Ariel's Birthday Party

Yeah, it was two months ago, but wouldn't you rather see the pictures now than never?

Interview with Ellie

A few fabulous ladies, like Rae Ann and Juli, have done this interview with their little girls, and I thought I'd see what Ariel's answers would be...

1. What is something I always say to you?
"I don't know. Can you tell me? Ummm... that you love me."

2. What makes me happy?
"love"

3. What makes me sad?
"not coming here" (like when she doesn't come when I call her)

4. How do I make you laugh?
"scream and play and run"

5. What do you think I was like as a child?
"You had a collar." (referring to the big collar that attaches to the Daisy Kingdom dress that I wore as as girl, which she has been using for dress-up)

6. How old am I?
"Twenty-four, I mean twenty-free."

7. How tall am I?
"Big as tall!"

8. What is my favorite thing to do?
"Playdough."

9. What do I do when you're not around?
"Try to knock on the door." (no idea what she's talking about)

11. What am I really good at?
"Good at playing playdough with and cleaning up playdough."

12. What am I not really good at?
"I don't know what you're not good at."

13. What is my job?
"To yell at me." (yes, it sounds awful, but this is because whenever she yells at Felicity, I tell her, "Hey, that's not your job! It's my job and Daddy's job!")

14. What is my favorite kind of food?
"I don't know! Mmmmm... Mac-a-monie and cheese."

15. What makes you proud of me?
"I don't know!"

16. What makes me proud of you?
"Clean up the playdough."

18. What do you and I do together?
"Fingerpaints."

19. How are we the same?
"Me... two... one! two!" (pointing at each of us)

20. How are we different?
"I don't know ever!"

21. How do you know that I love you?
"Love me tight!"

22. Where is my favorite place to go?
"At the store."



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Can I show you something amazing?

When Ariel was a toddler, I started recording every word she could say, along with how she said it. I stopped on the day she turned 18 months. Here's her list:

Cookie: “coo-kee”
Hot
Banana: “mee-mee”
Movie: “moo-ee”
Potty: “pah-ee”
Ariel: “Ah-I”
Pee (her “girly parts”)
Felicity: “Fiffy” “Fissy” “Foofy”
Chair: “tee”
Clip: “pip”
Water: “waa-oh”
Bubble
Me
On (used when asking to turn the fan on)
Horsey: “Hee”
Cereal: “see-io”
Radio: “ee-oh”
Baby: “bay-bay” or “beeps”
Clothes: “kos” or “kwos”
Goal
Clock: “cock”
Cracker: “cack”
Uh-oh
No
Book: “gook”
Up (may mean up or down)
Down (ditto)
Hat
Cat
More: “muh” or “mo”
Shirt
Thanks: “dinks!”
This “dis”
That “dat”
Door
Pillow “pio”
Walk (may mean walk or rock)
Duck
Car
Daddy: “dat”
Mommy: “muh” or “mum” or “mom”
Grandpa: “pa”
Mine: “my-moh”
Phone: “boo”
Computer: “cup”
Cup: “ccccup”
Boob
Eye
Ear: “eee” or “eee-ee”
Nose: “no”
Mole: “mo” (also means nipple)
Hair: “haaay” (sometimes sounds like “ear”)
Knee
Flower: “fwow-oh”
Juice
Hi
Bye
Shoe
Dolly: “dawww-y”
Berry: “bay-ee”
All Gone: “aa-ah!”
Brush: “shoosh”
Bush: “shush”
Pool: “poo”
Toe
Cheese
Bite: “baps” or “bite”
Wall: “wa”
Two
Three: “fee”
The End: “Dee-ee”
Car
Treat: “teet”
Elmo: “mee-mo”

Animal Sounds:
Monkey: sniffing
Goat: uh-uh-uh while shaking head as if having a seizure
Dog: barks or says “ooh ooh” (soft oo)
Kitty: meow (almost perfect imitation of a cat)
Cow: Mmmm
Duck: Kack kack kack
Bird: teet teet teet
Lion: Rawr
Fish: smooches

Non-Animal Sounds:
Volcano: explosion sound
Grape: squishing sound

Ariel at 18 months

Then there's Foof. I realized the other day that I haven't been doing this, so I've spent yesterday and today making a list of everything she says. She will be 19 months on the 9th, so she's not much older than Ariel was. Here's her list:

Adios ("Ah-dose!" She loves to yell this when people leave)
Airplane
All clean
All gone
Apple
Ariel (I-yel)
Baby
Babydoll
Ball
Balloon
Banana ("ba-ma")
Bath
Bear
Big girl
Birdie
Blanket ("banket")
Blue
Boca (Spanish for mouth)
Boo
Boob
Book
Bowl
Brush
Bubbles
Butt
Button
Bye-bye
Car
Ceiling
Cereal ("See-yull")
Chair
Cheese
Chocolate (Chock-it)
Coat
Coldee
Colors
Come
Cookie
Cow
Cough
Cracker
Cup
Cute
Da-da
Daddy
Dammit
Diaper ("diapee")
Did it!
Doggie
Dolly
Dora
Down
Duck
Ears
Eat it
Elephant ("effant")
Elmo
Ew
Eyes
Fast
Favorite
Felicity
Fish
Fit (as in, someone is throwing a fit –or she wants to throw one)
Fix it
Fondant
Food
Foofy
Foot
Fork
Garbage
Glasses
Go (used to cheer herself on when riding her horsey)
Goat
Grandma ("Gamma")
Grandpa ("Gappa")
Grass
Green
Gross
Hair
Happy
Hat
Heavy
Help
Hi
Hold you
Horsey
Hot
Hug
Hurray
Hurt
I don’t know
Icky
Jacket
Juice
Kiss
Kitchen
Kitty (Kee)
Kitty-Cat (Kee-Kat)
Lap
Laugh
Light
Like it
Luna
Macaroni ("roni")
Mama
Markers
Market (as in “this little piggy went to market”)
Matt
Meow
Milk
Moo
Moon
More
Mouth (mouff)
Movie
My turn
Nap
Nemo
Nigh-night
No
No-no
Nope (mope)
Nose
Nummy
Oink
Ojos (Spanish for eyes)
Okay ("tay")
Old treat (o-teet – the treats that Ariel used to get for going potty)
On
Open it
Other (O)
Ovaltine (o-teen)
Ow
Painting
Pajamas (jamas)
Panties
Pants
Paper
Peaches
Pelo (Spanish for hair)
Phone
Pie (how she said "up high" until recently)
Piece
Pig
Pillow
Pink
Plate (“pate”)
Please (peese)
Pocket (used to ask to play ring-around-the-rosey)
Poke
Pooh
Poopy
Popcorn
Potty
Pretty
Purple
Puzzle
Quack
Ribbit (croaky “ibbit!”)
Sad
See
See ya
Set (as in, “set… go!”)
Shake it
Sheep
Shirt
Shoe
Silly ("see")
Sit
Slide
Soap ("soup")
Sock
Sorry
Spank
Spin
Spoon (“poon”)
Stuck
Table
Tap (as in, tapping her toothbrush)
Teddy
Teeth
Thank you
This (used only in reference to Chapstick)
Three ("fee")
Tickle
Timeout
Toby
Toes
Too
Toothbrush ("pooh-buhsh")
Touch
Tough (often said after a fall, as in “I’m tough!”!)
Towel ("Tow-woh")
Toy (toe-way)
Truck
Tummy
Turtle
Tweet (teet)
Uh-uh
Up
Up High
Wet
Whee
Window
Windy
Woof
Work
Yes
Yogurt
Yucky
Zip it

Felicity at 18 months

Is that not insane?

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!

She likes praise, cont.

Me: Good job using the potty, Ariel!

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

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!

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

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.