Monday, January 25, 2010

Visitors...

Roxanne officially loves it when we have people over to the house. She is usually shy at first, but then she starts following them around and bringing them her toys, etc. etc. We had some friends over Saturday night, and Roxanne kept bringing all of her best toys out and trying to get involved with our dinner conversation. Like, we were talking about TV shows, and she pipes in: "I watch Super Why today." And when I said "No, you didn't silly!" she glared at me like I had just stomped on her dreams. So I said, "You watched Yo Gabba Gabba today!" and she said "Baby Muno is so cute!" And yes, for all who don't know, Baby Muno is from Yo Gabba Gabba. Another fun Roxanne statement happened today at work... She and Josh were playing with something, and he was not interacting very nicely (which is a nice way of saying that he was being really annoying in a brotherly way) and she swatted at him and yelled "Joshy, I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" Um, maybe I shouldn't admit it, but she totally gets that from me. Oops.

And just now, she is playing with "Moon Sand" at the table with Justin. He pushed her chair back from the table to get her out, and she looked down and said, "do you see this mess?" Good grief. I just love listening to what comes out of her mouth. She's hilarious. But I guess I'm biased... Her new favorite thing to play with is Play Doh and moon sand. Both are in theory great for using with molds and cookie cutters, but mainly she just pulls them into little pieces an grips them in her hands. I think she likes the texture. She is also getting into playing pretend more and more. Her and Ben and Josh like to run around pretending to be pirates. They yell "AAARRRGH!" at each other. I don't let them do anything like sword-fight, but Josh does occasionally slip the phrase "scurvy dog!" into things. They sit on pieces of furniture and call them boats. Pretty cute.

Now that we are finally, once and for all, weaned, I want to start on potty training. I'm not sure how it will go, since I tried to let her go diaper free for a while yesterday and she started screaming "I need a diaper! I need a diaper!" as she peed on the floor... She loves to sit on the potty, but I'm not totally sure it has any relation to pottying... I don't want to make it a big deal, so I'm just trying to play it easy, but Justin and I agreed that in the next six months, we'd like to get it done. I think that's a reasonable time frame... But it's clear that pull-ups aren't really going to do the trick. And it's sort of frustrating when your toddler can tell you so many things, but doesn't seem to be able to figure out the potty. I know it's a huge deal for her though, so I'm trying to be patient...

We also recently got her some new books, and one of her favorite is about Skippy John Jones, a Siamese cat who thinks he's a chihuahua. Adorable. She also got a new Toot and Puddle book, and that's a big one, too. That one is about a birthday party. Roxanne seems to really be into birthdays and birthday parties these days. She went to her first Chuck E. Cheez party on Saturday, and she totally loved it. Of course, she got to see all of her family, which is always a highlight. Sarah Ellen and Anna were so cute, and we really had lots of fun. She danced and danced and danced. I think she may even have liked it better than Monkey Joe's. Gasp!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Comment Moderation

Just an FYI, I'm adding the "word verification" function to my blog comments because I've been getting some spam comments. Please don't be deterred by it. I always love hearing from you!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Talking, talking and more talking

That's what is new with us. Roxanne is basically a little person now. She has almost no baby left, except when she lets us hold her and pretend she is a "little tiny baby" and demands her lullabies. She is getting more and more opinionated (and sometimes oppositional) and she is turning out to be pretty bossy. She LOVES to talk about Ben or Josh getting time out, and if I tell either of them not to do something, she echoes me, yelling at the perpetrator. Her and the boys are so cute together though. They are just like siblings. Which is also true of the love/hate dynamic. Roxanne has gotten very fond of chasing Ben around yelling "I want to give Ben a kiss!" and Ben running away from her yelling "No! No! No!" Sometimes I intervene, but mostly I just watch and laugh... But then there are moments like today when I was leaving work and Roxanne pointed up to Ben on the front stoop of his house (he was seeing us off) and said "You want to come with me, Ben?" and Ben then had a fit when his dad made him stay on the stoop. He kept saying, "Want to go with Roxanne!" Ah, young love.

Roxanne's love affair with Boo Boo is stronger and stronger. Boo Boo has turned out to be a wonderful addition to our household. She's extremely easy going, and let's Roxanne smother her with attention. When she's had enough, she disappears down into the basement, and finds weird remote spots to hide, like the bottom of Roxanne's old exersaucer that is stacked on some boxes. Our basement is totally a mess... Perfect for a former barn cat. So far, she hasn't expressed any interest in going outside, and for now, we are content to let her stay in. I think the basement is what makes the big difference. We can leave her litter box down there and it's totally inoffensive. In any case, we are all in love with her and her chirpy little meows. She might be the nicest cat I've ever met. Seriously. We really lucked out!

On Sunday, we drove up to see Sarah and baby Rosalie. Roxanne was surprisingly smitten with the baby. She kissed and kissed her, and kept petting her head. Her favorite thing was to point to all of her parts and say "Little tiny baby nose! Little tiny baby elbow!" and then point to her corresponding part and say "BIG nose! BIG elbow!" She went over most of the babies visible parts like this. She is really into opposites lately. We often talk about what "big doggies say" versus what "little tiny baby doggies say." But back to baby Rosalie... What a lovely little girl! She was so sweet and peaceful. At one point, I held Roxanne in my lap and we both held the baby, and Roxanne hugged and hugged her. She did get fussy at one point when I was holding Rosalie, and she hung on my legs and begged for a "snuggle." She is like that at work. She has a fine threshold for sharing me, but there are times she gets jealous. Ah, it's good to be mama. :)

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Trying a Video Post...


This is a clip from Roxanne dancing at the Imagine It! Children's Museum. She LOVES to dance. We are biased, but it seems like she's got good rhythm.

Boo Boo has arrived!




Tonight, we got to come home to our new kitty! Colleen dropped her off in our bathroom this afternoon, so Roxanne got to go and see her as soon as we walked in. She LOVES Boo Boo. She has been snuggling her, and bringing her toys and giving her treats, etc. etc. Poor Boo Boo is probably totally overwhelmed, but she has been totally sweet and tolerant. As you can see, she sat in Roxanne's lap with no problems, and tolerated Roxanne smothering her with hugs. She did shake her tail a little at one point, so I tried to have Roxanne give her some space, but she's just been purring and snuggling. Poor Justin and his allergies will have some suffering for a couple of weeks, but then we will be letting Boo Boo out from time to time (most likely).

Oh, and here are some of my favorite Roxanne+Boo Boo moments.

*The first thing Roxanne said about Boo Boo when she saw her tonight was that Boo Boo had a costume on her nose. She was talking about the black stripe I think, and equating it with the black nose we painted on her for her Halloween costume. I know that seems like a stretch, but that is so how she is. I guess how lots of toddlers are. Connections are made and pop back up at the strangest times...
*She really wanted Boo Boo to sit on her lap, since the the first time we met Boo Boo (when she was still a barn cat) she sat in Roxanne's lap. One of her favorite things to talk about in the time we've been waiting for Boo Boo to arrive is how Boo Boo sits in her lap. So yes, the first thing she wanted to do tonight was have Boo Boo sit in her lap.
*She brought Boo Boo about fifty Kinex, which is a really big deal, since she LOVES walking around and clutching them. She even gave Boo Boo one of the highly coveted "little tiny baby pink Kinex." Whoa. Stop the presses.

So yes, I'm in love with her already, and Justin even admits that she is very very cute. She's just a little love. Snuggly and purring all the time. Here's to many happy years with Boo Boo!

Sunday, January 10, 2010

photos






These are photos from our various activities over the Christmas break. We had so much fun... I wish we were independently wealthy and we could just hang out together all the time... :) In nice news, this weekend was very full. I took my GRE on Saturday, and did fairly well. I thought I had BOMBED the math section because I only got like halfway through before I started picking random answers due to my time crunch. But I ended up getting a 630 Verbal and 590 Math. The verbal score puts me in the 90th percentile, and the math puts me in the 48th. I'm not bragging, I just want to feel proud of myself. :) And even better, my friend Sarah had her baby, Rosalie, yesterday at 12:07pm. Baby Rosalie is adorable. Both she and Sarah are doing great. I was lucky enough to visit several times this weekend, although I missed the actual birth because I was taking the GRE. Sigh. In any case, enjoy the photos! And here's one of baby Rosalie (sorry again, I can't flip it).

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

P.S.

I just would like to point out that my blog now spans four years. Holy cow!

Roxanne's Quotes

So, I am all stuffed up and don't have the focus to write a cohesive blog entry, so I'm going to post some of Roxanne's best quotes of the last couple of weeks. Most of these get repeated in one form or fashion every once in a while...

*At dinner tonight, Justin was commenting that the steak he made was tough, and he muttered, very quietly, "Holy Crap" while cutting a piece. Roxanne instantly looks at him and says, "You say holy crap, Dada?"

*This morning at breakfast, Roxanne was being disgusting with her yogurt and smearing it all over the table, etc., so I told her to stop several times. Finally, I told her I was going to take it away, and she yelled "No!" then looked down at her mess and said, "I bein' a stinker."

*We are getting a new cat in a couple of weeks from my Dad and Colleen named Boo Boo. Roxanne is SO excited about Boo Boo, and has been telling everyone about her. She told Josh today, "I getting a cat Joshy, her name is Boo Boo. Boo Boo sit in my lap." Which is true, since when we last visited Boo Boo, she sat very nicely in Roxanne's lap. But yes, Roxanne is so excited she can't stand it.

*Today, she kept asking me at work, "Where's my Daddy?" and I would tell her he was at work. And she would say, "I want to go get my Daddy. I want to go get him from work." She got so attached to him over the vacation. I think she's turning into a little bit of a Daddy's girl. Sigh.

*Roxanne is really loving being a "little tiny baby" and having us hold her in our arms like a tiny baby. She especially loves it when you sing to her like that, but you can only sing lullabies. Otherwise, she will yell, "little tiny baby! I'm a little tiny baby!" Like the ABC's would offend a little tiny baby.

OK. That's all for now. I'm so stressed this week because I've got the GRE on Friday morning, and on Thursday night, we have a producer coming by to shoot a 20 to 30 minute audition interview for HGTV. I applied (on a whim) last week for us to be on the new HGTV show called Curb Appeal: The Block and was shocked to hear that we are actually pre-selected. Hmm, I wonder if I'm allowed to talk about this... We'll see. Either way, we still have a ways to go before we know whether or not we even have a chance to do the show, so I'll keep updating. But we are excited! It would really be nice to get the $20,000 in landscaping/exterior home improvement...