Upon Arriving Home Tonight

I returned home, opened the kitchen door to find the following:

Angie leaping/skipping/running from the living room, through the kitchen and into the bedroom shouting, "Daddy! Have you finished the errands? Have you finished the errands Daddy?" A few seconds later, she reversed the route (bedroom-kitchen-living room), shouting once again, "Daddy! Have you finished the errands? Have you finished the errands Daddy?"

I personally witnessed at least six identical complete trips.

My dear husband was sitting at the kitchen table, beside his laptop, head resting on his hand with an exhausted, bemused expression.

I can only imagine how long this had been going on.

He looked at me and said, "She had a really good nap."

Happy Birthday!

Here is the Birthday Girl. Four wonderful years old!

And yes that is a princess gown. And yes, said princess is happily checking the status of her ray gun, borrowed to complete her ensemble from cousin Ethan.

Her namesake would be so proud.

Her Daddy and I are most definately proud. We love you very much little one.

Developmental art

While we waited for the Doctor to come to the examination room, we were trying to keep Angie amused. I keep some crayons in my purse (it will be a sad day when those crayons are no longer an effective distraction) and offered them to Angie. She took them and I suggested that she draw on the paper that covers the exam table.

On her own, with no prompting from either of us, Angie began to draw people. She drew "Mommy," "Daddy," and "Angie." The cool part was that her people had dots for eyes and noses, a line for their mouths, arms and legs. Very exciting. Not in the establishment of world peace or discovery of cheap efficient alternative fuel kind of way, but exciting in the observation of a mind putting things together for the first time and finding her own forms of expression.

My Mother in Law (who teaches four year olds) assures me that this is developmentally very good.

I just think it is so cool.

And foolish me. I forgot to snag the paper from the exam table when we left.

Call Her Bubble Girl

We went to Angie's allergist today. She has had small, itchy red patches on her ears, wrists and knees.

Excema of course.

The Doctor's solution:

Only bathe her once or twice a week. Reduce the amount of time she spends in the bath. Don't use soap if you don't need to. Slather her in lotion until greasy. Stay away from pools. Don't let her out under certain conditions. Don't let her do x, y or z.

Essentially, place child in bubble. Do not let anything touch her.

Errr. Yeah.

My child who loves bath time. My child who is so active that she really does need regular baths.

Ummm. Got any other ideas?

So we have a special hydrocortisone cream, and we'll keep her in lotion, and we will shorten bath time.

That's our girl:

Loves fruits and vegetables (hates sweets except ice cream), but she has oral allergy syndrome so her body has allergic reactions to carrots (big favorite), celery (another favorite) and apples (yet another favorite) among many others.

Asks for bathtime, so she of course can't be in the water too much.

We have a kid who does all the good things and we have to limit her.

Sheesh.

Mommy's Girl

Angie really likes the Muppet Show. Chas and I wanted to expose her to the classics, so we have ensured that she has watched the few dvds that we have.

She requests them by color or name ("Green one" or "Steve Martin"). She has dubbed some of her pony accessories (crowns and brushes) to be "Gilda Radner Stuff."

Much to my delight, she likes the Star Wars episode with Mark Hamil, C3PO, R2D2 and Chewbacca the Wookie.

Like me she love Gonzo, and so she runs around telling me earnestly, "Mommy do you know how Dearth Nader is? He is the Greatest Gonzo!" She loves Dearth Nader.

Bursting with pride I am.

Do I sometimes worry that I'm just creating a second generation nerd? Maybe. But I think I'll focus on making her comfortable with her preferences and choices.

Storyteller

Angie has been reading books to me while I stitch. Angie's version of one book goes a bit like this:

Once upon a time on a lonnnnnng day, there was a little gorilla, whose name was Angela!

And she had a mommy and daddy, and grandma and grandpa and aunts and uncles and cousins.

Awww. And they all loved her.

And this monkey is a gorilla.

And this monkey is a snake.

And this monkey is a parrot.

And this monkey is a pygmy marmuset.

And the hippo takes Angie the gorilla here. (Points vigorously at page).

And then the little gorilla grew big and now she wasn't little anymore.

Awwww.

Toy of the Moment

Play doh-doh.

A classic. We've played with play-doh every night this week. We've made elephants and swans who met tragic ends. We've had wormins playing kickball. Tonight we had a dog named Mel with a bowl full of bones and a biscuit that became a cookie.

Not my sandals

Tonight we were going to water the plants outside (one of Angie's favorite activities because it involves making mud whe she does it).

I picked up her sandals and said, "Let's put your sandals on."

She replied, "No Mommy, those are not my sandals. Those are my handy dandy sandals!"

Favorite Story

Angie's current favorite story is the one about "the Family." It goes like this:

Once upon a time, there was a mommy, a daddy and a little girl named Angela.
They all lived together in a cozy little grey house.
All day long, they snuggled, and cuddled, and wiggled and giggled and tickled each other.
They loved each other very much.
The End.