Pretending - Day 229

We are heavily into pretending here.  In fact she does not want to be called by her name most of the time - she insists that I call her Bob (as in Bob the Builder) or Thomas (of Tank Engine fame).  We spend a good chunk of the day with her telling me what to say to Bob or Thomas.  Today I got to be James (the Tank Engine).  We were playing her modified hide and seek today and she was crouched under Nana's desk I was looking for her and made the mistake of saying her name, as in "Where's LSP?"  From under the desk pipes up a voice: "No!  Say, Where's Bob?"

I found these Curious George PJs on clearance in Marshall's today.  Love Marshall's!

Just like mom.

Games - Day 228

Today Uncle M came for the day without Aunt L.  When LSP saw him come through the door she got all excited and jumped up and down with her hands in the air.  "Where's Aunt L?"  she asked.  "She's not here, it's just me!" Uncle M told her.  She promptly went into the next room and slammed the door.

One of her new favorite things to do is play hide and seek.  She mostly has the rules right.  One person counts to three while the other person hides.  She gets excited, though, after she's found you a few times and starts dictating where you are supposed to hide, or telling you where she will hide.  "Let's play hide and seek there," she will say pointing under a table.

Tonight after playing in the tub awhile she told me, "Let's do something else, this is boring."  Won't be the last time I hear that.

She told me she was "funny running" and ran with her legs all wild and all over the place  Like the Ministry of Silly Walks.

The Critic - Day 227

LSP got a bunch of instruments that you use in the tub from Nanny and Papa for Christmas.  They came with some music sheets to play simple tunes.  Tonight I played "London Bridges" for LSP on the xylophone.  When I was done I said, "What did you think of that?  Pretty good, or not so much?"  "Hmmm, not so much," she said.  Everyone's a critic.

At gymnastics this morning all she wanted to do was the Bell Hang and she didn't want any help.  "Do it by self!" she kept insisting.  She was doing it well, too!  And when she'd let go and fall with a THUMP on the mats, she'd pop right up and want to do it again!

For dinner she had pancakes.  At home we call them "Daddycakes" because Daddy makes them on weekends.  She said, "Daddycakes!!" then told me, "My Daddy's in Afghanistan right now."

New position today!

Bell Hang!

Playdate!  Train table with J, E and A.

Baby M!

E and LSP were playing with the train table so well together.  They were both humming softy and discussing the names of the characters.

Baby A.

Snack time.

Pancakes for dinner with Grampy!

Swim Expert - Day 226

We got to swim lessons early today so LSP could play around in the water for awhile.  She swam like crazy, kicking her feet and paddling her arms all over the place.  At one point she wanted me to let her go saying "By myself!"  She jumped off the side into my arms and went in over her head multiple times.  Then the instructor showed up.  And all of a sudden LSP decided to show her stubborn streak.  She wouldn't kick, or paddle, or float, or do anything the instructor asked.  I think she was bored.  They wanted her to use a cup to pour water onto her arms to get used to being wet.  HA!  My little fish is no afraid of getting wet!  They wanted her to blow onto the top of the water to get used to putting her face in the water.  HA again!  Of course to everyone else it just looked like she was being stubborn, and maybe she was, but she is way too good of a swimmer for this class!

Shopping - Day 225

LSP and I went to see one of my college friends and his family today.  It sort of blows my mind that we are all old enough to sit around and talk about kids and diapers and all sorts of grown up stuff.  LSP had a good time playing with E and J and all their toys.  Other people's toys are the BEST!

Then we went to the mall and she played awhile and just generally enjoyed looking in stores.  This girl loves stores.  That may spell trouble later.

E and LSP have the smile thing down.  J favors the serious look.

Hey!  A little smile!

Is this a good idea for a Grampy with a bad back??

Look at all that hair!

Observations - Day 224

It was quite warm today to LSP and I went to the playground.  The ground was still covered with snow however and eventually she got tired of falling down into the wet snow.  "Let's got somewhere else," she told me, "Let's go to the mall."  This girl has a one track mind.  We were too far from the mall, but near a Marshall's, my favorite store, so we went there to wander around and look at stuff for awhile.  She loved the shoe section, pointing out all the sparkly shoes that might fit her.  "This is a good place," she told me.

To try to get her to get some energy out I attempted to engage her in a Wii dance game.  The song was Avril Lavigne singing "Girlfriend," and although she refused to dance, later in the shopping cart she started singing it back to me, "Hey, hey, you, you, I don't like your girlfriend... I think you need as new one."

Late tonight we were reading books before bed, and as a very obvious stalling tactic she was refusing every title that I suggested.  "We're having  hard time finding a good book," she lamented.

How old is this kid again??

Ice!

Mmmm, ice...

Yech, doesn't taste very good.