New Words

Kendall's vocabulary has all of a sudden started flourishing!

Here is a list of words she uses very regularly: Mama, Dadda, Nana, Hi, Bye bye, More, Eat, Please, Guys, Shoes (I believe we have a budding obsession with shoes in the works!), Booz (blueberries), Trash (she picks up random pieces of dirt, etc, off the floor, announces that they are "trash" and takes them to the trash can!), Up please, Down (sometimes with a please attached), Cook-cook (either Cookie Monster or Cookie), Bo Bear, Hi-hi (Mickey Mouse), Duck Duck (Donald Duck), Minn Neeee, Dayyyzzee, Bath, Juice (this is interesting b/c she doesn't actually drink juice so it's possible that she means something else), Cheeeeeez (said when the camera is pointed at her or when she wants to eat cheese), Busy-busy-busy, Dog Dog (hot dog, usually followed by a dance of some sort), Door, Hat (this accessory seems to be as adored as shoes), Off, No-No (usually said repetitively and often said immediately prior to doing something she knows she's not supposed to do), Yeah-yeah-yeah (also usually said repetitively like Pluto), Baby, Vafus (I think this is supposed to be "Ralphus" because she says it while pointing at or speaking to Ralphie), Boo Boo (this is what Chris regularly calls Rehn, and the term also refers any and all injuries, old and new), Uh-Oh, Ball, Balloon, Mooove (often said to the dogs,) Go go go (again, often directed at the dogs,) Shhhhh, Hush, Mooo, Baaaa, Woof, Buck Buck, Meh, Weeee, and Catch.

Kendall also seems to have "misplaced" her inside voice and most things these days are shouted. It's especially endearing when she is sitting less than a foot away from me and all of a sudden yells "MAAAMMA!" She does, however, frequently tell me "ssshhhh" and holds her finger up to her mouth when the dogs are sleeping and I'm being too loud.

And the most hilarious recent verbal development occurs when I slip up and say a curse word in front of her (I'm getting better, but it's a work in progress.) Without fail, she follows my curse word with "uh-oh." To which I respond, "Yes, that's what Mommy meant to say." I'm working on "new words" of my own because I'm pretty sure the day is coming where she no longer says "uh-oh" but rather repeats the not-so-pretty word that comes from my mouth.

Who IS this little girl???

We finally had a day where it was not over 100 degrees here so I thought I'd take my "baby" for a little walk by the neighborhood ponds. I don't think we'd been down there since she could properly walk on her own because of the weather so I snapped a few (not great) pictures with my phone. As I looked at them later, I found myself wondering who on EARTH is this little girl in my pictures and where the h*@! did my baby go???

The "Hi Hi's!"

It is with a heavy hard that I announce that Elmo appears to have been replaced in Kendall's heart. His presence is still required at nighttime and naptime, and he is referred to now as "MoMo," but for all intents and purposes, my furry little red friend has been replaced by a collection of characters known lovingly as the "Hi Hi's." The Hi Hi's are Mickey Mouse characters. They include Mickey ("Hi Hi" or "Mick Mick,") Minnie ("Min Me,") Donald Duck ("Duck Duck,") Goofy ("Dadda" - I may or may not have perpetuated this,) Daisy ("Daeeyyyyzz,") and Pluto ("Woof.") I can only assume the name "Hi Hi" came from the OLD Mickey Mouse Club song that both Nana and I sing to Kendall .... "forever let us hold our banners high ... high, high, high!" I wish they played that song more often on the modern Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show.

I am greeted every morning, every post-nap, and basically every time I leave a room and return with "Hi Hi, Hi Hi, Hi Hi?" Whenever Kendall is within earshot of a television that is on, the Disney show "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" MUST be on or she points at the TV and commences the ear splitting shrieking of "hi hi, HI HI, HI HI, HI HI, HI HI!!!" She has reached the point of hysteria due to the television remaining on a "lesser" program or worse, off, so for the sanity of myself, my dogs, and my neighbors, the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse show now remains on our television(s) nearly 24/7 ... kind of like a Disney store. Thank goodness for DVR - we must have 100 episodes recorded already. And I do have to admit that (so far) these shows are more tolerable than Elmo's World.

We have a stuffed "Hi Hi/Mick Mick," with whom Bo Bear and MoMo now share Kendall's bed. He is often carried around the house with Bo Bear.

And he frequently gets rides in the evil car.

And we have countless figurines (used to be six, they are multiplying) that are carried around in a little purple bag. Everywhere. Here they are being carefully sorted ....

and re-sorted ...

and re-sorted ...

Below you can see them visiting the microwave at Nana's house.

And here are a couple of them taking a dip in my morning coffee. They are well traveled.

Some have already been half-eaten by Ginger. She shares Kendall's fondness of the little critters. Kendall merely points to the "uh-oh's" on the injured Hi Hi's and gives them regular kisses to make them feel better.

We also have 4 larger "Hi Hi" characters specifically made for bathtime ... but most assuredly NOT limited to bathtime. They are occasionally joined in the tub line-up by Cookie Monster ("Ckkk Ckkk") and Mo Mo.

Goofy/Dadda frequently finds himself segregated from the rest of the hi-hi's. Not sure why, but when I've tried to encourage his inclusion, I have always met the utmost of resistance.

Same thing happens with bath Goofy/Dadda.

Poor Goofy. Poor Elmo. Stay tuned for more Hi Hi updates!

Not sure what to title this post ...

Hairstyle by Heinz ketchup. And yes, that is a cantaloupe chunk on her forehead.

Art Class is finally OVER!!!

We made it to 6 out of 8 classes this session. One morning Kendall had a fever so we didn't make it. And another morning Mommy just couldn't get out of her jammies. I am, however, impressed with myself for making it to as many as we did, considering the fact that the class is 1st thing Monday morning ... and requires me to be wide awake and alert. I do think we'll be sitting the next session out. The theme is "food in art." Kendall's adoration of food coupled with her penchant for eating paint would cause entirely too much art ingestion.

She did get better with each and every class this summer. The first class she wanted nothing to do with art and only wanted to eat her snack. Then she discovered that paint is yummy. By the last class, she would actually participate in the "art" portion of the class before resorting to eating the paint. All in all, I'm glad we took the class - if for no other reason than the pictures I got out of them! But I think next summer she'll be at a better age for it. Until then, all art projects can be relegated to Nana's house.

I DO LOVE Birthdays!!!

For my 38th birthday, I allowed my "Inner Birthday Diva" to fully emerge. Actually, I allowed it to emerge several days prior to my birthday ... and then allowed it to remain external for a full 24 hours beyond my birthday. I slept until 10AM on my birthday and relaxed for most of the day. I did sweep and vacuum the floors, proving that even the outer presence of the Birthday Diva can't quell the power of the obsessive compulsive, anal retentive, gottahaveacleanhouse, neat-freak. Chris took me to a nice dinner at my favorite restaurant (Patrizios) where we both ordered meals off the menu because we're important like that. Then we had a nice Paciugo dessert, and were sound asleep by 10PM. My parents kept Kendall at their house overnight so we could sleep in, but we were both up by 8:30 and I retrieved her by 9:30.

THEN came the family birthday celebration at my folks house! Where I got to dress my daughter in a ridiculously cute dress (that she quite disturbingly seemed to enjoy wearing) ...

AND received my requested "Christmas Birthday Dinner!" Complete with a perfect turkey and all the fixins, made by the best mom in the world ...
(carved by the best dad in the world)
and a delicious carrot cake with no nuts, made by the best mom-in-law in the world!

Kendall got an Elmo back-pack and I got a bunch of nice cards, a wine foil cutter (which was desperately needed), a case of my favorite wine (also quite necessary) and a brand new fancy schmancy camera! For those of you who thought I already take too many pictures, juuuust wait! All in all, it was a PERFECT birthday (even though no one agreed to put up a Christmas tree for me) and I am officially birthday-ed out. I'm sure everyone involved in this birthday is grateful for that fact. Almost as grateful as I am for everyone involved! :)

Another benefit of HAIR!

I can do THIS to her in the bathtub!!! :)

Hair Update:

Kendall FINALLY has enough hair for teeny tiny pigtails. Sadly, she's not at all a fan of having anything done with her hair. Here are a few pics of the piggies before she pulled them out ... approximately 10 seconds after they were put in. I should probably have someone take pictures (or a video) of the process of "styling" the child's hair. I'm sure it's quite comical to anyone other than the person attempting to style the hair of the running, screaming, flailing target.

Oddly, she's more inclined to tolerate the piggies if they're placed more toward the top of her head, as opposed to the sides. Unfortunately, I think this particular look is probably only cute to the eyes of her mother and might get her laughed at in public.