5 months ago, on May 19, I was being checked to see how dilated I was. I had made it through to 4 inches with only a single dose of fentanyl and was well beyond the induction meds.

Yes, after several tries and fails, I was having another baby.

Today, I am the proud mommy of two darling girls.  One is 6 and precious as can be.  The second is 5 months old and completely fat and sassy and sweet, as adorable as any baby, maybe more adorable.  Little Enza, my tiny fluttering bird that was floating softly inside of me just a few months ago, has become a turkey meatball!  Round, joyful, with unbelievable curly hair (a full head!) she came into our lives at 5:30 in the morning and has not disappointed.

Two sisters.  Magical.

Wow, my little girl is now 4 and a half!  She's amazing, fun, brilliant, kooky, weird, perverse, and very very girly.  She can execute a lovely little arabesque, belt out Lea Michelle songs from Glee, and very carefully explains that the F-Word (she actually said it)  and the word "Bidge" are naught and they are words from Larry David (she pronounces his name "Lorry") and we don't even get mad, since it's our own fault, being huge fans of Curb.  She also knows LOTS of euphemisms for passing gas, uses interesting vocabulary appropriately (for example, she told me large ornaments are "dramatic", and today she informed me that cheese is not always a "feature" on a burger.  And yes, that freaked me out a bit.)

She cleared the puzzle pieces off a puzzle, got some balls, and little plastic forks and invented a game.  Basically, you gently tap the ball and keep it in the bed of the puzzle.  If it goes out of bounds, it's the other guys' turn.  She's really good at this game, and yes, it's really hard for me, and yeah, she lets me win.  She also created a game where you draw three things, and put a question mark at the end of the line.  The other person has to shut their eyes and point psychically to the item you are "thinking" about  If you get it right, you get a smooch on the cheek and it's your turn to draw three things and a question mark.

I love being around this kid.  She is so vital and fun and full of wonder and wisdom.

Obama Rama.



Sorry this is sideways...

Well, Beanie started school.

It's a preschool and daycare all day/all in one. With their potty schedule, the kid is fully potty trained. We were well on the way to it, but now she's super independent. All she needs is a light on. It's hilarious to see her trying to climb onto a potty. She can even hold it when you are driving fast to a potty or running through Target like a maniac, abandoning your cart when you hear the fatal 6 words "Mommy, I need doo doo. Righnow."

She's learning how to write her real name, but they all call her Beanie Grrl. She traced "Elspeth M--" and then drew a red dot underneath it. Her dad picked her up and asked her what it was and thought it was so funny, he told me to ask when I got home. "Beanie, what's this?" (I thought she'd say ladybug.) "Dat? Dat's Mommy Nunu." I.e, she drew my nipple. She loves the nunus. Still. I think she's weaned, but she still "needs" them.

She is also the smallest at school, literally the youngest and the tiniest. They all try to pick her up. The older girls (little sisters in their own houses) all play with her like she's a baby. Beanie, however, is very independent. According to the teachers, she gives and takes the guff just fine. Her motto is still "I DO IT!!!" as she wrassles the crayon or the handle or the cup from your own grasp. She routinely kicks us out of the bathroom, and names her doo doos "dat daddy doo doo, oh wait, no MOMMY doo doo. And baby doo doos." As they are arriving. I think they are categorized by the plop noise. Very funny in that "she's so going to hate me when she's 13 and reads this" way.

Her vocabulary and explanations have gotten clearer, her level of articulation is pretty great, even if she's pretty picky about who she says things to. She still corrects us. A lot. For example, trying to categorize a labeled picture of a rooster. "No mommy, Chicken." Roosters are only a noise still, a cockadoodle noise. All skirts are "ninas" for "ballerina" and she demands them. On top of jeans most of the time.

Also 25 lbs of flesh saying "Oh My God." and correcting us when we try to say "Oh my Gosh!" when they show car crashes on TV or "Watch Out Kids, Cars No See you! Careful!!" To skateboarders in the street at night makes me excited to see what else she will come up with next.

Recently she woke up and told me "Mom, bad news. Man in car drive fast. I scared. Bad man. Drive fast car."
Yikes! She remembers her dreams and they are not about "monsers---rahr". I hope she's not psychic, as that will make me paranoid for her for the rest of my life.

So this morning we woke her up and said "so, do you have good news?"

Life with Beanie. Always interesting, that much is true.










Photos above are from First Day at Preschool, March 18 2008.

Hegg Aches and other funny things that beanie says:

PeeDee! (pee wee)
Nonina! (angelina ballerina)
Tattoo! (tutu)
Bidge! (bridge)
Say-wy... (scary)
Monsa (monsters)
AhUhyou (I love you.)
unhWOHcome (you're welcome.)
Sisustng (That's disgusting.)

the rest of the stuff she says is pretty much understandable. Although last night she was crying for "Bats", and I was all "Honey, if you are trying to tell me something, try again. Use your words, I will get it if you keep trying." And she basically chased me down and threw the remote at me. Bounce. As in, that show for kids. Turn it on. Don't talk to me about bats.

She can now count to ten, but was all over the place last night when her dad tried to get her to show me this new skill.

I like how she says Basketball "Backets Ball" and Soccer Ball is "Soccaball" and she yells "CHATCH!" at you as she lofts them at your head.

We now own a lot of books. I buy them all the time from Amazon. Whenever the urge hits, I get a picture book. I recently purchased Stellaluna, Verdi and Crickwing. None of which she enjoys yet.

However, I know my toddler book ferreting abilities are pretty strong, since I made sure she had That's Mean and That's Disgusting pretty early on, and That's Dangerous was pretty recent but works too. She loves them.

My parents have no idea what she is saying, but her new favorite thing is to talk on the phone. She used to stand there and act like she was listening, but now she asks for certain people to be put on the phone, and she will CHAT THEM UP. Only, it's so fast, you have no idea what she's saying. Conversations on my end tend to go like this: "Oh, you had fish? No? You SAW fish? Ah. Oh? Really?......... That's a good story. Did you say baby swing?.......... Oh really? Are you laughing because I figured out what you said? Can I talk to daddy?.............. Say bye bye mommy..." this cues her to say bye bye and her dad will pick up. Average length of call: 2 minutes. I love my kid, but boy, is she a talker!

We've been having some interesting conversations about butts lately too. "My butt." "No, MY butt." She grabs butts. She also turns hers out and makes poot noises with her mouth for special effect. This culminates in tons of giggles. And makes her father and I turn to each other and wonder "is fart humor common in 2 year old girls?"

First dental visit!

Beanie has "decalcification" due to night breast feedings and probably also the fact that we put an ounce or so of juice in her water to keep her hydrated. So, she soldiered through her dental visit and had weird yellow flouride resin brushed onto her teeth and we got a good lesson in "how to brush a toddler's teeth" which worked wonders on my self esteem, since I feel like an abuser every time we hold her down to do the deed. We also learned a new hold. She's had some moderate success with the "water only after tooth brushing" but she doesn't believe me about the nunus. I think I'm finally drying up completely anyway, so it's mostly just for cuddle time. I figure when your daughter is old enough to forcibly attach herself to your chest, you waited too long to wean. I am guilty of this.

I think we have had good success with our potty training laissez faire-itude as well. Sure, I bought the paper to make a cute little sticker reward board, but we never implemented it. Mostly because I never made it, and also mostly because stickers are more fun to stick on everything else. Anyway, today she pulled her sick self outta bed, dragged her little step stool to the potty, inserted her little toddler toilet seat into the bowl, and took off her own dry diaper. Then she climbed up, positioned herself, yawned, and peed. All by herself. She then popped down off the pot, grabbed her TP, wiped, threw it in, said "bye bye" and flushed it. By then she was awake, and dragged her stool to the sink to "warsh hands." She also says "quawta" for quarters, by the way. She calls all coins pennies and quawtas. I have no idea why she speaks with a New England Seaboard accent on some words, but there you go. Anyway, she still pees in her pants most days, but the doodoos and the weewees have been happening in the potties of this fair city more and more often.

Beanie is rad. She makes me super happy still. I can't imagine life without her, and yet, I thought my life was full before she came! How little I knew back then...

This weekend I am hosting with a friend a "Tea party" and inviting mamas and toddlers that we like and know. I know it's short notice, but how cute is that? It's a no reason tea party, which is why it makes me so happy. Not a birthday, no obligations, just come over and make a kid craft and eat a cucumber sandwich and try some tea.

I need to tell the PF that I planned this...I forgot to tell him!

Talk to the hand:

Today is the work xmas party. Should be interesting! We are dropping the Beanie off with my sister so that we can actually eat tonight. Last year I had to get a subpar pasta dish to share with the Bean, who didn't eat it and only wanted to blow out the candles on the table. And I watched everyone else eating a ribeye that was to die for. So, I'm looking forward to it! We rarely go out without our daughter, and we never go to fancy restaurants. I don't mind too much, because we go to very high-quality restaurants, and not so often are we at a chain, but it would be nice to go to someplace really special sometime.

On my list of "special" in my town:
the Waterboy (I've had this restaurant's catered fare, but have never eaten there.) Mulvaney's (such great reviews of fancy foodies)
Ruth's Chris Steak House
Jamie's (the secret fancy bbq place in town)

where I like to go with the Beanie:
Pho Bac Hoa Viet (vietnamese yums)
Rosalinda's (mexican yums)
Stagecoach (american yums)
Edokko and Banzai (Japanese yums)
New Station (Chinese yums)

Pretty much all of these places allow me to feed my toddler off my plate and do not freak out if she suddenly decides to race around (not that PF would ever let her, he's more of the type to take her outside and wander around so that I can eat. Although we often take turns) or squeal. I am uncomfortable anywhere she can't squeal. If I get one look from another customer or a server, I get all defensive and cranky. And then I don't enjoy anything, end of story.

I'm getting more and more comfortable with the idea of babysitters beyond my dear friend and my sister, but I don't think I make enough money to splurge on a date night that includes a paid babysitter. Back when I babysat for extra cash, I charged 6.00/hr and 2 bucks extra per extra kid. A four hour night would cost you an extra $24 bucks. Add that to a $120 dinner bill. or even a cheap dinner and a movie could run you 50-80. Honestly, taco bell and a movie plus a babysitter will be $50.

If we do it and drive out to my sister's, we spend $10 in gas, save about $14 in babysitters, but we'd have to see movies out in the burbs or dinner at some chain. Forget trying to see a play, tickets at the B Street Theater start around 18 bucks each, and the community center and music circus are totally outta my league right now.

So, we get a LOT of netflix and eat take out, make dinner, or go to restaurants that are kid friendly. Are we totally common? Are we average parents? Does the fact that we eat a lot of ethnic food and rent Herzog films make any difference, or are we just part of the cultural wasteland?