Imaginary Rocks

In Amelia's quest to always "take somefin' with us", she will pick up a rock - where none exists! The first few times she did this I was amazed and checked to be sure a small rock hadn't materialized in our carpet or wherever we happened to be. Now it's pretty commonplace - and handy because I don't have to keep track of whatever it is that she has decided to leave with, nor do I have to try to convince her to leave an item that doesn't belong to us if we happen to be somewhere else.

At the Doctor's Office

Amelia accompanied me to my annual "polka dot" (what she calls mole) check today (everything was fine, yay!). I had her in her stroller - it works wonders for containing an active 2-1/2 year old - and she was about beside herself wanting to sit on the exam table. I couldn't understand it until I realized that this was the first time in a long time where she wasn't the patient! After all, those well baby visits and occasional (and thankfully few and far between) sick visits do add up, plus my mole check last year was a solo trip while Amelia stayed with a sitter.

It was yet another amusing example of her pointing out to me how different things are from her perspective.

Constant chatter

... from the next room for the last 90 minutes. She's supposed to be taking a nap. Where does she get the energy? She's laying in her toddler bed/crib just chatting away. What is she talking about in there anyway? Her creativity is a sign of intelligence but doesn't she need sleep, too, for that brain of hers?

She is teething again - upper molars this time - and that is probably part of the issue. She is drooling everywhere and putting all sorts of stuff in her mouth that never is usually a problem, including her colorful pencil erasers which have been washed and safely tucked away until the molars make their appearance. As a result of stuffing her mouth with God knows what (including rocks from a gravel parking lot. Yes, really. She was too fast for me.), she now has a summer cold from a germ she apparently picked up. It seems mild but since she so rarely gets sick I feel bad for her. And besides, shouldn't being under the weather make her more susceptible to napping? Apparently not.

As I sit here listening, I feel like I've always known that voice. On the other hand, I feel rather fatigued knowing the ball of fire an un-napped 2-1/2 year old, known around here as Amelia, can be in the evenings. And we have somewhere to go tonight - Daddy's outdoor brass band concert - which she would enjoy a whole lot more if she were well rested.

I'm going to go hang some laundry. Maybe when I get back in she'll be asleep. Here's hoping ...

2 Years, 9 Months

It's the 22nd again, I can't believe it. Time is as fast as Amelia these days - we can't keep up with either one!

She still has cradle cap, though - you know that scaly stuff all the books and magazine articles say they'll outgrow? Well, they're wrong. And I've tried baby oil, zinc supplements, etc. Does anyone have any other recommendations?

[picture dated 6/22/08]

Magical Pony Stickers

We needed more potty stickers so I let her pick them out at the store the other day. Tonight when she peed in the potty she got one of the pony stickers that she had picked out. Within 90 minutes she peed in the potty three more times!!! Each time she said she had to go potty, too. Wow!

Do not leave child unattended

... reads the warning on her potty seat. However, I don't think it was to prevent the following scenario that I walked in on when I checked on her.

You see, Amelia, like some children, can sit on her potty for quite some time, usually reading books to herself. Today I let her bring one of her little people and a little people dog in with her. I heard her playing with them, then I heard what turned out to be the top of the small garbage can that has a swinging lid. I poke my nose in there and she has them going through the lid (which is now on her lap), telling them they were going through a window. Cute. Imaginative. Then I notice that the little person has a shawl of wadded up toilet paper. I have no idea how Amelia had just the right amount of toilet paper and how it was wadded up in just the right way to not fall off and not completely mummify the little person.

Her burgeoning imagination and ability to safely amuse herself make me smile.

Rabba-oni

Yesterday our friend, Mary, went home and it was nice to be able to visit with her. It has been two years since she has seen Amelia and she taught her all kinds of fun things like "ants in your pants"!

During Mary's visit we got some Italian take-out and for Amelia I chose the ravioli which she loves. We were emptying the dishwasher last night and she started talking about the "rabba-oni" and I was able to record it, which almost makes up for the missed shot of Amelia on a goat farm.

At the goat farm, she made a bee-line for the outdoor bathtub with a running water spout that functioned as a giant water bowl for the goats. If I had my camera with me I would have gotten an adorable shot of her standing at the bathtub with 2 goats larger than her and a baby goat, all concentrating on the water - yep my Amelia is more interesting in water than she is in animals larger than her standing close enough to touch.

video dated 6/8/08

Fantastic!

It's probably from some show that she watches at Nana's, but Amelia will randomly and spontaneously blurt out FAN-tas-tic! throughout the day. It's her new thing apparently.