Duh, Dad!

It appears that Marlee has reached an age where everything she says or does is funny. And you get to read all about it. :) Here's a scene from tonight:

Daddy is getting Marlee ready for bathtime, as is their nightly ritual. He helps her take off her shirt, then hands it to her to take to her hamper, which she does every night.

M: Here's your dirty shirt.
MJ: Okay, be right back.

She returns naked.

M: Where's your diaper?
MJ: I took it off and put it in the diaper pail.

Duh.

Home Sweet Home

We have a game we play whenever we're on our way home. We look for our house, and call out when we see it. Sometimes if Marlee is fussy, she doesn't want to look and says, "Daddy, find home!"

We were driving home today, and as usual, looking for our house.

Me: Do you see it yet?
MJ: No, Mommy. I love our house.
Me: Why do you love it?
MJ: It's yellow with flowers outside and kitties on the porch. I love our house.

Warmed my heart.

How Old Is My Child?!?!

Marlee and Giggy (formerly Grammy) were having a conversation. I interjected with a question for Marlee.

She turned to me.

Put up one finger.

And said...

"One second, Mommy!! I'M TALKING TO GIGGY!"

Oh, Jeez.

Some Things About Marlee

*She sings! Not only Beyonce, but a few other songs too, including Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which goes something like this:

Twinkle little star! How I wonder [mumble] are.
Uppy up up up so high. Like a diamond in duh sky!
Twinkle little star! How I wonder [mumble] are!

*She has a major sweet tooth. Gets it from her daddy. It's trouble.

*Her counting is spot on. She completely grasps one-to-one correspondence and will count items and then tell you how many there are...up to about 16 or so. She touches each one to make sure she counts it only once.

*She has learned how to unlock and open the front door. Right now, she can't reach the deadbolt. Not looking forward to crossing that bridge. She has never opened the door when she's not supposed to, but it makes me nervous just knowing she can.

*Potty training has slowed a bit. I've finally discovered a downside to cloth diapers. When I ask her if she wants to wear soft underwear, she says "Marlee's blue diaper is so soft, Mommy! I wear soft diapers!"

*She enjoys a cup of chamomile tea while watching Jeopardy! before bed.

*She can identify about half of her letters.

*She likes to talk about opposites and knows several (big/tiny, over/under, in/out, front/back, etc etc).

*I feel like she's grown taller lately. I suppose I could measure her. She just looks bigger all of a sudden.

I really need to take some pictures of her. It's been too long!

Pregnancy Milestone

I'm in the last week of the second trimester and down to double digits in the countdown--99 days until D-day!

I'm overall feeling pretty good, and I'd be great if it weren't for my struggles with low blood pressure. The combination of heat and progressing pregnancy make it harder and harder. I try to focus on the fact that low blood pressure isn't at all bad for Slim...it's much better than the opposite. But still, it makes me feel pretty lousy. The worst part is frustration. There are many times I fell like I have lots of energy and motivation to do something, but my blood pressure prevents me from being able to. Drives me mad.

I'm riding out some drama at the medical practice. All the midwives are leaving the practice in the next couple of weeks! I'm a midwife patient, so this stresses me out a bit! I was really feeling a great sense of calm about the three midwives there and the hospital where I was set to birth. It looks like I may be following the midwives, which could mean a different hospital. I'm just going to wait it out until the dust settles and make my decision. There's no sense stressing about it, but as you know, I don't take birth lightly, and I really want to do things my way! Unfortunately, some practitioners/hospitals are more birth friendly than others. So as of right now, I'll be having Slim somewhere, with someone in attendance. That sounds good, right? ;)

There's really not much we have to do to prepare for the baby's arrival. It all revolves around preparing Marlee! We mad some major progress on her room this weekend (thanks, Dad!). It's all painted and ready for the chair rail and flower mural we're painting. After that, it's just the fun stuff...accessorizing. We made a trip to Ikea yesterday to pick up her new bunk bed (assembled by Daddy and Giggy), which she loves already. I'll be glad t have it done so that we can put things away. Right now, we have baskets of baby clothes and gear all over the house. Man, you really forget how small that stuff is...are they really that tiny?

Slim is active just like her big sister was. I swear I will never get tired of watching and feeling a baby move in my belly...even if I have 10 babies. I'm falling in love with her a bit more everyday and starting to feel very ready to meet her!

Some days I still can't believe she's coming. I hoped and wished and prayed for her, but never really thought we'd be this lucky. We are certainly blessed.

My Little Performing Arts Lover

Marlee and I went to see the Summer Drama Camp production of Willie Wonka tonight. If you'll remember, she loved her first musical, The Wizard of Oz. This one was no different. She sat through the ENTIRE performance--all 2 1/2 hours! She cheered and applauded and danced and occasionally interjected comments like, "That big girl is singing!" or "Marlee likes dancing!" I can already tell that we'll be looking into dance and other performing arts classes next year. This pleases me.

Maybe Tertiary Colors?

Marlee was putting her colors (crayons) away the other day, and Michael was watching her in the doorway. As she put each one away, she said the color. "Blue, green, grey...." Then she got to a dark goldenrod color, pondered quietly for a minute, and put it away, saying, "Maybe orange?"

Does She Know?

Lots of people ask me if MJ knows that she's going to have a baby sister. Yes, she most definitely does. Does she understand everything that means? Probably not.

She will tell anyone who will listen that she has a baby sister in Mommy's belly. Want to see pictures? She'll show you the ones from the ultrasound that are displayed on the refrigerator (Dis baby sister's foot. Dis baby sister's head). She'll tell you that baby sister is coming out after her birthday, and that she's going to help Mommy take care of her. Some days, she'll tell me she wants baby sister to come out now. Once, I told her that baby sister wasn't ready, and her reply was, "Marlee ready."

We see tiny babies out and about and she says, "Marlee have a baby sister after my birthday." She gets it. Well, except we had cake last night and she told me it was her birthday. Almost.

I love seeing her get excited about it...I just wish there was some way to prepare her for the fact that her life is going to change drastically. We read the books and we talk about it, but I know that part is not sinking in. I'm promising myself that I will make lots of time for just Marlee. I'm lucky to be married to a very hands-on dad who can take over baby duty and free me up for my big baby. Because after all, she's still a baby. I sometimes get lost in all the things she can do, how well she communicates...I forget she's not even two. She's still my baby. Okay, now I'm weepy. Darn hormones.

Who's the Cougar?

MJ has invented a new game, and things it's the best thing ever. It started with her pretending to be a cougar and chasing us around while growling. Over time, it evolved.

Now she'll say, "Oh no! ________ is the cougar!" Like, "Oh no! Sweet Pea is the cougar!" And run way from Sweet Pea. Or "Oh no, Daddy! You the cougar!" And run squealing expecting him to chase her.

Version three goes something like this: MJ will say, "Who's the cougar?" And we have to guess. Is it Mommy? No. Is it Georgie? No. Is it Nana? Last night in the tub, Mimi was the cougar. We have have to squeal and run around saying, "Oh no! Mimi is the cougar!" Mimi wasn't even there to chase us, but it was still fun!

What a goof.

All the Single Ladies!

Since it came out, Marlee has LOVED this Beyonce song. When it comes on, she starts dancing and clapping along. We've had dance parties along with the video on youtube, but I didn't realize how much she was picking up. Today in the car, we were singing along, and she started to do some of the moves from the video. It was hilarious. Of course, I tried to get her to re-enact for a video, but my singing isn't so effective as Beyonce's...wonder why? Maybe I'll try again later with the actual song. For now, this is still cute! Listen closely when I ask her what song she likes...she sings a little bit. Oh, and please excuse the disaster zone that is the play area!

Belly Pic

23 weeks, 3 days :)

May in Bullets

Because I have so much to blog and so little time, this seemed the best way to do it.

• Weekend one: Doug and Sarah's wedding in Johnson City, TN. Pretty wedding, fun with family. Marlee bosses her cousins around the dance floor. She is bossy, bossy, bossy!

Marlee, Henry, Ally take a break from dancing.

• Weekend two: Fairly low-key weekend at home, except I was sick.
• Weekend three: Sprint car races with Dad and Jenna = First full night away from Marlee June.
  
  
  
  
  
  Races were a blast! Missed my family. Sunday shopped for furniture for MJ's big girl room, decided on bunk beds from Ikea. Monday cooked out and played with the Schugs. A perfect summer day. Marlee and Sophie played in the wading pool and are definitely BFF. I love seeing them together.
• Weekend four: Road trip to Florida for Theresa's graduation
  
  
  
  Yay, Aunt Theresa!!!
  
  
  
  Grandparents W's house is toddler paradise...dogs, cats, bird, ponies, pool, unending snacks, and oh yeah, lions. Marlee especially loved spending time with her cousin Henry.
  
  
  
  Splashing in the pool with Henry
  
  
  

Picture Sharing

Attention Grandparents and GreatGrandparents!

By popular request...

I have spent a good bit of time uploading pictures to a photo sharing website. You can find them at wfamilypictures.shutterfly.com or by clicking the link on the left side of the blog. The site is password protected, and the password is our last name. I will update with new pictures at least monthly. You can sign up as a member and get emails each time I add new pictures. Best part is, you can click on the individual pictures and order prints to be sent directly to your house. :)


Let me know how you like it or if you have questions about using it.

Cute Word of the Day

Marlee is eating her leftover Mexican from last night and just offered me a bite of WOCKYMOLEY. I think I just might die from the cuteness.

Cool Henry Croc Shoes

My kid is a genius. Okay, not really, but I'm constantly impressed with her ability to communicate. Yesterday was a perfect example. Here was our conversation:

Me: Marlee June, time to get on shoes so we can go to the store then meet Grandpa for lunch.

MJ: Okay. I be right back.

[Scurries off to her room. I hear much shuffling and wonder what's going on as her sandals are just inside her door. A couple of minutes later, she's back, wearing one of the fur-lined faux crocs we bought at target last winter. I thought we had packed these away and had no idea where she found it.]

MJ: Marlee has Henry Shoe!!! [Cousin Henry has actual crocs. Apparently she envied them last weekend]

Me: Oh, you liked Henry's shoes?

MJ: Mommy take sock off. [Referring to the furry lining]

Me: It doesn't come off, honey. It's stuck.

MJ: [drumroll please....] PLEASE, Mommy! Get the scissors and cut it off!

I mean, COME ON! The sentence structure, the logic involved...it floored me.

Me: I have an idea. How about instead of the grocery store we go to the toy store and buy you some Crocs?

MJ: Cool Henry Croc Shoes.

And that's precisely what we did. She wore her one furry faux croc on the way there, and returned with these: