Sesame Street Live!

Over a month ago (yes, I am slacking yet again!), we took Hannah to her first live music show! "SESAME STREET LIVE: Elmo Makes a Musical." She LOVED it! She was in awe for almost the whole 1st half although she did call out the characters' names and wave at all her favorite characters. When one would disappear backstage, she would look at me and ask where they went? Wanting me to reassure her that they would be back again. When the intermission started, she wanted "More Elmo!" During the second half, she started dancing in her seat :) At the end, she was very sad that Elmo left:( Hopefully Elmo and his friends will be back again soon! Afterwards we went to Granny and Boppah's house for dinner. It was a fun day!

Waiting for the show to start, and having no idea what to expect :)

mmmmmm! Cotton candy!
Hey buster! What's the big idea!?!?
Intermission. . .she kept asking for "MORE ELMO!!!"
It's OK Big Bird, mama says Elmo will be back soon!

Watching the 2nd half of the show with her new friend :)
Elmo was not a giant, but for some reason the angle of this photo makes him look giant next to Oscar!

Awwww :) Holding mommy's hand while she watches the show :)
CONFETTI!!! WOO HOO!!!


Waiting in line after the show for one more souvenir. We're such suckers.

Outside the show.
cleaning off the remnants of cotton candy :)


Apparently walking up and down and up and down and up and down the stairs in the courtyard is SO MUCH FUN! We only did it about a hundred times. . .

We got to park right by the Sesame Street truck! Hannah thought that was pretty cool :) She kept asking to go inside it to see everyone.

Catching up on the small stuff

This blog entry (which I am embarrassed to say I started a month ago!) is just a pile of stuff I wanted to mention, but didn't necessarily need blogs of their own. . .

Hannah is talking up a storm. I can't possibly keep up with all of her new words. Amazing how fast she picks them up, as she picks up new words every day. She is a little parrot. Just a few of the funny/cute words that I want to remember:

Chips: "Beeps" (now she is saying "ships" or "chips" but we still like to call them BEEPS b/c it is too cute to stop!)
Bert (of the Bert and Ernie fame): "Burp" (that lasted a couple weeks, and now it is "Bert")
Kermit: Permit
Fanny: Feenie
Muppets: Mumpoms
Sweetums: Fweemees or Fweemums
Swimming: Fwimmin! (this weekend she started saying "shwimmin" so we're getting closer!)
Illinois: Ohnoy
Mississippi: Bippybibby or Bippysippy
Chicago: Cah-go
Chicken: chin-chin

Kitty: Yahyah! She called Howie and all other cats "Yahyah" since she was about 12 months old. And only recently did she start trying to say kitty. However, her attempt at saying kitty sounds like the ever so lovely word "titty" YIKES! Between that and her word for SIT, and we have a serious problem when my baby speaks in public :) She is loads of fun and incredibly adorable, so I'm sure people don't think much of it.

Hannah likes to tell me things are pretty ("Oh! Pwitty!") :) I especially like it when I get dressed and emerge from my closet all decked out in whatever lovely outfit I've picked out for the day, and she runs up, points to me and says that :) But she also says that about things we see on walks, pictures of flowers, and things we see at the store (which is usually followed closely by "I wahn one!" Of course.

Hannah loves to hide, whether it is around a corner, under a towel or blanket, behind the dog, or in plain sight! Giggles galore erupt when she reveals herself! Hours of fun :)
Hannah has an obsession with stickers and band-aids. She can go through a whole box of band-aids in one evening. (this is quite evident in "The Infirmary" blog post) They are strategically placed in a well thought out pattern. She asks for certain characters for certain made-up boo-boos!

1st sentence (2 or 3 months ago): I want Abbey band-aid on my face: "I wahn Abbey bannay on my face!"

Prior to this, her "sentences" consisted mostly of "I want _____" :) Let me tell you, this kid wants a lot of things! Including the tips in the tip jar at Starbucks. . .I thank her grandpa for teaching her the "value" of money and how fun it is to put in her piggy bank! Now whenever she sees a dollar (or five or ten or twenty!) she exclaims "I WAHN ONE!!!" Sometimes it is followed by a "Peeees" (please), but usually not. We're working on the Ps and Qs right now. She is good about the pleases. . .sometimes, but thank yous almost always need reminders and even then sometimes I get the "are you kidding me???" look when I tell her to say thank you. *sigh* I will have a polite little girl. I will!

We started short time outs a few weeks ago since she decided a new favorite pastime is slapping her daddy across the face. I KNOW! What happened to our innocent little angel? Oh yeah. She turned TWO! I forgot. She has yet to do it to me, though. I think she just gets worked up and does it without meaning any harm. But it is a behavior that needs to be controlled nonetheless. (I'm happy to report that since I started writing this entry a couple weeks ago, the novelty of beating up her daddy has worn off. . .she's onto doing other naughty time-out-worthy things! What a relief. . .er. . .ummmm. . .I'm glad she is not abusing her daddy anymore. Now lets work on listening to mommy when she tells her to stop body slamming the dog on the bed, running by the pool, and running away from me in the store!
*update, since starting this blog entry last month, she stopped slapping her daddy! Now she is on to kicking her mommy in the face when I am trying to change her diaper before bed and get her jammies on--she thinks it is HILARIOUS! Me? Not so much*

Lately, when she is naughty and not listening to me, I will ask her "Do you want to go in a time out?" She used to say "No" in a sad little voice, and immediately listen to me to avoid a time out. But for some reason, she has started giggling and says "YES!" As if time outs are suddenly great FUN!!! She will even run over to her time out spot with a HUGE grin on her face! Then she will start calling for me to let her out of time out! As if I had put her there against her will. She won't come out until I tell her it is OK. HA HA It is too funny! Hey, makes life easier! What a WEIRD kid! This is the same kid who loves to take her vitamins, acts like an angel in restaurants and the grocery store. So that's a number of battles most moms have to endure, that I don't. But before you think I have it too easy, I'll tell you it is nearly impossible to get the kid to eat veggies! (shhhh! don't tell her I hide them in stuff she likes) Anyway, back to time-outs. . . after every time out, she comes over to me or daddy (whoever she didn't listen to, and says "soddy" and gives a big hug and/or kiss to make up for it. It is precious :) Almost makes putting her in a time out rewarding for us! But alas, she does not get many time outs. She is two, but she is certainly not in the dreaded terrible-twos stage by any means! (Yes, I am counting my blessings and knocking on wood)

Another new pretend game she started lately is getting ready to go to "wort" (work). She promptly grabs her purse, slings it over her shoulder, and grabs a random (although it is probably well planned and thought out to her!) toys under her arms and off she goes! She either hops on her tricycle and asks me to pull her, telling me she needs to get to work, or she heads for the front door! She gets mad when the door is locked and she can't get out. She doesn't want to be late ya' know! I wonder where she would go if I unlocked the door? Just where does she think "work" is, anyway?

Hannah has started making me meals in her little kitchen, too :) It is so cute! She prepares the meal, puts it in the oven in her little play kitchen, sets the timer, circles her arm and hand in the air and exclaims "round and round and round" (clearly indicating I need to use the REAL oven more often and not the microwave so she will learn what REAL cooking is *blushing*); takes it out, stirs it, puts sauce ("sosh") on it, then tells me it is HOT HOT as she hands it to me. I gladly blow on it to cool it off, take a bite of it, then offer her some. She finds great delight in this game. I get at least 10-20 meals each time we play this game. I am well fed in pretend land :) Good thing play food has ZERO calories :)

Hannah listens to the same song over and over and over again while in the car. Sugarland, "All I want to do" As soon as she gets strapped into her car seat, she chants "ooo ooo ooo" "ooo ooo ooo" "ON!" over and over again. *sigh* I have that song memorized now. But she loves it and it keeps her happy, so I am willing to endure the repetition.

Hannah LOVES to go with me to the store ("sdore"). She is a very good shopper and I don't mind at all. . .even when I find the random Elmo video or toddler treat in the cart that I am CERTAIN was not placed in there by MY hands! ha ha I have a hunch that her joy in going to the grocery store could have a little something to do with the tradition of getting a cookie from the bakery ladies. . . Yes, much to my mom's horror, I DO let my kid eat cookies! And no, they are not really crackers, as my mom had convinced me when I was a young child. I was so naive. Clearly I was deprived. I always wondered why cookie monster was so crazy over bland ol' cookies!!! That's because I was being fed crackers and told they were cookies!

OH! POTTY TRAINING! She is doing pretty well with the pee pees on the potty. The other, not so much. But that's OK! We were not really even doing anything to train her, and she just decided to start going on the potty all on her own! We introduced the potty to her months ago, and just kind of talk about it, show it to her, let her sit on it, etc. I started putting it in the main area of the house where she plays, and that seemed to spark her interest! (well, that and the plethora of M&Ms she gets for going on the potty of course!) She still won't go in public restrooms, and there are certain times of day or even a whole day here and there when she wants nothing to do with it. But she definitely understands when she is going and when she needs to sit on the potty, and she can hold it! It is easier to let her run around with no diaper and pants on when we are home. She has NO accidents when we do that! It is amazing! But alas, we can't have her running around with no pants on for the rest of her life, so we are still working on fine tuning her potty skills. We will continue working on it in the coming weeks/months. Hopefully she will be totally diaper-free soon!

Oh, there is soooo much more! I will have to do a Part II next month :) I have probably bored some of you to sleep already :)

OK, every blog entry needs some photos, so here we go!

It's that time of year again! Crazy times by the pool with Takoda :) Hannah LOVES to swim. She would live in our pool if we let her :)


YAY!! Time to go "fwimmin"!!!
Yep, I still like to be locked in a cage with the pups at Granny's house. It is our secret club house where we can munch on dog biscuits :) YUM!


Sure! It is cute. Butt (hee hee), it is time for mommy to invest in some swim diapers, don't you think???

Mmmm! Popsicles in the pool! I love it! So does mama. Fast and easy clean up ;)

I'm just too cute :)

Taking my loon for a stroll around the neighborhood.
Stopping to smell the "pwitty fowers"
I love fwimmin with daddy :)

On my way to "wort" (work)! I have my purse all ready, and I'm searching for my keys. . .now where did I put those??

Ummm. Just FIVE more band-aids, please! I have a few places where I can still see skin. I'm not properly covered yet! Oh, and don't forget to give my pal Grover a couple, too.
These stickers are kind of fun to use too. But I still prefer the band-aids. . .
Sticker-Face Madness!!!

The Infirmary

Well, the truckload of band-aids I ordered arrived!  (Mama's credit card comes in really handy sometimes.  Shhhhh!  Don't tell her it was me!  I don't think she suspects anything yet. . .)  The bandages arrived just in time for the grand opening of my infirmary.  I had lots of patients in need of care :)   I love all my patients, big and small; furry and not; blue, brown, green, pink, etc.  

But first I had to try out some myself to make sure the band-aids were acceptable to give to my patients.  I was quite pleased!

Mama took some photos and she wants to share them with you:

This photo was taken just moments before hurricane Hannah swept through and toppled this architectural masterpiece constructed of boxes of Sesame Street Bandages!  

*notice the little hand reaching for them?  She couldn't even wait 2 seconds for me to take a photo.  She wanted the Sesame Street bandages NOW!!!*

Here's what she did with box#1:
Here's a handful of Hannah's 1st patients:

Poor Grover was involved in freak banana peel slip and fall accident, and required the most care.  But lucky for him, he has Dr. Hannah taking care of him :)  Thanks to Hannah's loving care, he is feeling much better now and will be as good as new in no time!  In fact, I'm happy to report that Grover was well enough to join us on a trip to the grocery store over the weekend.  He should be able to go back to Sesame Street very soon.

Checking Grover's heart. . .apparently blue monsters' hearts are in their knees.  Who knew?  Thank goodness Hannah knew that, and knew where to listen.  Fun fact, eh?  Feel free to use it in your next dinner conversation or trivia game!
Taking Mr. Bear's blood pressure.  He needs to cut down on stress and salty beef jerky and potato "beeps" (in the upcoming blog entry, you will learn that "beeps" are chips)!  His blood pressure is a bit high, and much to Hannah's dismay, that is one ailment not cured with bandages. . .

Dolly's heart sounds good!   She is recovering from a watermelonseedectomy!   (a minor procedure performed before a watermelon begins to grow in your tummy after swallowing a seed!)

Moo is ready to return home after a freak nose picking accident.  A bandage did the trick, and she should be back to normal in about 4 days.  

Here Hannah is giving her some good advice. . .

"You can pick your friends.  You can pick your nose.  But you CAN'T pick your friend's nose!"  

**Daddy hopes that Hannah's fascination with band-aids and covering her limbs in these colorful decorations doesn't mean that she will want to be covered in tattoos when she is older!!!  We're hoping if we indulge her band-aid interest now, that the novelty will eventually wear off and she will not want to decorate her body with tattoos later**

"I Shit" in public

Yes, that's right.  My cute little innocent girl, can be seen and heard yelling "I shit" at a store near you!  Yes!  You too can share in the delight of hearing Hannah exclaim such things if you follow her on any given day. . .

Before you freak out and think I've been teaching my daughter naughty words, read on!  She is really saying SIT, but for some reason, she wants to add an "H" after the "S".  I'll tell you about our little adventure the other day. . .

I took Hannah with me to Ann Taylor Loft to buy a dress, and she discovered a mannequin sitting on a display that was just the perfect height! So she climbed up next to "her" and repeatedly exclaimed in a very loud and "un-Library-ish" voice. . ."I SHIT ! I SHIT! MAMA! I SHIT!" It is wonderful that she can share her happiness and delight with much enthusiasm! But OH MY!!! I kept trying to distract her, trying desperately to redirect her interest to the lovely clothes I wanted to look at, but she was having more fun "shitting" next to her new friend :) Maybe I could pretend she isn't mine? Sure! She was some other poor mom's potty mouth kid! But alas, I could never do that. I'm too attached to her. So, I just calmly looked through the clothes within an arm's reach of her hoping the novelty of sitting next to a mannequin would wear off and she would get excited about something else that sounds nothing like a swear word! But, alas, I eventually exhausted all my options in the near vicinity of Hannah and her new friend, and I needed to pull her away. . .she was very upset with me! That led to crying and begging me to let her "shit" some more! "MAMA! I SHIT! MAMA, I SHIT THERE! NO MAMA, I SHIT!  PEEEEESE!" I kid you not, I had everyone in the store looking at me, and probably wondering if I needed to take my daughter to the nearest changing station to change her diaper! (But her diaper was clean! I swear!) Or perhaps they were wondering why I was such an awful parent and letting my daughter swear like a truck driver! So, I kept gently and kindly correcting her, telling her I know she wants to SIT over there, but we had other things to do, blah blah blah. I made sure to emphasize the word SIT as I passed people.

Good times. Good times.

Lucky me, that wasn't the first time Hannah had fun "shitting" in public and I was left feeling like I had to explain myself, either! She did it at the JCPenney Portrait Studio, too. They had an adorable wooden bug chair near the register, and she was THRILLED to get to sit in it while I waited my turn in line to pick up her portraits :) So, she made sure to let me know each second that she was "shitting" on said chair and having a good time! The lady at the register was looking puzzled, so I eventually explained that she was saying SIT, not "shit". Yikes!  I don't think she believed me. . .

Oh well! What can I say? My kid is easily amused, and sometimes, she likes to SIT down in places that she finds incredibly amusing and fun! So, naturally, she wants to let the whole world know it and share in her joy and new discoveries :)

So what if Hannah liks to "shit" in public!?!?!

**On a related note, she discovered that mannequins have feet and hands, and had to point them all out to me at the store. She even walked up to one mannequin and gently reached up and held her hand for a moment, and smiled at me. It was so cute.

Here's a video of Hannah "shitting" in her new bug chair and blowing bubbles (a new favorite activity. . .we just need to work on her technique a bit).  For every successful bubble blow, we have at least one or two incidents of eating the bubble juice or inhaling it :)  After the gasping and coughing subsides, and she stops gagging on the awful taste, she will try again!  She is a good sport.  (In case you were wondering: NO, despite what the cartoons depict, she does NOT burp or hiccup bubbles after eating the soapy bubble concoction.)

ENJOY!