who's afraid of the big bad wolf?

Rachel's loved the story of The Three Little Pigs for quite awhile now. We've read it, reinacted it, and watched it (the old Disney version is on Youtube) more times than I care to count.

So it was no surprise to me yesterday when we were outside playing (in the FIFTY SIX DEGREE WEATHER, mind you!) that she started picking up sticks and said, "I build you a house of sticks, Mommy."

Here are a few other pictures of our playtime. She's loving her "new pwaygwound," which is what she calls the new playset.

While she was looking through the binoculars here she asked me, "Do you see any animals to save, Mommy?" (She had just watched an episode of Wonder Pets.)

Oh, and here's an addendum to my last post about her memory. Last night we went to get some ice cream. On the way there we passed Dunkin Donuts. The only encounter Rachel has ever had with Dunkin Donuts is that last summer on Father's Day she and I got up early while my husband was still sleeping to go buy donuts to surprise him for Father's Day. It wasn't open! At 6:30 AM on a Sunday morning it wasn't open. I couldn't believe it. Anyway, last night as we passed it she pointed to it and said, "That building's locked!" She remembered last June that the door was locked there and we couldn't get donuts for Daddy. Strange memory, that girl of mine!

really smart or freakishly strange?

My girl has an amazing memory....about some things. Saying "please" when she asks for something? Not such a good memory. But about completely unimportant things, she can remember the oddest stuff. For instance, yesterday we were getting ready to leave to go swimming at the community center (I'll write about that in a minute). She told me, "We going in the truck. We not go in the blue car. We ride in the blue car to Kaden's church. I wear pigtails. They have food there."

So let me explain that she's only ridden in "the blue car" a couple of times. Usually her car seat is in the truck and that's the only vehicle she rides in. But a few times in her short life my husband has needed the truck and she and I have ridden in the car. The last time that happened was in JULY when we went to Kaden's church (back before Kaden moved away). And yes, she had pig tails in her hair that day. And yes, they had food there. We ate lunch there afterwards. And she remembers! So is she smart, or just strange????

She also remembers things like going hiking with some friends back in October (every time we see them she asks if we're going hiking), or remembering who gave her what toy (she reminds me almost every day that Grandma gave her Thomas and Uncle Jack gave her Rosie and Lady, speaking of her trains). She remembers how to get to the various places we normally drive. Strange, I tell you.

Here's something that made me laugh lately. The other night before bed she was singing her Piglet bathtub toy a lullaby while taking a bath. When it came time for me to put her in bed I jokingly started singing her the same lullaby: "Go to sleep, go to sleep, go to sleep little Rachel...." and she immediately chimed in, with the same tune, "Time to get up, time to get up, time to get up, little Rachel...." Then last night I started singing, "It's time to take a bath, it's time to take a bath, high-ho the dairy-o, it's time to take a bath." And immediately she continued, "It's time to stay downstairs, it's time to stay downstairs....." you get the idea. I had to laugh.

Okay, so....swimming. Yesterday we decided to go to the community center to swim. They have a huge leisure pool with a zero entry pool for little ones, a playground in the water with a slide, water falls, sprayers, and so forth. Great place for kids. We'd talked about going many times and just never had done it. When we told her she was SO excited and jumped up and down until we left. When we got there she couldn't wait to get in the water. She immediately went for the playground. You climb up a few stairs and there are some things to play with on the way up. But she wanted to go down the slide right away. My husband was with her at the top and I was at the bottom. Just as she was getting ready to go down she slipped a bit and went flying down the slide with all four limbs sprawled in all direction, terror written all over her face. I caught her at the bottom before she went under, but when I lifted her out of the water she was shaking and horrified. "I all done. I go home to Rachel's house now," she said. So we paid a small fortune (we're not members and not residents of the town, so we had to pay more) to "swim" for two minutes???? We were so disappointed. We stayed awhile and tried to get her to enjoy other things. She didn't want to have anything to do with any of it. She wouldn't even put her feet down to walk in the water where it was only up to her ankles. We tried the "lazy river." We tried everything. All she wanted was out. Finally my husband told me to go sit in the hot tub and he'd walk around with her. The hot tub was awesome. Eventually they came and sat on the edge of the hot tub with me and watched the big kids jump and dive into the big pool next door. She loved that part. After we got out she played on the indoor playground out in the foyer. She loved that part, and as we left she said, "I had fun today!" So maybe we haven't scarred her for life like we're fearing.

making a comeback

After a long hiatus, pigtails have returned.

She screams and hollers when I put them in, which explains the hiatus. Usually I choose not to fight that battle. But this morning she was getting her picture taken and I wanted her to look extra cute, including pigtails. So I put up with the tears and frustration (tears on her part, frustration on mine....) and just did it.

So we got the pictures taken, and when we got home I decided to take some of my own, just because I wanted to document their cuteness.

She didn't really want her picture taken anymore, so she ran away to "hide."

First she tried hiding her face, but I ended up with this.

Then she tried actually hiding. I found her.

Next I tried the sneak attack and took some while she was playing.

She didn't like that idea either.

Oh well, I got my documentation.

the evolution of King Kong

King Kong has arrived and is fully assembled.


Here's our old set, just for the sake of comparison. We gave it away last week on Craig's List.




And here's the start of the new (we moved the wood pile that was behind the old swingset. My husband is rebuilding the rack the wood sits in and then the wood will go back in it on the side of the yard instead of the back).


It kept getting bigger and bigger.

And just kept growing!!

My husband couldn't wait for Rachel to wake up from her nap and see it. She was asleep the entire time they were here and didn't know it was coming today, so we knew she'd be totally surprised.

When she got up I told her Mommy and Daddy had a surprise for her. She was excited and could hardly wait to see what it was. We got her coat, hat, boots, and gloves on (it's cold here today!) and took her around to the back yard. My husband filmed her reaction, which was a big smile and a break out into a run toward it!

She went straight for the tire swing.

Next came climbing up to the top and down the slide.

Then climbing up and out to the bubble to wave to Mommy.

Then the swings. She liked the "Pirate Boat" swing.

She wouldn't swing on the regular swings except on her tummy. It was cold so we only stayed out for about 15 minutes (after all, she is sick), but she kept saying, "I climb one more time," or "I swide one more time." She had a ball.

It needs to be restained, which we'll do once it's warmer outside. Also, there's a removable rock wall on one side and the rope swing can be switched out for a swinging ball, which is in our garage at the moment.

"I wike it," she declared on the way in the house. Just what we wanted.

flowers, crab legs, King Kong, and throw up

It's been a long, fun weekend for the most part.


Saturday, Valentine's Day, my husband surprised me with flowers, candy, and a card! I wasn't expecting anything more than a card, so I was excited. He also gave Rachel a Tinkerbell card and a little box of chocolates with a Snoopy on top. She was thrilled. I had gotten her a little Valentine sticker book. She and I spent at least an hour that morning putting all of the stickers where they belonged in the book. She did the entire book in one sitting. She's crazy about stickers!


We got a babysitter for the first time Saturday night. Every other time we've gone out it's been family or close friends watching her, so I was a bit nervous, but all went well. We went to dinner at a favorite seafood restaurant of ours. We don't go there often because it's always more than we want to spend, but my husband decided we should splurge. It's nice because they fly their fish in fresh twice a day and change their menu based on what they have available. He had lobster and I had king crab legs (the menu said they were off of one of the boats seen on the Discovery Channel show, "Deadliest Catch". My husband watches and enjoys that show sometimes). My crab legs were great. His lobster was pretty tough and chewy. He didn't want to, but I convinced him to tell the waitress, who went and got the manager. And they took it off our bill! I told him if ever he'd want a meal taken off his bill it would be a lobster dinner! But he wishes it had just tasted better so he could've enjoyed it. But we had a great time. This restaurant is nice because it has these private booths with big velvet curtains drawn back on each side, so it's more intimate. The hostess told us we could close them if we wanted to and she wouldn't tell. My husband said, "We've been married for awhile, so we don't need to do that!" Some romantic, huh??? I was glad they were there, though, when I was eating my crab legs since I always make a big mess breaking them open!!


Sunday I had a fun time shopping for Rachel by myself. I went to several kids resale stores on the other side of town and got to look to my heart's content, which I don't get to do when Rachel is with me (I don't even venture all the way over there when she's with me, so I rarely go!). And to top it off they were having a special President's Day sale I didn't know about, so the clearance stuff was even more clearanced and the winter stuff was all even cheaper. I went looking for Easter shoes and a new wool dress coat for church for her and found both, exactly what I was looking for. I was thrilled. That never happens when you're trying to shop at resale stores. You kind of have to pick and choose based on what's there. So I'm thankful for my husband who entertained Rachel so I could be gone having fun for a few hours.


I came home and repayed him by working with him outside clearing out the backyard, preparing for King Kong's arrival on Monday. King Kong is a monsterous playset we bought last week off of Craig's List. We've been looking for one to replace the little one we bought used when Rachel was a baby (she had pretty much outgrown it), and were excited to find a Rainbow set, used, for a good price. However, it is gigantic, and I've been so worried about it fitting in our yard. It's really more than we need, but there aren't usually many used Rainbow sets available. It's called "King Kong," and for good reason. It's supposed to be installed this afternoon--I'm sure there will be pictures soon.


Yesterday Rachel was playing with her trains, as usual, but this time she was reinacting her book, "The Little Engine that Could." She was pushing the trains over the pile of Sunday newspaper on the coffee table, saying, "I fink I can, I fink I can, I fink I can...." Once she'd get over it she'd say, "I did it, said James," just like she was narrating a story. Then she added a phrase from a Thomas video she's watched over and over, in which Thomas says, "I shant have to wear it," when referring to the plow they want to put on the front of his train. So she was going around with the trains saying, "I shant have to wear it." What two year old uses the word shant???? (What 34 year old uses it, for that matter?? Certainly not me!)

Rachel's had a cold the last few days. And she threw up twice last night in the middle of the night...once at 1:30 and again around 2:45 (not long after getting everything cleaned up, sheets changed, and back to bed). The first time what woke me up was hearing what sounded like her choking. I RAN in there as fast as I could. She was sitting up and said, "I all messy, Mommy." That's when I realized what happened. I started throwing stuff on the floor (her blanket, bear, etc). I called my husband and he came in and started cleaning up the sheets and so forth while I took care of cleaning her up. It was in her hair so I had to give her a quick bath, which she didn't want, but she was a really good sport during the whole thing. (I didn't do a very good job, though, because I could still smell it in her hair when she got up this morning and had to give her another one this morning. Ick. )

Anyway, we got everything cleaned up. She kept saying "I wanna go back to sweep!" I read her a story and she went back to bed. I went down in the basement and scrubbed the nasty laundry (almost throwing up myself in the process). I started the washer and came back up and got in bed. She was still singing in her bed. No sooner was I back in bed and I heard her throwing up again. I ran in and she said, "I messy again. I sick." So we repeated the process, except this time we didn't have any more sheet, mattress pad, or purple blanket (her favorite--we have two but they had both just gotten thrown up on!) After I got her cleaned up I found a twin sheet and mattress pad and just tucked those in as best I could. I found another soft, fuzzy blanket she has in her drawer. She went right back to sleep that time. I went down and scrubbed the sheets again, switched the load from the washer over, and put the new load in the washer. I didn't feel good at that point and thought I was going to throw up. I didn't go back to bed--I got in the bed in the guest room and read for awhile, needing to get my mind off of her throwing up. I read for a long time and don't know what time I finally went to sleep.

I went in this morning after she woke up and she popped up and said, "I not making a mess anymore! I not sick anymore!" She's was as happy as can be this morning. Hopefully that part is all over. Dealing with throwing up kids is just the WORST!

toothbrushes??

We got a surprise package in the mail today. I brought it into the kitchen where Rachel was finishing up her lunch and said, "Rachel, look! Grandma sent us a package!

Though I wasn't sure, I had an inkling of what was in it, but I said, "What do you think it is?"

As I got the scissors and started to open it, she got a big grin on her face and said, "Toothbrushes!!" like that would be the most exciting package she could open.

Toothbrushes???? (And this is from a little girl who hates getting her teeth brushed!)

No, it was quite the opposite.

Valentine Cookies! Only the very best (this is just a picture I found online....they aren't the actual ones, though they look similar).

The ironic thing? Just this morning I went to Joann's and bought a heart cookie cutter. Great minds think alike, huh Mom? Thanks for the delicious cookies!

headache, headache, go away....

...DON'T come again another day....

Oh, I am SO tired of headaches. I've had one every day for a couple of weeks now. And it's been about two weeks on (headache pretty much every day), two weeks off (no headaches) ever since summer. This is getting ridiculous. Not to mention horribly frustrating and painful. I'm only allowed to take excedrin a couple of times a week, and that's the only thing that comes close to taking them away, so I have to plan my life around the days I can take excedrin. Those are the only days I get much accomplished. I've been on different medicine for preventing them, but nothing seems to be working very well. I'm on my third medicine now for that.

Last week I had the worst headache of my life, I think. It involved hours of laying in my dark bedroom doing nothing (once my husband got home from work....before that I was in pain on the couch with Rachel bounding in and out of the room). Once I finally got to my room I couldn't sleep because it hurt too badly. I couldn't read or watch TV because the light bothered me too much. I've never had it that bad before. The next day was my regular monthly visit with the neurologist/headache specialist, so I guess that was good timing, if there is such a thing as good timing for a headache. I have to have an MRI of my brain Thursday to make sure it isn't anything serious, since that's a new type of headache for me.

Today we're having friends over for dinner (it's been postponed twice now and is finally happening tonight). I had to plan to take excedrin today so I could get cleaning and cooking done today. Of all days, today I woke up with a headache, which NEVER happens. The excedrin has kept it from getting any worse, but it's still there. Ugh.

Okay, I'm done whining now. I just had to get my frustration out a little......

(And the other day, when Rachel told me she wants to be just like Mommy, all I could think of was, "I hope you're not just like me because that would mean you get these headaches.")

(Oh, and today, she told me she was going to grow up and be just like a Wiseman. I think she means from the Nativity story. That's the only context in which she knows what a wise man is.)

just like me

Last night as I was getting her ready for bed Rachel said, "When I grow up, I be just like Mommy!" and reached to give me a great big hug.

Makes all of those sleepless nights, tears, and days of frustration and disciplining a little bit more worth it!

magic wand

Today was Grandma's birthday celebration (the celebration just keeps on going in our family!) with my brother and his family. Rachel had the time of her life playing with her grandparents and cousins (and listening their clock sing!).

She was wearing her cousin Emma's dress up clothes and waving her magic wand around. Their cat was perched on the windowsill, so Rachel walked up, waved her magic wand, and said, "Cat, I turn you into a prince! Bibby Bibby Bobby Bibby Boo!"

a snowman

It was warmer on Sunday, so Daddy took Rachel out and they made a much bigger and better snowman than my previous attempt.

Rachel complained that it was too bright out, which is why she's wearing her sunglasses.

a birthday surprise

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Yesterday was my mom's birthday. Over the weekend I decided on a whim to try to get home to surprise her. I had several plans for this week, though, and didn't know how to make it happen. But a dinner party got postponed, which freed up one evening, and I was able to postpone a playdate as well, which gave me a couple of free days. I checked with my dad to make sure they didn't have plans (they didn't), and he was in charge of making sure she was home when we arrived.

Monday afternoon we drove up and walked to the back door, which was locked. I have a key to their house, so I worked on getting the right key, but before I could, my mom opened the door. The blank, stunned look on her face was priceless. She didn't say anything so I said, "Surprise! Happy Birthday!" She was completely shocked and thrilled to see Rachel and me. One of the first things out of her mouth was, "So THAT'S why your dad mopped the floor and cleaned the bathroom last night!"

Hooray! We pulled it off! We've had a fun visit helping to make her birthday more special. We're driving back home this afternoon.

(And no, this post has nothing to do with going up in a hot air balloon....I just liked the picture!)

some more odds and ends

Not a whole lot going on here. There's not enough fodder for a long, exciting post, but here are some snippets from the recent events at our house.



*Last weekend we were invited to dinner with some friends at their home. They had a clock above their mantle which chimed every hour. We got there just before the hour, so very soon after arriving it chimed. Rachel's head IMMEDIATELY whipped around to see what was making that sound, and then got SO excited about it. She kept wanting to hear the clock "sing" again. She stood in the middle of the living room staring up at the clock for several minutes at a time just watching it, waiting for it to "sing." An hour later, when it finally did, she was beside herself with enthusiasm, jumping up and down, squealing, and so forth. We heard it four times while we were there, and each time conjured up and equal level of glee. Our friends have since told us that whenever they hear it now they look at each other and smile, thinking of Rachel.



*Rachel likes to ask questions that she wants us to repeat back to her so she can answer them. These questions are often about colors. For example, she often says, "Mommy, what color them?" (usually meaning, "What color clothes do they have?" (A person isn't black or white in her mind unless they have on a black or white shirt. She's often pink, Daddy is often blue, and so forth--thankfully race simply doesn't register in her mind) or "Mommy, what color is my Snow White dress? These are always questions she knows the answer to, but she wants us to ask her.



*She's equally obsessed with the princesses as she is with Thomas the Train and friends. I think she'd have trouble choosing between the two if asked. Case in point: Last month while we were picking out big girl underwear at Target, she looked over the choices and told me, "I want dat one, Mommy," pointing straight at a pack of boys' Thomas the Tank Engine briefs. The princess pants we came home with were clearly her second choice.... We play the same Thomas games on the computer over and over and over. She knows them all by name and pours over the pamplet that comes in all of the packages with all of the trains' pictures on them, telling me which ones she likes (she likes them all, but some days she likes some more than others).



*When I go get her up in the morning, immediately out of her mouth is usually some strange fact from one of the princess movies. I guess she's been laying there thinking about them before I come in, so I walk in and she says, "Mommy, Pocahontas doesn't have a castle (she's never seen Pocahontas...she just knows her from a princess video from the library that she's watched endlessly)," or, "Mommy, the queen isn't very nice to Snow White." I hear these little phrases all through the day in the middle of doing something completely unrelated. At dinner: "Mommy, Sweeping Booty sweeps and pwince kisses her and she wakes up!" At bathtime: "Mommy, Cindawewwa has bootiful bwoo dwess."



*Oh, and I can't tell you how many times she's told me in the last month that she wants a beautiful blue dress like Cinderella. "And a gwass swipper on dis foot, and a gwass swipper on the udder foot and a cwown on my head." So you can guess what she's getting for her birthday....