The things C says, part 2

I've noticed a few other unique pronunciations that C has been using lately. One of the oldest unique pronunciations she's had is her name for her daddy. As far as she's concerned, his name is "Daggy." That big red dog on TV? Well, she calls him "Flifford."

Weeds...growing like one

I've been reading this fantastic book series by Lauraine Snelling. Well, an ongoing series that's been split into three parts. Astrid, one of the main character's daughters asks her mother repeatedly why weeds grow so much faster than their crops. For some reason, this helped me to understand the phrase, "growing like a weed"--finally. And that's been my theme about C lately. She's growing, rather like a weed. She's a small one still, but she has taken root in our family and she is assertive, persistent and unlike a weed, delightful, most of the time. She is also growing so fast lately! I predict I will be buying shoes +1 size within the month. Wasn't it just yesterday she lay there, wiggling her 2-inch, tiny baby feet? Now she's a big girl running, jumping, climbing and dancing in size 7. Granted, her journey through the clothing sizes has been less swift, but I look at her and think, could this really be my baby girl comfortably wearing a 3T? 2T may fit a bit longer, but I can't buy them, or the 24 month clothes anymore. I'm too afraid we'd miss wearing them, because all it's going to take is one more growth spurt. Still don't know what I'll do about pants when the 2Ts are too short. She's so skinny, I'm not sure the 3Ts are going to stay on!

Lessons from a Carseat

My carseat cover is in my washing machine, and the padding is sitting in my sink drying out. 

Lesson 1: water has an effect on yogurt-covered raisins, and it's not necessarily a good one

Lesson 2: wet yogurt-covered raisins stink

Lesson 3: Febreze doesn't take out the stink from wet yogurt-covered raisins. 

Lesson 4: carseat covers should be washed more often than once every two years, no matter how big a pain it is to get the cover off. 

Ew. 

Who We've Become

Last weekend was my 15 year class reunion. I found it really interesting to see how my classmates had changed over the years. I didn't recognize the majority of the men; they'd filled out in so many ways. The ladies--well, they hadn't changed as much. Women apparently find their long-term faces in adolescence. Granted, some I hadn't known to begin with. I spent most of the evening walking up to people I'd once known, at least cursorily, reintroducing myself and asking for names. From a girl who once stood under the tree just waiting for someone to invite her to play, this was quite the change. I am reminded again that all that stuff from our childhood and high school really doesn't matter. What matters is the people we've become, and whether or not we're content with the lives we have. Something one of my classmates said rang all too true, "When it all comes down to it, we're all just doing the same things just in different towns." After 15 years, we all talked about the same things: our kids, our jobs and where we've been. We're all facing the same kinds of challenges. As Michele also said, "we're just trying our best to raise our kids and make good lives for ourselves." Any y'know what, I'm pretty content with my life as I'm living it. I just thought I'd share what I realized after 15 years. 

Worlds of Pictures

Actually, these are the best photos from Worlds of Fun so far. C is very serious as she goes on her rides, so it was incredibly difficult to find some that were really and truly representative of the fun we were indeed having. So, if she looks like she's not enjoying herself...well, that's just not the case. Keep in mind that the day she went on that little boat, she went 9 times in a row! 

Pronunciations

Toddlers are so cute when they're beginning to explore language. I was talking to a fellow scrapbooker the other day and she waxed nostalgic about the cute ways her kids had of pronouncing things when they were little. She noted how she'd thought she'd never forget the especially cute ones. Now that she finally has time to scrapbook them, she doesn't remember. It's prompted me, encouraged me to write more about how she says things these days, and not just that she says them. For example, lately she pronounces 'magnets' as "mangets" and 'Mickey Mouse Clubhouse' as "Mickey Mouse Chubhouse". 'Cinderella' is "Ciwewella". She's labeled Worlds of Fun a "Carnival". I'm sure there are others, but I'll have to add them as they come up. 

Worlds of Fun

Memberships to things are so worth it! In the past three weeks we've made three trips to Worlds of Fun.  We only stay for between 4 or 5 hours each trip, but we certainly get plenty of rides in each time. If we bought regular tickets each day though, I'm pretty sure that I'd feel like 4 or 5 hours wasn't worth the money. With the season membership, I'm comfortable going for just a few hours on each excursion. We've been going on weekdays, and with the price of gas and groceries lately, people aren't going to the amusement park so much, and we've been able to just walk onto rides, and in some cases just stay on the ride from one rotation to the next. C totally takes after her mommy and daddy in her enjoyment of rides. Her favorite has changed with each trip. The first time she loved pretty much everything she tried. She went on the boat ride 10 times, and I didn't count the airplane iterations or the times on the Bounce-a-roos. On the second, the Roos were again a hit, as well as the Woodstock train. On this last trip, I lost count of how many times she went on the car and pony carousels. We've seen big carousels at various malls around the country and just a few months ago, we would try to have her ride them, but she was WAY less than impressed. I was unsure about how she would enjoy WoF, but I needn't have worried. A ride ends and she turns around and says "again!" I have to pry her away from the rides in order to get her to eat. My biggest concern was that she wouldn't want to ride without Mommy, but she's big enough to do some of the kiddie rides by herself, and Mommy is too big. The first time I told her to go by herself she was nervous and unsure, but once that Bounce-a-roo got going, the rides she could go on by herself definitely trumped the ones Mommy has to accompany her on. However, the thrill of the Flying Dutchman (swings) outweighs the Mommy-has-t0-go-with-me factor. She grins so big as the breeze blows back her hair. Watching the thrill on her face actually makes me enjoy the ride more as well. Since we've gone with other people two of the three times, I've even been able to ride a few coasters while she stayed on kiddie rides with Gramma or my friend Kim. Yippee! (Being a Mommy does make me a bit more nervous on the big coasters though...interesting.) Will have to add pictures of C on the rides later. My iPhoto doesn't like my blogger.