A Growing Vocabulary

Brielle is really fussy today. Ok, she has been for the last week. I think it's this cold, plus teething. Anyway, she's been really fussing while I've been trying to get ready - ya know, showered, dressed, my hair combed, etc. Let's not kid ourselves - nothing fancy going on here. I get my pants and shirt on and promptly (not so promptly to her) pick her up, and she goes, "upppp." Ahh, the growing vocabulary of a one year old. Secretly I've been a little sad/worried b/c she hasn't been as quick as Sophie was to pick up new words. Yes, I know all kids are different, but it doesn't make the questioning stuff go away to me. "Am I talking enough to her? Reading enough? Am I spending enough time with just her instead of her and Sophie? ".... Anyway, of course I'm all happy when she says it and repeat it. To which she says, "Upp. Down." We play this game all the time - up, down; in, out; etc. I was so happy!


Unfortunately, Sophie's vocab has also grown in the last couple of weeks with the word "stupid." Uh-oh. Daddy has a tendency to say "stupid dog" or "stupid cat." Well, Sophie has said it probably 4 or 5 times lately and been sent to her room. Awesome. Hopefully it won't last long.

Quirky

So Sophie, my 3 yr old, has to have her spoon match the type of yogurt she's eating. She'll even trade what kind of yogurt she wants based on the availability of a certain spoon. What an odd kid :) I can't imagine how picky she's going to be about her hair and clothes when she's a teenager. Ahh, yeah, already looking forward to that....

Brielle on the other hand knows what she wants, but she's pretty easy going too. I have an inclinking that she'll be the easy(er) teen.

A chipped Smile.

I wish I could have gotten a picture of it, but poor Brielle is not allowing pictures today.... or at least not since the incident. Poor girl.

I was cleaning the top of the stove and she was walking into the kitchen with her blankie. (She loves her blankie. She cuddles it when she drinks a bottle and when she sleeps. It's too adorable!) Well, she must have stepped right on it and slipped b/c she fell FLAT on her face on the floor. No falling onto her diaper-cushioned butt or her knees or anything - just SMACK! on her face. Of course I whirled around, picked her up and started to comfort her. That's when I noticed that she was bleeding from somewhere. I didn't know where exactly at first. There was a lot on her finger so I thought maybe she bit her finger or something. I yelled for Aaron (he works from home, but alas, he was in a phone meeting). Then I ran her hand under cold water, which is the only thing that helped her to stop crying since the SMACK.

Well, it was not her finger, but she did like the water. I had a hard time figuring out where she was bleeding from - I'm still not 100% sure, but I think that she busted a tiny cut on her upper lip. However, I got an ice cube and let her suck on it... however, I thought I noticed something not right in her mouth. Was there blood on her tooth? So, I leaned her over (she likes to be upside down) and checked it out. Nope, not blood. However, her bottom tooth was chipped. Ugh. I said a quick prayer and checked again. Yup, I was right the first time. I ran to get her some Tylenol thinking "wow, that must have really hurt!" And called the dentist. They called right back and had me bring her in right away.

Luckily, it didn't get down to the fleshy part of her tooth, so it's just a comestic issue really. If it would have gotten down the to fleshy part, the only option they really would have had is to pull it! I am SO grateful that was not the case! So, she'll have a chip in her tooth (which they'll try to sand and make a little smoother when she's a little older) until she grows in her adult teeth (in like 7 years!) but it shouldn't affect the placement of her other teeth or hurt her, so it's as good as a chipped tooth can be really. AND it's on the bottom, so you won't be able to see it quite as much as you would if it were on the top.

Ok, I'm not re-reading this, I'm not proofreading it. I'm not doing anything but hitting 'publish.' Please forgive me if it's a little scatterbrained. With all of us being sick, not sleeping (bad dreams, but that's an ENTIRELY different post), and a little drained from the drama around here, my brain isn't fully functioning.

I am so grateful that it wasn't worse than it is. I am so grateful that we have insurance so we can know what to do (in this case, nothing). I am so grateful that Brielle isn't in pain and is napping quietly now. I am so grateful for my beautiful little girls and my wonderful hubby. And I hope this day gets better.

Doing a Few Things Right?

There are moments in the day or week where I think "wow, maybe we're doing something right with this parenting thing..." Of course, there are many days where I think that God is looking down laughing at my stumbles (in a loving way of course) and many more where I am disappointed in myself for not doing more or something different. BUT this is a positive post and I wanted to tell you of a couple of my "right" moments.

I am so happy that Sophie seems to be turning out as a responsible citizen who cares about doing what is right, not always what is convenient. For example, we were grocery shopping the other day and were getting some soda. Mixed in amongst the coke was a pumpkin. Sophie goes "What is this pumpkin doing here? Pumpkins don't go here. Silly pumpkin!" I said something about how someone must have decided they didn't want it after all and before I could suggest that we put it in the cart and take it back to the 'pumpkin section,' Sophie says the same thing. "We need to put it back! Come on little pumpkin! We'll take you back to your family!" Well, we were just starting grocery shopping and Sophie sat in the cart, holding the pumpkin all through shopping and when we got to the 'pumpkin section' she gingerly sets it down (thank you! I was worried about the fight of no - we cannot take the pumpkin home).

Also, last weekend we were at the parade for the Fruita Fall Fest. It was just Sophie and I as the baby was napping and Aaron gladly agreed to stay home with her. Anyway, after the parade ended, I let her eat the sucker that she got during the parade (I wouldn't let her eat it during b/c I was holding her so she could see. I am not a fan of sticky-slobbery-sugar on my shirt. I wonder why). We sat so she could eat it and she saw some trash on the sidewalk and asked what it was. I said "someone didn't put their trash where it's supposed to go." And her automatic answer is "that's not good. We need to put it up for them. You don't leave trash on the ground!"

I just wanted to hug her so tight! What a sweet little girl she is. I guess some things ARE getting through.

(This especially made me happy after seeing some of the kids during the parade. There were quite a few of them standing there, taking the wrapper off their candy and throwing it on the ground... repeatedly. It made me want to put them in timeout and take away their candy. Lucky for them, I am not their mom.)

tasty greenbeans

So, a quick post tonight from my iPod... I just thought I'd share a trick that worked great with my girls tonight!

My girls have never really been into greenbeans. Brielle is good about eating most veggies, Sophie can sense it's a veggie a mile away and consequently shoves her nose in the air as she simultaneously shoves her plate away. So tonight what I did was cook greenbeans first and then cook chili and put the greenbeans directly into the chili (cut up into bite sized pieces) and it worked great! They both ate them! Sophie was even pulling the greenbeans out and still eating them! Miracles of miracles.

Good luck with your kids! (if you need it of course!)

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]