Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
One Liners
I love the comments little kids make:
We have a dog with long hair and I was cutting knots out of it.....Taylor was watching with great interest. Later that day after Taylor got out of the bath and as I was brushing her damp hair she says: "You can cut the knots out if you want"
Or when we were watching a video about airplanes, she asks: "Mommy why do airplanes fly through clouds"?
We hosted my brother's birthday celebration this year. As all of the adults are showing up Taylor asks: "Did anyone bring any kids for me to play with?''. Unfortunately the answer was no. But I did explain that one of his friends was pregnant and had a baby in her belly. To which she responded with: "Well is it going to come out and play with me?"
Small day-to-day things can be the cause of celebration to kids. My husband was using the bathroom and when Taylor heard the flush she started skipping around singing "There goes his pee".
Taylor, I have learned loves to snuggle in our bed and listen to her father's alarm clock. The wake up tune is a Cold Play song called: Viva La Vida. I rolled over and turned it off mid song, I mean really, who likes an alarm clock. Taylor bolted upright "Mommy you turned off my song". Apparently that is her song. My three year old likes Cold Play.
We have a dog with long hair and I was cutting knots out of it.....Taylor was watching with great interest. Later that day after Taylor got out of the bath and as I was brushing her damp hair she says: "You can cut the knots out if you want"
Or when we were watching a video about airplanes, she asks: "Mommy why do airplanes fly through clouds"?
We hosted my brother's birthday celebration this year. As all of the adults are showing up Taylor asks: "Did anyone bring any kids for me to play with?''. Unfortunately the answer was no. But I did explain that one of his friends was pregnant and had a baby in her belly. To which she responded with: "Well is it going to come out and play with me?"
Small day-to-day things can be the cause of celebration to kids. My husband was using the bathroom and when Taylor heard the flush she started skipping around singing "There goes his pee".
Taylor, I have learned loves to snuggle in our bed and listen to her father's alarm clock. The wake up tune is a Cold Play song called: Viva La Vida. I rolled over and turned it off mid song, I mean really, who likes an alarm clock. Taylor bolted upright "Mommy you turned off my song". Apparently that is her song. My three year old likes Cold Play.
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Taylor's 3 yr old Birthday Questions
I thought it would be fun to ask Taylor (and eventually Evan) a series of the same questions on their birthday every year. I hope to add to the list of questions as they get a bit older, just to see their answers, but keep the original list to watch how the answers evolve over the years.
Here were this years questions:
1. Favorite Color: Red
2. Best Friend: Arina
3. Favorite thing to do at school: Play with kids
4. Favorite ice cream flavor: White (I think she means vanilla)
5. What do you want to be when you grow up: A Giant
6. Favorite Toy: Silly Willy Nilly Evan
7. Favorite TV Show: Little People
8. Favorite Movies: Madagascar and Mary Poppins
9. Favorite Snack: Birthday Cake
10. Favorite Food: Sandwich
11. Favorite Game: Hide & Seek
12. Favorite Fruit: Cantaloupe & Strawberry
13. Favorite Outside Activity: Play
Things she likes: Finding the moon and star gazing. Playing T-Ball (she calls it baseball) in the backyard. Watching airplanes fly in the sky. Blowing bubbles. Running. Swinging on the swings with her brother. Puzzles. Games. Dancing. Coloring.
I had a few questions for her that she'll have to be older for.....things like: something you like about yourself, something you are proud of, favorite vacation, dream vacation.....etc. She'll get there.
If anyone can think of fun questions to add, either for this year or years to come please let me know.
Here were this years questions:
1. Favorite Color: Red
2. Best Friend: Arina
3. Favorite thing to do at school: Play with kids
4. Favorite ice cream flavor: White (I think she means vanilla)
5. What do you want to be when you grow up: A Giant
6. Favorite Toy: Silly Willy Nilly Evan
7. Favorite TV Show: Little People
8. Favorite Movies: Madagascar and Mary Poppins
9. Favorite Snack: Birthday Cake
10. Favorite Food: Sandwich
11. Favorite Game: Hide & Seek
12. Favorite Fruit: Cantaloupe & Strawberry
13. Favorite Outside Activity: Play
Things she likes: Finding the moon and star gazing. Playing T-Ball (she calls it baseball) in the backyard. Watching airplanes fly in the sky. Blowing bubbles. Running. Swinging on the swings with her brother. Puzzles. Games. Dancing. Coloring.
I had a few questions for her that she'll have to be older for.....things like: something you like about yourself, something you are proud of, favorite vacation, dream vacation.....etc. She'll get there.
If anyone can think of fun questions to add, either for this year or years to come please let me know.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Preschool
Setember 1st, 2010 was Taylor's first official day of preschool! The whole experience went off better then I could have ever hoped for.
We had been talking to her a lot about school in the weeks leading up to the actual start of school. She would talk about all the toys she'd get to play with, the kids, etc. She agreed that school was definitely not for baby Evan, after all he doesn't have teeth yet so how can he possible go to school. And readily agreed that school isn't even for Daddy. But she'd hesitate and look a bit worried whenever we explained that school wasn't for Mommy either. School was only for kids just like Taylor. The fact that school wasn't for Mommy also seemed like it would potentially cause her the most anxiety.
The day before school started Jay, Evan and I accompanied Taylor to an open house. She was very quiet on the way there, very reserved too. In the parking lot she showed very little enthusiasm for visiting her new classroom. Once in the classroom, she selected a corner or some other out-of-the way place to play and simply watched everyone. She met her teachers, learned where the potty was, etc. After an hour and we were on our way home again. T just simply met all conversations about school after this with a very quiet and inwardly thoughtful demeanor. Hmm, I was begining to wonder just how the first day was really going to go?
At last came the long awaited first day! We pull into the parking lot, park the car, and from the back seat comes this little voice....."I think I'm going to give this school thing a try". My brain goes "YES". And without further ado she leaps out of the car, lunch box in hand and ushers her father, brother and I toward the door of the school. Once in, I take her bag and lunch to her cubbyhole and find her happily playing with a little boy. We quietly watch her for a few minutes and after exchanging a few worried looks with one another Jay and I make our move to say goodbye. She gives us hugs, kisses and says bye without so much as batting an eyelash. Flawless. We exit the building still not believing how easy we feel we got off and wave at her through the classroom window. She blows me a huge kiss and says "I love you mommy". And that was that.
She did awesome. The teacher thought she was a little shy the first day, until she saw her running around with a pack of 5 year old's on the playground, complete with baby doll under her arm. Yup, my child is not shy about running around on a playground. All that being said, I don't think she used the potty on the first day......the first thing she did when we got home was do bee line for the bathroom. LOL. It will come.
I am so utterly proud of this kid. She's confident, self assured, and decisive. I love that she did so well on her first day in a new situation. I think she took all that time we were preparing her for school to deal with her any anxiety she had. I defiantly think the first day may have been harder on me then it was her. But I'm told that's normal.
The funny thing is, every time we pull into the school's parking lot Taylor tells me "I'm going to try this school thing again" Or some other variation of that. It's like she's giving herself a little pep talk. :0)
We had been talking to her a lot about school in the weeks leading up to the actual start of school. She would talk about all the toys she'd get to play with, the kids, etc. She agreed that school was definitely not for baby Evan, after all he doesn't have teeth yet so how can he possible go to school. And readily agreed that school isn't even for Daddy. But she'd hesitate and look a bit worried whenever we explained that school wasn't for Mommy either. School was only for kids just like Taylor. The fact that school wasn't for Mommy also seemed like it would potentially cause her the most anxiety.
The day before school started Jay, Evan and I accompanied Taylor to an open house. She was very quiet on the way there, very reserved too. In the parking lot she showed very little enthusiasm for visiting her new classroom. Once in the classroom, she selected a corner or some other out-of-the way place to play and simply watched everyone. She met her teachers, learned where the potty was, etc. After an hour and we were on our way home again. T just simply met all conversations about school after this with a very quiet and inwardly thoughtful demeanor. Hmm, I was begining to wonder just how the first day was really going to go?
At last came the long awaited first day! We pull into the parking lot, park the car, and from the back seat comes this little voice....."I think I'm going to give this school thing a try". My brain goes "YES". And without further ado she leaps out of the car, lunch box in hand and ushers her father, brother and I toward the door of the school. Once in, I take her bag and lunch to her cubbyhole and find her happily playing with a little boy. We quietly watch her for a few minutes and after exchanging a few worried looks with one another Jay and I make our move to say goodbye. She gives us hugs, kisses and says bye without so much as batting an eyelash. Flawless. We exit the building still not believing how easy we feel we got off and wave at her through the classroom window. She blows me a huge kiss and says "I love you mommy". And that was that.
She did awesome. The teacher thought she was a little shy the first day, until she saw her running around with a pack of 5 year old's on the playground, complete with baby doll under her arm. Yup, my child is not shy about running around on a playground. All that being said, I don't think she used the potty on the first day......the first thing she did when we got home was do bee line for the bathroom. LOL. It will come.
I am so utterly proud of this kid. She's confident, self assured, and decisive. I love that she did so well on her first day in a new situation. I think she took all that time we were preparing her for school to deal with her any anxiety she had. I defiantly think the first day may have been harder on me then it was her. But I'm told that's normal.
The funny thing is, every time we pull into the school's parking lot Taylor tells me "I'm going to try this school thing again" Or some other variation of that. It's like she's giving herself a little pep talk. :0)
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Who loves you baby!
The other night we were attempting to coax a very sleepy, bleary eyed and increasingly cranky Taylor into bed. As a way of distracting her from her own cranky frame of mind and the fact that I was about to put her to bed, I started to tell her of all the wonderful people who loved her. In short: Mommy loves Taylor, Daddy loves Taylor, Baby Evan loves Taylor. My list continued on to include the grandparents. Then Taylor, face bright with enthusiasm takes over the list.
Taylor: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, you forgot about something"
Me: "What baby?"
Taylor: "Uncle Bill and Risa love Taylor too. And Uncle Greg. Chelsea and Dylan love Taylor. Raz loves Taylor, Gabbie, loves Taylor, Crumpy loves Taylor" (the last three are our dog and cats)
Me: "Yes baby, all of them love you too"
Taylor: "Wait a minute! Elmo loves Taylor. Mr Earth loves Taylor. My Abbey loves me........"
And so her list continued to incorporate all of her dolls individually and various inanimate objects in the room, including the TV and Step Stool. As we walked towards her bedroom the list of people, animals and things that she believed to love her grew and grew By the time she was finally in bed, she seemed quite calm and pleased with herself. I truly hope that she continues to feel that loved by everybody around her for the rest of her life.
Taylor: "Wait a minute, wait a minute, you forgot about something"
Me: "What baby?"
Taylor: "Uncle Bill and Risa love Taylor too. And Uncle Greg. Chelsea and Dylan love Taylor. Raz loves Taylor, Gabbie, loves Taylor, Crumpy loves Taylor" (the last three are our dog and cats)
Me: "Yes baby, all of them love you too"
Taylor: "Wait a minute! Elmo loves Taylor. Mr Earth loves Taylor. My Abbey loves me........"
And so her list continued to incorporate all of her dolls individually and various inanimate objects in the room, including the TV and Step Stool. As we walked towards her bedroom the list of people, animals and things that she believed to love her grew and grew By the time she was finally in bed, she seemed quite calm and pleased with herself. I truly hope that she continues to feel that loved by everybody around her for the rest of her life.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Mother's Day and Milestones
Little man has finally done it. On May 7th he finally rolled over onto his belly without trapping one of his little arms underneath him! Unfortunately I was at work when this occurred and missed the event. Very sad for me. Not bad for 3 1/2 months. That following Tuesday on May 12th he rolled from back - front front-back back-front. This I was delighted to have seen!! Although I'm not sure that was what he had intended to do. He had a lot of momentum going into the first roll, and it looked like it just kinda kept him going. The surprised look, turned joy on his face was hysterical. I can just imagine him thinking something like "whoa, that was awesome...lets do it again".
This milestone for Evan was thoroughly celebrated by big sis, who takes credit for having "taught" Evan to roll over. Yes, she was there cheering him on while observing his daily strains and struggles as he attempted to coordinate his little body to roll and assume the crawl position. Some days she's lay down in front of him and say "no baby Evan, like this" and demonstrate a pencil roll. She'd roll all the way across the room and back to him. Other days she's clap her hands and cheer his efforts by offering kind words of encouragement. On occasion she'd stand over him and scream at him drill Sergent style "flip over already" or "flip over baby Evan". Once in awhile she'd attempt to physically help him by pulling on an arm, leg or his head. Most days she'd squat down next to him and shoving her hands under his shoulders and lower back. Then she'd grunt and strain like a weight lifter all the while trying to lift and flip her brother. On one or two unfortunate instances she'd attempt to assist him with her foot. Yeah, yikes. She's stick her foot in his back and attempt to flip him....when the gentle foot prodding method failed to yield the desired result, she took a running start and in true soccer style attempted to punt her brother over. Fortunately I was near enough to interrupt this. All in all his new found milestone has been greatly celebrated by Big Sis and his parents. Little man of course looks simply overjoyed and extremely proud of himself.
His next trick seems to be learning to crawl. So far he's well on his way. If he's laying on my bed, he'll roll onto his belly, stretch out his arms, grab the bottom sheet and pull himself forward. He has tried this technique on the carpet with little success . On the carpeted floor he can roll to his belly and scrunch his knees underneath himself, he just hasn't quite figured out how to propel himself forwards.
So this past Mother's day was the first mother's day I have had off of work since I was pregnant with my oldest. This alone was a treat in and of itself. In reality the best gift I could ask for was just having the day to spend time with Jay and the kids. Taylor in true toddler style couldn't quite figure out why Mommy was getting a present and she wasn't. We were all curled up in bed, Taylor hands me a little present, but then of course wants to help me open it, which is fine. But she kept asking where hers was. Makes sense I guess. Jay explains to her that on Mother's Day "mommy gets a present for being a mommy". And without missing a beat Taylor responds with "Well what about for Taylor being Taylor"? I love the logic. We then explained that that's what birthday's are for. But still I was impressed with her quick wit as it relates to the naturally/developmentally self centered universe of toddlers .
This milestone for Evan was thoroughly celebrated by big sis, who takes credit for having "taught" Evan to roll over. Yes, she was there cheering him on while observing his daily strains and struggles as he attempted to coordinate his little body to roll and assume the crawl position. Some days she's lay down in front of him and say "no baby Evan, like this" and demonstrate a pencil roll. She'd roll all the way across the room and back to him. Other days she's clap her hands and cheer his efforts by offering kind words of encouragement. On occasion she'd stand over him and scream at him drill Sergent style "flip over already" or "flip over baby Evan". Once in awhile she'd attempt to physically help him by pulling on an arm, leg or his head. Most days she'd squat down next to him and shoving her hands under his shoulders and lower back. Then she'd grunt and strain like a weight lifter all the while trying to lift and flip her brother. On one or two unfortunate instances she'd attempt to assist him with her foot. Yeah, yikes. She's stick her foot in his back and attempt to flip him....when the gentle foot prodding method failed to yield the desired result, she took a running start and in true soccer style attempted to punt her brother over. Fortunately I was near enough to interrupt this. All in all his new found milestone has been greatly celebrated by Big Sis and his parents. Little man of course looks simply overjoyed and extremely proud of himself.
His next trick seems to be learning to crawl. So far he's well on his way. If he's laying on my bed, he'll roll onto his belly, stretch out his arms, grab the bottom sheet and pull himself forward. He has tried this technique on the carpet with little success . On the carpeted floor he can roll to his belly and scrunch his knees underneath himself, he just hasn't quite figured out how to propel himself forwards.
So this past Mother's day was the first mother's day I have had off of work since I was pregnant with my oldest. This alone was a treat in and of itself. In reality the best gift I could ask for was just having the day to spend time with Jay and the kids. Taylor in true toddler style couldn't quite figure out why Mommy was getting a present and she wasn't. We were all curled up in bed, Taylor hands me a little present, but then of course wants to help me open it, which is fine. But she kept asking where hers was. Makes sense I guess. Jay explains to her that on Mother's Day "mommy gets a present for being a mommy". And without missing a beat Taylor responds with "Well what about for Taylor being Taylor"? I love the logic. We then explained that that's what birthday's are for. But still I was impressed with her quick wit as it relates to the naturally/developmentally self centered universe of toddlers .
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Touch a Truck
I am always on the lookout for new things to do and try with the kiddos. My calender has had this day marked off for weeks! Today our town had an event for kids called touch a truck. It was a two hour event (10-12) in which trucks of every shape and size are available for kids to explore. Sounds like a blast right? Well that's what I thought too.
So the big day finally arrives and I am up at 7am sharp. I hadn't done much the night before to prepare for today. Let's be honest, after working 12 1/2 hours, running a few miles and then showering.....I don't want to do much more then pass out. So needless to say, I had a bunch to accomplish prior to getting everyone out the door in time for touch a truck. I'll define "a bunch of stuff": put the car seats and stroller in my car, pack a bag full of necessities for two little kids, get the kids diapered/fed/dressed, etc etc.
Ever have a morning where you feel like you never stopped moving, but you're not sure what you did with your time? Here was my disaster, as well as I can remember it.
Up at 7, feeding Evan and Taylor dashes away somewhere else in the house.
7:20ish: Attempt to simultaneously make coffee, let dog out, then let cat out and find Taylor breakfast while carrying around Evan.
7:30 Taylor now has a banana and cheerios. Toss Evan in his swing. Race outside while letting the dog in, to keep our cat from getting mauled by our neighbors cat. Our cat took some effort to catch. He was oblivious the fact that he was being stalked by another cat and was prancing around after an insect. I accidentally chased him in the path of this other cat.....which resulted in some hissing, raised fur and acrobatics on the part of my cat. That was a fun creature to carry across the yard and into the house.
7:40 The dog has now eaten Taylor's breakfast. Taylor is miserably screaming about this and it seems like Evan is hungry again.
7:50 Gave Taylor more food, realized that I had previously used the only clean bottle in the house, washed a bunch of bottles, and made Evan more formula. Dog is now sulking and her head is in an empty food bowl. My untouched coffee is getting cold.
8:10 Evan has now finished 7 more ounces of formula. Taylor is entertaining herself somewhere. Although it is oddly quiet for her. Off to change Evan's clothes and diaper.
8:12 Evan is done with a new diaper and out of his soiled clothes. NO clean sleepers, long sleeve onsies or burp clothes to be found in his dresser.
8:15 Toss Evan in crib, run downstairs for laundry
8:17 Evan is now dressed. Taylor arrives at my leg with a message "mommy I did a really really really big poop"
8:30 Taylor is now clean and diapered again. Hmm. Maybe I can have coffee now.
NOPE
8:40 I decided to attempt to get dressed. Put Evan on my bed and entertain him with the ceiling fan. (Love babies). Every time I walk away he screams. Apparently he likes company while watching the ceiling fan.
9:00 I think I was actually dressed at this point. But it did take about 20 minutes to run and find clean clothes, tossed a load of laundry in the machine, and all while amusing Evan. Taylor appears demanding that we paint her nails orange and pink before she is seen in public.
9:05 Taylor's nails are now painted and I'm trying to explain to her that "little Man" doesn't need his nails painted too. In an effort to examine his nails she smudges hers. Melt down ensues.
9:10 Taylor has her nails repainted and is sitting in front of the floor fan to dry them. I was actually able to brush my teeth and toss hair into a ponytail. Dog is ringing her bell to let me know she wants to go back outside.
9:15 Let dog outside again. Find new clothes for Taylor...she had washable nail polish all over the outfit she was wearing. And little man wants more food?
9:30 Taylor has been changed and is watching videos of herself on my cell phone. Evan is playing in her bed. Dog is now inside. I refresh my computer screen....and see I have some emails that require immediate attention. So I deal with my email while Evan plays on my lap.
9:50 Put Evan in his crib so he can watch his mobile. Find Taylor on my kitchen counter trying to help herself to cookies....put her on the floor. And attempt to start packing stuff for the kids.
10:00 Taylor enters the kitchen screaming hysterically after I had heard a small thud from our bedroom. She's wildly pointing at her nose. I observe the cookie lodged in her cheek, thankful that she's not choking, try and figure out what's wrong. There was a piece of snot hanging out of her nose and this is what was upsetting her so much. Remove the offending booger. Watch child finish her cookie. Give up on packing.
10:20 Car seats are in the car. I have actually packed stuff in a bag. Evan is napping (he only power naps for 20 or 30 min in the mornings). We can still make it to touch a truck! Send Taylor out on the deck to collect her shoes.
10:30 Taylor spends 10 min trying to get her shoes on herself and succeeds! Comes running into the house and falls on her face. Stands up and falls down again. The bottom of her shoes were caked with dried mud, which is now being spread all over the floors I mopped the day before at an alarming rate.
10:40 Attempt damage control with the floors. Provide an ice penguin to the child for her boo-boos. And Evan wakes up.
10:45 Realize that Evan has peed everywhere but in his diaper. Somehow he has managed to soil his sheets, his clothes.....everything but the diaper. Commence more cleaning and changing.
11:05 Finally have both kids clean and dressed. Take a swig of very cold coffee on our way out the door. We are off to Touch a Truck.
11:18 Pull into the parking lot. Have to park in the gravel lot because the paved lot is being used for the trucks. Anyone want to guess.....Evan is asleep. What do you think happens when you push a stroller over gravel with a sleeping baby in it. Yeah, they don't stay sleeping for long.
By this point I kinda felt like I had a little black rain cloud over my head. But I was determined to have fun with my kids!! Taylor was riding around on my hip and I was pushing Evan's stroller with the other hand. The first truck up was a firetruck. Taylor and I talked all about how it was big, red, carried water, etc. Then I asked her: "do you want to sit in the truck" Her response was a less then favorable "no, I don't like the firetruck". Huh. This became her mantra. We walked around the rest of the trucks. I think my toddler humored me by allowing me to talk to her about each of the trucks. But inevitably at the end of each discussion she would proceed to tell me that she didn't like the truck.
"I don't like the ambulance mommy"
"I don't like the dump truck"
"I don't like the oil truck"
"I don't like....the snowplow, the tree trimmer, the back-hoe, the tow truck, the moving truck, the lawn mowers, etc etc"
We visited almost every truck there and she disliked every last one of them.
So now I'm feeling totally defeated. When all of a sudden a small miracle occurs. Taylor starts bouncing up and down on my hip with renewed enthusiasm.
"Mommy Mommy"
"What baby?"
"It's a Popsicle truck. I like the Popsicle truck"
I'll translate. At the far end of the parking lot was a beat up ice cream truck selling ice cream to kids and families using the playground. So do we go over to look at this truck? Of course. Obviously this truck was not part of the event. You couldn't sit in the truck, beep the horn, or have a nice conversation with the guy that drives it. In fact the ice cream guy looked totally bored and cranky. But to my daughter, he was a freakn rock star. And this truck gave her a Popsicle.....so it was the best truck ever as far as Taylor was concerned.
I sit Taylor down by a shaded tree at the edge of a field and pop a bottle in Evan's mouth. That lasted only a few seconds. My daughter has the heart and soul of a runner. She spied a small herd of 4 year old running laps and races. It didn't take long before she was running around with the herd, hair flying, Popsicle in hand, wearing purple canvas shoes a size to big. It was absolutely amazing to watch this kid. The older kids finally tired out, but there was Taylor simply running back and forth through a field. Finally the Popsicle was finished and so was the running. My toddler tromped back to me, happy, a little tired and impossibly sticky from head to toe. "mommy, lets go home" Okay baby, no problem. We headed back to the car after a dismal attempt to clean her with my limited supply of baby wipes.
We had to cross another field to get back to our car and in doing so I was reminded of one of the many reasons I loved her and parenthood. Taylor took off in the field chasing a butterfly, shrieking with laughter and bright with curiosity. She chased this butterfly all the way across the field that eventually turned into a baseball diamond. Taylor bee lined for the pitchers mound. In that moment the rest of the world disappeared for me. I totally relaxed, and embraced watching the perfection and simplicity childhood in action. It also occurred to me that my child had never seen or played on a baseball field before.
(Strange. Baseball was such a huge part of my life. Every night for the better part of my childhood my brother, father and I would throw the baseball around for hours. Greg and I played on the same little league teams for years. hmm anyway)
She jumped up and down, spun around and threw her arms wide in the air. The smile on her face was simply magnificent. The picture in front of me was beautiful, the bright warm sun, the pale blue sky and my toddler happily hopping up and down on a baseball field. I did try and capture the moment on my cell phone. But I opened it, clicked on camera, then the message "low battery" flashed across my screen and the phone died. Seriously, you can't make this up.
And of course Taylor finally realized that she was in fact standing on a mound of dirt. What toddler could resist dropping down to play in it. By the end, my child was covered in Popsicle residue and sand. She then runs to the baseball bench, sits down and motions for me to sit with her. She points to the road in the distance and says "mommy, let's watch for trucks" So we watched the busy road for trucks.
Finally on our way home:
Taylor: Mommy I have something to tell you
Me: What baby?
Taylor: I have bare feet (sure enough she had taken her shoes off)
Me: You sure do baby, I say as I reach back to rub her very dirty/sandy pedicured feet with the bright orange and pink nail polish on them
Taylor: Mommy I have something to tell you
Me: What baby?
Taylor: I had fun today
Totally Awesome. And totally worth it.
So the big day finally arrives and I am up at 7am sharp. I hadn't done much the night before to prepare for today. Let's be honest, after working 12 1/2 hours, running a few miles and then showering.....I don't want to do much more then pass out. So needless to say, I had a bunch to accomplish prior to getting everyone out the door in time for touch a truck. I'll define "a bunch of stuff": put the car seats and stroller in my car, pack a bag full of necessities for two little kids, get the kids diapered/fed/dressed, etc etc.
Ever have a morning where you feel like you never stopped moving, but you're not sure what you did with your time? Here was my disaster, as well as I can remember it.
Up at 7, feeding Evan and Taylor dashes away somewhere else in the house.
7:20ish: Attempt to simultaneously make coffee, let dog out, then let cat out and find Taylor breakfast while carrying around Evan.
7:30 Taylor now has a banana and cheerios. Toss Evan in his swing. Race outside while letting the dog in, to keep our cat from getting mauled by our neighbors cat. Our cat took some effort to catch. He was oblivious the fact that he was being stalked by another cat and was prancing around after an insect. I accidentally chased him in the path of this other cat.....which resulted in some hissing, raised fur and acrobatics on the part of my cat. That was a fun creature to carry across the yard and into the house.
7:40 The dog has now eaten Taylor's breakfast. Taylor is miserably screaming about this and it seems like Evan is hungry again.
7:50 Gave Taylor more food, realized that I had previously used the only clean bottle in the house, washed a bunch of bottles, and made Evan more formula. Dog is now sulking and her head is in an empty food bowl. My untouched coffee is getting cold.
8:10 Evan has now finished 7 more ounces of formula. Taylor is entertaining herself somewhere. Although it is oddly quiet for her. Off to change Evan's clothes and diaper.
8:12 Evan is done with a new diaper and out of his soiled clothes. NO clean sleepers, long sleeve onsies or burp clothes to be found in his dresser.
8:15 Toss Evan in crib, run downstairs for laundry
8:17 Evan is now dressed. Taylor arrives at my leg with a message "mommy I did a really really really big poop"
8:30 Taylor is now clean and diapered again. Hmm. Maybe I can have coffee now.
NOPE
8:40 I decided to attempt to get dressed. Put Evan on my bed and entertain him with the ceiling fan. (Love babies). Every time I walk away he screams. Apparently he likes company while watching the ceiling fan.
9:00 I think I was actually dressed at this point. But it did take about 20 minutes to run and find clean clothes, tossed a load of laundry in the machine, and all while amusing Evan. Taylor appears demanding that we paint her nails orange and pink before she is seen in public.
9:05 Taylor's nails are now painted and I'm trying to explain to her that "little Man" doesn't need his nails painted too. In an effort to examine his nails she smudges hers. Melt down ensues.
9:10 Taylor has her nails repainted and is sitting in front of the floor fan to dry them. I was actually able to brush my teeth and toss hair into a ponytail. Dog is ringing her bell to let me know she wants to go back outside.
9:15 Let dog outside again. Find new clothes for Taylor...she had washable nail polish all over the outfit she was wearing. And little man wants more food?
9:30 Taylor has been changed and is watching videos of herself on my cell phone. Evan is playing in her bed. Dog is now inside. I refresh my computer screen....and see I have some emails that require immediate attention. So I deal with my email while Evan plays on my lap.
9:50 Put Evan in his crib so he can watch his mobile. Find Taylor on my kitchen counter trying to help herself to cookies....put her on the floor. And attempt to start packing stuff for the kids.
10:00 Taylor enters the kitchen screaming hysterically after I had heard a small thud from our bedroom. She's wildly pointing at her nose. I observe the cookie lodged in her cheek, thankful that she's not choking, try and figure out what's wrong. There was a piece of snot hanging out of her nose and this is what was upsetting her so much. Remove the offending booger. Watch child finish her cookie. Give up on packing.
10:20 Car seats are in the car. I have actually packed stuff in a bag. Evan is napping (he only power naps for 20 or 30 min in the mornings). We can still make it to touch a truck! Send Taylor out on the deck to collect her shoes.
10:30 Taylor spends 10 min trying to get her shoes on herself and succeeds! Comes running into the house and falls on her face. Stands up and falls down again. The bottom of her shoes were caked with dried mud, which is now being spread all over the floors I mopped the day before at an alarming rate.
10:40 Attempt damage control with the floors. Provide an ice penguin to the child for her boo-boos. And Evan wakes up.
10:45 Realize that Evan has peed everywhere but in his diaper. Somehow he has managed to soil his sheets, his clothes.....everything but the diaper. Commence more cleaning and changing.
11:05 Finally have both kids clean and dressed. Take a swig of very cold coffee on our way out the door. We are off to Touch a Truck.
11:18 Pull into the parking lot. Have to park in the gravel lot because the paved lot is being used for the trucks. Anyone want to guess.....Evan is asleep. What do you think happens when you push a stroller over gravel with a sleeping baby in it. Yeah, they don't stay sleeping for long.
By this point I kinda felt like I had a little black rain cloud over my head. But I was determined to have fun with my kids!! Taylor was riding around on my hip and I was pushing Evan's stroller with the other hand. The first truck up was a firetruck. Taylor and I talked all about how it was big, red, carried water, etc. Then I asked her: "do you want to sit in the truck" Her response was a less then favorable "no, I don't like the firetruck". Huh. This became her mantra. We walked around the rest of the trucks. I think my toddler humored me by allowing me to talk to her about each of the trucks. But inevitably at the end of each discussion she would proceed to tell me that she didn't like the truck.
"I don't like the ambulance mommy"
"I don't like the dump truck"
"I don't like the oil truck"
"I don't like....the snowplow, the tree trimmer, the back-hoe, the tow truck, the moving truck, the lawn mowers, etc etc"
We visited almost every truck there and she disliked every last one of them.
So now I'm feeling totally defeated. When all of a sudden a small miracle occurs. Taylor starts bouncing up and down on my hip with renewed enthusiasm.
"Mommy Mommy"
"What baby?"
"It's a Popsicle truck. I like the Popsicle truck"
I'll translate. At the far end of the parking lot was a beat up ice cream truck selling ice cream to kids and families using the playground. So do we go over to look at this truck? Of course. Obviously this truck was not part of the event. You couldn't sit in the truck, beep the horn, or have a nice conversation with the guy that drives it. In fact the ice cream guy looked totally bored and cranky. But to my daughter, he was a freakn rock star. And this truck gave her a Popsicle.....so it was the best truck ever as far as Taylor was concerned.
I sit Taylor down by a shaded tree at the edge of a field and pop a bottle in Evan's mouth. That lasted only a few seconds. My daughter has the heart and soul of a runner. She spied a small herd of 4 year old running laps and races. It didn't take long before she was running around with the herd, hair flying, Popsicle in hand, wearing purple canvas shoes a size to big. It was absolutely amazing to watch this kid. The older kids finally tired out, but there was Taylor simply running back and forth through a field. Finally the Popsicle was finished and so was the running. My toddler tromped back to me, happy, a little tired and impossibly sticky from head to toe. "mommy, lets go home" Okay baby, no problem. We headed back to the car after a dismal attempt to clean her with my limited supply of baby wipes.
We had to cross another field to get back to our car and in doing so I was reminded of one of the many reasons I loved her and parenthood. Taylor took off in the field chasing a butterfly, shrieking with laughter and bright with curiosity. She chased this butterfly all the way across the field that eventually turned into a baseball diamond. Taylor bee lined for the pitchers mound. In that moment the rest of the world disappeared for me. I totally relaxed, and embraced watching the perfection and simplicity childhood in action. It also occurred to me that my child had never seen or played on a baseball field before.
(Strange. Baseball was such a huge part of my life. Every night for the better part of my childhood my brother, father and I would throw the baseball around for hours. Greg and I played on the same little league teams for years. hmm anyway)
She jumped up and down, spun around and threw her arms wide in the air. The smile on her face was simply magnificent. The picture in front of me was beautiful, the bright warm sun, the pale blue sky and my toddler happily hopping up and down on a baseball field. I did try and capture the moment on my cell phone. But I opened it, clicked on camera, then the message "low battery" flashed across my screen and the phone died. Seriously, you can't make this up.
And of course Taylor finally realized that she was in fact standing on a mound of dirt. What toddler could resist dropping down to play in it. By the end, my child was covered in Popsicle residue and sand. She then runs to the baseball bench, sits down and motions for me to sit with her. She points to the road in the distance and says "mommy, let's watch for trucks" So we watched the busy road for trucks.
Finally on our way home:
Taylor: Mommy I have something to tell you
Me: What baby?
Taylor: I have bare feet (sure enough she had taken her shoes off)
Me: You sure do baby, I say as I reach back to rub her very dirty/sandy pedicured feet with the bright orange and pink nail polish on them
Taylor: Mommy I have something to tell you
Me: What baby?
Taylor: I had fun today
Totally Awesome. And totally worth it.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Randomness
So Taylor and Jay are sitting on the couch reading a bedtime book the other night. She sneezes and he says nothing. A moment later Taylor interrupts the story with...
Taylor: "Daddy, I sneezed"
Jay: "Oh, bless you"
A slow smile spreads right across that angelic little face
Taylor: "Aw thank you Daddy"
And she snuggles in to him to hear the rest of her story.
Taylor: "Daddy, I sneezed"
Jay: "Oh, bless you"
A slow smile spreads right across that angelic little face
Taylor: "Aw thank you Daddy"
And she snuggles in to him to hear the rest of her story.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Bedtime Review
Has anyone else ever run into this issue?
Bedtime routine used to be my thing when Taylor was a baby and then Jay took it over. Somehow it is now my routine again. Although in fairness I'm not sure how that happened. I feel tricked, but I don't know why. I suspect that I offered to help one night and now it's my routine again. In any event, I've been putting Taylor to bed for months now. We have a fairly straight forward routine with little room for variation. In exactly this order: we unwind, brush our teeth, get on PJ's, collect the bedtime buddies that will be joining her in bed, kiss Daddy and baby Evan, get tucked in, have water, roll over for back rubs, scream about having to go to bed and then eventually pass out into blissful slumber.
Seriously, every night for months and months my toddler screams just before she falls asleep. It was only ever for a few minutes. Literally, I think I just assumed that this was her way of getting the stress of the day out of her system. In reality the screaming was as much a part of our routine as anything else. Never saw it that way before, but it is...or was. The wailing has been getting a bit prolonged. And by prolonged I mean it's lasting upwards of 30 minutes and on some unfortunate nights up to an hour. Yes, we are now a far cry away from the 5 minutes it used to be.
The other night was particularly trying. She was laying down just screaming and screaming and we were rapidly approaching an hour of this. I had my head on her pillow, she had her head next to mine...I probably would have fallen asleep, but for the noise. Jay walks in and says....
Jay: "Taylor, you need to be quiet. Baby Evan is asleep and I don't want you waking him up"
Taylor: In the most completely composed voice ever. "But I'm just whining dad"
**Hold on** She knows she's whining. She can stop at any time and be composed when asked! WTF. Why didn't I know this? Seriously. Seriously kid.
Jay: "Lay down and go to sleep"
Taylor: "Okay"
I walked out of that room and a few minutes later my husband emerges victorious. The child is asleep. I think my head is still spinning from this realization.
Bedtime routine used to be my thing when Taylor was a baby and then Jay took it over. Somehow it is now my routine again. Although in fairness I'm not sure how that happened. I feel tricked, but I don't know why. I suspect that I offered to help one night and now it's my routine again. In any event, I've been putting Taylor to bed for months now. We have a fairly straight forward routine with little room for variation. In exactly this order: we unwind, brush our teeth, get on PJ's, collect the bedtime buddies that will be joining her in bed, kiss Daddy and baby Evan, get tucked in, have water, roll over for back rubs, scream about having to go to bed and then eventually pass out into blissful slumber.
Seriously, every night for months and months my toddler screams just before she falls asleep. It was only ever for a few minutes. Literally, I think I just assumed that this was her way of getting the stress of the day out of her system. In reality the screaming was as much a part of our routine as anything else. Never saw it that way before, but it is...or was. The wailing has been getting a bit prolonged. And by prolonged I mean it's lasting upwards of 30 minutes and on some unfortunate nights up to an hour. Yes, we are now a far cry away from the 5 minutes it used to be.
The other night was particularly trying. She was laying down just screaming and screaming and we were rapidly approaching an hour of this. I had my head on her pillow, she had her head next to mine...I probably would have fallen asleep, but for the noise. Jay walks in and says....
Jay: "Taylor, you need to be quiet. Baby Evan is asleep and I don't want you waking him up"
Taylor: In the most completely composed voice ever. "But I'm just whining dad"
**Hold on** She knows she's whining. She can stop at any time and be composed when asked! WTF. Why didn't I know this? Seriously. Seriously kid.
Jay: "Lay down and go to sleep"
Taylor: "Okay"
I walked out of that room and a few minutes later my husband emerges victorious. The child is asleep. I think my head is still spinning from this realization.
Glasses
This is how to tell when your toddler has been spending time with her grandparents. She recently asked to see what I was holding in my hand. At the time, I think it was an insurance card. Something with small print is the relevant part. I hand it to her. She holds the card at arms length and squints at it thoughtfully. Next, she brings it really close to her face and again squints at it. Then she hands it back to me and says "I need my glasses".
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Peacocks
Historically my daughter has been overly cautious in the presence of animals and at times fearful. At a distance she's interested in them, but as soon as they are remotely close, all bets are off. Mind you the term "close" is loosley used and relative. This hasn't stopped us from exposing her to a variety of new animals at farms and zoos. We are just careful how we do it. The warm weather weekend weather brought a renewed enthusiasm for the outdoors to our house. Over the weekend, I asked Taylor if she wanted to go to a park with a farm and the response she gave was one of impatient excitement. Hmm. I thought this would be great. Maybe she's forgotten that she doesn't like animals. Maybe this would be the moment when she would enjoy farms. Maybe I was mistaken? Off we go to our local park complete with a small farm on it. As usual, she runs around the jungle gyms and the open fields....and as usual she's not totally thrilled with the animals. From a "safe" distance she laughs and names the animals: "that's a sheep, that's a neigh-neigh (horse), etc". I'm watching her father carry her around the little farm and observing the scowl on her face, thinking "there's always next year". I space out while feeding the baby, look up and see them standing really close to the bird pens. Oh no, there is a huge peacock in there that likes to squawk and scare kids. I expect at any moment for this to happen and see my kid disolve into tears and never again want to come to the farm. Nope, she's laughing. How can this be? I convince myself that it's because Daddy is holding her. Later, as we are getting ready to leave the park she asks me to carry her closer (but not really all that close) to the horses. "mommy, I don't like the neigh-neighs". Okay. Then we go look at the sheep. "mommy, I don't like the sheep". Okay. "I want to go see the birds". So we wander over to the bird pens. I take her over to the one housing the smallest birds and she starts crying "mommy I don't like those birds, I want those birds" she says as she's pointing at the peacocks. Sooo, we wander over to the peacocks and her face breaks into a huge smile. She's laughing, pointing at the peacocks "see, see". I'm slightly stunned. I'm glaring at the big male peacock and willing this creature to behave. "I like those birds mommy, see, see, the birds" she continues to say. I do see them baby. Okay, I'll bite. So Taylor, why do you like the peacocks? Her answer threw me and might actually be a key to her. "they like me" Wait you like the peacocks because they like you? "Yeah, they like me. I like the peacoks". Really?! Okay then. I'm not sure how she got the idea that the peacocks like her, but I'll take it.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Big Sister's Watching
One of my fabulous friends was over recently for a quick visit and to see the kiddos. Evan was sleeping. Which was nothing short of a miracle these days. Even at two months he's showing signs of simply not needing or wanting much in the way of naps. Yikes. But alas, his nap didn't last long. All to soon we hear his complaints being issued over the monitor. That's when my friend leaps into action. "I got him" she says as she runs down the hall. (Yes, she is one of my favorite people in the universe) Taylor gets a late start, but heads off down the hall too. Apparently Taylor felt the need to supervise. Evan gets scooped up, lovingly consoled and my friend emerges from the room with him cuddled in her arms. But they don't get to far down the hall. Nope. Big sis is in the hallway with important information for our friend. Taylor reminds her to be: "Careful! He's Little!" she says. Taylor was of course then shown that Evan was content and being carefully handled, which seemed to please her tremendously. It was adorable though how she was trying to look out for him.
The Future of Tech Support
Recently I was having technical difficulties while trying to turn on a DVD. In other words, technically, I was having difficulties. As usual, the problem wasn't with the technology. The problem was more with the user of said technology...me. I had finally resorted to randomly pushing buttons on the remote, in the hopes that something would miraculously happen and solve my problem. In a weird way something miraculous did happen. My two year old, who had been observing this whole process... looks at me, then the remote and finally the TV. "try hitting the menu button mommy". Okay I'm game. So I hit the menu button...nothing. Then she says ever so thoughtfully "have you tried turning it off and on again?" So I do it. And problem solved, we can now all happily watch our DVD. Can I just mention how proud her father was of her when he heard about this.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Troublesome Twos
Taylor has always seemed to be an easy going kid. Yes we have the occasional meltdowns, stubbornness, and possessiveness that seem to characterize the age. But really all things considering it's been largely predictable and tolerable for all involved. That is, until this morning. This morning was by far the most challenging morning I have ever had with her. The morning was one giant meltdown. Worst part I couldn't even hope to predict what would start it. Examples: I put her milk in the wrong color sippy cup. The Tv wasn't working fast enough. The dog exists. I had to pee. She had to pee. Her room was to dark...immediately followed by there's to much light in her room. She wants a car of her own. Daddy's at work. Etc. Basically constant cause for end of the world hysteria type behavior.
Then my normally peaceful and loving child took a running kick at the dog. The dog, who will be ready for sainthood someda,y attempted to leave the room. But no, she was followed by a toddler who for no reason I could understand just started kicking this poor animal. Thank god the dog didn't retaliate. I sent the dog outside after I detached a small child's fists from her fur. Okay that was seriously abnormal for her. Next Taylor took whatever stress she was feeling out on little bro. Again, something she's never done before. On a few occasions today she would randomly pop up and clock him in the head with something while he was eating. The endless morning of disaster climaxed with her biting me in the face. I was actually hugging the child when this happened. I thought she was going to kiss my cheek. I sported an imprint of her teeth for about 45 minutes. Who's child is this?? I know she hasn't been sleeping extremely well and has had a stuffy nose. But holy cow.....I was not at all prepared for hurricane Taylor this morning. I beyond shocked and at a total lack for what to do to help her.
I did however attempt to end the day on a good note. I guess everyone in my house is utterly sleep deprived and apparently stressed. I took the kiddos out for a long walk on a beautiful paved bike path near our house this afternoon. The weather was gorgeous. Taylor generally loves these walks so I figured all would go well. Evan was awake in his stroller and looked like he was trying to make sense of it all (it was his first time out for a walk with Taylor and I). Taylor enjoyed the simple pleasures of throwing sticks in a river, running, helping push her brothers stroller, and sitting on a bench stopping everyone to say "HI. I'm two. See mommy, I told that lady I'm two". My day seemed to be ending on an up note. We get back to our car: Taylor climbs into her seat, Evan got strapped in his and we drive home. Only when I go to get Taylor of the car at home did I realize that I forgot to actually buckle her in to the car seat. I will forever be eternally grateful that she made it home safe and totally horrified at how my profound lack of sleep endangered my child.
Then my normally peaceful and loving child took a running kick at the dog. The dog, who will be ready for sainthood someda,y attempted to leave the room. But no, she was followed by a toddler who for no reason I could understand just started kicking this poor animal. Thank god the dog didn't retaliate. I sent the dog outside after I detached a small child's fists from her fur. Okay that was seriously abnormal for her. Next Taylor took whatever stress she was feeling out on little bro. Again, something she's never done before. On a few occasions today she would randomly pop up and clock him in the head with something while he was eating. The endless morning of disaster climaxed with her biting me in the face. I was actually hugging the child when this happened. I thought she was going to kiss my cheek. I sported an imprint of her teeth for about 45 minutes. Who's child is this?? I know she hasn't been sleeping extremely well and has had a stuffy nose. But holy cow.....I was not at all prepared for hurricane Taylor this morning. I beyond shocked and at a total lack for what to do to help her.
I did however attempt to end the day on a good note. I guess everyone in my house is utterly sleep deprived and apparently stressed. I took the kiddos out for a long walk on a beautiful paved bike path near our house this afternoon. The weather was gorgeous. Taylor generally loves these walks so I figured all would go well. Evan was awake in his stroller and looked like he was trying to make sense of it all (it was his first time out for a walk with Taylor and I). Taylor enjoyed the simple pleasures of throwing sticks in a river, running, helping push her brothers stroller, and sitting on a bench stopping everyone to say "HI. I'm two. See mommy, I told that lady I'm two". My day seemed to be ending on an up note. We get back to our car: Taylor climbs into her seat, Evan got strapped in his and we drive home. Only when I go to get Taylor of the car at home did I realize that I forgot to actually buckle her in to the car seat. I will forever be eternally grateful that she made it home safe and totally horrified at how my profound lack of sleep endangered my child.
Milestones
Evan turns two months old today! My lil' man is a happy ball of cuteness. He's really starting to interact now....mostly with the most heart warming toothless smiles! And the best part, he's a snuggles. The hard part seems to be helping him find a comfortable position. Once there, he'll curl up with you for hours. Not much else in this universe compares to calm that comes from curling up with a baby.
Miss Taylor had her first dentist appointment today. The visit started off well, or in other words she made a friend in the waiting room. The room was filled with really cool toys for her to play with, complete with a three year old playmate. My daughter, who is not shy, walks up to the little boy and starts talking his ear off as she plays. I'm not sure he knew what to make of her. At one point Taylor crouches down to look at his face, then extends her index finger....points at him and says "you have brown eyes. i like your eyes". The little boy warmed up quick and they played until it was Taylor's turn in the hot seat.
She unfortunately screamed through the super quick exam. All they did was count teeth. At 2 1/2 she basically has all her teeth. The last of the two year old molars is practically in. Immediately after the exam she got a pink sticker plastered to her shirt, picked out a shiny new tooth brush (she picked the one with a giraffe on it), and got to pick a new toy. Yes, the exam room had a little shelf just her height full of wonderful toys. They had everything from jewelery, packs of stickers, cars, balls, etc. The act of selecting this new toy took as long as her exam did, possibly longer. In true Taylor style she stared intently at this shelf of goodies, silent and almost unmoving. Finally she announced her decision: "Purple ball". Well that was it. We walked off with a new purple bouncy ball......which later "disappeared" due to the fact that Taylor couldn't seem to keep this choking hazard away from her mouth.
Miss Taylor had her first dentist appointment today. The visit started off well, or in other words she made a friend in the waiting room. The room was filled with really cool toys for her to play with, complete with a three year old playmate. My daughter, who is not shy, walks up to the little boy and starts talking his ear off as she plays. I'm not sure he knew what to make of her. At one point Taylor crouches down to look at his face, then extends her index finger....points at him and says "you have brown eyes. i like your eyes". The little boy warmed up quick and they played until it was Taylor's turn in the hot seat.
She unfortunately screamed through the super quick exam. All they did was count teeth. At 2 1/2 she basically has all her teeth. The last of the two year old molars is practically in. Immediately after the exam she got a pink sticker plastered to her shirt, picked out a shiny new tooth brush (she picked the one with a giraffe on it), and got to pick a new toy. Yes, the exam room had a little shelf just her height full of wonderful toys. They had everything from jewelery, packs of stickers, cars, balls, etc. The act of selecting this new toy took as long as her exam did, possibly longer. In true Taylor style she stared intently at this shelf of goodies, silent and almost unmoving. Finally she announced her decision: "Purple ball". Well that was it. We walked off with a new purple bouncy ball......which later "disappeared" due to the fact that Taylor couldn't seem to keep this choking hazard away from her mouth.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Cyber Child
Everyone in our house has a laptop, including Taylor. She and I used to share....sort of. As one can imagine, "sharing" a delicate piece of equipment with a two year old is not completely without issue. So Taylor got her own bright orange learning laptop, complete with a child-friendly mouse (my favorite part of it). It plays games, teaches numbers & letters, has puzzles, etc. Recently, I spy her intently concentrating on this laptop. Looking from screen to keyboard and back up again. "wow, she's really getting into this thing..." or so I thought. My curiosity got the better of me and I interrupted the moment by asking "Tayls what are you doing?" I was expecting an answer like "I'm just doing this" or "my alphabet". But no. She looks up and says "I'm just checking my email mom". Wonder what she'll be doing next......maybe she'll be managing her ebay. LOL.
The Incredible Hulk Child
Ever leave your two year old alone for a minute or two and think...eh, there's nothing they can get into? Taylor and I went into the basement recently while I was on a mission to do laundry. Taylor usually happily entertains herself in the spare basement room while I'm on these missions. It's a space we created for her to play, mostly with markers and various other art projects. Aside from Taylor's art supplies the room also has my old desk in it, which still houses all my office type stuff. On this particular occasion Taylor decides to explore my desk for goodies. So I'm on off attempting to make a dent in the seemingly never ending stream of laundry and Taylor is discovering the joys of ink pads and stampers. Anyone see where this is going yet?
After only moments of being out of sight, which amounted to enough time for me to load the washer and dryer, I return to find my daughter sitting next to an art pad and proudly announcing: "see I made a monkey, mommy see". She had in fact made a monkey with a newly acquired rubber stamper and ink pad. Sadly, I was probably not as enthusiastic about the monkey as she may have liked. I was more concerned with giant blue eyes staring at me from a now green face, the green arms & hands wildly pointing to the monkey, and that fact that she had stripped from the waist down and you guessed it....everything was green. My child literally looked like the daughter of the incredible hulk.
After attempting to muster enthusiasm for the monkey stamp and totally failing to run for my camera.....I marched her upstairs for a bath, where I let her soak until clean (okay, there was a lot of scrubbing involved too). All of this was not before Taylor had one last hurrah, by escaping from the bathroom while the tub was filling with water and leaving streaks of green ink around the house in her wake. Needless to say.....the offending ink pad has been disposed of. :0)
After only moments of being out of sight, which amounted to enough time for me to load the washer and dryer, I return to find my daughter sitting next to an art pad and proudly announcing: "see I made a monkey, mommy see". She had in fact made a monkey with a newly acquired rubber stamper and ink pad. Sadly, I was probably not as enthusiastic about the monkey as she may have liked. I was more concerned with giant blue eyes staring at me from a now green face, the green arms & hands wildly pointing to the monkey, and that fact that she had stripped from the waist down and you guessed it....everything was green. My child literally looked like the daughter of the incredible hulk.
After attempting to muster enthusiasm for the monkey stamp and totally failing to run for my camera.....I marched her upstairs for a bath, where I let her soak until clean (okay, there was a lot of scrubbing involved too). All of this was not before Taylor had one last hurrah, by escaping from the bathroom while the tub was filling with water and leaving streaks of green ink around the house in her wake. Needless to say.....the offending ink pad has been disposed of. :0)
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
The Funky Monkey
Okay, so has anyone taken the time to teach a toddler a new word and had it come out really really wrong? Yeah, that happened to me the other day. The Funky Monkey is a trendy little coffee and sandwich cafe in our town. I love it. So, Taylor has gotten used to hearing the name, going to the cafe and occasionally ordering out from it. Consequently she likes to talk about the place and it doesn't come out sounding quite like it should. Nope. Without fail it comes out with crystal clarity sounding like "F*&^ing Monkey". The laughter and funny faces this illicits has totally encouraged her to continue talking about her new fav place to get grilled cheese sandwiches. Can't wait to send her to preschool next year and have her telling her classmates all about where she and mommy eat lunch.....
Ring Around the Rosey
I think Taylor is particularly excited about Evan eventually growing big enough for her to actually play with. In the meantime, she seems content in attempting to find games in which both of them can participate. Recently, I hear Taylor singing the "Ring around the Rosey" song to her baby brother. Sweet right? When I checked on them, I discovered that the game was much more then just a Taylor singing to Evan. She was standing next to his glider and spinning his chair to the tune of the song. Evan didn't really look like he had a clue as to what was going on. At the very least he wasn't crying. Taylor looked overjoyed at having found a way to play with Evan. She would break into hysterical laughter every time she got to "fall down". Jump up and yell "again", and then start the process over. So I guess I did what every good parent would do....run for the video camera. Then after capturing this moment on video, then and only then did I step in to help them find an equally creative and similar game to play. Anyone have ideas on games for toddlers and infants to play together?
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Fixing Baby Evan
Jay and Taylor were eating diner the other night while baby Evan snuggled in his crib and happily sucked on a pacifier. Periodically the pacifier would fall out and wails of discontent would be heard in the kitchen. When this would happen, Jay would dutifully get up, walk down the hall and replace the fallen pacifier. On one occasion when baby Evan started to complain, Taylor holds her hand up and tells her father: "I got it". She then ran down the hall and disappeared into her brother's room. A moment later the crying ceases and she emerges from the room victoriously declaring: "I fixed baby Evan". Jay of course praises her, but none-the-less goes to check on Evan...curious as to exactly how the two year old "fixed" her brother. Apparently she had been able to stick her arm through the slats of his crib, grab the pacifier and stick it back in his mouth. :0)
Friday, March 12, 2010
Taylor and Evan
Taylor loves being a big sister! It's a role she seems to take quite seriously sometimes. She loves keeping him warm by piling him with blankets, adorns him with kisses, and plays with him on his activity mats. With his arrival has come an array of learning experiences, absolutely adorable moments, and heartwarming entertainment. Although the arrival of a sibling is never completely without incident, I must say that Taylor has championed this challenge surprisingly well.
Taylor has been learning the many differences between herself and baby Evan. Initially, she mastered the verbiage of "he's to little to walk" "he's to little to talk", etc. Now she attempting to learn about the relative strength she has by virtue of her age when compared to Evan. (a work in progress).
She discovered one difference between them recently by the simple act of sharing her cheerios with Evan. I deviated from my usual script of "that's so nice of you to offer to share with him" "babies don't eat cheerios, they drink milk, blah blah". Instead, I told her that baby Evan can't possibly eat cheerios because he doesn't have teeth. She stared at me in complete and utter disbelief. Then without much warning she stuffed her hand in his mouth to see for herself. For the remainder of the day, every time Evan yawned, smiled or cried, Taylor would run in, bound and determined to inspect his mouth. Then without fail, she'd report her findings to me "no teeth mom....see, no teeth"
Another difference was discovered while she was helping with a diaper change. Ah yes, anyone else see where this is going? Taylor loves to watch Evan get his diaper changed. Mostly because she wants to see the "really really big poop" as she calls it. Yeah, I don't get it either. But today she noticed that Evan looked a little different then her under the diaper. So she points to him and with a quizzical expression asks "Evan's gina?" Hmm. So yes, I found myself having the "girls have vagina's and boys have penis's discussion with my toddler". She seemed satisfied with my response. The next time we did a diaper, up pops Taylor alongside the changing table with "I want to see his little peanut mommy".
Taylor has been learning the many differences between herself and baby Evan. Initially, she mastered the verbiage of "he's to little to walk" "he's to little to talk", etc. Now she attempting to learn about the relative strength she has by virtue of her age when compared to Evan. (a work in progress).
She discovered one difference between them recently by the simple act of sharing her cheerios with Evan. I deviated from my usual script of "that's so nice of you to offer to share with him" "babies don't eat cheerios, they drink milk, blah blah". Instead, I told her that baby Evan can't possibly eat cheerios because he doesn't have teeth. She stared at me in complete and utter disbelief. Then without much warning she stuffed her hand in his mouth to see for herself. For the remainder of the day, every time Evan yawned, smiled or cried, Taylor would run in, bound and determined to inspect his mouth. Then without fail, she'd report her findings to me "no teeth mom....see, no teeth"
Another difference was discovered while she was helping with a diaper change. Ah yes, anyone else see where this is going? Taylor loves to watch Evan get his diaper changed. Mostly because she wants to see the "really really big poop" as she calls it. Yeah, I don't get it either. But today she noticed that Evan looked a little different then her under the diaper. So she points to him and with a quizzical expression asks "Evan's gina?" Hmm. So yes, I found myself having the "girls have vagina's and boys have penis's discussion with my toddler". She seemed satisfied with my response. The next time we did a diaper, up pops Taylor alongside the changing table with "I want to see his little peanut mommy".
Morning Memories
I would love to know exactly what goes on in Taylor's head. I feel like I get glimpses from time to time. Recently I have been extremely intrigued by the first words/thoughts she has in the morning. On a side note, anyone else love waking up next to a sleeping toddler? I do. I love quiet mornings when I can lazily watch both of my kids peacefully sleeping. Granted that doesn't happen all that often. Anyways....so Taylor wakes up the other morning rolls over and says "this is my leg" as she points to her leg. Yes,sweetie it most certainly is. But how was that her first thought of the day? Other times she'll wake up and immediately start singing a silly song. There are several songs she chooses from. Sometimes she'll wake up and announce she's hungry, that seems normal. Or she'll tell me specifically which DVD she wants to watch. Yesterday she rolled over and told me that I had brown eyes. Occasionally her first act will be to crawl over and check on her baby brother. On another occasion Taylor's first act of the day was to wander into our bedroom, spy her father getting dressed and announce "look at that butt and those legs" In all fairness she was really just listing the body parts she could see. But the way it came out made our sides hurt from laughing.
My favorite morning glimpse into the workings of Taylor's head came a few weeks ago. Taylor rolls over in the early morning hours and spies her father, who is wearing PJ pants but no shirt and loudly tells him "Daddy, your naked....go put clothes on". Jay, for as long as I've known him, has never worn a shirt to bed. This is not new for info for Taylor either. So why was this morning different from any others? No clue. But she was fixated on it and would not take no for an answer. Little stinker kept bugging him until he got out of bed and got a shirt. Then happy as can be, she rolls over and goes back to sleep....leaving us very confused and as always, entertained.
My favorite morning glimpse into the workings of Taylor's head came a few weeks ago. Taylor rolls over in the early morning hours and spies her father, who is wearing PJ pants but no shirt and loudly tells him "Daddy, your naked....go put clothes on". Jay, for as long as I've known him, has never worn a shirt to bed. This is not new for info for Taylor either. So why was this morning different from any others? No clue. But she was fixated on it and would not take no for an answer. Little stinker kept bugging him until he got out of bed and got a shirt. Then happy as can be, she rolls over and goes back to sleep....leaving us very confused and as always, entertained.
It Begins
Well, here it is. I've been wanting to do this for ages, mostly as a way of sharing my adventures as a parent. The kids truely grow with alarming speed! Daily there are new words, charming situations, tricks, trouble, etc. It's hard to remember is all. The days, especially being totally sleep deprived from the recent arrival of Evan, blend together. I'm sure any parent can totally recall the days of just trying to remember if they put on deoderant or brushed their teeth. Yeah, we are so there. I hope anyone who reads this truely enjoys the tales as much as I have loved living them. :0)
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