Claire is going through a phase that already seems to be waning. When talking to us, she addresses us as “My Mommy” or “My Daddy”. Examples: “I want something to eat, My Mommy”; “Pick me up, My Daddy”. It’s really cute and one of those things I don’t want to forget and already miss.

On another note, she is convinced that the new baby is a boy. She has said it is a Baby Dennis and that it’s a black baby. I don’t know what it is she thinks I’ve been up to!

She has also been telling me that she's been sent to "Time Out" when I pick her up from school. She includes a description of her transgression...I was running, or I jumped off something or other. It didn't seem quite right, so I asked her teachers about it and she hasn't been in trouble at all. They can't remember her ever being in "Alone Time" (their word for time out). I guess she just wants to do what the cool kids are doing?? I wonder what her motivation is for ratting herself out, when she hasn't even done anything.

Funny girl.

Update

My dad is doing all right. Sarah said he is acting like himself again and feeling better. I have officially (although as yet unannounced) decided that "adventure" vacations are out, and relaxing vacations are in.

Speaking of vacations, the owner of the nicer place at the beach offered us a slight discount so as it turns out, we won't be staying in the roach motel after all. Phew.

Since voicing my complaints seems to have worked out, I will do it again. Our AC has gone on the fritz and I fear the hundreds it may take to fix, or worse, the thousands it may take to replace. Fortunately, it is a rather mild Texas summer evening, and having the windows open is actually helping, not hurting, the situation. I hope tomorrow isn't a scorcher!

Just saw a nice movie called "Waitress". It made me laugh and cry and long to come home and cuddle my sweet girl. It also made me want to eat pie, but the gross popcorn made me ill enough to not want to seek out pie at 10pm. It wouldn't have been as good as I wanted it to be anyway.

I need to find my camera because I have pictures of Claire to post and I know anyone I share this with will be most interested in those, rather than whatever mundane thoughts I choose to document. It's all about the archive, baby. Claire will want to read this one day, right??

Poor me.

I can’t have wine, so I am going to whine instead. Here are the things troubling me today:

1) My dad just spent 5 hours in an Italian hospital. He was dehydrated and is doing fine now. All I want to do is give him a hug, which I can’t do because he is too far away. Even if he were home, I couldn’t give him a hig because Florida is also too far away.

Every other whine seems insignificant compared to the first one, but I shall persevere:

2) When I was pregnant with Claire I got lots of pampering…foot rubs, concern, things done for me etc. This time around, I am getting jack.

3) My head hurts. It’s been hurting since about when I found out I was pregnant, but it hurts the most right now.

4) I can’t fit into my regular clothes and I am not quite big enough for maternity clothes, especially the shirts. Which, brings me to another point…why do all maternity shirts seem to have little cap sleeves? They only serve to highlight the fattest part of the arm on a regular day; why would I want to put my upper ham hocks on display while pregnant? I bought a man’s shirt because men, apparently, are still allowed to have actual sleeves.

5) All the maternity clothes were much cuter when I was not pregnant. Now that I am, they are all disgusting.

6) After hours and hours of trying to plan a vacation on the beach, the plans, days, number of people (and dogs) kept changing and now our only option is a cheapo place “across the street” (we’ll see what that actually means!) from the beach because the nice place that we could afford and that was big enough and that was on the beach and that allows dogs is booked. If anyone complains when we get there (besides me, I am allowed) I am going to go check myself in to the Hyatt. A simple “thank you” from anyone for the effort I have put into this vacation would be nice at this point.

7) Work is hard. Wah.


OK, so things could be so much worse…perspective and all that…I get it. Generally speaking, I am very lucky.

What I have been reduced to...

(An email sent to my management team at work)

Claire has pink-eye


I took her to school anyway this morning after I cleaned her eyes up. (I know that’s bad, but had little choice.) The jig may be up when she wakes up from nap and says, “My eyes broken” like she did this morning because they were all gummed up and she couldn’t open them.

I am going to go to lunch early because I have some things I have to do and so I can be back for the potential call from daycare. They wake up from nap around 1:30-2ish.

If she has to be out tomorrow, I will split the day with Shane so Jori is only on her own for half the day. Ugh…everything happens at once. Maybe we will skate by and only infect other little kids without actually getting busted.

Dinosaurs!

Claire woke up this morning (5am) crying and wanted to come to our room because “There’s a dinosaur in my bed!”
What could I say? She curled up with us for a couple of hours, safe and sound from bed-dwelling dinosaurs.
Shane told her that we’d get Orkin in to take care of the problem.

Who's Your Daddy?

I've noticed what may be a quirky psychological difference between men and women. Granted, my sample size is small at two, but the results are consistent.

When I talk to Claire about Shane, I say things like: Where's Daddy? Can you give Daddy some kisses? Isn't Daddy so funny!

When Shane talks to Claire about me, the parental name is always preceded by "your"; There's your mom! You'll have to ask your mom. Your mom is going to give you a bath.

Upon reflection, the same phenomenon occured when I was growing up. When Daddy spoke, Mummy was always "Your mom" and when Mummy spoke, Daddy was always, well, Daddy.

My theories:

1. The word Mummy. Perhaps little boys, especially in the US, grow up thinking of mummies only as the decrepit corpses of ancient Egyptians, and while we Mummies may resemble them after a a couple of weeks being up with the new baby, the menfolk are just not ready to admit that they are bedding down with a sarcophagal creature.
2. Again, the word Mummy, typically English. Occasionally pretentious American. Perhaps it is an isolated cultural difference stemming from the word. Would they be more comfortable with Mom?
3. My third and final theory is that it simply makes them feel icky to tag us with the same name their own mother had. By keeping "your" in front of the word, it declares that despite our new change in status, we are not their Mother, never will be, eew. Or maybe it's that we can never live up to their Mothers and so we haven't earned the title. (nah!)

Whatever the reason, I am fine with it. That's how it was when I was growing up and I would really like everything to be the exact same way it was then in our home now. (That's an entirely different psychological issue that might need to be explored!)

Now, how and why the term "Who's your Daddy" came to mean something dirty, I don't even want to know!

Longest Sentence to Date...

"Oh no, Daddy poop!" - Claire, 7-13-06.

It should have been "Happy Birthday, Auntie Sarah!". Next year...

Send in the Clowns

Claire has a new favorite game. I hide the clown and she finds it. It's so fun! She always checks the last place it was hidden first. An interesting strategy and one she'll soon weary of, I am sure. And when she does, I'll be there...you guessed it: hiding the clown in the same spot twice in a row! Hahaha! We only have a limited time to pull things over on the kiddos, so I am going to take full advantage!

How to play HIDING THE CLOWN:

First step: CLOSING EYES (AKA: HIDING EYES)

This is a critical step. Without this one, we would have to re-name the entire game to "Moving the Clown Around While We All Watch", or maybe "Watching the Clown Get Put Over There, Or There, Or Even There".



Next Step: PEEKING.

This one is actually optional. Your mother is bound to think it's cute, others are apt to consider it cheating. Follow this step only when you play with your mom, and even then, past 2 years of age, she might call you on it too.



Third Step: SEARCH HIGH AND LOW

This step is not only the most action-packed part of the game, it is also training for later in life: searching for the keys, searching for the remote, searching for just about any of the encumberances that come with adulthood. Thank goodness it's just for fun in this game!


(this step is easier with your eyes open...)

Fourth Step: FOUND IT!!

The target is in sight. Even though it may not be easy to get to, you must persevere. Ain't no mountain high enough and whatnot.



Final Step: CELEBRATE!!!

I don't care if you've just found the clown, the $20 you know you had in your wallet, your dream job, or the meaning of life...if you took the time to search and successfully tracked it down, you deserve to celebrate! Squeals of glee not required, but highly recommended!



Final step, part. 2: repeat. And repeat, and repeat, and repeat. As many times as you like, Woogie!

Nanny

Nanny - Etymology: probably of baby-talk origin: a child's nurse or caregiver (merriam-webster)

I think Merriam-Webster nailed the etymology of this word. Despite our best efforts otherwise, Claire has taken to calling her maternal grandmother 'Nanny'. I certainly don't begrudge her finding her own name for her grandmother, but the word Nanny conjures up certain images:



Or, more recently:



I am working on at least changing up the pronunciation..."Nonni", "Nonnah", but ultimately, it will be up to Claire. Whatever they call each other, watching my mother and my daughter together makes my heart break...in a good way.

Pictures in previous two blogs from this evening.

Nanny (cont.)

Nanny (cont.)

"CHEEEESE!"

Claire and Nee Nee_tss in a box

d


 

Anna Claire McConnell Bailey

December 11, 1973-June 28, 2004







I can see clearly now, the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright (Bright), bright (Bright)Sunshiny day

I think I can make it now, the pain is gone
All of the bad feelings have disappeared
Here is the rainbow I've been prayin for
It's gonna be a bright (Bright), bright (Bright)Sunshiny day

Look all around, there's nothin but blue skies
Look straight ahead, nothin but blue skies

I can see clearly now, the rain is gone
I can see all obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind
It's gonna be a bright (Bright), bright (Bright)Sunshiny day

The Scott Family "Get Rich Slow" Plan

We spent last night counting change from the piggy bank. As it involved sorting and stacking, Claire had a great time. Her favorite part was posting the coin rolling envelopes into the piggy bank. We know where they are for next time! Shane took almost $200 in change to the bank, all neatly counted and rolled. Apparently, they do that for you at the bank - who knew? Oh well, it was a fun family project and yes, we washed our hands very well after handling all of the change. After her dad counted the bills, Claire tossed them in the air...just like a movie when someone hits it rich. We hope to teach her not to throw her money around, but we're obviously not off to a good start!

Yaysh - a quick reference guide to Claire-speak

Claire is becoming quite a chatterbox. Some words come out crystal clear (like the word "no", for example) and others take a keen ear to comprehend. I thought I'd put together a phonetic list of her favorite words and what they mean.

I have a hard time "spelling" the words the way they sound. Most words end with a pause, and then a "tss" for good measure. It's not a sound heard much in English, but I quite like it!

Here we go:

Yaysh, also Yesh - Yes. Always said with such conviction, you know she really means it:
Daddy: Claire, do you want a sardine and chili sandwich for lunch?
Claire: YESH!

Bye_tss - Bike. Currently this includes the wagon, the tricycle and the push-car. Deciding which of these three vehicles to ride on can be agony...yesterday we didn't even make it to the mailbox down the road. Up and down, up and down...we got to the end of the driveway in the wagon, but the lure of the tricycle was too much...and the car...and the wagon...we went back inside. Paralyzed by indecision. I wonder where she gets that?

Deedee_tss - Cookies. Dinner last night consisted of Claire asking - nay, demanding - deedeetz. Even though the cookies we give her are quite healthy, relatively-speaking, we, of course, denied her request. She was not happy and even went so far as to pull a container that has pictures of cookies on it out of the cupboard, just in case we weren't sure what she was asking for. She is one smart deedeetss!
(Eventually she did eat some dinner and she got a cookie afterwards!)

Die - Outside. It is a little unnerving to hear your child race about the house saying "Die! Die!", but maybe it is because when we are outside I am constantly slapping mosquitos and saying "Die, die!!".

Dais - Stairs. This is a common refrain when RoRo (see below) and Daddy are up, and Claire is down the stairs or vice versa. RoRo and Daddy are currently competing for who gets called for the most. Just the last few days, RoRo has edged out dear old dad.

RoRo - Rosie. Rosie and Claire have a very symbiotic relationship...Claire finds her dinner repulsive, Rosie is there...Rosie wants a cracker, Claire is there.

Dooz - Shoes. This one is used a lot. She sure loves her shoes! When they are on, she wants them off, when they are off she wants them on. You get the picture. Better start saving now, Dad. Dooz can be an very expensive habit, just ask Auntie Sarah!

Bee_tss - Feet. I am afraid that Claire may grow up thinking this is the correct way to say feet, because it might just be the cutest thing I have ever heard, and I fully encourage it. The word gets used often as she seems to have inherited her dad's sensitive feet. She will gladly hand me the tiniest speck of dirt if she comes across it barefoot. It's like a new interpretation of "The Princess and the Pea".

Nee Nee_tss - Gibson. Her best friend from down the road. Not sure where Nee Neetss came from, but again, this one might stick out of sheer cuteness.

Net_tss - Tents. Claire and her dad have made some cool tents, or "forts" as I remember calling them. The best is watching Claire trying to shove Rosie into the cramped quarters of a tent made of sheets. Not really Rosie's thing, but she takes it in stride. A little shoving is a small price to pay for the discarded snacks that come her way!

Mat_tss - Mat. Also used for bed, blanket, pillow etc. Claire is very attached to her mat_tss. Not to a specific one, just the idea of them in general. We were at the children's museum the other day and were looking at a wooden dollhouse with tiny wooden (but sturdy) furniture. Claire got the little bed out, put it on the floor of the room, said "Mat_tss!" and proceeded to lay down on it. The thing was maybe 5 inches wide. She has also been known lay down and "cover" herself with the little 1"x1" blanket that belongs in her own dollhouse. By the way, we do actually provide her with real furniture and blankets. She's definitely making believe, not making do!

That sums up the words we hear the most. She adds new words every day, and I am so proud of her. I know the day will come when beetz become boring old feet, and that will be a bittersweet day indeedee_tss.

Father's Day

Father's Day 2006. Aren't they cute? I am very fortunate to have a husband like Shane and a sweet daughter like Claire. I made Shane a "mixed tape" with songs for him and Claire to enjoy together. They are songs I chose ages ago, when Claire was just a tiny baby, so many of them reference "baby". That's OK. She'll always be our baby! Hmmm...let's see if I can add more pictures.... this is harder than it looks. 

V 1.0 and V 2.0

 

Testing, testing, 1,2,3

Jumping on the bandwagon? Perhaps. Not sure what this will be...notes to Claire (aka Woogie), notes to self, addition/replacement/supplement to the pink scrapbook gathering dust in the cabinet? D, all of the above? Probably.

Hmmm...maybe I'll keep up, maybe this will also gather dust so to speak.

Later.