Noodly Doodle

So yesterday I posted about the Dinner Battle Royal.  That was a once in a while occasion.  Usually Doodle is a lovely dinner companion.  We have worked hard to eat meals at the table, teach her manners, and learn that meal time is a time for conversation and family.  As she has gotten older, we have all enjoyed her emerging conversational skills and dinner routines.  In case you don't have a 3 year old at your table, or if you are looking for new topics of conversation here are some of her favorite topics.  Think of her like "Coffee Talk" only more repetitive and less yiddish.


"Ignoring the Question"- This topic is adult initiated and thus not very successful.  "Doodle what activity did you go to at school today?"  Doodle replies "music with Grammie Jean."  Adult thinks this is going somewhere and continues "What did you do at music?"  Sighing, Doodle answers "we sing."  Adult thinks, sweet she answered again, I might find out the mysteries of music at preschool and presses forward.  "What songs did you sing?" Doodle squints her eyes shut and puts a bite of food in her mouth and says "I am eating and I cannot talk about this right now."  This is the equivalent to our 3 year old giving us the hand.  Conversation. Over. Now.


"Breakfast, lunch or dinner"- When this is the topic you must guess between two meals to decide what meal you are eating.  Mind you, the correct meal is never a choice, so this just ends in someone (usually an adult) looking foolish.  For example, at dinner Doodle will say "Mommy are we eating breakfast or lunch?" I will reply "breakfast."  She falls into fits of laughter, tells me I'm silly and asks again.  Loads. Of. Fun


"There's a ...... in your house"-  This discussion requires creativity by both parties.  The wee one says "Mommy, there is a lion in your house."  Grown one replies, "I don't hear a lion in my house."  Wee one makes lion sound (sometimes very creatively).  Grown up must then come up with a reason for that animal to leave the house.  "Lion, get out of my house.  You have a big furry mane and we already have too much curly hair hair in this house, so get out now!"  Wee one giggles and is silent for another 2.2 seconds while she thinks of the next animal.  


Other less interesting topics include How Was Your Day, Best Part of Your Day, and What Did You Do Today.  These are much more common and much less entertaining.  Sometimes, our dinner gets a little silly and a little playful, but My Favoritest and I both hope that she will remember family meals as a special part of her childhood.

January 18 (181/365)

Battle Royal

When you have a 3 year old who weighs 22 pounds and wears 18-24 month clothes, calories become a major concern.  We are constantly trying to pump that kid full of protein and fat all the while trying to keep it sort of healthy.  We don't have the typical meal problems.  Doodle would eat her weight in fruit.  Seriously, she could eat a pound of grapes if you let her.  If there is not fruit on the plate, veggies are the first to go.  Bread is a close runner up to the fruits and veggies.  Meat, well it is not her friend!  One recent evening, we had a delicious waffle casserole.  And she refused to eat.  Not only did she refuse to eat, she was rude and misbehaving at the table.  We tried every trick in the book, to no avail.  The kid went to bed with no toys in her tubby, no story, and the fasted tuck in ever.  She was laughing at us.  She could care less that we upset with her.  Well, the next day the delicious dinner made an encore appearance for lunch.  She was thrilled to see it again.  She was even more excited that our lunches matched.  The kid gobbled it up (minus the sausage) and we had not more battle royal!  Just goes to show, stubborn mommy always wins..... eventually! 

January 17 (180/365)

The World's Most Wonderful Toy

Because we celebrate Chrismukah, we have double the amount of presents to present to Doodle.  We worked really hard this year to make sure that while she had a gift every night of Hanukkah, a stocking full of treats, and presents from Santa, that we didn't go overboard.  To that end, we really tried to remember that for a 3 year old, most of the joy of a present is in the unwrapping and surprise itself, not necessarily the gift inside.  One of Doodle's favorite stocking stuffers was a slinky.  Found in the dollar spot at Target, it has been a big hit.  It has also been a big hit with Doodle and My Favoritest.  They have created a "game" where one goes up the stairs and tries to get the slinky down the stairs to the person at the bottom.  Doodle loves to take turns and could care less if she is at the top or the bottom of the stairs.  The slinky has also provided a place for little friends to hide, an attempted shoe option for Doodle and Jayburb.  And so interesting picture opportunities for me.

January 15 (178/365)

January 16 (179/365)

Poppy

It's amazing how sometimes the smallest things can change you life in the biggest ways.  When we found out we were pregnant, the embryo was the size of a poppy seed.  Hence the reason we are calling the baby Poppy.  From the minute I read the word pregnant on the stick, everything changed.  It was more than what I can eat and can't.  It was more than the fact that the rattling of the Bud Light bottles is a cruel tease.  It was as if the universe suddenly became small and miraculous.  It was a sudden thought of all that was being lost and gained all at the same time.  It was knowing that from that moment forward, nothing would ever be the same again.  I suddenly realized that soon Doodle wouldn't fit on my lap anymore, and then by the time she could fit again, she wouldn't want to.  It was realizing that I was giving my baby girl the greatest gift ever, a sibling to share her crazy childhood with.  It was realizing that for the next 8 months I was never going to be alone.  It was realizing that I was going to have a baby smack dab in the middle of a move.  This pregnancy has also come with more worry.  For some reason, I have had more doubts and fears than I ever had with Doodle.  Maybe I have come to more of an understanding of just how miraculous a healthy kid is.  Maybe it's because I know the wonderful things to come and can't imagine something happening before I get to all that amazement.  Who knows, but it has been scarier this time around.  It has also been filled with lots of joy.  Telling Doodle about her new role was a fantastic moment.  Knowing that she will share the joy with us.  Knowing that what we have is so perfectly fantastic and imagining how much better it will be with another piece in our puzzle.  I know most of this is the hormones bubbling to the surface, but it is everything that comes to mind when I looked down at poppy seeds left over from my bagel.

January 14 (177/365)

Attack!

I have written before about the love Doodle has for balloons.  She loves to catch them and chase them.  They provide hours of entertainment at our house.  However, in the recent dry winter weather, I have discovered a hazard to having balloons.  Static electricity.  This is even more of a problem when said balloon has just enough helium left in it to float at head level!  I was attacked all after noon!

January 13 (176/365)

Fire In The Sky

I am ready for Spring.  This year it has nothing to do with the weather.  I am tired of the dark!  I have a good friend who every year reminds me that December 22 is the shortest daylight day of the year, and that after that the days get longer.  I hold to that thought from the minute we fall back until the second we spring foreword.  I long for late afternoons playing in the courtyards, cul de sacs, and alleys of our neighborhood. I pine for the sunshine each evening when I let the dogs out back and hear a creepy night time sound.  I ache for my internal clock to think it is day time and not want to go to sleep at 8:00.  I am a sun lover and vitamin D addict.  So here is to the sun setting latter in the day, and enjoying every minute of the fire!

January 12 (175/365)

On Her Own

Independence.  So hard.  Until I became a parent, I never realized all the amazing, little, tiny things we learn to do as we grow.  Little things are sometimes harder than the big things.  Lately around our house I have been trying to encourage Doodle to dress and undress herself.  I want her to be slightly more independent when Poppy arrives, but don't want her to notice that anything has changed.  So we are slowly making her do more on her own before the baby comes.  The biggest challenge of this whole process is not the kiddo.  It's me.  I have had to force myself to sit on my hands.  I have had to plan extra time for her to do it herself.  Most of all I have had to stifle a lot of giggles and snorts as she figures things out herself.  She may not do it the conventional way, but in the end she usually gets where she wants to be.  Even if it means rolling on the floor to take off her coat!

January 11 (174/365)