Georgia game

A couple of weeks ago we went to the KY at Georgia game and took Amelia with us to the game. We went down the day before and checked out the Sandy Creek Nature Center and Amelia enjoyed checking out the exhibits, playing with the slides for the microscopes (intended for kids) and most of all, reading the books in their library. She assigned a book to each of us based on an animal that the book featured such as the fox book.

I discovered how to finally get a decent picture of her smiling - take it while she's admiring herself in the mirror!

She enjoyed the game and halfway home burst out with one of the little musical cheers. I was able to capture it on video a few days later. We didn't realize she had been paying close attention - she had been busy coloring in her Thomas coloring book, reading books and playing with other things I had brought for her amusement.

The game was re-broadcast the following evening on our local sports channel. She came out of her room and said, "That's where we came!" Her English still needs a little work, but she made her point and we were amazed! I think it was the big G in the middle of the floor that brought about the recognition.

[picture 1/18/09; video 1/20/09]

The way she talks

The weekend after Christmas, Amelia received a plastic iron at Daddy's extended family gathering. She loves it and calls it an EYE-ron. I've tried and tried to explain that it's an EYE-urn, but to no avail. Normally she is really good about correcting her pronunciations, but not this time. Eventually it will come and after a month, I am letting it be.

And then there are the cute things she says that I purposely don't correct because I know they won't last long and I think they're adorable. The latest in this category is: I forget. She apparently thinks that is one word and will say things like, "Do you I-forget something, Mommy?" or "Did Nana I-forget to give me my duck?"

Fog

During a recent bath Amelia was playing with her Diego bath toys. They were being pushed up along the bath-tub ledge between our shower curtain and its liner. The liner is one of those non-colored ones. It isn't clear, it's kind of a smoky clear. Amelia was role playing with her toys and Diego, who is permantly perched in his speedboat told Baby Jaguar to "watch out for the fog!" to which Baby Jaguar responded, "Yes, it is very foggy!"

I love her imagination!

She has definitely grown

In one of those moments when I wish I had a camera ...

I came out of the restaurant after refilling our sodas and found Amelia and her daddy standing in the grass watching a freight train go by. It was so sweet, the two of them holding hands, her with a big smile on her face because, like her daddy, she loves trains.

It was just a day or so ago that Daddy mentioned to me that he knew for a fact she had grown some more because he, at 6'4", could hold her hand without having to bend or stoop at all anymore.

And for more evidence of brain cell death in mommy ...

I am one of those tree hugging types that brings reusable bags to the grocery store. I like that they hold more and the straps are long enough for me to carry them on my shoulder. Remember, Amelia's new "I need to walk" kick? Since we didn't need much, I let her walk and she was doing a nice job of helping me push the cart. Then I told her she could get a cookie from the bakery but she had to sit in the cart. This would give me an opportunity to have her restrained while we checked out. Then I took her out of the cart, grabbed my bag that was too heavy to put on my shoulder (thanks to milk and laundry detergent) and went outside. I put the bag on the curb, buckled Amelia in the carseat, waved hello to someone I knew, walked around the car, got in and drove the 5 minutes home. Got out of the car and realized ... I left the groceries on the curb and it did not occur to me until that point that I had done so! Amelia was wanting a drink so I took her upstairs to Daddy and hightailed it back to the store. A bagger was just picking up my bag of groceries with a quizzical look on his face. (Yeah, I know buddy, who would leave an entire bag of groceries on the curb right in front of the grocery store.) I ran to try to catch up and finally yelled out, "Hey! Those are mine!" He turned around just as I reached him and I took them, explaining I put the baby in the car and forgot the groceries, which is certainly better than the other way around.

Right?

The novelty of riding in the shopping cart

.. is over. *sigh*

She was so good for so long to ride in the cart. Today, however, it was "I need to walk." She did okay at the rabbit food store. At the grocery store, I insisted on the cart telling her that the store was too big for me to keep an eye on her and pay attention to what we needed to buy. She spent the first ten minutes in the store repeatedly asking, "Is the store too big?" At the drugstore, she stayed nearby but was eager to explore stuff at the other end of the aisle which made me a little nervous. In the toy aisle (I was looking for ink to re-ink her stamping pads), she kept picking up a boxed puzzle that attracted her attention. It was 100 pieces and some kind of Power Ranger type thing (I didn't recognize the picture to be honest). I kept putting it back, she kept picking it up. I gave her something else to hold and when we were halfway to the cashier, I noticed she had nonchalantly picked the puzzle up again. I thought it was pretty funny, but I still had her put it back. She's nothing if not persistent.

This will be a work in progress. I understand it's a necessary step towards her independence and understanding of boundaries and behavior. It's yet another source of gray hair and brain cell depletion, too. I came in here for what again? Hmmm I am standing in the toothpaste aisle, so I guess we need toothpaste. (I may have to start wearing a nametag so I don't forget my name.)

Big Girl

We went to Liza's 8th birthday party tonight and Liza's grandfather said, to Amelia, something along the lines of "Wow! You're such a big girl," to which Amelia immediately replied, "Yes, I am. I don't pee in my panties!"

What made it even funnier is he either didn't hear or didn't understand her, so I had to repeat it. It was a small, family gathering so everyone heard her reply either directly from her or repeated by me ... and we all were laughing.

Amelia discovered the keyboard's microphone in Liza's room and she couldn't stop talking into it - even though it was turned off. It was love at first sight for her!

[picture dated 1/4/09]