My Daughter the Mediator

It's kind of funny when M and I have our little squabbles, baby K likes to step in and act as mediator. This morning, I was complaining to M that he told me to wake him up last night (he fell asleep putting baby K to bed), but when I did, he got all grouchy on me and refused to get up. M started defending himself and when baby K saw our little banter (as innocent as it was), she yelled, "No! Daddy, come here daddy!" M went over to baby K and she gave him a big hug, then she said to me, "Mommy, don't bother daddy." She then told me to sit down next to her and ordered M to go to the other side of the kitchen, demanding that he "stay there daddy!" I couldn't help but laugh at baby K's seriousness in her attempt to keep peace by separating us. I suppose this is what her teachers do at daycare when the kids start arguing with each other.

Lazy Baby K

When baby K first started learning how to walk, she would do it all the time and even refused to sit in the stroller. How things have changed in a year and a half! Nowadays, baby K insists on bringing the stroller wherever we go, and if we happen to be somewhere without it, she'd ask to be carried. A classic conversation between M and baby K:

K: Daddy, I want po po [to be carried].
M: Why do you need po po? You're a big girl now.
K: I'm so lazy.

M often tells baby K that she's lazy when she asks to be carried, and I guess it stuck. I don't know if baby K realizes that being lazy is not a good thing, or if she doesn't care because she knows she'll get her way by saying it.

This morning, baby K woke up and started asking for "MOMMY!" I waited patiently for her to come running into my bedroom as she usually does, but that never happened. Instead, baby K started yelling, "MOMMY! I'm awake, mommy!" I ignored her for a while, but when she continued to yell for me, I eventually responded with, "K! I'm awake too!" Then I looked at the clock and decided it was time to get up anyway. I went to her room and found my lazy daughter sitting up on her bed with her back leaning against the wall, wide awake as ever. She said to me, "Look mommy, I'm awake" with a big grin on her face.

A Sweet Moment

M had to work late yesterday. After getting his text at 7pm last night, informing me that he was still in the office, I said to baby K, "Looks like it's just you and me tonight." Baby K looks at me for a second, then wraps her arms around my neck, giving me a big bear hug. As if that didn't already melt my heart, I told her I love her, and she says the same thing back to me, then proceeds to give me a kiss on the cheek. Moments like that make everything so worth it. Of course, half an hour later she starts acting up again and I get frustrated beyond belief. Funny how God has a sense of humor when it comes to parenting. I wonder if that's how He feels about us.

Dorbrook Park

We went to Dorbrook Park in Colts Neck, NJ this past Saturday to attend a birthday picnic for our friend's son who turned one. We spent most of the time chasing after baby K at the playground than catching up with our friends. She had a blast running through the different climbers, going down the slides, swaying back and forth on the swing, and even trying the seesaw for the first time.

The weather was a tad bit chilly, so we kept baby K's hood on the whole time we were there. Her long hair was hidden, but I was shocked at the number of people who thought she was a boy. Some little girl came up to us and asked, "is that a boy or a girl?" while someone else asked, "how old is he?" It reminded me of when baby K was a newborn and people used to confuse her for a boy. C'mon, look at that sweet little face... does she look like a boy to you??
On another note, happy 34 months to my little GIRL! I can't believe how fast time flies!

Dining with Elmo & Friends

I made reservations at Sesame Place for dinner with Elmo and friends this past Saturday. Naturally, baby K loved seeing all the characters and watching them sing and dance. The dinner was only an hour long (would have liked it to be longer), and she spent more time dancing around than eating (not that I blame her since the food was nothing to be desired... I probably wouldn't have eaten myself, had this meal not taken a big chunk out of my wallet), but it was well worth it seeing how much fun baby K had. We also got to take pictures with many of the characters. Here are a few of them: We also saw Grover, Bert, and Ernie once we got to the park. Of all the times we've been to Sesame Place (and believe me, there were many), this was the first time we've ever seen these three characters, so we quickly got on line for a photo op to complete baby K's collection.

Chuck E. Cheese Disaster

M and I have been brainstorming on where to hold baby K's third birthday party. We've heard a lot about Chuck E. Cheese and neither one of us have ever been there before, so we decided to check it out over Labor Day weekend. Unfortunately, things did not go over too well. Baby K got scared of the life-size characters on stage in front of the restaurant and would not take her eyes off of them. Our feeble attempts to distract her with games went by the wayside. When we got done using our measly four tokens, baby K traded in her tickets for a sticker and could not get out of there fast enough. Throughout the rest of the day, she would constantly say to us, "I don't like the mouse." I kept reminding her we're not going back and she doesn't have to see the mouse again, but she didn't seem convinced. I guess at least now we can confidently strike Chuck E. Cheese off the list for baby K's birthday party. Thank you Chuck E. Cheese, for traumatizing my little girl for life.

Where's C?

I took the day off last Monday and joined the W family at Sesame Place. Baby K had a great time playing with C, and it gave me a chance to catch up with WC, whom I haven't seen all year. We even got to take a group picture with everyone's favorite furry red monster:

My conversation with baby K in the car this morning:
Baby K: Where's the blue car?
Me: What blue car? Who has a blue car?
Baby K: C has a blue car. Where's C?
Me: C is at home. You'll see him next time, okay?
Baby K: Okay.

We had driven to Sesame Place together last Monday (NW was following me in his blue Camry) and baby K had kept asking where the blue car was to make sure they were still with us. I can't believe she remembers it from a week ago!

My Hurrican Irene Experience

As told from baby K's perspective:

"I don't know what all the big commotion was about hurricane Irene. All I saw was a lot of rain, so I couldn't go outside to play. I don't exactly know when the hurricane started, so I'll just start from Friday since that's when everyone started talking about it.

Mommy had promised to come pick me up early from school on Friday, but she didn't come until 5:30pm... later I found out it was because she was out trying to find a backup battery for the sump pump in the basement. She shouldn't have bothered, since everything was sold out... she should've just came to pick me up early like she said she would.

On Saturday, daddy made me pancakes for breakfast. I love the weekends because I get to hang out with mommy and daddy all day. After breakfast, I was playing happily in the living room and putting together my Thomas trains until mommy and daddy made me go out. I didn't want to, but soon changed my mind when they told me I could ride on my favorite shopping cart at the red store [Target]. We made a pit stop at the supermarket first. It was so crowded, but good thing we didn't stay there for long. Mommy and daddy only got a few items, but we had to wait on a long line to pay. When we got back in the car, I started complaining because I thought we were going home and they had forgotten all about the red store, but then mommy tells me we're going to Target, so I was fine. When we got there, all the shopping carts I like were outside and wet, so I had to wait while daddy got some paper towels to clean it for me. I liked riding in the shopping cart, but it got boring after a while so I told mommy and daddy I wanted to go home. For lunch, mommy made me chicken nuggets and gave them to me on my Elmo plate. Yummy! Then after lunch, mommy made me go take a nap. I wasn't even sleepy, so I had her read me two Olivia books. When I asked for the third one and she said no, I started crying. Then daddy came in and read to me instead. After my nap, they gave me my favorite panda bear cookies, then I asked to watch TV. Daddy had the channel on the news the whole time (BORING!) so I made him turn on Fresh Beat Band for me. It's so much more fun watching Marina, Kiki, Shout, and Twist sing and dance than to watch the boring reporters talk about rain. Mommy and daddy only let me watch one show, then they made me turn off the TV and told me to go color with my markers. At some point in the afternoon, it started raining. Mommy and daddy kept looking out the window, but I don't know what the big deal was. I went upstairs to practice my numbers and letters. Daddy came with me, but mommy stayed downstairs to prepare dinner. She made beef with peas and corn. Daddy said I had to eat more vegetables, otherwise I have poopy problems, so I was a good girl and ate lots of peas and corn that night. I didn't get all sweaty that day, so mommy said I didn't have to take a bath. Instead, I watched Curious George. Then I got tired and went to bed, but not before mommy and daddy made me brush my teeth. I don't like brushing my teeth, but they make me do it all the time.

I slept through the night and didn't even know that daddy woke up every few hours to check on the basement until the next morning when I heard mommy and daddy talking about it. I guess he was worried the power would go out since we didn't have a backup battery for the sump pump. Mommy and daddy saw on the news that there was flooding in a lot of places, people lost power, and there were down trees everywhere; they said we got really lucky. Mommy and daddy were praying about it, so maybe that helped?

We didn't go to church on Sunday; mommy checked online and saw that it was closed. We also got a call from the township and there was a travel ban where we lived, so mommy and daddy said we were stuck at home. It stopped raining by mid-morning, so I don't understand why we couldn't go out, but I didn't complain. Being at home wasn't too bad... I played with my blocks, my Thomas the train set, I colored with markers, I pretended to go shopping with my shopping cart, I looked at pictures on the camera, I sang all the songs I knew, I took a nap, I watched TV (but mommy and daddy only let me watch one show)... before I knew it, it was bedtime already. Mommy took a picture of me playing with my blocks. I was so proud because I put them together all by myself."