Hidden surprises

First let me tell you that Amelia is mastering the art of computing. She has figured out how to use a mouse (though she pushes the left button with her thumb, somehow) and enjoys coloring Thomas the Train on line. Funny thing is, Amelia almost always colors the pictures the same way. She always starts by coloring the face black, and then colors most of the rest of the train (or bus) grey and brown.

Before she became the computer expert that she now is, I was helping her to color a train when I clicked a wrong color in a wierd location. I said, "Oops! I messed it up." and went on to fix the train. Later, while I was helping Amelia with a similar project she said, "You messed it up!" I'm glad she now has a new phrase to use with mommy.

You can't be too careful what you say around young ones. A couple of days ago I asked Amelia to come to the table for dinner and she said, "I'm busy right now, just a minute." I wonder where she got that one from?

Mommy and daddy have been spending a lot of time cleaning house recently. I have even started working on my new drapes. At one point I couldn't find a tape measure, but I finally located it in my tool box (where it belongs). Daddy always seems to put things where they should go: pens in drawers, hammers in the toolbox, etc. and then I can't find them.

In contrast, little Diana puts all kinds of strange things in really funny places and yet I always find them. I found a pen I had been using in the drawer where I keep aluminum foil and plastic wrap. I later watched (and giggled) as Diana stuffed the shorts she had been wearing into the open door of the refrigerator.

I guess what I'm saying is that I wouldn't leave any small, valuable items around when Diana is visiting; you may not see them for weeks.

Lisa

Bull-headed girl

First of all, I don't think the video feature works on Blogger. At least, it didn't work for me. I guess it's back to YouTube from now on.

Let me tell you all something surprising. Amelia is actually outgrowing some of her clothes. She's still thin as a rail, so she isn't too thick for any of her clothing, but she's too long and tall for some of her clothes.

Amelia even tells me that she's hungry from time to time. However, just because the girl is hungry it doesn't mean she'll eat what she's offered. Like her mom, she'll moan about the house being hungry and grouchy when there's plenty to eat because she isn't in the mood for the food being offered her.

As an example, last night I decided to "bake" some cookies (the pre-made, heat 'em up kind). Amelia had done a decent job eating dinner, but I couldn't recall a single, non-white vegetable that she had eaten the whole day long. Therefore, I decided to trick her into eating some veggies by offering her a fresh cookie as a reward.

Amelia loves warm cookies. I have literally seen her dance in front of the oven waiting for her cookies to be done. She also likes pea pods and carrots...really. I assure you that I've seen her eat them a dozen times before.

I said to Amelia, "Eat your vegetables and you can have a cookie." She whined, "No, I can't!" I knew she could. Amelia had two baby carrots and two pea pods on her plate, and that was it. I reminded her that she liked these vegetables and assured her that she could have them gone and eaten in a matter of minutes, but she wouldn't budge.

It took me 10 minutes to heat the oven and 12 minutes to bake the cookies. That meant more than 20 mins. for Amelia to eat four small vegetables, but it didn't happen. Amelia cried and whined and pointed to the cookies, but in the end she was simply unwilling to eat a small number of veggies to earn a cookie. By the time Amelia was ready for bed, she had forgotten all about the yummy cookies. Maybe she didn't want them that badly after all.

The girl is stubborn, and that's all there is to it. I keep saying I'm going to print and post the food guide pyramid (the older one, not the kooky and completely confusing new one) as a guide for Amelia, but I have yet to do it. Maybe it's time to invest in a laminated and colored visual guide to healthy eating.

Lisa

Test of Blogger's video feature

If this short video works well, you may not have to follow links to YouTube to see the girls in action.

"Now that's a good picture!"

As many of you already know, Amelia enjoys getting into mommy's lingerie drawer. What she usually does while she's sifting through my unmentionables is carry things down the hall and deposit them in the washing machine. I then come along after she's asleep or otherwise occupied and put things back where they belong.

Yesterday Amelia thought it might be fun to try on some of the articles in mommy's drawer. Apparently, she isn't completely sure how these things are supposed to be worn. But one thing's for certain, Amelia knows she looks good. She came downstairs proclaiming (as she often does), "I look very, very pretty."

Her dad and I thought Amelia looked hilarious and had to grab the camera. Of course, after dad had taken an especially lively shot of Amelia I could hear her say, "That's a good picture!"

So here's a picture of our lovely daughter playing dress up...sort of.

Lisa

P.S. That is not my purple boa - that belongs to Amelia.

Once upon a dream...

Thank you, dad, for sending my USB cable back to me. I think I will leave it at home from now on.

I have several cute movies and photos to share, once again. For example, here is Amelia in the Cinderella dress I bought her at Disneyland. She looks like a lovely princess.

Amelia played the roll of Cinderella as well. She danced around and around in her gown. She even sang, "I know you, I walked with you once upon a dream..." at one point.

Amelia prefers to dance with a partner, however. She asked mommy to dance with her, and I did my best but she had to coach me quite a bit to get me to turn around just right. (Today we did a square dance together and, once again, she kept correcting my steps.)

Lisa

You belong in the zoo...

Grandma, mommy, Amelia and Diana all went to the zoo together this afternoon. Amelia couldn't get enough of the animals and was constantly saying, "We can see more animals."

In fact, Amelia seemed irritated when we all sat down for lunch after visiting the sting ray exibit (where Amelia got to pet and feed the sting rays - and Diana got to splash, splash, splash). An hour or so later, while we were slowly making our way to the park exit we happened to pass by the snack bar a second time and Amelia shook her finger saying, "No, no eating, we can see more animals!"

Quite the task master, that one.

Lisa

P.S. I will write more later, and I hope to have more photos to share but as usual I left my camera USB cable behind when I departed my dad's house. Funny thing is that I usually don't even need the silly cable (almost everyone has one). Maybe I only bring it so I can leave a little something behind everywhere I go.

At the park

Because I haven't been sleeping well, and because I know I need to get some exercise, and because I worry about Amelia spending her entire day in front of the television, I decided to take the girls on a walk to the park this afternoon.

Before committing to the trip I went outside to check the weather. It seemed nice and breazy at first - not bad at all. But I quickly found the walk to the park to be quite hot and tiring. All of us were very happy when we arrived. No other children were playing - their parents probably had enough sense to stay out of the heat. I put Amelia and Diana in swings and both of them had a lot of fun swinging back and forth.

Amelia, who is starting to show a lot of independence kept telling me, "No mommy, don't push!" Of course, she wanted one big push from time to time to keep her going, but once she got going a little bit she wanted to try to handle things on her own.

What was unnerving for mommy was Amelia's insistance on climbing the jungle gym, over and over again. Like a cat, or a climber atop Morro Rock, Amelia could not get down off the playground equipment once she had climbed it. She would ask for mommy's help and then protest and say, "No, don't help me!" every time I put a hand on her.

Amelia seems to be understanding her role as an older girl and big sister. She has taken a sudden interest in watching and re-watching Elmo's show on babies. She also speaks for the baby (a common trait in big sisters and brothers) and has started saying things like, "No baby, don't eat the crayon!" Though I'm not completely sure this is a good thing, she also takes the baby by the waist and tries to help her to her feet after she falls down. As she tugs on her sister, unsuccessfully, she says, "Let me help you."

I guess Amelia feels that babies like Diana need help, but big girls like herself do not. Will this translate to independence in, say, potty training? Only time will tell.

Lisa

Different and yet the same

Amelia and Diana are different in many ways. Diana loves to eat, while Amelia only wants to eat treats. Amelia loves to go out while Diana likes staying home. Amelia is a sound sleeper and Diana is restless and easily stirred. But there are some things that the girls have in common.

Today, for example, I let Diana take her first ride on a merry-go-round next to her sister (and mommy, of course). The carousel had set belts that held both girls fairly securely and though I was worried about Diana she had no problem holding on the giant rooster she wound up riding (because it was next to Amelia's pony).

Diana seemed a little tense when the merry-go-round started, and it was never clear while she was riding whether she was happy or not. But, when the ride ended she bounced in her seat as if to say, "giddy up" and fussed about being taken off the ride. Clearly, both girls love carousel rides.

Another thing both girls have is a love for daddy. This morning, while I was having breakfast with the girls Amelia said, "We're missing one friend." I said, "Do you mean daddy?" She said, "Yeah." I explained that daddy was at work.

Later that afternoon as I was feeding Diana lunch the dryer upstairs made a sound suspiciously like that of a key entering the front door lock. Diana perked up and beamed excitedly saying, "Da!" While she was staring at the door I tried to explain to her that daddy was at work and wouldn't be home for a while. She said a couple more, "Da's" before losing interest in the front door. She's a sweet baby.

Lisa

Smoke on the water

As you know, Amelia really enjoys watching mommy and daddy (especially daddy) play Guitar Hero. She will ask for her favorite songs over and over again.

Well today Amelia actually asked if she could try to play the guitar herself. Daddy set her up with a slow, practice mode tune and let her strum away. Mind you, daddy was doing the fingering, but Amelia hit 25% of the bass line notes for "Balls to the Wall" by herself. (A lovely preschool tune, I know.)

Amelia was having a great time and asked to play along side mommy and daddy. After I shortened her guitar strap A LOT she bobbed her head and strummed "Iron Man," "Smoke on the Water," and a dozen other rock-and-roll tunes. Amelia was having a terrific time with mom and dad and cried when we told her it was time to put Guitar Hero away.

Lisa

Hand me downs

Diana, as you might imagine, wears a lot of her big sister's hand-me-down clothes. That saves mom and dad money, and I have been picky about what clothes to save and what to give away.

Now this outfit that Diana is wearing is almost brand-new, but Amelia has had this hat for quite some time. It was super-cute when Amelia first got it and now it looks great on Diana. In fact, it fits both girls. Amelia gets a little jealous when Diana has her hat on (and Amelia isn't distracted by something else).

Lisa