Sunday, July 24, 2011

muppets!

aunt jodi and eric were kind enough to invite penny & me along with them to the museum of the moving image where we saw the jim henson's  fantastic world exhibit.  to penny, this meant just one thing - MUPPETS!
we were foiled by the museum at the beginning - mini rant, mostly complaining to follow:

- i was asked to check the stroller.  that's fine and understandable.  when we got to the second floor, security stopped us and told me i had to check the diaper bag.  before i could protest, jodi was on the case!  it turns out they wanted me to check my water, and eric was kind enough to run it down the stairs to the checking area.  now, i don't know if you, dear reader, have ever brought a 19 month old anywhere, but if you have, i'm sure you know that the (visible) bottles of water in my bag were the very least of the museum's worries!  i spent the few minutes that the security guards turned their backs artfully draping penny's doll over the rest of the water, the sandwich, the fruit...
- eric rejoined us, and we walked up one more flight of stairs, where we were stopped by a volunteer.  apparently we needed a ticket.  a free ticket.  that no one at the desk had provided us, even though we had made it exceedingly clear we were headed to see the muppet exhibit.  eric headed back down the stairs, while the volunteer and the volunteer coordinator discussed whether or not we actually needed a ticket, or if it was late enough that the timed entry tickets were no longer necessary.  from the staircase, we could see a wall where 2 second projections of video appeared, and we could see kermit in a case.  penny waved to kermit, she named all of the muppets as they appeared, she sympathized with bert when ernie removed his nose.  eric returned with the volunteer coordinator, and it was determined that we did not need a ticket, but we also couldn't get in to the exhibit for 15 minutes.  we took penny into the adjacent exhibit, but she was screaming for kermit,so we couldn't really enjoy it - though there was an awesome set piece from blade runner that i would have liked to examine a bit more closely.  we wasted a bit more time and then got to enter the exhibit.  ugh.  museum - get it together.  it was painful how much penny wanted to get in and see kermit!

from here on in, it was pretty cool.  the exhibit had lots of sketches, videos and photos, and several muppets -  it was just the right amount of stuff for penny, but possibly a little light on content for the over 2 year old set.

in case you are interested, following is a list of muppets penny can name:

  • kermit
  • miss piggy
  • rowlf
  • beaker ("what does beaker say?" "me, me, me, me, me....")
  • dr. teeth
  • bernie (bert + ernie)
  • cookie monster
  • animal
  • scooter
  • oscar the grouch
  • elmo
  • big bird
alex has my camera with him in san diego, so there are no photos of our fun time.  jodi tried to take some, but penny is not a very cooperative model - if she sends me any usable ones i will add them to this post.

Monday, July 18, 2011

so much talking!

penny and i spent a lot of time together this weekend - on friday, i brought her to work with me all day, and she charmed the pants off of my co workers.  i got very little actual work done, but there is now a crayon drawing of hers up on my office wall.  i am a corporate mom!
this weekend, alex was filming with elephant larry both days, so we had a ladies weekend!  on saturday, we spent time with the ladies lawrence, and played inside and outside, went to playgrounds, and tried to keep our cool in the super intense heat.  when we visited alex at the end of his shooting day, he was wearing a cow costume (as you do), and penny thought it was hilarious.  she and he "moo"ed at each other and when we headed downstairs as he finished up, she kept pointing up the stairs saying "daddy moo, daddy moo".  she then passed out on a sofa for 45 minutes, but that is neither here nor there.
here's where it gets good.  on sunday, penny and i spent our morning with katy belle, but spent a lot more time at home trying to stay out of the sun.  we were having a rollicking game of tent at around 3:30 when she stopped what she was doing, had a good think, then said to me "daddy. work. moo. off. all gone. home. dinner".
WHAT?!  that is a whole, complete thought including both the day before, the future, the understanding that he had to take off a COW COSTUME before he came home for dinner, and the concept that her father exists in another place when he is not in the room with her, which is a concept that *I* still struggle with.

plus, she put on her tutu and danced around on bubble wrap.

Loungin'


Baby of Thrones


Monday, July 11, 2011

i love this kid

this evening in the bath, penny asked me to "read book".  she was having dinner of chicken nuggets, broccoli, pita & hummus, and she took a piece of pita and dipped it in a chicken nugget because she knew it was hilarious.  over the weekend, this happened:
i cannot even begin to tell you how in love with this child i am.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

independent penny

happy independence day to you!  we spent the long weekend hanging out, and not really doing anything patriotic - there was not even a hot dog consumed in our household.  what did happen is that penny's bad sleepy mood lifted, and she's now back to her happy funny self.  she has also slept until 8 for the past two mornings in a row!  that's pretty much amazing, but also confusing and it actually makes our mornings harder, since we had just figured out how to function with one of us getting up at 6:30, the other at 7:30, and leaving at 9.  we're not going to get used to it, as i'm sure it's just a lovely, lovely phase.
when penny does wake up, she spends a few minutes just hanging out - playing with her feet, reading her book, practicing downward dog, and playing with her doll.  it's pretty awesome to spend my first few waking minutes watching her on the video monitor enjoying herself on her own.
talking has spiked dramatically - my current favorite is the way she says "excuse me" when something or someone is in her way.  she loves to sing, and can request songs.  she also gets to choose between "cookie elmo" diapers (disposables) and "flower" diapers (cloth).  she's got a step stool for the bathroom so she can wash her hands after meals.  she can identify the "muppet babies", as well as kermit, miss piggy, and fozzie.

a story:  penny really enjoys playing "tent".  this is where you take a blanket or a tablecloth and get under it.  it's not more complicated than that.  on saturday, alex and i were making our bed, and we took the opportunity to play tent with penny with our three (count 'em, three!) mattress pads, sheets, and got to our quilt - we were having a great time playing and being silly, when all of a sudden my face exploded!  alex heard a crack as the back of penny's head collided with my nose.  i ran off to the kitchen, while alex very calmly said to penny "heeeeey, let's get our shoes on...aaand take a trip to the emergency room...", while i iced my nose down.  it turns out i was fine, and didn't even get a black eye, but it was touch and go for a minute there.

alex unwrapped instruments that uncle jonathan gave her for her birthday, and she had a fantastic time being a rhythm section.  we also went to the playground and i followed her around with a camera - lots of pictures this week!