FORTY-SIX

Morning at the park. This was five minutes before panic flashed in her eyes and she started to scream, "I need to poop! Help Mama! It's coming out!!"

 2015 week forty-six

V got to take the long awaited trip to the Zoo with Papa! And I got to sit in a silent house and watch a sad French film.

V was amazing and calm while amusing herself at the post office while we waited FOREVER. I'm not sure who does the scheduling, but shouldn't there be more than one person on staff at 9am? At least Theodore didn't fuss the whole time...oh wait. :) 

And several photos of Theo sleeping. Because glorious baby does this all day long -but not at 5 am. 

Library time with cousins. 

In City Hall waiting for Theo's birth certificate. She loved climbing the beautiful stairs. 

Everyone adores this sweet boy. 

Eating lunch (buttons. buttons made of antlers) with her giraffe. Ikea utensils are ill equipped to successfully scoop buttons into the giraffe's mouth -hence the extreme concentration. 

At the Zoo with Papa! 

and with the cousins! 

But of all the awesome things at the long anticipated zoo trip, the carousel was clearly the winner. She wont stop talking about it. 

And now we say goodbye to Matt for a week. :( 

Quotes:

Any time V plays make believe it is about birthdays and birthday parties. "It's my birksday! It's happy birksday time for the giraffe. It's for my party. It's my present for my birksday."

Matt took V into Petco to look at all the animals. A few days later she was telling me about all the animals she saw: birds, cats, dogs, and "skinny pigs."

"Mama, I want to go to the danger store."

Matt: "Are you my bug? Are you my Vera?"
V: "No! I'm a jelly peanut cookie ice cream!"

V likes to mix up the colors of her pens caps; she thinks it's really fun. One day while doing this she told me, "I'm putting on the pens pajamas because they're sick." Later she put all the correct caps back on and told me, "I'm putting the pens clothes on now." She is really interested in putting on pajamas or clothes on herself, her doll, and her giraffe -and of course, pens.

"Excuse me dragonfly, go away."

"Mama? Where are you?! Oh  I found you! You silly girl!"

"No Mom! It's my vinegar! It's not for my hair; it's for making cookies." Later, in the bath. "Ok duck, I need some vinegar, oil, and eggs."

On a walk V picked some berries from a bush. "Look, Mom! I found it! I found my poison."

"Mama. I want to call Auntie Mel and say thank you for the dress up."

Stories:

One day this week Vera was in a really silly mood while I was doing some yoga. She was running around me giggling and shrieking. Then she started to climb on me during the poses. She thought it was absolutely hilarious and would try to climb up my legs in downward dog and tumble away shrieking madly. Then the other night she went into the sewing room and brought out my yoga mat and unfurled it in the living room. Then she went into the back room "to put on exercise clothes" which was just a cardigan not only completely buttoned up but also inside out and backwards, and her slippers. She asked me to put on the exercise show and for 10 minutes she stood on my mat trying to  copy the poses. Two can be awfully cute at moments.

I moved Vera's closet bar down so she can start getting her own clothes and so she can start learning how to put them away properly. This means she changes her clothes 3-5 times a day -and doesn't put them away yet. Or rather, she tries to put them away but they end up in wonky places or barely balanced on a tangle of hangers. We have this beautiful pink dress given  to us by my old roommate that I love. It is a 6 to 12 month size but it loose and the shoulders tie so it has effectively transitioned into a shirt at this point. She decided one day that she was done wearing it and wanted to wear her gross grey dress up dress (The gross one). So she went into the back room to change. And some how in that process lost the pink shirt. I kept asking her where it was and the only reply I would get was a smile and "Where is it? Where did it go?" It was driving me crazy. I started to get really frustrated but clearly V had no idea what she did with it so hounding her wouldn't help (as my husband gently pointed out). Three days later my frustration over this hadn't abated. Where could it have gone? I scoured this house from top to bottom from likely to impossible-to-reach. We are not cluttered. Have you been to my house? It's basically Spartan! There is no place to hide! Really though it'd be a terrible house for hide and seek.  How could she lose something in my house?! I was starting to wonder if she threw it away and I unknowingly whisked it to the trash can. And then yesterday morning I got out of bed and there it was: in the middle of my floor. It obviously wasn't there the entire time. Where was it? How did it get back here? Something must have spirited it away. That is clearly the only reasonable explanation.

The other morning V let us sleep in a bit. At about 715 she started calling to me from her room. Her door was open, she just felt communication would be better this way or something. She was hollering something only half intelligible. "Mama! mumble mumble mumble living room!" I said, "Matt, what is she saying?" "She's going to the living room, I think." But the syllables weren't matching. So I got up and went to her room and asked, "What did you say?"
Vera, "Mama, there's someone in the living room."
Me, "Uhm, what?"
Vera, "There's someone in the living room.'
Me, "Are you saying there is a person in the living room right now?"
Vera, "Yes."
Me (panic rising a little), "Well, who is it."
Vera pauses to think, "It's not Papa."
Freaking terrifying toddlers.
Me, "Ok, show me."
We slowly pad out to the living room peeking around corners. I'm trying not to act scared so I don't freak Vera out. And happily there is no one there. Not the most peaceful way to wake up though.
toddler, "Hey Mom I know you're sleeping and the baby kept you up half the night, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm shouting in my room, so probably the baby wont be sleeping much longer, and also, it's morning. And hey, I think there's an intruder. Or at least I'm going to shout something really creepy so you wake up in a slight panic. That's a good way to start the day right? Right?! MAMA! Maaaaaaa-maaaaaaa!"