ESW

Lizzy B is a marching machine. She now has the same love of the push cart as her brother did at this age. It took her just one day to figure out how to pick it up and slide it around an obstacle, and tonight, we had her out at our block party walking up and down the sidewalk! She and Daniel (who jumped in the moonbounce for probably 2 hours total) better sleep well!

Elizabeth is pointing and saying, "ma ma" a lot. I have to admit, this makes me very happy. Some of you may remember (and you can read the blog archives) that Daniel called me, "Daddy" for a few months. Elizabeth definitely "da das and dadel's" but she very clearly calls for me sometimes. Yea!

She is really getting into books and will crawl into her room, pull them all of the shelf and flip through them happily. We have a sparkly shapes book that she really enjoys. She also LOVES to turn on the water in the tub. For the last two weeks, she will crawl into the bathroom and turn it on. Both of my kids are fascinated with running water - maybe they will be some kind of hydro-energy engineers?

Elizabeth is really embracing table food. It makes me so nervous, but I have vowed to introduce her to foods more willingly than I did Daniel. It must have been the first time mom thing, but I was really bad about it, and now I blame myself for the fact that Daniel isn't a varied eater.

I feel bad for her because other than her Fisher Price Learning House, her favorite toys are cars and trucks. Not that they aren't fun, and it is perfectly okay for girls to play with them! I just feel bad that she doesn't have more "girl" toys. I guess that is what birthday are for! She can "rev" up a truck or jeep of Daniel's and send it rolling down the hallway. I think that's pretty great! She loves dogs - she giggled with glee tonight as our neighbor's old golden sniffed her face.

And, peek-a-boo, intiated by her now, is the favorite game.

I always joke that she is the neglected second child because I am able to give her so much less of my undivided attention. I feel bad that her details aren't blogged as consistently, and that I haven't touched her baby book. But, I feel worst about this:

Daniel NEVER held his own bottle. This is partly because he never needed to and partly because he was stubborn and wouldn't. I propped her up on a couch cushion while I straightened up my messy dining room table! I give her a bottle in the car or the stroller, and she sucks it right down, no problem!

I told Scott that I think Elizabeth has a sense of humor already. I sure hope so if she is stuck with me and her brother day in and out! Anyway, when she plays the "drop it and you pick it up" game with us. She chuckles when she does it. Last week, as I changed her diaper, she pulled the tab off as I worked on the other side. I put the tab back on, and she peeled it back again and laughed at me!

well, we tried....

...for the perfect pumpkin photo, and it just wasn't happening!

Happy Birthday D Dub

Three years ago to this moment, I am pretty sure we were moving from the labor and delivery room over to the mothers' floor. I remember being delirious. So happy, so tired, so astonished at what just happened. Two hours of pushing and then Daniel appeared - blue as a blueberry! After some work by the neonatal team, he finally cried. I have been thinking about that moment all day. And, I have been thinking about the moment I laid eyes on him in the NICU. It had been about 30 hours since he left the hospital where he was born in this crazy-looking incubator for the ambulance to GUH. I just cried. My mom was there with me, and I remember she said, "I think I am going to cry," and I had already begun. My beautiful boy who, by that time on Sunday afternoon, we were pretty sure was going to be okay.

As I sit here surrounded by the obscene amount of gifts he's received from his family, and the 17 little ones that partied with us on Sunday, I think about the journey to this point. (to reference my friend Nat's blog theme.)

My baby boy is three years old. He is a running, yelling, eating, playing, chatting, potty-trained (yes!) machine. Our conversations these days really surprise me. Daniel wants to know how we get places - the names of roads, specifically. He can sing lots of songs - "God Bless America" (He wanted to learn it after going to a baseball game on a Sunday), "Doe a Deer," "Twinkle, Twinkle," "She'll Be Coming 'Round the Mountain," "Itsy-Bitsy Spider," "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," and, he can sing along to "Dancing Nancies" by DMB. He frequently begins stories with, "Let me tell you supin (something)," or "I have a question." And, I think he says, "Mommy" about a thousand times a day. He says, "Yes!" and puts his fists in the air when he is excited, and lately, says, "Oh Man!" when something doens't go quite right. When Daniel is in a bad mood, he does not want Elizabeth to look at him. This often happens in the car and is impossible to solve. She is essentially facing him and will giggle and "talk" to him, which drives Daniel crazy. My new response is, "Just look out your window away from her then. Stop screaming at her." Today he said, "I want to wook out her window! Tell her stop talking to me!"

He eats and writes with his right hand, but cuts and brushes his teeth with his left. "Curious George" is still a favorite, but "I Spy" books and longer stories capture his interest as well. He prefers to race hot wheels cars and dig in his gravel box. I've noticed that he also likes to "go" places. He'll ask me on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, "Where we going today?" He gets that from me, for better or worse.

Daniel has been attending preschool for about a month. He was a little bit nervous the first week, but no tears. Week Two began with tears, and they have since ensued. Daniel doesn't say, "Take me home," he says, "You coming back?" Those big blue eyes brim with tears, and it breaks my heart. I promise him I will will return on time, and I have to walk out. It's very hard. When I return three hours later, he bursts out the door acting like he hasn't seen Elizabeth and I in three years! He smothers us with kisses and hugs and even shows the stroller and the car affection. I have to take him to the bathroom before we leave. I ask him everyday if he will let a teacher take him, and he responds, "That's mommy's job." Just like the dishes. The night before he started school, we were discussing what everyone would be doing the next morning. It went something like this:

Me: Tomorrow, I will take you to school and you will stay, but Elizabeth and I will come home.

Daniel: Oh. Where will Daddy be?

Me: At work.

Daniel: Where will you be?

Me: Elizabeth and I will come home. She will need her nap.

Daniel: Oh. So, Daddy go to work and Wiz take a nap. And I stay at school.
Me: Yes, but what about me? What will I do?

Daniel: You will do the dishes. (Not a shocking answer with the amount of time I spend cleaning up our mouse-sized kitchen.)

The highlight of Daniel's day is when Scott walks in the door. Daniel adores his daddy. Scott gets him set up with breakfast in the morning and most often puts him to bed at night. Their bond is unmistakable to an outsider. They are best buds, and Daniel's admiration of his daddy gleams in his eyes. The relationship both my kids have with Scott warms my heart and makes me burst with pride for my husband. They talk baseball and baseball cards. One night, I was reading the "1-2-3 Baseball" book, and Daniel asked me to tell him the name of the players. I responded, "I know who Derek Jeter is, but that's it on this page." He replied, "Yeah, Daddy knows baseball, and you know Phi Mu."

Well, I know what I do know. I adore my little boy. I am amazed by him each and every day for the little things like going to the bathroom by himself; using the DustBuster; acting out his stuffed animals and Little People; showing sensitivity to others; chatting on the phone with Gramps, Gigi and Aunt Johanna; and getting the milk out of the refrigerator. I melt when he squints his eyes and says, "Mommy I wuv you," (Although, I've noticed he does it when he is in trouble now.) or kisses and hugs his sister when he is swept away with love for her. He'll do it often in the middle of playing with her, or when she falls asleep in the car. For Daniel's third birthday, my three wishes for him are the joy of childhood, confidence to try whatever interests him, and the ability to eat vegetables and a wide range of foods.