Conversations with a Three and a Half Year Old: Part 1

P-Mommy, why do you have the hiccups?

M-I don't know.

P-It's probably because you're getting older. Sometimes that happens."

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Later in the day, in no way connected to anything else we were talking about...

"You always need something for the job."
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And since we've been home from school today (yes, I said we. I got to help all morning in Padyn's class. Very fun.) she's been imitating her teacher, Mrs. L.

"I want to hear a feather drop." (a.k.a. BE QUIET!)

My Reasons for Today

Happy Mother's Day!

Cuteness

The other day Kate was sitting in her highchair eating lunch when the phone rang.

She immediately put her hand to her ear, tilted her head and said, "Ah-dah."

I looked at the caller ID and decided I was not going to answer an Out of Area call. (Stupid telemarketers).

The phone continued to ring. Every time it did, Kate pretended she was answering it. After the third time she gave me a look that suggested if I wasn't going to answer it, then she would. Clearly, she knew what the protocol for a ringing phone was and I was not doing it right.

Maybe I should let her answer those calls.

Random Things the Come From Padyn's Mouth #342

Currently, Padyn is in her room not taking her nap. I've already been in once to scold her for playing. I may have to go in again, but first I have to stop laughing. Over the monitor I just heard this:

No, Mommy, no. I don't want to go to outer space. Never, never. I don't want to go never.

Don't you just love three year olds?

Photo Friday: Dorthy and the Stroller Princess

Happy Friday. I took a TON of pictures today at Padyn's little Mother's Day performance at her preschool, but those will have to wait until later. I have to sort through and find the ones where you can actually see Padyn's face. She was in the second row and the children in front of her were a bit taller, so I have many great pictures of other peoples' kids. But unlike her last performance, Padyn actually participated this time. She even looked like she was enjoying herself. She sang, danced, did all the motions...not once did she sit down, turn her back to the audience or lift her dress up. I was so proud. Too bad I couldn't get a great shot of her.

For now, you can enjoy the shots I took of our children last weekend. Padyn combined three of her favorite things-water, dresses, and her new "ballet shoes" for some nice photos of her watering the plants out front. She really reminds me of Dorthy from the Wizard of Oz. If only

her shoes were red. (They do make those ones in red, but she preferred the pink ones.) Can you tell they are sparkly? She wants to wear them all the time. I'm sure the sparklies will be completely worn off by June.
And little Miss Kate. She loves the baby doll stroller. Unfortunately, she doesn't quite grasp the concept of it being for Baby Doll. She thinks she should be able to sit in it. Actually, it's not that unfortunate, as it made for some hysterical pictures. I know, I know...mean, mean Mommy. But I bet you'd do the same thing in my position.


Have a great weekend.

Comparison at Thirteen Months

Padyn at 13 months: crawled, climbed in and out of baskets and her portable high chair, loved reading books, loved watching Baby Einstein videos and Elmo. Ate almost anything except baby food and milk. Couldn't get enough of the pool or anything that had to do with water. Slept with only her paci. Had some hair and about 8 teeth with her molars on the way. Spoke a few words (mama, dada, papa) and used signs for "more" and "all done" regularly. Was one of the cutest babies I knew.Kate at 13 months: crawling but could walk if she wanted to, climbs on EVERYTHING, knows how to climb off the couch and Padyn's bed, is started to be interested in books, and does not care for TV. Will eat only crunchy food and yogurt, but LOVES milk. Thinks water is the greatest thing in the universe and gets upset if she doesn't get a bath. Sleeps with her paci, Bear Bear and a blanket. Has no hair and 10 teeth. Calls everything "baba" and says dada with regularity. Only signs "milk" even though she knows the signs for "thank you," "more," and "all done." Is one of the cutest babies I know.

What Did We Do Before the iPod?

For all you out there keeping track, here's what's been keeping me going on my runs lately. It's my new "Faster Farther" playlist on my iPod Nano. So far, I've only made it through 10 songs. The eleventh one might not be upbeat enough to keep me going after 3 miles. Today while I was doing weights, a Seventh Day Jesus song came on while I had the iPod on random shuffle. It might be a good replacement. But let's see if I can get through 11 songs first before I go changing the list that so far is really working for me.

1. Message, Sanctus Real
2. Harder to Breathe, Maroon 5
3. Here it Goes Again, OK Go
4. Hollaback Girl (the super clean version), Gwen Stefani
5. All the Small Things, Blink 182
6. Smooth Criminal, Alien Ant Farm
7. My Own Worst Enemy, Lit
8. Jump (the extended version), Madonna
9. Do What You Want, OK Go
10. Be My Escape, Relient K
11. Things Like You, Sanctus Real
12. Stars, Switchfoot

And for cool down...

13. Over My Head (The Cable Car Song), The Fray
14. Mrs. Potter's Lullaby, The Counting Crows

Any other suggestions?

Going the Distance

Over the last couple weeks, I've slowed up a bit and have been unable to run as far as I wanted due to illness, travel, and time constraints. But I decided on Saturday that it was time to get back in the game if I was going to stick to my newfound goals. Here are my current stats. I'm feeling pretty good about them. It's nothing excellent, but then again, I don't strive for excellence...just endurance.

Saturday, May 5th 3:30pm
distance: 3 miles
time: 30 minutes
venue: outdoors
songs listened to: 9

Monday, May 7th 9:45am
distance: 3.5 miles
time: 34 minutes
venue: treadmill
songs listened to: 10

Oh, and now I have a new goal. 6 miles. I need to get ready for this in July. J and I signed up a couple weeks ago. I'd like to be able to say I ran the whole thing.

Watery Girls

Kate has a new love. It's the water table. We bought it for the girls for Kate's birthday, but we didn't show it to them until today. Today was the perfect day to bust it out seeing as how it was in the 80's. Padyn has played with one before at her friend Gan's house. She is a big fan. How appropriate that Gan was here this afternoon to help them break it in. But getting back to Katelyn. She stood and played at this thing for at least 30 minutes. That was long after the other two went back to the slide and the bubbles. The only reason she didn't play longer was because it was time to eat dinner. She just stood there and splashed and splashed and splashed. She was soaked front AND back. I'm not sure how she got the back of her clothes wet, but she did. You should have seen her smile and heard her squeals. You would think there was no better toy in the world than water.
Can't wait until the pool is heated. Then we'll really see what this water girl can do.

Here's what the other two were doing while Kate continued to soak herself.

Fully Loaded

I've finally uploaded all my current pictures to Flickr. They have no titles or descriptions, but they are there. You can go see them. Just click on the Flickr badge on the sidebar and you can see pictures of Easter, Kate actually eating, Coley and Jalyn's visit, the beach, playing with friends, and even watching TV.

Enjoy.

Because it wouldn't be a true Photo Friday without a picture of the Friendly Lion

That's how Padyn is referring to herself these days. Don't ask because I really have no clue. Today when she told me she was a friendly lion, she assured me that she was not a scary monster, just a mommy monster. I said that I thought she was a friendly lion. She rolled her eyes and sighed in that way that only 3 year olds can and said, "I am, Mommy."

Glad we got that cleared up.

And here you are. You can view the friendly lion/mommy monster in all her glory...And here's where she's acting like a freak, I mean, a lion. Yes, that's a sock in her mouth. And yes, it's filled with Little People toys. Again, I have no idea. I just live here.

Kate's Updated Update

I forgot a few things in Katelyn's 12 and 13 month update that I feel are worth sharing. Well, really it's that I think I'll want to remember them later on when I can't remember anything about her at this age...

She loves peanut butter toast. That is another staple in her limited diet. I never ever gave Padyn peanut butter this young. I think I waited until she was two years old, so fearful of peanut allergies was I. But with Kate, I'm a bit desperate.

She nods her head. Very emphatically. And correctly, most of the time. Like last night Joel asked her if she was ready to take a bath. She nodded that noggin of hers up and down so stiffly and forcefully I thought she was going to bust her chin on her sternum.

Lastly, she loves rolling around on the floor on her back. She kicks her feet around and slams them up and down onto the floor. Then she laughs and rolls over and rubs her face into the carpet. It reminds me a dog rolling around in order to scratch itself. I don't think this is what she is doing, but it's still pretty hysterical.

OK. That should be enough until next month.

Photo Friday: The Ballad of a 13 Month Climber

I took these this morning. Kate is really honing her climbing skills these days. Not only did she climb in and out of the block basket and the dishwasher effortlessly, she also managed to climb up onto the kitchen table (no picture, for obvious reasons) and off of Padyn's bed without harming herself. But really, the kitchen table? I still can't quite believe it. She managed to climb onto the bench by stepping on Padyn's booster seat that was on the floor. From the bench, the table was a piece of cake. Fortunately I was sitting right across from her and could react quickly. Kate, my dear, are you trying to kill me?This one is my personal favorite:
Happy Friday.

12 and 13 Month Update

Today is Kate's 13 month birthday, therefore it is time for her 13 month update. And seeing as how I was a REALLY BAD MOMMY and completely missed her 12 month update, I'll just pretend I meant to do that and give you a combined update right now.

Weight (at 12 months): 21lb, 6 oz
Length (at 12 months): 28 3/4 inches
****I don't remember the percentiles on these. They aren't written down on my paper. I think one is 50th and one is 60th, but I couldn't tell you what is what. Probably 50th on length and 60th on weight since that's been her trend over time.****

Health: Kate still had fluid in her ears on the 12 month visit. I put her back on antibiotics a few weeks ago because she was so congested and drippy from her nose that I figured if she didn't have an ear infection yet, she was bound to get one soon. The doctor will check her ears again at the 15 month appointment. If there is still fluid, then we may have to talk about putting tubes in.

Eating: Katelyn's eating habits continue to be stressful for me. She loves her milk and would be happy to get it more than 4 times a day. If she was willing to eat normal foods, then maybe I would indulge her. But, the fact remains that I need this girl to be hungry at mealtimes. Isn't that sad? Her favorite foods continue to be anything crunchy-crackers, veggie booty, snap pea crisps, and dehydrated fruit. Coming in at a close second is still yogurt. This is my lifesaver. At least I can mix some vegetables that she would never willingly eat into the yogurt and feel better that she is getting a teaspoon of green vegetables everyday.

And interestingly, as much as she loves milk, she is not excited about drinking it out of a sippy cup. She wants it in her bottle, heated for 30 seconds. Any less than that, and she won't drink it. What is that?


Sleeping: Kate is still at 2 naps a day and sleeping at night for 10-11 hours. We did have a few nights before the antibiotics where she was up screaming at 4am every morning. Sometimes milk stopped the tantrum and sometimes it didn't. Of course, a day or so later, I saw a new tooth breaking through the gum line, so I attributed the tantrums to that. Kate and Padyn still share a room at nighttime and that seems to be working out very smoothly. Both are sleeping fine at night. Occasionally we're still up with one or the other of them, but for the most part, them being in the same room has been pleasant.

Speaking of teeth, we are now at 10-four on the top, four on the bottom and two molars.

New Skills and Habits: You know when Kate wants something because she either points at it and says "BA!" or she signs "milk." I'm not sure where the connection between "milk" and "I want that" came from, except that she always wants milk. Sometimes she demands things by grunting and reaching, and other times by banging. It's pretty easy to tell when she wants something. It's just not always easy to tell what it is she wants.

She's still not walking, and appears to have no interest in it. Now, if it's something she can climb, she's all about that-the couch, her stroller, the laundry basket, Padyn's little white chair...even the coffee table. She wants to be up on everything that she can be.

She LOVES dogs. She wants to follow them around and hit them. Not that safest maneuver. It's not one I let her do very much. Fortunately, we aren't around dogs much. Maybe that's why she likes them so much.

She continues to love her big sister and copy her whenever she can. Yesterday in the car, Padyn was dancing to her new favorite song and told Kate to dance. (This dance entailed waving your arms up and down to the beat.) I looked back in the mirror and there's Kate, copying her sister. Her pudgy little arms were pumping up and down as fast as she could make them go. It was the cutest thing ever.

Yesterday she discovered the spoon. She doesn't want to have anything on this spoon, but she enjoys putting it in her mouth and banging it on her tray. I'm sure there's a way I can use this to my advantage in the eating department.

Lastly, she seems to enjoy cuddling. She'll bury her head in my chest and make cooing noises for about 5 seconds, then pick her head up and look up at me with a huge smile. It makes my heart turn to mush.

Just a Bit Bumpy

Wanna see what Kate did to her forehead last Thursday? Granted, she only got one goose-egg herself. The other one was put there by a 3 year old and a very hard plastic Curious George toy. I don't know which one was the coffee table and which one was George, but they happened within 20 minutes of each other. Did she cry? Oh yes. Very long? Oh no. Did it seem to bother her ever again? Not even.

Here's the super close-up:Oh, and the same day? She woke up from her nap with these:Yes, those are hives. They were all over her legs and arms on Thursday, then they were everywhere by Friday. Saturday? They were mostly gone. They didn't ever seem to bother her. No crankiness or trying to scratch herself. But they sure were ugly. Never again will she eat a Gerber Toddler Fruit strip.

Running down the hill

Running down the hill
Originally uploaded by the girls' moma.

Coley looks like she is having much more fun than Padyn. I think Padyn's worried about falling while running. It wouldn't be the first time.

Toothy grin

Kate was delighted to let the Girls' Moma take her picture. Here she is giving her cheesiest, toothiest grin. From here on, whenever she heard the camera click or saw the flash, she would close her eyes and smile...even if the picture wasn't actually being taken of her.

Toothy grin
Originally uploaded by P & K's Mommy.

Bright Eyes

Bright Eyes
Originally uploaded by P & K's Mommy.

Super Happy Girl

Super Happy Girl, originally uploaded by P & K's Mommy.

Photo Sunday

Padyn, in the tunnel
Originally uploaded by the girls' moma.

Since I wasn't actually physically able to do Photo Friday, I'll make up for it today by posting a few photos The Girls' Moma shot while she was here. Since you may not look at her Flickr photos, you would be missing some good ones.

Padyn and Coley had a great time "reading" in the tunnels. They brought down pillows and blankets and settled in for the afternoon. Why didn't we discover this earlier in the week? They were happy and pleasant to each other for over 30 minutes. That was almost a record.