Bert & Ernie

Most mornings when Lola wakes up, I take her into bed with us to snuggle for a little bit. I have this romantic notion in my mind of the two of us sleeping together in the big bed, spooning and cuddling. I love to look at her sleeping, with her rosy cheeks, snug in her bed surrounded by an increasing number of stuffed animals and dolls. She is such an angel when she sleeps.

A little while ago, Ryan was out with a friend and he was going to spend the night away from home. I was very tired that day and when I put Lola to bed, I decided to turn in as well. And since I had all this extra room in my bed, I took the opportunity to let her sleep with me and live out my fantasy.

It was a nightmare! She would not stop talking at first. At one point she had become quiet and I thought she had fallen asleep. I was almost gone myself when she grabbed my nose and started singing "I like to move it, move it..." from the Madagascar movie with the dancing hippo shaking her booty. It was as funny as it was annoying. I kept shushing her until at long last she was silent.

Unfortunately, that was not the end of it. She wouldn't lay still either. She tossed and turned, kicked me countless times, climbed over me to my other side (and again, and again), she even fell out of bed once. I tried putting her back in her own bed but it was too late for that. She wouldn't have it. It was hours later when she at last conked out. By that time I was wide awake, of course.

It reminded me of the Bert & Ernie skit where the two of them are in bed and Ernie keeps waking up a tired and sleepy Bert to tell him something trivial. "Bert, Bert, wake up Bert..." By the time Ernie finally falls asleep, Bert is wide awake. At least he had his own bed.

So much for romantic mother and daughter sleepovers. Live and learn. And sleep.

Bad Hair

Whilst enjoying some lovely Washington weather (read: it has been pouring rain here for days) I was reminded of an earlier post about the lack of umbrellas in Olympia. I blamed it on the beanie hat wearing hippies that make up a large part of the local population.

Turns out I was right. Olympia is the second worst hair city in the US. Only the citizens of Corpus Cristi TX have grubbier hair. There are twenty five listed hairstylists for a city of approximately 45.000. No wonder everyone covers up their hair.

Puppy Love

Lola loves animals. She wants nothing more than to play with them. "Bird!", she exclaims whenever she sees a robin in the backyard, and charges after it, never quite catching up. She is always happy to see Sandman and is completely oblivious to the fact he does not reciprocate. "Hi Sandman!" when she walks in the door, "Bye Sandman!" when we leave.

Lola especially loves dogs. Not too many dogs want to play with her, though. Most dogs are afraid of small children. Perhaps because they are unpredictable, make too many sudden moves, are too rough, or because they instinctively feel they need to stay away to avoid the possible wrath of the mother. But this weekend when we were playing in the park, there was a puppy that did not run away.

He probably should have. You see, he was a boy puppy and boy puppies have parts you can pull on. Add sexual harassment to the list of reasons why dogs do not like small children. Poor puppy...

Sing-A-Long Post

Because The Sound of Music is a classic, everyone should be able to sing along! Here we go. One, two, three...

Raisins in noses
A daughter that cringes
Saline filled hoses
And blue bulb syringes
One screaming toddler
That's tied down with strings
These are a few of my least favorite things

I didn't really tie Lola down with strings, I pinned her down with my legs but that doesn't rhyme. Nor was it a hose filled with saline. Just a little tube. In the end there was no raisin to be found in her nose. She probably just pushed up a booger while she was picking her nose and eating raisins at the same time.

That'll teach her!

Arts & Crafts

A few days ago I played hooky and left work early to enjoy a few hours of sun. Totally engrossed in planting petunia's, I lost track of time and was a little late picking up Lola. Carla opened the door looking frazzled, begging me to take my child far, far away. The child was already in her jammies and her hair looked wet, as if she had just taken a bath. I wasn't that late. Hmmm, strange...

It turns out Lola is slowly becoming a One Nap A Day Girl and didn't sleep at all during her afternoon nap. She just hung out in her crib. Evidently she got bored after a while and decided to do some painting. With the contents of her diaper. Poor Carla. While I was enjoying the sunshine and fresh air, she had to deal with my filthy child. And I honestly thought Lola hated getting her hands dirty!

We brought Carla a basket of petunia's to make amends. And LOTS of baby wipes.

Grandma In A Pocket

Lola was checking my pockets for grandma, yesterday. First she investigated the right pocket. When she didn't find what she was looking for, she got up, walked over to my other side and looked in the left pocket. "Grandma in pocket?" No. No grandma to be found in either pocket, but she did find a box of raisins. She settled for that.

She was looking for my digital camera. She knows it holds pictures of her grandmother. Ever since we have returned from Arizona, Lola loves to look at pictures of her grandma. She once saw a picture of Judy on Facebook, so now whenever I take out the computer, Lola comes running up to me "Grandma, grandma!", directing me to Judy's homepage.


I remember taking pictures of my nephews with an old-fashioned camera, several years ago. The youngest came up to me, wanting to look at the 'little pictures'. I tried to explain how in the old days there was such a thing as film and developing pictures. A time consuming process. And no preview. "Oh."

Growing up in the digital age will do that to you.

Lola Speaks

Proud Mom Report
We were waiting in the checkout line at Jo-Ann fabric and craft store this morning, when out of the blue Lola started counting. All the way to ten! The only one she skipped was seven. Child prodigy for sure!

Not So Proud Mom Report
Lola is developing a bit of a potty-mouth. No idea where she picks up these words. Ahem. The 'mot du jour' starts with an ef and ends with uck. She likes to say it with feeling, loud and clear, for everyone to hear. When I tell her it's an ugly word she cannot use, she looks at me and says it louder. Testing boundaries is fun!

The 'do as I say, not as I do' parenting technique does not seem to be working. Mouth rinses all around, then!

Public Plea

The Young And The Cunning

Update from the potty training front. We have had one hit so far, to everyone's delight but Lola's. She was SHOCKED. There have been several misses too. You have to be quick when she yells "Poopie!"

Most of the time however, when she stands in front of me, pulling on the snap buttons of her onesie, it's a ploy to get me to take off her clothes and diaper. Once she's naked, she sits down on the potty for a few seconds pretending to strain. Then it's "All done!" and she's off. Good luck getting her dressed again. I am as much in awe of this cleverness as I am annoyed by it.

Potty Training

Lola handed me a turd this evening, as she was getting ready for bed. A fresh one, still warm and slightly sticky. I didn't immediately realize what it was when she laid it in my hand. Ryan got it just before I did. We have officially begun potty training, I guess. Please join us on our exciting journey as we learn to aim for the potty, rather than mom's hand.

The Party Sink

It's called a party tub. Ours is bright red, oval shaped, and made of plastic. Its purpose is to be filled with ice and drinks at parties. For us it is a sink. It holds our dirty dishes until we are ready to clean them. And sometimes, like yesterday, it doubles as a wash tub or a bathtub.



Lola has obviously beaten the bug.

Friday Funnies

Lola whacked me over the head this morning in bed. She does this quite often. (I am surprised she hasn't broken my nose yet.) But this time she gave me a kiss on the ouch spot and said: "Sowwy." It was the first time she did that. Needless to say, the pain magically went away. Instantly.

Carla already had a house full of kids when I dropped Lola off. Dylan (4) had spent the night and was in the bathroom getting dressed. When my daughter tried to enter the bathroom, Dylan popped his head out and declared: "Lola wants me."

They grow up so fast.

In Sickness And In Health

My child has the sniffles. I picked her up at daycare last Thursday with a runny nose, a sore throat, and a mild fever. Aside from the copious amounts of snot coming out of her little body, her symptoms have passed. Straight onto my husband. Now he suffers from a sore throat, a mild fever, and a runny nose. Between the two of them, they have gone through four large boxes of Kleenex with Lotion in four days. The occasional complaint about his aching body notwithstanding, Ryan is dealing with it pretty well. For a guy.

Lola has been very good about it too. Until this morning. I understand me attacking her nose with a baby wipe to get the crusty bits off, was not pleasant. But every time I wiped her nose, she would have a meltdown. When I ran outside for a minute to get some firewood and wouldn't take her with me, she had a meltdown. When I turned my back to do the dishes (no small feat in the barn, I tell you), she had a meltdown. Mommy was about to have a meltdown of her own. All I wanted to do this morning was get the dishes done and start dinner before I went to work.

I finally gave up. I told Lola, in English for some reason, I had had enough and I was taking her to Carla. I would drop her off, return home and do my darn dishes in peace and quiet! When we got to Carla's house, she was happy again. Inside she took off her boots and her socks and walked up to Carla with her face tilted, inviting her to wipe her nose. After Carla had cleaned it, Lola said: "All done!" No protesting, no crying. I could not believe my eyes. The Big Faker! I told her so, too. Then I bent down to give her a kiss and say good-bye. Do you know what she said to me?

"Peace."

She gets that from her dad.

Mr Positive

Last night, right before we went to bed, Ryan was looking around in the barn. When I asked him what he was doing, he said he was looking at the wall, at the structure of the barn. I get that. I like to look at the structure too. It will be a shame almost to cover it up eventually.

I especially like the ceiling. The beams, the cross beams, and the studs that hold it in place. The only thing I am not too sure of, aesthetically speaking, is the ceiling boards. They say 'This Side Down' on them. Quite clearly. When I mentioned this to Ryan, he replied: "At least people will know we got it right. It would be so much worse if they said 'This side up'..."

Trashcan Treasures

Oh Lola...

Denglish

I speak Dutch with Lola, everyone else English. As a result Lola speaks Denglish. She says "ja" in Dutch but "no" in English. She says "bye-bye" in English but "hallo" in Dutch. Actually it's "hawwo." She has some difficulty pronouncing the L. She calls herself "Wowa." S’s are also pretty problematic. At least when they are located at the end of a word. She can say "I see..." but not "poes". I thought "Sandman" would be a bit ambitious so I call the cat "poes" around her. Whenever she sees him, it's "Ha poef." His cue to take off. She loves him so, he still doesn’t feel the same. Alas.

Lola repeats everything I say these days. In the morning we drink a "kopje koffie" (a cup of coffee) - well, I do, she drinks milk. She can't have coffee until she's four. But she can say it. (I don't know where the four comes from; you'll have to ask my mom about that, it’s her rule.)

We have funny conversations with each other. I told her during a diaper change "You stink," to which she replied "I know." Ryan feels I give her more credit on her language skills than she deserves. He will often ask her silly questions just to emphasize that her answering the question correctly does not mean she actually understands it. He claims she says "Ja" to everything.

"Are you going to climb the Empire State Building?"
"Ja."

"Are you going to party with your friends?"
"Ja."

"Is dad funnier than mom?"
"No."

My girl cracks me up.

When she drops something or makes a mess, it’s "Oh Lola!" In a painfully high pitch. When she finds something it's "A-ha!", "Boing..." when she falls. "All done," she'll declare when she's had enough of whatever it is she's doing or eating. Occasionally, when I point out there's a big pile of food on the table rather than on her plate, she'll act all surprised. Where did that come from? We are currently working on "I love you."

"I wuv you."
"I lllllllllove you."
"I wuv you."

Those darn L’s.

For a long time I was convinced Lola's first words would be "Bless you" because of the amount of sneezing going on in our house. No. When she started talking, she said the usual first words for a child; da-da, ma-ma, aardbei (Dutch for strawberry). But this morning, when I sneezed, she said it. It may sound different than when I say it, but I heard it loud and clear.

Ah-choo.
"Bwev you."