Happy Halloween

Amelia was a giraffe this year for Halloween. I wanted her to be something she could recognize, and something that would keep her warm. She was pretty unfazed about the get-up. I tried to show her that she had become a giraffe by opening the linen closet door to use the full length mirror. She was much more interested in the contents of the linen closet. Oh well.

While we were trick-or-treating, she had a lot of fun kicking her way through the dry leaves on the ground, crawling on the grass and even rolling over. Who knew giraffes did such things? [My experience with giraffes is limited to seeing one harass a zebra by nudging it in the butt and chasing it at a zoo.]

We had fun trick-or-treating among the neighbors and went with Livia and her parents. Then it was off to Nana's where a tired Amelia asked for a story.

This past Saturday was the fall festival and Amelia had her first hay ride which she loved. She heard the chug-chug of the tractor pulling us and turned to me and said, "Choo! Choo!" and I said, "No, it's a tractor." So she said, "Tractor!"

After the hayride we had trunk-or-treat in the parking lot. Amelia had more fun taking the candy out of the bowl and putting it back in. She was lining it up and if you took something, she got up and took it back from you, with a stern expression of disappointment on her face, as if to say, "You're a grown-up, I expect better behavior from you than that!" It was really kind of funny.

[pictures dated 10/31/07 and 10/27/07]

25 Month Check-up

Okay, so it was really her delayed 2-year check-up. Here are the stats:

height: 34 inches
weight: 27 lbs.
2 shots: 2nd HepA; 1st of 2 flu
2 bandaids ("bendends")

Amelia thought it was fascinating and a little fun to watch the nurses put gloves on their hands. I felt so bad seeing her smile knowing that she would soon be very upset. She calmed down very, very quickly, though. (see aforementioned 'bendends')

Daddy said he had heard that you double the 2-year height to gauge how tall one will be as an adult. That would make her 5'8". However, my 2-year height (yes, I got out my baby book) was 36", which would mean I should be 6" tall. I'm 5'5.5". So much for that old wives tale, huh?

What is interesting is her exponential growth - she has really caught up in the last year. Dr. Bradley said she wouldn't have recognized Amelia if I wasn't with her! And a nurse and staff member also told us they couldn't believe how much she has grown. I can't either - she was soooo small when we took her their for her first check-up at a mere 4 days old.

Guess who is ready for Halloween?

... or at least tonight's Fall Festival at church which will include hay rides and trunk-or-treating in the parking lot.

Special thanks to Grandma for buying the dress (last year at a consignment store for $3 complete with original tags!! guess where I get my bargain shopping skills from?) and special thanks to Dodah for the pumpkin face socks. And thanks again to cousin Ashley for the very cute handed down shoes (which I am about to outgrow).

[picture dated 10/27/07]

She's already found her Knight in Shining Armor

Amelia knocks on doors now. It’s hilarious. One day last week we were in Grandma’s living room and she walked up to the front door and knocked on [the living room side of] it. Then she said, “Knock knock!” followed by, “Come in!” Later in the week this became a little game with her and Papa. When we had her out of the stroller but contained in his hopsital room, she would knock on the door and he would then knock on his wall.

Part of the reason she probably has caught onto the concept of knocking on doors is that she has a puzzle type board with various doors on it and underneath each door there is a magnet. For example, behind the birdcage there is a bird. Her two favorites are the kitty, which is behind a regular front door to a house, and the knight in shining armor which is behind a wooden door made to look like a castle or fort door. She loves the knight so much I like to joke that she’s already found her knight in shining armor. She is also trying to say “knight in shining armor” because that’s what I tell her it is. Her version of it is too cute but I can’t even try to repeat it.

Sorry I missed this one

Daddy picked Amelia up from the sitter yesterday afternoon, as usual for our Wednesday routine. While they waited for me, he was reading her a story and she had her finger up her nose. This is something she does rather frequently, or so it seems. He asked her, "Amelia, what are you doing?" She responded, "I pick nose!"

So much for Charlotte

Daddy flew down to make the drive home with Amelia and me. Yesterday we were stopped for lunch and during the course of our conversation started talking about Charlotte. Since Amelia has been repeating a lot of words lately, I turned to her and asked, "Can you say Charlotte?" She grinned at me and said, "Sh*t".

After Daddy & I got over our shock and laughter, I made the obvious comment about how glad I was that we didn't name her Charlotte! Her mispronunciation makes sense in hindsight since toddlers (or at least this one) have trouble pronouncing L's. But really, who would have seen that one coming?

Big Girl Bed?

Amelia discovered she can climb out of her Pack-n-Play this afternoon during nap time so I tried to get her to sleep in the bed on the floor. (Grandma has one of those beds where a twin rolls out from underneath and can stay on the floor or come up and become part of the upper twin to make a king sized bed.) Amelia liked the novelty of the “big girl bed” but wouldn’t stay in it. Our Pack-n-Play has the harder part that the baby lays on and which wraps around the collapsed frame when carried, but it also has a mattress. A few minutes ago I removed the harder part and that seems to have taken out the extra bit of elevation she needed. I gave Amelia her walking Pooh Bear as a distraction and that helped quiet her “Bed! Bed!” tantrum as she reached toward the bed on the floor. [Update: It worked. She's asleep.]

I have to admit it was really cute when she wandered into my parents’ home office unexpectedly. She had put her little skirt back on – but with two legs into the same leg hole – and came in saying “Pants on! Pants on!”

We’re at Grandma’s four more naps and nights. This should be interesting.

Language Explosion

We were driving down to Grandma and Papa’s Saturday and we stopped at a rest stop. I got out of the car first to get rid of some garbage and when I came back my husband asked me if I often tell Amelia that I’ll be right back. I thought about it and said, “Hmmm, I guess so,” to which he replied, “As soon as you left Amelia said ‘Mama right back!’”. That cracked me up. You don’t realize the things you say until you hear them repeated back to you!

For a while Amelia has said things like, “Where Mama go?” with her hands outstretched. Now she says, “Found Mama!” or “I found Mama!” She is really beginning to talk in sentences and the other night she started saying the word “and”, as in “bird and dog and cat and ….”. This went on for a number of animals. She sounds so much more grown up talking in sentences or near-sentences, especially when she starts using my phrases like, “Come on!” when stands at the door and wants me to take her outside.

Since we’re at Grandma’s we don’t have her changing table to use. I told Amelia we needed to change her diaper and she said, “Lay down” and proceeded to lay on the floor for me. She is so smart! (and good!)

Her version of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” is really coming along nicely and I have yet to get it on videotape. It still starts out, “Tunkle tunkle” but her version is really starting to resemble the actual lyrics when she sings along with Daddy. However, he already went home so we’ll have to get it on tape next week. In the meantime she sang it last night with Grandma for Papa, so she's still getting some practice, although Grandma doesn't know to stop at the end like Daddy does, to let Amelia do the last "are" all by herself.

She has counted to 13 for Papa and will then start clapping for herself. If you don't start clapping along she commands you to "Clap!" I still think her version of 11 is very cute. She's doing so well it is probably time to add some numbers to her repertoire and maybe go to sixteen.

My Good Girl

I really think Amelia is a good girl but there have been a couple of comments lately by strangers that leave me unsettled. The first occurred in the post office about a week ago. (It wasn’t our usual, local office). Amelia was her energetic self and wanted to run around. I didn’t want to turn my back on her so I put her up on the counter to watch the transaction. She was still a little fidgety and the clerk asked me if I had fed her a lot of sugar that morning. I thought that was rude!

Then today at lunch Amelia wanted to feed herself her yogurt at a very informal restaurant (Mexican fast food at 11:15 am, no lunch crowd at all). I was trying to help her a little to ward off a big mess since I forgot her bib. She got a little insulted, which she also does if I carry her up a flight of stairs rather than letting her walk up them, and she did her fake little I-am-insulted cry. The people at the table next to me who were waiting for their take-out order with their 4 month-old baby immediately said, “Oh what a faker. You can tell she gets her way all the time.” I glared at them and they were like, “We have two older girls. We know how hard they can be.” Whatever. Maybe I am cutting her some slack since I’m her mother but I know that she was trying to tell me she could do it herself. Her cry wasn’t long or loud either, it was just a little expressed frustration at her overbearing mother.

Hiccups

Someone has taught Amelia about hiccups. The other day she actually had them when she was saying "high cups". Tonight, she didn't have them but I thought she might since she was gulping her milk. (She was drinking it from a cup like a big girl, with just a little help from Mommy.)

High cups. Too cute. I love her language development!

Phone Fun

Can you see the pure delight and joy in her face? This is Amelia with the land line phone a couple of weeks ago when she was still recovering from her black eye (eye boo boo). Her daddy had called and I thought she would enjoy hearing his voice and I also thought she might even say "Hi Daddy!" to him. But no, she thought it was WAY more fun to press the buttons and hear the sounds that the phone makes.

[pictures dated 9/29/07]

My Little MicroManager

The "old fashioned" (land line) phone has been ringing a bit more frequently around here lately due to Papa's health. Anytime we get off the phone - whether it's related to that, a sales call or some other random call - Amelia immediately starts commanding, "Phone back! Phone back!" And so back in the cradle it goes to keep Little Miss Bossy satisfied.

What does the cat say?

Amelia's not just the answer girl anymore. Ask her what sound a certain animal makes and she will answer you and then immediately ask you, "What does cat say?" followed with "What does cow say?" etc.

Sometimes, though, she doesn't answer your question first and just launches into her line of questioning. I find myself thinking, "Oh no, she is too young to start answering a question with a question!"

Daddy says we should see if she is ready for Jeopardy and, for example, say, "Quack Quack!" and see if she says, "What does a duck say?" I think that may be a little beyond her at this point. And, of course, he was being facetious anyway.

By the way, in case I haven't mentioned it before, my favorite answer of hers is "Bock Bock" for a chicken.

I'm telling ya ...

the girl LOVES her books!

She will read her books for 30-40 minutes at a time, quietly going through them. I'll tiptoe in to check on her from time to time and she is just so studious. I am glad she loves books so much and I hope it sticks.

[picture dated 10/2/07]