She Argues!

I had my first conversation, I mean, argument, with Wendy tonight as she was finishing up dinner .  

Wendy:  rubbing her fists up and down in opposite directions on on her chest, “Baaah”

Mama: “You want a bath?”

Wendy: more fist rubbing with an excited expression, “Baaah!  Bee-Bee, baaah!”

Mama: “Wendy wants a bath?    No, we are not going to have a bath tonight.  We can wash your hands?”

Wendy: crying, Baaah!!  Baaah, Bee-bee baaah!!!!! 

Mamma:  “No, Wendy, you already had a bath today.  But we can wash your hands!”

Wendy:  more fussing, throwing back head against chair, “Baaah, baaah!    Baaah!!!”  (pause)   Looking up at me, measuring my face, now in a high pitched voice, hitting palms against her chest, “Pee?”

Mama:  “Please?  Bath, please?   Sorry honey, no bath tonight.”   trying to change the subject “Are you all done?  Do you want to get down?”

Wendy:  cheerfully flapping hands, then pointing down,  “Ahh-daa, ahh-daa!”

Mama:  pretending to be enthusiastic, hoping she is distracted,  “Ok then, let’s get you down and go wash your hands!”

Wendy: rubbing her fists up and down in opposite directions on on her chest, “Baaah!”

Mama: […]

I am more stubborn than you, that’s what I am!

Memorial Day Water Fun

What fun it is to wake up and go on a little drive to a park, see our family, swim, picnic, slide and then come home again all in the same day!
         
I wish close proximity with my family was the norm for all my life, but I can honestly say that having a brother and sister  four hour drive away is the closest I have ever lived to my family since 9th grade.   That’s a sad thought, so lets not linger there.    Instead let’s look at this! And this!And this!
    

And after all that looking and laughing, let’s just agree that holiday’s truly are for
sharing with your family!  What a blast!

A chair my own size…

      I’ve often thought --
here, where table tops fit clean over my head
and the door knobs are so very very much out of reach--

I’ve often thought,
and I’ve often wished for a chair.
A chair just my size:
right height for my legs,
right width for my girth. 

A place to eat snacks while swinging my feet
Ahh, to enjoy a good book
from my very own seat!

A place for my behind to rest while I’m writing,
so I wouldn’t be so late with my
first-birthday-thank-you-note-sending!

Yes, it would please me so,
I’ve often thought
to have a chair just like this,
in my very own spot!

And this one surely would fit,
if only I could stop ending up
with my rump on the floor when I sit!

Conversations with Charlie: Expletives in three-year-old style!

Charlie has a huge vocabulary and uses these words liberally.   I think he inherited my need to process out loud AND Jonathan’s need to carefully craft each utterance to be as accurate as it can be.   This particular combination in Charlie is one of the most frustrating and most charming things in my life.
                                
Charlie often phrases and re-phrases the beginning of a sentence or paragraph until I am almost ready to shake the rest of it out of him.  He will not move on, or do any other task, until it satisfies him and he can finish his idea entirely.  If you try to hurry him by finishing his sentence or jumping in to help, he will inform you that you just “ ‘toowupted” (interrupted) him.  THEN he will start over from the very beginning.    Only very patient souls persevere to the end of one of Charlie’s thorough explanations, but by then they have fallen in love with him and his creative tongue.
Exclamations, on the other hand, have started flying out of Charlie’s mouth without deliberation.  We feel no need to correct his errors since they bring us such amusement.  And, his mistakes make his utterances age-appropriate, right? (Please tell me I’m right on this one! ) Here are a few goodies:  

• The tip-off to this new phase of language and his first  imitated ‘adult’ exclamation, was a high-pitched “WHAaaaaT?!!!?” as he threw out his hands in surprise when I told him that Batman cannot fly.
• Then, he dropped his basket of cars and they spilled all over the floor: “Tao-nay-shun!” (Tarnation!) Too much Looney Toons, perhaps?
• After spending three minutes trying to pick-up a soccer ball, three tennis balls, a golf ball and a football all at once: “Goodness gwasus my oh me! Dis is twiky!”

{Apparently, after some experimentation, he decided his preferred genre of expletives are statements which begin with “what the…”  He got quite creative.  There is a whole family of them} 

• When Wendy knocks the jar of markers off the art table:  “What duh oawth(earth) did you do?”
• As we merge onto the freeway, and he looks out his window on the left side:  “What duh hoe-wee (holy) cow!  Doze caws ow suwr fwyin past us! Day aw dwivin’ cwazy!”
• This one is for the little things like missing a ball when hitting it with a paper tube:  "What the whack?"
• This one is powerfully, doubly and expletively effective: “What duh WHhaaaat !?!”
• And our personal favorite:   “What duh hick !?!!”

{bonus quote}
Last week Charlie explained to Jonathan and I, in a serious tone (about the two very dead dandelions languishing in a little tea cup on the dinner table):  “Doze fwowers are a ‘pecial tweat for you guys.  But I don’t give dem to you evwee day, (sagely nodding his head) yeah, cuz dey are a ‘pecial tweat. . .”

Hope this was a treat too!   Thanks for stopping by!

Charlie’s Finale Ballet Performance

Charlie and Alaythia had their ballet recital last Wednesday night.   Both sets of parents have decided that this recital also marks the end of their (short-lived) ballet careers.  For me the decisive moment came about 30 second into their performance, when I had begun laughing so hard I couldn’t see through the tears filling my eyes.  I glanced over to see Jonathan laughing and blushing a beet red.  In every direction were the convulsing shoulders of parents trying their hardest to keep from guffawing out loud.   Charlie?  He was totally oblivious, dancing a solo in head-banging style--wiggling his hips to the music and once, even falling down in his enthusiasm. 

Oh, and he and topped it all off by jumping off the stage rather than walking down the steps at the end. Yes, I think the ballet world will be better off without Charlie’s arabesque…and his parents certainly don’t have the guts to sit through more performances like that! After admitting this, there is not really much space left for saying we are proud of him, but we are.  He certainly enjoyed himself immensely.  (That counts for quite a lot at this age.)  And no one will forget his performance easily.
Here’s the video:   No extra charge for its anti-depressant effects!

Study Break

It is that time of year again, when finals begin and Jonathan dissapears into the back room/office and we don’t seem him for many days while he studies and writes himself to exhaustion.  We’ve been keeping ourselves pretty occupied, without him, but occasionally the kids still break through my barricades and try to engage Jonathan in some play time. You may or may not remember my summary of Charlie’s complicated attempts to ‘distract’ Dada from work and study.  Wendy has been developing her own strategy for claiming Dada’s attention. 

Who me?It goes like this:  She walks in, puts a hand on his arm, looks up at him, babbles a few baby syllables and then he turns into mush….

It works every time.  Here they are working on their sword fighting skills, when he is trying to cram for an exam less than two hours away.  But that’s how it is with girls and their Dada’s!

Wendy Week: Happy 1st Birthday!

You woke up at 6:30 this morning, but that’s usual.  Dada brought you into bed to nurse. I love nursing you.  You love being done so that you can flop over on your stomach, wiggle your legs over the edge and slide off.  You head straight for the curtain to see your tree and check for birds and squirrels.  If you see one, you lean up on your tip-toes to watch it run or fly as far as you can.  Then you check on us, lying in bed, watching you, to see if we saw it too.   We didn’t, but that doesn’t stop us from talking about it with you.

                          Then Charlie starts humming.  He does that every morning when he wakes up, and every morning I promise myself, that I’m going to get a recording of it before he grows out of this stage.  I love his morning songs.  He loves having the bedroom to himself to wake up in.   He takes a while to wake up, he likes to be alone, and snuggle with his blankets before he is ready to see anyone, but especially you, Wendy.  Your exuberant “Eye(Hi)!” is too much for him first thing.  Except this morning.  When I walk in and I tell him that it is your birthday today, he is immediately up.  Excited.  And he wants to give you a birthday hug.  You love it!

We have breakfast in stages, and video chat with your grandparents while you open your packages from them.  Charlie helps you.  You have no idea what it is to do something interesting by yourself. When you are bigger, you are going to fight for independence from his interest in your life just like you fight for independence from us. But you aren’t big enough for that yet. Right now, whatever you are focused on is better if you are next to him and he is doing it with for you. After presents, you take a nap.  This morning there were thunderstorms and Charlie was very worried about the noise, but it didn’t bother you at all.   You slept from 8:45 to 10:45 and woke up very refreshed.  Charlie wanted to get in with you, which made you bounce and shriek and bonk your head on the side of the crib.  Sometimes enthusiasm can be painful, but I love the way you don’t let that stop you.  You know its worth it for the fun!After some snacks we got dressed to go to the store.  I remembered we had some rain boots for you, and Charlie was so excited about going “mudin WITH Wendy!”  It turns out you rock boots.  I have never seen cuter knees in boots. Ever. To Market to Market to buy some fresh cream, white chocolate and bread
Home again, Home again, let’s bake up a cake, just like we said….I do have to say, this picture is reminding me that I adore the way you wave to everything and everyone we pass when you are in the stroller or any kind of cart.  It makes me feel like I’m pushing the Queen of England, or Miss America on a float….elbow, elbow, wrist wrist, touch your pearls and blow a kiss….Today, because it was your birthday, you and Charlie each picked out a little balloon.  Actually Charlie picked them both out.   A blue smiley face and a yellow smiley face.  You immediately began to gnaw on your balloon while Charlie hyperventilated about it popping and I repeatedly told him, it was fine and to let me be the Mommy.   Until I noticed that you had a strange golden smile—the yellow paint was coming off where you were licking the balloon—and then it was time for me to hyperventilate.  I only tell you this so that you will know, someday when you are a Mom, that sometimes you will make the very best, most well-intentioned mistakes.   And it is Ok.  Also, balloons are really not a toy, but they should be. Thankfully, you were just as happy to chew on the little plastic stick that came with the balloon for the rest of our trip.  After lunch and a glorious nap with your brother,  we shared a bowl of blackberries.   It makes me laugh how very anxious you get about making sure that your tray stays full when you are eating something you really like.  If you get down to the last five or six bites you start asking and crying for more as if you had none left at all.

  

Then it was time to go muddin!  Charlie was really excited about going with you! 

    You on the other hand, planted your feet, leaned over to touch the muddy water once or twice, and then signed to me in no uncertain terms that you were “All done!”  You watched the rest of the proceedings from the stroller, with a wary look. 

…Until we found a puddle that didn’t involve grass and squishy mud!Of course, after the muddin, we needed baths.  You and Charlie sang a bath-time duet.  Charlie was singing about the snack he was about to get.  You were singing for the pure joy of bathing (and being with Charlie)!

After your baths we had dinner.  I made a favorite: peas with chicken and rice in coconut milk, and a little ginger to flavor it.  You ate a LOT for dinner tonight!  

Then our neighbors, the Sandersons walked over to help us sing to you and watch you blow your candle out.  You weren’t really sure how to.  Don’t worry, we will work on that.   But Charlie was glad to help!

Everyone was happy to eat cake!    (I made the butterflies out of white chocolate. It was fun to imitate your first birthday cake, though mine is not quite the creation that first one was! )…Looks like you did a good job eating it yourself!Not many girls get two baths in a day.  Still, but I figured it worked out perfectly, since they are one of your favorite activities.  

There you are, Zu-zu, heading off to bed with sleepy eyes.   Full of rice and chicken and cake; fully ONE!   You sure celebrated well today! What a great first year!   I can’t wait to see you through other!  

Happy Birthday, Wen-d-dee-dee-deee!