Cherishing the noise

In a household with four children under the age of nine, as you might expect, it is rarely quiet, at least during the day. While there are plenty of times when this is frustrating, I have found that on occasions when they're out of the house, the silence can be a little eerie.

It's a different matter at night. There has been some improvement lately, but their absolute inability to lie in bed without singing, reading aloud, or having top-volume conversations with pretend friends at a time when I'm trying to marshal whatever coherent thought I can for the day is very frustrating. A few days ago I came in from an after-dinner grocery store trip, and as I brought the bags into the kitchen, I could hear a series of rhythmic thumps coming from Aslan's side of the bedrooms above the living room. So I went to the staircase and reminded her she was supposed to be asleep. There was a momentary pause in the thumping, followed by the sounds of her bed creaking and a firm declaration: "I am asleep." (I guess at this I should count her lucky...Buzz has at least twice gotten up while sleeping and come downstairs, setting the alarm off and terrifying herself in the process, all without realizing she's doing it.)

Lately, though, as Daisy is trying harder than ever to do what she sees everyone else doing, the fun of the noise is doing a good job of balancing the frustration. When she lies in bed, her latest is having conversations with her stuffed bear. When I come to get her from her crib in the mornings, she'll pick him up and show him off proudly, while babbling full tilt in her own special language, but often producing a sound that sounds a lot like "bear." Then yesterday, when she held up her furry pal to greet Daddy on his return from work, she told him quite clearly, "Dis is beah." He knew we wouldn't believe him, so he asked her what it was in front of us, and she repeated it a few more times. Pretty impressive for a tot whose vocabulary to this point has consisted primarily of "uh-oh," "no," and "hewwo" (when holding a phone).

It's not getting any quieter any time soon, but thank goodness they will all still talk to us!

Oh, and for those who haven't heard...it's Girl Scout Cookie season again. Bookworm and Buzz are both taking orders now through the 23rd. Let us know!