Latest Obsession

Dora Dora. It's the only thing she wants to watch. Not only that but specifically this episode. What could be better than Dora AND Santa? Nothing. That's what.

Just Calm Down Mom

So I totally underestimated my daughter on Saturday. At the end of my work day my coworker asked if I was taking Miss A to the Santa Claus parade. Firstly, I had no idea the Santa Claus parade was that evening. Normally it is on Saturday mornings. (And I am working so I could never go.) Then I explained to her how I wasn't sure that would be such a good idea because it would likely just involve a lot of screaming and certain individuals trying to jump on floats or end up getting run over by one. I wasn't optimistic.

But later on I felt guilty. I decided that I wanted to try to take her. Even if it was awful, we could always pack up and come home.





And then it wasn't awful. In fact, it was pretty fun. I bundled her up warmly, buckled her into the stroller and we watched the parade together. She sat very patiently even between gaps in the floats. She gasped appreciatively at the lights, animals, vehicles and people. Pointing and asking "What's that?" frequently.

(A pretty impressive 'Transformer' float)





Finally Santa and his reindeer came. I thought they were in a bit of a hurry. I didn't even have time to get a decent picture. In the end I was so glad we went and I was so proud of my big girl!


(Quite frankly, this picture scares the crap out of me.)

YouTubesday

Man, I wish we had time to put more of these videos up. I filmed this about a week ago. I thought I should document her ability to mimic one of her favorite shows. Once I flipped the screen around so she could see herself she was in fine form singing and repeating the dialog. I think it perfectly captures her at this age. Her energy, personality, temper. This video has got it all!

Interesting Wardrobe Choices

Lately Miss A has been more opinionated about her wardrobe. On some level I think she realizes her choices are for home only. She hasn't requested to wear any of these outfits anywhere else.

Speedo with pink socks (Personally, I was impressed she chose matching socks...)



Faux fur coat (AKA-bunny suit) worn with diaper.



Ladybug (Last years Halloween costume)





And finally, my personal favorite - Tap shoes and a diaper (And of course we need to dance!)

Snowone

As I mentioned before we have been subjected to Christmas carols for some time now. Even before that Miss A has been talking about snow.

I have no idea where this has come from. I'm sure she couldn't possibly remember snow from last year, maybe I'm wrong. I guess they have referred to it on some of her shows, but still. It's like she knows.

When we are watching 'Baby Santa' she gets so excited the multiple times they show snowmen. Also, there is one part where a kid is making a snow angel and we have explained what she's doing.

We can often find her laying on the floor trying to duplicate. Only she tells us she's making a snow one.

One thing about having children. They can make you appreciate things that you may otherwise be dreading. Like cold. And snow. Enthusiasm is contagious.

And I Washed His Mouth Out With Soap...

Miss A has recently acheived the ability to mimic anything we say. I don't believe there is any word that really stumps her.

Last Night:

Peter and I are sitting on the couch and A brings her Ken and Barbie dolls to us. Being the funny parents that we are we begin a dialog between them, mostly for our own entertainment. (The male doll is actually named Blaine and he is very tanned with long flowing hair)

Barbie began running her fingers through Ken's sunbleached locks, telling him "I really like your hair, it's so nice!"

"Thanks!" he says in a surfer accent.

"Do you like my hair?" Which is actually a bit frizzy and wild.

"Yeah, it's bitchin'!"

I look at Peter with wide eyes and Miss A says "Batchin! Batchin!" We both stiffle giggles and I remind him that we will really have to watch our mouths from now on.

This post is all about Miss A growing up.

She over half as tall as I am. This means that carrying her around is a work out in itself. Recently a friend (who doesn't have kids) was visiting and she noted that I carry A a lot. I hadn't actually thought about it before, but it's true. And it's not because I'm in denial that she's more little girl that she is baby. It is simply because I don't want to fight with her thirty more times a day. You see, on occasion I do let her walk while holding my hand. This rarely goes well. Mostly, she decides that she is not interested in going to the car, or into the store, or to the gym without going on her own adventure first. Let me also point out that her own adventure would likely involve running into the street to get hit my oncoming traffic.

When I tell her "No, sweetie we are going to go _______" she'll plunk herself down on the ground and commence screaming. I then have to carry her anyway, only it's much harder than usual because she's writhing and squirming rather than coming willingly. So this is the reason that I carry my gigantic child around. I keep telling myself it won't be forever. And for any of you in the "Just make her walk, you're only babying her" camp, I invite you over to try. I can't make this child do anything. I have to be really sneaky about it.

She is still in love with anything and everything artistic. She particularly enjoys markers. The other evening she was practicing drawing with her mouth. You never know when this could come in handy.



Her vocabulary in constantly growing. Lately, her phrasing has been hilarious. She often says "Um Mommy, slkj thsso theos ssht day?" or "Um Daddy, wwofh Casey hmn? (Yes, I know that's a bunch of jibberish! That is my written interpretation of her nonsense speak.) It's always funny when you think to yourself "Where did they get that?" and then five minutes later you catch yourself saying that very thing. (minus the jibberish.)

In general, I find her to be so much fun. She makes me laugh every day and I love watching the person that she is becoming develop. I see great things in her future.

Copycat

Today I was once again reminded that my daughter watches EVERYTHING we/I/everyone do/does.

Last night I was pounding the nails back into one of the drawers of our horrifically awful cupboards while she watched. I thought nothing of it at the time. This morning she had her toy hammer and when I heard her banging away I found her determinedly hammering the SAME drawer. It really hit me what a copycat she is. The responsibility hit me like a brick in the face.

I hope I remember that the next time I lose my temper. She already has my frustrated growl perfected.

I Wanna Dance!

I know that everyone has dreams and aspirations for their children. I also know that all parents are deluded and blinded by love when it comes to their child's talent. But I've gotta tell you guys. My daughter is the most amazing 2 (almost) year old dancer I've ever seen. She digs music so much. In fact, she will groove to any sort of beat at all. Like the rhythmic noise of the grocery cart wheels on the tile floor in the mall. The sound of a train going by on the tracks. Wherever we go that there is music playing she immediately perks up and starts bopping around.

When she dances she moves her whole body. She moves her shoulders, her hips, everything. She does little spins with her arms stretched out. And she's smiling the whole time too.

At her Grandma's place you can see the television from the table. Since it was a novelty we always used to have cartoons on while we had lunch. It used to distract so that she wouldn't decide she didn't like something, she'd just watch her show and eat anything. The other day we discovered we can no longer have cartoons on while we eat. What happened was when music came on she loudly proclaimed:

“I want DOWN!” “I wanna DANCE.”

I quickly changed the channel to something she was not at all interested in. But I had to admit her words were music to my ears. Now every time I watch this show I daydream that maybe one day I'll be the geeky parent in the audience watching Miss A on the stage. Holding up a sign that says “Miss A is DA BOMB!”

Still a Baby, Yet Also a Girl

My girl she is a growin' up. She is in this weird phase right now between baby/toddler and little girl.

We are still breastfeeding a tiny bit. And given her age and how smart she is I am amazed that she's never asked for it or tried lifting up my shirt or anything like that. What she does do however is tell me when “It's all gone.” She'll stop nursing and lift her hands up almost into a shrug and exclaim “It's all gone.” and then we switch sides. She'll do the same on the other side. The first time she did it I thought she was playing but she's deadly serious. I think it's the funniest and cutest thing.

We have been gradually working on the potty training thing. She doesn't ask to go but if I ask her if she has to go she'll enthusiastically run to the potty. And regardless of whether or not she actually goes she flushes the toilet, waves and says “Bye, bye poo!”

When we are changing her diaper now she'll ask “Is it a poo?” and if it's not she'll say “Just pee.” She is totally mimicking me because I think I have always said that while changing her diaper since she was born.

It's so funny what they learn and what they are paying attention to. It makes me a little nervous actually. I never know what she's going to say next!

She Speaks!

We have moved on to sentences around here. Most of them start with “I want” and end in a variety of ways. For instance:

“I want DOWN!”
“I want Up!”
“I want juice!”
“I want bottle!” (b pronounced like a p)
“I want food.” (pronounced a bit like fuud)

But some other cute things she's been saying are “Again?” after every game we play or song we sing. And then I say “Again?” and she says “Okay!” The “Yee Haw!” thing I mentioned yesterday, she says this whenever she sees a horse or rides piggy back or now, when she's on the bike. She also says “What happened?” when she drops something on the floor or when 'something happens'. She also randomly says “Oh, Hi Mommy!” as though she just noticed I was there.



She also knows opposites really well. Down came first. Then we spent some time on the teeter totter saying “Up, Down, Up, Down” and she learned Up as well. I also give Elmo credit for that one. She learned Hot pretty quickly. Not she always says “Hot” when I give her a warm meal or when we get into the car. I'm not sure when and how she picked up Cold but she knows that one too. When I give her yogurt popsicles she'll say “Cold”. She also says it when we walk into the shade or when the wind picks up. The most comical one lately is “Push”. It is always said with an exclamation point at the end. She will say this whenever she's trying to get doors open, the fridge open or when dressing or undressing her babies. Lately she has started to say Pull as well. But “PUSH!” is still my favorite. I send my midwife a message the other day saying that perhaps Miss A would go into the midwifery profession as I often heard her say “Push! PUSH! All done.”

I also measured her height yesterday. She is measuring 34 ½ inches tall. After consulting the growth charts I see that she is indeed in the highest percentiles. It's weird Peter feels slightly saddened by this since he found being tall to be uncomfortable when growing up. I myself always wished I'd been taller. For her sake I just hope it serves her well in some way in whatever activities she chooses. I guess the career of jockey will likely be out of the question for her.



She continues to have no fear on the playground. She climbs almost anything without a moments hesitation. The other day we had to prevent her from following a ten year old boy who slid down a pole. She was convinced she could do the same. I hope she always has that attitude in life. “If he can do it, so can I!” For right now it's a little difficult to explain why that's not always the case.

The temper is as bad as ever although the tantrums seemed to have eased. Or I'm getting used to them or better at avoiding them. I referred to myself as a storm watcher the other day in regards to her and her anger being like the weather. I use that analogy a lot actually because I also have this theory that I treat her tantrums the way you treat a very bad storm. Take cover and wait for it to blow over. There is no stopping that kind of storm. And it's futile to get in it's way. It's probably something she just has to do every now and then to relieve the frustration that builds up inside of her. Whatever. It seems to work for us.

What's New?

I realize that I haven't given many updates about Miss A lately. Other than to reiterate what a handful she is. Let me tell you some of the cute and fabulous things she is doing these days.

In the morning after we have our snack and cuddle I ask her if she wants to go get the kitty. She excitedly climbs off the bed and stands at the basement door so we can go down and let him out of his room. (In case any of you are wondering why our cat sleeps in a room in the basement it is for the good of everyone. This way he does not disturb anyone's sleep and he gets to keep living.) Anyway, we go downstairs and she says “Kitty! Kitty!” and when we let him out she follows him up the stairs again, chatting in her own language.

At the end of an episode of 'The Big Comfy Couch' they say “And the Cow jumps over the Moon!” and she always says “MOON!” at that part. And then they have a logo for the production company which is called 'Radical Sheep' and there is a “Baaa!” noise to accompany it. A always does the “Baaa!” as well. It took me a while to figure out what she was doing. Then I felt guilty that she knows the show so well that she can do that. Then I forgave myself because it's a good show and she loves it.

She loves shoes. She can put almost all of her shoes on herself and she almost always puts them on the right feet without any help. She often puts on several different pairs in a row, as though she's trying to choose the right pair to go with her outfit. If I tell her certain ones to wear she usually knows which ones I'm talking about. She also enjoys wearing other peoples shoes. Especially flip flops. She doesn't have any of her own and I never had to show her how they fit between your toes, she just figured it out. She walks around in my flip flops and they look like snow shoes. She is surprisingly graceful in them too. When we walk in a shoe store she exclaims “SHOES!” almost before we're through the door.

She also likes hats. I have about three hats that sit on a shelf near the front door. She often gets them down and brings them to me. She'll wear one and hands one to me to wear. Then we switch. This game can go on for some time.

At bed time we rock in a chair in her room. She likes to have several stuffed animals on her lap at once. Then after a while she'll say “Bye” to each of them and toss them on the floor.

My Big Girl

Everyday Miss A seems more and more grown up. Here are a few examples...

Here she is feeding her baby. (baby is also one of her favorite words) I'm not sure why she always takes all the babies clothes off or why the baby has that large hole in her crotch. Doesn't she look like a great little Mama? Until she drops the 'baby' on it's head...



And here she is just chillin' on the couch with Casey. Watching 'Baby Einstein'. I can imagine her looking like this as a teenage girl, except she"ll be much bigger and watching something else on T.V.



She's trying to royally mess with her Dada's computer here... Change his password or something. If I leave the room I'll often to come back to find her sitting there. I guess she comes by it honestly.



And this one Peter took last night while I was at work. First time she's done it but it was only a matter of time. I don't know if she was trying to help me with my Christmas cards or what. Kinda scary...




So, she's officially growing up too fast. I'm pouting about it.

Miss Tall Pants

I have always wanted to be taller. Ever since I accepted the fact that I had stopped growing and I would never be any taller than 5'4. I looked at the girls who were taller than me and felt jealous of how their bodies seemed so streamlined, their legs so long. I thought they looked graceful, like dancers. I however had the body of a football player – strong and solid.

I often dated guys who were much taller than me, not difficult considering how short I am, but these guys were usually at least 6 feet. Eventually I married a tall man. Lucky for me he just happened to also have all the other qualities I was looking for in a husband. I couldn't help day dreaming about the tall children we would have one day. When I was pregnant with Miss A I wondered if she would be tall like her Dada and hoped that for her sake she was.

Now my dream is a reality. But the ironic part? It's not all I was hoping it would be. At almost fifteen months she is “off the charts” at 34 inches tall. Her height enables her to climb up onto furniture with absolutely no trouble as well as reach things that should be out of her reach. She can press the Start/Stop button on the microwave and enjoys the beeping noise that it makes. She can grab anything off the table as long as it's relatively close to the edge. She can reach the top of her dresser or to the third shelf on her bookcase. If she felt like it I'm sure she could climb right out of her crib.





Lets just say I'm starting to see the downside of this tall thing. Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad for her to get some of my freaky short genes...

Goodbye Baby A, Hello Miss A

The other evening I spent over an hour folding up A's baby clothes and packing them into a large plastic storage tub. I was amazed at how nostalgic I felt looking at all the tiny sleepers, outfits and especially her little black Robeez.





Again I was struck with regret about how little I enjoyed that time in her life. (I know Beth, I'm over it. Really. I am. Almost.) Maybe I'm deluding myself but when I think back to those days now they didn't seem so bad. She couldn't go anywhere or get into anything. She couldn't take off her clothes or hide her shoes. Why was it so hard? Oh, because she rarely slept and didn't eat well. Right. That's why.






Still, packing away those clothes made me think about a lot of things. What if our next baby is a boy? Very few of her baby clothes would be suitable for a boy. Not even the sleepers. Somehow the thought of pulling all of this stuff out again for another little girl seems exciting and the thought of possibly having to get rid of most of it is sad. Not that we wouldn't like to have a little boy, but... you know. Or maybe you don't. I don't even know if I know.






I guess I'm just surprised to see how fast she is growing up. She is learning to do new things all the time. She is climbing and descending stairs. She can get down off of our bed. She is saying more words all the time and talking more in general. She's just so big. She used to be such a peanut. Here she is just over a month old in one of the sleepers I packed away. She's all yellow and sleepy still. It almost seems like a lifetime ago...

Boo! Look What I Can Do!

Freaky smart things my daughter has learned (without our help) right before Halloween. She can unscrew the lid on her very tightened sippy cup. Oooooh! (May I also mention it was FULL of apple juice and she was drenched and so was the floor) While I was making her cereal and toast for breakfast she brought me her little play toaster from her kitchen. Coincidence? I think not. And finally while we were visiting a friend she made her way down several carpeted stairs without us knowing about it. (Bad parents, we need a spanking!) We even had a board across the stairs which had a small hole which we covered up with our jackets. She moved the jackets, wiggled through the hole and crawled safely down the stairs. Scary! What's really scary? We haven't taught her to go down stairs. AHHHH!

Here are some of the brilliant things I've been doing lately. There have been times I've frantically been looking for my backpack (Baby Bag/Purse) only to find that I have it strapped to my back! We went grocery shopping and while Peter was buckling Miss A into her car seat I put returned the grocery cart. When we got home I realized I hadn't taken the groceries out of the cart! This just happened this morning, I was making our breakfast and I starting pouring my tea into a jar of jam instead of my cup! I don't know what you are all thinking but I think this proves a theory I have. That my daughter is actually an alien sent down to us from space to destroy my brain cells so she can take over the world. I'm kidding of course. I love the little monkey. But I think it's obvious she gets her brains from her father.

Who Woulda Thunk?

In those first couple of months after bringing Miss A home from the hospital I'm sure I thought I would never get a decent nights sleep again. I would like to be able to say that the joy of becoming a mother made the lack of sleep bearable. But I can't. I was miserable. I was depressed. I was exhausted.

If I had been able to see into the future to the present day, perhaps I would have had hope. My darling daughter has started doing the most delightful thing. When it is getting close to bed time she goes and gets her pajamas and her blanket and brings them to us. She actually realizes that she is getting tired and wants to get ready for bed.

Let's all take a moment to do a happy dance. Happy Dance, happy dance, come on do the happy dance.

Seriously. And not only does she get her jammies and blanket, but after I nurse her and put her in her crib – awake – she rolls onto her side and begins sucking her thumb. I cover her with her blanket, tell her I love her, shut off the light and close the door. And 8 times out of ten she doesn't cry and just goes to sleep!

Now I realize that discussing Miss A's ability to do this while some of my fellow Mamas out there are not so fortunate is grounds for burning me at the stake, but please know that I am not bragging. I am merely trying to offer hope. To let you know that one day this could be you. I wouldn't have believed it either. I'm sure that when the day comes when we transition to a toddler bed she will constantly be getting out of it asking for a snack, a drink of water, a cuddle. My tune won't be so care free then. I won't be doing this same happy dance then. And you may go ahead and laugh at me when that day comes.

*Let me also add that she is teething and has actually been getting up in the night and sometimes throwing up on me. So don't be too angry with me...

Taking Baby Proofing to a New Level

So way back when Miss A started crawling around we did some basic baby proofing. You know, outlet covers and putting unsafe stuff up out of reach. That seemed to do the trick. Sure she still managed to get into stuff but nothing really dangerous. The worst part of it all was having to tidy up whatever she'd gotten into.

Since she started walking three months ago the amount of trouble she can get into has been getting progressively worse. Somethings that stand out from those early days are finding her splashing in the toilet (yuk!) and discovering her in her room with bum cream all over her.



When we first brought her home from the hospital I remember cursing my love of older homes. Our hardwood floors are ridiculously creaky and often woke her up when we were on her way to put her into bed. Soon we all got used to the creaky floors. Now I have a new disdain for our home. Our cupboards are very... hmmm... what's the word? Cheap? Crappy? Either would do. I have a dream to replace them someday but for now, for now they'll have to do. The thing about these awful cupboards is that regular old baby proofy gadgets don't attach properly. So we've had to get creative.





So far they seem to be working well. It makes life a whole lot easier not having Miss A constantly hauling out everything from the cupboards. I know, how unfair of me. I do let her play with pots and pans sometimes but the problem is she has more fun just getting everything out than actually playing with any of it. And quite frankly, I find it exhausting.

Since she is rather tall for her age she can reach up to tables and to our desks. We have to make sure we don't leave anything near the edges or she'll pull them down. We had a Brita incident a couple of weeks ago. Water everywhere.

There are still some things that I haven't been able to find locks for. One being the garbage can. This is a necessity I think. She often goes into the garbage which I find totally disgusting and I tell her so. She could care less. She also enjoys throwing things such as toys or clothing into the garbage. The other day she threw one of her Dada's computer discs in. Luckily it was washable. I have tried teaching her to stay out but so far it hasn't worked. It just ends up being a lot of work for me washing the stuff that she throws in there.

A few different people have informed me lately that they didn't baby proof anything. They just taught their kids not to get into anything. To them I say “How nice for you.” I however seem not to possess the skills to do this. Or I have a more strong willed child. Or I'm lazy. In any case I find it easier to baby proof than to constantly be cleaning up the aftermath.

I think that all of you Mamas out there know that our husbands have a different “way” with the kids. I also know that Miss A seems to give her Dada a harder time with some things than she gives me. Example: Diaper Changes. She is not an easy kid for either of us to change but for some reason she seems to save up all her fighting strength for him. The same goes with stuff she shouldn't be getting into. She'll often get into way more trouble while he's looking after her. Because I work part time this means that I often come home to a very frustrated and exhausted Dada and a house than has that “lived in look”. Last night was the first time I've worked since some of the new baby proofing measures have been in place. Things were much more under control here and Dada seemed to be in rather a good mood. I think that's a good sign.



Maybe I'm whining. I'm sure all kids get into this much stuff. It's just new to me. I'm posting a list of the things she's been getting into. I may have forgotten some stuff. Let me know if your little angels have gotten into anything more interesting.

List of things Miss A gets into:

The CD/DVD drawer on the computer (we've added a locking code on our desktop)
our desks
tables
Drawers
cupboards
the garbages
bum cream
the toilet
The laundry
Our bedside tables
The cat food
The cat water