Reality Check

in the car on the way to school listening to a song... "Do you know the muffin man?"
Roger: Zofia, do you know the muffin man?
Z: It's only a song, daddy!

Flip-flop

So, you may have heard that Yahoo! Photos is shutting down later this summer. They will be transferring any photos to another photo site of my choosing, which I guess will be Flickr since I already have an account there. I decided to save myself a step and go ahead and start using Flickr again now. So, I have added a link to the Flickr site up there on the right. It now has all of the May photos on it, of which there are an inordinate amount. I've been going a bit nutty with the camera lately. Enjoy!

Finance 101

Zofia was whining about something yesterday...
Z: But I waaaaaant it. Mommy, I waaaaaaannnnnttttt it.
Me: Well, Zofia, I want a million dollars.
Z (after a long pause): Well, Mommy, that's a lot of money.

Consider yourself at home

Meet Oliver, who within 5 minutes of arriving in our kitchen had found the doggy bed, and put it to good use.

Stuff and Cuteness

Ok, first the stuff... These photos are for my sister, who was somewhat incredulous when I told her that some of the plants in my garden are dying from too much water. I suppose it is a bit hard to believe given the fact that the majority of plants that do die in my custody do so from lack of water rather than overabundance. Also, it seems that she found it hard to conceive of rain that came down so hard, so fast, that the ground is unable to absorb it in the 24-48 hours before the next storm. So, proof:



These pix were taken about an hour after a rain storm. Before the storm, the ground was damp, but not totally wet.






























And now, the cutenes:

Oh the cuteness is killing me!

Tonight the girls and I went to dinner with some friends at Chik-fil-a. They have a kids eat free deal on Tuesdays, with people making balloon animals and all kinds of chaos. First of all, never again. Way too many kids hopped up on high fructose corn syrup for my taste.
The girls had a whopping good time, however, despite the fact that they were only hopped up on milk and adrenaline. One of the attractions is a gigantic cow. That is, a man in a gigantic cow suit. Zofia was so excited about "Mr. Cow". She yelled "Mr. Cow, Mr. Cow!!!" every time he passed by our table, high-fived him and waved til her arms fell off. At one point after she had eaten all her chicken and we got her some more, Mr. Cow passes by and she yelled ecstatically, "Mr. Cow, Mr. Cow, I'm eating chicken!"
Here is a video from the last couple of weeks. You want cuteness? You can't handle the cuteness!

Our Girls

Maggie...


Zofia...

POOL!

also...new pix on Yahoo!

A Few Words

I just put Maggie in her crib, and she is screaming her head off. I thought I would keep myself occupied to help me resist the urge to go get her and let her fall asleep in my arms. She has gotten a little spoiled in that regard for the last few nights because of a particularly awful bout of teething. There is a very large, very stubborn tooth way back on her lower gum that is just refusing to come out.
So, let me fill you all in on Maggie's vocabulary when she is not screaming. Here is a list of words Maggie currently says. Though many of these are not easily recognizable by anyone but the closest few, she is consistent in how and when she uses them. There are many more words she repeats, but these are the ones she uses spontaneously, in the order in which I remember them...
Mama
Dada
Zofia (sounds like Fvfvfvaaa)
Boobie
Kitty-kitty-kitty (kdlrlrlr)
LaLa
Up (ap, and if ignored the first time AAAAAAAPPPP)
Down (da)
Baby
Book (Brrr)
Balloon (boon)
Um-um
Ball
Hi (haaaaiiiiii)
Bye-bye
More (ma)
Broom (broo) - she just said this one today for the first time
Bread (bre)
Please (peee)
Teeth (teee) - today I ordered tea at Whole Foods and she started smiling and pointing to her teeth while saying "TEEEE!"
Bath (baaa)
Birdy (biby)
That is all I can think of for now. Bye-bye!

Flower

Here is Zofia last night around midnight. I told her to bundle up if she got cold...

Zofia "reading" to Daddy

Q&A

Here are some questions Zofia has asked us over the last few days. Please feel free to leave your answers under comments.
1. Is relish a liquid or a solid?
2. How about mustard?
3. How about ketchup?
4. How do you pour more milk back into your boobies?


Also, a couple of cute mis-pronunciations I hope to remember long after she learns the correct ways...
Picnit (picnic)
Prentzel (pretzel)

Trick or Treat

yesterday, after dinner, Zofia and Roger were talking. Roger told Zofia that he loves her...
Z: No you don't
R: Yes I do
Z: You can't love me. You can love Maggie and Mommy, but you can't love me.
R: I can't?
Z: If you smell my toes, then you can love me.
????????

Mama said there'd be days like this...

Which, coincidentally, was the song Roger was just singing as I passed by the living room on my way from my bedroom, where I left (read, abandoned) my baby girl, who is even at this moment screaming bloody murder, amazingly in chorus with my older girl, who is in her own big girl bed in her own room screaming perhaps not-quite-as-bloody murder.
All you mommies who survived, please tell me it gets easier soon! Zofia did not take a nap today, and instead spent the hour and a half of "naptime" shredding two of her favorite books. In the few hours since I got her out of her room at 3pm, she has been exhausted and more than a little cranky, willful, floppy, and difficult. Up until recently Zofia didn't seem to realize that she could open her bedroom door at will. Thankfully, even now she doesn't come out, but stands at her door wailing for Mommy. She did this a few minutes after lights out, and when I put her back in bed she kept howling how, "I'mmmmmm not tiiiiiredddddddd!!!!!!!!!!" Right. Meanwhile, Maggie did take a lovely afternoon nap, but is teething and not responding seemingly at all to the orajel.
Yep, still tandem screaming. Cover me, I'm going in.

Snippet

Maggie

Maggie's First Year from agi graham on Vimeo.

Strange Taste

Just now I was eating a bowl of ramen noodles; which I like to cook without the "flavor packet" and stir-fry with veggies; and Zofia asked me, "Mommy, are you eating rubber bands?"
Yummy!

Possible future career choices?

The journey of a thousand miles...

Maggie is officialy walking. On at least five separate occasions today, she took four, five, even six steps at a time! Look out world, here she comes.

Things I Haven't Blogged

1. Riding in the car, Zofia was telling us about how Agatha's Mommy helped her class do yoga. "Mommy, we beat the dog today" ?????? Why are the children abusing animals at school?!?!?!? Oh, I get it, you "be'd" the dog today. Apparently the kids were practicing a yoga posture known as "downward facing dog"


2. Zofia has an imaginary friend. Does anyone know if it's usual for a two and a half year old to have an imaginary friend? The friend's name is Baca. Here is what we know about Baca. Baca lives in her own house with her family, which is alternately her mommy and daddy, or her children (sometimes named Eskin and SoWo). Baca is apparenly reeeeeaaaaalllly small, and Zofia sometimes carries her around in her hand. Baca has a friend named Teeshi. Baca often does whatever Zofia is doing, but in a parallel universe. For example one afternoon last week during "the freeze" Roger, the girls and I had a dance party, and Baca was simultaneously having her own dance party at "her house". Also, Baca often gets to decide what Zofia wears: "Zofia, do you want to wear a diaper, or a pull-up?" "A diaper, cuz Baca says no pull-up".

3. Apropos pull-ups, still no progress on the potty training front. Yesterday, Zofia sat on all three of the potties in her bathroom alternately for about 45 minutes after having drank two full sippy cups of juice. After deciding she was done, she stood on her stool to wash her hands and guess what happened.

4. Maggie is almost, but still not quite, walking. She can push her hippo walker around with no problem and has taken a step or two between people and/or furniture. She still has no hair. Send Rogaine.

5. While counting money at the church the other day, the lady helping me count (Miss Elvina) told Zofia that she was beautiful and Zofia said, "You are beautiful, too."

That is all I can think of for now. I resolve to blog more often.