Imagining things

I don't think I've mentioned it in my blog yet, but my little girl has been developing quite the imagination lately! She's been very much enjoying playing with the older girls at Amanda's (4 and 5 yrs old) with the beauty salon and their kitchen, and with the boys and their pretend tools. Emily is apparently playing with the tools properly, while the boys run around pretending they're guns and swords. :) At home, we have her shopping cart that she adores, and she takes endless care of her babydolls, making sure they're fed and wrapped up properly. But I think her most recent activities really show her creativity, and I'll post some pictures to prove it (eventually!).

She and her cousin Megan decided that the little blue tub that holds all the stuffed animals was actually a swimming pool, and they were having fun jumping in and pretending to "PASH!!" in the water. But first, you have to fill the pool up with water, and the most logical thing in the toyroom that looks like a hose is the cord to the keyboard that I brought up for Emily to play with. I thought she might use the keyboard to pretend she's using a computer, like I do (and so I can tell her not to play with my keyboard but to play with hers), but instead, the cord is a hose. She "fills" up the tub ("pschhhhh") and then climbs in and wiggles around - so cute! Today, she came over to me and pretended to wash my hair. When I asked if she was putting soap in it, she got a big grin and said "Soap!! Wash!!" and rubbed my head all over with her little hands. Then she "rinsed" me off, and "dried" my hair with her baby blanket. She was having so much fun! I was feeling a little guilty that I don't have toys that are geared for imaginative playing, but maybe it requires more imagination to adapt things for alternate purposes instead of having obvious uses? I don't know, it was sure fun to see her little brain working like that.

I got to clean up buttprints off of the bench on the porch yesterday because Emily removed a soiled diaper and had sat up there before coming to tell me that she needed a change. I guess, "change" isn't the right word - a cleanup and a new diaper, but she had taken care of the removal herself. She did it again today, but at least this time she came to tell me as she was taking off her diaper. Gah!!! How do I convert this into pooping in the potty?? I could scold her into keeping her diaper on, but I think it's actually a step towards potty training to be so averse to wearing a dirty diaper, and being so aware of its purpose (and the alternatives available). The only thing I've thought of is to not flush a diaper's contents anymore, and use that as incentive to get it in the right place the first time, but who knows if that's a concept that will get through to her. It's interesting to try to imagine how she interprets the things I try to teach her.

My ribs hurt. :( maybe another cookie will help....

Ragbrai 2009

So, Ragbrai 2009 has come and gone. Everyone had a good time with our respective vacations, although they varied in their levels of relaxation. My sister got to bike the first day of Ragbrai, which she really enjoyed even though she had to borrow my bike for the day. Hers decided to try to stay in Michigan by falling off the roof rack of her minivan in Kalamazoo. Even though it landed in the interstate at 70mph, it bounced into the median without hitting a car or getting run over - fortunately. It just needs new handlebars and a new seat, so she lucked out on that one.

The girls and I had a really good time on Saturday and Sunday while everyone else biked. Emily loves, loves, loves her cousins. :) She jumped into the party right away, and by the end of the week she was starting to stand up for herself a little more, although she's also picked up on a few bad habits too. I know those girls are going through a lot of stress, and they're acting out by doing things they wouldn't normally do, like fussing instead of talking, screaming at each other, and jumping off furniture and stairs. But I made it clear that the rules at my house are the same as the rules at home, and they got into a groove here. After Jenny came back from biking, we went up to Rockford, and started all over again. Grandma was a tad more lenient in allowing fussing at first, but she got into the swing of it too. I felt bad for Amanda today, though, since Emily seems to be needing to relearn the rules at her house. It was weird to pick up Emily and have anything to report - she's been such a good little girl!!! Today she was on the stairs and standing on furniture, among other "displays of independence". It was kind of embarassing, actually, because I was starting to feel good about having passed my weeklong Parenting Bootcamp where my beginner parenting skills were continually put to the test, and here my own kid is out of line. The week did get to be frustrating, but I could tell that Jenny was frustrated too and I know that that degree of misbehavior was out of character for the girls. And of course, for the most part they were delightful and hilarious and wonderful to be around. We just set the bar high, I guess!!

The guys had a good time biking, too. I've seen lots of photos on facebook and heard lots of stories, but I guess I'm getting old because I wasn't that bummed to miss out on all of it. Some of it, yes, totally bummed, but not all of it. I guess this is when I get insecure and figure I would've either been in the wrong place at the wrong time to be part of the fun, or I would've been too tired or feeling like I should've been somewhere else, taking care of someone or whatever. I asked Trav when my weeklong break would come, and he asked when I wanted one... I don't think it's possible for me to get a break. My work travels with me wherever I go. This pregnancy is exhausting!! I'm so big and uncomfortable already - it's depressing that I have so far to go. I guess I don't handle being this shape very well. The baby is moving around SO MUCH that it's distracting and getting to be very uncomfortable. If only I could have some ribs removed...

Travis scheduled the installation of the new kitchen cabinets for Aug 31. If anyone is going to rob us, they should do it before then because I do NOT want to deal with this again!! He's going to have his dad (and maybe my dad?) come help gut the old kitchen, move appliances, etc. on the weekend beforehand, and then spend a few days that week installing the new floor. I am so excited!!!

I need to get started on Emily's room. I thought maybe I'd go to a fabric store or Penney's or something to find curtains and/or a bedroom set that I like for her, and then try to find paint to complement. We have a good start on what we want for furniture, and it's just a matter of whether to go with the cheaper chinese-made stuff or the slightly better slovenian made stuff. I'm so tired of cheap crappy chinese garbage, it might be worth the money.

I guess that's the news here. Happy summer, everyone!

What a preggo I am

My coworkers have started commenting about how pregnant I look, which is satisfying because I really DO look pregnant!! I have quite the little belly and I've gained 15 (or 16 or 17) lbs so far. The heartburn and sideaches have already started, so it's going to be a fun next 4 months. I am appreciating that my biking had really helped me stay in shape with my first pregnancy, because I'm feeling pretty worn out these days. Although, I guess I do remember being too tired to want to bike in training for that ridiculous adventure. I'm glad I did, and I'm glad I'm not this time. Perfect!

Emily put together her first sentence today at Ms. Amanda's. She said Swimming's fun!!! Over and over and over. She will parrot anything you say to her, and it's possible to have conversations with her about things she likes and things she has done. Tonight, we were able to tell her that she'd get some fruit if she ate her potatoes (we aren't even bribing her with dessert yet - so that bodes well for getting her to eat a few veggies here and there). And, she helped me pick up toys with things like "Put the puzzle pieces in the box and then we'll read your favorite book." I think it's neat that she can respond to "if / then" statements. That takes some complex thought and understanding, and she totally has it down.

The past weekend was interesting - my dad's extended family had a gathering at my aunt's house in Waukee, so we drove over there after Emily's nap. There were 9 little girls under the age of 10, plus two little 3-year-old boys. Emily had a great time! Travis had a good time too - when we got there, they were passing out shots of Jaegermeister, followed soon by shots of SoCo and then Jell-O shots. The kids were on tremendous sugar highs from all the cookies available, and most of the adults were heartily drinking. It was definitely a party of self-indulgences! :) Emily loved seeing everybody, and she was again taken aback by my uncle's similarity in appearance to my dad. Don isn't Grandpa - he's the faux Pa. (Har har har.) Anyway, it was a nice way to be social on a weekend where we didn't have to travel.

Next weekend, Ragbrai starts. Jenny, Dave, and Travis will be on the bus to Council Bluffs on Saturday, which means that Julie, Sarah, Megan, and Emily will all be at my house with me until Jenny and Dave come back Sunday night from their single day of biking. I'm looking forward to it, with a bit of apprehension (gotta do some activity- and meal-planning!) and excitement. Emily has been asking for Sarah and Megan every day since she last saw them.

Now I have to go pick up my brother and sister-in-law from the airport as they return from 10 days in Europe. It sounds like it was an incredible trip! Good thing I have people like them to live vicariously through.

Potty Training, Take Two

We had the holiday weekend at home, so with four days to figure this out, I decided to give Emily another shot at potty training. I'd say we had mixed to not-so-great results... but not altogether terrible. Last night, she used the potty three times (at my suggestion) at a friend's house, and she seemed to know exactly what she was doing and be so pleased with herself. I had high hopes for today, since we had the whole day at home to figure it out and earlier in the day she had gone twice without me suggesting it. Today went well until she pooped in her underwear, and then the game was pretty much off for the day. We sat and read books on the potty for probably 45 minutes before she finally peed on the carpet... and I gave up for the day. She wore diapers until she finally pooped again in the evening, and then wanted to wear her "Melmo"s, which I was glad to hear that she wasn't totally opposed two wearing undies after all this. I'm glad I bought 3 different kinds of undies, because she really took a liking to the Elmo ones. I'm not sure how to handle tomorrow when she's at daycare. I think we made enough progress over the last 4 days that I don't want to just give in and go back to diapers completely. I'm afraid if I do that, I'll miss a window of opportunity where she's able to try something new and not be too stubborn to leave behind diapers. We'll see what Amanda thinks tomorrow, I guess, but I think I'll keep trying the next three mornings next week.

The funniest part of potty training is that I discovered that Emily has nearly no poop face at all. She was standing 3 feet from me as I talked to her, wearing only a shirt, and suddenly there was poop on the floor behind her, as though it had fallen from the sky. She seemed a little surprised to see it there, and I tried to explain to her that with a little warning it could fall right into the potty. It was certainly a weird experience for her, but really, really funny to me, somehow. It was such a surprise!! What the heck, where did that come from?? It's too bad, though, because the lesson didn't really stick for her.

All in all, it was a really fun weekend, even with the exhaustion of sitting on/near the potty for hours and hours. Travis got a couple of bike rides in, and we saw some friends. I did all of the laundry and grocery shopping, so it was productive too. And there was only one bottle rocket in our yard this morning, so for all the explosions going on last night in our neighborhood, not too bad.