Saturday, August 27, 2011

irene

so alex is stuck in toronto until tuesday morning.  i was a little freaked out last night because we were totally out of food, and i was afraid there wouldn't be any left in the grocery store, but penny and i headed out first thing this morning, and now we are totally stocked.  when we got to the last aisle of the market and i looked in our cart and saw how much we had, i stopped and took a moment to realize how lucky we are to be able to afford everything we need, and to have it available to us when we needed it.  i told penny "mama was a little scared, but now i'm ok". she patted me on the arm.  "better", my charming daughter said to me.  "yes, mama feels better now.  what made mama feel better?" "shopping!", said penny.
so true.

Friday, August 26, 2011

heartbreak

alex is away for a few days, so penny has had a babysiter all day yesterday and today.  she loves both of her sitters, but she knows that they come when neither of her parents are going to be around.  this morning, about half an hour before the sitter was due to arrive, i let penny know that he was coming.  usually she is very happy about this, and will wait by the door; but this morning she said to me "no, mama.  miss you!  no work!" and she got pretty upset.  i snuggled her and told her that i didn't want to leave, that i always come back, and that she was going to have an AWESOME time playing with her sitter.  i gave her a huge hug, she calmed down, and i went to the kitchen to pack my lunch.
when i came back, i found penny sitting on the floor, surrounded by all of the former contents of my pocketbook.  "no purse, mama.  no work".

Thursday, August 25, 2011

penny is an artist!

i can't say i'm too surprised, considering who her grandmothers are, but you guys - WATCH what she's doing with her crayon.  i am stunned.



Tuesday, August 23, 2011

our morning

i am so enjoying the fact that penny now can hold a conversation.  she will frequently loop back to yo, gabba gabba, or elmo but it doesn't matter.  she is so close to using full sentences that i'm enjoying how able she is to communicate with only one or two words at a time.


*edited to add - ugh.  this is about half of the video.  all sorts of technology troubles over here.  i will fix ASAP.

**re-edited to say - hooray!  The Technology and i seem to be getting along again.

Monday, August 15, 2011

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

catch up

so much to catch up on!  penny loves stickers - she spends hours moving them from one wall of her box to another, sticking them to herself and to us, and searching out the right color for whatever purpose she has in her mind.
also check this out:
a six block stack!

this weekend, alex and i took penny to the prospect park zoo!  it was super fun, and a very different experience than when we took her in march - there were so many more animals, and they were all so active.  i have never seen a red panda run before, but we watched one run up and down a tree, and around its enclosure.  penny was really into the owls, and it was great to see how many animal names she knows.


she can carry on conversations now, and it's fascinating where her mind takes things.  for example, tonight at dinner, my mom bumped her foot.  "foot!" said penny.  that's not so surprising.  a moment went by, and then she said "market!"  it seems so obvious to me now, but i had no idea what she meant.  my mom, however, immediately knew that penny wanted to play "this little piggy."  incredible.

things penny can do:
  • string beads on a shoelace
  • tell us what's happening on every page of "the cat in the hat"
  • drink from a non-sippy cup
  • assemble her bottle
  • shake hands and say "meet you" (short for "nice to meet you")
  • sing ABC, twinkle twinkle, the wheels on the bus, elmo's song and several yo, gabba gabba songs
  • count to two, and has made it as far as four
  • identify the colors blue, yellow, purple, green, orange and red

also today, penny and alex were hanging out and she said "potty" - alex took her to the potty, and she peed in it!  that's pretty fantastic!  later, she squatted next to the potty and peed on the floor - that is less fantastic, but she was close...

Thursday, August 4, 2011

she peed in the potty!

for the last few nights, as i've filled the bathtub for her evening bath, penny has asked to take off her clothes and sit on the potty.  she reads books, chats, and then gets her towel and gets into the bath.  tonight when she stood up, there was pee in the potty!  i don't know if she knows that she did anything, but we flushed it, sang a happy song, clapped, danced - it was a big celebration!  we'll see if it happens again.  i have never been so proud of anyone's pee before.....