Stella's Performance Day at Pre-K

Taken by professional photographer Susan Stripling.

Stella's First Pet

Well, strictly speaking, Marni is Stella's first pet. But we won't count her for now.

Yesterday Stella found a snail shell on the sidewalk while going to dance class. She carried it with her to class, showed it to the kids, put it in her pocket, and did various things with the shell all afternoon. Later in the evening she came running up to me all excited.

"The snail is still in there! He's coming out!" she exclaimed. She handed me the shell and, I'll be damned, there was a living snail in there. This poor snail was being abused all afternoon because everyone thought the shell was empty.

Stella told me to put the snail in a tank. But I explained to her that we didn't have a tank (aquarium) like they did in school. I told her I would put the snail in one of our plants on the patio, but she was having none of that. Eventually, the snail ended up in a Chinese food container along with some lettuce and water. Stella was happy. Tomorrow she would take her snail (now named Hannah Stefan Rose) to school.

The first thing Stella said upon waking up this morning was how excited she was about taking her snail to school today. We all went outside to check on Hannah. All was ok.

Stella carried her snail all the way to school and showed her off to all the kids in class. She was very happy to bid me farewell at the goodbye window while holding Hannah. Later today, I hope they put Hannah in with the other snails in the Pre-K tank.

I'm not sure if Stella will put up with this though. I half expect her to come home with Hannah in her Chinese food container house.

Stella's 5th

Stella's 5th birthday double-header went off without a hitch yesterday with a morning session for P.S. 39 classmates and an afternoon session for friends and family.

Why two parties you ask? Because another classmate of Stella's had her party the same day at 1 p.m. So we, being the team players that we are, offered to move the P.S. 39 portion of the party to 11 a.m. to avoid any conflict.

And speaking of conflict, this year's party was primarily planned by yours truly because Lisa had to attend a bridal shower in Boston the day before Stella's festivities. So daddy took over the planning and made maximum use of outsourcing! Pizza for party number 1 and Chinese food for party number 2. Plus, I outsourced child care and party set-up to Nana Bev and Papa Art who came down a day early to lend a hand.

Party 1 guests included Mara, Marley, Hazel, Uma, and Livvy from P.S. 39, and Julia from next door. Stella was in her element and required no warm-up time with her school friends. She even started the party by introducing Mara to her grandmother.

Once everyone showed up we got down to business with an arts and craft project with colored sand, shells, glitter and glue. All the girls huddled around the dining room table with Lisa in charge and parents assisting and made beautiful sand artwork. Next up was a "pin Cinderella in her castle" game. The gals all lined up and took turns being blindfolded and spun around. Even little Marni took a turn (and almost stuck her Cinderella sticker on the plasma tv).

The final game was a fishing game supplied by Nana and Papa. All the girls lined up on chairs and tried to "catch" green and purple fish.

Pizza was deliverd right on time and everyone then moved back to the repurposed diningroom table for lunch.

The girls reached a frenzied pitch when the cake was brough out. After an energetic redition of "Happy Birthday To You" (led by Hazel), the candles were blown out and the cake was cut. Everyone wanted pieces with pink and blue writing, so I had to cut everyone a piece from the middle of the cake.

The girls then assembled into a circle and assisted Stella in ripping open every one of their presents.

Soon it was 1 o'clock. And, as the girls filed out with their gift bags on their way to Ava's party, the next guests for party 2 began to arrive. We quickly reconfigured the room, freshened the snacks, and deployed Nana Bev's shrimp.

The Chinese food arrived just in time for the crowd.

Papa Art busied himself in the girls' room putting together Stella's new dollhouse (which Marni then spent hours playing with). A little later on Stella dolled herself up with jewelry from Salty.

After a second birthday cake (ice cream), the crowds began to head home. The house was in shambles. The kids were exhausted. But Stella had two great 5th birthday parties. And that's all that counts.

Click here for more pictures and video from the party.

Gone

It happened so quickly, I didn't even have time to be sad.

We had put the girls' crib up for sale. It was time for Marni to move into her big-girl bed. A friend of our housekeeper wanted to buy it and they came over today at 5. Within 15 minutes the crib was taken apart and was out on the street.

Marni and Stella were at the playground at the time with my parents so Marni never saw her bed disappear. And I wasn't sure how she was going to react.

I quickly leapt into action and started to put together her big-girl bed to fill the void. Marni came home before I was done. She wasn't upset. She was thrilled that she was getting her new bed and stayed in the room to watch me put it all together.

There was no drama at bed time. Marni went into her bed and stayed there (unlike Stella who took weeks to adjust to her new bed). In the morning Marni called for me as usual and waited in her bed for me to come and get her. She doesn't yet realize that she can come out on her own.

So, after five years, we have no more crib in our house. The crib that our two little girls grew up in is gone. If I had my way, we would have stored the crib for the next 30 years so that we could pass it on to our grandkids. But who, in the year 2039, will want an old wooden crib when everyone else on the block has the latest Internet-enabled virtual holographic levitation birth pod?

But for now, we carry on with two kids in two big-girl beds. And later, when I have time, I will be sad.

Life at 100%

Mother's Day 2009 was spent at Brian and Jill's house. The rain had finally cleared, the sun was out, and the cousins picked up just where they left off the last time they were together.

As I watched Stella play with Tyler, Delia and Marni, I marveled at how amazing she can be when she's living life at 100%.

100% doesn't always happen with Stella. The shyness thing often gets in the way. But with the cousins, Stella is always at 100%.

The kids immediately headed for Tyler's green battery-powered jeep. Unlike other times, there was no fighting over who was going to drive. Everyone shared. Stella was laughing and screeching with joy as they drove around the yard. And very unlike other times, Marni was finally old enough to take the wheel and drive.

This was a far cry from the past when Marni had to settle for being the passenger (see the post in November 2007). Now she takes her sister and cousin Tyler for a spin around the house. Laughing and screaming all the way.

Later in the day the kids all participated in their favorite summertime activity of painting the Hoffman deck with water. Stella was barking orders at the kids and making special announcements to the grown-ups. Eventually the cousins all stripped down to their underwear (or worse) and finally ended up with everyone wearing a Tyler bathing suit.

A couple of times during the afternoon we noticed that the kids had disappeared altogether. After hurriedly searching the house, we found them all playing in the front yard and driveway... with no supervision. Maybe this doesn't mean much to parents of older kids, but this was a big deal for us. We never let the kids play outside without keeping an eye on them.

But they were living life at 100%. Unsupervised. Uninhibited. And loving every minute of it. I stood back and watched in awe as my two little girls did their thing. On their own and on their own terms.

They are amazing kids.

Hip Hop As A Second Language

Stella and I were driving home from Isabella's birthday party today and I had the radio playing nice and loud with Z100. This is an unusual situation because Lisa ain't down wit dat kinda music.

Flo Rida's "Right Round" was playing. When it finished, Stella asked "what language is that?".

My kid is so not cool.

Overheard #16

The girls were watching a Looney Tunes cartoon in the car the other day. When Bugs Bunny said "eenie meenie miney moe", Marni commented to me "Daddy, the bunny is speaking Spanish".

Coney Island

Mother Nature decided to skip Spring this year and went straight to Summer with a 2-day 90-degree plus weekend. Records were broken for the hottest April in recorded history, and for the quickest that the Shepard family has ever made it to Coney Island for the year.

Mommy Owl Lisa couldn't join us due to the expected arrival of her new baby, Raising Mom, but that didn't stop daddy and the girls from digging out their summer attire and jumping in the minivan. By 11 am we were parking the fun-mobile right in front of Nathan's Famous.

First on the agenda was a brief visit to the beach playground. But the call of the surf was too hard to resist and the girls made a bee-line to the frigid water. Splashing, screaming, digging, and running occupied the next hour along with some snacking and some resting. Then... a walk along the sand to find sea shells. By the way, the beach at Coney Island has more glass in it than an entire skyscraper.

All the fresh air and exercise made us hungry, so off to Nathans. But by then most of Brooklyn was also at Coney Island and the lines were a mile long. The girls were running on empty, so I made the executive decision to forsake Nathans this trip and head to the creepy food stand next door. The cotton candy and lollipop displays distracted the girls from their nutritious hot dog and french fry lunch. So, after a visit to the $5 photo booth, we headed off to the Wonder Wheel.

Now Marni has never been on the Wonder Wheel. But Stella and I have. Without Lisa around to hang out with Marni on the ground, it had to be all of us or none of us. Marni insisted she was a brave girl now. So we headed to the wheel ($18 dollars lighter).

Indeed Marni was right. She was a brave girl and giggled and screamed all the way through the ride (although I was scared shitless for them). From our vantage point high above the beach, we spied a few more rides that the girls wanted to explore.

$25 dollars later we took our 10-ride ticket to the carousel, spinning dragon ride, and choo-choo train ride. The choo-choo train ride was for kids only and Marni expanded on her newly found courage by riding it with sister Stella. Really quite a breakthrough. With our ticket expended, we headed off for some more sea shell hunting and then... the scariest attraction of the day. The public rest rooms.

By now it was past three and I felt I was pushing my luck (and feeling a little sunburn on my neck). The ice cream store was the last stop. Rainbow for Stella. Chocolate and vanilla with "sparkles" for Marni (I will get them to start saying "Jimmies" if it's the last thing I do). Half way through the ice cream the girls were feeling a chill, so we cut it short and headed to the car (their clothes were already a total loss though).

We happily gave up our prime parking space and headed home (after a stop at Lowes to pick up some flowers). The girls were bathed, fed (Italian) and asleep in their beds by 7:30. Now it's my chance to clean up the apartment after a very successful day of fun.

Not Everyone Poops... in Their Diaper

It's official and has been certified by the Professional Organization of Potty Science (POOPS) that Marni is toilet trained.

The final barrier was broken when we sent her off to daycare in underwear (Dora underwear of course). The report came back that Marni had no accidents and used their potty "like a big girl".

But it was a sad day at the Shepard house when we threw away the Diaper Champ and the tushy wipe warmer.

There's still a little more work to be done (such as sleeping without pull-ups), but our days of changing diapers may have come to an end.

New Features

Let's take a break from the kids in order to update readers on a couple of new features on this blog.

First, please note the "Comments" link at the bottom of each post. You can now leave comments for all to read (if the mood moves you). You can even post anonymously.

Second, you can now subscribe to the blog and get email updates whenever there's a new posting. Just look on the upper left side of the page for the "Subscribe Via Email" box (thanks Jessica). Those of you who are currently getting emails of the blog should sign up for this new method because the old way of doing things will soon be ending.

That's it. Now, back to the girls!

Marni's 3rd Birthday

She was burning up with fever on her first birthday. Her second birthday party was canceled due to passover and a death in the family. But birthday number three was fantastic.

Marni wanted a Snow White theme and we delivered with Snow White decorations, cake toppers and a special Snow White gown for the birthday girl. Even Mother Nature helped out by providing us with a beautiful, sunny and warm day. This allowed the kids to play inside and out.

Lisa cooked up a delicious feast. And Nana Beverly provided her much appreciated shrimp and cocktail sauce. Balloons by Sherri Bubbles. Mango chutney dip by Jill. Goofiness by Marni. Throughout the party, Marni continued to change into different outfits... eventually ending up naked.

After ice cream cake, it was time to open presents. Marni (and Stella) did very well for themselves. Thanks everyone.

And who was there? Here's the list: Nana and Papa Shepard; Nana and Papa Hoffman; Jill, Brian, Tyler, Delia Hoffman; Lisa Stefanoff; Kathy Clark; Sherri Bubbles; Laurie and Rickie; Jennifer and Isabella Perillo; Ann and Jake Stone; Carol Solomon; Steve, Christine, Emma and Fiona Sledzik.

Want to see all the photos and videos then click here.

Field Trip

In March I volunteered to be chaperon for Stella's class trip to the Brooklyn Museum. I just wanted to ride on a yellow school bus!

The trip was not scheduled to depart until about 10 or 10:30, but I decided to hang around after I dropped off Stella at school. This allowed me to get a glimpse of what happens in "morning meeting time".

MMT consisted of lots of questions, lots of statements (such as "I have a toy race car and it goes really fast.") and more than a handful of requests for the kids to sit down and stop interrupting each other. It was very cute though. Every few minutes Stella would stand up, walk over to me in the back of the room, and give me a hug. Then she would quietly go back to the meeting. At one point, she got up, cleaned up some drawing supplies, and then sat down again. That resulted in praise from Ms. Cassens for being so responsible.

I noticed that throughout the meeting a boy named Henry was eyeballing me. Curiosity finally got the best of him and he raised his hand to ask a question. "What is Stella's dad doing here?", he asked. Ms. Cassens explained that I was chaperoning the field trip. Henry's hand shot up again. "What does chaperone mean?"

Playground time followed morning meeting. Then it was time to get on the bus.

The 18 kids, two teachers, and five parent chaperones loaded onto the bus. There was much discussion about who was going to sit where. By this time I had adopted Hazel who preferred to hang out with me even though her own grandmother was one of the chaperones. I managed to convince Hazel that I needed to sit next to Stella (who would have had a heart attack if I didn't).

After several dozen stanzas of "Wheels On The Bus", we were there.

The group settled into a circle in the lobby of the museum as museum tour guide, Kristin, filled them in on what they were going to see. Stella leaned over to me and confessed that she loved Kristin (who she had met the day before during her visit to Stella's classroom).

We were then off and running (not literally) to look at three pieces. At each stop Kristin asked the kids what they saw and encouraged them to get involved with the art (short of actually touching it). She handed them samples of the material used to make the pieces. She had them draw what they were seeing. And she asked them questions about what they thought the artist was thinking.

Hazel and Stella made up my group of two kids. It was hard to tell at any given time which kid was my kid given how attached to me Hazel was.

At one point, while walking from one exhibit to the other, we passed through an area that had artwork featuring some nudity. Our pace quickened and I tried to distract. But just as we were leaving the "nude zone", Hazel opined that "Nudity is unacceptable".

By a little after noon the kids were showing signs of fatigue. Interest was waning. Time to get back on the bus... and quick!

Hazel still insisted on sitting next to me, but I had to disappoint her. That appeared to really piss her off and she refused to speak with anyone for the entire ride home. If you look at the photo above, you see that Hazel is the only kid facing the wrong way.

After a tearful goodbye (as usual) it was time for daddy to head off to work.

If you want to see all of the photos from the field trip, click here.

Marni Sings Dora

Move over Judy Garland. Marni is ready to belt out some tunes. First up... the Dora theme song. Please note the sneeze in the middle of the performance. She's such a professional that she keeps on keeping on.

Easter

Lisa Stefanoff hosted yet another fun party at her condo's clubhouse on April 11th.

Everyone attending was responsible for bringing food. We did the the appetizers. The Stefanoff family provided lots and lots of delicious food.

Stella and Marni had a great time playing with Lisa's boyfriend Ron's 4 girls. Stella is particularly fond of Jasmin.

The high point of the day was the Easter egg hunt. Lisa did a great job setting it up and Ron's girls did a great job helping the little kids find their treasures.

The day came to and end around 8:30 with our girls in their PJs. We were home by 10 and the girls were transferred into their beds without a peep.

The Circus

The girls attended their first circus on March 29. The Big Apple Circus pulled into Bridgewater, New Jersey and set up their tent in the parking lot of the local baseball park. Aunt Jill got us fabulous seats and the whole NJ Hoffman family joined us for the festivities.

Stella and Marni absolutely loved it! Marni watched wide-eyed and clapped wildly while munching her popcorn. Stella was mesmerized. Flying trapeze artists, galloping horses, and crazy loud music kept them riveted.

After the performance we joined up with my old friend Jeff Samet and his family for a delicious lunch. The kids played. The parents drank. All was good.

The Littlest Hypochondriac

Don't even think about brushing up against Stella. If you do, it may send her straight to the freezer... for an ice pack.

Or, if no ice pack is available, she has been known to use a bag of frozen vegetables.

You see, Stella is a world-class pint-size hypochondriac. Every scrape, scratch or bump will result in either an ice pack or a bandage. Then she will limp around or whine for a while. Until she forgets that she is supposedly hurt.

She'll even make up an infirmity if it'll help her in some way. Today she told the teachers at Beansprouts that "my mommy is a doctor and she would not want me to take karate if my knee was hurting". Oh brother.

Day Two, Number Two

Marni stepped it up tonight by pooping for the first time in the potty. 'Nuff said as some will think this is all pretty gross.

Tinkle Time

As Marni's 3rd birthday approaches it has become toilet-training time.

For the past couple of days she's been walking around the house with no diapers on. But every time we put her on the potty, nothing comes out. Until tonight.

Breakthrough!

Just before bath time I asked her if she needed to pee. She said yes, and so we went to the potty. But this time, she actually peed! "Daddy, something's coming out!", she exclaimed.

And away we go.

Birthdays as Weapons

With Stella and Marni's birthdays just a month or two away, the girls have started to use their respective birthdays as leverage to get what they want from each other.

For example...

If Stella wants a toy that Marni is currently playing with, then she will tell Marni to give her the toy or else she will not be invited to her birthday.

Or...

If one of the girls pisses off the other, then you may hear "You are not coming to my birthday party!".

The second example (punitive) is more often used by both girls while the first example (extortion) is usually only used by Stella.

Overheard #15

This one melted my heart.

I was talking to Stella about something she wanted (I'm not sure what it was). I offered her a solution and she lit up and exclaimed to me "Daddy, I love you so much because you listen to my feelings!".