Wordless Wednesday

Talk Like Aunt Jen!

So I've been having a Facebook conversation with Aunt Jen B. about an "imitation" that E does of her. It's not so much an imitation as a tribute, I would say. This evening, Susan caught it on video. We also have some clips from a year ago where E did Aunt Jen laughing as well as a now famous quote about our dog, Aggie, and her reactions to major weather phenomena.



Ok, so it needs a little work. But, in E's defense, Aunt Jen has a tough voice to imitate. Maybe if we saw her more often, Elizabeth could capture it better. (Susan made me put that in.)

But E definitely has Aunt Jen's laugh nailed. The next couple of clips are from about a year ago. It is AMAZING at how much our little girl has changed!



And, last but not least, the quote that made E famous. "Aggie scared of thunderstorms!"



That's my girl.

- Rich

Punished!

Ok, so the title is a little overly dramatic. But, we are admittedly softies with E, and, tonight, she did something that mandated a punishment.

Let's just say it is REALLY tough to get indelible marker off of hardwood floors.

E was really tired and looked to be headed upstairs. I was holding Andrew and turned around to turn on the upstairs light. When I turned back around, I saw E move her hand in a circular motion on the 2nd step. "That doesn't seem to be good," I thought.

And, it wasn't. She had a black marker in her hand...and had drawn two oval shapes...on the 1st and 2nd steps. Arrrrrrgh!

After shocking her with a loud, "Elizabeth! WHAT are you DOING?!?!" I thought, "Well, she has a box full of water soluble markers. It'll clean up fine. No harm done."

Then I picked up the pen. The only marker in her box that is NOT water soluble. @$%!#@!

And, apparently, rubbing alcohol only does so much. It'll need to be sanded and re-stained to fix. Unless someone out there has a foolproof way of removing marker from untreated hardwood.

"Laid back. With my mind on my money and my money on my mind."

I thought about posting a ridiculously cute picture of E with the caption, "How could you punish this child?" but that pretty much feeds into the aforementioned softy-ness. Which would undoubtedly cause countless eye rolls among the mothers out there. My little girl can indeed be a little scamp and have some disdain about it. I thought this picture captures that sentiment somewhat.

After taking away the marker (and promptly placing it in the trash), I came back to a sobbing Sweetpea on Mommy's lap, with Andrew on the other leg. (The leg occupied by E was soaked in tears.) I learned that it is possible to feel nothing and heartbroken at the same time. As heartbreaking as it was to hear her clearly dejected sobs, I knew that we had to teach her a lesson, even if small. Susan took E upstairs where she cried some more on our bed while I tried in futility to clean the steps.

During the bedtime routine, I explained to E that what she did was wrong and that she was going to be punished. No story before bed tonight. (See, I said it was small.) She didn't seem to know what to make of this, and it took a couple more minutes of explaining to get the point across.

"No brushing teef?"
"No, sweetie, no story. We're brushing teeth, then it's bed and prayers."
"But, there's always story."
"Not tonight, Baby Girl. You're being punished."
*pause* "No story?"
"No story."

After that, she didn't want to let me clean her up or brush her teeth. But she begrudingly gave in (no need for more tears). And, true to our word, there was no story.

I thought for sure that she'd cry herself to sleep, but I think she had tired herself out beforehand because she dropped right off. In her defense, she was exhausted -- she was up at 5 AM and didn't have a nap. She wasn't doing anything maliciously, and the crying was more because she was tired. It's a small punishment, but, we have got to teach her that there are repercussions to her actions. I hope she has learned something. As for me, I have learned that I need to keep a closer eye on that girl...

- Rich

Happy Birthday Grandma W!

Happy birthday to my Mom. I won't reveal her age, but, suffice to say, I'll be 10 yrs older than her when Elizabeth is my age. Yikes. I feel old. And, no I had not been drinking when Elizabeth snapped my picture. I felt it was only fair that, if we were going to pose her, she should have the chance to pose me.

- Rich

Had to just jump in here to describe the taking of Rich's picture. First, yesterday was not a good day to be a sweetpea. It's hard to be three sometimes. So getting the picture of the two of them - let's just say lots of bribery and there are plenty of pics on the camera with not so pleasant expressions. As you can see, Andrew finally gave up and conked out. So after it was all over, Elizabeth was in a much better mood. She grabbed the camera and said, 'now it's daddy's turn.' (revenge is sweet.) And posed him, made him add the toy to his head, thought about it, grabbed the note and positioned it, said 'ok, now, let's see a pretty smile!' took the photo, said 'good job!' (in exactly Rich's tone and inflection) and then held out the camera for us to inspect the photo. I wish I had a video of how exactly she acted like us trying to take her picture. (and then she took a picture of the ceiling. And Aggie. And sleeping Andrew (or at least part of him). And then it was back to a rough day as the camera was put away and bath time began!)

laughing

Elizabeth and I spend a lot of time with Andrew in one pursuit: "get him to smile at me, Mommy!" Yesterday, during the day, I said to her, "I think Andrew might have dimples." "Dimples? What are dimples?" So I explained, with some difficulty, that they were little dents in his face when he smiled, but he was still so chubby with a baby face we might not see them if he has them, but maybe they were there.

So last night at dinner, Elizabeth made some faces at Andrew which caused him to break into his wide-mouthed grin.

"Look Daddy!" she shrieked. "Andrew has nipples!"

- Susan

shrinking?

Had the 2 month check up last week, and Andrew is shrinking! Not really, but at 1 month, he was recorded at 24 inches, which put him off the charts. This time, after two measurements, he clocked in at 23.5 inches. They figure it was just an incorrect measurement before, and 23.5 puts him in the 60th percentile, so that's ok. Weight? 14.5 lbs! That's 2 lbs 4 oz in one month, and puts him in the 90th percentile. And his head was 15 inches around, right in the mid-range. It's all about the numbers, right?

In other news, I know we're falling down on the job in posting. My computer is so jam-packed with photos and music that I can't upload any more pictures, which means getting them on the blog is problematic. But a solution is in the works, I think. We have lots to catch up on. There are some cute pics coming!