Saturday, August 15, 2009

We're moving!

I've finally decided to simplify my life a bit by consolidating the family blogs into one:


This blog will stick around for archival purposes, but head over to the new one for updates! And be sure to check out the authors of each post, because hilltot and babyhill will be posting on the new blog as well (under their new monikers, zack-zack and mei-mei).

See you there!

Monday, July 27, 2009

The power of "No"

I really like the word "no". It's so much easier to be demanding when I can shake my head and say "no" to everything. Two of my favorite things are to have someone read me a book and to have Mama sing songs to me while I eat. Now, not only can I ask for book time ("REE!" for "read") or song time ("row-row", because Mama usually starts off by singing "Row row row your boat"), but I can keep saying "no" until Mama figures out exactly which book or song I want.

Here's how breakfast went today:
Me: Row-row! Row-row!
Mama: Row row row your boat, gently down the...
Me: NO
Mama: Mary had a little...
Me: NO
Mama: Old McDonald had a...
Me: NO
Mama: The ants go marching...
Me: NO
Mama: Twinkle twinkle little...
Me: NO
Mama: There was a farmer who had a dog and Bingo was his name-oh...
Me: (grin and clap)
See how well that works?

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Needed: Translator

I have a lot of words now and I understand most of what is said to me, but Mama and Daddy seem to need some help with translation. I like certain words and I use them a lot, but for some reason Mama and Daddy seem to think they mean different things and they keep trying to correct me.

Here are some examples (description/their word/my word):
  • where the car lives / garage / bye-bye
  • how we get into the house / door / daddy
  • what we eat / food / poo-poo
  • what I want Mama to do while I eat / sing / row-row
  • who's on Daddy's phone / lots of different people / papa
  • who's on Mama's phone / lots of different people / a-mah
I mean, it's not like I don't understand the words Mama and Daddy use. I also know that my favorite words have different meanings too (i.e. I know who Daddy is and I know how to say "bye bye" to people), so why is it so hard for Mama and Daddy to keep up with me? No matter how patient I am with them or how many times I try to explain, they still use the wrong words for things.

Hopefully this is just a stage and they'll outgrow it soon.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Practice makes perfect

I'm supposed to be sleeping right now, but instead I am in my crib practicing my words:
"No... Oh yeah! No... Oh yeah! Bye-bye! Hi! Ah-MAH! Poo-paw! Poo-poo (hee hee)! Bye-bye! Hiiii! No... Oh nooooo...."
(Poo-paw is my version of Opa)

Friday, July 17, 2009

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Video: Pteradactyl with a ball

This means it's time for bed.

Video: Alone time

Hanging out in my play room with a book, singing a little song

Video: New word

Boys will be boys...

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

Operation Toddler-Proof

Operation Toddler-Proof is a complete failure in our house. So far, Mama hasn't found a single toddler-proofing device that I can't figure out. I pull out all of the outlet covers and bring them to her. I climb on the baby gate. I open all the drawers and cabinets unless Mama turns them against the wall. And today, I managed to take the doorknob cover completely off of the closet door so that I could get inside to play.

In other exciting news, my play room door fell off its hinges this morning. This would normally not be such a big deal because there's a baby gate there to keep me in. But my play room is also the guest room, and it's where Mama and Daddy will be sleeping when babyhill arrives and where A-Mah and Opa will sleep once Mama and Daddy move back upstairs. It opens directly into the dining room (which is open to the rest of the house -- our house is pretty much a giant open floor plan) and is right next to the bathroom. So having a door is pretty critical. Mama is convinced that this means the baby will arrive soon, just when things are falling apart.

In the meantime, Mama wants to get a bunch of baby gates so that she can at least slow me down. She plans to put one inside the closet, so that I won't be able to get inside the closet even though I can open the door. Ditto for the bottom of the stairs, maybe even for the bathroom. Hmmm. Hopefully she'll get more gates like the one we have, which has all kinds of great little footholds for me to use to climb...