Alex has figured out how to turn on our ipod alarm clock by the bed. When he wants to wake us up he comes in and turns it on, finds a song and starts dancing. One morning he put on the cure and started dancing. He has obviously inherited some of my greatest dance moves as he definitely dances like his dad. This evening after coming home from a birthday party he and Ellie decided they were going to dance for me. Alex said he was going to do the Flounder dance. I am not sure if this is something he learned in school or just made up. He started doing this dance and I was laughing so hard. He gets quite upset when I laugh at his dancing and stopped to tell me I shouldn't laugh while he was dancing. Then he started again and has this hilarious smile on his face watching me while he dances and it is just impossible not to crack up again.
While getting ready to go to our birthday party one afternoon we ran into the unknowable, screeching, sobbing Ellie. 20 Minutes before the party we tried to get Ellie ready to go. This is a party she has been excited about for more than a week. Latha had laid out a pretty dress for her. I thought it might not be the best outfit to go to the park to run in the dirt, climb and slide in but didn't say anything. Ellie refused to put the dress on and started sobbing. I stepped in and offered her anything she wanted to wear. My fashion sense is infamous and I have no problem telling all the other parents that I approved of her outfit, no matter how outrageous. I took her into her room and offered her to pick out anything she wanted. She didn't want anything and kept sobbing. I tried going through her shirts one by one and she didn't want any. I offered her any dress she wanted and she didn't want any. I asked if she still wanted to go to the party and she made it clear she wanted to go to the party and any attempt to leave her behind as Alex was already to go just ratcheted up the level of screaming and crying. She stood there in her nappy sobbing and refusing any solution. She didn't want to pick anything out and no matter what we offered she didn't want it. She cried and screamed for 25 minutes before we finally reached a compromise. In the meantime I had Alex all strapped in and the car going to try to motivate her. We finally agreed on an item but only if she didn't have to put it on until after we stopped the car at the party. Off we went to the car in only a nappy and got strapped into the car seat. With no shirt on Ellie was upset because the straps were hurting her. Out she came and she allowed me to put her shirt on. The shorts finally went on once we got out of the car at the park. They had a fabulous time at the party even though Ellie probably didn't match as much as mom or Latha would have liked.
The month of January was one birthday party after another. This has the kids fired up about their birthdays and they are constantly telling us where they want their party, what kind of cake they want and what presents they want. One Friday night the kids had a movie night at school. The aim of the night was to raise money for the Haiti relief charities. The kids had Gino's pizza (very good local pizza) and TCBY yogurt. ( I know many have been kept awake at night wondering what ever happened to TCBY. Here on the island it is alive and well and they just opened their second shop here.) The kids enjoyed all the treats and watching "Fern Gully", a new movie for them.
One week after the Haiti earthquake we had a large earthquake here. It happened during school so we all evacuated classes and then stood around wondering what to do. It was 5.9 on the Richter scale. Fortunately there wasn't any damage around the island. The only damage I know of was a 20 foot sinkhole that opened up near a condo along the beach. Soon word got around and the whole island was driving by trying to get a look. Before long all the kids had called home and although we finally got the all clear to go back to school, most kids were gone and our remaining classes only had a handful of students.
This past Sunday, while the kids slept, I dropped Emma off at yoga and I went to the beach to get a swim in. I had a nice swim, if a bit choppy. When I came out of the water I couldn't get into the car. I was sure I had left it unlocked with the keys hidden inside. Yet somehow I was standing on the outside, wearing nothing but my pink flower speedo and goggles, the car locked. My phone and wallet were of course inside the car also and it was at least a 20 minute walk down the main road to where Emma was at yoga and she didn't have a spare key. I had few options so I walked over to the local beach bar which was packed by this time in the afternoon, and asked them to call a cab for me. A few minutes later the cab pulled up. I have to give the driver credit as he never blinked when this wet guy in a pink flower speedo said I needed a ride down to South Sound where we live to get my spare keys. It was as if this must be a normal occurrence in the average cabbie day. We made it home where I quickly put on some clothes, grabbed my spare keys, and then headed back up to the car. I am sure I will be a little more careful next time I go to swim!
We now have our first family pet compliments of Ellie. One day at DART park Ellie found a large hermit crab in his shell. She and Alex brought it home with them. While we hoped they would soon forget and we could let it go, Ellie insisted we keep it. Emma went to the pet store and found a container for it and some crab food. It is just like the one cousin Roro had last summer. The kids love to take it out of its cage and play with it. They usually get distracted after a few minutes and we have spent a lot of time searching the house to find the runaway crab. It hasn't managed to escape yet. He has become a part of the family and the kids just love playing with him. We have now been back to the park and collected a couple more hermit crabs because apparently the like to have company.
On Feb 17 we all went to the Cayman Agricultural Show out at the show grounds. Even though we had been warned how crowded it would be, we were not prepared for how packed the road was trying to get in. The kids had a great time looking at all the animals. There were cows, horses, pigs, goats, rabbits, and of course lots of chickens. It had that small town country fair feel. The winners had their blue ribbons pinned to their stalls and there were also lots of crafts on display also. We saw the wining crocheted toilet roll covers as well as all sorts of other crafts. The kids also had fun on the giant bouncy castle and slides. We have a new favorite TV show, "Team Umizoomi". We have never seen a show that the kids loved so much and that they will watch over and over and over and over, etc. (The show is on Nick Jr.) We are going nuts but they just love it. I shouldn't complain too much as it is a kids maths show. They are learning so much from it. While playing dinosaurs the other day Ellie announced she was a Stegosaurus. She will then change her mind and announce that now she is a micro-raptor. This new found knowledge, as well as Alex now knowing what a trapezoid is, are our consolation when they keep wanting to watch Umizoomi again!
A week ago the doctor mentioned that the kids might have a dairy allergy. Alex always has a runny nose and a cough and Ellie has eczema. He thought dairy might have something to do with it. They both love their milk, chocolate, ice cream, cheese and yogurt. At great effort and suffering they have been dairy free for more than a week now. It has not been easy and they have not taken easily to soy milk, yogurt and cheese. They are starting to come around and it seems to be helping. We will have to see how it goes long term.
A man sang "the winds of change are a blowin.." I feel the wind picking up and it is not a hurricane ....
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