Another Day Out with Thomas

We took Amelia to see Thomas today and she loved it. We were headed up a grade and Thomas didn't quite make it and we had to back up for a little bit for another start at it. She seemed a bit bewildered but took it in stride. The funny thing was the pre-planned music playing over the loudspeakers was chorusing about "Don't ever give up". Too funny.

She was so excited about seeing Thomas and talked about it spontaneously throughout the week. She mentioned it several times last night and again this morning. As soon as she took her last bite of breakfast she started taking her tray off saying, "Get down and go see Thomas!"There was a bit of a carsickness incident just a few miles before we got there, but nothing a change of pants couldn't overcome. Unfortunately, she had on some really cute Thomas shortalls and wound up spending the day with red pants on instead. She didn't seem to care, though.

She wore herself out and fell asleep on the way home and even let me transfer her to her bed and slept another two hours. Wow!



[pictured dated 5/31/08]

Her first lesson in Homophones

Earlier today I told Amelia she had bare feet. About an hour later she said, "Mommy has tiger feet!" I was trying to figure out what she meant when it occured to me that she must have thought I told her she had bear feet. Silly girl!

And the Potty Training continues

Friday morning, after Amelia used the potty right after waking up she declared (and I mean declared!) that she wanted panties. This was after three days of No More Diapers for Ducky. I was a little hesitant but she was so insistent, so I went and got her little training panties. We brushed our teeth and got on with our morning. I told her (like usual) that she had to tell me when she had to go. I can't remember now if she told me or if I had her sit, but she used the potty again. Then we went and got the oil changed in my car - and she left the house wearing her panties. At one point I thought she might have to go and we went to the bathroom at the gas station, but she didn't go. As soon as we got home, she went! She did have an accident a little later, but then I also had to go to work and her sitter and daddy aren't as in tune with her so it was back to Pull-ups.

We had some similar situations over the weekend, but I participated in the yard sale Saturday morning and that threw things off, too. Yesterday and today we are about where we were - sometimes she goes, sometimes she doesn't and too many accidents in the panties. There are a few more instances of her telling me she needs to go, which is good, but we're definitely not ready for panties all day yet. I also need to be more consistent with the stickers because they do make a difference for her. I just have to say the word sticker and her little butt hits the potty.

And the naps. She isn't falling asleep until 4:30 and then she is groggy and cranky when I wake her up an hour later. (She usually naps for 2 hours.) And then it takes her 40 minutes to fall asleep at night, when she normally falls asleep right away. I'm not sure what to do. I've thought about skipping naps and putting her to bed earlier, but no matter how hard I try (what with the longer days and all) it's 8 pm before I know it.

But the bright spot? Summertime has finally arrived. Yep, no spring. We went from 40 degrees Friday morning to 80 degrees Saturday afternoon. And it's been close to or in the 80's ever since. Yay for sundresses!

Basketball!

We went to our neighbor's college graduation party today. It was held at their church picnic shelter which had a long set of stairs down to it from the parking lot. We got there pretty much exactly on-time, but there was still some time to kill before we could let Amelia help herself to some of the cake. She entertained herself on the stairs for a little while, then discovered there was a basketball hoop on the far side of the church. The guys took a break from their pick-up game to go get in line for some food and Amelia quickly appropriated the ball, but then couldn't decide whether to throw it or watch the kid riding the motorcycle. It really was a struggle for her. The kid on the motorcycle went out of sight and her focus returned to the basketball. She asked, "Daddy pick you up and put ball in net." Her verbal skills need a little help, but that was her way of asking her daddy to pick her up and lift her high enough for her to put the ball in the net. We laughed and he said, "I'll try!" She went along with it, even releasing the ball - far below the standard-height net. She wasn't phased and we bounced the ball around with her and took a few shots at the goal.

I wish I had brought the camera though - the look of pure delight on her face when her daddy had picked her up as she asked, with a genuine basketball in her hands going for the net.

(When we first got there she said something about 'party' and I thought she said she had to go 'potty' and was about to frantically look for a toilet somewhere. No, you can't tell we're in the throes of potty training, can you?)

It was a successful party for her - she ate cake, skinned a knee and got to play in the dirt - making a nice little hole with a stick. This was one of those few days that we decided to purposely skip the nap since the party was at 3 pm. I could tell she was tired but we headed out and she did pretty well. Before leaving the party, she insisted on a close-up inspection of one of Christy's presents - a stuffed alligator (not a UF Gator, but a gag gift based on her recent beach trip.) Amelia fell asleep on the way home, though - totally wiped out by 4:30 pm. Poor thing. So we drove to Wal-mart so she could get a little nap in after all.

Since we were out and about, we stopped at a buffet place for dinner where she truly enjoyed one of her new favorites - ham. (Yuck! She is so not my child sometimes.) She also had green beans, which she eats like they're candy, and some shrimp. I then promised her some ice cream and got up to get it, only to discover that they were (a) out of cones and (b) out of vanilla. I brought her back some pie, but Little Miss Great Memory says, "No, Mommy. Ice cream!" So I get up and bring her a small dish of chocolate ice cream and worried that this would not please her - but boy was I wrong! (Again, so not my child. We're going to need a bigger freezer if she develops a preference for chocolate ice cream.) Despite all the cake at the party and then dinner, she had no problem feeding herself the chocolate ice cream, with intermittent sips of water. Nothing pleases her more right now than drinking the glass of water I usually order for myself. She will alternate from using the straw to drinking from the edge, saying she's taking the "last sip" which is what we do when she drinks her milk at home and gets down to the last little bit that the straw can't get. She knows what she wants and she's not afraid to ask. That's my girl!

Other fun things

... that go on around here include:

running in the gravel (rocks!)

and

playing in the DIRT!!

[pictures dated 5/18 and 5/17/08]

2 Years, 8 months

Our little girl is definitely hurtling towards 3. Her awareness and conversation skills just keep growing by leaps and bounds. She continues to be delightful and she just enjoys things so fully. It’s still chilly here – 40 degrees this morning when we left the house – but we’ve spent recent afternoons blowing bubbles, drawing with sidewalk chalk and riding the big wheel.

At the park, she spends practically all her time in the sandbox now.

Potty training is still ongoing. We’re now up to using stickers as a reward and it’s pretty darn effective. We also have a new book “No More Diapers for Ducky” which we read on the potty. This seems to be sinking in. Daddy calls it brainwashing. On the page that says, “Ducky’s diaper is wet. Ducky’s diaper is cold.” I’ve added “Ducky’s diaper is yucky.” And I let her finish each of those sentences. Hey, whatever it takes. We’ve actually had a few instances in the last couple of days of her telling me she needed to go. We still have lots of wet “diaper pants” (pull-ups), but I’ll count the progress that I see instead.

She has become aware of the camera and the fact that she can see herself after I take her picture with the digital camera. She needs to learn the art of (1) being somewhat still and (2) staying at least arm’s length away from the camera. She is so eager to see the picture of herself that she comes at me before I even have a chance to take it. Her eagerness is cute, though.

We’re still having nap issues, too. Sometimes there’s no nap, sometimes there is. If she lets herself lay still and close her eyes, she falls asleep for two hours. But when she doesn’t … On the other hand, that gives us a little more freedom with our days knowing she can survive without a nap, as long as we still give her the opportunity at least 6 days out of 7. She usually doesn’t go two days in a row without a nap.

She’s doing a little better with hair washing, but it’s been a process of tricking her a little. Currently, she is washing her own hair by using Avon’s roll-on soap and then I let her use a wet washcloth to wash it off. She still gets a little concerned when I pick up a washcloth, but otherwise I think we’ll be okay.

She has started to interact with her stuffed animals. For a few days she was pretty attached to a light green bunny that she received for her first Easter. Then she discovered large plastic animals and she thinks they’re just the best. They go everywhere with us. I got her a set of dinosaurs and babies and those were popular for a while, too. It’s amazing how much fun it is to watch her enjoy her toys, make up little games and conversations with them, etc.

About the most consistent thing she is doing lately is wanting to take “somefin’ wif us” everytime we leave the house and car. It might be the green dinosaur that has to go with us to the car, but by the time we get to where we’re going it might be the plastic cow that needs to go inside with us.

It’s also funny to hear her say things to herself like “Watch where you’re going.” “Calm down.” She gets really distressed if she has dropped an object and can’t reach it. This has come in handy in the store if she drops the thing she insisted on bringing in. For example, I was in the grocery store picking out something and then I start to move and she starts saying in her very distressed tone, “Get lion! Get lion!” Otherwise, I would have merrily gone our way and realized later that the lion was missing and had no idea where it was.

I’ve discovered when she is having one of her meltdowns – whether it’s over a toy she’s about to lose forever or something she really wants like a leaf off a tree – she is really good about telling me what she needs if I just calmly ask her what’s wrong. I sometimes have to ask a few times, but she understands that if she calms down enough to tell me the best she can, I can usually make things better. I never would have guessed that she would be this cognitive at this age.

That’s the part I love about her inching towards three – hearing her express herself whether it’s through needs, wants or imaginary play with her toys and books. She’s neat and wonderful, and I love her so much.

[pictures dated 5/22/08]

Sidewalk Chalk

... is SO much fun Mommy!!

Notice the damp driveway. I'm tired of the cold, rainy days. She had long pants on earlier but then had a potty accident so I put the skirt on her, although her legs might have been a bit chilly. By evening she was back to jeans, plus her poncho and hat. Ugh. Sunshine where are you? And where did Spring go?!?!

[picture dated 5/16/08]

Philip's carrots

I have been a stickler about Amelia's nutrition since the day she was born. Some probably think I am obsessive about it, but something happened at the grocery store the other day that made me proud, nonetheless.

We went down the chip aisle because I was buying some chocolate for part of a birthday gift. While there I decided to hunt a coupon and I hear Amelia say, "Philip's carrots." (Philip is our "one white rabbit" as Amelia tells it.) Out of the corner of my eye, I can tell she is looking across the aisle at the chips. I figure there must be a bag of some kind of veggie puffs that have pictures of carrots on them to make you think they're healthy, and I continue with my coupon hunting. She repeats herself a few times and I look up to discover that what she is calling "Philip's carrots" are actually Cheetos! So I corrected her and told her, "No, those are Cheetos actually," to which she said, "Philip's Cheetos." Too funny. She was just determined that whatever they were, they were something Philip would eat since they were the same color as carrots.

And I was so proud of myself that my 2-1/2 year-old daughter doesn't know what Cheetos are. Maybe I'm doing something right after all? Or I'm just obnoxious. Maybe both. I did find her some all natural popsicles and gave her one tonight after supper. She kept asking me to "blow it warm" because she thought it was too cold. She didn't eat much of it, but she was delighted with it all the same. She loves her new word "popsicle" and kept saying it over and over again. And thanks go to B for reminding me to introduce my daughter to such wonderful summertime treats (even if summertime seems to have forgotten us).

The Simple Things

We took Amelia to her Daddy's favorite amusement park (because it involves a train). Amelia did enjoy the train, the carousel, feeding the goats and a few other things. But she also loved playing with the gravel, playing in the weeds (okay I'm sure it's something that's supposed to be growing there) and the PLAYGROUND!

Yep, we drove 2 hours for her to do enjoy those 3 things more than anything else. Okay, the carousel and train were a close 2nd.

The amazing thing was that she remembered that the last time we went, Daddy went to a basketball game afterwards. On the way there she kept telling us about how we'll get there "and then Daddy go to basketball game". That was in October. She's amazing.

[picture dated 5/10/08]

Dogwoods

We were leaving the post office the other day and the dogwood tree out front was just past full bloom with some of the leaves already replacing the pretty white flowers. I picked Amelia up so she could see the flowers more easily and I told her that it was a dogwood tree. She responded, "Goes woof!" Uh, yeah. Kind of like how eating hot dogs makes Rover a cannibal. Anyway ...

I asked her if she wanted a flower (she's been picking azaleas like a madwoman) and she said, "No, I want a leaf!" So I picked her a leaf and headed for the car. She decided that she wanted a white flower after all, so after settling her in her carseat I went back for a white flower. I brought it back to her and showed her how it has four petals. We weren't out of the parking lot before we had a lesson in subtraction because the flower suddenly had just three petals. She didn't mind though.

Peanut M&Ms

Amelia has been introduced to peanut M&Ms and she loves them. (Who doesn't?)

We were playing at Livia's house and at some point Livia came outside with some and offered a yellow one to Amelia. (I think Livia is clued into that being one of Amelia's favorite colors.) I was concerned about Amelia choking on the M&M, but she had no trouble figuring out that you chew it.

I jokingly said that Livia was Amelia's pusher, especially after the second one when I redirected Amelia to the azalea bush. As she went running off to gather more flowers, Livia was running behind her with her arm outstretched offering more M&Ms. It was really cute to see Amelia plop down to enjoy another one and seconds later have chocolate drooling all the way down her chin!

Danger Lions

It took us a minute to realize she meant dandelions. The fact she was standing in a patch of grass that Daddy specifically left unmowed so she could enjoy the abundant dandelions was a big clue.

Amelia definitely has a thing for pulling up grass. At Livia's when the girls play on the slide, she insists on running over, pulling up weeds, going up the stairs and then dropping the weeds, roots and all, just prior to following them down the slide. Just one of her little idiosyncracies!