Storytime Success

I was so proud of Leah at Storytime today!

Quick background: we've been going to the library for months now. In the beginning, she used to need maybe 10 minutes in my lap to "warm up" before she got excited, stood up, or clapped along with any nursery rhymes. For the past month or so, she had been sitting in my lap for almost all of Storytime and I was starting to wonder if it was worth it to keep going. Then, last Wednesday, she barely sat in my lap for two minutes and was up on her feet, imitating the motions to the nursery rhymes, and jumping/dancing right along with everyone else.

This morning, however, I was SO impressed. Not only did she not want to sit in my lap at all, but she sat a little bit of distance from me. She participated in every single song and had a lot of the moves down pat. I was thrilled! I noticed the librarian and other parents smiling at her and her enthusiasm. She looked like such a big girl, and I was beaming with pride. That's my little monkey. :)

The Pout

This is the face of Leah not getting her way. In the past week, she has become the queen of the pout. Doesn't want to nap? Pout. Warned about throwing toys or going into timeout? Pout. Wants ice cream instead of dinner? Pout. It's rather amusing to Dan & I, really, because we don't fall for it. She hasn't gotten her way once with that face, yet she still tries it. I'll be curious to see how long it lasts. ;)

Little Firecracker

Summer reached its unofficial midpoint this past weekend, and we had a very enjoyable 4th of July. We tried a new park, where a dog diving competition was being held throughout the weekend. It was such a cute event! Leah loved seeing all the doggies and clapping for them as they splashed into the water. As you can tell, she also enjoyed the playground there, climbing like the little monkey she is. ;)

We took Leah to her first fireworks that evening. Instead of going directly to the park where they were set off, we ended up at a nearby medical office complex where we had a good view, yet the booms weren't loud enough to scare Leah. It was perfect. She absolutely loved them, exclaiming, "Pretty!" and calling out various colors. She seemed rather disappointed when they ended and they were all she could talk about the rest of the night. Even as the week has gone on, she mentions the fireworks here and there, so it definitely made a good impression.

Sadly, Leah seems to have given up The Wiggles for Barney again. :P Every once in awhile, she asks for The Wiggles but mostly, it's the dinosaur she wants to watch as she eats her breakfast. Momma & Daddy are a bit sad by this. ;) We decided not to order tickets for The Wiggles this summer. Available seats were at the far end of the arena and with Leah being unable to really see them up close, it didn't seem worth it, at least not at this age.

One interesting trend Momma has noticed is Leah's current obsession with cereal. She's always liked it, but lately, it's just about ALL she wants to eat. Honey Nut Cheerios, Trix, Raisin Bran, Honey Bunches of Oats... you name it, she wants it. What really makes this amusing though, is that Momma craved cereal like a mad woman while she was pregnant. Could not get enough of the stuff. After talking to some mommy friends, apparently this correlation between cravings and favorite foods is quite true among other toddlers too. Ha!

Activities, Meltdowns, and Motherhood (oh my!)

A couple days ago, in order to ward off a post-nap whine fest (which often happens, by the way), I showed Leah the stickers that came with her new Sesame Street coloring book from Grammy. As you can see by the front of her shirt, she loved them. She adorned Momma, a baby doll, and Bolt in stickers as well. If only we had a photo of all of us. ;) A couple things from my own childhood that I would love to introduce Leah to are paint-with-water books and Colorforms. I'm thinking Colorforms are probably a no-show nowadays, but I've heard that I should check Walmart for the paint-with-water books. No luck so far at Target, TRU, and Barnes & Noble.

Speaking of B&N, we left that store in a tizzy today. I allowed Leah to play in the children's section for awhile as I scoped out the activity books. They had a train table and a bunch of little stuffed animals that kept her occupied. The problem came when it was time to leave. In the not too distant past, Leah would return stuffed animals to their proper shelves ("to go sleepies") when asked. I don't know if she was simply tired & cranky today, or if she was just being 2, but boy oh boy, what a meltdown! I had to carry her kicking and screaming from the store to the car because she wanted to leave with more stuffed dogs and cats. Ugh. This is becoming an increasing trend too: major meltdowns in public. At least at home, when she flips out about something or yells because she can't get her way, I can ignore her and not give her the attention that she wants. But in public, I have to deal with her. It's exhausting.

Still, as most children do, Leah makes up for it with moments of cuteness and silliness. A couple nights ago, after playing outside in the hot and sticky air, I told her she could have some ice cream. (Or "cuh cuh", as she calls it.) I opened the freezer and the first carton I pulled out was vanilla. I show Leah and she shakes her head and says, "No cuh cuh." Then, before I can even fully pull it out of the freezer, she spots the Cookies & Cream carton, points, and says, "How 'bout cuh cuh?" The girl knows what she likes, I'll tell ya. Made me laugh. :)

~~~~~~~

I read a book this week regarding motherhood. It's a short book (roughly 80 pages), which began as a letter that a mother wrote to her two young daughters: "Lift" by Kelly Corrigan. During one of Leah's naptimes, I read it cover to cover. I was so affected by it, so emotional. She tries to illustrate to them what life is like now, in the beginning, in the years they won't remember as they grow. This blog, as mundane or as silly as it's been, and not nearly as beautifully written as Corrigan's book, will hopefully be something that we can share with Leah in the future, to capture a little snippet of what her early years were like.

Corrigan wrote, "If John Lennon was right that life is what happens when you're making other plans, parenthood is what happens when everything is flipped over and spilling everywhere and you can't find a towel or a sponge or your "inside" voice." Ah, so true.

But my most favorite passage from the book is this:

"I am your mother, the first mile in your road. Me and all my obvious and hidden limitations. That means that in addition to possibly wrecking you, I have the chance to give to you what was given to me: a decent childhood, more good memories than bad, some values, a sense of tribe, a run at happiness. You can't imagine how seriously I take that - even as I fail you. Mothering you is the first thing of consequence that I have ever done."

Love you, Leah. Terrible twos, meltdowns, and all.

Beach Bum

We took Leah on her first trip to the beach last week. As we expected, she loved playing in the sand yet was intimidated by the ocean. That picture shows about how close she got to the water. Sunday, the 6th, was our first full day and it was a scorcher! Hot, humid, and tough to be outside for too long. Leah lasted about 1.5 hours on the beach. However, Monday & Tuesday were beautiful, breezy days that allowed us to soak up the sun & sand a little longer. I think we spent a solid 3.5 hours on the beach on Tuesday. Heavenly.

Leah managed to do very well on the long car rides both to and from our destination. We stopped by the Disney Outlet store at the beach, where Leah gladly picked out a stuffed Bolt as a reward. :)

Unfortunately, she did not fare so well in some of the restaurants we visited. Mostly, she's just so active and full of energy that she hates being confined to a chair for very long. She's been full out YELLING when she doesn't get her way either, which makes for an embarrassing outing. Still, we were able to enjoy the beach, enjoy some wonderful food, and overall had a really fantastic time.

Mid-week, we left the beach for our old hometown to visit with family. We successfully surprised Popel for his 60th birthday! Leah also enjoyed swimming in Grammy's pool, exploring the children's garden at Longwood, and visiting Boyds Bear Country on the way home. (She managed to pick up three more stuffed animals - 2 from Boyds Bears and 1 from her Uncle Ryan's bedroom. Ha. ;) ) All in all, Leah did really well visiting with a lot of extended family. She got a bit crankier with each day, but for being out of her routine for over a week, and probably very tired, it was to be expected.

To the family in PA, thanks for a great time!

Water Baby

This past Friday, when the weather was 88 and humid, with blazing sunshine, Leah figured out how to cool off: dump water on her head. :) She loves playing with her water table and on that day, she realized how to make it work for her. As you can tell, she cracked herself up in the process! Leah continued to do this throughout the weekend when she was feeling, I don't know, warm? Playful? Silly? And yesterday, she took to lifting her shirt and pouring the water on her belly. Ha! She's a funny one.

Despite how much Leah loves playing outside, taking walks, and shoveling sand in her sandbox, she has become very freaked out by bugs and dirt. If there's even the teeniest little gnat or fly on something of hers, you better shoo it or kill it. She will not touch anything near it until the bug is gone. And for such a hands-on, outdoorsy kinda girl, I am rather surprised by the dirt hatred. She'll hold her hands up and say, "Dirty!" until they're wiped. Again, if there's even a speck of dead grass or anything on her slide or in the water table, she will not play until it's cleaned up. I suppose it's better to have a child who prefers cleanliness over messiness, right? Heck, with her parents, that was pretty much inevitable. Except, why can't this girl clean up her dumped box of crayons? ;)

The Mystery is Solved!

For a few weeks now, Leah had been saying something that eerily sounded like, "F***, s***." It was so bizarre. Dan and I couldn't figure it out. Sure, we've messed up here and there and said a curse word in front of her but never both of those back to back like that. Were we horrible parents? Was she picking up on these words and putting them together for the heck of it?

Thankfully, we found the answer this week: she's really saying "Five, six"! The Wiggles have a few songs where they count, and one of Leah's new favorites is about a chicken with SIX little chicks and they count them twice in the song. Ah-ha! Now that we've figured this out, we can clearly hear Leah saying, "One, two, five, six!" (She doesn't seem to care for three or four, oddly enough.) ;) We are quite relieved about this one.