Photos from Evansville and beyond are uploaded. Everyone happy? Good. Because you're not getting Christmas presents!
Life has been more of the same. More craziness, more chattiness. We're getting used to it. I'm sure she's said a thousand hilarious things, but they don't stick in my head. I'm so busy setting boundaries and holding the line that there are many things that just don't stick in my head very long.
But the twitchy short-term memory and the endless repeating of cautions and prohibitions will one day pay off. One day. When something finally sinks in through that adorable little skull.
In the meantime, that damaged brain is better equipped to enjoy the ride.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
a bold new era of perpetual motion
This morning Gaz started the day asking questions like, "Mommy, what 'contraption' mean?" The rest of the morning followed that pattern. "What 'freezing rain' mean? What 'disaster area' mean?" Good times. Mark has been eagerly awaiting the twenty-questions phase. It looks like it's pretty much here.
There's also the little matter of magnets. After buying and making a bunch to keep her entertained and ensure that her art does not fall down from the filing cabinet, I found all our old magnets in a box in my closet. Now she has twice as many number magnets, and is having a great time yelling out random numbers and trying to assemble them out of magnets. Today she declared that 85 was 18, so I showed her how to put the one and the eight together and she promptly replaced the one with the five. But we're moving in a numbers direction, so that's good.
We have a little cheapo toy keyboard around the house these days, and Gaz dragged me into the living room to "hear my music! Come hear my lovely music!" Sometimes what she does to the keyboard actually doesn't sound half bad considering that it's still mostly the random mashing of keys. She also does this very careful, deliberate thing sometimes wherein she will play the keys sequentially from low to high on the "saxophone" sound setting. It's really cute, if she makes a mistake (like hitting two keys at the same time) she'll start over. So maybe she's getting the notion that one key at a time is a good thing, and that if you make a mistake you can start over. I know she's heard enough of me trying to remember "Chopsticks" and "To a Wild Rose." Mark, of course, has already figured out the Wallace & Gromit theme. He has some mad piano skills.
While coloring on the chalkboard this afternoon, I wrote "Gaz rocks!" in a blank space, which inspired the following conversation:
Me: (reading off the board) "Gaz rocks!"
Gaz: No, you rock. That same thing.
Me: Well, you rock too.
Gaz: No, you rock same time.
It would seem that we rock simultaneously.
We had dancing time while waiting for Mark to get home from work and Gaz ran circles around me, saying, "I can't stop for my life!" She actually could, of course, but it was a funny thing to hear her say. I'm not sure where she learned that.
Today was also diaper experiment day--she's slimmed down enough with the constant growing taller that she's back in size 5 diapers. Diaper Fairy, make a note of it! It's nice to not have to try to make the giant diapers stay on for a change. I have no idea how long this will last, but at least diapers don't go bad.
It's been a hilarious, intense, wild day. Soon to be followed by much more of the same, I'm sure. Maybe tomorrow she'll slow down enough to nap.
There's also the little matter of magnets. After buying and making a bunch to keep her entertained and ensure that her art does not fall down from the filing cabinet, I found all our old magnets in a box in my closet. Now she has twice as many number magnets, and is having a great time yelling out random numbers and trying to assemble them out of magnets. Today she declared that 85 was 18, so I showed her how to put the one and the eight together and she promptly replaced the one with the five. But we're moving in a numbers direction, so that's good.
We have a little cheapo toy keyboard around the house these days, and Gaz dragged me into the living room to "hear my music! Come hear my lovely music!" Sometimes what she does to the keyboard actually doesn't sound half bad considering that it's still mostly the random mashing of keys. She also does this very careful, deliberate thing sometimes wherein she will play the keys sequentially from low to high on the "saxophone" sound setting. It's really cute, if she makes a mistake (like hitting two keys at the same time) she'll start over. So maybe she's getting the notion that one key at a time is a good thing, and that if you make a mistake you can start over. I know she's heard enough of me trying to remember "Chopsticks" and "To a Wild Rose." Mark, of course, has already figured out the Wallace & Gromit theme. He has some mad piano skills.
While coloring on the chalkboard this afternoon, I wrote "Gaz rocks!" in a blank space, which inspired the following conversation:
Me: (reading off the board) "Gaz rocks!"
Gaz: No, you rock. That same thing.
Me: Well, you rock too.
Gaz: No, you rock same time.
It would seem that we rock simultaneously.
We had dancing time while waiting for Mark to get home from work and Gaz ran circles around me, saying, "I can't stop for my life!" She actually could, of course, but it was a funny thing to hear her say. I'm not sure where she learned that.
Today was also diaper experiment day--she's slimmed down enough with the constant growing taller that she's back in size 5 diapers. Diaper Fairy, make a note of it! It's nice to not have to try to make the giant diapers stay on for a change. I have no idea how long this will last, but at least diapers don't go bad.
It's been a hilarious, intense, wild day. Soon to be followed by much more of the same, I'm sure. Maybe tomorrow she'll slow down enough to nap.
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Ugh.
Yesterday Gaz removed a scraper from our general child-safe kitchen utensil drawer. She looked at it really closely, and said, "This is for licking!" and proceeded to lick the scraper. Then she handed it to me, saying, "Here, you lick it now." And then she sneezed into the drawer. Full of utensils. I am glad she didn't do this before Sunday's dinner party. (At which she was well behaved, I am happy to report.)
As I typed the above, Gaz was running around saying "Two for a dollar! Two for a dollar!" and patting Mark and I on the backside as she ran around us. "Two for a dollar?" Mark asked. "Two for a dollar you butt!" Gaz replied with a cackle.
But now it's Big Honking Tantrum number 2, so I must go and do something about that.
As I typed the above, Gaz was running around saying "Two for a dollar! Two for a dollar!" and patting Mark and I on the backside as she ran around us. "Two for a dollar?" Mark asked. "Two for a dollar you butt!" Gaz replied with a cackle.
But now it's Big Honking Tantrum number 2, so I must go and do something about that.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Heh
Last night we had a wee dinner party here. Gaz didn't nap too much, so I wasn't sure how she would do, but she was really good. When she decided she was done eating, she went off to quietly color on her easel for a while, giving Mark and me a chance to finish eating before getting called into duty. Auntie Aiiee also helped with the Gaz entertainment, too, which was much, much appreciated.
Now, I've gone this far without any real scatalogical tales for you, but Mark insists that I blog the following. This evening Gaz was crouched down in the living room doing her diaper-filling thing. She then got up and walked over to her Duplo block tower she built earlier today, patted it, and identified it to Mark as "tower of poop." I have no idea what any of that was about, but we're still laughing about it.
And now for something completely different, Gaz has been talking in her sleep lately. Last night Mark heard her mumble something about turning. Then she laughed and said, "Silly flowers." I only remember the request for nursing that came just after that. I believe she was dreaming about the musical flower pot thing she saw at the nursing home while we were recently visiting my grandpa, but who knows. Maybe all the flowers in her dreamscape are silly. She's also been overheard singing the Dragon Tales theme in the middle of the night. Less fun was the night she woke up asking for her pink comb and then threw a tantrum when I wouldn't let her get up to look for it. But she cheered up before long and gave both Mark and me some imaginary spiders. Because spiders won't hurt you and they aren't scary.
I think we're finally settling into the twoness of Gaz.
Now, I've gone this far without any real scatalogical tales for you, but Mark insists that I blog the following. This evening Gaz was crouched down in the living room doing her diaper-filling thing. She then got up and walked over to her Duplo block tower she built earlier today, patted it, and identified it to Mark as "tower of poop." I have no idea what any of that was about, but we're still laughing about it.
And now for something completely different, Gaz has been talking in her sleep lately. Last night Mark heard her mumble something about turning. Then she laughed and said, "Silly flowers." I only remember the request for nursing that came just after that. I believe she was dreaming about the musical flower pot thing she saw at the nursing home while we were recently visiting my grandpa, but who knows. Maybe all the flowers in her dreamscape are silly. She's also been overheard singing the Dragon Tales theme in the middle of the night. Less fun was the night she woke up asking for her pink comb and then threw a tantrum when I wouldn't let her get up to look for it. But she cheered up before long and gave both Mark and me some imaginary spiders. Because spiders won't hurt you and they aren't scary.
I think we're finally settling into the twoness of Gaz.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Tiny
Last night I happened by the bath room just as Gaz's bath was ending. There she stood in her bear hooded bear towel as she informed me, quite earnestly, "Mommy, I have a tiny butt." We've been all about size lately, as yesterday was a height and weight recheck. I think her weight fluctuations (which are in direct contrast to her early weight increase) are just a normal adjustment after the hyperactive growth of her early days. I was a pretty skinny kid at her age, so I'm guessing that she will be too. And her height keeps on keeping on. She's over 38" now, so she's clearly still growing.
Yesterday before we went to the doctor's office I asked Gaz to pick out a toy to take with her to the doctor's office. She selected a tape measure she found in the library. So all the way to the doctor's office she was measuring who knows what. It was rather handy, giving me an easy way to explain what we were about to do. She was a champ too, even with the height measuring on that stupid board. She's almost too big for that now, so I hope next time they move us up to a bigger-kid exam room. She kept asking the nurse and me, "What you doing to me now?" Each time we completed a task. I think she was largely excited that she got to be naked for the weighing-in.
She was pretty good with the flu shot, too. Predictable amounts of screaming and crying (and predictable amounts of leg kicking, which I warned the nurse about but she really wasn't prepared to hold that leg still) which she quickly got over when she realized that she could get a bunch of stickers (Dora!) and go play in the waiting room again. Getting her out of the waiting room was tricky, but I can live with that. At least as long as she's still small enough that I can pick her up without hurting myself.
Today she's been writing "Mommy" when we do the free-form crayon scribbles that are all the rage this week. But she uses a very nonstandard approach to spelling. She's recited "ackefk" and "cthth" and a few others as she makes her little letter-sized scribbles. It's totally cute.
Today we're off to visit the Grandparents Mitchell (and other nearby relatives). Next week we'll be spending the holiday with the Grandparents Rizen. Lots of time in the car, so think good thoughts for road safety and Gaz behavior.
Yesterday before we went to the doctor's office I asked Gaz to pick out a toy to take with her to the doctor's office. She selected a tape measure she found in the library. So all the way to the doctor's office she was measuring who knows what. It was rather handy, giving me an easy way to explain what we were about to do. She was a champ too, even with the height measuring on that stupid board. She's almost too big for that now, so I hope next time they move us up to a bigger-kid exam room. She kept asking the nurse and me, "What you doing to me now?" Each time we completed a task. I think she was largely excited that she got to be naked for the weighing-in.
She was pretty good with the flu shot, too. Predictable amounts of screaming and crying (and predictable amounts of leg kicking, which I warned the nurse about but she really wasn't prepared to hold that leg still) which she quickly got over when she realized that she could get a bunch of stickers (Dora!) and go play in the waiting room again. Getting her out of the waiting room was tricky, but I can live with that. At least as long as she's still small enough that I can pick her up without hurting myself.
Today she's been writing "Mommy" when we do the free-form crayon scribbles that are all the rage this week. But she uses a very nonstandard approach to spelling. She's recited "ackefk" and "cthth" and a few others as she makes her little letter-sized scribbles. It's totally cute.
Today we're off to visit the Grandparents Mitchell (and other nearby relatives). Next week we'll be spending the holiday with the Grandparents Rizen. Lots of time in the car, so think good thoughts for road safety and Gaz behavior.
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