She's gonna eat it!

Evie puts everything in her mouth.  Which is normal.  Marea thinks it's hilarious, and will often say, 'Evie's gonna eat it!" when Evie grabs for something and heads for the mouth.  The funny part to me is how WET Evie is all the time.  The kid seriously produces an enormous amount of drool while mouthing everything.  I've resorted to putting bibs on her whenever she's playing with toys.  Because the front of her shirt is soaking wet afterwards if I don't.  

One fun game with like to play is the 'Evie Monster'.  Marea loves it when I have Evie go after her and say,' AHHHH, it's the Evie Monster!'  Evie likes to leave a big gob of wetness on Marea's head.  Payback!

We're back in the Coastline Parent Education class and Marea is loving it.(And so am I!) On the first day, she hid under the slide and cried when it was time to leave.  Marea never does stuff like that!  I think her favorite part of the class is the end, when we do the outside circle and do ring around rosie and the hokie pokie.  She's always smiling, laughing, and singing.  She also enjoys the art and crafts project and is always very excited to take her things home and show them to Gary.  She absolutely loved a pair of binoculars made from two toilet paper roll tubes.  She carried those around forever.   Her and Madison play together a lot in that class, mostly in the play house.  I think they are playing babies and families a lot.  I like the class because I am able to focus on thinking about what Marea is going through developmentally.  Which has been difficult for me lately because I still have a new baby at home.   So I really like that time where I get to think about where Marea is at.  The toddler years are such a fascinating time, and the discussions always get me thinking.   It's true that when you understand what they are going through, that the more difficult aspects are easier to handle.  

Don't Cook It!

The toddler power struggle can be SO frustrating.  And so entertaining and funny.  One of Marea's favorite control issues is asking for something to eat but not wanting me to cook it.  Like oatmeal (aka eatmeal).  She will ask for oatmeal, then tell me not to cook it, and cry when I do.  She cries when I heat anything up.   Always after asking for something to eat, the next phrase is, 'don't cook it!'

Another adorable thing she's been saying lately is 'Why not?'  What she really means is just 'why'.  It sounds so funny sometimes.  "Marea, please pick up your blocks....why not?", or "Marea, lets put your shoes on....why not?" and on and on about everything. 

The newest favorite game is her pretend family game.  Every imaginable thing becomes a family...every stuffed animal, figurine, doll, etc. becomes a mom, dad, big sister, and baby sister.  Even the forks from her play kitchen became family people yesterday. I couldn't help but laugh (secretly, of course!).  Mostly they go to bed or go to the potty.  Those are her favorite things to do with them.  Gary and I help her elaborate on this play and it can turn out very funny sometimes.  I just hope we don't give her some strange ideas.  Especially Gary.  His sense of humor can be so strange sometimes.  Why did I have to explain to him that The Simpsons is not appropriate for a 2 year old?

Now on to Miss Evie....She's just getting cuter by the second!  Her favorite thing to do right now is stand on our laps and interact with us.  She loves to grab my face and scream and laugh.  She's also miss grabby hands...I sit her up on the floor and she will grab for everything all at once.  (She can sit up now!).  It's like she can't make up her mind so she goes for everything.  And of course, it's straight into the mouth.  The baby decathalon is in effect around here.  It's the command center, doorway jumper, high chair, standing on our laps, floor time....eat and nap.  Her favorite book is Little Bee and her favorite toy is Sophie the Giraffe.  She is so darn wet all the time...she is the drool queen, and I have to keep a bib on her all the time so her clothes arn't soaked.   And now I must go, because she's up from her nap!

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.