I Guess I Need to Work on My Enunciation?

I carry Dum Dum lollipops around wherever I go. Those little suckers are magic. They keep my little ones happy and cooperative (which makes Mommy happy too). Yesterday I took both girls to get their hair cut. I was so pleased with their behavior and politeness. I told them so as I strapped them into their respective car seats and dug into my coat pocket for the lollipop stash. I handed one to Angela and then held out several for Alice so she could make her choice.

Alice looked them over carefully and happily held one up for my inspection. “Look, Mommy, bananas and ice cream.”

I glanced at the wrapper. “Yes, honey. They call that flavor ‘banana split’.”

Alice looked at me quizzically and in her most serious tone informed me, “Mommy, spitting isn’t nice.”

Apparently, clear speech is no longer one of my strong suits. Oh well…

Grammar Lessons

Every week Alice’s school distributes a letter outlining their plans for the week. It includes what songs they are going to sing, what books they are going to read, and what concepts they are going to work on during circle time. Alice held onto the handout while I drove home. Apparently, she is learning about the comma from her teachers because she kept commenting when she saw one on the paper. The former teacher in me saw a “teachable moment” here.



“Alice, did you know that a comma with a dot on top of it is called a semicolon?” I asked her.

“No, it’s not,” Alice informed me.


I was a little taken aback, but I persisted. “Yes, Alice, it is.”


“No, it’s not.”


I decided against going into a long dissertation about my teaching and education qualifications. Instead, I asked, “Well, then what is it?”


“It’s an ‘I’.”


Oy….

Mocking Me Already?

Angela will be 21 months old next week. Unfortunately, like her sister did at this age, she is showing signs of giving up her nap. Please bow your heads for a moment of silence. If she naps, she is hard to put down in the evening; but, if she doesn't nap, she hits the wall around 5 in the evening (and boy it is not pretty). I try to put her in the crib around one in the afternoon and see what happens. If she is still up, it is a "no nap" day; but, if she falls asleep, I do a happy jig around the house (until bedtime hits).

 

Yesterday was a "no nap" day. For 45 minutes she babbled and thumped around good naturedly in her crib. I entered her room to find her laughing with her legs over her head (yes, I am hoping she grows out of that before puberty). I looked at her and asked, "So, no nap today, huh?"

 

Apparently, when I tell Angela "no," I wag my finger back and forth because she looked at me, laughed, wagged her finger, and said, "No, no, no."

 

And here I thought I had to wait until she was a teenager to be the subject of her mockery. Lucky me.

 

Not Again

I realize that my hubby has a potty mouth. There is not much I can do about it. It is just a part of him. Thanks to teaching, I am so used to censoring myself around children that using "fudge" instead of "fuck" or "shoot" instead of "shit" is second nature. I have tried to correct him, but I don't like to be a nag. Now I just tell him that he will have to deal with teacher calls over inappropriate language.

 

Surprising, the naughty language perpetrator was Angela. As I made breakfast for Alice, I heard her happily babbling in her crib. I went upstairs to take her out. Upon seeing me, Angela became very excited. She tried to hop up, but she got tangled in her sleep sack and fell down.

 

"Oh, fuck."

 

My brain shot into overdrive. "Did I hear that right? Did my toddler just use the word 'fuck'?" I had just convinced myself that I must have misheard her when Angela tried to stand again and fell over.

 

"Oh, fuck."

 

There is nothing quite like hearing your 20 month old drop the F bomb first thing in the morning. While a large part of me was horrified, I have to admit to feeling a little bit proud. She did use it in the right context, after all.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

It is funny how having an older sibling affects development. Yeah, I know that every kid develops at his/her own pace, but I do think that having an older brother or sister does speed some things along. While many would attribute this more rapid development to a desire to "keep up" with the older one, I am not totally on board with that hypothesis. Instead, I firmly believe that reaching certain milestones sooner simply stems from actually having an example to follow. Alice did not do an inordinate amount of climbing, hopping and whatnot at a young age because she did not see too much of it unless we were at a park or she was at school. (I know it is surprising that I typically do not climb on kitchen counters or hop up and down on one foot like a madwoman). Angela has this example in Alice. Consequently, Angela has learned how to climb on things at a much earlier age than her sister. She has learned the fun of dressing up from Alice. She even manipulates toys in a very similar manner to her sister. Still, there are some things that Angela can't do very well simply due to her young age and lack of coordination. One such thing is hopping.


Angela hopping (or rather trying to hop) is the cutest and most hysterical thing to watch. She bends her knees and raises her arms up in the air as if to propel her body for liftoff. She then proceeds to straighten up without her feet breaking contact with solid ground. Upon fully straightening, she grins with pride and says, "Hop". It is like saying the word indicates that the desired action has actually happened. She started doing this during a construction project on our house. While we were having a meeting with our contractor, we had Angela demonstrate her hopping to him. Now, whenever he is around, Angela starts "hopping" around the house. Today I knew Ed was in the house before actually seeing him because Angela kept saying, "Hop, hop, hop."


I wonder what will happen when she finally does achieve liftoff.

Favorite Christmas Memories of 2010

Yeah, I realize it is now January, but such is my life. Better late than never, right?

 

I have to say Christmas and the time leading up to it was filled with fun (and a little bit of insanity). Note to self- never do a home renovation project around the holidays. Still, despite all the uproar, some silly times (naturally) ensued:

 

• The Christmas Card Photo Shoot at JCPenny's- I have been unable to get a decent picture of Angela for the last two months. The child is in her "perpetual motion" stage. Consequently, whenever I try to get a picture of Angela and Alice, the picture usually looks like the two are engaged in some WWF wrestling move as Alice tries to keep her sister in position. Since I did not want "Sister Smack Down" on the Christmas card this year, I decided to hand over the task of generating a usable picture to professionals. The fact that our photographer got a few good shots still amazes me because Angela was certainly no help. At one point, she bolted out of our photo shoot to join in on another child's. Needless to say, Mommy checked the informational handout on her antibiotics when she got home and was thrilled that there was no mention of not being able to have alcohol. Joy to the World!
  

  
   

• Alice's Honesty- As I was sitting in the living room catching a breather, Alice ran in all excited. We had just decorated the tree and she was giddy with thoughts of Santa and, more specifically, presents. I reminded Alice that only good children got gifts and asked her if she has been good. Alice thought a moment and replied, "I have been good….enough." I was rather impressed with her accurate self assessment.
  

 

• Cookie Baking- Baking with small children is always an adventure. Alice became known as "the Enforcer" to her father. The poor man could not sneak a cookie without old eagle eye catching him and reprimanding him for his cookie intake. Angela, the "Cookie Monster", even stole balls of raw dough from the trays. Now that I think about it, in some ways her behavior reminded me of a junkie. I hope Lindsey Lohan did not start out this way. Perhaps some intervention is needed. Does Cookies Anonymous exist?
  

 

• Gift Exchange- As I set up the gifts on Christmas Eve, I was so excited. I couldn't wait to see Alice and Angela's reactions to their gifts. I spent so much time making sure that each present would be perfect for them. On Christmas morning, the girls opened their gifts, looked at the other's pile, and promptly began playing with each other's toys. So much for finding each one the perfect things. Next year I am just going to toss everything into a big pile and let them duke it out.
  

Needless to say, it was a wonderful time. Kids really do bring an extra bit of excitement to Christmas. I can't wait until next year.

No, I Did Not Put Her Up to It…

After dinner Alice wanted John to give her a big hug- the type of hug that involves being lifted off her feet and embraced. John made a slight groan as he picked her up (she is over 40 pounds after all). Upon reaching eye level with him, Alice looked at her father and said, "Daddy, you are getting old."


Needless to say, I cracked up. I love when her zingers are not directed at me.