21 Months

It appears that another month has passed. You are 21 months old now.

You continue to be charming, challenging and hilarious but I do feel we might be hitting a plateau in the way of major developmental markers. For the most part, these letters are turning into a place for me to document your latest adventures in talking. And maybe take a minute to discuss your rather disturbing obsession with everything Princess.

I blame my Mother entirely for this fixation as she made you a bathrobe out of Disney princess material and this robe is to you what Batman costumes are to 3 year old boys. As in, you never, ever want to take it off. (The video below features your new "look"). You beg for it all the time and it is a negotiation to convince you that you need to take it off when we leave the house to go out in public. Sometimes you ask about it while we are out; as if it was a gerbil that I'd left in a box without poking enough holes in the top. Will it still be alive when we get home?! When we go to the library or bookstore, you always gravitate towards the bright pink books featuring princesses and last week you had a complete melt down in Target over a pair of Disney brand princess shoes that I wouldn't buy you. You were literally wailing, "Princess shoes! Princess shoes!" over and over in the middle of the shoe aisle while a nice elderly woman tried on some tennies and gave me a look that implied I wasn't going to win mother of the year. I finally compromised and let you carry the empty shoe box decorated with princesses while I finished shopping. Seriously.

On a more flattering note, let's talk about talking. Because that's all you really do now. It's sooo adorable and funny. For the most part, I'd say you speak in 3-5 word sentences. A few of my faves from this month:

"Gramma teach you that" - you frequently use phrases that are specific to one of your Grandmas after spending a day with one of them. After you say something new that I know you didn't learn from me, I'll often ask, "Where did you learn that? Did Gramma teach you that?" And since you still speak about yourself in the third person, you will now say things like, "Baby blue: Gramma teach you that."

You are really into Play-doh right now. In particular, you like to cram the dough back into the little jars they came in and then pull it back out while sitting in your booster seat. The other day you dropped one of the lids for the jars and yelled from the other room: "Uh oh, lid fall. Get it!"

The neighbors are getting a new roof and there are tons of big noisy trucks on the street during the day. We had to squeeze past one the other day to get to our car and you said, "Noisy Truck - squeeze by it."

One of my favorite Edie-isms is that you never say "yes" when asked a question. Instead you say, "Uh huh" but with a strong emphasis on the "huh" - "Uh HUH". It is SO cute and I keep trying to get it on video while this habit lasts.

Another funny one: "No, Edie says." (typically reserved for the times when you really mean it)

Your Dad was giving you a piggy back ride and you pet his head and said, "Good dog."

We had playgroup in our backyard recently and Danny kept walking up the back stairs and opening the kitchen door to go inside. You kept looking at him rather concerned while his Mother said, "No Danny, leave the door alone." At one point, his Mom Lauren recruited your help and asked you to run over to Danny and say "Danny no!" You took your duty VERY seriously and ran right over to the bottom of the stairs and shouted, "Danny NO!" then looked back to Lauren for approval. I couldn't stop giggling at how much you liked being the playgroup Duty.

You like to ask "Maurice doing?" or "Daddy doing?"

Other miscellaneous updates:

You can count to 12, sometimes 13- always with great enthusiasm.


You hate riding in the cart at grocery stores this month. It is exhausting to let you "push" the cart yourself while I try to keep you in line, but "helping" is the only way you are content at the store these days. You even hate to drive the carts with the little cars attached to the front, which used to be a guarantee.

You took two falls this month - the first was minor but left a dark scrape on your chin and the second was major. You slipped in the kitchen and fell, face first, into the edge of the open door. Your forehead slammed into the edge of the door and we thought for sure you'd wake up the next day with at least one black eye. Remarkably, you just had a big purple line down the middle of your forehead for two weeks. It's almost faded by now.

Favorite books: One Morning in Maine, Iggy Peck Architect, Disneyland - a pop up book, and 13 Words by Lemony Snicket

Favorite word: No

Favorite destination: visiting the "Lello marble", 10 blocks north of our house (this house has marbles set into their cement at the front walk and one loose yellow marble that you discovered and keep hidden beneath a rock in their front walkway).

This is your "shocked" face - a total exaggeration of a real shocked face. I suggest clicking to view larger.

Edie - your mischievous giggle slays me, your fits of rage exhaust me, your independence impresses me and your intelligence astounds me.
You play so well by yourself and you are so creative, and then turn around and are completely consumed by your need to have me read a book for the bajillionth time RIGHT NOW and you cannot possibly wait until I've peed. We've spent the last (almost) two weeks of this month with a terrible cold, which for you turned into an ear infection (your third for the record) and a borderline lung infection with a wet, swampy cough. We've rounded a corner, but are still hovering in the semi-sick zone for now. I'm SO hoping that this is the last of our cold and flu season this year and that we have a fun, healthy summer to look forward to. I hate to see a sickness like this crush your fierceness and I'm very happy to see it returning. Spring never really came to Seattle this year, but I'm hopeful that we'll transition right into Summer soon. Sundresses and trips to Orcas Island await!

xoxo
Mom

Finally, slowly

We are finally, slowly on the mend here at Casa Culver. Edie took her first nap in 8 days yesterday and it was a glorious 2.5 hours. I was hopeful that this boded well for the night time, but we only saw minor improvements last night. I'm thinking we are now entering the ambiguous state of every toddler illness where you wonder, "Are we ready to re-sleep train? Or is she still too sick?" I can never tell when her calling "Mommy come" from her room at 2am means 'I'm sick and need you to help me' or whether it just means, 'I wish Mommy was here, because hanging out in the rocking chair is what I'm used to doing in the middle of the night when I wake up'. I got a sense that maybe last night I was getting worked. But she does still have a stuffy nose and a cough (albeit improved).

The biggest bummer this week about Edie and I still being fairly repulsive is that we have two friends with new babies and we can't visit either until we're healthy.

On a more upbeat note, I hope to have photos soon of our new front stairs and porch. The railings and siding haven't been replaced yet, but for the first time in 6 years, we are no longer at risk of falling through our front porch.

Sick

Hi there. Yes, I realize that "Jill's Daily Note" has officially become a complete lie as I now update this blog approximately once per week. This time my excuse is illness. Again. How in the world do people with more than one child survive?

I used to be so effing smug about my health. Sickness was weakness and *I* was strong! But those days are so long gone that I don't even feel like the same person. This time around I fell first, coming down with a sore throat late Thursday night and feeling like total crap by Saturday. Edie fell shortly after and while I'm still struggling with prolonged and embarrassing coughing fits, Edie has really taken a hit. I try not to be one of those paranoid mothers who take their kid to the pediatrician weekly, but yesterday when I came home from work and found my Mom consoling a miserable Edie, now pulling one ear in a familiar manner, I squeezed her in for a last minute appt. And thank god! Because the doctor listened to her lungs for WAY longer than made me comfortable and declared them a hot mess. She has a swampy cough and a weak ear infection and while it's not pneumonia, the actual word "pneumonia" was used in the appointment (as in "it's not pneumonia"), which officially freaked the shit out of me. So. She's on antibiotics and I'm really hoping she wakes up with a dramatic improvement tomorrow. I'm pleased to report that her temperature and temperament were much improved today (ie she only spent one hour of the day totally miserable and weepy compared to 10 yesterday) but I'd be much more pleased to report that she sleeps well tonight - don't EVEN get me started on the last time we slept more than an hour and a half consecutively - and wakes up minus the swamp cough. Please please please.

Ladyboots

Edie wearing her "ladyboots" (ie Ladybug boots), which are nice for running in wet grass in our backyard. Since Edie is a fashionista, she pairs her ladyboots with a spring party dress, size 9mo cardigan, and her apron for helping me cook. It was not permissible for me to suggest removing ANY of these items - they were a complete ensemble.

Playgroup

Every Thursday since the kids were about 5 months old, we've been getting together for Playgroup. I met these Mothers (and their children) at the drop-in class that I used to go to when Edie was a newborn. These days, with stomach bugs, colds, pink eye and other toddler diseases, it's rare that all of us are there at the same time, but whoever happens to have a (mostly) healthy kid shows up. Two weeks ago we had a bit of mediocre sunshine and played in my back yard. There were only three of us there with our girls, but I decided to take advantage of the natural light and take a few pictures.Edie and Mae looking out the front door, hoping that Danny and AJ will show up.

Buds.

Mae, pushing Chloe on my gardening cart.

Sarah and Chloe.

Alison and Mae.

Is it Sunday yet?

You guys. I've been working for months to plan two big events that are tomorrow and Saturday night. And when I say big, I'm not messing around. Jeff reminded me the other day that I reach a point with most of my events where I want to quit. Or die. Or at least hide in bed until it's over. It must be true, because Jeff knows me well. So, that's where I am this week.

Wish me luck. Because these parties need it.