Purple!

Mary Lane has been saying more words every day. Her favorites are Mama, Dada, something that sounds like Ekka, bubbles, Bible, cracker, and now PURPLE!!! I offered the girls a popscicle today after lunch and Erica said she wanted purple. Mary Lane immediately started saying, "purple, purple." I asked her if she wanted purple or orange, "Purple!"

Erica is showing more and more interest in learning to read. She wants to know what sounds letters make, and likes to sit and pretend to read. I showed her how to "read" a book by looking at the pictures. Here is Erica reading the last two pages of "Blue Hat, Green Hat," by Sandra Boynton.

Poop and Seek

Erica doesn't get the concept of "Hide and Seek," but will play her own version of it endlessly. This has provided an amazing opportunity to get her to do things she is defiant about... "Poop and Seek," anyone? (Now Russell will take over this blog post, because I am too embarrassed to publicly explain this).


One of the problems we've had with Erica recently is her unwillingness to sit on the potty. Before nap time, bed time, or leaving the house, her instructions are to sit on the potty. She is generally unwilling to do that and will lay on the floor saying and then crying, "I don't need to go potty." Tonight, Jeanette had a genius idea- Poop and Seek. Basically, Erica sits on the potty while Jeanette or I "look" for her. Tonight, Jeanette was with Mary Lane upstairs so Poop and Seek fell to me.

So I hid next to the bathroom and counted to ten and I looked all over for her- under the table, behind the bathroom door, in the toilet, under the sink, in the green bucket that holds the Erica's hair clips, etc. Then eventually I would find her and it would start over. I taught her the concept of "peeking." At first, she said, "No peeking!!!!" over and over. Then, she learned to only say it when I was actually peeking.

We played several games and, guess what? She pooped!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!

Erica's Big Sisters

Erica has entered a cute developmental stage of having imaginary friends. She calls them her big sisters. The first big sister she mentioned was Rachel. One of our good friends is named Rachel, so I asked if it was this woman. She said, "No, it is a different Rachel." Rachel does a lot of things that Erica is interested in, like going to preschool.

Rachel has now been joined by Elizabeth (again, not our adult friend with the same name), Anna, and Anna's baby sister Kate. In real life, Anna and Kate are Rachel's daughters, but in Erica's imagination, they are different girls.

Sometimes Rachel and Elizabeth are ages six and five. Sometimes they go to college and sometimes they go to high school.

Rachel and Elizabeth sometimes have a different father and mother than us.

I especially think it is funny when Erica mentions another big sister she has, named "Jeanette too!"

CUTE ! ! ! !

Quote of the Day

Today, Erica, Mary Lane, and I are waiting in the car while Jeanette ran inside a store. We were listening to the Rolling Stones (including the teaching song, You Can't Always Get What You Want) and one my favorite Rolling Stones' song came on, "Get Off of My Cloud." Erica started to sing along, "Hey, you, get off of my cloud!" Then she asks me, "Why does he have to get off the cloud?"

Erica's Favorite Music

Erica loves music and loves to dance. When we are in the car, we often listen to talk radio- sports or NPR. Erica will say, "I don't like news." That is her subtle way of reminding us that we need to turn on music or a CD. So here are her favorite songs and a few cute things she does when she sings. These are in no particular order.


1. John Denver- Thank God I'm a Country Boy. She takes after her daddy here. This was one of my favorite songs when I was little, I mean, when I was about her age. We were driving to Camp Sunset last week and that song came on my ipod and at the end she said, "I wanna hear it again." So we did.

2. Randell Goodgame- Jesus Loves Me. We've had and loved Slugs and Bugs for a long time, but we haven't gotten the Christmas one that came out last year. I heard this song on Under the Radar and played it for Erica and she loved it. She just sings along with it on the chorus. I like the song because the second verse says, "Jesus love me when I'm good..." and the third says, "Jesus loves me when I'm bad..." Also, Slugs and Bugs are good for kids music that doesn't cause parents to want to gouge their eyes out. Other good ones are They Might Be Giants- Here Come the A,B,Cs and Here Come the 1,2,3s.

3. Randell Goodgame- Beautiful Girl. Also on the first Slugs and Bugs CD, I sing it to her just about every night before I put her to bed. This song used to make daddy cry whenever I heard it. Seriously, if you are the daddy of a little girl, listen to this song. See if you don't tear up.

4. The Heart of Worship- She listens to a CD while she naps of Baby Praise songs. One of the songs on it is the chorus The Heart of Worship. She was singing it the other day and had changed up the words a little bit. I guess to make it more applicable for a 2 year old. She sang, "I'm sorry Lord for the toys I played with."

5. Todd Rundgren- Bang on the Drum All Day- The other day she was singing this song, saying "I don't wanna to play. I wanna bang on the drum all day." I was skeptical of those claims.

6. Toby Mac- Made to Love- We have the great video of her dancing to this song. She wasn't yet two so she wasn't real strong on her feet so she would spin around and then fall down. In fact, I made a music video of her dancing to this song. I would show it but blogger takes forever to post a 30 second video without anything added to it. Erica will be able to buy her own computer and teach me how to use it before blogger would get around actually uploading that video.

7. Various songs from church and school- Several months ago she came home from church singing, "Jesus is the Boss" and after working through her little voice we figured out that she was singing "The wind obeys, the water obeys. Yes, Jesus is the boss." She also loves the Dinosaur song and a song about colors that she learned at school. If you ask her to sing a song, she will say no and then after you stop asking her and maybe even walk away, she'll start singing. She's doesn't perform on demand.


There are more and maybe I'll post some more. I have some great video of her dancing and singing, but blogger evidently doesn't feel like uploading videos right now. You should see the video of her singing what sounds like a song she just made up as we were driving in the car. It's really cool. Maybe blogger will let me upload sometime. Probably not, but we can always hope.

Cute things our kids do (Isn't that what every post should be titled?)

Erica saw a bald man on TV and said, "That man has no hair." Then she touched her own head and said, "I have yes hair!"

Mary Lane has a cold, fussy and doesn't want to be put down to play. I have great intentions of trying to keep Erica busy but not in front of a video nonstop all day. I've been putting her off of a video, suggesting other activities like reading books together and playing "Tangoes." Finally thought Mary Lane was going to need to eat early since she has been so fussy, so I offered a video while I got ready to feed Mary Lane. As soon as I turned on "Hi Five," Mary Lane got quiet and has been happily rolling around on the floor with Erica, listening to the music from the video.

Must bring "Tangoes" to Texas or find something similar to show Texas grandparents how smart Erica is with tangrams.

Few Unrelated Tidbits

Erica watching me get ready this morning:

Erica: What's that?
Mommy: Deodorant.
E: I need some.
M: No you don't.
E. I need some.
M: You can use some when you grow up. Most people don't need deodorant until they get B.O... maybe when you turn 12.
E: I have B.O. (Pause) I will have B.O. maybe when I'm 5.
M: OK.

____________________________________________

Just so I remember why I'm trying this today:

Mary Lane has been having a hard time napping at school. I've been looking for a cordless fan to make white noise near her school crib where there is no plug. They play classical lullibies in the background, I think those might be unfamiliar to what she hears at home so she wakes up.

Well duh -- Why not put on classical music at home so she can get to used to it and sleep better at school? Why try to reinvent things that are working at school when I can help her get used to it another way? Just a little revelation this morning, trying it out for this morning's nap... so I will see how long this nap with Beethoven lasts:)

Sick Week

This week has been unique because we now have two girls too sick to let out in public. Mary Lane has an ear infection as of Monday and here we are Thursday and I still think she's not feeling 100%. Erica then got pinkeye Tuesday so we have missed two days of school/work and it has really thrown my week off. It is just the low-key, moping around kind of minor illnesses but still very isolating to try and keep away from friends and prevent spreading germs.

Staying home all week has inspired me to do some unusual cleaning tasks. I'm washing bedding (including Erica's beloved purple blanket) every day and boiling pacis. Fun stuff.

This morning Mary Lane woke up at 5:30 and only had about 30 minute nap a few hours later, so by lunchtime she was getting delirious. Wasn't crying, just rolling around on the floor instead of sitting up gleefully playing with toys. It was close enough to Erica's naptime that I thought it would be good to try and wait to put Mary Lane down at the same time. Continuing some of my unusual household tasks, I was turned away folding curtains out of the dryer or cleaning a fan. The girls were across the room very quiet and I cautiously wondered what they were doing.
Cute girls have been playing together more and more, so as long as Baby wasn't screaming like Toddler was trying to pinch her cheeks off her face, I figured everything was OK.

Went into the living room to find them both sleepily reclining on the floor, switching pacis back and forth from each other's mouths. Sharing was very sweet to observe, but so much for preventing the spread of germs!

Reunited and it feels so good

Seriously it seems like Erica has been ignoring my Dad for about a year and a half. It was the summer of 2009 when he had a long hospital stay and some setbacks with his Parkinson's disease and when he got home it seemed like Erica didn't have the time of day for him. She doesn't usually want to sit with him or talk to him, but would rather find something to play herself or hang out with more energetic relatives like Grandma, Aunt Nette, or Daniel.

This afternoon Dad had a fall and spent a couple hours in the ER getting his head glued back together. I wanted to tell Erica about it before Russell came home because I knew she would overhear me telling him the details and would have her own questions. I asked Erica to come to me so I could talk to her. I said, "Grandpa fell and hurt his head. He's at the hospital getting the doctors to look at it." She was very sympathetic. "He is bleeding and needs a band-aid." (Side note: I guess she thought that was the ultimate luck for Grandpa because she always wants band-aids and I tell her she needs to be bleeding to get one." She had a few more similar comments and then trotted back to her toys.

When Mom and Dad arrived for their visit (celebrating Nanette's birthday), Erica ran to her Grandpa and said, "You got a boo-boo on your head." They had a very meaningful set of exchanges, including Erica saying, "You don't have your glasses no more. You broke them and threw them in the trash."

I asked Dad to tell the story of his fall. He takes a while to tell stories, pausing to remember details and get the right words to flow from his brain to his mouth. Russell and Mom were giggling in the kitchen imitating Erica, "Yeah, yeah, you fell, went to the hospital, now let's have some birthday cake!"

Not happy about more falling, but for some reason this child is more interested in her Grandpa now and seeing them reunited is super!

Two Fun Stories from the Week of Too Much Poop

Mary Lane has had very loose poop and a terrible diaper rash caused by antibiotic for ear infection which cleared up. After several days of fun, I've been doing various things to make life easier in checking and changing diapers. Last night I put her in PJ pants and shirt rather than footie PJs, even though it is really cold, because I thought if she got up in the night it would be easier to check for poop. This required wearing socks which of course she would kick off, but I was willing to risk it for easier poop checks. I also left her onesie unsnapped and untucked for the same reason.

She slept through the night for the first time in over a week, and when the girls got up I was helping Erica in the bathroom and Russell called from the other room, "Did Mary Lane get up in the night?" I answered that she didn't.

"Well her onesie is unsnapped and she's only wearing one sock"

Don't ask me why, but that made me start having the giggles for about ten minutes. She certainly kicked her own sock off but she didn't unsnap and untuck her onesie in the middle of the night! Russell heard me laughing and asked why. I told him I was laughing at him and he kept joking that she looked like she was "so casual," just laying there untucked and with one sock on as if to say, "Yeah, I'm just casual. No need to tuck in. I'm just wearing one sock. No big deal."

OK, so 6:00 AM most anything might make me laugh, but that was just funny this morning.

Another rash related activity has been letting Mary Lane have some time out of her diaper a little while every day to let the rash dry out. Early yesterday afternoon I did it while Erica was napping, not sure how she would react to it. The next time I left Mary Lane's diaper off, I explained to Erica that Mary Lane needed naked time and Erica could help me by telling me if her sister rolled off the towel so I could come make sure she hadn't gone on the carpet. Erica willingly monitored her sister.

So of course you knew this was coming. Last night Erica said she wanted Naked Time too. I allowed her to join in and all she did was giggle and say, "This is fun!"

Very short funny thing that Erica does

This blog will occasionally have posts with one paragraph explaining one cute thing that Erica or Mary Lane does that I don't want to forget. Here is tonight's:

When singing "London Bridge," Erica sometimes sings the line, "Oh, my lady," instead of "My fair lady." It is very cute because she is so earnest about singing when she just comes up with a song on her own and it seems like she is trying to fit the words in the right number of syllables even though she doesn't remember the words exactly as they are written.