Splain'in

I have had a hard time explaining things to Peanut lately. The most incidence was trying to explain Martin Luther King Jr. to her. She knew that we got a day to ride on the trolley and that it was a special day. Luckily she is not in an asking why stage, she just takes everything for granted.

So she came home the other day with a picture of Martin Luther King that she had colored on. First, I think it is really funny that they gave her a picture of MLK to color on. Second, I don't know if she picked the colors, but all she used was black and brown.

So I tried to explain who MLK was.

"oh that martin Luther King"

"Martin lutha ksdjf;alsk"

"He was a good man".

"A good Man"

"He helped people by changing laws".

"He helped people change laws".

It was hard. and I expect explaining injustice in the world is going to be really hard. When we she walks in and I am watching Discovery Health, it is hard to explain to her what is going on. She has walked in while people were giving birth to sick babies or things like that. I know I should turn it off, but I can't. I get so wrapped up in it.

I have also had a hard time explaining why we can't pet the dog that lives near the park. The best I have come up with is that the dog is sad and sometimes he bites. I don't know. Suggestions for books or anything?

Big Girl Bed

We took the rail off of peanut's crib again. This time it is going very well. The first night she gave us some heartache because she kept crying, but she wasn't crying because she was getting out, she was crying because she wanted to go into her room. She is sleeping in our room right now because her room is completely torn up. She is getting her "new floors".

Peanut has been a pill this weekend. It isn't any one thing, but really just a series of trying to test my limits. Her big thing now is sticking her finger up her nose and spitting. I try to ignore the spitting and tell her it is ugly when she keeps talking about it. I tell her not to put her finger up her nose or she will end up in time out.

She is also pretty obsessed with kicking and hitting and other things she can do with her body. She was angry at me this afternoon and threw her bowl. I didn't say anything so she told me she did. I told her that I realized she was mad, but that she needed to pick up the bowl and put it away. She did.

The hitting, kicking, and pushing are vague concepts for her. She isn't really hitting or kicking us in meanness, but rather she is doing it in fun. If I am bending down, she will kick me a couple of times gently and say "I kick momma". I tell her that kicking isn't what nice girls do.

I think she also went in time out this week for pushing. We have been talking a lot about that too. "I push Michael. I went to time out." "Michael pushed me". We talked about what we say when Michael pushes "Don't push Michael. That's not nice." I don't see this behavior when she is with other kids so I think it is just something that she is talking about these days.

This is the last week at her day school. I think I will cry when we leave. There are so many things involved in a day school. I know I am doing the right thing, but I will really miss some of the teachers. I will really miss the kids who I have grown to love.

Peanut is really into painting these days. I guess she bugs the teacher to let her paint at school. She came home the other day and told me "I paint Sri John." Sri John is a little boy at her school. I asked about it at school and they said that she did. Poor Sri John. On a positive note, I guess she apologized when she realized she wasn't suppose to do that. It is funny the things we must learn.

The Office

this is our office.

Now our office is in the toilet.

We have finished tearing up all the floors, or more specifically, Mr. T. has finished tearing up all the floors. We have a week of living with the house like this before the guy comes to lay the new flooring. It is awful because all of the flooring is in our front room. It is taunting me with its promise of order and beauty.

I always get really worked up when I lay down a lot of money, but I think that we made the right decision. The floors are going to look wonderful.

One in the hole

Is better than 2 in the tub.

She is going back through a stage where she doesn't want to sit on the potty. I am not terribly surprised because everything she says is "No". So far, it (saying No all the time) isn't as bad as I thought it would be. I guess, because I really don't believe her when she says it. She also doesn't sound very snotty when she says it, but I bet that will come with time. She really just sounds like she is trying to see what she can get away with, which is fair. She has to try sometime.

(What is it that makes me want to take pictures of this and call all the grandparents?)

MLK Day

Today is MLK day which means I get the day off AND Peanut gets the day off as well. We had a blast today because there aren't many days where we both get off and everything is open.

I rushed peanut out of the house by 8:30. I think she would have been perfectly content to watch another episode of Sesame Street, but by 8:00 I was feeling itchy to start the day. We went downtown, but the library wasn't opened yet, so we swung by peanuts new school. It was back to the glistening I remember it being. Peanut did not want to go into the room. She kept telling me she wanted to go home. We did get to meet some people and I think she enjoyed it. She kept telling me all day how she said bye to her new teacher.

Next up was the library. I am a little embarrassed to say my child has never been to the library. It was nice, but I don't think we were missing much. It is amazing to me how unfun it was. There were some kid sized chairs and things, but nothing slotchy and fun. Nothing there was very tactile, it all seemed so sterile.

Next stop was Boulevard for some pastries and hot chocolate. We ate and drank while we wait for the trolley or the TRAIN. Did i mention we were obsessed with trains? she had a really nice time for about 30 minutes. We had both had enough by the time the 45 minute trolley ride ended. She kept telling me "We are on the tracks!" We both got a kick going over the river. It is fun to see it so up close.

Then we went to a friends house for some catching up, playing and lunch. Then off to a hard sleep before I woke her up to go to another friend's house.

It was a big day. Not exactly what MLK would have imagined but lovely just the same.

I'm a Baby!

Peanut's new favorite game is to pretend like she is a baby. I think it is just another branch of this whole baby obsession thing we have been experiencing lately. She wants me to cuddle her like a baby. We talk about the things that babies can not do like drink hot chocolate and eat ice cream. They also drink mommies milk, and I push her face up against my breast. She think that is hilarious. Peanut really liked to nurse, and I am worried about her wanting to nurse again. I want her to know what a big girl she is, but I don't want to push her either. I guess I will just wait and see how it all turns out.

It is cold here now. It hasn't been projected to be above 40 and our thermometer hasn't read above 30 all weekend. We went outside once for a short walk, but I have been brushing off requests for the zoo or for the park. We spent most of the weekend inside or running from shop to shop.

Along with babies, Peanut has been obsessed with baby Jesus and likewise church. It is kind of weird because she doesn't really understand the concept of baby Jesus. She just remembers seeing him all over the place last month and now he isn't around so much. Today at church she ran up to a picture of a black boy nursing on his mother and said "That's baby Jesus". I kinda laughed and wished that my preacher was around to hear it. He would have been so proud.

We toured her new daycare this week. It wasn't the bells and whistles I remember, but very nice just the same. I like the structure that this daycare offers. I also like their infant and younger kids rooms way more than our current place. They don't have an outside playground, but they have garage doors that open in the summer to allow lots of fresh air in. Conversely, they never really have to worry about not having a place to play when it is raining, too cold or too hot. Right now peanut is in gymboree. She will have the opportunity to do it again, but what I am most excited about is her getting to do ballet. The thing I don't like is the lack of natural light, but I think it is something I can get over because the goods definitely outweigh the bads

I need to post more about the funny things she has been saying. Maybe I will do a series of posts on them. I can never really remember the funny things she says when I sit down to write them.
Tonight she was saying in the bathtub "oh my God Soap!" She was chasing the soap around trying to hold onto it.

This is phase 1 of the house remodeling. We have hired a flooring contractor and ordered our new flooring. The thing about flooring is that it isn't really that exciting. When it is all in here together, it is going to look awesome. We also hired a kitchen contractor. They are working on our design. I expect that we will get it back sometime next week. I hope to have the kitchen finished by the end of March. We have yet to find a contractor for the windows. We thought we wanted wood windows, but we might just go with vinyl so we can keep big sliding windows in the front room.

I am also moving forward on the Master's Paper. It isn't going as fast as I would like it to because we keep having to do work at work.

not that it matters...

but since she was screaming and crying when we measured her yesterday, i went back and did it again today. She was 35.5 inches. Yesterday they recorded her at 34.5 inches. i marked her head and didn't do a very good job.

Dr. Visit

We went to the doctor yesterday for probably the least enjoyable well child visit ever. First, we had to wait, which we generally don't do. AND, Peanut missed her snack, which makes her GRUMPY. Peanut is of the age where she understands when something isn't right. For example, taking all her clothes off in a small room and marching her out to weird chair to sit down. Peanut started to panic. She hated getting measurements of weight, height, and especially her head. I can't say that I blame her. I tried to explain to her that we were going to the doctor to get her measurements, but I don't think I did such a good job.

She also hated getting having the doctor look at her or touch her. She was telling him "NO!" and saying "I want to put on my clothes". He was great though. He tickeled her and she loved it. She was also pretty intrigued with ear light.

With the measurements we got, she is at 80% for height and weight. That is up for weight and down for height. I've noticed and others have commented that she has gotten bigger, so I wonder if she is about to shoot up again. She is now out of her 24 months clothes (almost overnight). They are all too short for her.

She did well with the shot. She kinda paniced a little, but was pretty happy when they put a pink band-aid on her "oh sticker". They gave her a curious George sticker after getting her shots. "I want to show daddy my monkey stickers."

The doctor and I both agreed that she is adorable and developing really well.

Alls Well

I not only have an echo, but a pretty funny one at that.

"Are you a baby or are you a little girl?"
"I am a little girl baby".

Mr T.: "Sure I can...."whatever it was that he said he would do.
Me: " Thanks Dude"
peanut: "Thanks Dude. Thanks Daddy Dude"

"My baby eats raisins"
"oh she does, does she?"
"Yes, see"

Well, I can't deny her accuracy. Now she wants the raisin out, and we can't quite figure out how to get it out. Oh well.

Babies are the big thing lately. I think it is because she just got two new dolls, and Jen just gave birth. She has always loved babies, but lately it seems like she spends more time with hers. The baby koala is still a favorite but only when she needs comforting. The dolls are the toy she likes the best. She doesn't like dressing them though, she mostly wants to undress them, put them night night, and nurse them. I am glad she is nursing before the baby comes so we can have a conversation about how it is important to nurse, but she is grown up enough that she drinks cows milk. I borrowed a page from my friend telling her that we can't make hot chocolate with mommy's milk.

Her tummy pokes out like mine so she thinks she has a baby inside her belly too. Yesterday she told me it was a baby koala, but today she said it was a baby brother.

So the ab fab news for the weekend was that we FINALLY got peanut into the Child Developement Center. Peanut has been on the list since she was in utero six weeks. I think she may have been bumped off the list at least once due to no response from me, but we are finally in. This means that Pumpkin will probably get in as well. We hope to start him in August, which is the best time to start a child. The daycare is the best in the city with some kind of crazy national accreditation that no one else here has. It is also located 4 blocks from work, which will make breastfeeding a breeze during lunch. Jen's daughter, Quinn, attends but unfortunately, our two girls won't be in the same class. The classrooms don't have natural light, but they are set up so much better than where she is now. There are lots of colors and different areas to play. The student teacher ratio is also better. I am really excited about the change.

We had a nice weekend with a lot of visits and walks to the starbucks. I finally was able to catch up with some old friends over the weekend. We also went to Fasu's house for dinner. We stayed until 8:40! No one can party like clan Tallgirl.

Sports Illustrated

A guy at work's kid made Sports Illustrated. His child is the smaller one. You can click on the photo to see the article.

Pretty cool huh?

More Present Movies

Here is a short movie of Peanut opening the present from her grandmother.



And a longer movie of peanut opening presents from Mr. T. and me. Look closely to see her expression and hear her exclaim.

Love Letter to a 2-year old

Dear Peanut,

When you have a child, you expect the first year to be a year full of wonders and milestones. People don't ever really mention much about the second year. I think this year gets marked with leftover milestones and dread for the 2's. But with you, this year has been simply amazing.
This year has made a marked change from a baby to a little girl. Physically, you have slimmed down and grown some hair. You have developed my long lean body. You can run faster, climb higher, and reach even more things that you aren't supposed to. Mentally, you have gone from a vocabulary of a couple of dozen words to being able to hold a conversation. You know songs, animals, numbers, and letters. You are constantly naming things and expressing your emotions. You are also getting good at recognizing other people's emotions, something that is highly unusual for a kid your age. You share really well and go out of your way to make your friends feel included.

But people don't really prepare you for all of that. There is talk of tantrums and teething, and sure there are tantrums. As you get older, they get harder to remember. People don't warn you about the feelings of joy as two sticky little hands reach around your neck and squeeze you. I wasn't warned about the first time you said your ABC's or counted to ten. I wasn't warned about how proud I would be when you would first tell me a joke or tell me that you are going to kiss my owies all better.

Tonight in the tub, you started telling me the letters and numbers you were holding. It was pretty amazing. I know other kids your age can do that, but usually, they are the ones that watch Sesame Street. We don't watch Sesame Street. We don't work on numbers or letters, but somehow, you picked it up. It seems like a lot of things are like that. Most things I can understand, like you feeding and taking care of your babies, but other things I don't.

You are an amazingly warm and sweet kid. You have your ideas on how things should be, but our house is full of opinions, so one more fits in well. You are starting to get to the age where you like to tell me No, Nope, and na-ah. Sometimes you are very adamant about it, but as you grow older, if you are being stubborn, we can make fun of you and make you laugh at yourself. Fortunatley for us, your good nature usually wins out.

I am looking forward to getting to know you as you grow older. Your favorite things right now are baby dolls, books and trains. I really can't tell you how cool I think that is. I hope you stay the balance of technical, feminine and educated. I hope I am able to keep the pressures away from you that may keep you from feeling like any one of those things are not acceptable. I also hope I am able to keep good role models around for you to look up to, and I hope the ones in the media do not affect you too much.

You are an amazing person. Having you has made me excited about your brother. I love you dearly.

love,
your mum.

PARTY!!

Babywatch 2008 is over for the time being. I have been guest posting on Jen's blog. Her baby is really really cute and makes me ready for my own. (of course not at 22 weeks)

We had Peanut's party today. It was really nice. Since it was after the holidays a couple of people couldn't come, and I think that some may have forgot. That works out in the end because I bought these little aprons to give away as party favors (too cute for only 2 dollars a piece), and I had the right amount. Even the baby Fasu got one.

Quinn spent all day with us. It was awesome. The two girls kept themselves entertained. I got so much more done than if it was just peanut her by herself. The played wonderfully together, never fighting once. I was so proud. Even at peanut's party, her and Quinn were paling around.

We had nachos for dinner, something everyone could pick and choose what went on them. I was pretty happy with how it all turned out. It looked like everyone found something they liked to eat and the food was pretty healthy and very kid friendly.

Instead of cake, I let the kids decorate their own cookies. It really turned out well. Even baby Wesley (who isn't much of a baby anymore) seemed to enjoy decorating his cookie. Most of the kids did shovel the icing into their mouths, but who cares! It is a party.

Quinn and Peanut wore matching dresses. They thought that was pretty cool. "Matching dresses. We wear matching dresses." And of course, long streams of giggles follow. Those two girls were cracking me up. Their insides must hurt from giggling so much. I wish I could have gotten some on video, but these days getting video of peanut means her preforming while looking at herself.

It was 60 degrees here today. We were all going to go to the park, but everyone looked like they were very cozy, so we stayed in. The kids mostly went downstairs and played with the toys. I had an idea that they could play with play-doh, but everyone seemed to having a good time without it. I sent all of them home with a bunch of it though.

And we even did a little swimming. Okay, not really, but it was pretty funny to see her walking around with goggles on. She actually even had them over her eyes.

Baby Watch

Quinn is over staying the night. It would have been an easy "night night" time had someone's child not been screaming. Hum.....

Jen is dilated to 4 cm and her contractions are 3 minutes apart. Hopefully we will finally find out the name of this little girl in the morning.

Until then, here are some pictures of the girls. I love this age. They are so sweet to one another. They actually SHARE. One will say "I want that." The other will play with it for a few seconds more then hand it over. Who would have known we would have it this good 9 months ago when our time together was more like a wrestling match!

AND Beyond BEER!!

For New Years, Quinn and Jen came over for some fondue, dim sum, and tomato soup. (you know, your typical New Years food) We also all had some BEER out of wine glasses. For the un-indoctrinated BEER is sparkling apple juice. Peanut loves it and sometimes will ask for it in the morning. I really don't feel the need to correct her because really, the first thing in the morning I want to hear is "Momma, Some BEER please". That's my girl. I am sure her grandparents are all so proud!

I snagged an invitation to party that turned out to be pretty rocking, but I couldn't manage to pull it together enough to leave the house. For the first time in years, I brought in the New Year asleep.

Peanut has been saying some pretty funny things lately.

Just a rundown.

• It was 5 in the morning and the shortest member of our family decided to be AWAKE!. "momma, Pee Pee on my pajama pants" So I changed her pajamas, but told her she needed to go night night. She said "momma, i just night night". (of course! what a fool I am!)
• She likes to tell us to turn the light off, but she really means turn the light on.
• When you ask her a question she goes "hmmm. Hmmm".
• When something falls she says "oh De-a" (oh dear)
• She hides everything in her bike. The other day she had two drinks and a muffin stashed in her bike. She also asks about her helmet when she rides her bike. She knows the rules.

She has also started ignoring me again, which drives me crazy. We have had to have some timeouts for not listening to what mom says. It makes me sad to do it because I can tell she feels bad. She comes out of time out telling me how she is nice and how she wants to hug momma.

I am also on Baby Watch for this one.

We have had a couple of false starts, but I think it will happen soon. I am really excited. It is almost like I am having a baby.