Birthday Bash: Part One

We celebrated Molly's birthday a few days early since she and I will be on the east coast without John for her actual big day. Although she has persisted in saying that she's 20 months when you ask her how old she is, she started saying that she is two years old (sometimes) last night. Couldn't get the fingers working with the statement but she's trying.

She had to feel her way around her birthday hat before it ended up on her noggin.

When she realized that the hat meant people sang to her, though, she was a little mad hatter.

Mmmmhhh... special treat.

Some candle blowing tutelage.

oooooohhh... presents!

When the ladybug piggy bank is empty, it doubles as a viewfinder.

Oh boy, money. This puppy is now about half full after scrounging around for all the change in the house. John told her to fill fast if she wants to go to college.

She also got a water table -- not the best idea to give it to her right before bedtime. She would have happily stuffed change or splashed in water until the wee hours.

Gal Pal

Poor Jack. Sometimes, it's not really practical to grab something made for boys and the poor kid gets stuck in something made for a girl. This little guy is a spitter, a burper, and a tooter so we very often need to make a quick run for something to catch all the, ahem, products of his digestive system. I put all of Molly's pink bibs in her dress up basket for her dolls and I was sitting near it the other day when the little man's stomach's decided to make its move. Sorry little guy -- you do look pretty in pink, though.

Here's another shot... please note the sneaking hand. "Probably, that's my bib")

I Fought The Law And The Law Won

I got this from one of Molly's teachers at school:

Toddler's Property Law

1. If I like it, it's mine
2. If it's in my hand, it's mine
3. If I can take it from you, it's mine
4. If I had it a little while ago, it's mine
5. If it's actually mine, it must never, ever, appear in any way to be yours
6. If I'm doing or building with something, all the pieces are mine
7. If it looks like mine, it's mine
8. If I saw it first, it's mine
9. If you are playing with it and put it down, it's mine
10. If it's broken, it's yours

Jack expresses shock and awe at toddler property rights. He is more used to...

being the property of a certain big sister...

and breathes a sigh of relief when he can safely relax in his dad's arms.

I Can Always Get What I Want

Molly's penchant for negotiation continues to grow. I'm really considering sending her in to barter for our next major purchase (whatever that may be). She'd have that cuteness thing going for her and then she'd unleash her shark-like strategies and wham-o, the competition would be left in the dust. I'm beginning to think that the desire and ability to negotiate is genetic; John could and would and has bargained for almost everything -- we've gotten out of more fees, surcharges, and full prices than I can count. And now, I'm really beginning to see Molly look at her world with a more appraising eye and attempt to cut the best deal for herself.

Example 1 -- Negotiation by fear: she L-O-V-E-S Cozy Coupes. Not any car will do -- it has to be a Cozy Coupe (in Molly-world, it's a Crazy Coupe). They have these at school and the kids can use them at gym time. Her strategy to maximize her time in the Cozy Coupe? Use it until I see another kid who is looking longingly at the car but has caught a few too many hairy eyeballs from the little chauffeur and won't even try to get him/herself a turn dealing with her alone. So, I intervene, talk to Molly about sharing, and she (surprisingly) willingly gives up the car... and then engages in a stare down and a little stalking until the new driver is intimidated enough to return the car to her. No tears, just a little bit of fear and the cycle repeats itself. I can often distract her with a ball for some period of time but I always catch her sneaking back to the other side of the gym and then bee-lining for the car as soon as the other kid has vacated "her" vehicle. She got her own Cozy Coupe from Nana and Grandpa for her birthday so I thought maybe this would make her love affair with the cars at school a little less heated. But, nope, and the other kids continue to run from the mulleted car-jacker and she continues to enjoy the sweet taste of success.

Example 2 -- Negotiation by trying to slip a little extra in the deal: Molly loves the playground (who doesn't??) and is having a harder time leaving than she used to. Today, she really wanted to keep climbing on this one structure (one that I hate because while she climbs up really well, she doesn't climb down and gets stuck and I have to use some major monkey moves to get her down) and poor Jack was hungry and cold so I told her one more time and then we had to go, okay? She sort of cocked her head and nonchalantly said "how about two one-more-times" -- this was a statement, not a question. I was onto her scheme despite her attempt to slip one past this mom who was focused on the fact that I hate this climbing thing.

Example 3 -- Negotiation by cajoling: I am wearing a necklace that is made up of colorful beads that were mine when I was little and I have since restrung. As you can imagine, it's one of John's favorites (are you wearing your kid beads again?). Maybe I should rethink wearing them because they do appeal to the two year old set for whom they were originally intended. Molly looked at my necklace and said "probably that's my necklace." Oh it is, is it? This isn't the first time, either, that she has said that. I hear "probably, that's my binky" or "probably, that's my napkin" when she would like something that someone else has. It's all said very sweetly from this flippant little point of view and you sort of want to say "oh, right, it is, I'm sorry that I took this from my dresser this morning. Of course it's yours... heyyyyyyyyyyyy, wait a minute."

Example 4 -- Negotiation by self-deprecation: Molly, as you may know, loves when people sing to her. She especially loves when people sing wheels on the bus with her own wacky lyrics. The game goes that she'll give you a word (trees, for example) and then you have to come up with correlating response to what trees on the bus do (sway in the wind, for example). Sometimes, you can make up with the trees do, sometimes she has to make it up, and sometimes you have to remember what they did two weeks ago when you sang about the trees. When we sing about smoothies, for instance, sometimes the smoothies go slurp slurp slurp and other times they go yum yum yum. Get it? If you sing the wrong verse on any given day, you'll hear "oh, I'm sorry, actually it's XXX". You really feel like YOU inconvenienced HER even though it's a little hard to intuit what a two year old really wants to hear.

Hey, we all try to get our needs met, right? She just happens to be really good at negotiating her way to success.

Snow Bunnies

After almost six weeks of sharing Penticton with visitors, we are (sadly) on our own again. We decided to get back on the adventuring horse and head out of town with all our babies, toddlers, accompanying gear, and fervent desire to play in the snow. Out to Big White, a ski resort a couple of hours from here, we went. We were close enough to taste the freshies in the pow pow but (very sadly) opted for more stable winter activities. Molly may have died and gone to heaven. I'm not sure she had her mittens on for more than 30 seconds the whole time and ate almost all the snow out of the joint.

Gearing up to go outside.

We pretty much had the woods to ourselves for our snowshoeing outing today. My little heater kept me nice and toasty -- big boy has been bulking up in preparation for being out in the cold. The little peanut got tired of the little stage and has opted for bodybuilding instead.

A little snow never shopped the SS Molly from jumping around. We did some sledding too -- holy smokes, she has a need for speed.

One of our many gondola rides. Wowee.

Being inside the condo was almost as much fun as outside. Apparently, there was a place to "swim"????

This picture really doesn't do this morning's view justice. It was a gorgeous morning of a cloud bank with peaks sticking up about the clouds. Ahhhh, I love winter.

Winter driving, though? Notsomuch. Other family members are bigger fans of driving the path less beaten.

Thanky Panky

I'm thankful for all sorts of things this year. Our own little family is healthy, happy, growing and full of energetic fun; we both have wonderful parents, siblings, in-laws, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins and any other sort of familial configuration one can come up with; and our friends have stood with us and not forgotten us even though we are all the way across and above our home post. I am, really and truly, grateful, humbled, and very touched by all the gifts and well wishes that people have sent our way with regards to our move and Jack's birth. I'm notoriously bad about sending presents and remembering birthdays in a timely manner but people haven't let that stop them from continuing to include us in their lives. This year, being so far from so many who mean so much to us, it has been particularly heart warming. Just like the Grinch, it has made my heart grow three sizes this day (no jokes, I'm not that grouchy in the morning). No other year has Thanksgiving felt as relevant as it does this year.

With all of that said, I am particularly thankful for four people who have made our transition to double parenthood much easier. No, Molly is not one of them, although I love her dearly; let's actually place her on the other side of the helpful list. Our parents have been indispensable in helping us manage over the last many weeks. They have been our chefs, garbage men/women, table fixers, present buyers, toddler distractors, chauffeurs, grocery getters, companions, dishwasher emptiers, sages, and every possible other helpful adjective that you could imagine.

As many of you know, too, I'm very close to my parents and it's been hard to be far away (let's just say that I may still call my dad if I can't figure out why my bike pump isn't working). I can't thank them enough for giving me the time and space to be a new again mom while still being my mom and dad in every way that I needed them to be. Thanks to you guys -- I couldn't have planned it any better.

We wish you all a happy and healthy Thanksgiving this year. Ours is dedicated to our moms and dads.

MIght As Well Face It, I'm Addicted To...

Addict: "a person who is addicted to an activity, habit, or substance". I think I might know one... Who tries to steal a binky that is attached to someone else? And who is sleeping, nonetheless. Molly got totally busted and totally knows it.

Other addictions around here include...

ourselves...

our binkies and ourselves, and...

reading. It apparently doesn't matter on our audience's interest level.