March 22, 2012

Some cute stories: Maggie and I were taking a walk yesterday and there were some paw prints in mud, so I asked her what animal she thought made those. She squatted down and looked at them, looked at me and declared, "Kangaroos." Second guess: bears. So stinking cute.

We went to this awesome indoor park today to visit Miss Lynette and her new baby, Eric. We were going to go to the zoo but alas, it was raining. This place was a great alternative (but kinda expensive-$12). Anyway, Maggie played in the ball pit forever. She loved it. She went down the slide into the ball pit. She climbed, she jumped, she had a blast. She also jumped on the trampoline, which I was surprised by because she's never really liked that before; I think it scares her. But she jumped alone for a long time. And jumped hard; she would jump high and just drop down on her rear over and over.

She tried mini golf but didn't really understand and wasn't quite coordinated enough to pull the whole thing off so she didn't stay with it long. She played with doll houses and trains and things and a ton of other kids. This one little boy was enamored with her. He kept staring and coming up to her but not saying anything. It was precious. When he left, he just kept looking back at the her all the way out the door.

She also rode this weird zebra thing. It was an electric zebra that was shaped exactly like a zebra and she sat on its back and rode around the trail. I have never seen anything like it but she loved it. They also had a giraffe and an elephant.

She rode the train too. The lady running the train had a microphone and was talking the whole ride and occasionally she would ask various kids to make animal sounds. I didn't think Maggie would do it (she usually clams up around people she doesn't know) but she was making all the sounds. And when she was getting off, the lady asked her what was her favorite part. She answered the running, which ok, kinda nonsensical but an answer. Then she took the microphone and just started talking. I had to take it away and give it back to get her to go back to the ball pit. Ham!

She was also really sweet to Eric. She didn't pay too much attention but when she did, she touched him gently and was quiet. It was sweet. Lynette asked her if she wanted a brother or sister and she said, No. Ha!

Awesome day!!!

We did so much today. We started off normally; we got ready, had breakfast and watched part of a movie. Then we made Spring-themed eggs. Basically, I cut egg shapes out of construction paper (I used the zig zag scissors to make them a little more fun). At first we were making the pictures with her fingerprints but that didn't go over so well, so we painted everything else with paintbrushes. We made a butterfly, flowers and a bunny. On the last egg, she just painted it various colors. And then we hung them up.

Oh, that's another thing. I've been wanting a way to sort of display her art work for a while and then give it away or throw it away or save it. So I took a long piece of yarn and tied it to the end posts of a curtain rod and added clothespins to hang her pictures with. I honestly don't think it could have been easier. The little pictures were wanting to fold up so I put another clothespin on the bottom to weigh them down and now it looks perfect.

Then we went outside and drew big colored circles and played a game. Basically, you can only jump in one color to get to the other side (I did 4 colors). Super fun; even Nana played with us for a little while. In the future, I could do this with shapes, numbers letters, sight words, word families, addition or subtraction problems. It's so fun, it doesn't feel like learning at all.

Then she took a nap but for the first time (since she's been in a big girl bed), I didn't stay with her. I told her she was going to nap by herself and I would come get her when her nap was over. I also told her that if she came out before I came for her, she would lose a star off her behavior chart (which she's doing great on; she lost one for saying stupid, I think). And she did it. She started hollering a little early but I went and got her anyway.

Then we went on a long Maggie-led walk. Every time we got to an intersection I asked her which way she wanted to go and we went that way. Then she asked to go to the park so we walked there. But almost the second we got there, it turned kinda cold so we had to walk home.

I tried to have her do some independent play time but it didn't really work out. She wasn't interested in doing anything by herself and she mostly just got into trouble. So maybe I'll put together some things for her. I don't know.

Then we got on her tricycle but, holy cow, after trying and struggling a bit for about 10 minutes, she flipped out. I made her stay on for a few minutes while I steered and pushed (but made her keep her feet on the pedals). I guess we'll have to work on that for a while.

Since she was sooo upset from that (she wanted me to push her in the stroller and I said no, she could trike, walk or play but she wasn't riding), we came back in and read several stories.

Last thing, we played with play dough and stencil type things. They are letters that you push into the play dough and it makes the letter. Very cute and she identified all her letters, most without me even asking (she would say ok I want the M and find it; for a few she even identified a word that started with that letter).

March 20, 2012

I was reading Maggie a story, Jungle Book, and I read her the first line. Then I stopped to take a drink and she verbatim repeated the second line. It was amazing. I couldn't believe it. So cute.

She got her glasses yesterday. They are so cute. She loves them.

We started her new behavior chart yesterday and so far she's doing awesome. Her new rules are to follow directions, only nice words, only nice hands and feet and to keep her glasses on.

I went to a resale shop to augment her wardrobe. I only bought a few things and she definitely has enough for the spring, summer and early fall. She still fits into all of her old dresses, shorts and skirts so she just needed a few dresses, shirts and a couple pairs of sandals and some new dress shoes. I also bought her Easter dress. I also got some books and a birthday present for Kyri.

This weekend I got the rest of her Easter stuff. Toys, stickers, etc to fill a dozen Easter eggs, a couple of bigger things for little baskets that she'll get from other family members. Then I filled the eggs, put together the little baskets and finished her's and Ella's big Easter baskets.

March 17, 2012

Today is Maggie's half birthday, making her 3 1/2 years old. HOW did that happen??? She was just born, just learning to crawl, to walk and talk. And now she's a big girl. Uh. . .

Anyway, today was a great day. She stayed with Uncle Jeff and her cousin Ella for a few hours this morning while I took my school's entrance exam. Uncle Jeff reported they had a good time but they had some "sharing issues" which were "civilly resolved." In addition, they had some discussions about looking at Uncle Jeff when Uncle Jeff is talking (vs. looking at the TV). Oh Maggie. She's really pushing boundaries lately. I guess it's all part of growing up.

After I came and got her, we went back to take a nap. She went down really easily; after all she'd kept me up ALL night. She was wide awake all in the early morning. It was no fun at all. I kept telling her to go back to sleep but it was a no go.

Tonight we had a carpet picnic (with a sheet on the floor) and watched Empire Strikes Back. It's been quite fun.

March 15, 2012

We went to Paradise to visit Grandma yesterday. Maggie had such a good time. She doesn't get to see them much so she always very excited to go. At one point she was playing in the yard and she fell on some rocks. Jan and I made light of it and I kept saying, oh it's ok. I could tell she was trying to decide how upset she was going to be (although she really just looked surprised). She walked towards us and said, yeah, it'll be ok; it'll be ok later. . . maybe tomorrow. :)

Later she got a piece of potpourri out of Grandma's bowl and came up to me and said, Mommy, let's play pirate and I asked her how do we play pirate and she put the potpourri up to her eye and said, argh!

Today we are at Grandpa and Grandmo's. We're dog sitting Molly this weekend but today Grandpa and Grandmo are still here. I went to put Maggie to bed and she started screaming and crying and Grandpa comes out and says, oh I promised her I'd give her a bubble bath before bed. So I say ok, I'm sorry you can stay up a little while. A few minutes later, she came up to me and said, Mommy, I forgive you.

February 29, 2012

We had quite a day. We went to visit Memaw, which was awesome. Memaw and Aunt Susie had bought a huge container of little doll toys and a doll house for the girls and Maggie loved it. Ella liked it too but not like Maggie did. I had to tell Maggie several times to share with her cousin and be nice. She's getting better with Ella but I think it's really hard for her to be around younger kids. All her friends are older and tend to baby her a little. She's gotten a lot better about social situations but we're definitely still learning.

Ella found this little garden hose thing and was playing with it. Then Maggie got it and started using it as a microphone. It was so cute listening to her. Laurie heard her say something about America and Korea and I heard her talk about the Princess of Korea. I have no idea where she got that from.

After a few minutes, she asked me to take the microphone. So I started talking and eventually started asking her questions. I asked her what she wanted to do when she grew up and she said fairy. She said she doesn't want babies, puppies, kitties or any other type of animal. She does want to be a mommy to dolls though. :)

We went to Aunt Susie's work after that to have dinner. Maggie had a blast. Aunt Susie let her take a tour of the restaurant, including going to her office in the back. Maggie was quite excited about that.

We also went to Michael's to buy a bunch of craft supplies. I am so excited to expand our crafting options. Maggie loves crafts so I know she's going to be quite happy with so many new things to make.

February 22, 2012

Today was a great day. Maggie woke up early (for her) and we did our usual morning routine. After breakfast we took a walk. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and perfect for being out and about. We walked to a park that is further away than our usual park. As luck would have it, there were 3 little kids playing there already. Maggie and I practiced introducing and asking to play while we walked up. And when we got close enough she took off yelling, "Hi, I'm Maggie, what's your name?" Wow.

She played with the older two kids (the little one was not quite 2 and she pretty much did her own thing) for a long time. It was so cute. She and the little girl (5) decided they would be best friends and then that they were a prince and princess (I think Maggie was the prince). At one point Maggie ran across the playground yelling to the girl, "I want to marry you." When it was finally time to go home, Maggie was hot and tired. As we started walking she was falling and crying to be held. At one point she sat down on the sidewalk with her back to me. At first I was going to insist she walk but she was so obviously tired and out of it that I carried her for a little while. She just laid on me like a rag doll for most of the walk home. As we got closer, I put her down and made her walk. I feel pretty strongly about older kids not being held constantly or pushed in strollers, so I wanted to establish that if she wants to take a walk, she has to walk.

When we got home we drank lots of water and went straight up to nap. She insisted she was hungry though, so we came back downstairs, where she didn't eat. So we headed back upstairs and she passed out. When we got up, she insisted we go to the restaurant. I have never heard her ask to go to a restaurant, it was quite funny. Nana and Gran took her to get Mexican food and said she ate a ton.

When she got home, we started out on another walk just as her Daddy showed up. We walked to the closer park where she ran around and played. Because Mom had taken her outside first to show her stars, I had just followed out after putting my shoes on. I never even thought to take her potty (we ALWAYS go potty last thing before we head out on a walk). So imagine my surprise when she announces, we need to go home so she can tee tee. Oh Lord, Richard jumped the fence to the pool area but the bathrooms were padlocked. So I just pulled down her pants, held her hands and had her go right there. Hey, at least it wasn't poop.

She is so interested in hearing stories about when she was a baby or in my tummy or born. She hasn't been too interested before but she loves hearing them now and requests these stories instead of Little Red Riding Hood which has been our nightly staple for a long time. I tell her stories at night and when we walk and she really listens. She'll repeat the stories to her grandparents or her Daddy.

She's really connecting things to real life. We read Lady and the Tramp tonight and at the end, it reads, Lady and Tramp have puppies and 3 look like their Mom and 1 looks like his Dad. At first Maggie didn't understand they were all siblings; she thought the 3 were Lady's and the 1 was Tramp's. So first I explained, no they are all siblings and have the same parents but these look like their mommy and this one like his daddy. So then she started asking who she looks like. And we talked about how most features (her build, her hair and eyes) are like Daddy but she has curly hair like Mommy and how she looks like Mommy, even though she has different coloring. It was interesting to see her have that connection to the story.