My fave words-Second Edition

macamole-guacamole

green bag chair-our green bean bag chair

hair crip-hair clip

eatmeal-oatmeal

 

keep em coming marea!  don't start talking like a big girl just yet!

Things I want to remember

Marea's fave babyhood books:  Bean (BEEEEEEEEEAN); Polar Bear Polar Bear, and that bizarre Twinkle Twinkle book.

Marea's fave songs:  right now it's from the Elizabeth Mitchell CD, "Little Bird', and her remake of Bob Marley's "three little birds" (which is why we got a new doormat with three little birds!)

And she's also enjoying 'No Strings' (from the Folk Playground CD) 

Marea's new fave thing to say to me when I ask her to do something: 'i busy'.  Oh really?  

Evie's humming after one of our night time sessions...the cutest darn noise ever!  Even at 2 am I hold her for that extra minute just so I can hear it.

Evie and her thumb:  Yeah!  She can suck her thumb, and she loves it.  I lay her down and she goes for her thumb and goes to sleep.  Hooray for the thumb!  (i bet i'll be taking this back when she's 5).

I also want to remember how during her fussy days, Gary whistled her Beatles songs while looking in the bathroom mirror with her, and it calmed her down.  Too funny!  And too bad I can't whistle!

Marea's opinion on the inaguration

Today Marea and I watched Barack Obama be sworn in as the 44th President.  She mostly wanted to just play (of  course) but I kept telling her about what was going on on the TV and made her look.  When they flashed to the huge crowd, I told her to look at all the people, and she said, "they're happy".  She's right.  

I'm happy that my children will be growing up in an America where huge progress has been made.  And with our new president, i'm hopeful that their future as Americans will be strong and bright.  

Here comes the Sun

Marea's first recognizable picture.  At least, something that I recognize.  It's Daddy Sun and Baby Sun.  (Mama sun was drawn later).  I am blown away!  I guess she also has a story about how the sun goes down and the moon  comes up.   I haven't heard much of it yet, but Gary knows it.  My little hippie child!

Little Bear

Marea is OBSESSED with Little Bear. What's not to love about Little Bear? He's got an amazing imagination, wonderful, loving parents (and a mother bear constantly baking pies and cakes for him), and a fun crew of friends (cat, duck, owl, etc.). The show is super cute. Nothing negative, ever. Just always about Little Bear using his imagination and having a good time. And Marea absolutely loves it. Little Bear is making his way into our lives more and more. Since we've been out in Utah, she's started taking Little Bear and his friends on her morning hikes with Daddy, and in the pool too. They have become her imaginary friends. She also pretends that she is Little Bear and Gary is Father Bear and I am Mother Bear. It's pretty hilarious. Normally I would be annoyed that she was acting out a TV show, especially if it was some princess or disney or other heavily marketed crap. But I like Little Bear, and how he socializes and interacts with his world. And I think it's having a positive effect on Marea's imagination.
Marea still continues to blow me away with what a great kid she is. Seriously, she has no bad days. She has her moments of course, but overall, she's just a happy, go with the flow kid. She doesn't get clingy, or (too) moody, or uncomfortable in new situations. She makes the most out of everything and just has fun! And people still comment to me all the time about how great she is. I love that.
It will be so interesting to see the kind of person that Evie becomes. So far, she seems very different. She can be tempermental and not so easy going sometimes. But she's active, plays hard and sleeps like a dream. She can barely stay awake for an hour between naps, still at 4 months! She just figured out how to suck her thumb and that is very exciting because I lay her down in her crib and she sticks it right in her mouth and she goes to sleep. We brought out the command center and it's her 2nd favorite place to hang out these days. Her absolute favorite is the dooryway jumper. She goes nuts in that thing! Thank god for our video camera so I could capture some of those adorable moments to remember forever. She also just recently figured out how to grab a toy and bring it to her mouth. So that is very exciting, she is now constantly reaching for anything we put in front of her.

Wuv

Marea, stop bugging the cat!  "but i wuv him!"

Marea, stop bugging baby evie! "but i wuv her!"

Mama sitting on the couch looking at the computer while Marea watches Little Bear...."mama, i wuv you".  Now what could be better than that?

Christmas just happened.  This was the first Christmas that Gary and I have ever woken up in our 0wn house, and I was pretty excited about it.  Just like she wanted, Marea got a bunch of puzzles.  She was pretty excited.  At first she wanted to open the presents one by one and open each one and play with them, but that was taking her a long time.  So Gary and I introduced her to the joy of ripping open present after present right in a row.  I think she got the idea.  Christmas still wasn't a big thing for her.  By the end, she was getting it....'Oh, more presents!'  Of course I don't want a kid who just loves Christmas for the presents.  But I remember feeling like that as a kid, and what's the harm?  I mean, really, that's the best part about it.  All the new toys!  And I turned into a pretty good adult who loves Christmas for the season and the friends and family and mostly, the food.  Especially the cookies.  And in my past life, the wine.  Someday.....

What I won't miss about Christmas is FROSTY.  I must of listened to that song at least a hundred times in the past month.  As long as I kept it playing in the car, she was quiet.  And since quiet is pretty hard to come by these days, I somewhat happily played it over and over and over, so I could have my own thoughts for a bit.  That is, if Evie wasn't screaming.  Boy, that kid HATES the car.  She goes nuts in the car!

Merry-Making

Is it Christmas time again?  

The merry making around here is going slow and steady.  Which I have found to be quite fun!  Instead of getting a tree decorated in one session, it took us at least three sessions.  It took a few extra days to get the stockings hung.  We worked on the gingerbread house over the course of several days.  Today we went and made cookies with grandma Carole and auntie Sam.   I still have my baking to do. Christmas didn't happen quickly.  Everything is unfolding slowly around here.  Because we are busy, mostly caring for the kids.  But I think I like it better this way.  It's like savoring the experience.  The one thing that I haven't started yet is the wrapping.  And I have to say, i'm a bit stressed about that part.  

I wonder how Marea is going to react to Christmas this year.  I'm excited.

Marea is getting so good at playing by herself.  She has come up with whole new games with all of her old toys.  I feel like it happened suddenly...like one day she just changed.  But it's probably been happening slowly, it's just that I've been consumed with Evie and didn't notice it as much.  I really enjoy watching her play.  I think her favorite thing to do right now is make up games with her farm animals.  She gives them roles and seems to imitate life with them.  A lot of the time it involves them going potty.  Marea's favorite TV show is Little Bear.  It's a great show, it's very simple and fun.  And now Gary and Marea often play  Little Bear.  She's the little bear, he's father bear, etc. , and they play games and call each other with those names.  And Homer is Cat of course.  And i'm mother bear.  

Evie is taking off right now.  She's starting to reach and grab at things, and of course, put them straight to her mouth.  She's a big wet drooly mess a lot of the time too.  I wonder if it's teeth?  It's early, but it could be happening.  Or maybe it's just the beginning of the oral phase.  She's laughing now too.  It's so cute.  She is so verbal and social, it blows me away.  She likes eye contact, and she'll coo and giggle and smile for as long as I stay engaged.  One thing Evie doesn't like is the car.  The child FLIPS on most car rides.  It drives me crazy.  I think it's just the car seat that she hates.  But sometimes it's necessary!  I also tried to give her a bottle of formula the other day and she absolutely would not have it.  The kid is addicted to the boob.  I don't blame her.  Those boobs made those sweet cankles!