Love, love, love
February 14th, 2010Hazel loves her Valentine’s Day gift! She said, “oooohhhhhhh!!” enough times to melt my heart into a puddle on the floor. She has now moved on to tearing up the giftwrap into tiny bits, but the bean bags were super-fun for about ten minutes. I’m really happy with how they turned out, although depending on how much use they get I may find that I wish I’d stitched them differently. I stitched them wrong sides together, turned and topstitched for more sturdiness, and then closed the opening with a really tight zigzag. As I was doing that I was wishing that I’d just done that for the topstitching instead of a straight stitch. Oh well – they will last awhile, anyway, and I can always repair them if needed.
The past few days it has dawned on us that, all of a sudden, we have a toddler on our hands. So far she doesn’t appear to be possessed by demons, but she’s definitely fiercely opinionated and will go into a rage over a small thing if she’s tired. Last night she spied a stack of six rainbow colored cups on a shelf and Wanted Them Right Then Please And Thank You. I gave them to her and she promptly turned the stack upside down and five of the six scattered across the floor, leaving the one she was holding in her hand. She SCREAMED. We suppressed giggles and Mikey helped her nest them back together. She promptly turned the stack the wrong way and they all scattered again. More screaming. I AM PISSED OFF, MAMA. HELP ME NOW. I helped her gather them up from the various corners into which they had rolled, and she sat on the floor, diligently stacking and unstacking them and Figuring It All Out. Once she was satisfied that she could keep them together, she picked up the pile and wandered towards the livingroom to show her Papa her accomplishment. Halfway there… she tipped the stack and they scattered. Her mouth flew open (but nothing came out), huge tears poured from her eyes, her arms stiffened at her sides (one still clutching a pink cup in a tiny white-knuckled-hand) and shook with rage, and she went beet red in a matter of about four seconds. And then out it came – a devilish scream that proclaimed to all of Snake Hill (and probably the Cheat River Valley, too): I CANNOT KEEP MY F%$#@!G CUPS TOGETHER!!!
It’s okay, baby girl. Grownups usually can’t keep our f%$#@!g cups together long enough to make it from point A to point B, either.
After unwrapping her new book she screamed because she couldn’t get the paper back ON the book… but the bomb was quickly diffused (because she was not tired or cranky) by handing her her sack of bean bags.
I suppose this is only the beginning.
Listening: Dave Rawlings Machine (happy V-day, Michael John!)
(I am) Reading: Steady Days (happy V-day, me!)
(Hazel is) Reading: The Family Book
Working on: blue & gold blanket; Etsy mailers
February 14th, 2010 at 9:45 pm
Those turned out so great! So clever to put her favorites on them, how fun that you’ll have those photos!
February 14th, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Have you read Raising Ben and Birdy by Catherine Newman? She has some hilarious descriptions of toddler mood swings. She has a great blog too, but does not post that often. My daughter just turned one and we definitely see some drama daily over anything and everything, wanting to hold my keys, getting the wrong spoon, turning a page in a book too fast or too slow. Are you sure you’re not describing *my* daughter and her set of plastic stacking cups? ;)
February 14th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
LOLLLLLLL:) Welcome to my world:) Ps. Madeleine has started doing this too. Now it’s in stereo!
LOVE those bean bags! I wish I was as adventurous with the paint…
February 14th, 2010 at 10:54 pm
Alexandria – I haven’t – thanks for the suggestion! I will have to take a peek. We definitely first noticed this in food related issues! One bite she MUST be feeding herself, and two bites later I MUST feed her from the spoon, and two bites after that I MUST fill the spoon for her but let her take it and eat from it all by herself, and then she feels the need to swirl the spoon around in her food for a random amount of time before we do the whole thing over again. Last night we were out with friends and she was having fun drinking my water from a straw because I’d forgotten her water bottle at someone’s house earlier in the day… she threatened eruption when I’d try to take it away so she ended up drinking over a pint of water for the sheer pleasure, and leaking out of her diaper on the drive home.
Whew.
Andrea – just do it! It’s not even fabric paint. I thought I had some red fabric paint in my stash but it turns out I didn’t, so I just used some plain old crafter’s acrylic. Easy peasy. Just spread it thin on something for inking up your stamp. Michael’s has had realllyyyy fun clear stamps in their dollar bins lately – the kind that you peel off of the plastic and mount on an acrylic block for stamping (also in the dollar bins), then return to their plastic storage sheet when finished. Sooooooo much cheaper than wooden stamps (thought I still love those too and my heart gets all skippy when I find clearance bins of them).
February 15th, 2010 at 11:28 am
Ooops, I meant “Waiting For Birdy”, what I wrote is the name of her old blog on Babycenter.com I think. I blame the Olympics for my absent mindedness! Here is Catherine Newman’s current (personal blog): http://benandbirdy.blogspot.com/
The spoon-holding-feed-myself-you-feed-me-but-I’m-not-going-to-tell-you-when is so common here too. She also likes to take sips from our glasses and then without warning plunge her food-covered hand into the rest of the drink, great fun for her but kind of gross for us.
Yes, and awesome bean bags! Wish I could sew… :)
February 19th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Dear Hazey, I can’t keep my cups together either but as long as I’m holding tight to the pink one I’m doing ok!