Creating Narrative

On Friday, when Husbandguy and I picked Lulu up from school, she told us a story. As HG* was buckling her into her seat she said, "Hector flrow up." I wasn't listening and HG didn't really hear her so we asked her to repeat herself and she said again, "Hector flrow up." HG and I said, "Oh, poor Hector!" and "Is he okay?" and all the other concerned things you say when you hear that someone you don't really know has been sick, and we thought that was the whole story, but we were wrong. Next Lulu said (totally unprompted), "Hector have milk," like that was the reason he threw up. HG and I said, "Oh," and "Um-hum," and stuff and thought that was the end, but it wasn't. Then she said, "Tonya pat her" (give her a break on the pronoun - she's just barely 21 months old). That was the story: Hector threw up, he had milk, and Tonya patted him. She told us this all on her own, which totally impressed me. She recalled events and shared them with us, thinking we'd be interested.

I told her grandpa about it and he was impressed too. He said she was initiating and maintaining conversation and "creating narrative" and agreed that the story and her telling it were surprisingly advanced skills for my toddler.

When I dropped her off on Monday, I asked her teacher about it, and guess what! Lulu made it up!! Hector didn't throw up; he usually drinks juice with his lunch; but, she said, if he had, it would have been reasonable for Tonya to pat him.

She was literally creating narrative.


*I like the label "HG" better than "DH" so after this that's what he'll be.

Dinner Last Night

At dinner last night (without the girls, remember), Husbandguy and I were seated next to a family of 4 with a toddler and a big kid, and the toddler was trying to run off and the big kid was being very loud and wiggly, and Husbandguy and I were reminded of how nice it was that Nana and Poppop could give us a few hours to ourselves to have a quiet dinner. Know what we talked about? The girls, duh!

Date

Husbandguy and I have our anniversary date tonight. We'll be going to dinner without the girls! What will we talk about?!

Just Blame the Baby

This morning I was in the bathroom and I needed paper and the roll was empty (I said that as delicately as I could; you get it, right?). So I looked around because sometimes if someone is in a hurry they might just set a roll on the counter or back of the toilet or somewhere nearby. But there was nothing. So I had to get up and cross the bathroom to the linen closet where we keep the extra paper. Later, when I asked Husbandguy about it, he blamed Lulu. Who doesn't use toilet paper. And who doesn't know where we keep the extra. And who is not yet 2 years old. And he meant it! He wasn't kidding. He was really saying that my toddler was at fault for the toilet paper not being replaced. As an apology he said this, "I'm sorry you didn't have any toilet paper." !! Jerk!

Shhh! Don't Tell Husbandguy

At the grocery store this morning I discovered that King Arthur makes a white whole wheat flour. He'll never know...

Ten Years? Really?

Today is Husbandguy and my anniversary. Ten years ago today we picked up Moomie's mom and met Nana, Poppop, Moomie, DH's best friend and PSP at the courthouse. The Grandpa's dad was sick and he had to choose where he was going to be and we missed him very much but he made the choice I would have made. It was Friday. As DH and I were driving away from our house, I noticed a car parked a couple of houses down that looked a lot like Moomie's. It turned out that it was Moomie. She was waiting for us to leave so she could sneak into our house and leave us a little cake and some champagne and flowers. She thought we'd go the other way out of the neighborhood, away from where she was, and when we pulled out and started driving toward her she had to quickly duck down in her seat so we wouldn't see her. Silly Moomie. The whole thing was pretty simple. We got to watch the couple before us get married because they hadn't realized they needed witnesses and the bride found Moomie in the bathroom and asked her if she would be willing to be a witness. During their ceremony, Moomie's mom asked, "What if she says no?" which fortunately made everyone laugh. Then we paid the magistrate the small fee and he married us. No big deal. Just right for us. Then we had dinner. It was wonderful. And low-key. And if I had it to do again I wouldn't change anything except maybe I'd get my hair done. A couple of years later we went to the wedding of one of DH's coworkers in a Catholic church. During the homily, the priest said that people who were married at the courthouse weren't actually married, but it seems to be sticking so far. And the IRS doesn't seem to care...

Anyway, happy anniversary Stinky! Eye (still) rub ewe!

The Trouble with Lulu

Lulu has been having a difficult time recently, behavior-wise. She wants what she wants when she wants it and she melts down if she doesn't get it. This is making Husbandguy crazy because if he's home, what she wants is Daddy, but that doesn't mean she's going to do what Daddy wants her to do. So I looked in my book that Moomie gave me (Ilg, Frances L. M.D., et al. Child Behavior: The classic child care manual from the Gesell Institute of Human Development. New York, NY. Harper Perennial, 1981.), and it turns out that Lulu is actually two-and-a-half. Here we were thinking she is 20 months old. Apparently we were wrong, though.

New Chairs

My aunt and uncle sent me my grandmother's kitchen table and a couple of the chairs that went with it a few years back, and I love the table. Husbandguy doesn't like the chairs because they don't seem sturdy enough to him and, frankly, could use a little repair. Plus, there were only two. So we've been sitting on folding card table chairs. But yesterday we found perfect chairs, unfinished and inexpensive. Now I have a project! I get to finish the chairs and refinish the table to look however I want. There are so many options. What to do? What to do? Any suggestions? Poppop said to paint them pink. Lulu liked that idea, but it's not really my style... What do you guys think?

Oh! BTW

Husbandguy is not making me return the upside down planter thingy. He just laughed at me when I showed him and agreed it's worth trying. I'll post pictures once we get it going...

She Knows What to Do

Yesterday, Pete was watching "Curious George," and it happened to be about George's piggy bank. Husbandguy and Lulu sat down and watched with Pete, and when they got to the part where George was trying to figure out how to get his money out of his bank, Lulu became very distressed. Being the helpful little toddler she is, she yelled, very loudly at the TV, "Shake it, Jzhorzh!" She seemed definitely irritated that he wasn't taking her advice!

Does This Happen to You?

I had to promise Husbandguy that I would only go to Target every other week because I always spend way too much. I'm sure I'm not the only one with this problem. Right? RIGHT?! Like today, I needed laundry detergent, juice, and cream for Lulu's exzema. That should have cost less than $20, really, because the store brand is cheaper and exactly the same so I usually get that (except for the detergent). But I spent $60 somehow! I put at least $40 worth of stuff back so it could have been much worse. He's probably going to make me take one thing back. It's this As-Seen-on-TV thing that grows your tomato plant upside down! But maybe if I show him the cute little scooter (skirt) I got for Pete that only cost 60¢ he'll let me keep it - the planter thing. It's really for Pete. I don't even eat tomatoes!

My Turn Yet?

Remember I thought I had food poisoning Wednesday? I waited until Friday morning to take my steroids because of it, which worked out okay because that way I was able to enjoy Pete's best friend-who's-a-boy's birthday party on Saturday. I planned to crash on Sunday and Monday, when Husbandguy would be home still (holiday, you know) and could look after the girls. Except that the food poisoning turned out to be a virus that DH caught and so was out of commission all day Sunday. My day to crash and recover. And not have to be The Mom. So being less sick (and also the stronger of the two of us, except when lifting) I got to Power Through and spend the day looking after my girls. A job I enjoy. Usually. When I'm not all feeling like my skull is WAY bigger than my brain. Luckily we didn't need to drive anyone anywhere. Today, Monday, DH is "better," but being the Man has spent the day complaining about how weak he is, blah, blah, blah, "not 100%," etc. He did drive us to Build-A-Bear this morning because he'd promised Pete we'd go yesterday. And he said he'll clean the kitchen in a little bit. And he okayed ordering pizza for dinner instead of me cooking. I'm not really sure what I'm complaining about. He didn't get sick on purpose, I know. I just feel slighted, I guess, because I have to plan when I take my steroids around everyone's schedule so I can successfully recover without making anyone miss anything and I'm just not getting to this time. And I can't do it tomorrow because I have to host another principal's coffee...

Turns Out...

The egg pie was apparently not poisoned. 'Cause I'm 100% certain that Husbandguy didn't eat any yesterday, and he's got the same sickness I had on Wednesday...

Yuck

I feel yuck today, which is wrong because I should be all full of energy from the mega steroids I took yesterday. All they're doing though is keeping me from being able to rest.

Also, once Husbandguy double checks my numbers on our taxes I can file them. It always surprises me that they don't take as long to do as I expect they should. So I make him look them over in case I missed something. I'm pretty sure they're done, though.

Lulu and the Cookie

The other day I was having trouble getting Lulu to sit in her high chair. She kept standing in it, which makes me nervous because she's so wiggly and one time she almost fell out (she fell into her food instead and got ketchup all over her face, which made her unhappy - but not enough to not stand in her chair anymore). So she stood up one time while she was eating her cookie and I said, "Sit down while you eat your cookie or I'll take it away," and when she didn't sit down, I stood up and started moving toward her and she took the cookie and quickly stuffed the whole thing in her mouth! Husbandguy laughed, of course, and I admit that I did too. Since I couldn't take the cookie, though, I made her get down instead, which made her unhappy (but not enough to not stand in her chair again). Maybe I'll see if those strappy buckle things might keep her sitting...

Someone Poisoned the Egg Pie! And Pete's Valentine Poem

Egg pie is actually crustless quiche, which is not the same as a fritatta. Pete likes egg pie so I made one the other day and had leftovers for lunch yesterday and then spent the evening um... let's just say being sick (you don't really need details, do you?). I'm thirsty this morning and can't take my steroids like I'd planned to do today, but also I'm starting to feel a little bit hungry. I wonder what kind of crackers we have...

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Pete's Valentine Poem

Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
I hope you have a happy Valentines Day.
I hope you like this poem too.

Unfortunately Pete can't find the original copy of her poem and had to recite it for me instead of me being able to read it. She swears it was in her book bag. I suspect that it might have been in a clothes pocket or something and went through the laundry, though, because there were little bits of red and white paper in the medium color load I just put in the dryer. She'll be very disappointed when I tell her. But it's a great poem nonetheless. Right?

LL Says:

Lulu wanted to share her cookie with her dad the other day, but he really didn't want any so I suggested that maybe he could pretend to take a bite. He did that and handed it back to Lulu who immediately gave it back to him saying, "Eat real, Daddy. Eat real!" He took a real bite then, because how could he not?!

Happy Sunday!

What are you doing today? We're going to Moomie's to celebrate her birthday and pick up Pete, who spent the night there last night. We're taking Moomie and Pappap out for lunch and then we're going back to their house for Lemon Confetti Angel Food cake (my creation) and presents. It should be fun. Our plan for the afternoon is to just take it easy. I might try to talk husbandguy into going to Lowe's and getting a new sliding screen door, but other than that I got nothing planned.

I hope you've got a nice day planned (or unplanned if you're trying to take it easy).

Singing

This morning, Lulu was having her Cheerios in her Snowman bowl and it inspired me to whistle (whistle, not sing) "Let It Snow." Guess what Lulu did! She sang along!! "Netih sno, netih sno, netih snow," she sang. How did she know?!

Also, Pete's class learned "You Are My Sunshine" yesterday in music, and Pete sang it for me this morning. The whole thing! Moomie, if you think of it, ask her to sing it for you this weekend. It's wonderful to listen to. I had to sing the "you-are-my" part at the beginning to help her remember how it started, but then she sang the whole thing. She just learned it yesterday!

We like singing in this house. Everyone sings. Except Husbandguy. And that's just because he doesn't think he can, but I bet he could if he tried. He does like to listen to Lulu and Pete sing, though. Most of the time. Not when Pete is singing "opera"...

I'm Not Laughing AT Him...

I'm laughing because of him. Usually Husbandguy is very calm, low-key, hard-to-anger, level-headed. On Sunday, though, he tried to go outside to grill the burgers we were having for dinner. To get there, he had to go through the playroom, which looks like someone came through with a giant blender so getting through it can be kind of tricky. Once he made it to the door, he tried to open the sliding screen door, but it's broken and doesn't slide anymore. Let me just say that the door had been open, the screen door, for weeks until Sunday afternoon when DH closed it. So the fact that he had to get through it to get outside was his own doing. He was already frustrated about the condition of the playroom, and the fact that he couldn't actually get outside after the perilous 6-foot trek made it worse. He stood there wrestling with the door for a little while and then, in a very uncharacteristic way, finally just ripped it off the track and tossed it up against the side of the house. I didn't laugh at the time because he was so irritated, but every time I think about it now I have to giggle. My husband, The Incredible Hulk. I reminded him about it yesterday and he claimed he didn't think it was funny, but he was laughing inside.

I think I'll clean the playroom today. It's Pete's job, but it's mostly Lulu's mess. So I'll do it.