Scarred for Life... Again

I messed up the kid again last night. I'm such a wonderful parent.

Maggie was being a little crabby about taking a bath, so I decided to let her take her bath in our big mater bathtub, a big oval, jetted, spa thing. She was having a grand old time, playing with her toys and "swimming", when I got the bright idea to turn on the jets. As the jets rumbled to life her face went blank, and for a second there I thought she might actually like it, but then, horror! Because I am an idiot I didn't notice that the jets were not fully submerged in water, so instead of sending bubbles up to the surface of the water, they sprayed water all around the tub - car wash style - and directly into the face of my poor, unsuspecting child. Needless to say, she freaked out. She started crying and came scampering for the side of the tub saying, "Mama, I don't like it anymore! I scared!" I felt like such a jerk, funny how a stupid bathtub can break your heart a little bit.

On the upside, an eighteen year-old Maggie might think twice before jumping into a hot tub to make out with boys... seeing as how I scarred her for life and everything.

June Pictures

Lazy days around here lately, just waiting for that baby sister to get here. Maggie and I try to keep ourselves busy though, here are a few pictures from our recent adventures...


Here is a picture of Princess Margaret, decked out after this past weekend's visit from Gigi (paternal grandmother).


Mimicking something she saw on one of her PBS shows, when asked what she was doing (naked, in all her necklaces and dress-up jewelry) she said, "Getting ready to go to the jungle!" I don't think this is such a great jungle outfit, but I'm a grown-up so what do I know. Oh, and by the way - look at that face, how much does she look like her Daddy in this picture!


Sandbox time in the backyard.


Feeding the ducks at the lakefront in Kenosha.





Strawberry picking - we successfully picked 15 strawberries before deciding that the straw covering the paths between plants was too yucky for our delicate feet.

What's for Dinner?

Maggie, Jason and I were walking into the house after a few minutes spent running around the front yard. I asked, "Maggie, what would you like for dinner?" and before she could answer, Daddy asked, "Do you want a fire tonight?" referring to our never-ending deck burning project. Her response took care of both questions at once, "No Daddy, I can't eat fire!"

Breakfast of Champions

What does Maggie get for breakfast when Mommy is nine months pregnant and already tired of her toddler's morning mood swings? Cinnamon applesauce and a handful of pretzels. And you know what Mommy gets? Half a Hershey bar. We are sooooo into healthy eating in this house right now!

UPDATE:
So I'm sitting on the couch while Maggie eats with her back to me, she just turned around, held up her hands and said, "My hands sticky Mom." I looked up and apparently she had decided to lick the bottom of the applesauce bowl - or take a bath in applesauce, one or the other. Applesauce on her hands, eyelashes, hair, up her nose, etc., and a BIG smile on her face.

Emotions

Lately we've been learning how to express our emotions with words instead of shrieks, cries, etc. It's pretty interesting to watch a two year-old figure out she has this ability. When she's sad she tells me, "Mama, I feel yucky. I sad." and when she's happy she says, "Yeah! I so happy!" Like when we pulled up in front of the pool today, "I so happy! I so happy!" Just a fun little observation for today.

Handy Helper

I never underestimate my girl Maggie, and instead choose to assume that she is waaayyy smarter than her age would suggest. Therefore, she is given the opportunity to "help" at many minor tasks with the sincere hope that learning this way will help her build confidence and independance at an early age. BUT sometimes.... I just don't need your help baby.

For example, last night. I offered to cook Jason whatever he wanted for fathers day - any recipe out of any cookbook. He chose Pan Roasted Chilean Sea Bass, a recipe that called for from scratch Bouillabaisse Sauce, saffron potatoes, and sauteed fennel, leeks, tomato and herbs. Challenging. And who is all super-hyped to help because she just so happened to recieve two pink plastic cooking spoons of her very own earlier that day? Maggie, the Handy Helper!

"I help Mama!" she declared, and demanded to be sat on the counter... next to two sharp knives, two boiling pots, a pan of sauteeing veggies, and numerous dirty bowls, spoons, etc., a pink-plastic spoon in each hand. "Here Maggie, you can help by holding this stick of butter." It was the safest thing I could find within a three foot diameter of the kid. She held on to that butter like a champ.

So, are you wondering if the dish turned out? Why yes, yes it did - and here is my photo to prove it. Yummy, yum, yum, yum...

More Words

Now that Maggie is a full-fledged member of the speaking world, she says things all the time that make me laugh and/or scratch my head. This morning I was making breakfast for her (and by making breakfast I mean opening a tube of Go-Gurt and microwaving a leftover pancake) when I turned and asked her, "Would you like a pancake for breakfast?" She replied, "With syrup??" I said, "Yes, baby, with syrup." She smiled and said, "That's what I'm talking about!"

Saturday Morning Funnies

A few jokes I received this morning via email, thought you could use an LOL...

-- When I was six months pregnant with my third child, my three year-old came into the room as I was preparing to get into the shower. She said, "Mommy, you are getting fat!" I replied, "Yes, honey, remember Mommy has a baby growing in her tummy." "I know," she replied, "but what's growing in your butt?"

-- One day the first grade teacher was reading the story of Chicken Little to her class. She came to the part where Chicken Little warns the farmer. She read, "...and Chicken Little went up to the farmer and said, "The sky is falling!" The teacher then asked the class, "And what do you think that farmer said?" One little girl raised her hand and said, "I think he said: 'Holy Shit! A talking chicken!"

Have a fabulous Saturday!

Board Games

Maggie has discovered board games. Nothing too exciting about this - but it gives me the opportunity to recommend a game to other parents of two-year-olds. Most games recommend ages of three or four, so I've been on the look-out for things that don't involve a lot of strategy and are simple to reason out. Hungry Hippos made the cut (Maggie has never been a big small-objects-in-the-mouth kid so I figured as long as she's playing with someone this is a safe one), and classic Memory did as well. Then we found the BEST game ever! Blows these other games out of the water and has been played almost every day since we bought it last week. Curious George Discovery Beach Game. All the little pieces are sealed inside the game, so it's nearly impossible to kill yourself playing this game. Kids draw cards with pictures and easy words on them and are asked to search the "beach" for the items on the card. Maggie loves looking for the various ocean-themed items in the box, and loves that George is involved too. Definately worth the sixteen bucks...

A Board! With a Nail in it!

Nothing quite like a rusty nail to add excitement to a dull afternoon.

We've been rebuilding our deck to make it safer and there is an ever-growing pile of junk forming, including many boards... with nails in them. I think you know where this is going.

I'm sitting on the couch updating some computer projects when Maggie is carried indoors crying and begging for her lovey. At first glance Daddy thought she may have twisted her ankle because she fell down outside, but then I take off her shoe and notice her toes are covered in blood. Cue hysterics from Daddy. Just kidding, sort of.

Scary looking foot is washed off in the sink, anti-germy spray is applied, bandaid (or ban-egg as Maggie calls them), Elmo sock, acetaminophen, blue-moon ice cream cone, and one call to urgent care (just to double check on those tetanus immunizations) and she's almost good as new. Daddy on the other hand is feeling pretty guilty that such an injury happened on his watch. Oh well, accidents happen.

Zoo!

This week we spent some time at the Milwaukee Zoo. Maggie was super excited to visit the elephants, giraffes and goats. So excited, in fact, that she told her Aunt Sarah that she was going to bring a goat home with her. I told her that we couldn't take those goats home with us because we already had a goat - his name is Steve, the big dumb dog.

Baby Sister

Maggie is anxiously awaiting the arrival of "Baby Sister." We've explained to her that when Baby Sister is ready to come out of Mama's belly and come home, Mama will have to go visit the doctor for a few days and when she comes home Baby Sister will come home too. So now she periodically tells me, "Mama, go to the doctor. Baby Sister come home!"

She's even anxious to share her toys, sort of. Today at the store she was granted a little plastic baby-doll, but couldn't decide which one she wanted. She was only allowed to get one, so after careful consideration she decided on the doll dressed in a mouse costume and told me that the runner-up, dressed as a frog, was for Baby Sister. Hmmm, how generous of her.

A Medley of Hilarity

This past weekend pretty much sucked, hence the absence from posting. Maggie had Croup, she's still getting over it actually, and if you've ever had a kid with Croup you know it TOTALLY SUCKS!

Alright enough about that, get ready for some laughs! Here are a few of the highlights from the time spent prior to and surrounding the time spent trying to sooth the unsoothable beast/child...

Maggie helped me take the trash down to the street the other day. And by help I mean she meandered around the front lawn looking for worms and bird poop while I wheeled the cans. Suddenly she's calling to me excitedly, I turn around and see that she has dropped trou and is sitting on her butt in the grass. "I go pee pee on the grass Mama!!" Hmmm.... not sure what to do about this one. On the one hand, gross. On the other hand, if you're a desperate two year old the grass seems a better solution than her pants. We'll see if it happens again, and just hope that it doesn't.

Another story - oddly enough, pee related. At lunch today in the ladies room, Maggie notices the happy little bears painted on the changing station in the stall we're occupying. I tell her, "That's for babies that wear diapers. You don't need diapers, right?" and she replies, "I don't need diapers, I'm a big girl!" Awwwww. Then she says it again. And again. And again, and again, and again. Do your kids get stuck in these obsessively repetitive speech patterns? I'm sure the woman in the stall next to us was super excited to hear all about Maggie's lack of diapers, 32 times.

And last but not least...baby. She is trying to bust out, Alien style. She really knows how to make her presence known. Maggie was lying on my chest/stomach this weekend feeling miserable when all of a sudden her sister decided she didn't like being weighed down and kicked Maggie in the head. Maggie's head shot up and she looked at me. I told her, "That was your baby sister, did you feel her?" Maggie smiled, I know she thought it was cool, but all I could think was, yeah, you think it's cool now... just wait until those footballer feet are on the outside.