It's the Little Things

I may have mentioned this on here before but I'll mention it again just in case I didn't or wasn't able to articulate it clearly.  Parents of young children are all too often reminded to "cherish the moment,"  "make memories," "live in the present."We are inundated on social media with articles such as "What I wish I would Have Done When My Kids Were Small,"  and "Because Someday the Children Will be Grown."  I'll admit it, I fall victim to reading these articles and try to follow the advice - hello, I have this blog.   combat it, I often here a voice in the back of my mind saying "Experience this and live it, don't just document it."

But because I'm sleep deprived and stretched way to thin for my memory to absorb many of the simple moments that I do in fact experience, here are some things I'd like to remember when once I'm one of those older parents spouting off the same advice...

The way Adrienne says mozzarella sticks...monsterella sticks
The way that Coco indicates she wants to be included... I, too.
The way that Luke, even at 8 years old wants someone to lay with him every night while he falls asleep.
The handstand talent shows that go on in the living room most days.
That Luke counts swimming as taking a bath and we roll with it.
That Coco LOVES to brush her teeth.
That Adrienne has a mad talent for self face painting.
That the tickle monster game creates the best kid belly laughs and leaves Matt and I panting and gripping at the cramps in our sides from exertion.
That Coco makes us take off our shoes immediately when we get home to indicate that we are staying and not going anywhere.
I want to remember the lego guys I pull out Luke's pockets and the treasures he keeps in his backpack (sometimes my jewelry, other times football cards).
I want to remember Ade's love of the match game and how she's "known" at the JCC for this.
And that Coco loves Ring Around the Rosie, Row Row Row Your Boat, and randomly yells out ABC! as if it is a real expression.

I've just realized I'm going to be one of those crazy old ladies in the grocery store asking all the young gals to let me see their babies. Eh, life could be worse.

Birthdays!

The Zappia family is in the midst of birthday-mania!  We have lots of birthdays in the late spring/early summer in this family so it seems like we have cake almost every weekend for somebody.  No complaints, obviously.  Luke and Adrienne shared a birthday party this year - best move ever by me.  We hosted roughly 5 boys and 5 girls at Rochester Gymnastics Academy.  The kids did Tarzan swings on the ropes, flips in the spotting belt on the trampoline, jumped in the pit, climbed the rock wall and bounced in the bounce house.  We sugared them up right before we handed them off to their parents with cookie cake and mini cupcakes.  Spastic fun was had by all.

Penn State Proud

Luke is drinking the kool-aid!  Ok, not really because real kool-aid might be the grossest drink ever.  But we can officially declare that we have managed to completely brainwash Luke!  One of the projects he had to do for school was create an "Interest Center." This was a collection of pictures, facts, things, etc. that each student had to present to the class and they could pick anything they wanted as their topic.  Luke picked Penn State, naturally.  So he told us what kid of things he wanted to tell his class about Penn State and we created the foam board in the picture below.  So pretty cool that Luke picked Penn State, amiright?  But I haven't even gotten to the best part yet!  When I picked Luke up from school on the day he presented, his teacher walked with him to meet me because she wanted to tell me what a phenomenal job he did.  Apparently, he did what she called a "professional," job.  He presented clearly, in a logical format, with the right volume to his voice and at a good speed with planned pauses.  She said she was blown away and wanted to know if we had practiced the presentation.  Of course, we did not, but then I thought we should have. oops. Anyway, we love that Luke loves Penn State and can only hope that we don't need to sell our organs to send him their by the time he's ready to go to college.  

Spring Break 2015

Since we had such a horrible and harsh winter this year, we decided to escape to the south so we could remember what warmth felt like.  Matt and I braved the 14 hour drive to South Carolina in a van wiht 3 kids and 1 mimi.  I'm proud to say that our young road warriors we fantastic in the car and we only suffered through a few minor meltdowns with Coco.  Matt and I kept saying that the road trips we went on when we were younger were so much harder because we didn't have our own dvd screens and headphones for entertainment (amongst other portable electronics).  And although the kids were great on the road, next year's spring break is going to involve take-offs and landings.  

A few quick highlights of the trip were:

• the water parks in the hotel and the fact that they were open late giving the kids opportunities for daily double sessions
• the Starbucks in the hotel that provided much needed caffeine for the adults
• the beach
• beers on the beach
• runs on the beach
• sun, green grass, and the absence of small white flecks falling from the sky
• miniature golf -  minus the club to the mouth (Adrienne's one time baseball-like swing connected with my teeth)
• the seafood buffet and watching how much a 4 and 7 year old can consume
• friends from Brighton to play with
• visiting with cousins in Richmond, VA

It could have been a little warmer but that round goldish yelllow thing was always in the sky and you can't pay enough for the smiles on the kids' faces.

Words!

Coco is joining the ranks of the excessive talkers at chez Zappia.  Everyday she has new words but these are theses are the ones she's really good at:

Mommy
Daddy
more
no
help me
Dora
hat
hot
baby
backpack
ball
owie
bye bye
hi
mine!
nose
eye
ear
row
out
down
water
shoe
seat
bounce
bubbles

The Battle of the Black Pants

The amount of laundry I do in any given week is completely determined by the number of times Luke insists on wearing black pants.  And since that tends to be every single day and he does not own seven pairs of black pants...you do the math.  For whatever reason, he is focused on color more so than just the style.  Most kids love sweatpants of any kind, Luke likes only black sweatpants.  Don't even suggest grey, they are completely and utterly unacceptable.  If fact, he "hates grey!"  Royal blue?  They are not worthy.  Navy blue?  Maybe, but only if there are no clean black pants because the laundry slave is clearly not doing her job.   You would not believe the number of times my little black pants dictator orders his laundry to be done.

I know you are thinking 1 of 2 things right now:

why doesn't she just make him wear other pants?  easier said that done, my friend, easier said than done.  I'll leave it at that.

Or maybe you are thinking, get smart and buy seven pairs of black pants!  Now see, this is where I think the universe is against me.  Or against black pants at least.  I've given a herculean effort towards buying black pants!  They either don't fit or they are the wrong material.  face plant.

I've currently got the favorite pair of black pants with the family seamstress to see if she can work her magic patching up a gigantic hole in the knee.  I need these pants fixed for my sanity.  stat!

My only hope is that I find an article from a medical journal that links black pant wearing with genius level IQ.  Then he can wear them whenever, wherever and however he'd like.

Happy Meal

I'm actually not talking about a kiddie meal from the land of the Golden Arches.  I'm just referring to Corinna by the pet name that her loving big sister has given her, "Happy Meal."  I mean, she is scrumptious and all - maybe that's what inspired this moniker.   It does roll off the tongue easily when using it as a term of endearment, "Come here my little happy meal," or "Aw, look at our sweet happy meal."  A bit more awkward to get out when adding some urgency or disapproval: "Don't touch that happy meal!"  "That wasn't nice, happy meal!"  Like most nicknames, it doesn't have the most flattering of rings to it.  Alas, I've found myself absentmindedly calling her this.      

"Happy Meal" has invaded all things.   Let's take the religious Christmas carol Away in a Manger for example.  And now let's add some of Ade's creativity to it and her version comes out a little like this:

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed,
The little Lord Happy Meal lay down her sweet head.
The stars in the bright sky looked down where she lay,
The little lord Happy Meal asleep on the hay.

So ridiculous but why would you discourage something so cute and harmless?  And I try really hard not to stifle creativity but make no mistake, I am nervous for the nicknames she comes up with for me in the future.   

Sparkly One

Coco has made one complete extra-uterine orbit of the sun!  And Matt and I have survived (with only a few battle wounds) a year of parenting 3 small beings at the same time.  Hooray for all of us!  We had a lovely first birthday party for our tiny tinkerbelle. She flitted and flopped about in her glittery outfit, wooing the crowd left and right.  The theme of the party was sparkle and shine and nothing says fun like a little glitter - which I may be finding in my house for the next eighteen years.  Luke and Adrienne really "helped" assemble the party decor by putting their mark on the glitter filled balloons.  I'm clearly not the only one in the family fond of those itty bitty shiny bits of papery metal.    You would think by now that I would be able to anticipate how tempting a helium tank and confetti could be for the young folks but nope, no I did not anticipate competing with them for party supplies.


So our Coco was the star of the show, per usual and was spoiled, per usual.  She sure is the apple of a lot of eyes.  For the record books, here are some things she is doing these days:

walking, running, climbing stairs
dancing, a lot of dancing
spinning
says: hot, ball, dada, dora, baby
sleeps through the night but is easily awoken from naps (ahem, I wonder how that happens, Adrienne?)
likes playing with the play kitchen and doll house
favorite foods: toast, pasta, bananas, yogurt


We've truly enjoyed Coco's first year (who couldn't?!?!) and can't wait to watch her little personality emerge more and more.

Christmas is Coming

It's almost that magical time of year...you know, when parents everywhere can begin forcing their children into submission with the universal Santa threats.  I'm an overachiever so I've already been using them for weeks now.  So with the onset of "Santa is watching!" also comes the daily "I know what I'm going to ask Santa for."

This morning at 6:30 am.

Luke:  I'm going to ask Santa to make me be able to fly.  And also for him to build me an iPhone 6. 

At least he has an imagination. 

Just Journaling

There are so many things that I want to remember about the time that is now, the time that my kids are young.  I find that my memory isn't as sharp as it used to be and I completely blame this on the utter exhaustion that having young children creates.   So I do my best to log certain things in that area of my brain that I have labeled "things you should try to remember."  This file is getting very large because there are just so many moments that I want to keep.  And I hate being cliche but the saying "The days are long but the years are short," is just so darn heartbreakingly true.  Many people have told me, write it down, write it down!  So, here we go.

The other day Luke smelled cologne on Matt and asked him why he smelled "so handsome."  He also claims he's marrying his classmate Zoe Sheehan.  Her name is going to be Zoe Sheehan-Zappia.  Luke loves flannel sheets and at 7 years old, still wants to hold your hand while he falls asleep.  He also still sucks his wrist when tired, something he's done since infancy.  Current;y likes playing minecraft on his ipod but has been asking for the new iphone 6 and a golf cart.

Adrienne, when talking about devouring food, says she "ate it like a wolf."  This often sends Matt and I into hysterics.  She also says "Fank you" instead of thank you.  Adrienne loves to cuddle and likes to fall asleep with you laying next to her with her feet wedged between your thighs.  She's currently into drawing rainbows and hangs many or her masterpieces on her bedroom walls with masking tape.

Coco, makes a sound that goes like this: nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnaaahh.  Shakes her head no at just about anything and does a cute little wiggle dance when music comes on.  She pulls her hair and ears when she's mad an drubs her nose with her pointer finger when falling asleep.   She LOVES to climb stairs and play the piano.  

And for our part, Matt and I want to remember that relaxing time after the kids have gone to bed where we watch shows or read books while having a beer or a latte with the fireplace on.

A normal trip to the dr. with all 3 kids - waiting for the dr. to come in.

They love Starbucks

Little piano player