Toddlerhood

Let's see...what has happened since my last post? Not much...oh just that Maggie had surgery and has a 3 inch scar on her neck. That's all. Not much.

Maggie just turned 2 and she is unbelievable these days. I'm not sure at what age some of this stuff is supposed to happen, but everyday she amazes me at what she has learned since the day before. Singing her ABC's, doing the chicken dance, counting up to 14 (after 14 it's just 14, 14, 14). But along with all this fun "toddlerness" comes the "fun" parts too. For example:

1) Going to restaurants is officially out of the question. Erik texted me today while I was working to tell me he and Maggie were going out to dinner and all I could think was -- really? are you insane? ?

2) The attitude has started...already. Yesterday she was throwing all of her puzzle pieces on the floor and when I told her not to do that her response was (picture her with hands on hips) "WHY?" All I could think was -- really? we're starting this already??

3) 3 words - emotional roller coaster. Today she was looking for her green blanket and I told her daddy brought it upstairs to which she responded with total meltdown voice/cry "NO!!! Daddy no touch green blanket!!!" All I could think was -- really? hormones already??

I am not in any way complaining. I find it all to be so fun and interesting when I can just sit back and observe it all happening. From the "HOLD YOU?" that she says when she wants you to pick her up, to the "Maggie kiss?" when she sees Erik give me a kiss to the "Mommy? Hold your hand?" when she wants to go play - I could just drink it up.

Funny story - so her new thing is she must wear her shoes to bed. Mainly she likes to practice taking them off and putting them on while she's falling asleep. So at 1 AM the other morning she calls "daddy? daddy? daddy?", Erik goes in there and she can see her shoes on her dresser "SHOEESSSS???". He gives them to her and goes back to bed. 15 minutes later - cries...I go in there and one shoe is on the wrong foot and she's struggling with the other. I whisper that they are on the wrong feet and it's bedtime. She hurries up, puts them on the right feet and immediately flips over like a pancake and falls sound asleep.

The beginning of a shoe fetish...

Sing a Song

I came home to the best sound ever today...Maggie singing along with Daddy to Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I particularly like her rendition "...like a diaper in the sky...". All of a sudden one day she started singing whole songs and it amazes me. Yesterday I heard her in her playroom putting toys away and singing "Clean up,clean up, everybody clean up". Apparently this is a daycare song that I need to learn.

I realized last week how much she is learning at daycare that I have no idea about when I was scrambling for a bedtime lullaby and starting humming the chicken dance. She looked at me puzzled, as if she couldn't believe I knew that song. When I was done she said "more chicken dance?" And since there is only so many consecutive chicken dances one can possibly hum before wanting to shoot oneself in the head, I had to do a little Rock a Bye Baby mash up.

So now our bedtime routine is a little unconventional. It starts with "chicken dance?", then "baby?", followed by "more chicken dance?", then "baby"...and on and on it goes for about 5 rounds when she finally gives me the glazed over stare, I ask if she's ready for bed and she nods her head and says "binky kiss?".

And I kiss her binky as if she's the Goddaughter.