A Touching Moment

My childhood best friend had a bridal shower on Saturday, and Ariel came with me. It wasn't really a child-friendly event (a lingerie shower), but she begged to go ("I want to be late for Miss Katie, too!"), so I called to see if it was okay and threw her in the car last-minute. She made the hour-long drive so much more enjoyable, and I kept telling her how glad I was that she was with me.

After the shower (which she spent eating a lunch of cookies), we swung by a local Taco Bell for some "real food" (kind of), then headed home.



That night, as I put her to bed, I stroked her hair softly, gazed into her eyes, and said with my most adoring mama voice, "Ariel, I'm glad you're my girl. You know that? I'm so glad you're my girl."

As I walked toward the door, Ariel scrambled to her feet and dashed to the near corner of her crib.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah?"

"I... I'm glad..." You could see her searching for how to say what she was feeling. "I'm glad I came with you to Miss Katie."

"Aww. I'm glad you came with me, too."

"And I'm glad... I'm glad I came with you to Taco Bell."

"Me, too, sweetie. I'm glad too. Goodnight."

Comparisons

If you were constantly discovering new foods, how would you describe them?

Ariel told us last night that her oven roasted turkey tasted like apples.

The burritos we had for lunch - stuffed with leftover ham hock and black bean soup, cooked down to a thick, savory sauce - smelled like flowers.

Tonight's French toast tasted like ice cream.


I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

Kids are for Laughing

A few weeks ago, Ariel woke up and hurried to the breakfast table, where she found leftover cornbread.

Ariel: Mmmm! Yummy cornbread! It's yummy!

Me: It is yummy!

Ariel: Mmmm, yummy! [suddenly serious] W-we eat cornbread with our mouths, an-and not with our bottoms.

I honestly have no idea where that came from.

****************************************

Ariel and I were sitting in the big armchair, and I was squeezing her tightly. Realizing that a lot of my weight was on her, I readjusted.

Ariel: Where are you going, Mommy?

Me: I'm not going anywhere. I'm just trying not to squish you. Are you squished?

Ariel: No! I'm not playdough!

A Baby Song

She likes praise, cont.

Me: Good job using the potty, Ariel!

Ariel: Tank you, Mommy. Tank you for clapping me.

One Year Old

Felicity's first birthday was last Saturday, the 9th. It was a lot of fun!

I really wanted to make the party something special, so I came up with the idea of decorating the table with ribbons and photographs.


I also hung ribbons from the chandelier and from Felicity's high chair, and I used a doll cradle to hold her gifts. I thought the final look was very cute. It was also cheap - each spool of ribbon was only $1 at Michaels!

We wanted to do a traditional cake for Felicity's birthday, and frosting cakes has never been my strongest skill. But, after a couple hours of fiddling, I came up with this:


Dan's sister Heather came up from Salem with her family, which is always fun! My mom, dad, and youngest brother came, as did Navi and Luna. Rae Ann also stopped in for a few minutes to give Felicity her gift. She was also kind enough to take a few pictures and videos!






Felicity's first attempts at cake eating were hilarious! She can be such a dainty little thing!



Eventually, she got the hang of it.




Felicity got some great gifts! Books from Aunt Heather, a cute outfit from Aunt Heidi, pretty bowls from Auntie Rae, crayons from Navi and Luna, and a soft doll from Mommy and Daddy.



Oh, and Grandma gave a wonderful gift as well - she brought snacks for the party! Then, because she loves to outdo herself, she also brought two DARLING outfits for her, which I'm already trying to wrestle stains out of. That child...

Enough is enough!

Me: [singing] Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea...

Ariel: Mommy? You all done?

Me: Do you want me to be all done?

Ariel: Yeah.

Me: Oh, okay.

Ariel: Uhhh you uhhh sing uhhh.... lots of days!

Me: I sing lots of days? I sing a lot?

Ariel: Yeah! You sing a lot!

She likes praise.

Felicity was fussing in her high chair, so I pulled her out, set her on the floor, and gave her a sippy cup.

From the other room, Ariel ran in, gave Felicity her favorite stuffed bear, and ran back as quickly as she'd come.

"That was so nice of you Ariel!" I praised. "You gave Felicity her bear!"

"Huh?" Ariel called.

"You brought Felicity her bear! That was so nice! You made her happy!"

"What, Mommy?"

"I said that was so nice of you to bring Felicity her bear! You made her happy!"

"Huh?"

"Never mind!"

It was quiet for a moment. Then:

"More, Mommy?"

"More?"

"More, Mommy?"

"More what, Ariel?"

"More 'make her happy'?"


That little booger could hear me all along!

our version of bronzed baby shoes

For Ariel, we got her handprint and footprint put into ceramic professionally - 3 times, at 6 weeks, 6 months, and 1 year. We didn't want 6 ceramics lying around, but we didn't want to only spend money to preserve Ariel's precious babyness, and not Felicity's, so Dan came up with this idea:


This beautiful pastel was drawn by artist Li Tie in a mere 20 minutes. Amazingly, it was done from a live, very squirmy and uncooperative subject, rather than a photograph. I am so happy with the results.

Time to buy a frame!

A Big Step

My Helpful Girl.

"Can you put the spray with the laundry?" I asked her.

Honesty

I looked up a moment ago, after a few minutes of blog-reading. to discover that Ariel had left the room.

I walked into the kitchen and there she was, standing in the middle of the floor. She was holding one of her colored pencils, and she looked guilty.

"Hey, bud!" I said.

"I's lookin' for no-no's."

"Oh, really? What no-no's are you looking for?"

"Lookin' for no-no's." She turned away and raised her voice. "No-no's?! Where are you??!"

She walked over and opened a cupboard.

"No-no's?"

"Yeah, Ariel, that is a no-no. Let's shut it, okay?"

"It's a no-no!"


Turned out she was just looking for the pencil sharpener, because her pencil tip had broken off. I sharpened it for her, and she's back to coloring now. Little booger.

Sweet Girl Time

Ariel asked me to put Felicity in the doll cradle with her. Here's what happened.

The things that girl says...

Last week, at Mike's Drive-In:

"Bite, mommy?"

"Okay, here you go."

[I give Ariel a bite of my chocolate Oreo milkshake]

"Is it yummy?"

[She pats the spot in front of her with her palm]

"Put right here on table?"

Nice try, cutie! You're not getting it all!

...........

Two days ago, as I held her in my lap, wearing a low-cut dress:

[Ariel pokes my chest]

"One! Two! Two boobs! One... one, two! Two boobs!"

[Leans back and looks at them]

"NICE boobs!"

Uh... thanks. Where did that come from??

...........

A few minutes ago, as she played with one of Felicity's toys:

[Ariel points at an image]

"This?"

"It's a plane."

"Horsey!"

"It's not a horsey, it's a plane!"

"Horsey!"

"How is it a horsey? It's a plane!"

"Silly mommy!"

Okay, now she's just being condescending...

Naughty

Ariel's new thing is to pour water out of her Sigg bottle and play with it, which she knows is not okay.

She was playing with some stacking cups a few minutes ago, and I warned her, "Don't pour your water into the cups!"

A few minutes later, there was water in the cups and on the carpet.

"Ariel! I told you no! No putting your water in the cups! That's naughty! Can you say sorry?"

She looked at me, smacked her little behind, and said cheerily, "I spank-a bottom!"

She's oh-so-helpful, isn't she?

Callin' the Fam

The Toddler Romp

Ariel's birthday was Tuesday, and her birthday party was yesterday. We borrowed the clubhouse at our apartment complex for the occasion, and invited a few cutie pies to party with our little girl.

The guest were Stella, Ivy, and Luna, and their parents were allowed along too, of course! Grandma also decided to come join the fun!


We pushed the couches back to the walls to create a big area for them to play, and RaeAnn and I both brought riding toys and other things for the girls to play with.

There were healthy snacks for the girls to munch on while they goofed off. Rice cakes, dried mangoes, fresh apples and oranges, crackers, and white cheddar cheese provided enough food for everyone to eat their fill, and each child carried a sippy cup full of apple juice all around the room with them.

The wooden lawnmower/vacuum that Ariel got from Mommy and Daddy was in almost constant use during the party, as was the tent that Auntie Rae brought.

It was so much fun watching the girls play together! There was giggling and delighted shrieking throughout the room almost the entire time, and very few tears were shed.

Man, that looks like fun! I can't wait till I'm big enough to do that!

Getting to see these beautiful girls is always a treat! Thank you, mommies, for blessing us with their presence!

Hot Stuff

She's getting so big!

I went to take Ariel to the potty recently, and, to keep Felicity entertained, I propped her up on the Boppy "tummy time" style. I placed a stuffed animal in front of her, so that she would have something to play with/chew on.

When I came back a couple minutes later, this is what I found.


Have I mentioned that she'll be 6 months old on Saturday?

Geez Louise. I can't believe it.

Guess who's wearing panties?!?!

That's right! We put her in panties on Tuesday night, and she's been doing great! No nighttime leaks, and only a few daytime accidents, when we lost track of time and didn't take her to the potty soon enough.

I'm so excited - and not just because it will mean fewer diapers. I can't help being so happy for her as she learns new skills and grows. It's like experiencing childhood all over again.

I don't care what the calendar says. She's 2.

I woke up this morning at, oh, 6:30 (well, I woke up earlier than that, but I went back to bed because dang it, I was tired!). Anyway, I woke up at 6:30 to the sound of Ariel wailing.

"Cup! Cup!"

My first thought was, My daughter is being ridiculous and she needs to be quiet.

But then I thought, What if she's really thirsty? I would hate to make her lie there and be thirsty until 8.

So I got up, filled a sippy with water, and brought it to her.

"No!!" she yelled between sobs. "Juice!"

"No, Ariel. You can have water."

"Down! Down!"

"No, it's still nigh-night time. Go back to sleep."

Hysterical screaming continues.

I went back to bed and tried to go back to sleep, but it's hard when your child is producing the most noise that that is physically possible, and from only a few yards away.

Finally, after a half an hour of bawling and cries of "Cup, cup!!!" I went and got her up.

Of course, by this point Felicity had woken up from all the screaming, and when I walked in she saw me and immediately started crying. I decided to leave her and see if she would fall back asleep.

I pulled Ariel out, along with her dolly and cup. All the lights were still off as I took her out into the hallway and pulled the door shut behind us.

"Cuuuup?!?!?!" Ariel whined.

"Here's your water cup, Ariel. You can have water."

"NOOOOO!!!" She threw herself to the ground, then stood up and started running in circles and stamping her little feet.

I turned around to go back to bed.

After a few moments, she came into our bedroom.

I won't trouble you with the details of the next half-hour, but it was comprised mostly of protestations about her water and refusals to be quiet, lie down, or give any hugs.

Meanwhile, Felicity kept screaming. So eventually we all got up.

At the table, she asked for juice again, so I decided to give her some with breakfast. I brought it in a glass, which made her mad - apparently she wanted me to put the juice in her sippy cup. Fortunately, she got over that one.

First she wanted one kind of cereal, then another kind. She wanted cow milk and she wanted Mommy's almond milk. And in the end she ate maybe 2 bites before whining to get down, then screaming because I washed her hands.

Wanted: Mommy's helper willing to work in exchange for food and a bed on the couch.

Tickling Her Best Friend

Ariel is one scared kid.

"I scared mommy!"

"You're scared of mommy?"

"Hmm!"

"Don't be scared of mommy!"

"I scared Ariel!"

"Don't be scared of Ariel!"

"I scared daddy!"

"Don't be scared of daddy!"

"I scared Foofy!"

"Don't be scared of Felicity! You don't need to be scared! You can be brave!"

"[Whine] I scared brave!"

While I'm putting up cute things...

Here's a precious video that Dan took two days ago! They say it's easier to learn things through song than just speaking them aloud, but I think at this age it's easier the other way around...

I just have to post this...

Because I can't handle how cute it is. And I don't think you'll be able to handle it, either. It's just too much.

I can't take it anymore.

Remember this post in which I told you that Ariel had asked about Dan's absence? It's not cute anymore.

There are two versions. And they both start the same way.

"Mommy?"

"What?"

"Mommy?"

"What, Ariel?"

"Mommy?"

"What do you need?"

You see, I have to say, "I'm Mommy." If I don't say that exact phrase, she will keep saying Mommy.

The moment that the correct answer is out of my mouth, she says, "Daddy?"

From here, there are two versions. If Daddy is not home, I say that Daddy is at work. At which point she may say "home?" and, after I've replied, "soon?"

But that's not the norm anymore, although it happens at least 5 times a day (are you getting an idea of how frequently this little exchange takes place?).

The more common response goes like this:

"Daddy?"

"Daddy's at work." or "Daddy's sitting next to you." or "You're in Daddy's lap."

"Foofy?"

"Felicity is RIGHT THERE." By now I'm getting a little irritated, because I'm only slightly sick of this conversation.

Half of the time, it stops here.

The other half of the time?

"Mommy?"

Round two.

Makeshift Mama - check out that grin!

Hey, all! In case you haven't noticed, I put a "feed" (for those of you who don't know, a feed is a continually updating list of blog posts) for Makeshift Mama at the top of this page, so instead of posting to let you know every time there's something over there, you can just glance at the feed to see if you've missed anything.

I want to draw special attention to today's MM post, though, because it contains THE FIRST EVER CAUGHT-ON-PHOTOGRAPH SMILE BY FELICITY!

Yeah, I knew you'd be excited. Come on over!

Doing What She Wants

What happens when you humor a toddler for several minutes straight? Today, I found out.

I went into my bedroom to change out of my pajamas this morning. Ariel followed, and, when I went to change my top, she started whining and trying to remove her shirt, too.

"Help? Help? Shirt?"

"No, Ariel, let's leave your shirt on."

"No! [whine] Help! Shirt!"

Why am I so quick to say no? I thought. What's wrong with what she's asking?

"Ok, Ariel, we can take your shirt off." I removed her shirt.

"Help? Pants?"

"Okay..." The pants came off.

"'N' diaper? Help?"

"Ummm...." By this point I didn't want to let her down and have all the undressing be for nothing. Plus, she has good bladder control. "Sure, Mommy will wipe you and then you can run around with no diaper."

A minute later, there was a little bare-butted munchkin following me around.

I proceeded to change my clothes.

"Shirt? My shirt?"

"Oh, you want to wear this shirt?"

"Hmm!"

I gave her my shirt and replaced my pajama top.

"Ree bee bee? Ree bee bee?"

"Sure, we can sing 'Rockabye Baby.'"

And that's how Dan came to catch the following on video.



Did I mind the intrusion on my plans? Not a bit!