Snoozing Near the Tub

Friday marked the Min's 760th day of life. Each night of her life, she's slept in a crib. She's slept in different states (New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington [state] and Virginia), one District (of Columbia), and two countries (U.S. and Canada). She's slept on the beach and in a tent. She slept through a Nationals game and also many, many dinners out.

Friday marked the second night Min slept in a bathroom.

A friend of mine from college (Sarah) came to visit this weekend, and so I inflated the air mattress for her and placed it in Margot's room. I figured Margot could sleep the night in my room, either in her Pack and Play or in the bed.

The problem was she didn't want to sleep.

She chatted for hours, singing, whispering, and asking, "Eat breakfast? Eat breakfast?" She didn't cry, but she simply wasn't tired. I managed to doze through most of it, but it kept Brodie awake and he was pretty frustrated. Eventually, he set her Pack and Play up in our bathroom where she couldn't see us. I don't know if she slept, but she was certainly quiet enough for me to fall asleep.

The thing is, this isn't the first time she spent the night in a bathroom in that Pack and Play. One night the three of us shared a hotel room and again she wasn't interested in sleeping. Luckily the room had a huge bathroom, so we set her crib up in there and she snoozed the night (and Brodie and I didn't have to go to bed at 7 pm that night).

Speed 3?

Watch out! News from Philadelphia is that two toddlers have commandeered an MTA bus and were last seen headed down Chestnut Street.



Margot and her friend Esmee played at the Please Touch Museum this morning. Please Touch is a fabulous museum for kids in downtown Philly, easily walkable from our house. I can't believe it's taken us six months to go there! Now that I see how much she loves it, we'll be going all the time (especially because you can go for free with a valid Philadelphia library card).

In addition to driving a bus, Margot got to pretend she was Max from Where the Wild Things Are (her second-favorite book these days). Here you can see Margot sailing in and out of weeks, and over a year....

Baby Talk

Margot's vocabulary improves every day. The other day we drove beneath a train trestle and she shouted, "Trestle! Trestle!" 'Trestle,' I thought? That's a bona fide vocabulary word. Thomas the Tank Engine must be responsible for that one.

She doesn't have very many 'baby words' left - you know, those words that aren't pronounced correctly but are pretty cute when she does say them. ('Foffee,' for coffee, faded out months ago.)

So before they disappear altogether, I thought I'd note some of Margot's remaining baby words.

"Meena" for banana.
"Mato" for tomato.
"Nammies" for pajamas. (She might say this one well into adulthood.)
"Monkey George" for Curious George.
"I you" for I love you. (Ls give her trouble so she tends to skip them.)
"Pack Pack" for backpack.

And, my new favorite, "MamaI'mComing!" All one word. Shouted at the top of her lungs. Note, this is a perfect example of "Eats Shoots & Leaves, Lynne Truss' popular book about society's penchant for poor grammar usage. She's not saying, "Mama, I'm coming" which would indicate that Margot herself was coming toward me, but rather uses it as a means to request my presence (usually after awakening from a nap.) This is the result of her shouting, "Mama" and me replying, "I'm coming" from down the hall.

So Big!

I love that when I ask Margot, "How big is Margot?" that I can still elicit the "So big!" response.

(BTW - note the little Pebbles-style ponytail on top of her head. I think we'll have pigtails by summer!)

Margot really is 'so big' now. Before our walk to the post office this morning, she insisted on putting on her own boots. It took quite a while (note the boot going on backwards) but she mostly did it without help.

First Snow 2007

It was only a dusting, but we finally woke up to some snow yesterday.

After dropping Brodie at school, Margot and Portia and I took a little walk in the snow, and she posed for a photo in front of our building.



I sure hope that we get a real snow storm before springtime! I'm looking forward to a snow day where Brodie doesn't have to go to school and the three of us can play in the snow (I should say "four of us" - Portia loves the snow, too.)

Happy Birthday Daddy

Brodie's birthday was a week ago, but a missing camera cord prevented me from uploading any pictures.

With her own birthday memories fresh in her mind, Margot was very excited that it was time for Daddy's birthday. Baba and Grandpa and Teal came for dinner and she ran around, dipping tortilla chips in the guacamole ("Margot dip it!") and ignoring the "no double-dipping" policy I try to institute with her when guests come over.



Margot wanted to help Brodie blow out the candles. I think if she remembered to wish for anything, it would probably be for a 24-hour Caillou station on TV.

Potty Humor

As told to me by 'Baba' (Margot's paternal grandmother):

Last week, Brodie and I dropped Margot at Baba and Grandpa's house after dinner so that we could go to a movie. We're very lucky to live so close to them, because they often watch her in the evenings so that we can catch a movie or eat dinner alone somewhere. (And they don't charge $10-12 per hour!)

After we left for the movie ('Children of Men' and I wouldn't recommend seeing it in the theater), Margot had an atomic, level 10 diaper. These don't happen often, but I've certainly experienced more than my share of them. While Baba changed Margot's diaper, she couldn't help exclaiming, "Margot, this is the yuckiest diaper I have ever seen. My oh my what a yucky diaper!"

To which Margot replied, "Then go get Grandpa!" meaning, "Go get Grandpa to change it!"

*&?/>?W face? Huh?

This evening Margot has been repeating something that sounds like either "Freckle face" or "Poker face." I can't figure out which it is. Since I've been with her nonstop the past week or so, I can't figure out what this is or where she picked it up.

I, of course, take the 'freckle face' comment to heart. And she probably will too, despite my use of sunscreen and efforts to keep her face out of the sun.

But I just can't pinpoint what book or TV show led to this new phrase. Hmmm...I'm sure I'll figure it out eventually.

Flashback: Christmas 2006

While Christmas was only a few weeks ago, it feels like a lifetime ago already. Anyway, this photo sums up Margot's feelings toward the holiday - I'd call it 'utter glee.' This was Min on Christmas morning, about an hour into the opening of the presents (you should have seen her an hour after this photo was taken!)

Where's Margot Been?

Margot has been just fine, it's me who has been absent from the computer. Truth is, I don't really know what to write about! Since Christmas, Margot has learned two new phrases: "No!" and "Mine! Margot's!"

She excels at being two. We used to love to ask Margot her opinion because she always agreed with us with a delicate, "Yeah" or "Yes." Now it's no, no, no, and no. Occasionally I will slip in a phrase that I KNOW is a "yes," such as "Would you like some blueberries?" "Yes, please," she'll answer. At least I know she's listening.

There's a third phrase that is overused right now: "By myself!" She wants to dress herself, feed herself, wash herself. She wants to buckle herself into her carseat, walk up and down the stairs, and feed Portia.

I'm proud of her accomplishments, but I miss my dependent little love. Fortunately, she still comes back with hugs and kisses and plaintive requests to, "Hold you! Hold me!" (When she wants to be picked up.)

I'll get my act together and take some pictures this week. I know I skipped right over Christmas, too...look for photos soon!

Life Imitates Art

On Friday, Brodie and I left Margot with Baba and Grandpa while we saw The Vertical Hour up in New York.

(Sidenote on the play: While Julianne Moore was billed as the star of this play, the real showstopper was Bill Nighy. Moore's timing and cadence was awkward in the opening scene, and required Nighy's confidence to get back on track in the second and third scenes. Just my humble opinion.)

At any rate, after Brodie and I returned we heard that the police visited the house in the afternoon. Seems that Margot dialed 9-1-1 from the home phone at some point and when the operator didn't get a response, h/she dispatched the authorities to check things out.

I immediately drew a connection between one of Margot's favorite storybook characters and her actions. If you recall, Curious George accidentally dials the fire department in the original story from the series (the 'pilot,' if you will). George (or 'Monkey George' as he's referred to in this house) is then placed in jail for his actions (he later escaped).

Luckily, Margot did not meet the same fate.

Min's Birthday Extravaganza

While it's almost been a week since Margot's birthday party, I have been so busy I haven't been able to post photos from her birthday party. Today (January 5) I was up in Vermont for work, and on the two-hour drive back to the airport in Manchester, NH, I thought about how I needed to update this site. When I arrived at the airport, my the departures board said my flight would be delayed four hours (!). So it looks like I finally have the time to post some party pictures. (Thank goodness the Manchester airport has a free wireless Internet connection, or I don't know what I'd do!)

To put it simply, Margot LOVED her birthday party. She loved running around, she loved the excitement, she loved wearing her party dress, she loved opening presents and she especially loved the 30 seconds of group singing before she blew out her candle.




Did you note the Curious George birthday cake? It was a hit.

Following her party, Margot requested the singing of Happy Birthday and blowing out a candle no fewer than 40,000 times.

Brodie and I served sushi for the adults and homemade macaroni and cheese for the kids (not Kraft mac and cheese, the real deal). Margot has reached the toddler 'dipping' stage, and thoroughly enjoyed dipping crackers and apple slices in the soy sauce that was intended for sushi dipping.



I did learn a few lessons from this party, which is the first kid's party I've ever hosted. First, five kids under the age of five years is plenty (they were all exceptionally behaved, but I'm glad it wasn't a zoo). Second, 1:00 - 3:00 pm is a poor time for a child's birthday party (a lot of kids missed their naps). Third, the adults are going to eat the mac and cheese intended for the children, so I should make two trays in the future. Fourth, allowing Margot to dive into her entire pile of birthday presents at once is not a good idea, as I am now very confused about which gifts came from whom (she tossed cards and wrapping paper everywhere, and tore gifts open faster than I could write the item down). And last but not least, scheduling a birthday party during a football party is a good idea, since it gives the husbands/fathers/male attendees something to do while the tots run around (unfortunately, Navy lost but I don't think the kids heard too much profanity).