Letter to smudge 4.5

Dear sweet girl,

You are so exuberantly full of life. In the last 6 months, I've had at least a thousand instances where I thought my heart might burst with love and pride for you. This would be a good time to remind myself that life with you has gotten easier and more fun. You are such a good helper and you try really hard to listen and follow rules. Most days. I worry sometimes that I reinforce that a little too much. Lately you have become obsessed with mistakes and being wrong (crying "I was not right, mommy!"). These things make you cry and make you apologize more than is needed.

You are incredibly intuitive and emotionally sensitive to others. However, you really like to use this to your advantage sometimes. Sometimes you still say things like "mommy, do you miss when I was 3? Do you want me to be your baby forever? Will you love 5?" with a sly smile on your face. You get the same look on your face when Daddy calls you a Daddy's girl and you assert you are Momma's girl. You don't miss a thing and your memory is a steel trap. 

One of my favorite things is that you sing or hum all the time. In addition to songs you're learning at school (ear worms!) and Disney songs, you love the Beatles. Your favorites are Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, All you Need is Love, and Yellow Submarine. We think this is fun and we thank Netflix and Pandora for giving you such great taste. You love routines and to ask the same questions over and over, mostly these are things to repeat some sort of pattern like "what day is it? What comes after Wednesday? What comes after Thursday?..." and on. You love to count and write letters and draw pictures. Our house is full of papers that have long strings of words that don't make sense to us but are sentences to you.

You recently went through a phase at school where you would tell us that no one would play with you or that you didn't have any friends. We tried not to give this too much attention and talked about finding people to play with. As it turned out, your teachers assured us that you had many friends and briefly tracked who you played with during the day. Now you regularly come home telling us all of the things you played and who all played with you. This whole experience causes me dread that you will soon begin kindergarten ("big school"). I want to remain in denial.

We recently started you in ballet which you seem to like. This is a far cry from last September when you refused to do dance because you "don't like buns!" It seems like you are enjoying it, though we haven't been able to watch any of the classes. You are still in gymnastics and seem to be enjoying that. We did swimming over summer and you frequently still talk about how much you loved that.

You are not a home body. Your most frequent refrain on the weekend and in the evenings is that you "want to go somewhere." You aren't very particular about where we are going. You love going to the library and even have your own library card. Occasionally, we have spent all of Saturday morning out and about and, as we go home, you begin complaining you want to go someplace else. If I list all of the places we went, you will respond "that is not a lot. I want to go to one hundred thirty five places!"

You are still tiny and love to be carried. I'm glad because I'm not ready to give that up yet.

When told today that you were 4.5 you very sweetly replied "I am? Yay!" and then proceeded to talk all day about all the things you can do now that you are 4.5. I asked you what your favorite part of being 4 and a half and you said "going to school and telling my friends I'm 4.5!" Apparently that is exactly what you did all day today! Tonight, in celebration and as requested, we made brownie cupcakes with fluffy peanut butter frosting.

I love you so much, little one. We feel so fortunate that you are such a wonderful girl. 

Letter to Smudge: Four

Dear sweet girl, somehow I think these letters are getting harder. On a daily basis, I try to think about what you will want to know about who you were at this age and what I will remember (or be sad that I forgot). However, when it's time to write the letter, I am just distracted by the crushing and desperate sensation of trying to slow time. You are enthralled by the power you wield over everyone's emotions as you get bigger. You've picked up on phrases like you'll always be our baby along with the thought that we will love four as much as three. Not long ago, you surprised me by asking if I was sad you weren't going to be 3 anymore. It stopped me in my tracks as I wondered what else you're picking up on and how careful we should be wishing away the moments we have.

So far, three really was our favorite age. It hasn't always been easy but it is so rewarding. Your personality is just lovely. You have all of our best traits alongside ones we don't know where they came from. In general, you are filled with positive affect and your laugh lights up the room. You spend a lot of time singing and humming; you talk to your toys so sweetly; and you can be so gentle with Madeline (usually).

You remain quite sensitive, though I'm sure some of the sensitivity just comes with the developmental territory. You cry inconsolably when you miss people. Sometimes when I pick you up from school, you will be so happy and full of joy and as you're bounding along to the car, you will say "I cried about you at school today. I missed you." On an almost weekly basis, you bring up Jasper as well. This has gotten a little better in that they are no longer meltdowns that last 30 minutes but we've definitely had our moments. The roughest was one evening when you said you missed Jasper and then started crying saying "who made him dead? I don't want him to be dead. I just want to pet him." Me too, sweetie. We sit with you and try to support you through the big emotions. Those emotions and that passion are also responsible for how fiercely you love and how tightly you hug.

Those emotions, and some normal self-centeredness are also responsible for the frustration you feel you don't get your way and lead to you saying things like "you're not my very best friend right now!" 

Developmentally, you continue to do well. You're doing great learning to listen in gymnastics and I daresay it has even helped with your clumsiness. Your legs are slightly less bruised because you seem to be tripping over air with reduced frequency! You love your teachers there as well--likely because you are carried almost the entire time you aren't performing. At school, you are obsessed with writing and knowing letters. You want to know what all words start with and you love writing your name. It sounds like sometimes you get frustrated that you don't yet know how to read. I think that's less because you really want to read and more because if you see someone doing something, you think you should be able to do it, too. You have great pattern recognition, though, in that you can write many of your classmates' names and you tend to be able to guess who a name is by the first or second letter.

You've also become quite a little gossip. You love to come home and tell us about your day and all of the drama that ensued. A conversation typically goes something like "you know what?" "H said stupid and that's a bad word, right?"..."you know what?" "J said pee pee and that's a potty word, right?" For a brief while, we were having some issues with her coming home and saying things like "S said girls can't like dinosaurs" so we had to start having those discussions early. It was fun to watch them progress so that it became "S said girls can't be firefighters but girls can do whatever they want, right?" Ms. Brooke also has been running interference with you all by reminding the class that girls and boys can do whatever they want. You also sometimes come home and say that a friend is bad so we have been talking about the difference between bad people and bad behavior.

You're a little person and in that, I can see who you are and who you will be as you get older. Sometimes I flash forward to the dream that we are still (very) best friends as you go off to college. I hope you are still a momma's girl. And I want your hugs to always be so tight. And I always want to remember the way it felt to have you in my arms. Happy birthday, love.

Today you are you. 

That is truer than true.

There is no one alive

Who is more youer than YOU.

~Dr. Seuss

2015 under review

I have a strange love for annual reports. This surprises no one given my love of data, behavioral tracking, and goal setting. It isn't just the numbers and trajectories but also the way I feel when I see the results (those unscientific feelings; let's quantify them!). I also like patterns and routines so it is only natural that I will repeat my 2013 and 2014 New Years Eve activity of summarizing our last year and weighing in on how we did with our goals. But first--Happy New Year! We were so happy to get to spend it with our new friend, Amanda.

This year brought a lot of joy and also some sadness. I guess that's the way all years will go, of course. We were so sad to lose Jasper and we continue to be sad/angry/confused by the OSU Homecoming parade tragedy and so many heart-breaking events in the world. But we had wonderful visits with family and friends. I got to travel to a number of interesting places and have fantastic food. Good friends welcomed new babies. We made some new friends and I got to see some old friends. These are the moments I hold close to my heart. But there are many other moments that made this year unique.

• We had our first visit to the Emergency Room. 
• A had her first haircut
• We tried to make each holiday special
• Sweet A turned 3, had a fun paint party and attended LOTS of birthday parties this year
• We transitioned A to a toddler bed and revamped her room and bathroom
• We had fun trips to the zoo, the Science Center, the Wondertorium, and A's first trip to the Aquarium
• A started gymnastics and tried out soccer
• I finally hung pictures on the walls in all of the rooms in our house
• I started stitch fix 
• I took the position as Director of Clinical Training
• I lost 16.5 pounds (we will temporarily disregard the 3 pounds I regained over the holidays)
• I made reading a priority and I killed my book goal

Overall, I think it was a good year. In many ways, this year has been the hardest in awhile on me and Chad. But A is thriving, work is going well, and we truly are incredibly blessed. I am working hard to continue to be grateful and use that gratitude to be kind to others.

In terms of behavioral outcomes, I took a quick look at my goals and have determined that I must pare these down for the upcoming year. And I should revisit them often.

Family, Parenting, & Intimate/Social Relations

• Be more present in relationships. Put down my phone from 6-7 and 8-9pm. 

This continues to be a struggle. Downloading the app Moment was helpful because I set a time limit per day and times that were supposed to be "screen free". However, sometimes I shut down the app or ignore the warnings. :( I don't like this. Not a good start.

• Call a friend at least once per week. 

Yikes. Not this one either.

• Go to dinner or a movie with Chad once per month.

Man, this is tremendously discouraging.

We did better this year. We hired a sitter a few times but haven't hit anywhere near monthly.

• Start getting A ready for bed by 8:45pm.

We are close here. Most nights.

• Do not do any work on Wednesday nights.

I did really, really well with this one for awhile. And then I taught three classes over the summer (mistake) and the end of the fall semester got out of control and I did not adhere to this as closely as I wanted. I should be able to pull this one (and the Fridays or Saturdays I added) back in for the spring.
Work

• Submit 2 grants

Done.

Both were scored but neither were funded. 

• Attend 3-4 national conferences (with submitted oral presentations)

I attended CUDCP in Albuquerque in January, NASSPD in Boston in March, ARP in St. Louis in June, and ABCT in Chicago in November. I gave oral talks at two of those conferences and my students presented posters at three (along with some local conferences). Additionally, I gave one invited talk at a university. 

• Submit 7 manuscripts (as well as revise/resubmit the 4 manuscripts which are currently under review, hopefully with an opportunity to revise where they are now but if not, to new outlets)

I need to be in my office to check on this one but I know we did fairly well with this goal this year with several acceptances, R&R, and new submissions. I made a goal to submit a new or revised manuscript each month and we did achieve that. 

• Catch up on clinical note signing

And now we are back to the discouraging parts.

• Submit journal reviews by the day before they are due 

This is only getting worse.

• Continue with Sunday night meetings, protecting writing time, and using the RescueTime web app

I continued with the Sunday night meetings through November and then I struggled to keep my head above water. My writing time also suffered in the fall semester. The RescueTime app has been helpful but I think I need to be held more accountable to it again, perhaps posting screenshots on occasion.
Personal Growth, Spirituality, Recreation, Physical Well-being

• Stop glorifying busy

I think I hit genuine change on this one. I am still busy and I try not to resent the busyness but I certainly am making good efforts to stay out of the competitive complaining mode. Now I need to work on not judging others who have not made this their goal.

• Find a church (after flu season) 

Not yet.

• Go to bed by midnight at least 3 nights per week

What was I thinking in making this a goal?

• Run on the treadmill or go to the gym 3 days per week

I did this incredibly well August through October. November and December were much spottier.

• Read Savor and begin to eat less mindlessly

I started this book but it came at a terrible time (from the library) so I am back on the waiting list for it.

• Participate in an organizational challenge but also give myself a break about laundry piling up. I don't like it and folding it right away (...or days/weeks later) really doesn't matter

I completed some parts of the organization challenge sponsored by Apartment Therapy. I really enjoyed it and some aspects of the challenge stuck all year.

• Read 15 books

Guys, I crushed this goal. I didn't even recall that I originally set this to 15. I said 30 on goodreads at some point in January. 58 books. I can't even believe it. The only thing that comes close to this is the number of journal articles I review. ;) I started feeling antsy last week when I realized that, with some dedication, I could double that and hit 60. But then the next book that arrived was one that begged to be savored. And journaled. And I realized the antsy pressure I was feeling reminded me of glorifying busy. So. 58 it is. Definitely a win.  

• Write 4 blogs/month

This was widely variable. This will be my 63rd blog entry for the year but that includes series of posts like for Christmas and the organizational challenge. 

• Enjoy my puppies

This one crushes my heart. Sadly, I did not spend enough time enjoying Jasper this year. I spent the summer frustrated with him and I will always wonder if/fear that the frustration prevented me from noticing how sick he got so quickly. I still can't think of this without crying. I, along with the help of A, have made a real effort to make sure that Madeline gets extra love each day. It has become some of the most bittersweet time in my day, as I can't help but feel guilty that it took losing Jasper to really appreciate them. 

Letter to smudge: 3.5

Wow, sweetheart. This one really snuck up on me. How are you already 3.5? For some reason this is hitting me hard tonight as I know that tomorrow you will be closer to 4 than you are to 3. This makes me incredibly sad. I really am not sad on a day to day basis as I consider you getting older. It's just too much fun and so much reward (or so much of the monotony, routine, and stress) to get caught up in how sad it all is. But when I stop, when I have these moments...it overwhelms me. It's the same story every letter, right?

It's getting harder and harder to identify just a few favorite things. You have the fiercest, most powerful love and that translates into the absolute best hugs in the world. You have picked up on this fact and use it to your advantage on a regular basis. No one can turn down your hugs, no matter how they are feeling. For awhile you wouldn't let us kiss you before bed because you would cackle and say "kisses make me sweaty." I think this stemmed from me saying I shouldn't kiss you one day after I had exercised and then you were reinforced with lots of laughter when you repeated it. Daddy and I think you are so funny. You make us laugh every day.

Your attention to detail, while sometimes exasperating, is really interesting to watch. Your socks have to be put on at just the right angle; your clothes have to match in a particular way that only you understand; and you have very specific ways that you want to color and play games. I hope that points to adaptively high conscientiousness in adulthood but your current organization system for your belongings leads me to question this sometimes.

There's a funny thing about you that we haven't been able to figure out. One of the most common things we hear (from doctors, nurses, strangers, family of friends) is that people can tell that you are "just so smart". This is often hard for me to swallow because I know that intelligence isn't assessed in this manner and that toddler skills don't really translate incredibly well into academic success. Maybe it is just something that people say to parents to make them feel good but it happens at an alarming rate. To be clear, though, your dad and I think you are brilliant and adorable.

Your transition to the 3 year old class was rough. Your emotions got stronger. You got louder and yelled more. You got put in time out a lot at school. We were starting to get nervous when things just leveled out and seem more settled now. You mostly love going to school. You know your ABC song, can identify most letters, shapes, and colors. You are learning about various occupations and I love hearing your stories about your friends and teachers at the end of the day. I'm already thinking about you going to pre-k and how that seems so impossibly big and far from now.

Within the last week, your dad and I have looked at each other with knowing glances more than once as we begin to understand all of the grumblings about threenagers. For awhile we were thinking we might have actually missed this phase. While you have become more emotionally stable and rarely throw tantrums, you've definitely gotten more headstrong and curious about boundaries. You are persistent and demanding. Limits have become more difficult to enforce (but we know that's the time they're most important!). You also ask "why" about evvvvvvvverything. I love answering your genuine questions ("why does it get dark? why does the moon come out?") but I get frustrated when you ask why just to ask why ("I want a tomato." [hand you a tomato] "why did you give me a tomato?') all.day.long. But you know what? These are also qualities that I am so proud that you have. I want you to be intellectually curious. And headstrong. And persistent. You're going to be a force to reckon with one day. But man. It can be exhausting to parent.

I am so lucky that I get to spend lots of time with you. Sometimes this is rough on all of us and I certainly don't pretend to enjoy every moment. But I sure do enjoy a lot of them. I've recently started telling you at the end of the day how much fun I had and we each try to name our favorite part of the day or evening. I should probably start writing those down somewhere.

Some of your favorite things are sliding, coloring, being outside, and candy. You currently don't have a favorite show because you want to find every possible show on Netflix with each one more annoying than the last until we completely lose our minds. Your favorite books are Where's my mom? and Fancy Nancy. I love watching you 'read' them. You love to make up games for us to play and then instructing us on the rules as we go. The most recent games you made up were "Shimmer and Shine Play-Doh" which inexplicably involved pouring water out of a pink cup onto your leg in the bathtub and a game with dolls where we laid them all on the table and each took turns picking our 'team' of babies, putting them back and doing that over and over again. I love listening to your running commentary of what you're drawing, coloring, or playing. Your voice is the sweetest. Lately you also have been singing a lot. Your songs are right on trend as you perfect the art of the mash-up. A recent was "one little two little three little monkeys jumping on the bed. one fell off and jump up and down sit right back down little monkey." You like going to gymnastics and that we "get a special drink" (sonic slush) on the way home on some weeks.  You love Jasper and Madeline and have become so incredibly helpful and gentle with them. They both even seem to be starting to really love you.

Tonight we made half-birthday Halloween cookies. You thought this was the best idea ever and all of your play tonight centered on half birthdays and parties. You also kept saying "we don't make cake because we are out of eggs" and you were right. :)

Three Healthy Steps

Today I took A to see the child development specialist. We used to go see them around every major milestone when A was an infant. However, it's been awhile. We've been busy/haven't had concerns, etc. We still don't have real concerns but I thought it would be good to go in again to have a few questions answered and such. I also remembered that Healthy Steps is a 0-3 program and I wanted to get her in before the program ended (turns out, it goes through 3 years old). Much of the information was similar to what Healthy Steps had said in the past--she looks good, especially verbally (expressive and receptive language) and socio-emotionally although this was not an actual formal evaluation. She laughed several times when A would naturally demonstrate something she could check off on her list before she could ask me about it or prompt her.

One of the major things we wanted to discuss was that A has developed two tics in the last year. She occasionally will blink oddly and also will 'clear her throat' while engaged in an activity (like watching tv or completing a puzzle). The specialist said this is not unusual around age 3 and while we should continue to watch both, we shouldn't draw attention to it or be overly concerned.

She noted that she thought A might be anxious in new situations and slow to warm up which is true. She indicated that a reason she might not play as much with her friends (and she sometimes shows a stronger preference for teachers than classmates; takes awhile to play with friends at parties) is feeling overwhelmed and uncomfortable. In general, A can be fearful and we continue to try to support and validate but not reinforce. She suggested getting together with 1-2 other kids on occasion.

She also asked if I thought A was "quite precocious" or "just very bright". Clearly I am neither because I do not really understand the distinction. I explained that I believe A has some strengths that are apparent (verbal and social) but that we also see areas for improvement (fine motor, daily living). But overall, we seem to be in agreement that she's doing pretty well. I went back and forth about posting but knew that 1) family love these updates and 2) inevitably, I will try to remember details about this visit in a few weeks/months/years so it is good to have this record.

p.s. The title of this blog post is super random. We don't even watch the show Special Agent Oso but in my head, I somehow know that one of the main songs goes "three healthy steps". And once I connected that for this post, I couldn't get the song out of my head. You're welcome.

Happy half-birthday to A

Dear sweet girl,

You are two and a half years old already. You are right in the middle of toddlerhood; there's no question about that. But you're also just an amazing little person.

I laugh every day at the funny things you say and do. You're also clearly a little ham, often saying "I'm so funny" (I know what you must hear a lot!). You talk all the time, keeping a running commentary on what you're doing or thinking. You are starting to get to an age where I can ask you questions and you can occasionally provide a reasonable answer. Your memory is amazing to me. I just can't believe the things that you remember and talk about.

You are doing really, really well at school. You are such a little helper. Not surprisingly, you love to follow rules and make sure others are doing the same. Your best friend is Hayden but you also love Saum and Luke. One day recently you excitedly burst out that "Josie was a tiger in the tunnel!" I have absolutely no idea what that means but it made you happy and that made me smile. You talk a lot about tigers these days. Sometimes you say that you're a scary tiger and you chase me around the house roaring.

Amidst all of your playing, you seem to be learning a lot, too. You know your basic colors and shapes, parts of the body, and animal sounds. You can count to eleven (though you reliably skip four and six) and like to 'sing along' with the ABCs. You can recognize the letters A, I, and E but think most everything else is a D (though recently you've been saying "tuh" for T so I think you're getting that one down as well). You now can tell people your mommy and daddy's names as well as your first and middle name. In the car, you often tell me to go and when I don't you say "Have to wait for cars, mommy" and more recently "red means stop." I don't think you know what either of those things mean since you're still rear facing but I must have said them enough that you recognize the pattern.

You love to run and will say "I running fast, mommy!" You went through a phase where you loved doing somersaults, too. They made us a little nervous since they sort of looked like you might break your neck at any moment.

Emotionally, things seem to have stabilized a bit. While there are still days that I lose my patience, you're in a good place right now. I hear that three is a tough year (threenagers) so we will just have to navigate that together. You still get upset when you don't get your way. It's hard to watch your face fall and to hear you say "mommy/daddy hurt me".

I don't want to talk about how well you sleep through the night but I will say that you've mostly given up naps on the weekend. We instituted an hour of 'quiet time' where you stay in your crib and look at books or play with your farm animals or cookie/cupcake baking sets. Sometimes you also will do that in the mornings, which is nice. You still love playing with your dolls, your kitchen set, all toy cars, and your "aminals." You really love going down slides. Lately you've enjoyed baking as well, which has helped a bit with your fear of the mixer (though you still note it's too loud, mommy. hurts ears).

You are still a little slow to warm up in new situations and with new people but now you sometimes surprise me by talking to strangers.

The biggest difference these days is that you just don't eat. You would eat junk food all day if we let you. Of course we don't, but sometimes I am tempted. Occasionally you will eat pasta (you would eat mac and cheese most any day, I believe but of course we can't do that either), you'll eat green beans, and sometimes you'll have cheese, cereal, raisins, fruit, or pancakes. We are sort of at a loss. We know that this is developmentally normal but at some point, I feel like you are going to have to start eating something other than fruit snacks. You're still so teeny tiny. I weighed you today and you're still at 24.5 pounds. While you can wear a few things that are 3t, you also can wear some skirts that are 18 months. That makes changing clothes for seasons a little trickier (so does weather that fluctuates from 50 to 90 to 60 in a week, though). You've been wearing the same shoe size for what feels like forever.

Your favorite song is Old MacDonald ("moo song, mommy"). Whenever we do anything you like (your new discovery of piggy back rides, funny sounds, etc.), you say "one more time" over and over again (I don't think you quite know what that means yet!).

Daddy says his favorite things are your sense of humor and that you are so happy. He also loves your long, curly hair and that you're just so pretty.

In looking back at old letters, the most noticeable and consistent qualities are your curiosity/inquisitiveness, your hugs, and that you love to laugh. It seems that these things are your constant. I hope we can rely on that to stay the same as you get older.

Today you were super excited about having a half-birthday cake. I think this means this should be a new tradition.

Slow days; fast years

There is an old quote "The days go slow but the years go fast". This is so true of parenting. I am not sure who to attribute the quote to so who knows what the author was actually referring to as I am sure people feel this way in many walks of life. However, if you google the term, you'll come up with Modest Mouse lyrics and lots of angsty parents doing exactly what I am doing now--reveling in the amazement that moments can somehow drag on for what feels like years and years flash by in a moment. 

So I feel a little bad when I go weeks between updating the blog. I know that our family gets a little irritated but I also know how often I like looking back to see what A was doing at various points and when she hit certain milestones. And lately there are lots of holes. Because seriously. How and when did she get so big?

My current favorite word she says is "yeelicious."

But we are doing well. Chad and I are enjoying work and A loves her teachers and her friends. She had a stomach virus last week that woke us up last Friday morning but she seemed to bounce back pretty quickly. Chad just had something this weekend but we aren't sure if it was the same thing (seems unlikely since 8 days had passed), another virus, or food poisoning. Other than that, though, life is just marching forward. I still struggle with frustration of Chad's schedule--I *should* be better at acceptance but yet this is an area I continue to be so willful. Alas.

It's funny how A is growing up. She just enjoys life so much.

Last weekend we made pancakes.

On Labor Day we made chocolate chip cookies. She loves being in the kitchen (so do the dogs).

Everyone knows I am not particularly crafty. Parenting is really stretching that where I at least try to fake it (usually poorly).

Like making doll diapers out of wash cloths.  

Make sure you let me know that you laughed at this.

Today we made a silky play dough out of conditioner and cornstarch. That was a whole lot of fun. Fortunately, Chad rarely looks at the blog so he won't see what a big mess that ended up making. ;) It was silky smooth to clean though and we smelled "yeelicious" afterward.

Some days she looks so much like Chad that it sort of takes my breath away. I am starting to wonder if she's going to look more like him than me.

She definitely got silly genes from both of us.

As apparently often happens, A has stopped napping most weekend days at home. We are incredibly fortunate though because she has taken to "quiet time" pretty readily. She lays in her bed "resting" for 20-30 minutes and then asks me to turn on the lights and give her toys and/or books. Sometimes she will stay in her bed for 45-60 minutes. We fully recognize that this is miraculous.

The last few days we have had really great weather. Given that it was 102 last year during the first week of September, I am happy that it appears we may have a longer fall season. We really enjoyed getting out yesterday. We have a few projects in and around the house that we plan to get to within the next month (e.g., replacing our front flower beds and the living room flooring). So that should be super exciting...

And for the record, Blogger has gotten incredibly slow with uploading videos. This is probably one reason I avoid updating...I seriously want to throw my laptop across the room right now...

Toddlers are brilliant

I have spent the last two years reading and thinking about how babies and toddlers are capable of more than we give them credit for. We've seen this through being surprised by A's memory and her ability to get "unstuck" from places, navigate playground equipment, and climb into the car and up to her car seat.

 

But I will admit, A got me today. She totally floored me and I'm so happy I was watching (& present), that I didn't "fix it" for her, and that I captured the last bit on video.

So here is the back story. Today I put A's big blanket in her bed for the first time (we have been using thin Aden & Anais blankets since she was born). She was thrilled to see the elephants on her blanket that match the elephant decals on her wall. She was matching them and having a great time. We also put her coordinating stuffed elephant in there. Later this afternoon, she decided she wanted to get the elephant out. She tried to pull it through the slats (this works with one of her "babies" and her stuffed cow) but clearly it wouldn't work with this toy. I just sat in the chair, observing. She climbed on the outside of the crib (like the picture above from a few days ago) and tried to reach but she wasn't able to. I started itching to help but decided to see what she tried next, especially since she wasn't even asking for my assistance. She jumped off the crib, ran into the living room, began digging around in a box, and found the shoestrings that she had been playing with earlier (they go along with a "Lace and Trace Farm") and brought them into the bedroom where this happened.

Finally, she had me tie the string around the elephant and this occurred next. She played "fisher girl" for the next 10 minutes or so, clearly very proud of herself. So creative and I would have missed it all if I had just gotten the toy out for her!

pigcowpig

Sweetpea had her 2-year well child check on Friday. She weighed 24 pounds and 8.6 ounces (42nd percentile), was 33.5 inches long (27th percentile), and her head was 19 inches (76th percentile). She got the second Hep A vaccine and a Clifford the Big Red dog band-aid. She's doing great. Because she is being followed by the pulmonologist, we don't need to go back until she is 3. Yay! :)

We had been practicing for the doctor with our fun medical kit from Leo (and Asa and Eli).

Because her appointment was in the early afternoon, we all took the rest of the day off to enjoy some family time.

The Wondertorium had a "Museum Alive" exhibit with lots of animals to see, in addition to their usual fun.



She enjoyed watching the tortoise eating, though it initially caught her off guard.

She was more interested in playing than seeing the live creatures inside the museum (snakes, spiders, turtles, hedgehogs--SO cute!, dogs, kitties, chicks, macaw, guinea pigs, fish, ferrets).

However, once we got outside, she was very interested in the animals! She saw the pony, camel, alpaca, woodchuck, goats, and baby kangaroo (oh my goodness, the cuteness!!). But then she saw the pigs. And it was all over. She just wanted to watch "pig sweep? pig sweepin?" And then she started saying "pig! cowpig! pig cowpig!" and when I started to tell her that yes, there were pigs--I realized, the black and white pig probably does look like a cowpig to her. So stinking cute I can't even stand it.

cowpig sweepin'

There are a lot of pictures of the pigcowpig because that's all A wanted to see. She talked about them all day Saturday and Sunday as well. It was hard to pull her away, even for waffles, which we got from a new food truck, Stillwaffles. :) Yummy deliciousness.

Related to animals, Chad also found a snake in the yard. Baby A wanted to pet him, which is funny because she didn't want to pet any of the snakes at the Wondertorium. One of the herpetology students told me what kind of snake this was but I forgot what she said (possibly a rough earth snake)...Saturday I pulled a different garden snake out of Jasper's mouth. That was fun. It's been an adventurous weekend.

Speaking of adventure, on Saturday A and I went with Ricki to the Stillwater Emergency/Disaster Preparedness fair. It was even less exciting that I expected. But we got a free first aid kit, we got a child ID card for A (though the picture is terrible and her fingers were too small to fingerprint), and she got a pack of fruit snacks.

 

It was out at Boomer Lake so we took some time to play on their playground.

 







On Sunday we made a trip to the grocery store and to Chipotle.



You couldn't even tell that someone didn't take a nap yesterday...



We had fun playing outside. Apparently Oklahoma is the driest it has been in 120 years. I keep wanting to do more with our front and back yards but I know it is going to be a ton of work. 







We do at least need to get some herbs to pot again this summer.



I make a lot of silly mistakes in parenting that I don't realize until once it is too late (documenting them will perhaps serve as a warning for others?). Like making cloud dough and putting it in the sand table. I was sort of patting myself on the back thinking about how smart I was not making it in the house (it is very messy!) until I realized that baby oil can be toxic to dogs if ingested and to babies if aspirated (hooray, Oklahoma wind plus flour...). So if I ever decide to make it again, I'll probably use coconut oil instead (and you know I will because I just don't learn!). But yea, figuring out how to get this out of the table (when again, rain isn't coming anytime soon...) was fun.

On the upside, A did enjoy playing with it for quite awhile. Dogs are safe and baby is safe. Crisis averted.