using the phone

Since it's just me and Kiddo, I sometimes feel the need to talk to adults. I'd like to call you up and do so, but Kiddo says no. When I talk on the phone, she instructs me to "say goo-bye..." and tries to hang up the phone. When I pulled out the phone to call someone today, she looked upset and said "no, no, no."

So don't feel bad if I don't call, Kiddo wants none of it.

the last two weeks

I am slightly behind. On Tuesday, November 17th, my husband became an academic doctor. On Wednesday, we drove east to his new job, and where we will soon live. We stayed there three days, spent an evening with a cousin, her husband, and her parents (my aunt and uncle) then dropped hubby off at the airport to attend a professional conference. Kiddo and I headed back to the house for three days of sleeping in our own beds, and not eating out.

The next Tuesday, we picked Daddy up at the airport, and headed south for the extended family Thanksgiving extravaganza. What am I not thankful for this year? It was great.

We cut out early to spend two or three days in our old home before Husband goes back to work tomorrow, and Kiddo and I stay here. We made this decision because we don't yet have a place to live there. (Soon. I'm sure.) The one thing we are absolutely positive of is that my kid does not sleep well out of her bed. So she and I will stay here.

Last weekend when I drove into town I thought: I love this place, do I really want to leave? This weekend I thought: It's time to go. Now I just need a place to set up my kid's crib.

little kicker

When Kiddo was in utero, she only ever kicked or jabbed that I could feel. There was never a "gentle flutter" or any feeling of her sloshing around, just kicks and jabs. Near the end there was also prolonged pushing, so I'd push back.

Her sibling seems to be on the same course. I first felt movement about two weeks ago. The first was a kick. A moment or so later I felt a non-kicking movement, he/she shifted, I thought I would be sick to my stomach. He/she did that again the next day. Given those two experiences, I'm grateful for Kiddo's thoughtful treatment.

Since then, we've been limited to kicks and jabs. But, at this point, it doesn't hurt, so I'm trying to enjoy it while this kid is still small. And be grateful for evidence that all is well.

thoughts for breakfast time

The last two mornings we've had breakfast at the hotel while my husband started his job (much paper work) and we looked for housing (don't ask - we've found a few places we like, now we'll just see if and when we can move in...). The hotel did an adequate breakfast.

Each morning my husband had two hard-boiled eggs. As soon as he sat at the table, both mornings, Kiddo announced "Dada. Eggs." And then she recited (over and over) some lines from our "farm song" CD that we listen to constantly in the car (a book and CD set by StudioMouse). "Crack, crack, crack. Out pops a ball of feathers." He did a double take of his eggs, and ate them anyway.

the doctor is in (again)

Today my husband successfully defended his dissertation. We can call him Dr. I'm afraid his only useful skill is the ability to do large amounts of mathematics, specifically relating to fluid dynamics (oh, and some computer programming). Add this to my ability to read, judge, and write tests, and well, there's something to be said for years and years of education.

I'm extremely proud of him. The circumstances surrounding his dissertation and defense are some of the hardest I've encountered, and he succeeded. That's my man.

After dropping him off at work this morning, Kiddo and I drove away, with her announcing "Dada. Work. Dada. Work." I told her that he had a big day today, and I hope that she never has to go through this herself. I guess time (lots of it) will tell.

Yay Daddy!

about four hours east...

...is the Atlantic Ocean. If you stop just short of the ocean, you'll find our new home.

In a whirlwind opportunity, about eight weeks ago my husband interviewed for a post-doc. Then about six weeks ago they called to offer it to him. While the paper work took longer than we expected, we are now on the fast track to moving.

This offer is why my husband had to finish his dissertation in six weeks instead of three months. This is why we still have no chairs or a couch in our living room. This is why I constantly think about how much I will miss my daughter's nursery at church. But in most instances, we're pretty excited.

We start moving next Wednesday, when my husband reports for work, and Kiddo and I start looking for apartments (house hunting solo, 17 weeks pregnant with a 23-month old will be good times, I'm sure). We'll then bounce back and forth between our old and new places while my husband attends an academic conference, we visit family for Thanksgiving, gather our stuff (words cannot express how excited I am to see my kitchen stuff and new books to read Kiddo), and check out of our old place. Whew.

There is no doubt in our minds that Heavenly Father has led us to this place in our lives, and opened up doors, and will continue to do so. It is for that reason especially that we are anxious to see how we will continue to be blessed, and how we can bless others as we move on from the wonderful place we've lived for the last while.

There is anxiousness, and excitement, but really, the change can be summed up in this phrase: where we're going is not like where we're leaving. So here comes our new life.

"paje"

Kiddo loves books. She loves them to be read to her, and she loves to read them herself. She is now sufficiently verbal that it is clear from her reading that she knows all the story lines, and many of the words. (Not surprising given the number of times we've read the 30 of so books not in storage, which were kept out specifically because they were already her favorites.)

What this really means though, is that it's impossible to shorten the books when she wants to read more than I do. If I should (covertly) skip a page she exclaims with concern, "paje!" and helps turn back to the missing page. At least I can still skip some lines within the page.

song, YAY!

Yes, my daughter woke up at 5 am this morning, with no intention of going back to sleep. But that led to an interesting discovery on my part.

About 10, I decided that she was very tired, and thought I'd try to get her to take a nap, albeit three hours early. (A particularly good option, as we would be in church during her usual nap time.) We read a few books, then I told her we were going to sing songs, as we do when it's sleep time. I started singing "There is sunshine in my soul today" and found my sweet daughter singing along with me. As I moved from song to song (of my usual repertoire) I found that she could sing all of them. (She also liked the praise I gave her, and repeated "good job" after each song too.)

She sings like she talks, leaving out a lot of the less important words. But, she knows them, loves to sing them, and it was so exciting to hear her participate like this. It's beautiful, and I am anxious to sing with her again.

Given her love of singing, we stayed for a baptism after church today. Every time the prelude started (just like in church), she yelled with great enthusiasm "song, YAY!" She also yells this at the end of the song too.

our compromise

As winter approaches, and we are definitely into late fall, I feel like Kiddo should wear long sleeves and long pants. I knew this would be a hard battle, because in the summer, I could barely get her dressed. She has determined that I am not giving in on this, so wears the clothes, but she has not gone down without a fight.

She pushes ALL her sleeves up. For shirts, pajamas, even jackets, for everything. When we want to have some fun with her, we pull her pajama sleeves down, and watch how quickly they go back up. She does not like her coat, the only reason I can think of is that those sleeves will not push up. Today she pushed her pants legs up too. On this issue, she is just as determined as I am.

an uncomfortable moment at Panera

We were innocently standing in line at a restaurant that is not particularly convenient to get to in a car with a 22-month old. She looks up at me, and says with no pronounciation issues: "Pick nose." And you better believe she has the actions to go with the words.

In a somewhat resigned tone (as she makes this announcement frequently) I reply, "No. We don't pick our noses. It's yucky."

Completely ignoring my comment, she then asks, finger aloft, "whazzat?"

just like aunt M

As does every child, Kiddo likes to wear others shoes (and can finally keep her balance, sort of, in them). Here she is with Aunt M's shoes, in her last morning of fun from the visit from Grandma and A-nissa (as Kiddo has taken to calling her).

They came for the weekend, to see my daughter, and help me while my husband is working so hard on his dissertation (two weeks left!). It was non-stop fun for everyone (except hubby, who heard more than once: good-bye, go back to work).

They made the sleeping bag into a boat, where Kiddo sings "row row boat gent stream" before someone else helps her with the rest of the song.

Kiddo took multiple "ride tamel" on Grandma's back (for her sake, I am not posting the picture).

They read books, and sang songs, and fed her, and provided good advice for her illness. (She got sick and threw up their first real night here.) A-nissa stayed home from church with her so Kiddo wouldn't make all the other kids sick.

They cooked me many meals for the weekend and the future, and for that I am super appreciative. I was able to not do much, and thus pretend that I feel all better. Not quite.

Come again soon?

mad gab anyone?

Mad Gab is a great game where you read out loud what looks like gibberish to you, but to those who are listening sounds like an actual word or phrase, just pronounced really weird. It is a fun game with much laughter.

My life with my almost 2 year old is a constant game of mad gab, which means some of the fun has worn off. Although Kiddo's vocabulary is large, and covers a wide range of topics, very few of the words sound like they are supposed to yet (e.g., ma-mine for mama). This was not a big deal when she only talked about things we were actually doing at the time, but now she can talk about things she remembers, or wants, or is thinking about, so my context clues are gone.

Today in the car she said "no-the one takka." I got 'another one' and knew she wanted something, but what? I started guessing, and she kept repeating herself, insistent I understand. Then it hit me, she wanted a cracker. Of course. Once you know what the mad gabs is supposed to say, it's always obvious.

tandy, peas

We dressed Kiddo up as a chicken for Halloween, and although she was sick, took her out for trick-or-treating. She was okay with the outfit as long as she didn't have to wear the "chi-ken hat" (the hood). She wasn't sure about going outside, until we told her that she would get some candy.

Although my husband carried her the whole way (it was almost bedtime and she was sick after all), she looked right at each person who opened the door, and upon prompting, would ask "Tandy, peas" (candy, please) and say "sank yoo" (thank you) when it was put in her pa-pack. What an amazing night, where people pass out candy. Kiddo, who has a sweet tooth (just like her parents) really enjoyed herself.

(Note 'damma' (grandma) in the background. She and Aunt M enjoyed themselves too!)