From Black Eyes to Black Spoons

The other day I pulled out a black plastic spoon to help Amelia feed herself. It's now her favorite spoon and she asks for it incessantly until it appears. The thing is, she pronounces black as "blap" and when she puts it with spoon, the "s"disappears so it winds up being "balp poon". When repeated in quick succession it sounds like Amelia is demanding a baboon.

And speaking of primates (or primate-like animals ... it seems that I've heard that not all of them are in the primate family, but I am no biologist and can't keep it straight), did you know that monkeys are Irish? At least the ones here are because Amelia keeps calling them mickeys.

First Black Eye

I finished setting up the Pack-n-Play, turned and walked back toward the front door for the gate. Behind me, I hear Amelia say, "No, no, no, no," and can tell she is following me.

I reach the gate and turn around to assure her I'm not leaving her yet and I see her run full force into a shelf in her pursuit of me. She falls onto the floor and is soundlessly screaming. I scoop her up and try to soothe her. I tell her to breathe. She starts wailing and I try to quiet her. "Doda" brings me ice as I try to assess the damage. There is a bruise already starting to form on the outside corner just under her right eye. The ice comes and it only gets worse for Amelia and she stiffens and tries to get away from me, still screaming with her eyes squeezed shut.

There was minimal ice application, but enough to make a difference, I think. I hope. She clearly didn't want me to leave and wouldn't be fooled by attempts at distraction. "Look, Amelia, your favorite toy! Look at this book, Amelia, it has all kinds of shapes!" She'll sort shapes for me, but is very interactive and I cannot just slip away. If I start to move, she grabs my hand. I finally had to just leave for work while she cried. She did stop before I got in the car, but I still worried all afternoon about her eye. Did it puff up more during the afternoon? Did it affect her nap because she rolled over and the pain woke her up?

I rushed home from work and her eye was no worse than when I left. She had taken a 3 hour nap and was being her usual playful self. I still feel so bad about having caused it by not turning around fast enough, for walking away from her in the first place. She loves me so much and it seems sometimes that all I do is leave her, even though I don't want to.

[picture dated 9/26/07]

WaWa

Amelia loves her Baby Einstein videos. She will ask for one each morning and she will sometimes ask for one after a nap. Her pronunciation of video is "Wawa" which makes me think of my friend, Barb.

If you ask Amelia if she wants to watch a video, she grabs your hand and drags you to the video cabinet. However, if you ask her if she wants to watch a wawa she just looks at you, if you get any reaction at all. Apparently, she doesn't realize she says, "Wawa"; she thinks she's saying, "video" just like us.

I guess when all the books say not to use toddler-speak, they're onto something. Imagine that.

Achoo!

You can tell how obervant and mimicky Amelia is. With Fall allergies and colds affecting people around here, there has been the occasional sneezing heard in stores, church and other places. Amelia has randomly been saying, "Achoo! Achoo!" as if she's sneezing. If she does actually sneeze, she then says "Achoo! Achoo!" after the sneeze, too. Very cute.

Happy Birthday Amelia!

Baby Girl is 2 years old. Wow.

We had a great party with family & a few friends. Tia Polly made the most beautiful (and delicious) clown cake.

Amelia was overwhelmed with all the presents and began playing with old toys. (She did the same thing last Christmas, too.)

I really enjoyed seeing my daughter play with her cousins and friend. She's growing up so fast.

[pictures dated 9/22/07]

Crabby pens

She loves her toy crab. I have sort of gotten used to hearing what sounds like "Crap! Crap!" and mentally translating it to "Crab! Crab!" The crab is always nearby when this happens, and soon thereafter it's in her hands. And it makes her so happy.

This afternoon I realized just how much this transition/translation has started to become natural to me. A co-worker said something about crappy pens and I immediately thought, "How can pens be crabby?"

Two years ago right now I was 30 minutes into my hospital stay, and 90 minutes away from giving birth. Painful but worth it. Wouldn't you agree?

[picture dated 9/21/07]

Where Does the Time Go?

10 years ago today my husband proposed to me.

2 years ago today we were 2 days away from becoming parents.

She is so amazing.

[picture dated 9/16/07]

Stuck

As Daddy said last night, "It's so nice how she can communicate with us now." I am continually amazed by the words she says that I don't remember teaching her or even uttering. What I took as "no mom" was actually her version of "snowman" which she saw on my tea mug a couple of weeks ago. So smart! When I tell her she's smart she immediately says, "And busy!" - which is what her Nana tells her all the time.

She nows says "stuck" which comes out "duck". It really is useful because instead of crying, she'll say "hand duck" or "toe duck" when I don't even realize she's gotten a body part stuck in a shopping cart or a toe under her Sit-n-Spin. Sometimes, she does it for effect. She was playing with her nesting cups and putting her hand into the little ones and saying "hand duck!" and I'd say, "Oh, poor baby!" which makes her laugh.

Many of Amelia's words are clear but several are just close proximities. I felt kind of like a dork when I first realized not everyone is as tuned into Amelia's budding vocabulary as I am so they can't be amazed when she identifies something as "cree!" (green). But she does amaze lots of strangers when she starts accurately identifying letters in a sign at the post office or counting items in the shopping cart at the store.

Daddy still likes to try to get her to perform, which of course she won't do. And while it shows an active imagination, it doesn't necessarily show off her intelligence when we meet neighbors while walking and she points to the propane tank in the yard and yells "pig!". (A couple of months ago she started saying "pig!" when we passed this one yard and I couldn't figure out if she was saying pig or pink, and I definitely couldn't figure out what she was seeing since I saw no pink flowers are little pig yard ornaments. Then at her friend's house she ran up to their propane tank proclaiming "pig! pig! pig!". I thought it was cute, so I haven't corrected her. She'll be 8 and still think those things are some kind of pig I guess.)

The last half of last week

Livia came over Thursday and both girls played on the Sit-n-Spin which was great fun.

Friday morning Amelia discovered the pockets on her overalls and was putting her finger puppets in them. It was SO cute! She was getting a little frustrated because she would try to hold the pocket open with her opposite hand, but her arms aren't quite long enough to do that easily. I then showed her the pocket she has on her bib (chest) and she was thrilled to have another option.

Saturday we were planning to attend an outdoor festival but we were delayed during our errands and decided against it. While we were taking care of our first errand, Amelia walked up to a man in line, touch the "N" on his New Balance sneaker and said, "Zee!". The woman behind him was impressed by how smart she was and the man was a good sport and acknowledged that from her angle (her head was turned sideways as she did it), it was a "Z". It's good that people find her entertaining!

[pictures dated 9/13 & 9/14/07]

Play

Amelia can now say the word "play" and that's all she wants to do. She isn't shy to tell you, either. At first, I thought she wanted to pray because play sounds like, "purr-ay" with her r's for l's toddler speak. I felt really guilty when we left to do errands this morning. I opened the door to retrieve her Pooh juice (milk) and she said, "Purray?" I did buy her a sit-n-spin at the consignment store while we were out. It was the same store where I found the bench last week when she found a sit-n-spin and spent a good bit of time with it, but I passed on it. I've thought about it off and on this week and thought I'd see if it was still there. It was gone, but a nicer (newer) one was there for the same price. I had to pull the sticker off of it and take it to the register since her bottom did not leave the toy for long the entire time we were there.

Playing today has consisted of reading, which Daddy says isn't playing. I told him that Amelia considers the definition of playing to be any activity of her own choosing. It really was something, though, to see her do nothing but plop down on the floor with one of two different books ALL DAY. First thing this morning, after breakfast, after errands, after nap, after coming home from Nana's. This girl is a serious reader! I tried to take a picture and she did her new thing which is to point at me and say "Taa-er-a" (camera). But then I got this picture of my eager reader who really looks like she's changing, doesn't she? Daddy thinks so, too.

Self feeding has about gone out the window in favor of playing with books and toys. Tonight it was Thomas and Percy up on her tray. She asked for them nicely. Before I knew it, there was a "kisth!" between the two of them. So cute. Then they were up on the table because she spotted Good Night Moon on the floor and asked for "Moon book!"

I have encouraged her to say her words rather than point and whine and it's paying off. This practice started in earnest a couple of days ago in the grocery store. She was throwing the cat treats, which we were buying and which I had given to her for amusement because of the crinkly, child hand sized bag, on the floor. Then she would point and whine. So I told her, "Say 'treats please'". Whine and point. "Say 'treats, please'". Whine and point. Into her ear so she could hear me above her whining I quietly said, "Amelia, if you say 'treats please', I will give them to you." She said, "Tweats peas." I am glad it worked. We are still working on please and thank you, but she is much, much better about asking for stuff. I am continually surprised that if I speak to her like a person, even though I think it's too many words, she does indeed understand.

This evening she had to stay with Nana while I went to a meeting. When I came to pick her up she asked her Nana for "More cheese cwaKHers", using her "more" sign - which she always uses when asking for more of anything. The way she says crackers is so cute. Any time she uses a "k" or "q" sound, it comes from the very back of her throat. I don't know how she does it, and it's one of the neat things about watching her develop. When she say "car" it sound like she's ready to hack up a lung. Okay, I'm exaggerating. A little bit.

This morning I let her brush her teeth for the first time. I knew she's been ready and probably should have started months ago. Since the toddler toothpaste tube said for 2 years+, I figured 2 was a good age to start. These last couple of weeks any time I'm brushing my teeth she says, "Up, mama" and I get to hold her on my hip while trying to finish my teeth. Fun. This morning when I gave her the toddler toothbrush, she wasn't sure what to make of it and most of what she did was to brush her tongue. Tonight, however, she was more into it and even let me brush her bottom teeth. This tickled her gums and she laughed, which gave me an opportunity to brush her top teeth, which made her laugh even more. Then she wanted to put her toothbrush under the faucet just like Mommy, so she did that and then rinsed a little that way. I think we've had a positive beginning to this new bedtime ritual.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

I am so glad you liked the pretzel goldfish I got for you! And I know the gift certificate for a deluxe car wash will come in handy after our next roadtrip full of snack crumbs, milk droplets from my sippy cup as I shake it, and various bodily fluids that leak out.

I know it got a little crazy with all the people that came over to share birthday cake with you. It was fun, though, when you came into the living room to play with Livia and me while the rest of the grownups stayed in the sunroom.

Thanks for reading me books again tonight, even though it was your birthday. It's fun being able to use my words and say, "Up, Daddy!" and "Thomas book peas!"

You're the best daddy ever and I love you!

[pictures dated 9/10/07]

Bench

I took Amelia to a local children's consignment store in search of a riding toy. They had a couple, but neither held her interest. She really liked the sit-n-spin, but I passed on it for now. There was a bench she found that she really liked and it had room for toys. I decided it shouldn't pass it up, so it came home with us. She loves it. Even in the store she was declaring her enthusiasm for her "b**ch". (Yes, this post does follow the church post. Nice placement, huh?) I was going to say that I can't help that she was having a little trouble with the "n" in bench, but we have been working on it.
Since acquiring the bench, she has enjoyed putting toys in and taking toys out, sitting on it and in general just loudly naming it as she stands close to it, left arm stretched towards it, and looks at us with her eyebrows raised, proclaiming its presence as if we weren't otherwise aware of it. She sometimes gets the "n" in there, too.


Other inhabitants of our house have also found a use for the bench.


[pictures dated 9/7 & 9/8/07]

Church

Since we went to KY this past weekend we didn't go to church. Every morning since Sunday, at some point during breakfast, Amelia will say, "Church!" and I explain, no, we aren't going to church today, we will go Sunday. It has now increased to every time we go out. Tonight I told her we were going to go for a walk (we usually go every evening) and she said, "Church!", and I told her, no, we go on Sunday. It amazes me that she seems to have missed it this week. I will admit I am getting a little tired of her asking about it and fleetingly thought about putting her in the car and driving to church to see if that would stop it for the next few days. Normally during breakfast she will say, "Nana!" since we see Nana two mornings a week when I drop Amelia off to play while I work. There's been no "Nana!" this week, just "Church!" I should mention I do think it's cute when she says "Church!" because her lips purse and it's just adorable.

Amelia's vocabulary continues to explode and I am loving it. It's just so much fun to hear her express herself. There are times that I have to concentrate to figure out what she's saying since "empty!" (her cup) sounds a little like "kitty!". She usually helps me out with "empty" by turning her cup upside down, like she did on the train this weekend. (Notice how white my leg is, especially compared to hers. It's not fair when your baby is more tan than you are.)

She still has not successfully peed in her potty, but that doesn't mean we haven't had a little excitement. Tuesday morning she woke up and the first thing she did was loudly exclaim, "Pee in potty! Pee in potty!" I got her to the bathroom, took off her diaper, and nothing. I've been talking to her a lot about how it's okay to pee in the potty instead of her diaper. This morning I thought we were making a little progress, and also after her nap, but still nothing. I don't want to force it, and at this point I'm just offering lots of opportunities and dialogue (although is it really dialogue when I'm doing most of the talking?), but I do want her to start making some connections. She understands so many other things that seem beyond her, like when I tell her it's the last bite and she does actually open her mouth for it, so I think she does understand at least a little of what I've told her about potty training. Tomorrow we will make a return trip to the library and I'm going to look for some potty books in the children's section to keep in the bathroom. If nothing else, these will give her a reason to stay put on the potty for more than 2.5 seconds.

Amelia is still very good at entertaining herself, for which I am grateful and often amused. Take this evening, for instance, when she discovered her cup of goldfish. Are these swimming upstream, I wonder?

And Happy Anniversary to Grandma & Grandpa!!

[pictures dated 9/2/07 & 9/6/07]

Labor Day Weekend

We traveled to KY over the holiday weekend and rode the Railway Museum's steam train. Amelia had lots of fun running up and down the aisles and exploring the empty seats as well as both ends of the train car we were in.

Since we were staying at a hotel, I brought swimming gear including a pink zebra floatie which was a big hit. Amelia liked it so much she sat in it after her bath, too.

We also took her to the state park where she had fun running around and chasing her ball. As Daddy observed, the irony in this is we sought out the area of the park that had a playground, yet she was content to play ball in the woody area next to the playground for a good 15 minutes. When we take her to the local college campus to run around and play ball, all she wants to do is climb the steps of the various buildings!

My favorite shots from the weekend come from hanging out in the dinner train parking lot the evening we got into town. We were going to take a walk in the historic downtown area and the train just happened to come in. Amelia was overjoyed! She hadn't yet seen the train at the museum since that was the next day. Once the dinner train was parked, we let her run along an extra track. She was so excited about it, too!

[pictures dated 9/1 & 9/2/07]