Daddy's home

Daddy's home, and Josephine wouldn't leave his side. We stopped at a restaurant on the way back from the airport, and she was hugging him and crawling on him and decidedly all-Daddy's girl. And anytime he went away - like to walk the dog this morning - she burst into tears.

We managed well, but I am definitely one happy mama to have Sean back. And he brought me chocolate. (which supposedly I am not allowed to eat all in one sitting! fancy that!)

Last night, however, I woke at 1:30 a.m. and could not fall back asleep. Jo crawled into our bed and was kicking me. New Baby inside decided to have a karate-tap-dancing session, so was kicking me. Billy started up with his avid early morn licking fest, so I was kicking him. Sean was buried somewhere in the covers, catching up on much-needed sleep.

Even after taking Jo back to her bed, exporting the dog, and writing for a while, I was still wide awake (and new baby still quite enthusiastically doing the whole tap sequence in the rain from Singing in the Rain over and over). Somewhere around 5 I think I drifted off.

Still, we were a happy bunch waking up this morning, sleep-deprived or jet-lagged or not.

Happy Wednesday!

Our Little Consumer

It doesn't take long for them to figure it out, does it?

Like, Josephine quickly caught onto the meaning of "trick or treat" and the concept that candy lived in the plastic pumpkin - and that if she moved chairs around, she could find a way to climb and get at the good stuff.

Now, it's Christmas - and one mention that 'maybe Santa will bring that to you for Christmas' - how did she find a stash of Dora music in a corner at Lowe's????!!! inbred tracking device for all things Dora?? - and the next thing I know, when she discovered a wooden playhouse outside the hardware store - had to go inside of course - as we left it, she said, "Christmas." In a very confident manner. Nodding her head with assurance. As in - it's okay to leave the little house - I'll get it for Christmas.

ACK! She just turned two! She still loves playing with lint and gets excited over the Dust Bunnies on the stairs! (Why clean the house when dirt can be so fun!?)

Meanwhile, I'm debating whether to give in to the Miss Piggy fetish.

What am I talking about? I'm freaking out over defending my child against the onslaught of consumerism - not because I have a problem with Dora or Miss Piggy, but because they get turned into little keys to trigger kids into wanting other products they don't need - and I don't want Christmas to become about 'what do I get' - even this young.

Sigh... and of course, the indulgent mother in me actually took a look at the wooden house, contemplated for a second whether I'd have time to buy the lumber and construct it before - I mean, I have the tools - no, no, no, stop stop stop!!! What am I thinking!!! Get me out of here! No store is safe, obviously...

HELP!!!

Snippets from our Day

If I say, "I'm hungry," Jo says, "I hungry, too." So, we end up with exchanges like this:
"What's that?"
"A UPS truck - mail."
"I mail, too."

"Rocks, mommy."
"Oh, pretty rocks."
"I pretty."
"Yes, you're pretty."
"I pretty - Moon. I pretty - Mommy."

Not sure I always get what these things mean - but it sounded nice.

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At the children's museum in Richmond today, we were playing with my friend Robin with a puppet theater. At one point, Robin and I were in the audience, Jo was behind the curtains with the puppets. The curtain closed. We were sitting there chatting. Then we stood to open the curtains - no Josephine. We looked all around. She had vanished. It was like some awful magic trick. My heart skidded to a halt. Robin found she had run off with the puppets into an entirely different area of the museum - oh - my - goodness -

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We're driving. I say something, call her "kiddo."
She remonstrates: "No kiddo, mommy. ME."

Right.

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Went to the children's museum, then lunch, then the Maymont farm and natural center - where I discovered that the fish and turtles that look appealing in books do not carry the same charm in person. "No like it," Jo said of them, recoiling. The otters were great, though. And the owls - which I thought were mechanical, but were real - she was scared of their big eyes, but fascination overcame the fear, and we stood in the dark for a while, watching the horned owl twist its head slowly, blinking.

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Josephine really likes Robin, who, by the end of the day, was 'MY Robin." (of course, everything is hers, if you give her a chance to say so.) Belated birthday gift from Robin - a red backpack with crayons and dollhouse pieces inside! And on the front, a robot kitty cat.

Highlight of her day was probably at the children's farm, watching the ducks and chickens and peacocks. She went absolutely nuts over them - did her own squawking and quacking. They made her laugh. Chickens are definitely more fun in person than on paper.

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Don't remember if I've mentioned before, but she's really into pink - pink drinks, pink clothes, pink food, pink everything. She's finally got all her colors down, but it's pink that gets the attention. So, accordingly, she's latched onto very pink Miss Piggy, the pink-shirted Dora, her pink 'my little pony' figure, and her "Pink Billy," her stuffed pink dog. There's exceptions, of course (thank goodness).

But she loves to watch little snippets of The Muppet Show on youtube featuring Miss Piggy. I think she even named her pony Miss Piggy. So, tonight, I found an old clip of Johnny Cash on the muppet show, doing a duet with Miss Piggy. Only, she doesn't appear right away. So there's Johnny Cash, singing, and Jo scowls at him and says:
"You're not Miss Piggy."
Okay - I thought it was funny.

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She also made me laugh this morning when, on the swingset, which we hit before the long drive to Richmond (she read during the one-hour drive), she started closing her eyes and kicking and making herself giggle. It finally got cold, so she was all bundled up and it made her look like a little pudge ball, even though she isn't.

It was an excellent day. The more I get to know this creature, the more I am enthralled with her!

Random Notes

Daddy is in England.

This morning, I'm putting on my lipstick; she's brushing her pink pony's hair.

"Miss Daddy."
"Me, too."
"Mommy miss Daddy?"
"Yes. Very much."

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I love that she calls it a full, four-syllabled "pacifier."
Other new word: "Excited."
We're going to visit my friend Robin in Richmond this Friday, and Jo is very excited.
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I'm trying not to fall asleep. It's a beautifully warm day. I had a physical therapy appointment, where the heat pad, massage, and fiery electrodes made me, if not pain-free, at least ready for a nap. Then at the park, Jo and I sat on a hill and piled leaves on our legs. Now I'm ready to sleep.

I have no idea where she got the idea to do a Moon Dance: She points at the moon, Moon!, turns around three times, plops on the ground. (???)

Yay! Thanksgiving!

Photo Shoot Results

Well, I've learned my lesson about photo shoots:

1) People with dark hair don't look good against dark backgrounds (hair disappears into the dark)
2) Do the laundry (I didn't have anything fancy so I went casual)
3) Keep your expectations low (mine are always high)

I feel like the bow, in most of these shots, looks like a giant bird is nesting in her head.

The photographer was really great in terms of working with a very serious Josephine to get her to smile - she did what she could. Check this link to see the available photos - they are available to order, if you like.

This one here is my favorite. But then, I tend to prefer black and white in general.

Of course, for a lot more money, you can schedule a longer shoot outdoors or wherever with time for clothing changes...

Red Dress... and some more pictures

OKAY, I admit it. I'm a pushover. There. I said it.

We went to Kmart for some needed diapers, and there were the dresses, and there is the Holiday Party in a few weeks, and well, I had kind of told Jo I'd get her a dress since I made her remove the one she'd been wearing for two days in a row this morning, and... well, they were 40% off...

And she came home and put it on and pranced and flounced in front of the mirror - she had to try all of the mirrors, actually - and she must have really liked it, because she agreed to take it off so as not to get it dirty while she ate dinner.

I did show restraint at the store when I did not buy all of the pants Jo picked out and trotted to the cart. She also fingered a snow hat with a Bratz doll on it, and no way was I giving into any of that. (Like most of my friends these days, we suddenly find Barbie to be demure and charming and a strong woman, in contrast to the whorish Bratz dolls whose brazen superficiality is so trashy and grotesque...)...

Anyway, I found some pics from Halloween proper that I hadn't posted, mixed in with Jo's recent visit to Sean's parents. There are some really cute ones of the monkey - and some where I actually look less like death warmed over and more a little along the lines of a live human being. So: take a look!

Bells

With the cash Jo got for her birthday, we went to a local toy shop and she picked out this set of bells. It comes with music you can read either by following the colors, the numbers on the bells, or the notes - but really, Jo just likes to arrange them, line them up, and ring them.

So - thanks for the bells, Aunt Yvonne and Great-grandmother!

She insisted I take a photo of her using her toe. She also tried to eat her noodles with a fork between her toes at dinner last night.

We are very proud.

Actually, I am relieved - she knows her colors finally! I mean, she's known pink and orange for a few months now, but finally she's identifying the rest of them properly. I was told I shouldn't worry, that kids don't know their colors this young, but I couldn't help it. I should have realized, perhaps, that interest was winning the day: hence her desire for pink juice, pink cream cheese, pink clothes, pink trike, pink everything... sigh...

Shoot, it seems something's wrong with the server, it won't let me upload the other photos... will try tomorrow!