Monday, April 25, 2011

"Ashes...ashes..."

"Ring Around the Rosy" was one of the first songs that Hayden learned and it surprised me because she would spin in circles and sing "Ashes...ashes..." I found it odd that "down" wasn't part of the singing.

We like to sing and we like to dance...so the other day I was in the living room with both girls and I started singing "Ring Around the Rosy" - Lucy got her sway on and rocked to the beat before squatting down quickly at the end.

When I didn't continue, Lucy began turning in circles in the living room and singing for herself:

"Ashes.....ashes.........DOWN! Ashes....ashes......DOWN!"

She cracks herself up. ♥

Totty Tots & coshclothes...

We grilled the other night because, well, that's what we do a couple of nights a week. I decided to do some oven-baked tator tots to go with the hot dogs and burgers. When we brought them in and put them down, Hayden says "Ooooh, I like totty tots, Momma!" Totty tots? I think that might be my new favorite food! Totty Tots for all! ♥

She has a thing for the washcloth as well. She loves to wash her hands, her face and everything else that she can find. This usually means tables, books, toys, walls and floors. I would not mind if she would use a different cloth for each task but there's likely a whole party of cross-contamination going on! She spies a washcloth and it's on "Momma. I need coshcloth." Coshcloth? 

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

The Blue One...

On Monday night, April 4th, Brad & I were in the kitchen making dinner. All of a sudden there was a low whine and sniffling cry coming from the living room. There lay Hayden face down on the floor crying rather softly. She stood up and said "my arm owie". For the next 30 minutes we tried to determine what actually hurt and after realizing she would not use her right arm, off to Urgent Care she went with Brad.

And so I waited. Two hours later, I see a little blonde running across the backyard. I open the door to a happy "HI MOMMA!" from a little girl in the smallest sling I've ever seen but carrying a huge milkshake in her other arm. Her arm was "owie" but she had a milkshake for dinner! Best. Day. Ever.

Turns out they weren't sure of the injury so I took her Tuesday to Flathead Orthopedic Center to have more x-rays for a second opinion. Turns out, there appeared to be a fractured radius which meant a cast on my poor little sweet girl. The nurses tried desperately to talk Hayden into the pretty pink or purple but she was having none of it. "No. I want the blue one!" "But the pink is sooooo pretty..." "NO. BLUE ONE."

So, blue one it was.


We were told that she would need to wear it for two weeks at which point she'd return, have the cast removed and more x-rays done. If all was well, she'd be cast free. If there still seemed to be a fracture, she'd have the cast on for another 2 weeks.

The two weeks went by fast! The cast barely slowed Hayden down at all, other than needing some help here and there to get dressed, go potty, climb on things. Fortunately it wasn't until the last couple of days that she realized it made a good weapon and would use it to bonk Lucy on the head. There were the occasional hissy fits where she would slam her arm into the wall, the floor, the couch, or whoever happened to be within striking distance. Yay for the terrible two's! There were a few times that she settled and was sweet and happy...


She does love her little sister. :) 
So two weeks past and yesterday I brought her back into Flathead Ortho for a follow up. She sat like a champ while they cut it off her arm, mesmerized by the tool they used. The 1st x-ray was a bit of a fight because she remembered that last time, it hurt to move her arm for the picture. The 2nd one was a bit better and by the 3rd picture, she was holding her arm out and saying "CHEESE!" into the "camera". Then the tech gave her about 452 Barney stickers which she thought were pretty cool. 

While we waited for the doctor, she arranged the stickers on her arm and said "Look Momma, I have a new one cast!" The doctor came in and gave us the all clear. No more casts! There was much rejoicing and many M&M's! 

So Hayden has had what neither her father nor I have ever had. A cast. Here's hoping it's NOT the first of many. We did save "the blue one" to show Hayden when she is older.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Potty training...

Over the end of our Christmas break, we decided to potty train Hayden. Of course, we are not ones to go into things slowly (clearly) so naturally, we opted for Potty Training Boot Camp! Diapers to big girl underwear instantly. No weaning, no warning.

I had no idea a child could pee so much. Thank God for hardwood floors because we spent the better part of two days cleaning up Flathead Lake-sized puddles from the house. The challenge was intensified by the fact that Lucy wanted to play in the new puddles. Weeeeeee..... the race was on to clean it up before she got to it.

By the third day, she was doing very well at going pee on the potty and we would make a huge deal about it "Oh Hayden!! Good job!! We are SO proud of you!! You are SO smart!!" I have also discovered that I am not above bribing my children to do things I want them to do. "If you go on the potty, I will give you M&M's/stickers/chocolate milk/ice cream/a Porsche when you turn 16." *sigh* The problem with this was that as soon as the bribe du jour left my mouth she'd say "Momma, I done."

But really...it was about two weeks total until she was going through every day without an accident at all. We really were VERY proud of her, though we still use a Pull-Up at night until she wakes up dry on a more consistent basis.

The praising did backfire a bit. She thought it was fun for both of us to go potty together. She'd use her little potty and I'd use the big one. She learned to praise me as well. Fine and dandy until we were in a public restroom and this little person is next to me in a loud and enthusiastic voice saying "Oh Momma! You go pee in the potty! GOOD JOB, Momma. You so smart...."

I tried to ignore the giggles.

Even more catching up to do: Lucy

This little girl has changed SO much in the last several months. She went from crawling to walking and now runs at warp-baby speed all over the place. She is talking and talking and talking and has quite the sense of humor.

Vocabulary to date:

Momma
Dada
Juice! ("ghoosh")
Cheese ("ghoosh")
Milk ("ghoosh" - but to be fair, I think all drinks are "ghoosh")
'tside  (outside)
Down
Puppah (puppy...though everything with 4 legs is a puppah right now)
BITE!
MINE!
Jmp (jump)
'ssat? (what's that?)
Cack-AH (cracker)
No
Hi!
Bye-bye!
Eh-mo (Elmo...and she almost sings it when she says it Ehhh-moo)
Shoes (which also sounds a bit like "ghoosh")

Lucy has a personality that shines like no other. She is happy and spirited and full of life, even at such a young age. She screams and screeches like a little banshee at all times when chasing or being chased by Hayden or anyone else. She stomps her little feet like mad when she is excited about something or someone. She does NOT like it when you remove a source of happiness from her - do not take her ice cream cup away or her toy.

She tries to put her shoes on and clips in her hair - she knows where they go but the motor skills aren't quite there yet. I think she's a brilliant child. There are so many differences between her & Hayden at the same ages - Lucy surprises me with how vocal she is because Hayden didn't want to say a word until she was about 18-19 months.

A little catching up to do: Hayden

She's truly a character. A quick run down of the latest and greatest since I have been incredibly TERRIBLE about keeping up on this blog and I know that I will kick myself sometime down the road:

"CHOOdooooIN'? " is Hayden-speak for "What are you doing?" and is said about 15 times a day. When I'm cooking, cleaning, on the computer, changing Lucy, or doing virtually anything, I can count on Miss Hayden to show up and ask me "CHOOdoooooIN'?"

She has become quite the fan of Dora the Explorer and has also become bilingual in the process. While attempting to move Olive (our friend's black lab) the other day, she exclaimed "Help me! AYUDAME!" Say whut? Go girl. Next stop...Miami!

ABC's are done quite well now and she knows most of her letters by sight. Counting is coming along although she seems to prefer odd numbers? 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, "leben", 12...

Favorite songs are: Elmo, Dora, Row Row, Spider (as in Itsy Bitsy), Sunshine (You Are My), "AB" (Alphabet Song), Twinkle, and of course, Jingle Bells?! We sing all of them every single night before bed. She must choose the order though because if you sing it wrong, she won't like it. 

Running through the house and in circles is a favorite past-time of this toddler. "MOMMA! Let's run! Come on!" Down the hall, through the bedrooms, around the kitchen, around the kitchen again, one more time for good measure, through the living room annnnddddd....repeat! It's a great workout. Lucy follows as fast as she can behind.

Hayden LOVES her little sister - they play and run and scream and hit. ♥ What more could I ask for? Hayden will give Lucy big sister hugs and say "I yuv you, Nu-nu". ♥
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...