her overnight and magically grant her with the words she needs to use to communicate rather than chomping her teeth into us! 

~Playdates.  We host them.  We participate in them. 
They are planned.  I love them. 
This week, a neighbor girl (who we know) was riding her bike on the street and stopped at our house.  She asked if Bug could come out and play with her.  This is the first time any other child has ever asked for mine to come out to play (it made me just a little sad to realize she is getting so big so fast!)  I explained that she was inside with her dad, so the girl proceeded to go up to the door, in the house, and remained there for an hour and a half.  We had no clue if the girl's parents knew where she was (she said her mom was sleeping)...and she would have stayed longer but it was lunch time/naptime so I sent her on her way back to her house (after she asked if she could stay for lunch) and there we had it, our first impromptu playtime.  (And just a side note, the mom left a message later in the day saying she hoped her daughter didn't cause any trouble or make a mess.)   My question is...when and how do you know the time/age is right for your kids to go off on their own in your neighborhood/on your street without you checking in with the other parent first to make sure it's okay and wanting to know where your child will be...it's scary to me, very scary.  Can't they just stay little and play with us for the rest of their lives?

And to sum everything up...here are two new things that happened at our house today:

Bug wanting to try out her new bumblebee gear during the monsoon...

While Monkey found her own new way of playing with her walker...