Friday, March 30, 2012

We'll have what we have now....forever and always

Lucy:
This morning you awoke calling out my name, I answered telling you I was getting dressed. You wandered in and proudly announced you slept through the whole night all by yourself.

I’m so proud of you I declared!
Yeah Mama! Me too you sleepily agreed as you rubbed the sleep from your eyes

You honed in on the two Willow Tree Figurines on my dresser – one is of a Mum and Dad holding a newborn and the other is a woman hugging her pregnant belly.

That’s Lucy with Mummy and Daddy and that Lucy in Mummy’s belly!

It sure is I said as I tugged on my socks and kissed your head

Mama I need another kiss!

You puckered up, I gave you three smooches and you demanded two more!

Mama! You giggled as you lay down on the floor. Tell me a story about when I came home with you…..

So this morning, as we brushed our teeth and got dressed, I regaled you with tales of the first few months of your life. You took great delight in each of them and begged for another as soon as the story finished.

You were such a good girl this morning Boo…..and after your meltdown last night at dinner, it was a welcome way to start the day.

As we settled down for breakfast, we saw Kristen out the window…within two minutes, Daddy and I went running out the door to help she and Jet…and you my dear sat and quietly ate you breakfast – I was out of the house for less than 2 minutes and came running back in to grab the phone – I swear you knew something was wrong as you ate your breakfast and simply asked

Mama is Kristen okay?

Yeah honey (my voice was shaking) she’s Okay

Where’s Daddy?

He’s helping Kristen with Jet….

Did silly Jet get away again?

He did honey…..

And then you turned back to your breakfast as I made frantic phone calls
Kristen darted in to grab a blanket and I went out as Daddy and Kristen loaded Jet into the car
You were so good Lucy; you just sat quietly and patiently waiting for us
When Daddy and I finally sat down, you just smiled at us and asked if Kristen got Jet…knowing that neither of us was ready to tell you anything (because we were not even really sure what to tell you) we both said at the same time, yes, Kristen got Jet.

You smiled and kept eating

I realized, at that moment, that pretty soon, I’m not going to be able to protect you anymore.
That one day, I can’t shield you from bad things that may happen….
That one day, we will have to deal with death, with loss, with heartache….
I dread that day

I spoke with Kristen a bit ago and Jet should be just fine…for which I breathe a sigh of relief first and foremost for Kristen and secondly for you Lucy as you love Jet as if he’s your own.
Then I realized I was also relived for me….because yes, I love Jet too but also because I am so not ready to deal with anything like this with you yet…
How blessed I am that I have not had to….

Back in September, I started to write you a letter – and I never finished it
It’s been sitting in “draft” status for months…
I was writing it so one day, I could remind you about you....
And so I could remind me about you....
And so I could remind us all that forever and always, we'll have what we have now

September 19th, 2011
I drove past the Playground today....the one with your Clubhouse and I was thinking about this one afternoon a few weeks ago when we were there........I was watching Daddy push you on the swing as you screeched and laughed and yelled Higher Daddy! Higher! HIGHER!

When he would stop you'd yell out How 'bout again?!?! Followed with a giggle and squeal of delight. And Daddy would start pushing you again and you'd yell Higher! All I could do was stand there and smile at both of you.......

I remembered that afternoon today and it made me go through a checklist in my head of all the things that make you so wonderful, so beautiful…..so....so Lucy....

Your laugh is infectious
When I hear you laugh, I want to giggle as well - and I don't even have to know what is making you laugh but your screech of sheer delight is enough to make me want to laugh from the belly up and out

You love so many things and so many some ones in your life
But no one person or no one thing garners all your love and attention....you love everybody and everything on equal ground.....and you take turns giving them all the love and attention they deserve

When you talk about people you love, you preface it with "my"
My Daddy, My Kristen, My Rosie, My Jet, My Rika, My Ali, My Jackie, My Other Jackie...how lucky we all are to be yours

You get so excited when a song you like comes on and your little feet start tapping....
Next thing I know, you are bustin' a move and yelling for us to dance with you!
And you don't slow down!

You love to play and want everyone to play with you
I love hearing you ask Daddy or me, Will you play with me?
And I hate that sometimes we have to say no because dinner has to be made, clothes have to be put away, we have to get to work, we have to take a phone call......
But you never hold that against us.......you always, always ask us to play...
And when we say yes, your face lights up the room

Your love of books and stories
I know, I know, I've already said it a million times before but I love that you love books
You never tire of flipping through the pages, of reading the same books over and over....and now you help me "read" them
You know what word comes next and you'll shout it out before I do
You get so into the book
You get so excited, like when Lisa comes back for Corduroy, you can’t help but giggle and yell aloud She came back for him Mama!
And you when Clifford stepped on his new toy dog, you were sad for Clifford who broke his toy and just as sad for the toy that got stepped on
You'll sit for what feels like hours just flipping through your books...sometimes I'll hear you muttering the story as you are looking and am amazed at the accuracy with which you repeat the story

I love that you love hearing stories
Made up stories and true stories
I make up stories about Lucy and Puppy Jack and their adventures (which always involves those meeting animals)
For the past few days, it’s been stories about you as a baby....funny, I still think of you as a baby........
I've been telling you how you used to kick me while you were in my belly
How you would kick Daddy when he put his hand on my belly
How you came into this world looking just like me....and now look nothing like me!
How you started to cry when you were put into your bassinet at the hospital but as soon as Daddy touched your little face and said: its okay, Daddy's here...you stopped crying and fell right to sleep
How your belly button fell off and freaked Daddy and I out
How you reacted when you tried peas for the first time
How you started to crawl and kept crawling right into the wall or table and spent weeks with little bruises on your forehead
How you started to walk and never looked back
The first time you met a puppy dog and a kitty cat and a goat
Oh how you love hearing stories about yourself

Your love for animals
Stuffed animals, real animals, animals on TV, in books, the hard plastic animals, the Fisher Price animals.....you just love animals!
You tick off all the animals you love in list format:
Mama! I love tigers and lions and elephants and turtles and humpback whales and beluga whales and killer whales and seals and penguins and 'raffes.........
Mama! Do you like tigers and lions and elephants and turtles and humpback whales and beluga whales and killer whales and seals and penguins and 'raffes?
And then you'll remember I don't like snakes and you'll say Mama, you no like snakes?
And I hesitate and say Well....because I don't want you to not like snakes.....
So as I fumble around with what to say you say
Its okay Mama, I no like turkeys!
But you love all other animals and you don’t just love them, you learn about them
You listen to the books we read, or what Diego tells you, and can spew back facts and details about animals that I never even knew (who knew Beluga whales molted?)

Stickers
I have never met anyone who loves stickers so much
You stick them on your hands, on the tip of your nose, your legs, on Daddy, on me
Your stuffed animals have stickers on them
You stick them on the floor, on the bench, the stools
I found stickers on my laptop and the back of my phone
And not too long ago, there was a sticker on the license plate of my car

I love that you sing
You, my little imp, are always humming or singing something
Lately it’s been Baby Beluga in the deep blue sea
Half the time, I don't even think you realize you are humming or singing.
Sometimes, you do it so quietly, I can barely hear you
Other times, you belt it out at the top of your lungs and applaud yourself when you are done.....giving yourself mere seconds before you break into the second set of your act
I love how your love of music makes you stop in the middle of the store and declare
Mama! I hear it!! Someone's playing the Beatles!
And I love how it makes other people do a double take when they realize it’s a little 2.5 year old making such a declaration

I love how you love us
I love that you love to snuggle
I love that you sneak into our bed at 3am and think we don’t notice
I don't really love how you wake me up to get in bed with you, but I do secretly like sleeping all snuggled with you
I love that you love to give us hugs and kisses
I love how your forgive us so easily even though we have been cross with you
I love that you reach up to hold my hand without having to be asked or told
I love that you love us so much you and God decided we should be your Mum and Dad.

So Lucy, thank you for what you have given us so far......and thanks for sleeping through last night….
I love you to the moon and back and three times around the Earth

Love
Maria the Mum

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Is this where you poop?

Kristen is our friend who lives across the circle from us
Jet is her dog
Lucy thinks Jet is her dog
Every day, EVERY DAY, we have to go see Kristen and Jet
We walk Jet
We feed him his dinner
We give him his treat
(and by we I of course mean Lucy)

Last night, Lucy and I went to the grocery store before we came home from work/school.
As soon as we pulled up to the house, she asked to go to Kristen's
I allowed her to make her way across the circle and watched as three minutes later, Lucy, with Jet and Kristen in tow, headed off for Jet's walk

I just picked up my cell phone and noticed a text message from Kristen, sent last night around 8:20pm:

Funny story...after Lucy gave Jet a bunch of his treats she wanted to was her hands. I pulled a folding chair into the bathroom in front of the sink. After I put her on the chair she looked at me and asked "is this where you poop?" Unbelievable!

Yep, that's my daughter......

Maria the Mum

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Where do Babies Come From?

Mama Kat’s Prompts for the week came out

Writing Prompts:
1.) Share your favorite part of your child’s bedroom.
2.) It happened at Disneyland…
3.) Incorporate the following line into a poem of your own: “Catching air with my fingers”
4.) Are you feeling brave? Ask your child where babies come from and share their answers.
5.) Write about the last time you laughed until it hurt…what happened?

I saw the prompts Tuesday night just before I was putting Lucy to bed. So I thought hmm…I wonder what Lucy will say when I ask her where babies come from? She knows at one point she was in my belly….she asks to hear stories all the time about when she was a baby and when she lived in my belly…..wonder what she’ll say….
Hey Lucy

Wait Mama! I listening to Timon and Pumbaa sing
Sorry……I waited like less than 15 seconds and tried again…..Lucy where do babies come from?

Mama! Hold on!

I can’t believe my 3 year old just told me to back off….course she was right…I did sort of bust into her room and started demanding answers…..but then again, its good practice for her teenage years….music fades, I try again
Lucy, where do babies come from?

I don’t know Mama…..sort of shrugs and raises her eyebrows
Well where do you think you came from? How did you get here to Mummy and Daddy?

I don’t know Mama……getting slightly annoyed with my mere presence
So you have no idea where babies come from?
I have no idea why I was pushing her….

Mama! I don’t know!! I just woke up one day in my crib when I was a baby and you and Daddy were there!!!!
Maria the Mum


Monday, March 5, 2012

Good Talk

Last night, as I was brushing Lucy's hair after her bath she asks

Mama?
Yes Lucy?
Mama, look at me....
What honey?
She opened her eyes wide and very seriously asked....

Do I have kaleidoscope eyes?
_____________________________________________________________________________

Yesterday morning, Lucy was being a bit of a crank
Sean was trying to get Lucy in her room to get dressed and asked

Lucy, are you cranky today?

Lucy, without hesitating, with no expression deadpanned her reply

No Daddy, I just being a sourpuss
_____________________________________________________________________________

Saturday, Lucy had her first swim lesson at the Y. After her lesson, she and her Dad stayed in the pool for a bit swimming. 45 minutes later, they emerged wet, tired and with big grins on their faces

Mama! You see me swimming?
I did Lucy you did such a good job! I'm so proud of you!
Mama! Did anyone ask if I was a mermaid?!?

Not to be a buzz kill I said
They did Lucy! They saw you swimming and doing such a good job and I heard them say is that a mermaid over there?

Did you tell them I not a mermaid I a beluga?

uuhhh..........
_____________________________________________________________________________

Sean got rear ended a little over a week ago. The person that hit him did a great job of banging up the passenger side of his bumper: dents, cracks, scratches, broken tail light....thankfully, he was OK

Unfortunately, two days later, someone else hit his car....on the same side.....pretty much the same spot....poor car...poor Sean....

When Sean showed Lucy the damage, she stood solemnly behind the car shaking her head with a frown on her face and declared

Poor poor Daddy's car...he has a big boo boo!

The she'd sort of patted the back end of the car in a comforting way and sadly shake her head....until a smile crept across her face and she held up her finger in declaration of her eureka moment:

Don't worry Daddy, I get him a band aid for his boo boo...a BIIIGGG band aid

Maria the Mum

Thursday, March 1, 2012

The Party Planner

Lucy has been planning her birthday party since January 30th....I'm not even kidding. Every day, she asks if it's time for her party....

Can we have my party tomorrow Mummy?
Honey, your birthday is not for another few weeks....
OK but now can we have my party?
But its not your birthday yet....
OK so we can have one party now and then a party on my birthday!

And its not even like she wants a party for the gifts....she wants a party because it means her friends get to come to her house....and there will be cupcakes

Last night, Sean had to work late so Lucy and I were having dinner together (and by that, I mean she was picking up her plate and licking it while I was sorting mail, doing dishes and making lunches)

I sat down to take a break as she ate her pudding (as a side note, this kid LOVES pudding....so I taught her to to say puddddiiiinnn' just like Bill Cosby.....head toss, pursed lips and all......hy-ster-i-cal!)

Lucy, let's talk about your party
I love pudddiiinnn' Mummy!
I know you do honey, I do too but I have to ask.....

I'm interrupted with

Want some Mummy? and as she flicks her spoon in my direction splattering pudding on my glasses, cheek and in my hair
No thanks honey...as I wipe pudding off my face and take off my glasses.....I wanted to ask you about your birthday party....

Mummy! tee-hee-hee-giggle-giggle-giggle- You have puddin' in your hair!

It took me ten minutes but I finally got her to focus
I pulled out some paper and a pen and told her to tell me everything she wanted and everyone she wanted at her party and I Would write it all down

Mummy, here's who I want at my party.....

and she launched into the following without missing a beat, without stopping....I'm not even sure she took a breath......and in this order as I wrote it all down

I want Lucy
and Mummy
and Daddy
and Caiti
and Lori
Kevin
Miss Rika
Miss Rosie
Miss Ali
Miss Jackie
Miss Lynn
Miss Stacey
Miss Andrea
Miss Barbara
Miss Georgette
Me! Lucy!
Ben
Chase
Caiti
Jack
Logie (Logan)
Rye-guy (Ryan)
Kaia
Sofia
Alex
Nate
Angela
Kacie
Kristen
Jet (yes, Kristen's dog)
Pat and Thomas (Pat's boyfriend is Tom, Lucy insists on calling him Thomas)
Lady
Tramp (yes, as in Lady and the Tramp,m her stuffed animals)
Percy (stuffed penguin)
and Lucy and Mummy and Daddy!

That's all Mama.....

Oh, OK, well, if that's all then....and you want an animal party?
Yeah Mama....animals! All animals! Sea animals, farm animals, jungle animals...
Well Lucy, that is a lot of animals going on....do you want to do like a zoo or a circus...? Or do you want a farm?

She cocked her head to the left, tilted her eyes upward, pursed her lips and pulled her mouth into that hmm, I'm thinking  expression......

A zoo! she finally declared sticking her little finger in the air and grinning

So I wrote down zoo....

OK great! So we'll do all zoo animals...
Yeah Mama! and then she launched into her list of zoo animals

Tigers
Lions
Penguins
Seals
Hippos
Melman (Giraffes, as in Melman the giraffe from the movie Madagascar)
Marty (Zebras, as in Marty the zebra from the movie Madagascar)
Elephants
Sea Lions
Monkeys
Turtles
Trains

Uhh Lucy? A train is not an animal.......
But I like trains Mama! Can the animals be in a train? NO! I just want a train.....can I have a train?

But before I could answer, the list continued

Pigs
Belugas
Sheep
Horses
Cows
Puppies
Kitties
Polar Bear
Pandas
Ducks
Puffins.....I just don't want a turkey Mama! I no like turkeys

Right, okay, no turkeys....well Lucy! This is quite a list!

And I want food Mama....
OK, food, what kind of food?
I want Pizza, bread and Ms (Ms being M&Ms)...on the train!

OK, so let me get this straight, you want all these people (and I read the list back) and you want all these animals (and I read the list back) and you want pizza and bread and Ms?

Yeah Mama!!!! I love my party!

So where do you want the train?
At my party!
Right.....so will the animals be on the train...like in the circus in Dumbo?
No silly Mama! The food will be on the train!

Ok so you want all these people to come to your zoo and eat pizza, bread and Ms on a train....
Now can we have my party Mama?

I can't even answer as I am a bit overwhemed and trying to figure out how to explain to her that we need to pare this down...

Mummy! Can you write a poem song like Pooh?
What?
Like Pooh......like the poem songs Pooh sings when he goes to see Piglet and Christopher Robin....can you write a poem song for my birthday?
Sure I can Lucy...we'll put it on your invitation
Now Mama?
What? Write the poem now?
She giggles, claps her hands, nods and says Now Mama!

So I wrote her a poem...

Welcome to the Zoo
It's all for who?
For Lucy?
For Goosey?
No for Lucy!
She's turning 3
Golly Gee!

Good start Mama....can you work on it?

Yeah Lucy, I'll work on it...Come on I tell her, it's time to head up to the tub.....

As she and I were walking up the stairs, I had visions in my head of future birthday parties (one involved a rocket ship and another a full blown carnival/fair in the backyard), graduation parties and a fleeting image of her wedding (she was being pulled to shore by dolphins) when I was interrupted...

Mummy! I forgot............!
Forgot what honey?
I also want dinosaurs at my party..........!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maria the Mum