Apple Orchard 2010

This past weekend we took our annual trip to the apple orchard...well, the first trip to the apple orchard. I would probably have something witty to write, but it's hard to be intelligent and quick-witted when you have a two-year-old whining about "it's her turn on the 'puter" sitting right next to you. Until I regain my sense of humor, photos with have to do...

Who Needs Feminism...

...when you've got Barbie princesses!

Maggie borrowed a new (to her) Barbie movie from the library this week. It is about 12 dancing princesses. Could there be a better movie for a two year old little girl? Dancing, check. Princesses, check.

At the end of the movie Genevieve (aka Barbie) marries her "prince" (aka the royal cobbler). Maggie says to me, "I wanna marry a prince too, just like the movie!" and "I'll wear a crown and my slippers. And pink!" Part of me wanted to tell her that she doesn't need a prince, she'll have her doctorate from Harvard to keep her warm at night. But I didn't, because what I was really thinking was, "She'll make a beautiful princess." And then I cried, just a little bit. One tear, I swear.

Incidentally - I think the moral of this movie is something along the lines of princes and princesses come in all shapes and sizes... although I must say, a travelling shoe salesman would not have been my first choice for a princely son in law.

Mugshot

What do you think, are these two girls related? I think I see it in the nose for sure, probably the eyes too. Anyone want to calls dibs on certain features? What do you see?

Rendered Obsolete

Maggie had a library class this morning and afterward we spent a few minutes picking out books to borrow. I was trying to show her a few options when she turned and waved me away, saying, "Mom, I don't need you anymore." She gathered her book and the library card and started heading for the check-out. Wow, like a dagger in my heart kid, thanks a lot.

Princess on the Brain

Maggie finally noticed the wedding pictures. We told her that those are pictures of Mommy and Daddy and she said, "Wow, Mommy looks like a princess!" I love that kid!

Maggie's 2.5 Stats

I forgot to post this a few weeks ago - Maggie's updated stats.

Height: 34.25 inches
Weight: 24.8 pounds
Head: 19 3/8 inches

Was 10-25% on height and weight, 75% on head. She has grown two inches since her second birthday, but only put on one measly pound.

Possibly the Cutest Thing I've Seen EVER

This is so cute, I almost cried. Maggie watching her favorite princess movie, Beauty and the Beast, and dancing along with the movie. I love girls :)

Time to Brag About My Kid...

Today could have been wretched. Maggie wet the bed and woke up really early, and she has a cough and a runny nose. But somehow, miraculously, I have the perfect child today. I must have been owed a favor, cosmically speaking.

We went to gym class and started off with a little whine and cheese, but quickly changed our tune when we watched one of the other kids have the mother of all melt-downs and have to be removed from the room by the teacher. After that she was happy to somersault herself into oblivion, if for no other reason that to avoid contact with the teacher.

After class we went to Olive Garden with Granny for lunch. We were seated about four tables away from a family with two "spirited" little boys, one of which was crying his eyes out on the table and the other of which was climbing in and out of his chair and running around the table. Oh, and they had a baby too. Between our tables an elderly woman and her daughter(?) were trying to enjoy their lunch. At the end of their meal they came over to me to compliment me on my beautiful, WELL BEHAVED, child. I'm sure she looked like gold when compared to the table down the way (the table that quickly dissolved into threats, reprimands, and public flogging..er..I mean spankings). I was beaming, so proud! Then as we got up to leave the woman that had been seated in the booth behind us complimented me on my gorgeous girl, telling me that Maggie had the most darling look on her face as she helped herself to my soup during our meal.

Proud, proud, proud!!! Lucky day for us, I love when all the hard work - parenting - pays off!

Cate's New Stats

Catherine had her 2 month check-up today. She is 11 pounds (50%), 23 and a half inches (75-90%), and 16 inch head (90%). Two shots and one oral vaccine.

At this same age her sister was 9 pounds 9 ounces and 22 pounds. Actually, looking in the baby book right now... Cate is the same size at two months that Maggie was at four months.

Syrup

Pancakes. A Maggie favorite. But what are pancakes without syrup? Crap, that's what. And what are pancakes without a lake of syrup? Well, I really couldn't tell you, seeing as how we take a swim in Lake Maple every time we have pancakes. If pancakes weren't so darn absorbent we could cut back on syrup considerably. Maggie is kind of a grazer when it comes to meal time. It takes about an hour to really finish breakfast in the morning. "Mom! My syrup is all gone! I need more!" Even though her pancakes are not all gone. I've tried many times to convince her that her syrup is in fact still on the plate, it's just in the pancakes, but it's a concept too obtuse for a two-year-old to grasp I guess. So here comes more syrup... as if she wasn't sweet enough as it is.

A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Veterinarian

OK, so she's either going to be a country singer with a strong rock and roll sensibility... or a veterinarian.








I think it's particularly highlarious that the dog is wearing one of her plastic bandages. Good dog.

Making and Breaking Friends

Last week at gymnastics class Maggie had one of those experiences that breaks a Mama's heart. She had a run in with the real world.

There is a little girl in her class this semester that had been in her class last year as well and the mom and I have become casual friends. This little girl was having a rough time last week. If we had been playing t-ball she would have been the little girl off in left field picking daisies and doing cartwheels instead of playing the game. Maggie wasn't doing so well either - she would have been the little girl crying in the dugout because Mommy couldn't sit by her.

So at the beginning of the class there is warm up, and all the kids walk/run around the gym to get there hearts pumping. The little girl wanted to hold Maggie's hand to walk, and Maggie wanted to hold Mommy's hand, and the little girl got upset. The teacher distracted them both and everything was fine. But then later in the class...

We sat down next to the little girl along the wall to listen to the teacher's instructions. Normally I wouldn't have to sit there, but since Maggie was being clingy that day I was stuck chilling on the wall. The little girl looked at Maggie and said, "I don't want to sit by Maggie! I don't like her anymore!" Fighting back my urge to either tell the girl, "Well, we don't like you either!" or punch her in the face, I said, "Oh, that's too bad, why don't you like her honey?" And the little girl said, "Because she got scared of me!"

OK, so that stinks, but this is how two-year-olds express themselves and I have to deal with it. I didn't think Maggie really cared or understood until later that day she brought up this conversation, saying "Mama, that girl doesn't like me anymore." I just wanted to cry. Maggie was OK though, she rationalized it, told me that the little girl must have been feeling yucky that day.

I was feeling so sorry for the situation, how sad it is for a two-year-old to learn that some people, no matter how nice you are, simply won't like you. But then I got to see the real damage that was done. Maggie said to her dad the other night, after being disciplined for some minor infraction or another, "Daddy, I don't like you anymore!" Then last night during bedtime (we still hate bedtime) I got it too, "I don't like Mommy anymore!" Great. Can I just keep her locked in the house until she's 18? The influence of outsiders really sucks sometimes.

Bee-yana!

Maggie starts dance class again next week, and it can't start soon enough. She put on a little recital for us today, complete with IPod accompaniment (who new that "Bachelorette Party" playlist would be a toddler favorite - although I probably should remove the Biggie Smalls songs now that she can talk). She kept telling me and her dad to "Stand back, stand back!" Wouldn't want to invade her dance space. There were spins, jumps, rump shaking, floor moves, skipping, tip-toes, and lots of bowing. At one point she stopped dancing, stood still, and starring at the floor said, "The floor is moving!" I think maybe a few too many spins dizzy baby.

If you weren't paying attention you'd think she was just being a spazzy kid running around the floor, but she actually has moves. You can pick out specific, repeated movements when she "dances". She even tries new moves and tries to make her body bend and move in unfamiliar ways. Do all two year olds do this? I wonder...

Oh - and Bee-yana (the title of this post) is how Maggie pronounces Ballerina. I often think is sounds like an insult, "You better watch out for that girl, she is a real Bee-yana."

It's funny to me that I can look at Maggie all day long and think, "My God, when did she get sooo big!" And then night falls and my big girl turns into a big baby. Is it possible for a two and a half year old to have colic?

It's our fault really, we've become very lax on the bedtime routine since Catie was born. The actual time of bed has slowly been moving later and later, and now there is requisite "Barbie Movie" watching involved. Add to that a nap that is frequently left clutching it's bag by the side of the road and you've got what happened last night - the mother of all tantrums. I'm talking the kind of tantrum where you have to ask your kid if she's going to barf, the kind of tantrum that can get CPS called on you because she literally sounds like she's being killed.

I spent about an hour and a half last night prying my inconsolably pissed-off kid off of my back, my legs, my shoulders, and depositing her into what seems to have been boiling hot lava, every time she hit the sheets she slithered off to the floor, scrambled to her feet, and attempted to tackle me. At one point, seeing that begging and pleading, crying and screaming, weren't working in her favor, she actually resorted to swatting at me. Why do kids think that if things aren't going their way the sure fire way to get what they want is to do something that will make Mom dig in her heels even further?

Finally she had exhausted herself so thoroughly that she accepted my offer of hand-holding until she could calm down (and launch another attack). I slowly counted to 100 while she laid in bed with her chest heaving, still choking on tears and slobber. I only made it to 25... and she's out. Time for bed.

Baby Poop

Changing Catie's diaper this morning...

"Mama, that baby poo poo??"
"Yup, Maggie, that's baby poop."
"That poo poo yucky, the baby poo poo should go home to her mommy and daddy."

I'm Sure You'll Be Jealous of This One...

I probably shouldn't be telling you this... because I don't want all you fine women to be jealous of me, and I know you'll totally want to get with my man after you hear... that he has an "emergency golf bag". Just in case you find yourself in the middle of a golfing emergency, you'll be prepared to...you know... GOLF!