Ability

At supper the other night, Paul was telling me a story about a father who is blind (a story he'd heard on This American Life by Ryan Knighton). G was listening and asked "What does blind mean?"
 Paul explained that some people can't see, then went on to talk about how some people can't hear, some can't walk and some can't speak.
 "I can do all those things!" G said.
"Well, there are some people in this world," replied Paul "who can't do all the things you can."

G contemplated this for awhile, then said "Some people can't fly like I can!"

Early words

M has started saying a few words. Dada has been a popular one for awhile and she's a fan of Hi and Bye-bye. But her new favourite by far is the word Head. She loves to touch her head and everyone else's head.
"Head." She'll say.
"Head?" I'll respond.
"Head. Head." Tap her head, tap my head, tap her sister's head. At storytime she tapped every kid she could reach. Head. Head. Head.
Both girls were in the bath last night and I said to G "Tilt back your head so I can pour water on it."
"Head!" said M, patting her own head, then her sister's head.

The Art of Negotiation

Me: G, you can't have crackers. You need to eat your lunch first.
G: But my tummy is all full!
Me: If it's too full for lunch, it's too full for crackers.
G: But my tummy has filled up all its mac and cheese shaped space. There's a broken cracker shaped space empty!
Me: That's...not how it works. But nice try.

Still Here OR Adventures with Sand Rabbits

Yes, I am still here and yes, I still have a blog. It's hard to find balance in life. If I'm honest with myself I'm not all that busy, I just don't make time to write. I'd rather watch Downton Abbey or Walking Dead...

Since my last post about M climbing a rocking chair, she has become quite the explorer. It is amazing how different the two girls are in personality. G was never a climber. She was an early walker and content to let out her energy in other ways. M, however, would rather go vertical then horizontal. She is scaling the bookshelves and I find her in the middle of the kitchen table sometimes.  She's just starting to walk now, at 15 months. She'll do about five steps before reverting back to crawling around.

G is precocious as always, she's got a massive imagination and her world of imaginary friends continues to grow everyday. I think she'll be quite the creative person as she grows. Her latest thing is Sand Rabbits - an entire species that she has created. Occasionally, everyone in our family is transformed into Sand Rabbits with her, and we each have our own name: M is Sandy, G is Bouncy (because she likes to bounce, naturally), Paul is Squeeky and I am Nurgee (She has yet to explain exactly what "nurgee" means, but it's quite consistent). Sand Rabbits usually live in the desert, but sometimes travel to the North Pole and are the best animal in the world. Anytime we mention a characteristic of another animal, Sand Rabbits are better.
Us: "Monkeys like to climb trees"
G: "Sand Rabbits are climbers too! They climb ALL the trees."

Us: "Dinosaurs lived millions of years ago."
G: "Sand Rabbits lived then too"

Us: "Blue Whales are the biggest animal."
G:"Sand Rabbits are even bigger then Blue Whales."

The real best part about Sand Rabbits is their love of greens. G loves spinach leaves when they are presented as Sand Rabbit food. She'll eat a whole plate of baby spinach as a snack. Sand Rabbits are the best spinach-eaters.

The Many Robins

G: Daddy, you be Batman, I'll be Robin!
Paul: Okay, you're Robin.
G: There are lots of Robins.
Paul: Lots of Robins?
G: You know. There's Robin, Robin Hood and Little Red Robin Hood.

Awesome Conversation

Me: Who all lives at our house?
G: Mommy, Daddy, M and G.
 Me: Is that it?
G: ...and Elephant Gerald.
Me: Yes, you have lots of animals and toys.
G: Oh, and God! God lives here too!

Secrets with 2 year olds

G: Daddy, close your eyes!
(he closes his eyes)
Mommy, close your eyes!
(I close my eyes)
Me: Now what?
Paul (peaks): She has her eyes closed too. G, why are we closing our eyes?
G: Because we have to have a secret!
Paul: Okay! (we all close our eyes)
G: Daddy, open your eyes. Mommy, open your eyes.
Me: Okay...
G: We all have a secret now!
(pause...pause...)
And I WIN!

The Talking Stove

For Christmas, we got this great Little Tikes Kitchen from my mom and dad for G and M. It has everything. In fact, since it has 

-an iron

-a microwave

-a washer and dryer

-a dishwasher

it is much more well-equipped then our kitchen! 

It also takes 8 batteries. The washer and dryer go splish-splash and BUZZ, the phone makes (quite realistic) beeping phone sounds, the iron makes an iron-y hiss sound and the stove, well... the stove. It talks. 

We didn't realize when we first tried it out how many things the stove says. When we turned the knob, it seemed to only say "Hi, let's get cooking!" and "It's time to eat!" 

What we didn't realize is that it KNOWS things. What the voice says changes depending on what's on the element. We first noticed this when there was a pot on the stove and it started to make sizzle sounds. But it wasn't until this week when G put the toy food that came with the stove onto the element that we realized how complex this thing really is. Suddenly, the stove said "Ooh, a chocolate chip cookie!". 

So here's the problem with that. We have other things in our house, other toy food. Food that doesn't have the microchip or whatever it is that lets the stove know what to say. This can make G a wee bit upset. She talks back to the stove. 

Stove: "Hi! Let's get get cooking!" G: " Say plum! Say plum, Lady!" 

Stove: "Don't forget to clean up!" G: "No! I don't want to clean up!"

Stove: "Let's cook your favourite!" G: "That's not my favourite."

Then, the stove said "Woof! Woof! Oh no, the dog got in the groceries!" 

G really wanted the stove to say that again. "Say dog groceries! Say dog groceries!" But it wouldn't say it. 

So she tried to use logic on it:

Yup. 

A Story by a Two Year Old

So G, she loves to talk. She talks pretty much all day. So, we told her to tell us a story and I attempted to transcript the chatter.
Keep in mind, she told this while pacing around the living room, and dancing during the dancing part.


"Once upon a time there was a picnic time
and there were two little monkeys jumping on the bed
and there were five little monkeys
they all jumped 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9... two monkeys!

Puppies, they all run outside and play with Piglet and Nila
and then all monkeys and monkeys and monkeys jumping on the bed

...and they sat on the potty next to G.

And they sang this song "Dance around, Dance dance dance Laalalalaaa they all go play, they was sad, then they saw a wombat wombat wombaaaaaaaaat wombat."

So they all run outside, so they lots and lots of ...

They all go right to the birthday and get some money
and then they get the money pig
then they all play with books
lots of books

then he jumps then he was scary

then he dived and...(fat?)
They all was a monkey, there were lots of dinosaur, right on the bed! So they crawl, crawl, to bed. They all crawl to bed.
They hang monkey onto a ROPE! They stand with him on his shoulder then hang him, they pull out his legs, and then pull out his arms, and then Puppy ran out and
JUMP RIGHT ON THE BED.

and then fell right over!

I'm not scary. Five bucks! Five bucks? A tree? Oh a tree! That's good.
I can be a tree and ball. I give you a blanket and a book.

Alllllll falling down to... they all read a book, and they with Polar Bears and Superman, and they all go right inside a monkey bear and jumped RIGHT ONTO THE COUCH.

And then they pick this book and to bring outside and open this door. Where is that door going to go in?

A little baby? A little baby."

The End.


And now you know what my average day is like.

Puppy Jamas

G would very much like the world to know that she LOVES her Puppy Pajamas and wants to wear them every night, regardless of dirtiness. She would even like to wear them for her nap. 

Some one liners from Christmas:
Her new play stove talks, and it said "Don't forget to clean up!", G responded "No! I don't want to clean up!" At least she comes by it honestly.

"No M, don't cry! Don't. Cry." - this is less of a comfort to her sister as a command. 2 year olds are bossy.

"Go away Marley [her Aunt's dog]. Don't eat my face."

In the grocery store, about Kraft Dinner: "Packaroni! Packaroni! Mommy buy packaroni!"... and when we got home... "Packaroni for lunch, Mommy!"

A Sick Week

What has life been like this past week in our household?
COUGH
SNIFF
SNEEZE SNEEZE SNEEZE
Oh, pardon me.

Yes, we all three of us had colds. G managed to confine hers to a couple of coughing sessions in the early morning, but both Paul and I were completely knocked out. The worst thing about being pregnant and sick is the lack of drugs. No, wait, it's the tiredness on top of the tiredness. No wait, it's the energetic toddler who wants to run circles around you. No wait, it's the husband who CAN take drugs, but still whines. No wait, it's the coughing that makes you want to lose your lunch. No wait... perhaps it's all of the above.
So, basically, whenever G slept this week, so did I - and that wasn't always true - sometimes I slept when she was awake as well.  I fell asleep on the couch with a puppy puppet on my hand and woke up when G tried to put a metal spoon in my mouth that she had been using to feed the puppy. There is nothing like waking up with a toddler's face inches from your own, unless it's waking up to the vacuum cleaner running and excited screaming two rooms away.
Because of all this sleeping, I did not accomplish much last week. My house is not in very good shape. But, this week I'm recovered and just feeling the regular tiredness of pregnancy (only 9 weeks to go!).

Other exciting news: I have found a great playgroup to go to once (or twice) a week. I have been going to a drop-in gym time once a week, but I've found it really difficult to meet people there. G loves it, but it is mostly just parents chasing after kids and it's a big echo-y space, which makes conversation hard. Couple that with my difficulty talking to new people, and it just doesn't make for the greatest introductory place.
So, I found another place to go to as well, a little community centre type playgroup with a small room, free coffee and snacks and moms who actually get a chance to talk to each other. I met and had several actual conversations with people this morning! Hooray! Hopefully I can start to build some friendships from this.

We've also started attending a different church. This one is a bit more family friendly, but may take some time to get noticed, as it is quite a bit larger then the first church we tried. We're still keeping an open mind about choosing a place, but I like this church and want to just throw myself in with getting involved/volunteering so I can meet people.

One Liners from G this week:
Talking to her crayons: "I love you green, I love you purple."
After being told to say sorry to mommy after throwing a chair: "I'm sorry chair. I love you."
Not a good parenting moment for me (repeating what she hears): "Oh dang, oh dang, oh dang, oh FRICK!"

Funny things

Staying home with G means I'm privy to all of her funny sayings much more then I used to be. It's definitely a perk of staying at home.

Some recent examples:

G is obsessed with nudity. She refers to the state of being naked as "all noonies" (nudies). Lately, she's noticed that other random objects can be "all noonies" as well. When I took the paper off of her muffin the other day she said: "No more muffin pants! Muffin is all noonies!" She has also referred to a coffee cup without a lid as "noonies" as well. 

She has also really noticed that we pray before meals, and she has started to be able to say the grace as well. Her typical prayer is "Thank you God for tatoes (potatos), ham, water, that one and that one and plate and blue plate and... mommy and daddy and... AMEN." (I should note that all meat is called ham and anything that remotely resembles a potato is a potato). It's very cute that she prays, also that she rambles. 

One liners:

"Mama crazy!" - after I muttered to myself that cleaning the sticky stuff off a desk was driving me crazy.

"Not daddy, not daddy, not daddy, birdie, not daddy, doggie..." -naming all the things she sees out the window while waiting for daddy to come home.

"Come out! You can play with Puppy!" -to the baby in mommy''s tummy