Signs:
all done
light
fan
up
no
waves hi/bye
Says:
Mama
Dada
Nana
hug
nigh-night
meow
woof
bang bang
pat
tickle tickle
more
brush
button
up
potty
cuddle
hi (on phone)
Grandma
Grandpa
water
do
did it
Sunday, July 30, 2006
One year ago today...
I was cursing at the date. Cursing at my gargantuan belly. Cursing at anybody who couldn't help me meet my baby (pretty much everyone). And begging Kes to make her arrival as soon as she possibly could, although I didn't know she would be Kessa or even SHE yet. Because one year ago today was my due date with Kessa. And in 6 days my little baby girl is going to be one year old.
Sniff, sniff.
Sniff, sniff.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Heat
On Monday we went from Sac back home, and after an hour of being home, our power went out. It went out in 110 degree heat. I went to class, and by the time I came home at 8pm, it was 95 degrees INSIDE my house. Kes was miserably crying, drenched in her own sweat, as Scott unsuccessfully tried to calm her and get her to sleep. I decided to pile the girls in the car to take them back to the air conditioned sanctuary of 78 degree Grandma and Grandpa's house, so that Kes wouldn't dehydrate herself into oblivion during the evening. Elly was conked out in her bed, but when I woke her up to get her in the car, she proved to be dehydrating in her sleep, as her hair and body were so drenched in sweat I had the distinct sensation that I was removing her from a hot shower rather than from her not-so-comfortable bed.
As we were leaving, Kes cried from when I closed Elly's door til when I got in the car and started the engine, and Eliana broke down completely, wailing. I said, "Honey what's the matter?" She said, "I'm sad because Kes is sad!" I said, "Look, Kes is all better now!" And Elly stopped crying and put Blank on her nose.
Then she said, "the air conditioning is on in the car! Our car has power!"
Me: "Yes, because our car has its own battery, but our house does not have a battery, it needs the power grid and the power grid is broken."
Elly: "Does Grandma's house have batteries?"
Me: "No, but Grandma's house has a power grid that is not broken. Grandma's air conditioning works."
Elly: "Ahhhhhh."
Then I asked, "Is the air conditioning OK? Can you feel that?" And she said, "Yes, thank you! I'm not hot anymore!"
As we were leaving, Kes cried from when I closed Elly's door til when I got in the car and started the engine, and Eliana broke down completely, wailing. I said, "Honey what's the matter?" She said, "I'm sad because Kes is sad!" I said, "Look, Kes is all better now!" And Elly stopped crying and put Blank on her nose.
Then she said, "the air conditioning is on in the car! Our car has power!"
Me: "Yes, because our car has its own battery, but our house does not have a battery, it needs the power grid and the power grid is broken."
Elly: "Does Grandma's house have batteries?"
Me: "No, but Grandma's house has a power grid that is not broken. Grandma's air conditioning works."
Elly: "Ahhhhhh."
Then I asked, "Is the air conditioning OK? Can you feel that?" And she said, "Yes, thank you! I'm not hot anymore!"
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Teethy day
It may have taken me until 8:30 pm to figure it out, but I figured it out.
She popped a tooth through, and two others are swollen nasty blisters waiting to pop through. Poor baby.
The thing is, she is so happy all the time. She wanted to be held a little more than usual today, but that was it. Nothing else. It wasn't until she woke up very quickly after going to bed and couldn't get back to sleep that I figured it out. And then it was only b/c she wasn't happy sucking her thumb. She kept sucking it and taking it out. Sometimes when that happens, she's got a food particle stuck to the roof of her mouth. So I stuck my finger in her mouth, and there it was. Tooth #9. I looked for any more and found instead two nasty blisters.
With tylenol and Hyland's on board, plus nursing two more times, she's finally comfortable enough to sleep.
She popped a tooth through, and two others are swollen nasty blisters waiting to pop through. Poor baby.
The thing is, she is so happy all the time. She wanted to be held a little more than usual today, but that was it. Nothing else. It wasn't until she woke up very quickly after going to bed and couldn't get back to sleep that I figured it out. And then it was only b/c she wasn't happy sucking her thumb. She kept sucking it and taking it out. Sometimes when that happens, she's got a food particle stuck to the roof of her mouth. So I stuck my finger in her mouth, and there it was. Tooth #9. I looked for any more and found instead two nasty blisters.
With tylenol and Hyland's on board, plus nursing two more times, she's finally comfortable enough to sleep.
Elly conversations
"Mama, the cars are driving fast, and I don't want them to hit us."
Me: "That's why Mommy follows the traffic rules to keep us safe. I drive in the right direction, I stop at red lights and go at green lights, and I watch where the other cars are so I don't bump into them."
Elly: "OK, be very careful. I don't want to donk the cars because then we will fell out and be on the street where all the cars are vrooming." (This conversation happened today, and is very representative of a current preoccupation with car safety, especially making sure that we are driving the same way the other cars are going and that cars on the other side of the street can't/won't cross into our side.)
Elly:"Is Daddy going to be home when we get home?"
Me: "No honey. I don't know if he'll be home before you go to bed tonight either."
Elly: (falling to pieces) "I want my Daddy!" (collects herself) "Mama, where is Daddy?"
Me: "Daddy's at work."
Elly: (falling to pieces) "I don't want him to be at work!" (collects herself) "Oh, sad Elly."
Me: "That's why Mommy follows the traffic rules to keep us safe. I drive in the right direction, I stop at red lights and go at green lights, and I watch where the other cars are so I don't bump into them."
Elly: "OK, be very careful. I don't want to donk the cars because then we will fell out and be on the street where all the cars are vrooming." (This conversation happened today, and is very representative of a current preoccupation with car safety, especially making sure that we are driving the same way the other cars are going and that cars on the other side of the street can't/won't cross into our side.)
Elly:"Is Daddy going to be home when we get home?"
Me: "No honey. I don't know if he'll be home before you go to bed tonight either."
Elly: (falling to pieces) "I want my Daddy!" (collects herself) "Mama, where is Daddy?"
Me: "Daddy's at work."
Elly: (falling to pieces) "I don't want him to be at work!" (collects herself) "Oh, sad Elly."
Monday, July 10, 2006
Bad mommy, sad Elly
I can't believe it, but I forgot Blank. Blank with a capital B, Green Blank, Elly's blankie. We went to Sac for one night, and Blank got left at home.
It was awful. This was the first time in nearly two years - since she glommed on to this one particular piece of microfleece, instead of any microfleece that could be pasted to her nose - that she spent a night without Blank. She cried and cried. She threw fits asking to go home. She said she'd just stay awake. Then I got us in the card and drove, and she finally fell asleep, two hours after bedtime.
The night went surprisingly well. She only woke up once and begrudgingly accepted Daddy as a substitute for Blank.
Poor kid. Sure taught Mommy a lesson. Don't forget the Blank.
It was awful. This was the first time in nearly two years - since she glommed on to this one particular piece of microfleece, instead of any microfleece that could be pasted to her nose - that she spent a night without Blank. She cried and cried. She threw fits asking to go home. She said she'd just stay awake. Then I got us in the card and drove, and she finally fell asleep, two hours after bedtime.
The night went surprisingly well. She only woke up once and begrudgingly accepted Daddy as a substitute for Blank.
Poor kid. Sure taught Mommy a lesson. Don't forget the Blank.
Wednesday, July 5, 2006
Turf wars
Elly gave up her naps at almost the exact time that Kes started crawling, which has made for an interesting development in their sibling relationship - turf wars. Nah, it's not really that bad. Overall they do OK sorting it out... well, I should say overall Elly does OK sorting it out, since Kes is too little to do any of the negotiation. But the only really bad moments have been when they are both overtired, and even then, by bad I mean that they are both crying. The vast majority of the time the entire exchange consists of one of them taking the toy away from the other, the hurt party raising a fuss, and then some sort of peacemaking.
Impressively, Elly does the peacemaking about half the time (usually when she's done the taking) and I only have to make suggestions to her (turn-taking, doing it together, using something different) about half the time (usually if Kes did the taking). What's fantastic is the lack of aggression in these interchanges. Elly wails if Kes takes something from her, or takes it right back, but doesn't push or hit her about it. And they have only been unable to reach a resolution twice (at which point I put the toy off-limits to both of them).
It's truly amazing how little rivalry they have so far. Even these exchanges are similar to how she'd react to any other crawling toy thief. They like to play together. Kes crawls after Elly when she leaves a room, and Elly often tells me to bring Kes with us if we are going in a different room, or says "Mama, I want my Kessa!" And both get upset if the other one is really crying (since birth Kes has been able to tell Elly's sad and pain cries from her tantrums). It's so fun to see. I know there will always be sibling conflicts, but I couldn't have asked for a better sister relationship for them so far.
Impressively, Elly does the peacemaking about half the time (usually when she's done the taking) and I only have to make suggestions to her (turn-taking, doing it together, using something different) about half the time (usually if Kes did the taking). What's fantastic is the lack of aggression in these interchanges. Elly wails if Kes takes something from her, or takes it right back, but doesn't push or hit her about it. And they have only been unable to reach a resolution twice (at which point I put the toy off-limits to both of them).
It's truly amazing how little rivalry they have so far. Even these exchanges are similar to how she'd react to any other crawling toy thief. They like to play together. Kes crawls after Elly when she leaves a room, and Elly often tells me to bring Kes with us if we are going in a different room, or says "Mama, I want my Kessa!" And both get upset if the other one is really crying (since birth Kes has been able to tell Elly's sad and pain cries from her tantrums). It's so fun to see. I know there will always be sibling conflicts, but I couldn't have asked for a better sister relationship for them so far.
More things to remember
Kes says "tickle-tickle" - tickohtickohtickoh, and on the "ti" her tongue sticks out. She says it whenever I tickle her, and sometimes she tickles me and says it, but my favorite is when I hear it from the backseat and I know she's tickling her own toes.
Me: Elly, can you touch the sky?
Elly: (reaching up) No.
Me: Can you touch the floor?
Elly: (touching floor) Yes!
Me: Can you touch your toes?
Elly: (touching toes) Yes!
Me: Can you touch Daddy?
Elly: (thinks about it) I can touch Daddy's body, but I can't touch his head, because him's too tall.
Kes is crawling full-speed (and loves to play chase) and can crawl up a step and has crawled down it, though occasionally she gets stuck in both directions. She can pull up to standing on pretty much anything now.
Last week I saw a glimpse of the beginning of the end of nursing. Kes refused the breast in favor of real food. I was heartened by the fact that she still wanted to nurse when she was done eating, but now I am just hoping that the decline from here is very, very slow going. I'm not ready to give this up anytime soon, and I hope she agrees with me, since she's in the driver's seat.
Eliana started preschool and gymnastics last week. She loved preschool - barely even kissed me goodbye, wouldn't look up from her playdough to let me get a good picture, didn't want to leave. Gymnastics went well too, despite a couple moments when she got scared about the task at hand and had near-freakouts, but she ended up loving it so much she cried when it was over. Today was her second day of preschool and it was a little rougher on her - the teacher called me and said she'd asked to go home a couple times, but that she was now playing happily and by the end of the day she hadn't asked again. She is just so big.
Me: Elly, can you touch the sky?
Elly: (reaching up) No.
Me: Can you touch the floor?
Elly: (touching floor) Yes!
Me: Can you touch your toes?
Elly: (touching toes) Yes!
Me: Can you touch Daddy?
Elly: (thinks about it) I can touch Daddy's body, but I can't touch his head, because him's too tall.
Kes is crawling full-speed (and loves to play chase) and can crawl up a step and has crawled down it, though occasionally she gets stuck in both directions. She can pull up to standing on pretty much anything now.
Last week I saw a glimpse of the beginning of the end of nursing. Kes refused the breast in favor of real food. I was heartened by the fact that she still wanted to nurse when she was done eating, but now I am just hoping that the decline from here is very, very slow going. I'm not ready to give this up anytime soon, and I hope she agrees with me, since she's in the driver's seat.
Eliana started preschool and gymnastics last week. She loved preschool - barely even kissed me goodbye, wouldn't look up from her playdough to let me get a good picture, didn't want to leave. Gymnastics went well too, despite a couple moments when she got scared about the task at hand and had near-freakouts, but she ended up loving it so much she cried when it was over. Today was her second day of preschool and it was a little rougher on her - the teacher called me and said she'd asked to go home a couple times, but that she was now playing happily and by the end of the day she hadn't asked again. She is just so big.
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