"Don't you have something to clean?"

    Whispers from Caelan's room: "Put that basket over there... yeah," "Ok, put all the pillows right there." "There's not enough pillows, where are the stuffed animals?" "Ok, try that." "It's too far away." "Ok, I'll move it closer." "Now it's too close." "Ok, I'll move it." "You want to jump first?" "No, you do it." "It's still too far away." "Ok, I'll try it."
    Enough to pique anyone's interest right? Especially if you're me.
    "Mom, why are you looking at me?" asked Evelynn, standing in an empty basket in the middle of the room.
    "No reason, just looking at my girls." I see Caelan crouched on the edge of her bed.
    "Oh, ok. Can you stop looking at me now?"
    "Uh, sure..."
    "You're still looking at me. Don't you have something to clean?"

Nice. I have the feeling they are up to something. I move away from the door, pretending to leave. I hear her start moving again as she says "It's too close now, I'm going to move it further away." I lean a little towards the door and she sees me again.
    "You're still looking at me, Mom."
    "Yes, I am."
    "Why?"
    "I'm not sure any more. What are you doing?"
    "Just playing."
    "Ok."
    "I have an idea. We will play while you bake us some cookies."

Uhuh. Sounds like a great idea. They are definitely up to something. I pretend to leave again, but tiptoe back to the door, staying just out of sight.
    "It's not big enough." "Yes, it is." "No, it's not." "It's not soft enough yet." "Yes, it is." "You try it." "No, it's too far."
I peek around the corner. Both girls are standing on the footboard of Caelan's bed. The object that is too far is a large basket with some stuffed animals and a couple of small pillows, and yes, it is too far away from the bed and lacks enough cushion to break the fall of a jump. Oh, my. Potential injury averted. Let's not jump off the bed into the basket.

Music, Dancing and Naptime

    I always feel a little bad that McKenna doesn't get a lot of blog-worthy attention. She is a happy, extremely laid-back child, so most of her days see her roaming around from one toy or book to the next, contentedly occupying herself for hours at a time. Maybe she's decided her sister move too fast for her, which they probably do. She approaches them and their antics cautiously, but is rarely phased when they overlook her attempts at playing with them. Evelynn is her buddy, though, and turns to her to give a good tickle or to share. Caelan, does not usually interact with McKenna unless McKenna causes her distress, like taking toys that are "Caelan's" or taking up too much of my attention that could be given to Caelan. Caelan has her random acts of kindness, and the two have learned to coexist peacefully for now. When McKenna is older, I'm sure she will be a lot more fun to her sisters. Right now, not so much.
    McKenna loves music, definitely finds a danceable beat, and is ecstatic over bedtime. Music is always playing in our home and she spends a lot of her time wiggling and bobbing her head in time with the beat. Being a child after her mother's heart musically, she prefers Louis Armstrong and Michael Buble. And after all the music and dancing, she's always ready for bed. Ask her if she's ready for "Night, night" and she starts shaking, her little hands flapping excitedly, even faster the nearer to her door we get. She lays down flat on her back and waits for the blanket to be thrown over her. She reaches for the blanket and snuggles it under her chin, her hands peeping out from the edge, waiting for her sippy cup. Once her cup is in her hands, she looks at me as if saying "All right, lady, turn on my music and then leave." I turn on her mp3 player and walk out, shutting the door behind me. And that's that. Later on, I will hear her turn the music back on and I know she's awake. Then I will hear her giggling and bouncing in her crib, the creaking of the mattress getting a good workout as she jives.

Where words fail, music speaks. ~ Hans Christian Andersen