Mama Mama Quite Contrary

Even though Vivi's language has become a bit more complex and (ahem....) colorful, sometimes her simplest notes are the sweetest.  This is what she gave me a couple of weeks ago: My present was this picture: Vivi explained that she and I are walking on a path to China together in our high heels. Since she's really into writing and sounding out words, I asked her to write my grocery list.  I told her we needed: Chocolate Graham Crackers Veggie Burgers Watermelon And this is what she wrote: She may be sunshine and rainbows but she's part potty too. Linking up to Simply Modern Mom's Glimpse into Motherhood .

My husband and I were just marveling at how the Turtles' vocabulary has exploded.  They went from a handful of words and sounds a month ago to a whole host of phrases and demands today. They are beginning to understand nuance and humor in language which is just mind-boggling. Even though they are my second and third children, I still can't get over how fast the language acquisition happens.  I vaguely remember this with Vivi but because I have double the number of girls talking it seems that much more pronounced (ha!) with Jude and Ellie. Ellie doesn't speak as much or have as many words as her twin BUT she definitely communicates well. She always responds with a thank you when anyone gives her something. She doesn't need to be prompted and it makes the Miss Manners inside me jump with joy each time I hear it. Ellie also has a good sense for people. When Vivi was being sassy to me the other morning, Ellie marched right up her and said, "Viva, TIME OUT!" Elli...

Saturday night Vivi got to have her second sleepover with her friend G.  Lovely Mama invited her to stay knowing that Vivi loves nothing more than being able to sleep at someone else's house.  I don't know if it is just a big girl thing or just wanting a solid block of time to rest without being woken up by a Turtle.  Either way, she could hardly contain her excitement at getting out of the house. According to Lovely Mama, Vivi and G had a great time with no more than their usual sibling-like bickering.  They had ravioli, made popsicles, and finished the evening off by watching Mary Poppins.  Vivi was semi-comatose and drooling on the couch cushion by the time the movie ended so Lovely Mama put both kids to bed in the same room.  Everything was going smoothly. Well, until, the talking began in the bedroom.  Talking and talking and talking....  Lovely Mama went in three or four times to settle G to sleep.  ...

Saturday mornings around this place are pretty standard. My husband watches the kids while he talks to his father between 8 and 9 a.m. There's usually a lot of noise but I manage to squeeze in a few extra minutes of sleep during this time. Then, as his conversation finishes up, my husband gathers his checkbook and co-payments from the week and prepares to head off to the bank. Vivi accompanies him with the sole purpose of getting a lollipop and I get to ease into my morning with one less child in the house. It's been a pretty good system overall. On Halloween morning, things took a different turn with this conversation: Husband: "I am going to go to the b-a-n-k by myself because she [Vivi] will get plenty of candy tonight." Me: "Good point. Are you going now?" Vivi: "Daddy, where are you going?" Husband: "I am going to take care of some business." Vivi: "I want to go with you!" Husband: "You don' t even know wher...

There are a few words that I thought I'd never say as a parent. Things like "...because I said so" or "if I have to stop this car..." Those phrases always seemed tired and old and I vowed never to use them. Well, I am old and tired and I have to admit that I have threatened to stop the car on numerous occasions. This morning, however, I uttered eight words that I really didn't expect ever to string together. In horror, I yelled, "VIVI! DON'T PUT LIP GLOSS ON THE BABIES!!!!!!!!!!!"

Vivi loves to tell secrets. For her secrets, you must always close your eyes and wait patiently until she comes up to your ear to reveal her little piece of information. Until recently, her secrets have always been her saying "I love you" in a deep, burly voice known as her monster voice. She thinks this is hysterical. Of course, you are then expected to reciprocate by telling her the same secret in the same monster voice while she closes her eyes. It's a game in which we both delight. Lately, we've been having lots of fun with our "I love you" statements. Vivi will usually ask how much I love her and I'll respond with something ridiculous like "I love you more than all the cow poop in Vermont." (Poop jokes never get old with Vivi.) Or she'll ask me, "Mama, do you love me more than this much?" which she demonstrates by holding her thumb and forefinger a centimeter apart. I usually say, "Yes, that's it. That much." Th...

Vivi and I had two memorable conversations this morning. The first was while she was standing on our loveseat and throwing her play food onto our other couch. We were yelling between a couple of rooms. Vivi: Mama, come watch me throw my ice cream real hard. Me: Just a minute V, I have to use the potty. Vivi: Mooooooom, are you going pee or poop? Me: I'm going pee. I'll be right out. Vivi: Do you want your privacy? Me: Yes, please. 10 seconds of silence... Vivi: Mooooooom, are you sure you going only pee? Me: Yes! By the time I got out of the bathroom a whole 20 seconds after I first went in, she was done throwing the food and was camped outside the bathroom door wanting to know if I had washed my hands. The irony of all this is that we have these conversations ten times a day except I am usually the inquisitor. I think I shall give her more space in the future now that I realize how truly annoying the questioning is! Our second conversation was while I was cutt...

There's something about seeing the world through my two year old's eyes that has made everything a little more interesting these days. While still in a somewhat demanding phase, Vivi also seems to have all sorts of questions about life and I welcome the opportunity to try and help her figure out the world around her. As I've blogged before, some of her questions I simply can't answer (what is love?) but for the most part, I can come up with something that is reasonably satisfying to her. Here are some recent examples: "Mama, does a birdie cry if it bonks its head in the woods?" "Does Turtle like Chuka Salad?" (Asked recently when we ordered out for sushi.) "When the sun goes to bed, does it have to brush its teeth first?" "Mama, when I have big poops, you gonna say 'WHOA!'?" The answer to all of these questions is yes.

Many an experienced parent has warned us to be careful what we say in front of our toddler. After all, children are sponges and they have a remarkable way of quoting you at inopportune moments. That's the conventional wisdom, at least, but I have to say that until recently I haven't been too worried about it. You see, my husband is not the swearing type. In all the years we've been together, I can count on one hand the number of times an expletive has escaped his lips. And, it should be noted that with the exception of one very colorful expression he used for our President, his verbal transgressions have fallen on the minor end of the expletive spectrum. Like my husband, my language mostly falls under a G rating. Of course, there is at least one point during a day where the phrase "Oh shit" will come out of my mouth but, in general, I've tried very hard to keep myself in check. Well, it seems that Aviva is giving me a bit of a reality check these days. ...

All the more experienced moms and dads out there warned me that toddlers are walking sponges absorbing everything in their paths but I really had no idea the extent of it. Now, I am starting to get just how amazing and perplexing their little minds are. Like most parents, we noticed when Vivi would copy us. The other day she grabbed her purse, headed for the back door, and said, "I'm off to see my patients. Be home by 6:30." Of course, she doesn't have patients (that we know of) but her daddy does and he's always cruising home on his bike at about 6:30. Or, somewhat unfortunately, she has started yelling, "Oh, stupid dogs!" whenever we walk by our neighbors incessantly yippie ankle-biters. I would like to blame this on my husband but he would have the sense not to mutter complaints about other people's dogs in front of our kid. I do not have that sense and thus it is a direct quote from my mouth. It seems Vivi has taken to doing more than quoting us...

Well, we've done it. After much deliberation, my husband and I decided to let Lu, our Chinese babysitter, go. As I've written before, I was not without my conflicts about the situation . Lu clearly loved Vivi and for many months, they shared a wonderful, fun relationship. I put my own inability to communicate with Lu aside because Vivi really seemed happy when they were together. Like her father, Vivi has a remarkable ability and confidence with words. She was an early talker and it was not a surprise to us when Vivi's language surpassed Lu's several months ago. It didn't seem to be a problem though until May when Vivi started to say, "Mama, I no want Lu coming to our house." She would fuss on Wednesday mornings and not want me to leave. Plus, I could see that Lu had no idea what Vivi was saying. Unlike me, who could use props and gesticulate until Lu understood, Vivi couldn't do that as effectively. Still, I struggled with the power I had as a parent ...

After returning from Turkmenistan, I came to the realization that I had lost my handle on English prepositions and some verbs. This may sound strange but I still confuse words like of, at, to and in. Am I "of a mindset" or "in a mindset?" Did we spend the day "in the park" or "at the park?" I really don't know. I also have found that sometimes I have to stop and think about which form of a verb I should use. For example, it is not immediately clear to me that "the box of snacks was open" is correct grammar. My brain hears snack s and I have to stop and think, "Is it 'was open' or 'were open'? What is the subject of the verb?" Now one would think that for me to lose a pretty basic part of the English language, I must have been quite good at speaking Russian. That would be wrong. I spent my entire time in the Peace Corps struggling with a language that didn't make ANY sense to me. If I encountered someon...