gingko season

Just found out that Ms Z pronounces Gingko Berry as "Dingleberry." As in, "Look at this dingleberry in our house!"

Anniversary

Celebrating the 5 month anniversary of the end of the week in which Ms Z experimented with peeing standing up.

We're All Getting Lumps of Coal This Year

Lately, whenever S or I mention "winter", "snow", or anything related to the period between September and March, Ms Z immediately responds, "I...don't...like...Santa...Claus."

As part of our ongoing experiment in St Nick Desensitization, we were looking at old Christmas photos on Flickr.

We'd say, "Hey Look! It's you in a Santa Claus hat!" We'd all laugh. Fun.

Anyway, something triggered her phobia, and like a flash: "I DON'T LIKE SANTA CLAUS!!"

"Well, that's fine. Why don't we just not invite Santa Claus? He usually delivers presents at night while we're asleep anyway."

"NO! He'll wake us up!"

"I don't think so, honey. He's usually pretty quiet."

"He's always yelling, 'HO HO HO!!!'"

In Touch With Our Emotions...

So Ms Z was angry at me because I wouldn't give her Mac & Cheese for dinner. While my back was turned, she spilled a big glass of water--unclear whether by accident or on purpose.

So I looked at her for a moment and said, "I think that was naughty."

She looked kind of taken aback, then said, "Why do you say that? I don't like it when you say that!" And started a minor tantrum.

So I turned back around and kept making dinner. After a while she calmed down a bit, and we ate dinner together.

Later that night in the bath, she said, "Papa. I *hate* when you say I'm naughty."

I said, "I know, honey. I don't like saying it either."

"I hate it. It makes me mad. And it makes me confused."

Can't wait to see what the "Three's" are going to be like...

Ya Big Ape!

Giving Ms Z a bath the other night, and not wanting to get my clothes soaked, I was wearing boxers.

"Put a shirt on!"

"Excuse me?"

"Put a shirt on, please."

"Ok, I'll go ahead and do that, since you asked so politely."

I get up, grab a shirt from my room, come back, and sit down.

"Button it up!"

Me, laughing: "Why do you want me to button it up?"

"You look like a gorilla."

Zola reflects on cats

Driving down the road one day, I spot a guy walking his cat down the street on a leash and point it out to Z. She responds that that's not a big deal and that cats love to walk on a leash. When I tell her that I don't think they're usually big fans of the practice she says, "Well, not at first. But eventually they do. Eventually cats love to walk on a leash."

Road tripping through California

So as we were leaving L.A., Zola was pretty tired, irritable and hungry. I ran into Trader Joe's to get her some food while Ian entertained her in the car. I also grabbed her a balloon, as she loves getting balloons any time Ian runs to the grocery store.

After she ate, we agreed quietly in the front seat that we wouldn't engage with her so that she might eventually fall asleep.

From the backseat, Zola kept trying to get our attention asking lots of questions. My favorite one was, "Mama, our those mountains over there supposed to be my mountains?" Ahhh, the self-absorption of a toddler.

But it got funnier. "Mama, mama, mama ... MAMA! This balloon is driving me nuts."

The Eternal Youth of The D-Bud

So S is talking to Ms Z about Baba. Ms Z says, "She's an old lady!"

"Hmm. Yes, I guess she is old."

"And Padre and Granmary. They're old!"

"Right. And D-Bud..."

Ms Z, laughing, "No! D-Bud's not old!!"

Art Criticism

Ms Z and I were driving over to Baba's house on a Tuesday morning. (In between the end of summer camp and the beginning of the fall school year). As we were passing a vacant lot at around 3rd and H St, she says, "What is that sculpture?"

I paused for a second, and thinking I hadn't heard her correctly said, "What?"

"What was that chair on a stick?"

"No...What did you say before that?"

"What was the chair on a stick?"

"But what was the word you used before?"

Unsure silence...

Me: "Scu..."

"Sculpture?"

"That's exactly what it is!"

"But what is it?"

Ladies and gentlemen, my 2 3/4 year old.

More on that fundraiser

Zola likes to feel that she's included in adults' conversations and naturally, one of the best ways to accomplish this is to laugh along with jokes -- even when she's not entirely sure what people are laughing about. This tendency was in full force at the fundraiser. When it came time for the Congressman to address the crowd, people laughed politely at each of his jokes. Not Zola. She would throw back her head and give her fullest laugh to even his throwaway lines. Good stuff!

Other instances of this:
Alexei came for a visit one day, and didn't greet Zola as he usually does. He instead headed into the kitchen to talk to Ian. Zola stood before him and once he was laughing at something funny that Ian said, she started laughing as hard as she could.

And one of our first positive signs that school was going well:
I was driving along and she was chattering behind me. Suddenly, she gave a staged guffaw, "HAHAHA. (pause) Alex at school is soooo silly."

Zola ruminates on babies

So we're driving along after a fun afternoon of running errands. Zola's in the back and says, "I don't like babies."

Me: Oh, yeah? Why not?

Z: They cry. They cry a lot.

Me: That's true. You were a good baby, but you still cried some of the time. And I loved you then, just like I do now.

Z: But I'm NOT a baby anymore.

Me: No, you're a big girl. But babies are really fun even though they do cry. I bet you're really gonna like Baby Khale.

Zola: Yeah. I bet he will chew on his toys.

Me: On his toys? That's funny, for a second I thought you said "chews on his toes."

Zola: Yeah, babies do that, too ... Chew on they toes.

Me: They do?

Zola: Yeah, but then they get embarrassed.

Z's first fundraiser

Ms. Z really is a DC girl. She went to her first fundraiser for a friend of mine who is a Congressman a few weeks back. Because there were a few sitters hired to watch the kids at the party, Z referred to it as a "babysitter party."

That was several weeks ago. Last night as I was putting her to bed, when out of the blue she said, "At that babysitter party, I did like the Congressman." That's my girl :)

Uh oh

2 year 9 months, Zola decided she wants to pee standing up.

UPDATE: She's actually doing a pretty good job of it...

"Why not?" I ask.
"Eastern Market...it's right over there...," pointing out the window.
"So?"
She points back at the animals in the book.
"But these aren't real."

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my 2 1/2 year old.

... So I look at the page of baby farm animals, and improvise a story. "Once upon a time, there was a foal. His best friends were a kid, and a duckling. One day they were all walking to Eastern Market." A look of dawning disgust comes over Ms. Z's face. "they can't go to Eastern Market!"

Penchant for verisimilitude

Reading to Ms. Z, asked her to pick out a book to read. She's going through a "catalog" phase. She likes books that are nothing more than a cataolog of animals--baby animals, or scaly animals...

Watch Out For Spiders

One more related story:

Ms Z was pointing at the cobwebs outside on the windowsill. "I don't like that..."

"What? The spider webs?"

"I don't like those spider webs..."

"Why, what's wrong with spider webs?"

"I hate spiders."

"No, no. They're good! They eat bugs and mosquitos!"

"They KILL people!"

Ladies and gentlemen, my two-and-a-half year-old.

They Can't Do It...

A couple of new ones:

S is in San Francisco for a conference, so Ms Z and I are flying duo until Thursday morning. So I'm trying to fix some sort of intractable bug while Z's playing, but of course she wants me to come play with her. So she's saying, "Help make the sofa a boat. Help make the sofa a boat!"

And I'm trying to defer: "just a few minutes; I've got to finish this email."

"Help me make a boat!"

"Hey, why don't you get Otis and Jacques to help you?"

"No you help me!"

"I can't right now; can you play with Jacques and Otis?"

"THEY CANT DO THAT WITH THEIR PAWS!!!"

Just went into Z's room to turn off the lights, and she's draped herself in the most dramatic way across the bed. she really is the most beautiful child I've ever seen. And this isn't some sort of new father thing either. We're almost three years in and--occasionally--to see her beautiful form is like a punch in the gut.

Second Day of School

Was a little nervous this morning when Ms Z said, "I don't like school!" But I felt a little better when she claimed not to like: Me, underwear, shirts, pants, Otis, the sun, and various other entities. We were laughing about halfway into the list.

Today, we left J-Dogg in the crate, and the two of us walked all the way to school, Zola carrying her lunch bag pretty much the entire way.

When we finally got there, she asked in a kind of distracted way, "Can you come in?" But before I could answer, she was across the room, and playing with some toy or another. I wanted to say, "Goodbye", but also figured that the less ceremony, the better, so I stood and watched for a minute or two, and didn't see her turn around, so I walked back out into the little anteroom to enter the "check in" code.

Some young mom was just finishing up with the security box, we said hello, and as I was punching in, I heard her say to the little girl, "Is that your new friend you were talking about? What's her name? Z___?"

Then I realized I could hear Ms Z crying on the other side of the door. Hopefully it was short-lived. On the plus side...she's somebody's friend!

Whoo-hoo!

First Day of School: The Aftermath

So S & I were antsy about picking up Ms Z--we were watching the clock, trying to make the hands move faster, so that 3:30 pm would come sooner.

Only it turns out that the pick-up time was *not* 3:30pm. It was 2:45-3:00 pm.

So while S, J, & I were still about two blocks from the school, I got a cell-phone call. "Hmm. I wonder who this could be?"

"Mr C, I don't know if we got our wires crossed somehow, but we at the school are very strict about pick-up times for parents. We usually wouldn't call or make a big deal, except that your daughter is upset..."

Oh, Crap! So I'm running to the school, trying to catch my breath as I round the corner. I run down the stairs, and there's the school director, giving me a tolerant look. Then out comes little Ms Z, under control, but still occasionally sobbing. She wouldn't say anything to me for a full five minutes.

Apparently, she was fine until all the other parents showed up, and began taking their children home. So, Ms Z has learned three new phrases:

• I wanted you.
• I was all alone.

Ouch.

First Day At School

Just dropped Ms Z off at the Northeast Stars Summer Camp. Susie and I were both pretty emotional. Well, S was really choked up.

I had powerful mixed feelings: equal parts celebration and apprehension--and I think they canceled each other out. We walked to school w/ Ms Z, and when I say "walked" I mean it. She walked the entire way, toting her little neoprene lunch bag. She was super talkative, saying "I'm going to school! Annie (the train) is running to school! I'm bringing my lunch to school."

When we finally arrived at the big moment, S took her into the (still pretty empty) classroom, Ms Z took off looking at some fish, and never looked back. One of the teachers came up to her and said, "Hello, my name is Ms, ___" and held out her hand to shake.

S said that Ms Z didn't hear her, or was distracted, so she didn't respond. The teacher said, "That's okay. A lot of kids are shy on their first day." S said, "Hey Z! Do you want to shake the teacher's hand?" So Ms Z comes trotting up, bold as brass, thrusts out her mitt, and says, "I'm pretending to be a train today."

Kid's got nerves of steel... :)

New One

Reading in bed. Ms Z cups my chin looks deep into my eyes, and says, "I love you.  I like your spiky chin..."

Squirrel

Susie IM:

"My fave thing she does lately is wrinkle her nose/face and talk about how something (insert: squirrel etc) uses their little paws"

One More From The Archives

Latest phrase (Age 2 & 5 mos)

Oh my God, there's a FIRE!!

Ubi sunt

Ms Z.  in and old photo from last summer.  Funny what a bittersweet thing it is to see your baby grow up.  Where did you go little Napoleon?  

Old, old Baby

A couple of exchanges w/ Ms Z @ 2 years, 4 months.

Z: Momma got a *nipple* on her head!

S: That's not a nipple; it's a freckle.

Z: Not a freckle!  Tell me what the name of it is.

S: Fine, it's  a mole.

Z: I'm looking at *you* Mole!

*************************

Z: Momma likes words and names.

S: Yep, I sure do, Z.  Do you like playing with words?

Z: "Yes.  [pause a moment; then pokes S in the head with her finger] "I'm putting more names in your head." 

She's Gonna Bite You!

Was just chatting with S via gtalk, and the subject came up.  Backstory:  most babies kind of go through a bitey phase.  One afternoon (morning, evening, ?) when Ms Z had first gotten her teeth, S was sitting with her on the couch, and I suddenly heard S yell, "OUCH!"  I ran over there to see S holding Ms Z out at arms' length.  "She *BIT* me!!!"

So I took hold Ms Z,  and started examining S's neck.  

"Are you okay?" I asked.  "Wow!  There's a red mark"

"Ow!  I'm not surprised.  That really, really hurt....LOOK OUT!!!  SHE'S GONNA BITE YOU!!"

Best baby moment ever.

Back...

S & I went out to a dinner party last Thursday at an old work friend of S's. Ms Z stayed home, and was chaperoned by T & R from across the street (did I mention we have fantastic neighbors?).

Interesting group: there were about 8 people there, and two of them were current US Congressmen. In any case, conversation turned to kids, as it often does in such situations, and S's old boss Susan and I were swapping anecdotes. After a few minutes, Susan got a wistful look and said, "You should write all this stuff down, because you never remember it later.

So I'm going to try to get into the habit of coming here more often. Maybe every morning, if I can.

Ms Z content: She's got her first real illness as a toddler--nothing serious, just the stomach flu that's been going on. I came into her bedroom, and S was sleeping with her. God, they looked so beautiful together. S said that Ms Z had just told her the story of how the stars got on her ceiling. "I did it with Papa on the stepladder." Then she thanked S for painting her room, and told her she did a good job.

She's also taken to saying "I love Mama." Or "I love you." Couldn't your heart just break?