Chewy Things

A conversation between Laura and her dad tonight re: "chewy candy" aka Skittles. He was handing a few out for an after-dinner treat.

Dad: "Let's count these in Spanish. How many do you have?"

Laura: (in a very polite voice) "Not enough."

Oh, Laura.

Laura is 2 Years and 5 Months Old!

Likes: suckers, repetitive viewing and listening to tv episodes or books, playing Hide and Go Seek, new tennies, the big park at mom's new school, soccer - talks about her "soccer team" and that she is a "soccer player," doing things HERSELF, chewy treats (Skittles)

Dislikes: "scary things" - crocodiles, Captain Hook, [Big] Bad Wolf, 'piders, monsters, hearing "no" - She shrieks, "You said NO to me!!!"

Any new tricks?: counting - can correctly count in order now from 1-12, and actually counts items accurately rather than the random pointing and numbering she did earlier this summer. Also her knowledge of Spanish exceeds her mother's (minimal) and father's (high school) as she will regularly tell us to vamonos or escondete - this would be courtesy of Dora and Diego.

Singing

We learned a valuable lesson yesterday. Never, ever, ever tell Laura that something exciting or fun is going to happen after her nap.

The mention of party, cake and playing with the cousins was too much to digest before nap. Might as well have given her a spoonful of sugar.

Taken earlier in the year...Here is her rendition of "Take me out to the ball game" and "ABC's."

No hablo Espanol

Congratulations Dora, I have no idea what my child is saying!

For the longest time we thought Laura was making up words. Little did we know she was talking in spanish.

This realization came after watching an episode of Dora. Not only was she speaking in spanish but Laura was using the words in the proper context.

"Ayudamen" - Help
"Abajo" - Under
"Uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco.." - 1,2,3,4,5

It's time for dad to dust off the ol spanish cobwebs taught in high school.

GET JASON GOING

 

Laura is 2 Years and 4 Months!

Likes: Picking peas in the garden with dad, suckers, stuffed animals, no shirt/no shorts, Dora and Diego, pretending we are "Jake" and "Captain Hook" (see: Jake and The Neverland Pirates), using "fake sleep" when pulling naughty moves, asking about people's names - i.e. "What Matt name is?" "Matthew David Mason", typing on the "pewterer" (computer)



Dislikes: Ants, garbage trucks, eating meat and/or veggies

Any new tricks?: Pottying (although another new trick is "wait until the nap/bedtime diaper to poop"), drinking out of cups or water bottles, counting - current sequence is 1-6, 11, 12, 13, "eleventeen," singing - both made up songs and real ones like "Itsy Bitsy Spider"

Laura is 2 years and 3 months!

(Laura with Bapa on Father's Day)

Likes: Suckers, rice cakes, Jake & the Neverland Pirates, Little Einsteins, Dora, Diego, going to the park, washing dishes, the pool, princess blocks

Dislikes: Taking naps without the plug, Nick Jr.'s change in their late afternoon lineup, garbage trucks - if she is outside when they go by

Any new tricks?: We are working hard on potty training right now and are proud to say she has been pretty successful! Laura can put her sandals on by herself. She likes to self-narrate her physical endeavors ("First you stand on the pillow, hold your arms out, then you jump!") and sing in a microphone (one of those snot-sucker things you use when they are babies).

Wanted: Repetitive Reader

So one week and 2 days ago, we went to the library and picked this book out, among others. Ever since then, I have read this book twice a day (nap time and bedtime) and I am getting REALLY SICK OF IT. Even Laura could tell you most of the words! And there's one page where little blue and little yellow play "ring-around-the-rosie" and we have to stop and go do one round ourselves before we can continue.

The educator in me knows exactly why she wants to keep reading this same book and that is probably why I keep doing it, but the mom in me wants to conveniently lose it somewhere. Thankfully it gets returned soon, but I did find out (oh joy) that I actually own a copy of this book while cleaning out my room at school. I think it will stay hidden for a while. We are also reading "Where's Spot?" every time along with "Little Blue and Little Yellow."

So, if anyone's free at 1pm or 7:30pm every single night of the week, have I got a deal for you...

Dad is back from fishing!

I thought I should document this "Laura and dad moment." What you are about to read defines our relationship (at this moment in time).

The night before I left on my week long fishing trip to Canada, I took over night-time duties. I wanted to capture one final moment with the Bagooz before I leave. It was just me and my little girl, alone in her quiet, dark bedroom. I held her in my arms like a little baby and rocked back and forth. I told her that I loved her, will think about her and miss her every day. I then asked, "Do you have anything you want to tell me before I leave?" She replied in a whisper, "I need a sucker!"

Arrived tonight just in time for Laura's bedtime. She was so happy to see her "Daddy-O" walk in the door, just in time to do night-time duties. Again, I told her how happy I was home to be home with her and how much fun we will have together tomorrow. I sang a song about all the fun things that happened on my fishing trip. When finished, I asked if she would sing a song to me? Oh, she sang one all right. "Poopy, poopy, poopy, (giggle), poopy, poopy, poopy, (giggle)..."

Where do they come up with this?

Stall Tactics

The bagooz is definitely two now, and giving us a little more run for our money than she has before. One piece of evidence is the various stall tactics she has learned to employ in certain situations, generally involving bedtime. Ever since our early months of sleeping troubles, she has generally been a gem about falling asleep. This is probably due to her BFF, the "plug" aka pacifier. Lately, however, the process is taking much longer because she has figured out some nifty bedtime tricks to avoid sleeping.

Tactic 1: "I need a gink!" (gink = drink)
I don't know how she learned this one, as we had never voluntarily offered her a drink before she went to bed, but one night she asked for it and I complied. Ever since then, she will usually wait to request this one until after we've put her down for the night. Once I arrive on the scene with some H2O, she will dink around with the cup and generally draw out her "gink" as long as she can until I threaten to take it away.

Tactic 2: Pants Removal
She doesn't usually use this to draw us in but it's definitely part of the bedtime horsing around. Lately she's figured how to take her jammie pants off, and she throws them over the side of the crib. When we find her without them in the morning and ask "What happened to your pants?" She says, "Umm...they fell off."

Tactic 3: Select the Longest Book You Can Find
Tonight's choices were "Go Dog, Go!" (50+ pages) and The Bible. Thankfully hers is an illustrated version with New Testament stories only; Mom gives a one sentence summary for each story. Many nights Dad and I will tell her, "Choose a book...but not the Bible tonight!"

Tactic 4: Lure Them In/Fake Sleep
Often times Laura will lure us in with one of the following:
A - Running/jumping around in crib
B - Throwing the plug overboard and then calling, "Ah need mah PUG!" (sounds like a southern accent)
C - "Mom mom mom mom mom mom mom"
Upon entering the room, she immediately hits the mattress in a textbook fake sleep, because clearly she knows that's what she SHOULD be doing. Fake Sleep Tactic has also been used in other handy situations, such as the other day when I asked her to go pick up something that she had thrown. She snuggled up on the floor in a fake sleep and said "I can't hear you mama, I'm sleeping."

I will not be in a hurry to move her to a big girl bed - she's already figured out most of the shenanigans; just think about adding the ability to get out of bed! Ditto for ditching the plug at night. We are currently trying to nap without the pacifier (since somehow she has done this with NO troubles at daycare for about six months) and it is NOT pretty - imagine a combination of the stall tactics with hysterical sobbing. So far we're 2 for 4; napped on Thursday and Friday, cried for more than an hour and didn't nap on Wednesday and Saturday. Wish us luck!