Imagination Station

Sometimes I have to stop doing for a minute and just watch my child's imagination explode before me. It's amazing, really. I fear that while these sweet little moments are fresh in my mind now, I won't remember them later. In a few months, she will be doing so much more. Her language skills will improve and her imaginary playtime will develop into something new and altogether just as amazing. But, for the sake of my fleeting memory that is threatened daily by Elmo and sleep deprivation, these are some of my favorites at 23 months:

• She plays with her food. As in, she takes a bite of a pancake, cocks her head and looks at it, then exclaims an animal she now sees ("a donkey! Hee haw") while she makes it trot across the table.
• She is an excellent cook. She cooks play-doh meals and presents them to me. They are typically cookies, cakes, pancakes, or pasta. No surprise there. When she takes something out of the "oven," she uses an oven mitt and tells me it's hot. Then she takes a fork and takes pretend bites with me while saying, "yummm." 

She also makes food for Banks. He's not very good at pretend eating though.

• She doesn't like to color in the lines. She likes a blank canvas. I only figured this out this week. I love coloring. I owned coloring books far before she was born, so I did not understand why she wouldn't sit and color with me. Then, I gave her a blank piece of paper and she was in her element. She scribbles on the page and tells me it's a blue puppy or a black sheep. She draws a squiggle and proudly exclaims, "C!" "More paper?" she asks. She will paint and color as long as I keep the paper coming, just as long as it doesn't have lines!

• She loves dancing. She has lots of signature moves, but she recently gave one a new name. She has a Disney princess castle and when you turn a pedestal, the princesses twirl. So now, whenever she twirls, she says, "I dancing princess."
• She likes to make her toys dance together. Often, I will find her humming while a hippo dances with Snow White. Sometimes they kiss and hug too.
• It's no secret I take tons of pictures of her. Last night, I looked over while I was cooking dinner and she was squatting with a magnet up to her face, her eyes squinted, saying "cheese" as she pretended to take pictures.

My little corner of the world is certainly entertaining these days. It's magical, really. I wonder, if I spend enough time on her level, will I see the world like she does?

Two

C will be two in less than a month and just today, she has had at least four melt downs, if not more. They have been about important issues, of course.

I would not let her touch duck poop at the park (though it does look very interesting). I would not let her "watch Pooh" on our way home from the park (mostly because Pooh lives on my iPad and my iPad was not in the car). After dinner, I, once again, would not let her "watch Pooh" because it was time to take a bath; and then I made her take said bath without her blanky. As soon as I put her in the water, she refused to sit down and kept saying, "all clean" and waving to the water while she said "bye."

Hello, Two. We have arrived.

Her smile returned immediately upon exit of the tub, we snuggled and read bedtime stories, and she was asleep by 7:15. My sweet girl is still so very sweet; but I have no doubt we are approaching the "two's" head on.

Weekend Getaway

Last weekend, our family of three headed to Atlanta for a little R and R. Husband was excited to get to see his Falcons play in the NFC Championship; and C and I were excited to spend the weekend playing at the zoo and aquarium. He booked us at the Ritz Carlton downtown, close to most of our planned activities, and we arrived to find San Francisco fans lining the sidewalk with cameras and memorabilia in hand. We were at the host hotel of the 49ers!

We checked in and then decided to go for a little walk downtown before getting dinner. The weather was perfect and we strolled while C chatted about everything we passed. We looked at sculptures and tossed pennies in a fountain. We approached a beautiful, large church and C exclaimed, "wow, a castle!" We agreed. It was most certainly a princess castle.

We had an amazing (and surprisingly kid friendly) dinner at Alma Cocina, a Mexican restaurant conveniently located next door to our hotel. The food was amazing, but C was distracted by a mounted cow's head directly above our table. She kept saying, "A cow! Oh no! It's stuck!" Husband and I just told her he was okay and that he was resting, but every now and then she would catch a glimpse of him and worry all over again. It was adorable.

We thought she was getting tired, so we decided to head back to our room and order dessert by room service. As soon as she was back in the room, she was jumping on the bed, playing with the phone, and "reading" every magazine in the room. We enjoyed coffee and dessert with our little night owl before I gave her a bath and wrapped her in the complimentary robe. I just couldn't resist.

C and I settled into the fluffy bed to watch Winnie the Pooh, and Husband kissed us goodnight and headed downstairs to hang out for a little while - a football fan's dream (even if it was with the wrong team). The funny thing about Husband is, he's never met a stranger, and ended up chatting with another Falcons fan all night and walking to the game with him the next day! One of the many reasons I love him.

We woke up early the next morning and headed to the zoo! It was a beautiful day and most of the animals were out. 

We saw so many animals, but her favorite (no surprise here) was the petting zoo. She could not get enough of all the goats and sheep. She petted and brushed them and tried to snuggle them.

Her favorite was a white goat that was sleeping sitting up. 

She looked at him thoughtfully...

and decided to hop on!

It was such a fun morning!

We headed back downtown to drop off Husband for the game and then C and I were headed to the Georgia Aquarium. The traffic was terrible, so he decided to just get out while we were stopped in traffic and walk the rest of the way. There was no time for a long goodbye, so he just made it quick and got out of the car.

C lost it.

She could not figure out where he went. She started to cry scream for Daddy over and over again. It was honestly the hardest I have heard her cry...ever. I could not console her. I stroked her leg while I drove through traffic. We called Daddy so she could hear his voice, but that only made it worse when he hung up. We parked at the aquarium, got out, and still, she screamed for Daddy. It was heartbreaking. Finally, after at least twenty minutes of milk and snacks and rocking in the parking lot, she calmed down enough to go inside.

Luckily, once she saw where we were, she was excited. We were able to meet my friend, Betsi, there and spent the afternoon with some of our favorites - whales, penguins, dolphins, and "fishies." 

The aquarium closed at 5:00, so we killed time in the parking lot with a snack and an Elmo dvd until Husband was ready to meet us. As soon as he got in the car, C was thrilled! We were on our way home, but stopped at Cracker Barrel for a quick dinner. She clung to Daddy like a koala bear and was not letting go. We have quite the daddy's girl on our hands.

We packed a lot of fun into our weekend getaway and enjoyed some time with just the three of us. I'm so grateful for a husband who plans fun trips for us and for a little girl who is becoming quite the traveler (as long as she has Daddy within reach)!

Snow Day

I am definitely a southern girl. I like it hot. Give me 102 degrees over snow any day. But, even I have to admit that the kind of snow we get it is a nice compromise. We get all of the fun and beauty with none of the hassle. It's pretty, enough sticks to play in it, and it's usually gone by the next day.

It snowed a little over a week ago. This was the first snow that C was old enough to enjoy. We got a little on Christmas day last year, but missed it because we were travelling. It was worth the wait because she loved it! We talked and talked and talked about it while we watched it fall. I opened the door to let her see it and touch the pile that had formed on our doorstep. Then, I tried to close the door. She was not having it. She pushed it back open and tried to go outside. So, I dressed her in layers while she cried (because we weren't already out there) and then we went outside, camera in hand, to make some memories!

She loved the snow so much. She touched it with her hands, she opened her mouth to catch it, and she ate TONS of it.

Of course, we built a snowman.

But she really wanted to eat his nose.

Twelve hours and a hint of sun later, and a puddle dressed in a crumpled pile of hat, scarf, and sunglasses stood where our snowman once was. It was the perfect snow day!

Freezer Fail

I make the majority of our food, the reasoning being twofold: I like knowing what's in our food and it's infinitely cheaper. That being said, sometimes Mommy needs a cooking break. So, today, I served C a frozen kids meal for lunch.

This was not your run of the mill crap. It was organic spaghetti and turkey meatballs (made from humanely raised turkey) that cost $5 at Earth Fare for a toddler sized portion.

She excitedly said, "pasta!" and climbed into her seat. She took one bite and said, "eeeww, yucky." So, I took one bite. Agreed.

Then, I made another lunch for her, which I apparently should have just done in the first place.

No more short cuts for Mommy.

Haircut

Last night, I attempted to trim C's bangs. There was absolutely no reason to attempt this myself, as our wonderful hairdresser cuts her hair for free; but, it's cold and gross outside and I didn't feel like driving to the salon.

So, I sat her on the bathroom counter, gave her a stack of toys to distract her, and went to town.

It went a little like this:

Snip snip

"Oh no!"

Snip snip

(Points to hair on counter) "Eeewwww."

Snip snip

"Ouch. I stuck." (her go-to phrase when she wants to be anywhere but where she is).

She's been getting her hair cut for a year, so I'm not sure why she was so dramatic. Overall, it wasn't terrible. They don't look perfect, but she's got a little curl/wave that beautifully disguises any mistakes.

I think I'll be giving the salon a call next time though.

On Baking Bread

I am new to the world of bread baking. Prior to my Christmas acquisition of the fanciest bread machine ever (thanks, Husband), I only attempted making bread from scratch a couple of times. The outcome was delicious, but I wasn't quite convinced that it was worth the time commitment. There was a lot of waiting. Mix...rest...knead...rest...shape...rest...bake...rest. I just wasn't willing to put in the time for something as simple as a loaf of bread.

Now armed with a machine to do all the resting for me, I was sure I could do no wrong. Follow directions, dump in ingredients, push start, and voila! I would have bread. But it's not that simple. A few nights ago, I attempted whole wheat bread. I measured, dumped, programmed the machine, and waited. About halfway through, I decided the dough looked too wet, so I opened the lid and sprinkled in a little extra flour. I was feeling quite perceptive, attuned to the bread's needs. I patted myself on the back a little, knowing that extra sprinkle had made all the difference; but, when the cycle ended, I found a loaf with a beautiful rim and a lifeless, deflated middle.

I tried again later that night. I once again measured and dumped; but this time, feeling extra savvy, I used the timer so we would wake up to the sweet aroma of freshly baked bread. Brilliant, right? The next morning, I woke to an aroma, but it wasn't necessarily pleasant. I came downstairs to find the ingredients baked into a rock hard form, but completely unmixed.

I was perplexed. I googled. I searched bread making message boards to see what could have possibly gone wrong. I contemplated calling the "Baker's Hotline" (yes, that is a real thing), but was afraid of sounding like too much of a novice to ask the right questions. As I stared at the machine, vowing to only make white bread from now on, I saw them. 

After washing out my pan from the day's first disaster, I had forgotten to put the paddles back in. I had taken away my machine's ability to mix. It tried to run its course anyway, but without paddles, it was helpless.

So, tonight, I tried again. Third time's a charm, right? I made sure all the parts were in the machine. I followed the directions exactly. I did not open the machine at all during the three and a half hour cycle. I waited patiently. And finally, I produced a loaf of bread fit to be consumed.

It's funny how the smallest things made such a big difference. I couldn't help but think that raising a child is a lot like baking bread. As the mother of an almost two year old, I find my days are rarely as expected. C is learning so much right now. She is full of energy and vocabulary and wonder; and, if I'm not patient enough to let her work out her thoughts, to let her describe a color or tell me about her princess castle or brush her own teeth, then she won't rise to her best. If I don't step back and let her grow, I'll crush her spirit, leaving her deflated and lifeless.

She is a sponge, so eager to learn; but, if I don't provide her with the right tools, no matter how hard she tries, the finished product will remain unfinished. If I tell her to paint, but provide no canvas, she learns nothing. If I expect her to learn her alphabet and colors and numbers, but never read or practice or play with her, I can expect the lesson to remain on the surface.

It is easy to become frustrated when there are tantrums over teeth brushing and refusal to eat anything green and resistance to sitting still and listening during a story. It is difficult to fight the urge to help her put on her shoes; or to convince her that when the blocks are stacked that high, they will fall down every single time; or to stop her when she is counting to ten and skipping the number seven. She is busy and loud and excited and funny and soaking in every single thing around her. It is only when I am patient, when I fight the urge to help in the middle of the process, when I provide the right resources, when I let her take it all in and rest, that she will truly rise to her potential.

Because, when you have all the right ingredients and pay attention to the details, you can't help but smile at the finished product.

I may have this baking/parenting thing down after all.

Painting, Baking, and Memory Making...

...That's what rainy days are made of.

Monsoon season is upon us, which means our favorite outdoor activities are off limits and we are in desperate need of fun indoor activities to keep an active toddler entertained. Luckily, C has a million toys and dress up clothes; and she loves to paint and help me in the kitchen. She's so funny these days and has kept me thoroughly entertained while trapped inside.

We got some new finger paint and she had so much fun. She loved it so much, she asked to paint again while I was making dinner. So, I let her.  I had to put the paint out of sight because she asks to paint whenever she sees it and we aren't always set up for such a messy project! I love that she enjoys it so much though.

We have had so much fun with her new dress up clothes and dance outfits. The ballet outfits are for when she starts dance this summer, but she already loves to wear them. She brushes her outfit and says, "pink tutu," and smiles. We've already been working on ballet positions.

Aunt Mallory and Uncle Pete went to Disney World after Christmas and brought C a pink princess purse and gloves. She has recently gotten into "princesses," so this princess/ dress-up combo was right up her alley!

Baking with C is one of my favorite things to do. I love to cook, but am honestly not a baker. Knowing how much fun it will be to make a giant mess and taste test with my favorite sous chef makes me want to bake every day. 

I am so ready for this weather to pass so we can run around at the park again; but, until then, I'm enjoying our rainy day fun together. These are the days that memories are made of.

Patience, Grasshopper

Husband got me a fancy bread maker for Christmas, which I love because I can be Suzy Homemaker without actually doing the work. I just dump in the ingredients and push a couple buttons. It's pretty great.

So, C was helping me "make bread" (ie: dump in ingredients) tonight. After we turned on the machine and pushed the buttons, she jumped down from her stool, climbed into her booster seat at the table and said "eat bread."

Sure thing, baby. It'll be ready in three and a half hours.

She had a pickle instead.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Chatty Cathy

In the past week, I think C has gone from saying twenty words to two hundred. It's as if she has been storing them away until she could use them properly, stringing them into tiny toddler phrases like "I stuck," "It's my puppy," "It's all gone! More peease (please)," and "Shhhh. Night, night, puppy."

She is getting really good at her colors, surprises me with letters of the alphabet we have yet to practice, and counts to nine (give or take a couple numbers). She tells me what she wants (and what she doesn't) with confidence. Her favorite snacks right now are oranges, pickles, cheese, or goldfish ("fishies") and she points to where they are stored and politely asks for them with a "peeeease" (please).

She sings "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" all day long. 

She is obsessed with animals and can identify oh so many as well as tell you their respective sounds. I can't even name all of them, but some of her favorites are puppies, cats, bunnies, cows, donkeys, horses, pigs, ducks, geese, elephants, lions, bears, birds, penguins, dolphins, and monkeys. She now requests to sleep with all of her "puppies" and has a crib full of her friends every night. She has started instructing Banks to do tricks. She often tells him to "come" and pats the floor next to her. She tells him to "sit" and "shake" and "eat, eat" for treats. Sometimes he listens.

Role play is new to our little world and C now takes care of her baby dolls and all of her stuffed animals. She lines them up and feeds them "apples" and "milk" and narrates while doing so. She tucks them in and says, "shhhh, night, night." She kisses and hugs them and then brings them to me to kiss and hug. She got a Disney princess castle for Christmas and loves to play with her princesses and tell me "princess" as she points to each one. We call Daddy at work and she excitedly tells him about playing with princesses and balls and puppies and blocks, kisses the phone, and tells him "bye" or "night, night."

I've been talking to this little girl her entire life. It's nice to finally hear her sweet voice talk back.

Protective Skills Patch

It finally happened. After almost two years of going up and down our stairs multiple times each day while holding C, without falling, my streak ended.

This morning, as we headed downstairs, I picked her up to carry her (you know, so she wouldn't fall) and, with four steps left, I slipped and we tumbled down to the floor.

I'm bruised and beaten up, but C doesn't have a scratch on her. I feel like I passed some sort of protective mother skills test. Do I get a patch or something?

Pass the Advil, please.

Santa Sighting

We were reading one of our favorites, "The Cow Loves Cookies," and C was naming all the animals on each page. Then, she got so excited and squealed, "it's Santa! Ho Ho!"

Maybe Santa is a farmer in the off season.

Twinkle Twinkle

"Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" is C's favorite song right now. I realized she was singing it to herself while playing a couple days ago.

So, tonight, I was singing it to her before bed. She was almost asleep when she sat up straight in my lap, started clapping, and said, "yay, twinkle!"

Glad I could do it justice, Angel.

The Magic Lens

We got a new camera right before Christmas. Husband got a bonus for being so awesome at work and it was a present to ourselves. He was a photography minor in college and does beautiful work, but we haven't had a digital SLR for about a year and we were really missing it. The iPhone just wasn't cutting it anymore.

With the camera purchase, Husband picked out a couple new lenses, one of which was a 50mm f 1.4. I was already in love with his 20-40mm f 2.8. In my eyes, it could do no wrong. He tried to convince me that this new one would be my new favorite, but I just couldn't imagine it. Then, I used it.

It has magical powers. I'm still getting used to it (I definitely get a few blurry shots now and then), but it is an amazing lens. Between my dad (a professional photographer) and Husband, I know a little; but usually stick to fully automatic...until now. Thanks to a few pointers, I have been getting some great shots of C (some have even been mistaken as Husband's)!  She lives with paparazzi now because we are obsessed with documenting every day with the magic lens.

The camera loves this little girl (and so do we).

The only one I can take credit for...

Christmas Changeup

Since our first engaged Christmas, Husband and I have burned the highways to celebrate with both families. We typically spent the 23rd and 24th in Montgomery with my family, woke up very early Christmas morning, opened presents, loaded the car, and drove four hours to Muscle Shoals to spend the 25th and 26th with Husband's family. Each year got a little harder. Work made it less likely to get the 23rd and 26th off, so we ended up squeezing as much into 48 hours as possible. It wasn't ideal, but we were getting to spend time with everyone and that was all that mattered. Then, C arrived.

She spent her first Christmas on the road, following our usual game plan. We made it work. We were so overloaded with toys (albeit, not the worst problem), that we had to stop at our house in Birmingham to unload on the way. Then, we drove in the snow with our baby to Husband's parents' house. 

Don't get me wrong. We love spending the holidays with our families. From the beginning of the split, we tried to be a part of the celebrations that were most important to each of us (Christmas Eve dinner in my family and Christmas Day in his). And, honestly, I consider us lucky to have both families within driving distance. But, knowing we would have an active, busy, almost two year old on our hands this year, we decided to change things up a bit. 

We wanted Christmas morning to be in her house. We wanted her to get to sleep in her bed, walk down her stairs, and see her presents in her living room. We wanted Santa to come to our house.

This obviously threw a bit of a curve ball, especially since we both have siblings and their families to consider as well. So, we decided that we would host Christmas Eve dinner at our house for my family. My parents stayed with us so they could be there for Christmas morning and we opened presents Christmas Eve with my sister and brother-in-law so they could be with his family Christmas Day. We took over the traditional dinner that my parents have hosted for 28 years (after I was born and they took it over for the same reason); and, while I was a bit nervous, I was excited that it was working out.

My family on Christmas Eve

Giggles with Aunt Mallory

Husband's family was a bit more complicated. He is one of four boys. They are all married with children. That's a lot of people with a lot of holiday obligations! So, for this year at least, we decided to go the weekend before Christmas. Luckily, two of his brothers live in the area, so we were able to get in some time with their families too. 

Our sweet nephew, Wesley

Our sweet nephew, Major

Catherine playing the organ with cousin Lydia

Lydia and Pop

Bedtime story with Mim

So, to wrap up this Christmas, was it different? Yes. I would be lying if I didn't say I missed being at my childhood home or missed getting to have everyone there (Grandma and Poppy were in New Jersey this year and Big Daddy wasn't able to travel Christmas Day). I would be lying if I didn't say it was hard work making Christmas Eve dinner; and I would be lying even more if I said I was showered and dressed when my parents and cousin arrived. But, it was definitely worth it all to get to spend my entire Christmas in pajamas, playing with toys and watching movies with my little family. 

Waiting to see her toys on Christmas morning

Chocolate

Poppa trying to slow her down for a quick pic

Poppa and Cici with both grandchildren

Nana on Christmas morning

This year was the beginning of our tradition. Things will evolve over the years and I'm sure there will be more changes. But, for now, for this year at least, we were home for Christmas - Catherine's home. And it was perfect.