sumodancer

"Farmer In the Dell" Bug Style

This song was delivered by Bug from the backseat of the family truckster without any musical accompaniment at all.

cow takes wife
cow takes wife
hi ho day-yoooooo
cow takes wife

dog takes cheese
dog takes cheese
hi ho day-yoooooo
dog takes cheese

cheese stands aloooooone
cheese stands aloooooone
hi ho day-yoooooo
cheese stands aloooooone

A Long Day Made Longer

We're attempting to keep Bug up tonight to compensate for the time change. She's been getting up around 6:30 lately, and there's no way in H-E-double hockey sticks that I'm getting up with her that early. (Actually, it's K's morning tomorrow, but I'm sure she'll be so exuberant over breakfast that I won't be able to sleep in too late.)

This attempt may be thwarted by the fact that we returned from a Halloween party not too long ago, where Bug indulged in a cupcake, some chips, and some extremely stimulating other children and games. She had a lot of fun, but seemed a little subdued during the ride home.

At the moment she's watching the Pooh Heffalump Halloween movie.

Dr. Bug Goes to the Doctor

Oh, the fun!

On the way to base this morning for her two-year well check up, Bug asked for her music. When the music started playing, she asked for the Bumblebee song. All these songs sound the same to me, so it took a while as I listened to the beginning of several. Scrolling to the next song, Bug suddenly yelled out, "That's it!" Several beats later, I heard the familiar tune. How did she know that?? It's really too bad that "Name That Tune" isn't on anymore; we could make a million with her skills.

After the song went off, Bug chirped, "Again?" and it turned into the song that doesn't end. We listened to it the whole way there and the whole way back.

The doctor's visit went well. (Discovered terms: reflex hammer and otoscope.) Bug is healthy and growing well. They didn't measure her head this time, so I'm not sure if she's still in the 95th percentile for that. (Height and weight were 50th and 25th, or 25th and 50th -- can't remember.) Bug enjoyed using her doctor kit while the doctor used hers, and especially enjoyed giving the mean nurse a shot after she had her immunization and flu shots.

One thing that really impressed the doctor was Bug's language skills. Not just vocabulary, but her enunciation. She used the word "profound" to describe them. Yeehaw!

Speaking of which, before we saw the doctor, I was given an assessment form to fill out. It asked about Bug's physical abilities, problem-solving skills, fine-motor skills and such. Positives all around. When I got to the section for language development, one question asked for examples, particularly for some of her word combinations (of 2 or 3 words). I ended up putting things she said this morning: "I don't like that." "I like the Bumblebee song." "Where did my Boobah go?"

The question alone made me snicker, because of course the first thing I could think of was her jubilent: "No, I didn't poopy! I'm windy in my butt!"

Early to Rise

Last night was Bug's second night of sleeping in her tent. It was another uneventful night. She woke up this morning and called for me as usual. When I got up to her (waiting patiently behind the door with Boobah), she had decided that she wanted breakfast, so after a momentary distraction with diaper changing and doctoring...

...we headed downstairs. After breakfast cleanup, as I picked up Bug to head back upstairs to get dressed, teeth brushed and hair done, I happened to look at the microwave. It said 5:00.

::screech:: huh? 5? That can't be right. I'd be half dead. I sat Bug on the counter. I looked at my watch. It had the microwave's back. This means that Bug woke up probably around 4:15.

::tangent::
This is where I kicked myself. Had I looked at the clock before heading upstairs, I probably could have gotten her and Boobah back in her tent to sleep for a couple more hours at least.
::end tangent::

"Bug!" I said, "It's 5:00. It's so early! Why'd you wake up so early?" Bug just held out her arms and said, "Hold me?" Gah! To add insult to injury, a wave of fatigue washed over me, certainly from merely knowing what time it was.

Once upstairs, we got as far as a shirt and socks before Bug decided that she wasn't ready for pants. I asked if she needed to use the potty, and she jumped up and down in her excitement, saying she wanted to poopy in the potty. Into the bathroom we went.

::crickets chirping::

We emerged from the bathroom over an hour later, folks. Why so long? Well, there was the potty sitting and the potty book reading (me to her, then her to me, which starts with a mock throat clearing "mmmm mmmm" and "The story begins! Are you ready??" There was fake sleeping on the rug, where Bug-as-gracious-hostess grabbed towels from under the sink for blankets. There was reaching into the barrette drawer, where Bug decided that she wanted her hair up in two yellow bands with a blue Bug. There were hugs and kisses of boo boos (including the "boo boo" on the wall next to her potty where the paint got a little clumped). There was playing with the bathtoys. There was sock removal and replacement (almost all by herself). Finally the pants went on and the teeth got brushed, during which time the hair was fixed. Brushing was topped off in the usual manner: stool put on the rug, drink of water while sitting on the stool on the rug, and stool put away.

I know, she looks tired. Miss Sophia's going to LOVE me today!

Even with all the time killed in the bathroom, it's still too early to take her to school (for me, that is). Thank all that is good for DVR. Dora is now on, and Bug is crashed out in her blue chair, her head on the arm. She's not sleeping.

Camping Out

Bug decided last night that she wanted to sleep in her tent. She got in there, asked me to lie down with her and give her a blanket. Once she was settled I left.

Telling K about this later, he wondered if we should try moving her to her bed. Surely she'd be waking up in the middle of the night, freak out from the changed surroundings, and cry like a banshee. We snuck into her room, only to find her so far out in the tent that she was lightly snoring. We decided to leave her there rather than wake her up from such a deep sleep.

Surely, though, she'd be waking up in the middle of the night, freak out from the changed surroundings, and cry like a banshee.

She didn't.

We may need to start looking for a sleeping bag.

Thanks Uncle B!

Today Bug got a birthday package in the mail from Uncle B. Having read her potty book a gazillion times, some key phrases were used on the way to the house from the mailbox:

Momma: Bug! It's a big, big box! It's just for you! Whatever could it be?
Bug: Whatever could it be? A potty?

It wasn't a potty, but a box with peanuts in it! I implanted the appropriate amount of disgust in her for packing peanuts, and the same amount of excitement over the bubble wrap inside. So much so that the actual present was ignored for some time.

We finally got down to business, unpacking the actual present. A doctor's kit! Just in time for her next appointment (this Thursday)!

See the serious Dr. Bug look? It wasn't long, though, till she was back to popping bubbles.

But OH! how Bug loved the doctor kit. After seeing how each component is used, she practiced on K and me for a loooooong time. (Let's just say that Dora didn't even enter her mind till after bath tonight.) The kit includes a stethoscope (which in using she calls "be doctor"), a syringe, a pair of tweezers ("snap! snap!" sound effect there), three containers of medicine (what's up with that??), a... ummm... whatever you call the thing that the doctor checks reflexes with, a... ummm... whatever you call the thing the doctor checks ears with, a thermometer, a doctor pad (ignored), and a bandaid.

We are so taking this with us on Thursday, at least so we can learn the proper names for the things inside.

Abre

"Dora the Explorer" has caused quite a stir in this household, surpassing "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" as Bug's favorite show at lightning speed. It's hard to say which is more pleasant for me: the "Maaaaahhh-meeeee! Come out! Maaaaahhh-meeee!" sweetness when she gets out of bed and lies with her mouth at the bottom of the door hithering me each morning (rather than the SCREAMING that happened when she was still trapped in her crib), waiting for me to open the door, or a request for this right after her happy morning, "Hi, Mommy!"

One of the benefits of Dora over Pooh is that Dora is actually educational. Sure, Bug has learned from Pooh -- cute phrases such as "Oh, dear!", "Oh, bother!", and "Heave! Ho!" (used when trying to pull K or me out of our chairs), -- but Dora engages kids a lot more. She'll call for the Backpack and the Map. When prompted by Dora to help find something (whether it's something in the Backpack or their next destination), she'll sometimes stand up and jump with excitement because "I SEEEE IT!!" When she sees Swiper the Fox, she'll hold out her hand and repeat, "Swiper, no swiping!", and even say, "Oh, man!" with him before he goes away. At the end of the show, she'll look for the friend that's hiding in the jungle. Sometimes at random moments, she'll start repeating the Map's directions from the most recently watched show ("Buppy bidge! Cold river! High tower!").

She's also learning some Spanish from Dora. She was thrilled to hear the "Feliz Cumpleaños" song on her birthday, and is starting to say, "Espera!" (although it's usually out of the proper context). Her favorite word, though, is "Abre!" She will have K and me open our mouths, the fridge, doors, our hands, and whatever else she conjures up.

I'm curious to see how she handles tomorrow morning. I spent the better part of this afternoon in her bedroom, going through her dresser drawers, cleaning out what no longer fits her and putting away clean laundry. During this time, Bug occupied herself playing in her tent (relocated from the playroom), her baby and Boobah. She also discovered how to close and open her door.

Yes. Bug mastered the door knob. On her first go. Imagine her delight, letting herself into her bedroom, beaming and saying, "Abre, Mommy! I open door all by myself!" I'm not having a parade, though. Gah!

Fortunately for us (the adults in the house, that is), we had an extra of those door knob child-safety covers (the others already being utilized on bathroom doors) to slap on the knob inside her room. Last thing we need is a Bug on the loose in the house after we're in bed, making mischief in the playroom or falling down the stairs.

Geen Boon and Leg Attack 14SEP05

Bug and I went out to dinner before dropping K off at the airport. She had spotted the bouquet of geen boons by the door, so we asked for one on our way out. Geen boon got lots of love on the trip to pick K up from work, on the drive to the airport, on the drive through town to pick up some pie, and during the drive home. Once home, however, Bug was more interested in attacking me than posing for a picture with her geen boon.

Birthday Girl Continued

Click on image for more pictures.

K ended up getting up once Bug and I got downstairs, so we had yellow panCAKEs together. Bug did a great job blowing out the candles.

After breakfast, we played for quite some time. Lunch and naptime came and went. After nap, we broke out the cake and opened presents. Bug loved her yellow cake, and stuck her fork in it the first chance she got. She played quite a bit with her new baby.

For dinner we went out. By that time we realized that she really hadn't eaten well all day, and that factored in for several meltdowns during dinner. Gah!

After dinner, we stopped off to play, but it was too cold. We did have a nice surprise there, though. See the album for that.

She slept with her baby.

And yes, we hung out almost all day in our jammies.

Birthday Girl

For the first morning EVER, Bug didn't beckon us to her room by sitting in bed crying. Instead, she got out of bed, walked to the door and yelled for us.

"Mommy! Daddy! Come play with me!! I want out!"

Since K's on a mids rotation right now, I grabbed the camera to document our morning. The plan was to get her into the playroom to discover her

new playhouse and bouquet of colorful balloons (including a purple mylar ladybug), then go downstairs to eat some panCAKEs (yellow, with candles). We were going to save festivities till after nap time.

Bug had other ideas. She was in wonderful spirits till we got to the top of the stairs. She broke into tears when I went into the playroom (closing the door slightly so she wouldn't see the surprise from the hallway).

Her plan was to go straight downstairs for her yellow birthday cake with two candles. She was inconsolable for several minutes. She finally calmed enough to go into the playroom, we talked about the plan for the day. She agreed that yellow panCAKEs with candles for breakfast would be wonderful (I have this on video - hopefully I can figure out how to put it here).

More later.