Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Big Daddy

Brianna has called her Daddy a number of names over the past few years, Dad, Daddy, Travis, Trav, Superdad, and Pirate to name a few. But, now there's another one to add to the list. The other day when Travis walked in the door from work, out of nowhere Bree says, "Hey, Big Daddy's home." She then called him Big Daddy for the rest of the evening. Trust me, this is NOT a name I've referred to Travis as. But, secretly I think he liked it when she did though...

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

B is for Brianna

So Brianna is starting to have some letter recognition skills. She knows what letters are and everywhere we go she's pointing out the signs and telling me, "See, letters Mom." Mostly she finds it fun to pick out the B's in things and inform me, "Mom, look, B for Brianna!" So far she's spotted B's in the sign for the liBrary, rainBow foods grocery store, and so on. Yep, B's everywhere around here and she's determined to find them all!

Monday, January 29, 2007

Glorious Cheese

This is a story that happened while my mom was here and I meant to share then but it just slipped my mind (as many things do these days). But, I was reminded of it today when giving Bree her afternoon snack...

For the past couple months Brianna has insisted she doesn't like cheese. Any time I'd try to give some to her she'd even say, "I don't like cheese!" Leave it to Grammy though to be the only one to get Bree to actually eat, and like, cheese. Here's what did the trick - Grammy Dee-Dee sang a cheese song like this "Cheese, glorious cheese! We're anxious to try it! Cheese, glorious cheese! There's nothin' like it!" This, sung several times over with much theatrical flair was enough to make Bree wander over and say, "Can I have some glorious cheese?" (Actually from that moment on she's never called cheese plain old cheese. It is now officially called "Glorious Cheese" at my house.) Leaving me standing nearbye with my mouth gaping open, amazed. I was even more amazed when Bree proceeded to eat a whole slice of cheese and happily ask for more. Over the rest of Grammy's visit Bree had some glorious cheese just about every day. She even helped Grammy pick out some "strange" (string) cheese at the store, another form of cheese she'd rejected when I tried to give it to her. I think Grammy's trick was to just act like it was SO good and that she was excited to eat it. Like, in the car going home from the store when she said to Bree, "Mmmm. That looks good. Can I have a bite of your cheese?" And Bree laughed hysterically telling her, "Strange (string) cheese is just for kids Grammy!" Then proceeded to eat the whole thing herself. Well, I guess that's one of the things grammies are good for. I mean, it's not like I haven't tried the old reverse psychology trick myself before but I've just never really taken it that far...to the broadway performance level. But, if it works.....(flash to me in about a week dancing across my kitchen and singing "Peas! Glorious Peas!")

Sunday, January 28, 2007

Tylenol Addict

Actually it's been quite a while since we've needed to use Tylenol on a regular basis with Bree. She's been pretty healthy for the past few months. However, the other night she woke up at 11:30 and was just inconsolable for about a half hour. We had no idea what was wrong and were trying everything we could think of. She was so upset she couldn't even stop bawling to answer our questions if something was hurting or what. So, in an effort to at least rule out pain I told her I wanted to give her some Tylenol to make her feel better. At that time, she wanted no part of it and just cried harder and thrashed around when I tried to give her some. (We finally had to get her out of bed, snuggle on the couch and read a few books together to calm her down. I think maybe it was a scary dream or something??) Anyways, ever since that late night offering of Tylenol I guess Bree has become convinced that she really needs some. For the last 2 or 3 morning since that incident she's woken up and first thing said, "I have a headache. I need some Tysenol (Tylenol)." "What? You need some Tylenol?" we asked her. "Yeah, I have the hiccups so I need Tysenol," she said. Uh-huh. Notice she changed her reason for needed it in there. "Well, if you can't even decide WHY it is you need Tylenol then you can't have some," we told her. She seemed to accept that but every now and then she'll just suddenly ask for Tylenol....I don't know what that's about.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

A Happy Noise

It's no big secret if you know my kid, or if you read about her very often, that she just loves to torture our poor cat. Despite my best efforts to keep her from doing so. The problem is, if I were to give her a time out for every time she was harassing him then she'd be in time out all day. Plus she's very sly and manages to bug him without actually crossing that fine line into cat abuse. She'll chase him around the house, or "hug" him by laying all over him, and so forth. It's not hitting or kicking or hair pulling but it's fairly ambiguous stuff that I can't get her for. I mean how can I say, "Hey, don't hug your cat!" I suppose he's kind of asking for it too. Maybe he's a masochist...he could hide from her but instead he actually seeks her out lots of times so maybe its not as bad as it would seem between them. Still, in an effort to teach Bree manners around cats (so that when someone else's cat doesn't appreciate being layed on she doesn't get scratched up) I've been trying to show her how to "talk" to Bogart. We've talked about looking at his ears and that if they're laying back that means he's not really having fun. And, the other big thing I taught her was about Bogart's happy noise. I don't think she'd ever really noticed him purring before (probably because he's not usually purring around her) so, the other day when he was sitting on MY lap and purring away I pointed it out to her. I had her put her ear up real close to his head while he was purring and listen. After a few seconds she started laughing at the funny noise he was making. "That's his happy noise," I told her, "He makes it when he likes what you're doing. You can make him make his happy noise when you pet his head nice, like this." This idea seems to be working out. I mean, she'll still chase him down and all that, but now there are quite a few times when she'll want to hear his happy noise and handle him more gently. The funny part of it though was when, on a whim, I asked Bree the other day, "Do you have a happy noise?" In response, she started making this snorting, inhaling, weird kind of noise, trying to copy a purr. It was even funnier though when one day after Travis got home she suddenly was making that noise out of nowhere. He had absolutely no idea what she was doing and looked over at me like "What the ?!" "She's purring like the cat." I clarified for him. "It's my happy noise Dad," she added. He laughed for a few minutes after that one.

Friday, January 26, 2007

Better Late Then Never--Sledding w/ Grammy Pix

Oops! Well I had almost forgotten that we took a few pix of our sledding adventure with Grammy that I meant to post while she was here. I found these when I downloaded the shots from Sesame Street. Oh well, better late then never right? Here's a few cute shots of our winter fun with Grammy last weekend.

Of course, while Grammy was here we had to do one of Brianna's favorite winter things, sledding! Here they are getting all bundled up, and I mean REALLY bundled up because it was super cold while Grammy was visiting. We were laughing that Bree reminded us of the kid in that movie "A Christmas Story" because by the time we were done with her she couldn't really bend her knees that well and had to sort of waddle along. Good thing she spent most her time in the sled!
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Yep, I'm all bundled up too - Cheese!
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Happy as a clam, being pulled along in her little sled with a smug little smile. Looks like we'll need a bigger sled for next year though.
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Mush Grammy, mush!
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Then we came across the apartment playground. Despite the fact that it was quite snowed in Bree still wanted to give it a try.
We're not gonna let any stinkin' snow stop us from using the slides - no way!
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Actually Bree got a little intimidated and needed Daddy's help to go down the slides. They went down quite a few times. The funny part was watching Travis shoot right off the end of the slide to land on his butt in the snow, since the ice and snow made the slides SO slick, even for him! So, I know this shot is blurry but it was the best I could get when they were going down so fast.
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Three generations of women in my family, tromping back inside through the snow with Mom and I sharing a smile over Brianna's head. (Yeah, I actually like my mom quite a bit...I figure I have to since the older I get the more like her I am becoming in lots of ways.) :)
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Isn't she the cutest snow baby?!
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Thursday, January 25, 2007

Sesame Street Live!

Today Bree and I went with one of my mommy friends, Melissa, and her daughter, Ivy, to Sesame Street Live. We had a great time and I was so glad we went! I had seen the ads for the show but wasn't sure if I should buy tickets because Bree's never really been to anything like that, she hasn't been into Elmo as much lately, and I wasn't real sure she'd sit through it. But then, my friend called and said she was going and wanted someone to go with so I thought, why not? Like I said, Brianna's never seen a live show like that but it didn't take her long to get excited about it...she was totally into it, yelling out answers when they wanted audience participation, clapping wildly and dancing to the music. It was really funny to watch her and Ivy getting so into it. Actually, Bree was kind of upset when the show was over and ended up convincing me to buy her an outrageously priced Elmo light-up souvenir thing. It was worth it though because she had such a great time.

Even though I'm sure she had no idea what we were doing there at first, after about 30 seconds Bree was a more than captive audience...
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The name of the show was Elmo Makes Music and there was sure a lot of music! I think they sang and danced almost the whole show...and of course all the kids loved it!
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Bert and Ernie in their big song.
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This was one of the slower songs. It was pretty funny because during this song Brianna was swaying back and forth. She must have really been feeling the mood of this one because she even took the hand of her little friend, Ivy, and kissed it.
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...still mesmerized...
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Big Bird and his back-up birdies singing "Rockin' Robin."
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Here's the whole Sesame Street cast doing one of the big numbers.
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The big finish...TA-DA!
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Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Bye Grammy!

Well, I guess all good things must come to an end and so did Grammy Dee-Dee's visit. We had a great time with her! She was here for 6 whole days and we filled them up with indoor park visits, swimming, sledding, shopping, library time, completing a 750 piece puzzle, lots of toddler playtime, and naturally, plenty of funny, one-liner Bree-isms...like the time Grammy was headed to take a bath and walked past with her razor in her hand and Bree asked her, "Are you going to shave my legs?" :) Yep, we wore her out something good and then drove her to the airport late yesterday afternoon. Bree actually handled it pretty well overall. We had been talking about it all day and Grammy and her had even acted it out a few times on the dollhouse in preparation. Of course, everytime we mentioned it during the day Bree would say, "Okay, Grammy can go back to Idaho...in just a few more minutes okay?" And, for most of the day we'd just smile and say, "Okay a few more minutes but she has to leave today." Finally it was time and there we were kissing her goodbye. Bree did great and didn't shed a tear at all...then. It was only after we started to walk back to the car minus Grammy that Bree asked, "Where's Grammy?" After some discussion about it Bree finally said, "Oh man! I miss my friend Grammy!" "I know," I said, "I do too. It's a little sad but we'll talk to her on the phone a lot and we'll see her again soon." She accepted this explanation but several times throughout the rest of the evening she would tell us, "I'm kinda sad about my friend Grammy. I miss my friend Grammy." Aw, poor kid. Good thing we get to see our Grammies pretty often for living as far away as we do.

We already miss you Grammy! Until next time....

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Super 'Ranna!

For Christmas I got Travis a T-shirt with the Superman "S" on the front of it. Today, he wore it for the first time. Of course, not one to pass up on a corny little display of male-pride, after he put it on this morning he put a button down shirt over it, strolled into Bree's bedroom (where me, Grammy, and Bree were playing) and asked, "Does this shirt look okay?" "It's nice," my mom said. "Yeah it's fine," I added, "But did you know it's buttoned crooked?" I asked. "Oh really?" he asked innocently. Then he unbottoned it and held it open to reveal his Superman "S" under there. While my mom and I laughed Bree said, "What's that Dad?" "It means I'm a Super-Dad!" he told her.... A few minutes later he was headed out the door for work. "Bye everyone!" he called out. "Bye SuperDad!" Brianna said. Actually throughout the rest of the morning she referred to Travis as SuperDad. Well, this gave Grammy Dee-Dee an idea and after naptime she asked Bree, "Brianna, I have an idea. Would you like to have your own super shirt, like Daddy, and then you can match and you'd be Super Brianna?" Bree LOVED this idea and off we headed to the nearest store to find a "super shirt." Half an hour and a browse through the boys toddler section later, we found a Superman shirt. "A super shirt!" Bree exclaimed. So it was that a few hours later when Travis walked back through the door after work that a tiny Super Bree ran up to him and said, "SuperDad, look at me! Look at my super shirt!"

Monday, January 22, 2007

One Little Sister To Go Please!

Another day visiting with Grammy Dee-Dee and today Brianna took her down to the apartment swimming pool, leaving me with a little time to myself. Bree was more than happy to have Grammy all to herself and they happily headed off down the hall...

Then, about an hour later, here they came back, wet and happy. They had a great time swimming and told me all about the new friend Brianna had made there, a 5 year old named Madison. Apparently, Bree just talked Madison's ear off and was excited to make a new friend. "And guess what else Mom? Madison had a little sister!" Grammy told me, winking at me. "Really?!" I said. (We haven't actually talked in great detail yet with Bree about her upcoming sibling...we're waiting to get real in depth until it won't be too long of a wait for her to deal with and she can see for herself that something has changed about her mom.) "Yep, and Brianna, did Madison like her little sister?" Grammy prompted. "She did!" answered Bree, "She likes to kiss her!" Then, sowing the psychological seeds for our upcoming sibling Grammy went on, "Yeah, it can be fun to have a little sister. Would you like a little sister someday Bree?" Bree nodded her head, "I would!" she said. And, since we don't know the sex of the baby yet Grammy also asked, "What about a little brother, would that be nice?" Bree thought about it for a moment and said, "How 'bout a little sister?" Which, had us all laughing of course. But meanwhile, I'm kind of thinking well great! I had thought she was too little to really prefer one kind of sibling or another. But, knowing my little outgoing and opinionated gal I should have known better.... So, did you hear that God? One order for a little sister please!

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Dollhouse Therapy

Since Grammy Dee-Dee's here Bree and her have been inseperable, spending pretty much every minute together playing a variety of little games Brianna thinks up. One of their favorites over the past few days has been to play with the dollhouse Bree got for Christmas. It's a Little People dollhouse and like any other has all the main rooms a house would have, and is compatible with all the Little People dolls. Bree loves it because she likes to make Grammy make the people "knock-ock" on the front door..and endless parade of visitors that she gives different responses too. Grammy likes it because she finds Brianna's variety of responses and answers to be interesting and a bit revealing about her little toddler mind. For example, depending on Bree's mood sometimes she tell the kids they can't come in, sometimes she invites them in, sometimes Grammy makes them ask for things (like a snack) that Bree likes to grant or deny them. It's great for her, a place where she has total control of what happens. One of the things Grammy has found particularly amusing though are the names of the dolls....like this one doll is a blond with long braids whom Bree has been calling "Grammy Deb" and Grammy Deb does have long blond hair in real life as well. Then of course there's the doll with short, dark hair (just like my mom has) who is naturally named "Grammy Dee-Dee." My mom thought this was pretty funny since Bree came up with this all on her own. And so, they've played dollhouse for several hours each day and Brianna acts out little things that have happened that day or just random things from out of her imagination...like kiddie therapy, only free and much more entertaining. :)

Saturday, January 20, 2007

Cherry Pie

So far we've kept Grammy Dee-Dee pretty busy while she's been here. One day we had a playdate with several of Bree's friends at the apartment swimming pool and another day we took Grammy to play at one of our favorite winter places, Edinborough Park, (which if you remember is a great indoor park). Bree and Grammy had a great time crawling through all the tubes and going down the slides at Edinborough but by the end they were both worn out pretty good. In fact, both of them had to come home and take a long nap afterwards. Yep, we've done a pretty good job of entertaining, and wearing out, our visitor the past few days. So, after all that activity, today we decided to have a nice quiet day inside. Of course, my mom just couldn't quite let herself completely relax and decided that she needed to make us all a cherry pie. She got started cooking and then decided that maybe Brianna would enjoy making the pie with her. So, there they both were, Bree in her little apron, making a royal mess with flour, dough, and cherry filling. Bree had a blast since Grammy let her make her own miniature pie and help with every step along the way. It was pretty darn cute and they had a great time....

First, of course, they had to mix the dough and roll it out. Grammy used the big roller while Bree used her little Playdoh roller.
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After that it was time to scoop the filling in.
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Bree thought that part was great but she was putting the cherries in one at a time and going "One for you, one for me!"
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Finally, Grammy had to help out a little bit and scoop the cherries in more than one at a time. I don't think we ended up with a picture of the finished product but Bree had made her own tiny pie to go along with the big one. She had a lot of fun eating her creation later too.
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Friday, January 19, 2007

Grammy's Here!

Well, Grammy's been here for a few days now, (since late Wednesday night), and as usual Bree just picked up right where they left off. Actually since Grammy got in so late on Wednesday, Brianna didn't see her until Thursday morning. We told her there was a surprise for her in the living room. She asked, "Santa?" Then, when she saw it was Grammy Dee-Dee she just said, "Oh, Grammy's on the couch," like it's something that happens all the time. She totally just took in in her stride although we had kind of expected her to act more, well, surprised. After that uneventful beginning the two (Grammy and Bree) were off and playing. And, of course, Brianna has made her Grammy laugh quite often with some of the little things she says. So, here's a few of Bree's one liners that made Grammy Dee-Dee laugh so far:

(While we were driving down the freeway...) "Mom, don't you think you're going too fast?" (I wasn't by the way.)

(In response to Grammy dancing along to some music.) "Mom, take Grammy to Idaho so she won't dance in our house anymore!"

(After spilling something.) "Grammy, it's no big deal."

Just to name a few. There are more but not off the top of my head. :)

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Smacks Aren't Just a Breakfast Cereal!

Okay so, Travis and I have decided we're not spanking Brianna. (Blame it on my liberal college education. Since I have an Elementary Ed. degree they made me take a bunch of Child Psych. classes and so on. And, according to all them, spanking isn't that effective and has some negative aspects as well. Of course, Trav and I were both spanked and we turned out okay so who knows?) That's not to say if you spank you're doing the wrong thing though. My philosophy is that each kid is different and parents need to do what works for them and their child. Anyways, over here we've decided that a system of time outs, removing toys or other fun stuff as a punishment, and also rewarding positive behavior is a better system for us. But...

The other day Bree and I were getting ready to head off on another one of our little adventures and we were running a little late. I was trying to get her dressed but she was resisting me full force. (Which is her new hobby when getting dressed.) She thinks it's hysterical to roll all over, try to run away, turn into a limp noodle, just making it virtually impossible to get her shoved into her clothes. And to add insult to injury she's usually laughing like a maniac the whole time too. Well, on this particular day, like I said, we were running late, I was in a hurry, and I got super frustrated. Nothing I said seemed to be making a darn difference. So, in total exasperation I swatted her buns. I don't even think you could call it a full force spank but never-the-less it shocked Bree. She looked at me with huge eyes so I told her, "Well, you weren't listening to Mommy so you got a little spankin'." I felt bad but it worked after all and I figured that was the end of that.

I should have known better though... At dinner it's my little habit to encourage Bree to tell her daddy about our day. Usually with a little prompting she'll tell him about the library or her friends, etc. But, it took no prompting this time! Brianna decided to tell on me. We hadn't taken two bites of dinner when Bree turned to Travis and said, "Dad, did you know Mommy smacked me?" Guess I better knock it off before she starts telling EVERYONE that and I end up with Child Services at my door. Geesh! :)

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

A Few Pix

Well I'm feeling kinda lazy today and it's been awhile since I posted pix. So, here ya go, a few snapshots for ya. Nothing special just a few cute shots Travis took on random days during playtime. Enjoy!

Aw...so sweet, so innocent, so darn cute!
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Until 5 minutes later that is after getting into something she shouldn't. This is her "Huh? What? I didn't do it!" look.
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Another wink, I just coudn't resist posting it. She does this all the time now! She thinks she's so cool. :)
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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

Really Missing the Grammies

I guess we're really missing our Grammies today. Bree walked up to me and was insisting we need to go see the Grammies. "Mom, I need to see my Grammies," she said. Then, anticipating my next statement she added, "Let's get on the airplane and go see them!" "Well, we don't have tickets," I told her. "Mom, let's get tickets in a few seconds." "Baby, we don't have the money to buy tickets right now," I said. So, Bree thought about it for a second and then told me, "I have money in my piggy bank!" It was just the sweetest little moment but once again she totally surprised me with her ability to mentally connect the dots between concepts. Well, I guess when you're desperate to see your Grammies you'll offer up the pennies in your piggy bank. But, lucky for Bree one of her Grammies IS coming to visit already and will arrive tomorrow. :)

Monday, January 15, 2007

How to Hypnotize the Pizza Guy

Along with my apartment being a lot less clean, one of the other "side effects" of this pregnancy quite often has been my refusal to cook dinner, instead leaving it up to Travis. This means we either eat hot dogs, scrambled eggs, or, more likely, the situation ends up in a take-out, drive-through, or delivery type dinners. Not that you'd ever hear Brianna complain. Nope, now on days when we're NOT eating out she'll suggest, "Mom, how 'bout we go get a cheeseburger?" It's actually kind of a sad state of affairs and I'm determined to turn it around and get back to the more healthy home-cooked type dinners. (Which will probably be getting easier now that I'm just out of my first trimester and should start feeling better, at least in the less barfing department.) Of course, this is one resolution I'm starting TOMORROW. Tonight we ordered pizza. (What?! One last time...gimme a break!) Predictably, Bree was quite distraught over this development, NOT. In fact, she was so happy to be having pizza for dinner that, when her Dad walked through the door, (normally an event that involves a lot of smiling, laughing, hugging and so forth), she said, "Aw..just Dad! Not the pizza guy." A few mintues later, our pizza guy did arrive and naturally, Bree ran over to say hi. While I signed the credit card slip she dazzled the poor 19 yr. old with non-stop, no getting a word in edgewise, verbal acrobatics..."Hi Pizza Guy! I like pizza. Do you like pizza? Pizza is good. Are you the wivery (delivery) guy? Do you wanna come in? Guess what? I have a really big puppy! (Her stuffed one.)" And so on and so forth. And keep in mind all this was blurted out in the 30 seconds so so it took me to take the pen and paper from him, sign my name, and hand it back. I'm sure that the guy didn't even catch most of it seeing as how she was talking so fast and, being a young single guy, he probably doesn't speak toddler-ese. Finally he said, "Cute kid," and took off. Poor guy, never knew what hit him.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

Sunday

Just another quiet day at the Taylor household. We've really been pretty boring on the weekends this past month or so because, since we know we're moving in the coming months, we are really trying to plan ahead, sort through all our crap,throw out what we don't want, and organize what's left. So, that means that we clean and sort and all kinds of really interesting things like that...not a fun day for a toddler. But, Bree's actually been handling it pretty well and has managed to keep herself entertained pretty well. Take today for example...

Once we'd all had breakfast and had gotten going on the organizing Bree kept busy by running around in just her diaper and her "hee heels" (high heels). These are really a pair of adorable little dress shoes (and they actually do have a little bit of a heel on them) that were hand-me-downs from our friends Hannah and Kadyn. Well, Brianna thinks they're the neatest and asks to wear them quite often since I think it makes her feel all grown up. So, there she was, happy as a clam to be almost naked save for her "hee heels."

That kept her busy for most of the morning and then it was nap time. Well, in our sorting and cleaning yesterday we re-discovered the huge stuffed dog that I won last summer at the state fair and pulled him out of where he'd been stuffed in a closet. Bree was ecstatic and today insisted on taking him to bed with her. Now, she already had about 20 other stuffed friends in there so we told her that if she wanted the big dog in bed she had to throw out some of her other friends. Surprisingly she seemed okay with this idea and started booting out fuzzy pals left and right. In fact, she kicked out most of her stuffed entourage...including her long time buddies Bear and Green! (A shocking development since she's never gone to bed without them in about a year's time I think.) She even kicked out her stuffed Buzz Lightyear figure. This was something her daddy and I weren't ready for! "Are you sure?" we asked her. "Yep, night night." she told us. "Well okay," we said. Alas, it was only a few minutes later that we heard some commotion coming from her room. Travis went in to check on her. "What was the problem?" I asked him when he came back out. "She needed Buzz back in bed," he said, "When I went in there she told me Buzz was mad at her!" So I guess she wasn't ready to get rid of ALL her bedtime friends after all.

Along with all the additional organizing and sorting of stuff we have to keep up with the normal housework of course. So, after naptime it was time to head down the hall to do the laundry. This is a task that Bree usually enjoys since she likes to run or ride her bike down the hall. It's a good break for her and a quick way to burn off some energy. Today was no different. She happily jumped on her little trike and was off and riding down the hallway. We made it down the hall, started our laundry and started back, all like normal. But today, on the way back, for some reason Brianna just burst into song while riding her bike. (Totally a Travis thing to do.) She started singing one of the songs from the Winnie the Pooh Heffalump movie, a favorite of hers lately. This in and of itself was mildly amusing but it was really funny when she got SO into it that she had to get off her bike in order to do a big finish that included raising her arms up in the air and twirling. This was to be repeated several times as we walked back to the apartment. One time she even told us, "Hey, you need to stop so I can sing!" and then proceeded to repeat her little dance while singing (a lot of it fairly unintelligable) at the top of her lungs. (I'm sure the neighbors really appreciated it.)

Overall, it was kind of a boring day here... but in Brianna's world it was still a pretty interesting day.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

Pirate Dictionary

Here's some pirate slang you'll need to know in order to understand a conversation with my kid these days:

chip = ship
sen sees = seven seas
ocean bwu = ocean blue
pie-watt = pirate
Jim = Jim Hawkins, the main character in Treasure Island
I'm God = En Guarde
Yo ho ho = Yo ho ho (duh!)
hooker = the lock on the treasure chest (duh!)
pie-watt moo-zik = pirate music, also known as the sound track to Muppets Treasure Island

Friday, January 12, 2007

James

Okay so, maybe it's weird but I have a habit of sometimes calling my husband "James" even though his name is Travis. (Well, technically his name is Roger but that's another story.) See, its just that in the movies the rich people usually have an English butler named James or Jeeves or something like that. So, whenever I want Travis to wait on me, bring me something, or otherwise serve me in some way I teasingly refer to him as James (the butler). And he knows that whenever I call him James I'm about to ask him for a favor. It just so happens that I also have a cousin named James. This is not to imply that I think my cousin James is destined to butlerhood. He's a very intelligent guy and I'm sure he'll have a very stellar career in whatever direction he chooses. But, I have to say if he chooses to have a stellar career as a butler, I'll probably have a good laugh at the irony. But anyways... Well, tonight Bree and I were hanging out in one room and Travis was in another when suddenly, I decided I was thirsty. Taking full advantage of the "poor me" pregnancy card I called out ever so sweetly, "James, oh James! We're thirsty in here! Can we have a drink of water?" At this point Brianna looked at me funny and told me, "It's NOT James, it's just Daddy. James is with Grape Grammy!" ('Cause pretty much every time she's seen her cousin James it's been at her Great Grammy's house.) I guess the whole "AKA" concept is a little over Brianna's head at this point...although, she does insist that SHE has several names herself after all. But, perhaps I should refrain from calling her father by other mens' names for now to cut down on any confusion. :)

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Chill Out

Okay so, I'll admit it...my apartment lately has been slightly...messy. Actually that's putting it mildy. I've really found this whole pregnancy thing kind of draining and I've let my cleaning really slide. So the end result is that you can't really walk 2 steps in any direction right now without running into a pile of stuff. That's what happened to Bree this morning. We were getting ready to head out and spend the morning with some friends when, as I was putting my coat on I heard a thump and I knew she'd gone down. "Are you okay?" I asked. She came around the corner and said, "Yeah, I just fell down. Chill out Mom!" "You chill out!" I told her. "Mom, you chill out. Let's both chill out." This is another new phrase for her and it made me laugh to hear her say it, although, had I not responded to her falling she probably would have burst into tears, had her feelings hurt, and demanded a kiss. Motherhood...I'm finding that quite often it's kind of a no-win role. But, then there are the times when your kid gives you a hug or tells you they love you, (man it's great when they're finally old enough to say that back!) and it's all worth it...mostly. ;)

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Dangerous Buns and a Hooker

Suggestive title eh?! Well, it's really not that bad you'll see....

As I've mentioned before, Bree is going through a fascination with pirates phase, perhaps it's kind of different for a toddler to be into pirates, I don't know but there you have it, pirates are cool right now. (Hmmm..let's see. So far she's into pirates and Buzz Lightyear. You think I might have a little Tomboy on my hands here?) :) So, when I heard that the Dollar Spot at Target had little pirate accesories of course Bree and I had to go check it out. Sure enough, they had some great pirate stuff. I'm not sure if I should really be encouraging this particular interest but by the time we left Brianna had a new little treasure chest, pirate hat, and plastic pirate ship with skull and crossbones flags. She was so excited about them that she almost didn't even take a nap. Then she spent all day playing with her new pirate accesories, her "chip" (ship), and her treasure chest complete with a tiny "hooker" (Which is apparently her term for a lock. Yep, that could be cause for some social embarassment later. Note to self, don't let Bree see a lock when in public.) No matter how many times I told Bree it was a lock, she was still calling it a "hooker" because, after all, it hooks the lid to the rest of the treasure chest right? Wrong word, but inventive.

Then there's the dangerous buns. This story actually happened on a different day and really has nothing to do with the pirate toys, but ya know, I'm including to to have a better title up there. (Admit it, you were intrigued by it right?) Anyways, it was the other day when Bree was having her usual after-bath air it all out time. As usual, Trav and I were both smirking at her as she ran all around in the buff like a professional nudist. At one point she was sort of harassing her daddy a bit so in response he teasingly said, "Brianna, I'm gonna have to pinch your buns now." ('Cause they're the cutest little round nudy buns, it's hard NOT to pinch them as they run by sometimes.) But she said, "Daddy, you better not. They're dangerous." Now, I have no idea why she said that or what made her think to say it either. But, it worked, Travis laughed instead of pinching her buns.... Who knows? Brianna and her dangerous buns.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Name Game

Today we met up with our play group and hung out at a place called Family Village. They have a play time set up where the kids can just play with a bunch of toys in a big open room, and more importantly, the parents can sip coffee while they watch them play. Bree thought it was great, she got to see her friends and play with new toys..she actually mastered the Sit-N-Spin while she was there. They also had "circle time" while we were there where they sang a few songs and did some fun stuff with one of those play parachutes. And, at the beginning of circle time the leader went around the circle and asked the older kids (who could talk) what their names were. Brianna was the last to go and so, when the lady asked her, "What's your name?" I held my breath. Now was her big chance to introduce herself as Jim the Pirate. But, instead she just said, "Bree!" And, I was surprised...for one that she used her own name and for two that she called herself Bree. I think that's the first time she's shortened her own name, usually she refers to herself as "Ranna."

Monday, January 08, 2007

Mountain Girl

As I've mentioned, Travis recently finished his schooling and has his PhD in hand. So, he's been looking for a new job over the past few months. He interviewed at a lot of great places but ultimately, he's decided to accept a position in Montana. I'm excited about this move as it will put us closer to our family in Idaho and I love the area...it's very mountainous and much like what we grew up with so I know it will feel more familiar and more like "home." We have to wrap up a few things here first but will be moving in about 2 months time. So, to start preparing Bree for all this change we've started talking to her about it. We told her that soon we were going to be moving to a place called Montana, that we would be living by the mountains, much closer to her Grammies and would get to see them more often. We also told her she'd be getting a bigger room and tried to make her excited about it. The part she picked up on though was mountains and Grammies. So, she's been going around telling people "We're gonna live in the mountains with our Grammies!" The way she tells it, it sounds like we're gonna be hermits on a mountainside. But, at least she's excited about it...for now. Wait until we start to try and pack up her toys for the move.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

A Quiet Sunday at Home

Today was just a quiet day at home. Nothin' much to tell really. But, naturally, Trav had his camera out during the day and was snapping away. So, since I haven't posted pictures in a little while, I thought I'd just let the pix speak for themselves and give you a slideshow of our day...

Bree takes the weekends to hone her harmonica skills. Maybe she wants to be a great harmonica player to go along with her Hee-Haw pants! :) Of course, it's also fun that playing the harmonica makes the cat wail...
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Hair flying in the air and mouth wide open....just a lazy Sunday afternoon jumping on the bed. Check out that big mouth! Most of her face may come from me, but that mouth is all Travis.
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