Since I didn't blog over the Thanksgiving break, I have quite the collection of Lauren-isms:
- On Thanksgiving, we were killing a little time before dinner with her by playing air hockey. Without either of us calling it that, she said she was, "playing hockey with Mommy!"
- One of the evenings we were trying to get her into bed while she begged for another story. We refused (she'd had 3!) and had her get into bed. The entire time she was whining in her best New York accent, "Ahhhh....guys. Come on!" Has she been watching The Sopranos?
- She ran herself ragged playing at home on Saturday and was just wiped out by 6 pm. I was trying to encourage her to go upstairs and eat, which she was resisting. I don't think she knew what she wanted. I finally got her moving up the stairs, very slowly, when she suddenly stopped and laid down on one of the steps. She looked up at me and said in the clearest, most weary voice, "I think I need to go to bed." Yes, she certainly did!
- We took a walk around the block last night just to get her out of the house. A little over halfway there, she turned to her dad and said, "Pick up the little girl?"
- Last night we were putting her to bed, much to her displeasure. I started to sing, "Rockabye Baby" which normally is something she likes. Last night, though, she said, "No, Mommy! No song. Shhhh.... Quiet!" quite vehemently.
She also mentioned President Obama again when she saw Jeremy wearing his apron (and it is his apron!) to work in the kitchen, so she evidently links aprons and President Obama somehow. How strange!
She's really getting into the imaginary play, which is cute. The other day she fed Jeremy a meal several different times, telling him he had chicken nuggets, dipping sauce, peas, yogurt, and milk. She even wiped his mouth at the end. Tonight, she had me lay down, put pillows under my head and feet, covered me with a blanket and said good night. She then woke me up and offered me juice, pantomiming the action of pouring a drink and screwing the lid on a sippy cup.
On a similar note, she told me the other day as she was getting out of the car that she had a balloon. She even handed it to me as she got out so it wouldn't fly away. :) It's neat to see her developing!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Lauren's Most Random
Lauren said the most out-of-context, funniest thing tonight, and I just have to share it.
Jeremy was doing dishes and had put on an apron. Lauren said, "Daddy wearing a dress!" I told her it was actually an apron. She then said, in a sing-song voice, "Apron, apron, Daddy's wearing an apron! President Obama!"
Okay, then.
Jeremy was doing dishes and had put on an apron. Lauren said, "Daddy wearing a dress!" I told her it was actually an apron. She then said, in a sing-song voice, "Apron, apron, Daddy's wearing an apron! President Obama!"
Okay, then.
Monday, November 23, 2009
She found 5!
For the longest time, Lauren was skipping 5 and 6 when she was counting to 10. Whether she was counting objects or just from memory, she would always go straight through from 4 to 7 and keep on going. It was cute, but also a little strange. I mean, she could count all the way up to 20, which is pretty awesome for a 2 1/2 year old, but then would leave out those two numbers. Then, all of a sudden a couple weekends ago, Lauren magically started saying 5 and 6! I'm not sure what precipitated that, but suddenly there they were!
It's funny too, because right around that same time her colors suddenly clicked. She must have had a brain wave weekend. For the last 6 months at least we were really working with her to get her colors down and they just weren't sticking for some reason. It was almost laughable how bad she was at them; she would shout the most random color names for things. Actually, it would have been funny if we weren't so worried that she was color blind. It was that bad.
But then, just like the numbers, the colors just seemed to click. It was like one morning she woke up and totally understood the concept. She's still a little shaky with it sometimes, especially with the colors that have many different hues like blue and green, but for the most part, she's spot on. She's really accurate with red, pink, orange and brown and is hit-and-miss with yellow. Purple isn't there at all, but I'm sure it's coming. I'm just relieved she finally got it!
She was really being cute this weekend and said some funny and smart things:
- She was eating lunch in the kitchen and I was up there keeping her company. I was sitting on the counter when she looked up at me and said, "What'cha doing up there?" It was so cute.
- She suddenly has a whole bunch of new verbs. She told me this weekend that she "ripped" a piece of paper (which she in fact did) and this morning told me someone was carrying a bag. Both are things I've never heard her say.
- On that same note, she was narrating the actions of our cat, Thomas, on Sunday morning. "She's (it's a boy) sitting. She's walking. She's getting down. She's brushing. (?!?!)" He was in reality running away from her, but it was cute to hear her interpretation.
- I spent all weekend painting Jeremy's "man room" Carolina blue (hence the no posting). It really is quite blue. When I finally took her in to see what she'd been doing, she gasped, put her hands up to her eyes in a diamond shape and said, "I see it!" She looked like a photographer planning a photograph.
- Finally, the one thing Lauren has been really consistent with for a long time is shapes. She just got those really quickly, even more complex ones. This weekend I had put some short curtain rods in the family room as I moved things around. She arranged them into a perfect diamond shape and then told us what she had done. Smart girl!
It's funny too, because right around that same time her colors suddenly clicked. She must have had a brain wave weekend. For the last 6 months at least we were really working with her to get her colors down and they just weren't sticking for some reason. It was almost laughable how bad she was at them; she would shout the most random color names for things. Actually, it would have been funny if we weren't so worried that she was color blind. It was that bad.
But then, just like the numbers, the colors just seemed to click. It was like one morning she woke up and totally understood the concept. She's still a little shaky with it sometimes, especially with the colors that have many different hues like blue and green, but for the most part, she's spot on. She's really accurate with red, pink, orange and brown and is hit-and-miss with yellow. Purple isn't there at all, but I'm sure it's coming. I'm just relieved she finally got it!
She was really being cute this weekend and said some funny and smart things:
- She was eating lunch in the kitchen and I was up there keeping her company. I was sitting on the counter when she looked up at me and said, "What'cha doing up there?" It was so cute.
- She suddenly has a whole bunch of new verbs. She told me this weekend that she "ripped" a piece of paper (which she in fact did) and this morning told me someone was carrying a bag. Both are things I've never heard her say.
- On that same note, she was narrating the actions of our cat, Thomas, on Sunday morning. "She's (it's a boy) sitting. She's walking. She's getting down. She's brushing. (?!?!)" He was in reality running away from her, but it was cute to hear her interpretation.
- I spent all weekend painting Jeremy's "man room" Carolina blue (hence the no posting). It really is quite blue. When I finally took her in to see what she'd been doing, she gasped, put her hands up to her eyes in a diamond shape and said, "I see it!" She looked like a photographer planning a photograph.
- Finally, the one thing Lauren has been really consistent with for a long time is shapes. She just got those really quickly, even more complex ones. This weekend I had put some short curtain rods in the family room as I moved things around. She arranged them into a perfect diamond shape and then told us what she had done. Smart girl!
Thursday, November 19, 2009
A New Trick
Through her "preschool" work at daycare, Lauren has learned to spell her name. For a while there she was getting off track and adding random o's and e's to her spelling, but she's got it down now. Every day when I get there, she shows me her paper for the day and spells her name at the top. It's really cute, especially as she finishes each time with "Law-WEN!"
Today I was taking a package of diapers into VJ's to restock. I had written her name on it, in cursive. As it flashed past her line of vision, she said, "L-A-U-R-E-N, Law-WEN!" I knew she knew her name on sight, since that's something we've working on for a while, but being able to read it in cursive and with some letters in upper case, is pretty impressive for a two-and-a-half year old!
Today I was taking a package of diapers into VJ's to restock. I had written her name on it, in cursive. As it flashed past her line of vision, she said, "L-A-U-R-E-N, Law-WEN!" I knew she knew her name on sight, since that's something we've working on for a while, but being able to read it in cursive and with some letters in upper case, is pretty impressive for a two-and-a-half year old!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Lauren-isms
Lauren has been really funny with her one-liners lately, so I thought I'd share a few.
- Last night, she was having a tough evening. She wanted a certain Play-Doh opened that I didn't since it was new. She proceeded to cry about this for nearly 45 minutes. At one point, I went over to her and said, "Lauren, would you like dinner?" She said, "No. I crying." and turned away from me. She eventually got up in her seat when she finished with her not-so-minor tantrum.
- This afternoon, there was a school bus on our street, which she pointed out. I asked her where it was going and she said, "It going shopping." That's my kind of bus.
- The other day we were coloring together. She handed me a crayon and said, "Color inside the lines." Okay, then.
- Tonight, we were at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. There were several wooden parrots hanging from the ceiling. She kept standing up and shouting at them, "Crock-a-doodle-doo!"
- She's also been repeating several phrases from her favorite TV shows: "Silly Max. Open the door." and "Busytown Bug News!"
- Last night, she was having a tough evening. She wanted a certain Play-Doh opened that I didn't since it was new. She proceeded to cry about this for nearly 45 minutes. At one point, I went over to her and said, "Lauren, would you like dinner?" She said, "No. I crying." and turned away from me. She eventually got up in her seat when she finished with her not-so-minor tantrum.
- This afternoon, there was a school bus on our street, which she pointed out. I asked her where it was going and she said, "It going shopping." That's my kind of bus.
- The other day we were coloring together. She handed me a crayon and said, "Color inside the lines." Okay, then.
- Tonight, we were at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. There were several wooden parrots hanging from the ceiling. She kept standing up and shouting at them, "Crock-a-doodle-doo!"
- She's also been repeating several phrases from her favorite TV shows: "Silly Max. Open the door." and "Busytown Bug News!"
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Lauren's Favorite Things
One of the great things about Lauren becoming a toddler and being more vocal is that we get to know more and more about her likes and dislikes every day. I've already talked about her love of sleeping and taking baths, so I thought I'd share some more things she loves.
1. Her blanket - She has a pink blanket that someone gave us as a baby gift for her. Like so many children do, she drags it all over the place and has a difficult time going to bed without it.
2. Her baby dolls - She has two baby dolls: one that was a gift from Papa and Suzie and one that was a gift from Deena. She keeps them naked for some reason, and loves nothing more than feeding them from those bottles that seem to empty as you tip them up.
3. Babies - Lauren is enamored with babies, especially Dylan at daycare. She always points out babies in a crowd and waves and talks to them if they're near enough. She has a certain voice that she uses to talk to them; it's really high-pitched and every sentence ends with a question mark. She always wants to make sure the babies are well-cared for and will bring even the tiniest baby books or toys to play with. It's really sweet.
4. Doing puzzles - She's a girl obsessed with puzzles. She started with her 9-piece Dora puzzle and two other similar ones. Once she did them once she could complete them really, really quickly. She then moved on to the hard Melissa and Doug puzzles of the alphabet and numbers. Again, she mastered those quickly. Her latest conquest is a 25-piece puzzle that's marked 3+! It's just amazing to watch her little brain work.
5. Chicken nuggets and "dipping sauce" - Lauren could eat her Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets with Ranch dressing from now until the end of time and not get enough. I can't tell you how many times I've fixed her a great meal only to have her look up at me and say, "Chicken nuggets, Mama? Dipping sauce?" Grrrr...
6. Water - I talked in my last post about how much she loves baths, but she adores swimming as well. Even as a three-month-old baby she loved the water and took to it immediately. Future Olympian?
7. Blocks - She has this set of wooden blocks in various shapes that she just loves. It's amazing to watch her build towers and designs on the floor. She seems to understand symmetry and really takes her time with the building. She never knocks her own work down, choosing instead to destroy mine.
8. Looking at pictures of herself - We have a slide show screen saver on the laptop and she just loves sitting in front of it, watching pictures of herself and of us. She narrates them too, "Baby Lauwen. Mama and Lauwen. Daddy and Mommy. Cute little baby."
9. Busytown Mysteries and Max and Ruby - These are her TV shows of choice now, and she asks for them every day on the way home from daycare. I think Busytown Mysteries gets the slight edge over the other on this one.
10. Reading - Lauren adores both reading and being read to. She has incredible stamina and can sit for up to an hour with a couple of books, just staring at each detail on the page. She really loves Richard Scarry's books and I think they've really helped her increase her language skills. She always gets two or three books read to her at bedtime and it's a nice time of day for all of us. Right now her favorite is "Babushka's Doll" though she also loves Mother Goose and a book about a baby panda. Next month it will be something else, I'm sure.
And finally, Mom and Dad - It's tooting our horn, I know, but Lauren really does love me and her dad. She loves to try to make us happy and loves playing with us and just revels in our attention. She's a pretty reserved girl around other people, but with us she's totally affectionate and charming. I feel lucky to get to be her mom.
1. Her blanket - She has a pink blanket that someone gave us as a baby gift for her. Like so many children do, she drags it all over the place and has a difficult time going to bed without it.
2. Her baby dolls - She has two baby dolls: one that was a gift from Papa and Suzie and one that was a gift from Deena. She keeps them naked for some reason, and loves nothing more than feeding them from those bottles that seem to empty as you tip them up.
3. Babies - Lauren is enamored with babies, especially Dylan at daycare. She always points out babies in a crowd and waves and talks to them if they're near enough. She has a certain voice that she uses to talk to them; it's really high-pitched and every sentence ends with a question mark. She always wants to make sure the babies are well-cared for and will bring even the tiniest baby books or toys to play with. It's really sweet.
4. Doing puzzles - She's a girl obsessed with puzzles. She started with her 9-piece Dora puzzle and two other similar ones. Once she did them once she could complete them really, really quickly. She then moved on to the hard Melissa and Doug puzzles of the alphabet and numbers. Again, she mastered those quickly. Her latest conquest is a 25-piece puzzle that's marked 3+! It's just amazing to watch her little brain work.
5. Chicken nuggets and "dipping sauce" - Lauren could eat her Mickey Mouse chicken nuggets with Ranch dressing from now until the end of time and not get enough. I can't tell you how many times I've fixed her a great meal only to have her look up at me and say, "Chicken nuggets, Mama? Dipping sauce?" Grrrr...
6. Water - I talked in my last post about how much she loves baths, but she adores swimming as well. Even as a three-month-old baby she loved the water and took to it immediately. Future Olympian?
7. Blocks - She has this set of wooden blocks in various shapes that she just loves. It's amazing to watch her build towers and designs on the floor. She seems to understand symmetry and really takes her time with the building. She never knocks her own work down, choosing instead to destroy mine.
8. Looking at pictures of herself - We have a slide show screen saver on the laptop and she just loves sitting in front of it, watching pictures of herself and of us. She narrates them too, "Baby Lauwen. Mama and Lauwen. Daddy and Mommy. Cute little baby."
9. Busytown Mysteries and Max and Ruby - These are her TV shows of choice now, and she asks for them every day on the way home from daycare. I think Busytown Mysteries gets the slight edge over the other on this one.
10. Reading - Lauren adores both reading and being read to. She has incredible stamina and can sit for up to an hour with a couple of books, just staring at each detail on the page. She really loves Richard Scarry's books and I think they've really helped her increase her language skills. She always gets two or three books read to her at bedtime and it's a nice time of day for all of us. Right now her favorite is "Babushka's Doll" though she also loves Mother Goose and a book about a baby panda. Next month it will be something else, I'm sure.
And finally, Mom and Dad - It's tooting our horn, I know, but Lauren really does love me and her dad. She loves to try to make us happy and loves playing with us and just revels in our attention. She's a pretty reserved girl around other people, but with us she's totally affectionate and charming. I feel lucky to get to be her mom.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Bathtime!
Lauren loves bedtime and hates getting up, so comfort seems to be her thing. It's not surprising, then, that she loves bath time. She always has.
When she was first born, we just did gentle sponge baths keeping her wrapped in the towel, holding her over the sink. Once she was a little bigger, we put her in the baby tub in the kitchen. She loved the warm water and kicking her arms and legs to splash us. It was definitely her favorite time of the day.
Once she got a little older, we transitioned her to the ducky tub. It's this blow-up tub that fits in the big tub, and she looked so cute in it. The duck's bill would quack when you pressed it, which scared her the first several times she heard it. She got used to it after a while and really enjoyed staying in the tub as long as she could. We had a couple of waterproof books that she liked to read and other little toys she played with.
Now that she's a big girl, she definitely has a routine. When it's bath time, we turn on the water and she strips off her clothes. She then goes in underneath the sink and gets out the same toys every time: some spongy letters and numbers and two bottles for pouring water. Once she's in the bath, she plays and splashes and has a wonderful time. She doesn't love it so much when I try to rinse her hair, but Jeremy has taught her to put her chin up when it's time to rinse. It works sometimes, but it's definitely still not her favorite thing to do.
Once she's washed, I drain the water and she pulls up the duck stickers that are on the tub bottom. She then lines them up in various formations on the side of the tub. Before I she turns into an icicle I get her out and wrap her in her kitty towel. Lately, she loves having me hold her in my arms and call her a little baby. Sound familiar?
Before I forget, a cute moment from the other day:
She noticed in the morning that the cat had scratched my finger. She took it and gave it several sweet kisses, saying, "All better?" She's such a caring little girl!
When she was first born, we just did gentle sponge baths keeping her wrapped in the towel, holding her over the sink. Once she was a little bigger, we put her in the baby tub in the kitchen. She loved the warm water and kicking her arms and legs to splash us. It was definitely her favorite time of the day.
Once she got a little older, we transitioned her to the ducky tub. It's this blow-up tub that fits in the big tub, and she looked so cute in it. The duck's bill would quack when you pressed it, which scared her the first several times she heard it. She got used to it after a while and really enjoyed staying in the tub as long as she could. We had a couple of waterproof books that she liked to read and other little toys she played with.
Now that she's a big girl, she definitely has a routine. When it's bath time, we turn on the water and she strips off her clothes. She then goes in underneath the sink and gets out the same toys every time: some spongy letters and numbers and two bottles for pouring water. Once she's in the bath, she plays and splashes and has a wonderful time. She doesn't love it so much when I try to rinse her hair, but Jeremy has taught her to put her chin up when it's time to rinse. It works sometimes, but it's definitely still not her favorite thing to do.
Once she's washed, I drain the water and she pulls up the duck stickers that are on the tub bottom. She then lines them up in various formations on the side of the tub. Before I she turns into an icicle I get her out and wrap her in her kitty towel. Lately, she loves having me hold her in my arms and call her a little baby. Sound familiar?
Before I forget, a cute moment from the other day:
She noticed in the morning that the cat had scratched my finger. She took it and gave it several sweet kisses, saying, "All better?" She's such a caring little girl!
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