Connect 4

Probably about a year ago on a visit to Moe's for a burrito lunch we let Amelia amuse herself with the Connect 4 game they had there. (There were a bunch of games lined along the ledge of the half-wall between the line of folks getting food and the tables.) She had a blast putting the red and black "quarters" in and then letting them fall out only to do it all over again. A few months ago, we were sad to see that Moe's stopped supplying games and even Amelia noticed that she didn't get to play with her red and black "quarters".

When Grandma asked what Amelia wanted for Christmas I suggested Connect 4 and Grandma came through. Amelia opened it this morning (yep, she is still opening gifts ... we took a break yesterday and she only opened one today). She was thrilled with it and has had a blast all day - even making patters like L's and T's.

In other news, I paid my car off today. How exciting! Two days before Amelia was born I re-financed it - a suggestion by the Husband that I liked because it would allow for a smaller loan payment since I would be cutting my hours after having Amelia (and my 3-week maternity leave was unpaid except for some judiciously spread-out sick and vacation days). I made an effort to pay more on the principle whenever possible and it has paid off - literally! Yippee!

[picture dated 12/31/08]

Opposites

Amelia's latest fascination is opposites. "Are hands and feet opposites?" "Are long and short opposites?" Sometimes things are similar and I tell her so, like when she asks, "Is resting and taking a nap opposites?" Sometimes things are related, but I let them slide. Daddy doesn't. "Are hands and arms opposites?"

She also likes asking us, "Is it today or tonight?" (Meaning is it day or night.) She asks with enthusiasm, too. Strange but cute.

New Bed

Daddy bought Amelia's bed last week and we put it together yesterday afternoon. Let me tell you, I never want a career as a furniture assembler. Ugh. But hey, it was a great price and exactly what I wanted - drawers underneath and shelves in the headboard. We dropped Amelia off at Nana's at 2 pm saying we'd be back at 4 pm. We called a little before 4, then around 4:30, then again around 5 pm. We finally finished at 5:30 pm. I only had to drill four holes due to the guide holes being in the wrong place, and no pieces were missing or damaged - so I say we got off lucky.

Amelia adores her new bed and she uses her step stool to get up in it. We told her firmly there is no walking on the bed, only crawling. So far she has done well with following the new guideline. Before leaving to get her at Nana's, I put all her favorite stuffed toys on the two shelves. When she got home and crawled in, she promptly pulled all the ones from the lower shelf and surrounded herself with them.

In random news - she has assigned each of us with Backyardigan names. (This just confirms that she watches a little too much TV at Nana's.) I am Tyrone Mommy. She is Pablo Amelia. Then there is Niqua Daddy and Tasha Nana. I thought it was interesting that she flipped genders. She is consistent with this new naming system. While we are not always called by both names, they are invoked daily and consistently. (She is never Tyrone Amelia for example.) It makes me think of Spartacus Atticus from one of my favorite movies, Birdcage.

The other day it was super cold and I showed Amelia how she could make smoke when she exhaled. She thought that was great and we had fun for a few extra minutes before getting back in the car to go home. (We were out running Christmas errands.)

[picture dated 12/26/08]

Merry Christmas!

It's been a full day. Amelia hasn't opened all of her presents - she's been too distracted by the Thomas layout that greeted her this morning. (Thank you Aunt Jeannine for yet another great hand-me-down toy!) She opened her stocking presents and opened about four presents under the tree. However, the plastic dinosaurs ended any further unwrapping. Those combined with the train layout - literally - was all she was interested in after that. They went walking on the track, watched from the side as trains went by, etc. Daddy says there's a reason why dinosaurs are extinct. (Yes, there is, but I don't think it has anything to do with trains.)

When I called Amelia to the table for lunch she responded, "No! I need to play with my trains!" Daddy was proud.

In the late morning we visited Livia and her parents. After lunch the neighbors came over. Then we visited with a few other neighbors including Dodah. Then at 5 pm we went to Nana's and had a good time exchanging gifts and eating food.

[picture dated 12/25/08]

Merry Christmas Eve

We were putting the nativity scene on the hearth tonight with me reading from Luke and then Matthew while Amelia put the pieces in place when they were mentioned. It was a really, really abbreviated version - like we skipped the whole census by Caesar Augustus thing. When we got to the wise men/three kings bringing gifts I paused and asked Amelia, who had been marching the kings one by one up the bricks to the hearth, what the kings gave Jesus. "A party!" she replied. She cracks me up.

Earlier in the day she opened a gift courtesy of Tallulah who had walked across it, causing it to make noise. Amelia kept putting her foot on it to repeat the noise, so I thought it was safer to go ahead and let her open the gift from Uncle Stephen & Aunt Jennifer. It was a Princess mirror, comb & brush set. She had fun combing her hair and thought the mirror was neat - you push a button, one of the princesses lights up and the mirror says things like, "You have beautiful hair!" Oh great, another reminder that I need to work on the manners thing when people compliment her.

I keep forgetting she knows how to talk and when a stranger says, "You look so cute in that hat!" She simply says, "I know." She's not a complete brat, though, she's just being honest. When someone gives her something she says, "Thank you," without being prompted about 80% of the time. She will also tell the person to say, "You're welcome," if they don't, however. Like I said, it's a work in progress.

Tree Climber

We had a fabulous weekend visiting friends a few hours away. Amelia & the kids played in the backyard and I now have a new favorite snapshot of Amelia.

Hannah taught Amelia how to climb trees. It was sweet watching Hannah patiently explain "now put your foot here. Now reach up here." Amelia was a quick study.

On Sunday Daddy took Amelia on her first Amtrak trip - a 20 minute ride from one town to another while I drove to meet them. Amelia loved it. She spent a lot of time standing at the window watching and narrating the scenery. When they got ready to get off the train she greeted each passenger as she passed their seat.


[pictures dated 12/20/08]

Her First Play

She was an angel in last night's Christmas play at church. I was going to wait a year, but the part was so small that it was okay to just show up at the very last rehearsal (and the only one we could make anyway). It was a quick part - walking out with four other angels while the older ones said, "Glory to God in the Highest," etc. Amelia was to hold another girl's hand.

I spent more time getting her ready (and redoing her halo) than she spent in the play. I watched from a back corner as she walked in holding Mary Jo's hand. I thought, oh, no one is going to see her because they're all bunched up and they won't be there long. I had hardly completed the thought when I saw her little boots walking around the back of the angel group and onto the stage. (Just as I had anticipated her doing which is why I was hesitant to let her participate.) I heard little chuckles from the audience as the oldest angel got her to return to the group and exit the stage.

(Later Daddy said that apparently the teenagers she was heading for needed an angel. I thought that was a clever way of looking at it!)

When I was getting her ready someone commented that she was the hippie angel with her boots. I love how she's singing to herself in this picture.

[pictures dated 12/14/08]

Sure

Amelia's latest frequent response when you ask her a yes/no question is, "Sure!" She even says, "Sure, Mommy." I think it's cute.

Tonight we went to Daddy's Christmas concert with the brass band. Amelia fell asleep on the way there and slept through the entire thing - including Sleigh Ride - until the encore and woke up during the cymbal crashes.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

I love this shirt - notice how she is also looking at the latest Fisher Price catalog! Not sure why she grabbed her ears when I told her to smile, though.

We had our fourth snow of the season Monday. Oh, what fun!

[pictures dated 12/1/08]

Really?

Amelia has picked up on asking, "Really?" in an incredulous voice. If she is excited about what she heard, she'll jump up and down repeating it - as in, "Nana is coming to see you," and Amelia responds, "Really, really, really?"

She also "can't wait for" things. She'll say, "I can't wait to go to the park!", for example. It's so cute. She seems young for that concept but she uses it often and in the correct context.

Someone has called her pants 'britches' and it's all I can do not to bust out laughing when she says things like, "I won't poop in my britches!"

(She is finally fully potty trained, btw. Last night I even let her wear panties all night - and it was successful!)

She is also really into asking what a noise is when she hears something out of the ordinary. Last night she heard the automatic icemaker - actually the water going into the icemaker in the freezer. She asked, "What's that noise?" I told her it was the icemaker and she responded, "Really? Ice cream maker?" Oh, I only wish ....

Assignments

Over the Thanksgiving holiday Amelia assigned a small animal to each of us. I have a small white rabbit with a green and white striped shirt. Daddy has a small white "panda bear" (as she calls it) with a lavender dress/tutu. Amelia has Mr. Wiggles, a small blue bean bag bear. While at the house, we must have them with us - she doesn't like to see us without them, or maybe she doesn't like to see them without us.

Today life went back to normal and I haven't seen her repeat her morning routine of assigning them to us. (Each night they would go back to sleep in her shopping cart.)

She does quirky little things like this for days at a time, and then doesn't do them again.