Despite feeling like Terah is still not much of a routine and that she feels like a highly unpredictable little gal, we keep trying stuff. And she keeps coming through - surprising me with saving her crankiest times for when we are just at home and no one is expecting us to be anywhere or do anything in particular at that time. One of the things we decided to try recently was a family photo shoot with our friend and my colleague, Howard. The last photos we had taken with him were when Nora was with us (I'm so grateful for those family photos now!). His style suits us perfectly - easy going, not too staged, and lots of pictures. I'll just share a few here, but we've got a few hundred to treasure. 
About like it was before our dentist appointments, Alida was adamant about not wanting to go. None of us could get out of her why, but that is somewhat typical (seems a stage of opposition and resistance is what we've got right now). The other night I noted in an exasperated tone how it seems like she is in a whining phase and Terah is in a fussing stage and I'm so eager for the "Mommy, how can I help stage?" Without a moment's pause, Alida's said, "that's Kali's stage!" :) Anyway, she kind of got into getting dressed up and ready to go and seemed to be warming up to the idea as we set off for the little family adventure. Trying to get Terah there with her clothes clean (not soaked with drool or spit up) was the other challenge, but we made it. And then had such a grand time - it was delightful watching Alida ham it up in front of the camera, enjoying herself thoroughly. 
While we get out and about as a family occasionally the vast majority of our time is spent at home together. The majority of the population would likely struggle to comprehend our sheer enjoyment of some of the seasonal things we do together. The one that stands out in this particular season is popcorn testing. I think it would not be an exaggeration to say that this one of our wintertime highlights. When Jason sorts corn he sets aside all the ears that he thinks might be popcorn seed worthy. We then shell off each cob into a different cup. Then over the winter months we sample each individual cob - popping 1/4 cup so we pop the same amount of each kind (that means that we favor in our seed the cobs that produced a lot of seed). After sampling, we all vote on if the corn is a keeper or goes in our "piffle corn" jar for eating. Some nights we all pick one to sample and then we give each other blind taste tests to see if we can tell the batches apart. Kali has an amazing knack for telling the difference. 
While on the corn subject, Jason received the best present ever in the mail yesterday. He has recently sent an email to a woman who has done some incredible work with corn breeding. He had read about her and decided to see if he might get a hold of some of the corn to mix into our flour corn project. She graciously responded, and, while retired from seed breeding, was willing to send Jason some seed. The little box contained 50-100 seeds of about 13 different strains. Yes, he was like a kid on Christmas morning. While washing dishes after dinner, I looked through the pass through to see him sitting at the dining room table, stroking his beard, deep in thought, with this gaze on the little envelopes of seeds. 
Two other new 2016 routines we are getting into as a family are Sunday reading nights and Kali (and it was supposed to be Alida but her help is not to be counted on!) cooking Monday evenings. Jason made a goal of reading a book each month this year, complete with a book report to the family. I would not call Sunday evenings relaxing for me, but I'm fully on board with the plan (Terah is not thus far - she is not really into sitting placidly on my lap while I read Pippi or Paddington Bear to Alida). I look forward to the time (I know, we are talking years in the future), when we all enjoy picking something to read to ourselves. It will come, and faster than I probably would even want to wish for! Kali, of course, has absolutely no objections to a reading night and is normally the first one in the living room with a book.I've been so grateful to have Kali's creativity and enthusiasm in the kitchen on Mondays - my first day of work for the week. She has come a long way since the first meal of peanut butter toast and super sugary juice she made for us a few years back. Last night's meal had the added fun of being a "p" meal - I sense a new tradition of "letter meals" starting. We had personal sized polenta pizzas with pesto, parmesan, and pasta sauce (and spinach, olives, cheese and oregano on top). And as sides we enjoyed pickles, pickled beans, and sauteed peas. We ate sitting on pillows and used as many p words in our dinnertime conversation as we could. Later in the evening we tested popcorn and played a game. It was a perfectly pleasant family evening! I'm thinking we better do an "s meal" soon so we keep working down our squash pile!
One of our dinnertime conversations recently was about Lent and what, if anything, we wanted to do for Lent as a family or individually. As is fairly typical, Alida was uncertain of her desire to engage in giving up something or doing something challenging, but you could tell that she also wanted to be a part of it. We were all suggestions she might give up whining or complaining about cleaning up. She initially said she would try not whining but then decided she wanted to pick something that wasn't hard so she decided for Lent she would give up climbing to the top of a mountain. At one point in the conversation she burst out, "I don't like Lent." We could not help being amused!
The rest of us each made an individual commitment (Jason - no internet searches; Kali - lights out and no reading past 10:30 p.m.; me - no seconds at meals). And as a family we will make no food purchases during Lent. We have given up grocery stores before, but this takes us to a new level. Looking forward to it! It starts tomorrow so Jason needs to do his asparagus research today...
The other thing I've enjoyed recently, is some outdoor time. Terah is enjoying riding facing forward in the front pack and looking around, when she is not riding tucked in against me sound asleep. It's so fun to see the girls enjoying the outdoors, their chickens, Kali's ducks, the snow, and the fresh air! Speaking of the outdoors, they are getting eager to head out into the fresh wet snow that has been accumulating since last evening:
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| Daffodils poking up in Nora's garden |
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| Checking out the access path Jason and Jonathan are working on clearing |
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| The stream at the end of our driveway with icicles on the log crossing over it |
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| Some confusion here on who belongs in the pen |
Better not neglect a little Terah update before I wrap this up, as she is the one changing the fastest around here. We discovered after multiple unsuccessful tries that she now enjoys being swaddled to go to sleep at night. It works really well for settling her and getting her into her first initial deep sleep. I had hopes of it being the ticket to a full night of sleep for me. Well, it seems it is not "the ticket" but maybe one of several sleep aids (and we haven't discovered the others yet). She is notorious at getting herself out of her swaddle by about 4 in the morning and from then on is her restless self. This morning, I finally gave up on sleep at about 5:15. She is now so in the habit of not pooping in her diaper that she grunts, squirms, farts and otherwise disrupts my sleep until I rouse her enough to take her potty. Then she is all smiles and this morning Jason and I enjoyed mugs of decaf coffee, a little progress on the book we are reading together and welcomed the snow-transformed world outside as light returned.
Terah enjoys so much when her big sisters wake up. This morning they enjoyed some sister cuddle time before getting out of bed. Alida is not sure about Terah's new interest in grabbing hair so she was keeping her distance after Terah's first handful. Both girls seemed pretty excited about Terah getting to enjoy a taste of our p meal last night. Terah has been getting so interested in what is happening around her and it seems like she often gets agitated at mealtimes (once again not being interested in sitting placidly on my lap while we consume all sorts of interesting looking foods). So last night, I caved. She likes dill pickles. See for yourself:
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