Definitely Taller

More evidence of growth:

The other night she got into the bath tub unassisted. (And with no problems.) She also got out by herself.

Just now, she put the light on in the bathroom without using the step stool.

Where did my baby go? sniff sniff

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Well, the luck of the Irish shone on us today - the sun came out! And it was a mild day - still wore turtlenecks and jackets, but that's okay. We weren't freezing.

Today was my day to volunteer in Amelia's preschool. We have to volunteer once a month but we get to pick which day. I purposely picked St. Paddy's Day and brought green iced cookies and provolone cheese - the one kind of cheese Amelia can have without a reaction. (I also buy her yogurt cheese and goat cheese but I am not spending that kind of money for an entire preschool class.) I also brought some of that wire stuff with the shamrock tinsel and fashioned circles out of it for each person's head (including mine and Ms. Donna's) so we each had a shamrock crown of sorts. The kids made Irish soda bread and Amelia kept trying to sample at each step of the way, much like she does at home. Ms. Donna was impressed at how fast I was to stop her each time - she clearly doesn't understand how much experience I have in the kitchen with Amelia!

On another note, Amelia is fascinated with being a cat. A few weeks ago she came home from Meme's saying that next week she would go into the barn and catch mice and that afterwards she would go in the house and have some milk. She meows a lot and at first would say her name was Tom but now prefers Tallulah (the name of our little black cat). She calls her food cat treats as in, "I need some grape cat treats," rather than just grapes. She says I am a dog and daddy is a bunny. Tonight when Dodah stopped by with a cute shamrock pin for her, Amelia called Dodah a horse. Dodah went with it ... after all she is used to being called Laustin Dodah by her Pablo Amelia. She also now asks if it is kitty day or doggy night (rather than her standard, "Is it today or is it tonight?"). She sometimes crawls when she is a kitty, too. Not too great when she is wearing corduroys and suddenly drops to the sidewalk so she can walk on all fours like a kitty cat. I hate how the knees on those things wear thin so quickly on cement. However, I love her imagination and am amazed at the way she can really carry a theme.

It was warm enough to play outside when we got home from preschool and she was able to play with her new favorite toy. She received it for her birthday back in late September, but with so many other new things we didn't get to it before the weather turned. It's a plastic grill that is a bubble maker. The best thing so far is how she can dip a brush on the tray that clips to the side and pass it over the grill which has a fan below it. This causes lots of bubbles to be made, much to Amelia's delight. I have an old beach chair that is low to the ground that I set up beside it for her.

While we were in FL we stopped by a consignment store and when we were leaving I looked for Amelia. I found her trying to ride a cute orange bike with a tiger on it. She was enjoying it and it was only $19 - a Schwinn already assembled with training wheels, and it was just her size (maybe just a little too big). How could I say no? And how could she when I asked if she wanted to take it home? I let her ride it out to Grandma's car and we took it to Aunt Amy's house where she tried riding it while Jack drove his Cadillac SUV toy. She wanted so badly to keep up and I looked back as I was holding her and she jack-knifed and fell, scraping her elbow and knee (the elbow got the worst of it). After that we let her ride and then even drive Jack's toy SUV and she loved it.

Now she talks about how she got hurt at Jack's house, but she still loves her bike. When we got home from FL, Tia Polly and Cristian drove up to welcome us home. We were chatting at the top of the driveway while Daddy was unpacking the Jeep. A few minutes later when Amelia saw Daddy take the bike out of the back of the jeep, she left her beloved Tia Polly, delightedly screaming as she ran down the driveway, "My tiger bike! My tiger bike!" Yes, I think she loves it.

Florida

Just got back last night from visiting the family. It was good to see everyone. It had been just over 15 months since Amelia had seen her cousins so we figured it was time for her to see them in person rather than just the pictures we have scattered around the house.

Two of the days that we were there Amelia had really blotchy cheeks and even some heat rash on her neck and upper chest and shoulders. The blotchiness was in different places both days so what Grandma at first thought was latent sunburn from a brief beach visit I am thinking may have been a reaction to something down there.

When she woke up with the heat rash (in addition to new cheek blotches) on Saturday I remembered that it was this time of year when we came down for my sister-in-law's baby shower. Amelia was 6 months old and met everyone but Grandma for the first time. (After all, Grandma - and Daddy - saw Amelia before I did!) Back in March of '06 I was really perplexed by what looked like a bad case of baby acne ... 5 months late! So now I am thinking that there is something in the FL air in March that causes a reaction in Amelia's skin. Fortunately, it's gone already.

Amelia adored the beach. It was her second beach trip and she just wanted to go in farther. Her little cousin Austin (who was the baby of the aforementioned baby shower) wanted to keep up. I was lifting Amelia over all the spray when a wave came in and so I couldn't handle both of them, and his mother had her arms full with his sister who doesn't like the beach.

On Saturday we went to the zoo and they had a waterpark that Amelia adored. At first she was tenative with all the water coming up from the ground and spraying from up high. It didn't take long before she was under the buckets that would fill and spill. She had her arms outstretched as if to say, "Bring it on!" So cute.

After we toweled her off and changed her clothes she found (and started to climb) the little wagon full of drinks. I asked her if she wanted an elephant or monkey drink and she said, "No." Her daddy pointed out the stuffed snakes hanging from the stand and she wandered into the staff area behind the counter asking for one. The girl knows what she wants! She had her mind set on the "green, white and black one". Since they were only $2.50 (hard to believe when the elephant drink was $5.50) I couldn't say no. She seemed to know what to do with it immediately. This takes her fondness for toy snakes to the next level, I think.

We left four days of 80 degree weather and sunny, clear skies to return to our gloomy, cool, rainy weather. *sigh*

While we were gone Amelia wanted to wear her zebra shirt again and was disappointed that I hadn't brought it on the trip. I tried explaining that it was a turtleneck with long sleeves and would make her too warm. This was met with "What?" I think that's the 3 year-old version of "Tell it to the hand," or whatever the lingo is these days. Today she was able to wear it again and she was super pleased.

She spent most of today playing with every single toy we have. I think she was reacquainting herself with all of her own things. I found her in her room with the rocking chair pulled up as close as possible to her bookshelf. She travels really well but you can tell she misses home and her routine because she'll say things like, "And on Wednesday, we'll see Meme?" And her tone indicates she is seeking reassurance, which I always give her. Such a sweet girl.

[pictures dated 3/12/09, 3/14/09, 3/16/09]

Sand Angels

Amelia sure had fun getting dirty yesterday. It was our first nice day of the year and I took her to the "green" park. (She identifies parks by the color of the slides.) On the path down to the play area she stopped to pick up some dirt and tiny pebbles. Then she took her hat off and said, "I'd better put them in my hat so I don't lose them." Okay, I thought, no big deal. She takes two steps and then puts the hat on her head! Silly girl.

After running and playing on the slides, tunnel, swinging bridge, etc., she was ready to spend time in the sandbox - making sand angels! She was so proud of herself and they really were good. Too bad I didn't have my camera.

The sun and fun really wiped her out. Rather than being her usual chatterbox in the bathtub, she was nearly silent as she played with her ducks.

I am looking forward to having more days to play outside again. There is nothing like spring air!

Explaining Abba

A little over a week ago I did something I haven't done in a LONG time - I went to a movie with a friend! We saw "He's Not That Into You" and enjoyed it. A side bonus, though, was getting to listen to whatever I wanted to for 40 minutes each way to the theatre. Isn't that silly? But it's true. No Baby Bach and Baby Mozart soundtracks or instrumental music (which she calls Mommy's music and is left in the CD changer from the days of wanting soothing sounds for a sleeping baby).

We have limited radio stations in this area but I still had fun scanning the dials and listening to whatever I found. So I decided to branch out a little after I got home and had Abba playing the other morning on the way to Nana's. Amelia says to me, "What is she singing about?" I told her, "Monday." (I've never figured out if that song is about money or Monday or both, but Monday seemed like a better answer than money.) Then the next song came on and Amelia asked again, "What is she singing about?" I had to listen to the lyrics for a few minutes to come up with a description and meanwhile Amelia is growing concerned and says, "What is that coming out of the speakers?!?" I finally mustered a response of, "She's singing about losing love." Amelia sounded incredulous as she responded, "Losing love?" I confirmed it and she asked, "Is that Mommy's music?"

Yes, it's Mommy's music. But it seems to bewilder her so perhaps I'll try something else next time.

Obsession

I think Amelia has become a little obsessed with brushing her teeth. She has always enjoyed brushing them (and yes, I thank my lucky stars for that), but lately she just randomly declares in the middle of the day, "My teeth are dirty!" and runs for the sink. I don't discourage her, and am wondering how long this will last. So far it's been about 10 days.

What?

Amelia's new favorite response to EVERYTHING is:

WHAT?

It's driving us crazy. We are no longer responding to her. We've tried explaining that it's rude to ask "What?" more than once. This is usually met with "What?"

We think it's her version of "Why?". She hasn't gone through the why stage yet and her behavior is pretty much the same as the why kids. Ask the question without listening to the answer and simply ask why again.

She hasn't said it as much today. Maybe we're making progress.

What?