Wednesday
- This afternoon J got home from work early so we decided to go have a late lunch/early dinner at a Mexican place across town. After he changed clothes and was ready to go, I asked him to pick up M who was cuddling in my lap. I knew she wouldn't like being taken from her comfortable spot and put on the floor, but going to daddy would make it okay. So when I said, "Here, will you take her?" he assumed that I meant "go ahead and put her in the car." But I still needed to put my shoes on and gather juice, crackers, etc. for the diaper bag, so they waited in the car for a few minutes. He honked for me just as I was walking out the door, and I jumped in and off we went. (Well, I sort of dragged myself in--no jumping as yet with the surgery recovery.) It wasn't until we arrived at the shopping center where the restaurant is (1/2 hour away from our house) that J said "Where are her shoes?" And I said, "Um, I'm really not the person who should be answering that since you are the one who walked out of the house with her and put her in the car. . ." Need I mention this is the second time in recent memory that he's done this? I think the first time we were going to the grocery store, so it was no big deal. M rides in the cart anyway, no walking involved. But going to a restaurant and maybe some stores pretty much necessitates footwear. So we had to make a quick stop at Target to get some "cheap" shoes (I was hoping for something on clearance, of course there was nothing on clearance in her size). And she threw one of the biggest tantrums I've ever seen from her. There was something extremely traumatic about me wanting her to try a pair of shoes on--even though this is something we've done many, many times. So funny how such trivial things can sometimes cause the meltdown of the year, with no apparent rhyme or reason. But the real moral of the story is to remember that daddy doesn't necessarily think that he has any responsibility in getting M ready to leave the house, even if he is actually the one removing her from the house.
- M created her first four-word sentence today and she did it twice. First she said "I want some water" with each word being very distinct and clear. She has communicated the same kind of thing for months now, but it's always been more like "some water, water some" but today it was the real thing. Then she said "I want snacks please." She talks so much all the time that I didn't know that I would notice things like this, but it was so amazing to hear such a nicely formed, grammatically correct sentence coming from her. People always remark about how well she talks for her age, but I find myself wondering if they just don't remember what other 21-month-olds are like? I know I don't remember what my nephews and nieces were like at specific ages. But when I was on the phone with my sister and I mentioned the milestone, she said, "Wow, L (her almost-three-year-old) put together her first four-word sentence like two or three months ago." So that really put it in perspective for me. Because L is also very bright. So I guess M really is a very good talker.
- "Puck-in" (pumpkin) is still probably my favorite current word of M's. But I'm also loving "nacks" (fruit snacks) and "pourse" (purse, mine, which she slings over her shoulder just like I do and walks around the house that way, while balancing her play cell phone between ear and shoulder and chattering away while gesturing with her hands). I love to see the pretend play. She also puts the teddy bear on the changing pad and says "change, change," and has started sitting at the dining table and taking the ceramic rooster that is there, laying it down on the table, and covering it with a napkin or placemat (whatever is handy) and saying "sleepin. awake! sleepin. awake!" as she puts the "blanky" on and off of the rooster. One of her absolute favorite things is when I turn on any music so she can dance; if there is music on that she particularly likes and it's not very loud, she'll say "mugas! mugas!" (music) which means that she can't hear it well enough and wants me to turn it up. She grins like crazy when I turn it up and then starts shaking that little rear.
- M's favorite book right now is Goodnight Moon and tonight when we came home it was already dark out, so as we were walking in she started pointing at the sky and saying "Ni-night dars (stars), ni-night moon." Every day this week when I've read it to her before nap, she has requested it at least three times in a row--as many times as I'll give in for.
- Last night I made "seven layer" bars (graham cracker crumbs, butter, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, and shredded coconut--the seventh layer is supposed to be nuts but I skip it because I don't like nuts in any baked good), tonight I made chocolate sable cookies. Need we discuss how the diet is going? Hmm.
