Monday, December 21, 2009

Robots, monsters and worms, oh my!

When I dreamt of what life would be like with T, I never could have imagined the conversations that we would have. Of recent, T has become even more of a chatterbox. She was already decent at trying to converse, just not as clearly as she does now. Some days I can completely understand her and then others, not so much.

People in the grocery store line are so kind, they just smile, nod and say she's talking so much for a 1.5 yr old...umm, yeah try 2.5 yr old. I guess we are behind in her high fructose corn syrup supplements to help her grow...

Lately, our conversations have often involved three topics -- robots, monsters and worms (oh my!) and not necessarily in that order.

T watched briefly part of I, Robot with S about 3 months ago. Ever since then, she has become obsessed with robots. She sees a crane, and she tells me "That's a roooobot arm!""...complete with a robotic arm gestures and noises. Our truck has a lift gate (a wonderful invention I must say) for the back hatch so it has a "roooobot arm". She's going to be an engineer I swear.

Next, here come the monsters.

Lately, out of nowhere, T will coming running to me and tell me she's scared.

Me: What are you scared of?
T: Monsters.
Me: Monsters?
T: Yeah, monsters. Me scared Mommy.
Me: And what do we say to monsters?
T: Monsters no scaring, monsters no scaring.

T does this with her hand firmly up in the air as if to say STOP! Sometimes for added effect, she puts her other hand on her hip. My little Xena, warrior-preschooler! Hopefully Dora the Explorer people won't mind us borrowing her 'Swiper, no swiping line' and modifying it for our own needs.

I've save the best for last.

Everything it seems is a worm to T. Pine cones are worms, carpet tassles from the scratching post are worms, and of course, the dead worms on the driveway are worms. However, this rampant worms everywhere problem has gotten worse.

Recently, my lovely daughter informed me that I have worms. Not just worms, no that wouldn't be bad enough....I have WOOOORMS. And I was under the foolish impression that I bathed regularly and was in good health. Hmmm.

Me: Really? Mommy has worms?
T: Yeah, woooorms. Look Mommy, wooooorms. (she says this as she points to my legs)
Me: Hmph. Do you know who gave me those worms?
T: No. Who?
Me: YOU! (that just opens her eyes really wide and she shuts up really fast...ahh yes the guilt trips have started already and they are quite effective!)

God love her, a biologist she ain't. Apparently my daughter thinks my varicose veins are worms. Charming. I can't wait for that pleasant little nugget to come up in the grocery store line conversations T strikes up with anyone who will listen. My mommy has woooorms! I don't look forward explaining that one to a 80 yr old man. Can you say, awkward?

Now that you've all had a good chuckle at my expense, may I wish you all a wonderful Christmas 2009 and a safe/healthy 2010.

To all of you who have been kind enough to send us a Christmas card, thank you - they are all lovely. I'm a bit behind this year, so yours will be coming in 2010 once I find a decent enough photo to use. And if Walgreens stops selling them, I'll just have do a mass email.

An email is more environmentally friendly...I won't want to harm any woooorms after all!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Someone got caught kissing Santa Claus...

I just realized how long its been since I updated T's blog. My apologies.

Anyways, T is relaxing on the couch watching Franklin the Turtle, so I have a few minutes. She was has had a bought of stomach flu as of last night. She projectiled vomitted all over me three times last night in the span of a minute. We aren't sure what caused the tummy bug but she had a fever and was rather clingy. She was in bed by 6:15pm, I have forgotten how long its been since she was in bed that early. She woke up at 330am and talked to herself for a good 1/2 hour about what I can't remember as I was half comatose myself at that hour. It didn't help that Gryffin decided that was a good time to snuggle and purr really loud near my ear.


So far today, her Cherrios and milk have stayed down. Let's hope I've seen the last of that for a while.

Anyways, we have been in full Christmas mode for a few weeks now. The house is decorated, the tree is up/decorated and the lights are on the roof line of the house. The Christmas cards and packages to be mailed aren't done but they are in progress.


Decorating the outside of the house is a tough one as we don't have any electrical outlets near the front porch/lawn. I have to get creative if we are going to acknowledge the season anywhere but in the house. S put up the lights on the roof line, only to discover that we had a short circuit somewhere. Its been bitterly cold so he hasn't had too much of a chance to fix them. When he does go out, T must go too. She has taken to digging up my front garden, thankfully there aren't any live plants out there and the evergreen is pretty hardy (I haven't manage to kill it yet so T won't be able to either).

Many of our neighbours have those blow up Santas, reindeers etc. and honestly I can't stand them, so its not a terrible shame that we have not hydro outlets. I still wanted to do some form of decoration so we had to investigate our options. It required a little bit of field work by T and I. I want her to enjoy the holidays and help me with decorating so a couple of weeks ago after one of T's Kids Day Out, we popped by the better mall (on the east side) and hit up Kirkland's (its a decor store).


I wanted to get another Santa for my indoor collection and something for the porch. T helped me pick out a Santa for the indoors and then we proceeded to find some outdoor decor.

We spied these wooden/metal figures about 3.5 feet high that go out on your porch/display. There's a pole in the back that steadies the figure so it can be sat up at different heights (see the photos below). There was a Santa and a Snowman. They were about 20$ so it wouldn't break the bank to get one...unlike the huge metal snowman she also spied (he had a nose on a spring that she could make go boing, she loved that and it kept her occupied while I was at the checkout) that was 125$.

I asked T which one she wanted, the Santa or the Snowman. Santa, she very quickly replied. I asked again just so we were clear. Santa. Well, Santa it was.

We bought our purchases and proceeded to go past the Santa's Workshop (she wasn't too keen on the idea of sitting on Santa's lap, maybe next year) but she was quite enthralled with the tree displays and fake snow. After I dragged her, the 3.5 foot Santa and my indoor Santa away from the Christmas display, we had to go for a ride on the moving staircase (read escalator) at Sears before leaving for good.

I should say here that T is obsessed with the Christmas tree at our house. When she gets up in the morning, the first thing she does after turning on the TV, is to plug in the tree lights (under supervision of course). They must stay on whenever she is in the room. We are going to burn out the lights for sure.

Back to the Santa story. So I get the outdoor Santa all unwrapped and placed outside. My grand plan was to put up presents behind him to add to the display. I forgot how windy it can be so I've since added some tinsel to help down the presents, although I think I might have to rejig how its attached as its currently looks kinda dumb.

Santa has been adjorning our porch for about 2 weeks now. Whenever we come in through the front door, someone stops to say hello to Santa and more often then not, he gets a big smackeroo. I'm sure the Santa is covered in lead infested paint but a little peck isn't going to cause any grave health issues.



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Santa!



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Ms T. kissing Santa


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I bought this jacket at a yard sale for $3 when T was about 3 months old...it finally fits her. The hood makes her looks like a little elf, too cute!



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The much loved tree..between T and the cats 'playing', the ribbon needs adjusting hourly...

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This is what T does while Daddy is on the roof..its a good thing I bought a cheap coat for her to wear outside, she was very dirty after digging to China.



Monday, November 2, 2009

Hallowe'en 2009

Our day started off busy. We had to finish up T's big girl room as we had started having her sleep in her new big girl room and bed Friday night. This meant more trips to Lowe's to get child proof outlets etc. T decided she wanted a butterfly and flower theme. So far, so good on sleeping in her toddler bed.

Then it was off to T's friend S's birthday party. It was a Haunted Mickey theme. The lady of the hour was a Minnie Witch and her younger sister L (who is recovering from major heart surgery which is why she has a feeding tube) was a family tradition, a devil. The devil costume has been worn by L's mom, aunt, cousin and older sister.
S's birthday was at the beginning of October but she wanted a Haunted Mickey party so it was postponed until Hallowe'en.

All the kids wore their costumes to the party. I took off T's before the cupcakes and ice cream as I just knew it was going to get dirty. For pictures of the other kids costumes, please visit here.

The kids enjoyed cupcakes, ice cream, haunted oreos and a pumpkin craft. I was exhausted just looking at how much work it was. T's parties are way less elaborate as I just don't have the time. Oh well, maybe for her 3rd birthday.

Then it was on the main event of the day, trick or treating. After the party, we grabbed some take out as we had left the birthday party late. By 6:30pm, we started having knocks at the door.
T went out with S and their respective fathers, while L, her mom and I manned our door. Apparently it was a successful night for both girls, as they came home with quite a haul. There was a lot more throngs of kids this year so the dads had to do a little crowd control or S and T would have been squished.

All ended well until we awoke Sunday morning to find that the local deliquents had smashed every single pumpkin on the block by 'composting' them in the middle of the street. We've never had any issues before leaving out the pumpkin at night but from now on we will have to bring it in. They kindly missed T's little pumpkin.

See I've got my tail and pitchfork all ready!

A smile just for you.

My little fleur du jour

Ta da! S, T and L

Enough with the camera already, let's get the party started!

Pensive for mere seconds before she's off on another adventure

The birthday girl!



The Great Pumpkin Carving Adventure...

Here are some shots of the great carving adventure of 2009!

Scooping out the pumpkin

Daddy designing the face

Critiquing the design

More scooping

Ready to proceed with the 'operation'

Step 1 - Design the Pumpkin


Step 2 - Dig out the guts

Papa's Pumpkin Patch

So that last couple of years, we have gone to a 'pumpkin patch' that really isn't a patch. Its more so a field with pumpkin headed scarecrows posed in vignettes and you pick a pumpkin from a cardboard box. Not so much what we've been looking for.

This year, based on a friend's FaceBook recommendation, we drove north to Papa's Pumpkin Patch . We were cautiously optimistic as we turned down the dirt road. We had used our navigation system in the truck to find the place so we were hopeful we had found the right place.

We have had early hard frosts this year and a lot of rain, two things that aren't so good for pumpkins. Upon arrival, we noticed a large slide (T's eyes got really big at the sight of the slide) and were greeted by one of the staff. They gave us a brief description of the patch and its many activities. T just wanted to go back to the slide but we carried on to the patches.

The first patch was rather picked over and had suffered quite a bit of damage from the frost and rain. So off we made our way to the second large field. Success! We also got T a T sized pumpkin. Next time we will take the wagon as the ground was quite mucky and the pumpkins were quite heavy.

After we paid for our bounty, off we went to the slide. It was a very bright and windy day so it made for difficult pictures. I only wish my video had turned out better. T squealed gleefully every time she went down the slide. We tried to get a shot with her and S in front of a display but she was not having any of it. She threw a fit and cried the whole time because she wanted to go back to the slide.

Stay tuned for the Great Pumpkin Carving adventure!

Whee!

Dad and T attempt the slide

Insert squealing here

Again!

I don't want my picture taken, I want to slide!

A little pumpkin, just for T

What about this one?

Success!

Too many choices...

Off to the patch...but the slide is the other way, Dad?








Tuesday, October 13, 2009

An original musical compostition by T!

Sorry its been a while, but T keeps me hopping and I don't get much of a chance to get stuff moved off my camera and onto here. Truth be told, we've been house bound most days as its been really cold weather for October in Kansas.


Normally, our Octobers here are like September in Ontario but the last week has been more like late October/early November in Ontario...dreary, wet and cold. Hello cold and flu season. T and I got our flu shots today and apparently this means we have to wait about a month to get the H1N1 shot, should we choose to get it.


If the Farmers' Almanac is any indication, the cold might just kill off the flu bugs before they can take hold. The flu around here seems to love mid 40s to mid 50s temperature wise and the Alamanc is calling for a bitterly cold winter with lots of snow. Thankfully we now have heated leather seats in our new to us Cdn flag red CX-9 so my tushy will be nice and toasty. And of course, T loves the DVD entertainment system.


Here's a new video of T. She must have picked up the interest in drumming from the Nick Jr. Fresh Beat Band commericials or maybe its Kindermuzik.


Whatever the reason, its too cute!




Friday, September 25, 2009

My mommy jeans went on vacation..to Paris!

As many of you know S and I went to Paris a couple of weeks ago while T stayed with her paternal grandparents.

Here's a link to our pictures and our adventure. When I get a minute, I will put up some pictures of T's vacations with the ILs. Please excuse the lack of accents on the French words, my blog editor doesn't allow for me to insert 'symbols'.

www.mommyjeansonvacation.blogspot.com

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Say hello to my little friend...

It was gorgeous outside today...although it started off a wee bit colder than we are used to for a September in Kansas. It was about 9C (low 50sF) which truth be told is a little chilly. Regardless, it warmed up quickly and was partly cloudy. An otherwise perfect day to head outside to the zoo.

Some of our normal gang could not make it out on short notice due to prearranged appointments but some of us did.

T and R had quite the time. R's brother D was into the first part of the morning but was quickly getting tired after lunch so he opted to ride in the stroller. D is recovering from heart surgery and is doing amazing given its only 2 weeks post op.

T decided she didn't want to ride into the stroller so half way through the day, T and R tried holding hands. That was a very interesting event. The two of them were now buddies. The giggling and running that commenced was truly priceless. They are about 6 months apart in age and finally they are starting to catchup to one another.

R's mom and I were joking the other day that with T's chatterbox mouth and R's brawn (she's a little stockier than T and used to rough housing with her two older siblings) they would be quite a team.

T kept calling the tigers lions so we had to make sure we saw both. The little lion cub (okay big lion cub) seemed to be really interested in all the little creatures staring at him/her from the other side of the glass. I'm not sure if the keepers fed the lions today...

At one point the cub took a keen interest in one little girl, wearing a white t-shirt, jeans and pink boots (boots not shoes, as she keep telling everyone who would listen). I guess the cub could tell she is a cat person!

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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Channeling her inner feline


My little 'lion'

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Our trip to the other zoo in town...

This morning I decided, T and I would go to the other zoo in town. No, we didn't go to the much maligned townhalls put on by the sitting Republican congressmen/senators. That being said, I'd love to give them a piece of my mind but they might boo me down, a) being a non American and b) holding more liberal views of life in general. I get the distinct impression I would also be labeled a Commie (its happened before here in Kansas) with an 'anchor baby'.

Oh well, moving on.

We went to the Tanganyika Wildlife Park. Its a little different than your average zoo experience as there is a lot more opportunity to interact with the animals, under controlled circumstances of course.

My mother will tell you all about her visit with the Lorikeets last year if you ask her. Let's just say you get to go into the cage and feed the birds, if they are interested in drinking the syrupy mixture the zoo gives you. And well, Mom's experience mimicked Hitchcock's movie, The Birds. I was a little leery to take T in there, but the birds weren't too interested in dive bombing toddlers today so it went okay.

We started off with the nursery, where they keep the baby animals. We saw Clouded Snow Leopard 'kittens' of two different ages. Many of the other baby animals weren't in their cages so off the giraffes we went.

After the giraffes, it was on to the Lemurs (they weren't too interested in visitors) and the Kookaburas and Lorikeets. The grownup Clouded Snow Leopards were caged up and their cages were being cleaned so we didn't see much of them.

The Red Pandas were pacing and lounging (see photo below) so T got to point and oooh/awe at them. She got to pet rabbits and turtles too. If only penny pinching Mommy had known to buy a token (they are sold for about a dollar a token), she could have feed the turtles/rabbits some lettuce but I didn't know that until after we got to the feeding exhibit. She wasn't as interested in the turtles as she was in the rabbits. No worries, there were very large bottles of hand sanitizers available, which everyone used.

T got to see a camel too. Had she been bigger, I would have let her have a ride on good ole Alice/Alex but she's still too small. There was a playground (swings too!) but there a lot of older kids (they all go back to school next week, yay!) so since it was just me, I opted to bypass the playscape and go straight for the penguins.

As you can see from the photos below, the penguins had no interest in being out in the 30C weather, frankly, neither did I. T was all excited to see the penguins until she tripped and scraped both knees. Extraordinarily slight scraps but scraps (cries of boo boos and owies abounded) all the same.

The Snow Tigers were not interested in the heat and laid down with their paws in the air (must be a feline tract, Phenix and Gryffin do the same pose). The Ring Tailed lemurs were too busy plotting their escape to pay much heed to us so we continued on our way.

There were lots of other animals but most of them decided that today, was just too hot for them. And I can't blame them but it was a good idea in theory.

We had a few times where we had to dodge the other strollers, the Dillard's dressed grannies and the unfortunately tunnel visioned and doddling Red Hat ladies, all of whom meandered thru the park, completely that someone might actually want to get thru the park and back home to the A/C. This polar bear and her cub were starting to melt.

Oh well, I guess the paths are just too small for my liking. They are too narrow especially when you have toddler who wants to walk while you push the empty stroller you remembered to pack so that you don't have to carry her when she got tired. Urgh. That's pretty much describes most outings these days, in/out of the stroller either being carried by the mother packhorse or 'walking' on her own despite calls to hold the mother packhorse's hand.

Usually we do multi mommy and kid outings with T's friends but today it was just us two. She didn't really say too much about that until we got to the parking lot when she asked where were her friends. Next time we will try to get them out but the two other moms we go out with usually had home stuff they had to do and it was a last minute plan to go to the zoo today so it was just us.



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T visiting the giraffes and she's actually not squinting at the camera (there's a first!)

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Hello up there!

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The poor red panda, he kept pacing back and forth.

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Nice bunny!

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Turtle!

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Too hot!

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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Revenge is best served with a soupcon of warm water and a dash of shampoo

At bath time lately, we've been having some trouble. Trouble of the hair washing variety.

Anytime S or I break out the face cloth to dampen T's hair to wash it, the crying and wimpering starts. Its rather pitiful. No parent wants to make their kid cry but you do need to have your hair washed from time to time.

I've tried being sneaky and I get "What you doing, Mommy?" Nope, that didn't work.

I've tried telling her that Phenix is being nice enough to let T use her shampoo to wash her hair. Nice try, but no.

I've tried having T help me bath Phenix. I thought that if I showed T that if a cat can stand there and get her fur washed, so can T. She ran away before I could show her how Phenix got bathed and then I had Phenix mad at me too. Phenix has ways of exacting revenge that make you regret bathing her. And well, let's be honest, reasoning with a toddler is generally not successful.

So I resorted to self sacrifice. Isn't that what motherhood is all about?

I told T that she could make Mummy's hair wet before Mummy's washes T's hair. She was all good with the idea until it came time to wash her own hair. Then the lower lip came out and away it quivered.

Well, tonight I tried having her sit with her head under the tap while I quickly wet her hair. That went quasi okay. Then she advised me, that it was Mummy's turn to get her hair wet. So I put my head under the tap and got my hair good and soaked. But that wasn't enough for T.

No, she had to use the milk jug/bath toy to further soak Mummy's head...after I'd already partially dried it off once. Then she rubbed my hair like I do when she gets her hair shampooed. Then to add further pay back, she dipped the facecloth in the bubble bath filled water and scrubbed my hair with it.

Not to be out done, Mummy exacted one last indecency...when T wasn't looking, I grabbed the shampoo and washed her hair. Not impressed. Out came the lower lip and bath time came to an abrupt and wimpering end.

Below are photos from earlier today. When I was on the phone long distance today, T decided to pull out every stitch of clothing in her dresser. Then when I was nicely folding them all back up, T decided to add insult to injury and raid her closet.

In the closet, she discovered two Hallowe'en costumes, a flower and a tiger. I got one at a yard sale and the other at a consignment sale. They are pretty warm for this time of year.

Below is T modeling the costumes. I think she looks better in the flower. The tiger is ever so slightly too big. She's not a fan of wearing things on her head. My favourite is the 'No way, no photos!' and the one with the pout. You can see the pout a mile away!


I think she looks like Hobbes (from the Calvin and Hobbes cartoon)


Roar! Roar!

Hmph! Pout, pout, pout!


I said NO MORE PICTURES!














Saturday, July 25, 2009

Some photos and video

My apologies for the lack of updated photos and videos of late..T has taken to squinting her eyes whenever Mom gets close with the camera..ps if the photos are still too big to see, click on them and they will open in a new window at full size.

Enjoy!

Video #1 Video #2 Video #3