The Day in Pictures...and Words

It's been awhile since I've done a Day in Pictures. I thought I would supplement today's with some of the funny things Maggie has been saying lately as well.

1. I'll actually begin with last night. On our way home I heard from the back of the car, "Hey Mom?" As soon as I got over the shock of such a candid (and grown up!) comment, I said, "Yeah Mags?" To which she replied (equally candidly and grown up), "Gotta question for ya." "What?" She took her pacifier out and repeated herself, "Gotta question for ya..." When I recovered from my laughter I said, "What's that?" [Silence] I looked back to see her, pacifier back in place, staring straight ahead. No question followed.

2. A couple of weeks ago we went for a (very short) visit to the Cleveland Zoo. While there Maggie saw an elephant for the first time. She also saw an elephant pooping for the first time. I made a joke about having to send her into therapy as a result, but the truth was, I think we all needed therapy after witnessing it. Anyways, it (obviously) made quite the impression on Mags, and everytime she has seen (a picture) or heard about an elephant since then, she has mentioned something about elephants pooping. I am nearing the finish of our playroom revamp, and there are currently various frames and decorations scattered about the room. One of which being a wooden elephant I found at TJMaxx for the wall. Maggie found it this morning and picked it up, looked at it for awhile, then held it up to me and said, "This elephant is not pooping." Thank goodness for that.


3. As I took the above picture (so I could send the quote to Dad for a laugh in his day) she half looked up and said a half-hearted cheese (I didn't even tell her I was taking the picture), made a face, and as soon as I took it she looked up at me and said, "WOW. What a good picture."

4. I can't remember if I've mentioned Maggie's latest obsession with both the phrase and the state of "naked nudey." Nothing/no one is ever referred to as just plain "naked." And it is rare that she is anything but.


5. After a rather lengthy discussion/battle about getting dressed, we finally settled on this shirt and socks. When was the last time that she wore socks?? Why did she want them on a summer day?? And yes, they are size 12 mo. Anyways, this is her sitting down to lunch #1 (As she usually naps in the range between 11-1, we generally have 2 "lunches"). A fig cereal bar and snapea crisps. I can see some of you Super Moms shaking your head right now (especially as she is also eating lunch at the counter, and not at the table), but I consider this meal a victory in healthy eating!


6. How. Because shockingly, this is the only pic I have of him today. This is a great pic to document him, as his hands are CONSTANTLY in his mouth these days. Tooth?? Perhaps...Mags got hers at 5 months. Just waiting for that sucker to pop through...


7. A few weeks ago I went to get Maggie from her crib in the morning and she said, "Mommy, Oh My Dear Lord." Had Gary not prepped me I would have been shocked and thinking "Where did she learn this language???" But he informed me the night before that she was referring to the first line of "How Great Thou Art" - "Oh Lord, my God..." This afternoon she and Gary and I were hanging out after Gary got home while Howie slept and she stopped what she was doing and said, "Oh My Dear Lord. Mommy and Daddy. Oh My Dear Lord. Sing." After a few minutes of us singing together she said, "No Mommy. Just Daddy sing." Thanks, Mags. Tell me how you really feel.

8. It's been approximately two weeks since we ran out of paper towels. So today when Gary offered to stay with Howard while he worked and the baby napped, I went back on my solemn swear to Never Take Maggie Back to Target Ever and practically sprinted to the car with Maggie under my arm. We moved Maggie's carseat to the middle position due to a mini road trip we took over the weekend and she is LOVING her new view. The whole drive to she kept saying "Oooh, Look!," including when we pulled into the Target parking lot and her eyes got really big and her mouth got wide and she said, "Oooh, Look...TARGET."

9. All I have to say is thank goodness for the inner-Target Starbucks and thank goodness for the retail distribution of Cake Pops (or "Pop Pops"), and not only any Cake Pops, but PINK cake pops. She was basically in heaven. And I basically bribed her.


10. After a miraculously long stretch of staying IN THE SEAT of the cart (thanks to my shamelessly throwing things at her to keep her busy/distracted, no doubt), she convinced me to get out for a bit while I perused the kids clothes sales rack (how could I NOT??). After a few minutes of silence I realized that HEY I brought my daughter with me to the store...WHERE IS SHE?? And after a brief moment of panic I heard the dull banging of stomping on metal and discovered her new favorite spot in Target.


11. One of the things I shamelessly through at her was a Dora water bottle that she spotted on the shelf. How she knows who Dora is I will never know. I very clearly told her that she could hold Dora in the store, but that we were not going to take her home. Through the whole store Maggie kept saying, "Maggie hold Dora in store. Dora no come home." Then as we were approaching the check out lines, she looked at the water bottle in her hands and said (ever so sweetly), "Dora come home with Maggie." Suddenly the red clearance sticker called to my heart strings and before I knew it the bottle was on the belt. On the way home I glanced in the rear-view mirror to see Maggie holding the bottle in both hands and leaning to give her a kiss on her enormous head protruding from the top of the bottle...making that bottle worth even a non-clearance price.

Treehugger

Tinydinosaurus

Maggie is usually pretty good about repeating what we say. However,
this morning she couldn't quite get out "stegasaurus" when she asked
about the dinosaur on H...it comes out "tinydinosaurus" every time.

Hold Howard and Two Babies, Too

Best Buds

(At least in her mind)


Maggie blowing her nose:


Then extending the favor.


For not being a very cuddly kid, she LOVES to lay down next to Howard. The other day she crawled under his playmat with him and grabbed his hand...then she started moving it up and down really fast going, "Nice to meet you! Nice to meet you!"


She's getting so much better about me not constantly being in the room with her, or having to "come wif" me everywhere. One day I had to do something and I asked her to talk to Howard while I was gone, and I came back to find them like this.


They are starting to find they have similar interests. Namely television. My outward appearance is thankful for this discovery. Our bedroom has also been transformed to a theater, FYI.


Maggie has lately refused to take baths. Unless Howard is present. Apparently being in the big bathtub together is not good enough for her...as this is how they end up at the end of almost every bath now. Last night her observant little mind also discovered that there are some differences between boys and girls. (I'm actually shocked it took her this long!)


I feel like most days/weeks around here we are living in A Tale of Two Cities, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Having two so close together (maybe period?) has definitely been a challenge. But when they play together in Maggie's crib for a half hour or Maggie wants to "hode em" and "kiss em" and he responds with a smile and a laugh it definitely melts away much of the craziness that is our lives these days.

One Month to Go

I'm not quite sure when it happened, but I think the Mags has grown up. Today she is 23 months.


Baby vs. Grinch is definitely no longer a baby...and probably more of a Grinch these days. So I guess it's a toss up who won the vs. competition.


She is suddenly speaking in sentences, listening to full books (and reciting them pretty well, too!), eating (more) well-rounded meals, playing on her own and understanding cause and effect (read: discipline and bribery).

She is almost two going on about twelve. Anyone older than the age of seven enthralls her. Anyone younger is worth ignoring (other than her brother...she likes him most of the time).

Her affection for Howie is actually increasing exponentially. (see subsequent post) She loves to hug and kiss him, still loves to hold him, and I've even caught her talking to him in Goos and Gahs. He is definitely going to be the kid in the pink tutu drinking tea in the playhouse. And not by his own choice.


She has known her colors and numbers for a few months now. We are still working on counting actual objects - most of the time her answer for how many of anything is "Two." She can count straight to fifteen, though, only skipping the number 9 occasionally. We're working on the alphabet. She is getting really close to being able to do the whole thing. This has nothing to do with our parenting skills, by the way, I give all credit to Sesame Street and the alphabet apps on my iPad.



(The other day I counted out her fruit snacks for her and when I got all ten on the counter she picked one up and ate it and said "nine.")

Her (or my) hair woes continue. It seems to be growing up and out these days. I call it her MoFro (Mohawk/Afro). Most days it's anyone's guess whether she will look more like Mr. T or Doc from Back to the Future.



She is a daddy's girl for sure. It is fairly common for her to stop in the middle of whatever she's doing and yell, "DAAADD! Where are you??" I love watching their relationship develop...especially now that she is starting to have conversations with us. And it is nice to have someone on hand who can throw a ball really really high.


We are looking forward to celebrating her TWO years with us next month. What a blessing and joy this little girl is! (Even in spite of those two-year-old mood swings)

Mesmerized

I'm raising a couple of TV junkies.

(please don't judge the state of the TV cabinet...or the fact that I
advocate George first thing some days)

Hair + Popsicle = Disaster

Her Favorite Color

In hopes of bolstering creativity and coming up with something to do other than watching George, I've started to incorporate some sort of craft time into our days. As you can see, i should have just bypassed the multicolor pack and gone straight for the full ream of bright pink astrobright paper. Oh, and silly me for not presorting out all of the pink pencils.


You will not be surprised at the following conversation that occurred this week:
"Maggie, what kind of birthday party would you like?"
"PINK."
"Just as I suspected."

Baby vs. Grinch - Three & Four Months

Today is one of those days that I woke up feeling like I didn't have enough brain capacity to be a mother. And so, now that both kids are sleeping (at least for now), I am turning to something that requires even less brain capacity - blogging. It doesn't require much mainly because I do it so seldom these days.

This is the proof - here is Howard's three AND four month update.





This picture captures Howie's personality SO well!

Take that, Grinch!

He continues to be our smiley, happy boy. I wasn't quite sure what to do yesterday when we were at the doctor and he cried after his shots...what was that noise?

In terms of milestones, he can now roll back to front (I've only actually caught a full one once...but the ability is there!), drools constantly (causing his sister to say, "Howard - pukers everywhere!"), loves sucking on his fingers and hands (would kill for him to latch on to that thumb!), and has recently discovered his feet (it will only be a matter of time til they make it in his mouth).


He is trying his very best to sit up. I feel like I am always catching him in a crunch position...that kid is going to have some killer abs. He's strong enough for the exersaucer now (cue angels), at least for brief periods. I think it's probably a nice break for him from his playmat.

He loves eye contact. Most of the time if he is fussing or becoming irritable, all you need to do is bend over and look at him and smile and he is happy again. Good thing he is so easy on the eyes!


He weighs just over 14 pounds now, continuing his position in the 25th percentile. He is 25 inches, which is a bit of a growth spurt from our last appointment, and that puts him into the 50th for height. So as fat as we think he is, he is really just a little peanut still.


I remember several people telling me that three/four months was their favorite time with babies. I never felt that with Mags...I enjoyed seven/eight months much more with her. Maybe it's just his sweet and happy spirit, but I am totally loving these months with Howard. I feel like with as crazy as life is these days with two and an almost two-year-old (??!), I can always look at or talk to him and he brings a smile to my face and sort of grounds me again. Both of my kids have been (and are) great companions to me, and I hope that this is a trait that continues to develop as our little family forms, as well as their relationships and friendships in the "outside world."

Tea for Two