Giggle Fit

I am getting ready to leave the computer room to give Angie her bath and play with her.

She has been having the biggest giggle fit I have seen since the UPC symbol incident. She keeps coming to the gate saying, "Oh car broken!" then giggling hysterically. Now you can tell she's two and doesn't drive because most adults wouldn't find that quite so funny.

She, however, finds it hilarious.

Great Imagination

Last night Angie and I spent some time playing in her room. Angie found a small strand of red thread, perhaps 1 or 2 inches long, crumpled in a ball.

She picked it up, put it carefully in the palm of her hand and said, "Look Mommy, a ladybug." She helped the ladybug fly, she would ask where the ladybug was when it was not in her hand, we sang to it, she talked to it, I hid the "ladybug" in one of my hands and Angie tried to find it. We spent at least a half hour playing with her "ladybug." The way she held it you might have thought she had a real bug in her hand.

She is so creative lately. I love how she stayed focused on her imaginary bug for such a long time.

Amazing.

Warm Greetings

When Angie's Grandparents arrived tonight from Pennsylvania, Angie knew just how to make them feel welcome.

She ran to them shouting, "Gramma! Granpa! Gramma! Granpa! Gramma! Granpa!" several times while jumping up and down with glee.

They were putty in her tiny hands after that.

Currently

Current Phrase: "Time to go home and get some rest!" said in a very determined tone regardless of whether she is at Grandma and Grandpa's house, the store or actually at home.

Current Toy: the Jojo's Circus figures Aunt Jen gave her.

Current Video: "Baby Monet" So much for Daddy saying she was "done" with Baby Einstein.

Current CD: Nursery Rhymes, an old classic that Grandma Mary gave her.

Current Mood: Not settling down for bed. There is much dancing at the moment.

Too early education?

I was watching a show on pregnancy and childbirth the other night when Angie joined me in the living room. She climbed on my lap just in time to see a computer generated 3-D image of a baby going through the pelvic bones (for easier viewing I suppose).

Angie suddenly says, "Hey Baby! What you doing?" in a slightly alarmed voice.

I told her the baby was going through a tunnel.

She seemed to accept that .

We're trying to be more careful about what we watch on t.v., really we are.

Empathy

Chas told me that he was putting some things away in the bathroom yesterday when he banged his head on a cabinet door which he had left open. Angie heard the noise (and her father's muffled attempts to not curse) and came into the bathroom. She saw her father crouched on the floor in some obvious pain.

She said, "Are you all right Daddy? It's okay." She patted his shoulder gently. Then she repeated the process: "Are you all right Daddy? It's okay." Pat, pat, pat.

Budding Lyricist

For two days, Angie has been singing the following song while running through the house and even riding in the car:

Shake up and down
Oh shake egg up and down
Shake some eggs
Awwww Awwwww

She doesn't even eat eggs. Chas and I do not know where she learned this song. He can't think of any song even remotely close to this song.

I think she composed it on her own.

You should see the accompanying choreography.

Amazing Memory

Last night Angie and I were playing in her room and listening to music. She was jumping on her bed looking (rest assured, I was not). She stopped and pointed at her bookshelf and said, "I want Grampa book. I want Gramma book!"-- She wanted her "Grandma & Me" and "Grandpa & Me" books.

I have not read these books to her in a few months. Maybe my mom read them to her when they were visiting at the end of January. Maybe.

But she recognized them just by seeing the spines of both books, mixed with a bunch of other books and knick-knacks.

Wow.

Silly Daddy

Tonight while Angie and I ate dinner peacefully at the table, Chas ran back and forth from the table to the t.v. so that he could check on the NCAA seeds for the Tournament.

Suddenly he started screaming at the t.v. (his team was seeded 9th and they are a top 25 team). Angie and I both jumped out of our seats at the sound. I looked at her and she started giggling, "Silly Daddy!" she said and continued giggling.

My thoughts:

Perfect reaction.

At least she understands him at an early age.

Bye-bye Aunt Jen

Jen left just a few minutes ago.

We said our good-byes, gave our hugs and encouraged Angie to hug her as well, which she did--Aunt Jen has definitely been her buddy this weekend.

After her hug Angie sat down and said, "Bye-bye. See you tomorrow."

Jen said, "What?"

"Bye-bye. See you tomorrow. Tomorrow."

Tried to explain that she would not be back but Angie just kept saying, "See you tomorrow. Tomorrow. Tomorrow."

I could almost see the gears in Jen's brain trying to figure out if she could come back tomorrow. (Her flight is at 10:00 am so I don't think so.) She started calculating how long it would be until we will see each other again--Oregon in mid-May. Jen seemed extremely sad to leave.

When Angie heard the door shut, she screamed and ran out into the kitchen to find Jen. I picked her up and we ran to the front window, then back to the kitchen door to see if we could wave good-bye. Jen was back at the door because she had forgotten a cd of pictures she'd brought. We said good-bye again and Angie felt much better actually watching Jen leave this time.

This is one of the times when we wish we lived closer to our families. Of course, since our families are spread over three states, I'm not sure how we could manage to be closer to all of them. We certainly wish we could see all of you more often.

This was a wonderful visit.

Visit

Angie's Aunt Jen has come for a visit. She is staying in a nearby hotel rather than stretch out on our futon.

Angie warmed up to her right away and we've had a very nice evening together. Jen left just a few minutes ago. As Chas and I returned to the living room Angie started asking us, "Where'd Jen go? Where'd Jen go?"

Fortunately, she'll be back tomorrow.

Parade

There is a parade in my house, outside the computer room.

It has been going on for the last hour.

"Parade todaaaaaaayyyyyy! Hooray! Parade todaaaaaaaay! Hooray! Everybody Parrraaaaaadde!"

She is playing her lollipop drum as she marches between the living room and the hallway outside the computer room.

It is a one person parade, although she has convinced her Daddy to follow her back here a few times. Sometimes it moves quickly and then she pauses outside my door for an enthusiastic solo performance. Afterwards, she'll dart away to the living room again.

She's extremely pleased with the parade. She has a huge smile on her face and her eyes are twinkling brightly.

Other Frequently Heard Phrases:

"Come on Mommy! We can dance!"

"I wanna pick-y up and dance!" Mommy or Daddy then must pick up Angie and dance around.

"Wanna spin." I think you can guess what that leads too. This usually follows Angie having been "picky'ed up."

Do you see a pattern?

An unrelated common phrase:

"Count a me! One Two Free Four Five!" (Translation: Count with me.")