The first four years…
We were in Walnut Creek last weekend and stumbled upon this giant drum on the corner in front of the Dean Lesher theatre. Every corner should have a giant drum, in my opinion. They’re great for banging on…
…as well as for running around. What could be more fun?!
I’d just like to take a moment to say thank goodness for grandparents. We’ve had a lot of opportunity to appreciate the wonder, the joy and the overall greatness of grandparents recently. In case it wasn’t clear already, Taylor absolutely adores all of her grandparents. When she pretends to talk on the phone, she calls them: “Hewwo, Gene?” “Hi, Linda!”. At least once a day she asks to go to Zuzu and Paul’s house. C.R. was visiting with us this week and when she left, Taylor turned to me and said, “Mommy, I love her. I love C.R. very much”. One of the best side effects of becoming a parent is getting to watch OUR parents interact with our daughter. It’s so gratifying to see people who love T.J. as much as we do. Hurray for grandparents!
“I am not amused…”
“…oh, wait! Yes, I AM amused!”
Taylor’s new favorite food is foozy (or as the rest of us know it: smoothie). Kids love ’em ‘cuz they taste so good – mom’s love ’em ‘cuz they create adorable little dimples from sucking on the straw so hard. Heehee!
Ballerina T.J.:
I skipped posting last week because we were out of town without internet access, so this week will be chock full o’ pics to catch up…
Learning about hackey-sacks:
One of the bonuses of buying our house is that it came with a pear tree and some grape vines. I have to confess that both have been woefully neglected since we’ve owned the place – we don’t water or fertilize them – it’s pretty much every vine, tree and lawn for itself out here. Nevertheless, we had a booming crop of both pears and grapes this season and so every couple of days we go out and pick some fresh fruit to eat. Taylor has really caught onto this and so whenever we walk out to the car, she insists that we pick some grapes for the ride. They are so tasty and she’s much more inclined to eat them when she picks them herself. I’m really going to miss those grapes when we finally pick the last bunches!
Harvest time:
As I mentioned, we were out of town last week. We went to Arizona to visit our friend Heather and her daughters. We had a really nice visit. Usually our trips are pretty rushed, going from one place to the next, but this time we were there for enough time to relax and bond with the girls, especially Ava because she’s not in school yet. Linda was kind enough to drive down one morning and so she got to see Taylor for a little while and then she brought Zach back up with her to Prescott. After that, it was all females in the house and we spent the rest of the visit lounging by the pool, eating and shopping (such a girly-girl weekend!)
While we were in Arizona, Taylor learned a new “skill” – how to hold a grudge! Here’s how it went down…
We all went out to lunch and I bought Taylor a cup of milk. After lunch, I was carrying the milk around the mall and I asked T.J. several times if she wanted any. She kept shaking her head and saying, “no”, which I took to mean that she was done with it. For my part, I was definitely done with it – it was getting warm, I was already carrying Taylor and it was just one more thing to lug around, so I tossed it out. When she saw me throw her cup (HER CUP!!!!) in the trash, she opened the floodgates, turned on the siren and began wailing for everyone within a 5-mile radius to hear. In the 28 months that Taylor’s been in the world, I’ve experienced a lot of tantrums, but I have to admit I was unprepared for the level of intensity of this particular tantrum. First, I tried to reason with her and explain why I threw away her milk, but I quickly realized that she had moved past the point of reasoning. Next, I offered to replace the milk – either buying a new one or going home to get some – but she cried that she wanted, “the (sob) one (sob) in the trash (sob) can (sob)“. At that point, really, what could I do? There was NO WAY I was going to retrieve an old cup of milk from the mall trash can and so I drew a hard line and told her that I was sorry, but she wasn’t drinking it anyway, so mommy had to throw it out. I was tough as nails, but on the inside I felt so guilty and terrible for depriving my child of the one thing in the world that would make her happy. Then we got back to the car and Taylor fell asleep and I felt relieved and not guilty or terrible anymore and I thought that the whole affair had blown over for good…
…until the next day when we were at Starbucks and I bought T.J. a milk and a water. We were sitting at the table enjoying our drinks and chatting with Heather when Taylor looked up at me and said, “Mommy, I not want you throw away my milk and water in the trash can”. Ouch
…and then again the next day when we were reading a book and (apropos of nothing) she looked up at me and said, “Mommy, where is it?” and I said, “Where is what?” and she said, “Where my milk dat you throw in the trash can, mommy?” Yowza
…and every day since the infamous “milk incident”, she has brought it up in some fashion – shining a light on a moment of motherly imperfection that I simply cannot fix or reverse or change. So, my child has learned how to hold a grudge (greaaaaaat). I think now we’re going to work on a new skill called “letting it go already”. How do you teach that one exactly??
Yukkin’ it up with daddy and Linda in Arizona:
It finally happened – yesterday I broke down and brought Taylor in to get her first “real” haircut. I’ve been cutting Taylor’s bangs since she was 18 months old, but I wasn’t up to the challenge of trimming the back. It grew so long that it was getting caught under her armpits, so I realized that it was time for professional intervention. I took her to Cool Tops in Lafayette. Now, when I cut Taylor’s hair at home, I usually coax her into her highchair with a couple of crackers and an episode of Sesame Street to divert her attention. At Cool Tops, T.J. got to sit in a horsey chair and watch an Elmo video while she had her hair snipped. After it was over, the stylist put ribbons in her hair with a sprinkling of “magic dust” (i.e. glitter) and she took Taylor’s picture and gave it to her with a lock of her hair and a certificate. They really made Taylor feel like a star and I could tell that I’m going to have to step up my game if I want to cut her hair ever again. Bribing her with a couple of Wheat Thins just isn’t going to cut it anymore (maybe I’ll switch to Ritz)!
T.J. the arteeest, working on her circles:
