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September 29, 2004
Random
I don't have anything new to say today, but I have some random things that I finally remembered to jot down:
BOOHBAH
Scott gave Signa the pink BoohBah for her birthday. As much as I hate it (they are VERY loud), so far everyday she gets up and runs to hug it and kiss it. Then she holds it like a doll and says, "HI" and holds up five fingers.
She wants to watch Hi5, the TLC tv show. She loves the show and she got a DVD of it for her birthday, too, so she wants to watch it every single morning.
As a side note, the only thing more annoying than BoohBah are the singers on Hi5.
CUTEST DRESS IN THE WORLD
I can't remember if I wrote about it, but Auntie Leslie gave Signa the coolest dress for her birthday. It's animal stripes with a black sweater with fake animal fur around the cuffs and collar. It's SOOOO Signa! I think it will look so cute with patent leather black boots.
EVERYTHING IS LITERAL
The other day, Marc and I were complaining that it was so hot outside. "I can't believe it is so HOT!" "I know! It hasn't been this HOT all summer."
A minute later and Signa is in front of us with her oven mitts on saying, "Hot!"
Posted by Debbie at 03:08 PM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2004
Ring Around the Rosy
A few weeks ago, I was doing dishes and Signa was brining me magnet letters from the refrigerator to find out what letter it was and what word it goes with. She'd bring me an S. "That's an S. S is for Signa." I over-prounounce the S sound. Then she brought me the M. "That's an M. M is for Momma." She looked at it and looked puzzled. Her little eyebrows all scrunchy. She then went back to the refrigerator and came back with the W, but upside down. She held both out and made the puzzle face. "Oh! Yes, that's a W, and when it's upside down, it does look like an M. You have to turn it upside down." Next thing I know, she's bending herself at the waist and twisting her head upside down to look at it. Something I forgot to write down and so it really should go in last year's journal, but oh well.
This weekend was just Signa being cute and fun and smart. On Saturday, we ran errands and played in the backyard. On Sunday, Bob and Scott and Charlie came over for Scott's birthday. We ate burgers and cake and lots of other junk. And opened presents. Scott got a zillion movies (Signa calls them, "DEE BEE DEEEEEE!") and she got a BoohBah! Well, two really. One big pink one that makes annoying fart sounds and music and one small yellow one, which she promptly lost. We also went to the park and I got to see Rose and Isabelle and a few of the other playgroup women.
It was fun to watch Signa play with the other children. She is so happy. Never, ever stops smiling and runs from one thing to another, loving all of it. She pats kids on the heads like they are cats and tries to share everything with them- the things they don't want from her and the things she wants from them- she's already learned that sharing goes both ways.
She had one horror fit and it was when I did ring around the rosy with Isabelle. She stood there sobbing and said, "N-oooooo," in her tiny voice and then came running at me with such sadness, hitting at poor Isabelle's hands holding mine. It was really sad, but I didn't know what to do. All I could do was keep ring around the rosy-ing, while thinking, how in the world will she react when another kid gets "her" boobies someday? Horrors.
I keep forgetting to talk about my exercising. I get weighed and measured again on Friday. Last month, with one month of exercise, I lost no weight and gained partial inches in my arms and legs, but lost 1.25 inches in my tummy! Yay, me! I totally love it. It's not hard at all and I'm never sore or anything, but ALWAYS feel good afterwards and the feel-good lasts for days. It's the best thing I've done for myself ever! Well, except Signa.
Posted by Debbie at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)
September 24, 2004
No
You may remind me of this day all you want. You can say, "I told you it'd get old" for days. I don't care. All I know is that when my daughter said, "No" to a question I asked her, I cried tears of happiness.
She talked to me.
She didn't just point at a tree and say, "EEEE!" She didn't hear a dog bark and make the sound of a panting dog.
She said, "No" in a tiny squeaky Signa voice and talked to me. We practically had a conversation.
"Signa, do you want to get down?"
"N-oooooo." With a head nod even. I have tears in my eyes just remembering.
That was before dinner. I was holding her in my lap and wanted to go do something else so in my off-handed way of asking what used to be rhetorical questions, I said, "Signa, do you want to get down?" just expecting to put her down and hear a whine. Instead, I heard, "N-ooooo." So cute! But then when dinner was way over and she was whining and fussing to get out of her chair, I realized that she didn't know how to answer the question any other way.
Whine, fuss, gimme hands at the floor. "Signa, do you want to get down?"
"N-oooooo," with head nodding.
Over and over again. She DID want to get down, but she liked saying no.
Like I said, remind me all you want. I totally love hearing no.
---
We got the Star Wars Trilogy. When I say that, I mean the first three... wait, the second three. Whatever- We got Star Wars, Empire Strikes Back and the Ewok Movie. We didn't get the Jar-Jar movie or the one with sappy love that I haven't even seen. I love Ewoks. Don't care. I love 'em. But Jar-Jar was just too far. Way too far.
Anyway, I only watched a bit of Star Wars and then some of the making-of, but it reminded me that some things stand up to the test of time and some do not. Star Wars is still really good.
Square Pegs is not. I remember a few years ago when Diane taped the Square Pegs marathon on Nick at Night (or something). Now, when I was a kid, we didn't have a VCR or TIVO. I would put an AUDIO tape recorder up to the tv to tape shows. I did this with Square Pegs, Mork and Mindy, and Bosom Buddies.
So Diane had a Square Pegs party and, in great anticipation of all the wonder that used to be Square Pegs, we went. After about two episodes, we all realized that this show did not stand the test of time. It was extremely disappointing. And very boring and silly. Just like it's original audience, aparently.
I wonder what I'd think of DeGrassi Junior High now?
This next part might sound like it was free tangent, but Star Wars made me remember that Marc said that Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow made him feel like Star Wars did, and that made me remember that Marc took Signa to see SCATWOT on Tuesday. She loved the first half, fell asleep in the second half, and then woke up for the ending and then clapped for the credits. I guess she will be okay in movies! Well, some movies...
Sadly, I can't put it in her scrapbook because the idiot ticket kid accidentally gave them tickets to see Wimbledon.
The next part *IS* free tangent. I wonder if I can find rainbow suspenders anywhere? Maybe I'll be Mork for Halloween.
Posted by Debbie at 11:20 AM | Comments (1)
September 21, 2004
Doctor Appointment
Scales are now made of hot lava. Yep. They are. Also, doctor code for 2-year-check-up is "Ear Piercing." We were evidently, according to the chart, there for ear piercing. We said, "No. It's her 2-year checkup..." They looked at the chart and then us and said, "This says 'ear piercing'." What a stupid thing to say. Like we are going to say, "Oh, yeah. THAT'S right. I always get those things mixed up."
While we were still worried about that mistake on the charts, we were told to put Signa on a scale. You know, like we all stand on at our doctors' offices. So you know how much it hurts- that'd be NOT AT ALL! Zero. But this particular one was either made of electric fence material or hot lava, because Signa screamed and wiggled and cried and wouldn't let it happen. So she had to go in the baby one and she still screamed and cried. She weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 26lbs, 4oz. Then we had to see how tall she was, so Marc held one end of her and I held the other and we just made it happen. She is approximately 34 inches tall.
If you put 100 2-year-olds in a room, 75 of them would weigh more than Signa and 50 of them would be taller. And you'd have a headache.
Then the scary stuff. They drew a bunch of blood from finger pricks for an anemia test and then she got 2 shots- one for Hepatitis Some Letter in the Alphabet and one for the flu. She screamed like they were pulling her eyelashes right out.
The doctor asked us if Signa was using 2-word sentences. Thankfully, I didn't have to lie. The other day, she said, "Bye, Momma" when I left for work. That is a 2-word sentence. We didn't volunteer that there really aren't many words at all. Just nodded like, "Of course she does. We aren't worried one bit that she unlearned most words in favor of the sounds they make."
Anyway, it's very draining to watch her be so upset. I mean, it's silly that she gets so upset over the stupid stuff, but it's still hard to witness. The nurse said all 2-year-olds do this. I am willing to bet she just said that to make us feel better.
Posted by Debbie at 10:04 AM | Comments (2)
September 20, 2004
Party
Signa's birthday on Saturday was just perfect. First, she opened her presents from us and loved all of it, but I think her Boobah spinning tops were the hit. She also got 2 books (one hard-paged one about spiders and one called, "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus". She got a talking step stool to get into her bed and Mr. Potatohead and a purse with a bunch of things in it. The purse is a non-hit. She only likes the play debit card, which she tries to stick into the DVD player.
We then went and picked up her Big Head Dog cake. In the car on the way there and back, I taught her that after singing happy birthday, we blow and then clap. But sadly, she just stood there scared when it really came down to it, so I had to blow the candle out for her.
My mom arrived first and she got Signa the Gymboree class and a bubble blower that actually works (from Gymboree), Wiggles fruit snacks and a pumpkin. Signa napped with the pumpkin yesterday. Todd, Kelly and Austin came next and brought Signa a toy shopping cart AND a Wiggles toy chest. Marc's family (Nana and Papa) came next and they gave Signa some Pooh books and a (too large) check and 2 wonderful, handmade outfits. One is a long dress and the other is pants with a cute matching top. So cute! And, in honor of our Oregon, Grampa and Grandma, opened their gift with all the others. I was occupied with something and suddenly hear Signa roaring like she saw a zillion tigers. There she was, holding a pair of alligator rain boots. So, now we know. Alligators roar.
We then ate a lot and were merry! It was a great day, but Signa is just worn out! Yesterday we had my coworker and his wife (who is pregnant) over and after they left, she just about passed out. It was a big, big weekend for her!
It's weird having a two-year-old. I keep saying I have a baby, but I don't. I have a toddler. Weird.
This morning was Signa's 2-year checkup. I'm still too worn out from that to write about it. Tomorrow...
Posted by Debbie at 02:34 PM | Comments (1)
September 18, 2004
Happy Birthday, Signa!
Dear Mrs. Magillicutty,
Today you are two. Two years old. I've spent two whole years with my girl and I love you more every single day. You are so fun and so loving and so silly and so self-aware. I know it will surprise me in 20 years when I read this back and realize you are STILL fun and loving and silly and self-aware. But for now, I am just in awe of you and how YOU you are.
If God gave me a magic wand and said, "HERE, YOU MAY CHANGE SOMETHING ABOUT SIGNA TO MAKE HER BETTER!" (God surely speaks in capitals) I would hand Him the wand back and say, "Thanks, but no thanks. She's perfect just how she is."
Okay. I'm lying. I'd make you like to sleep a bit more, but really that's it. You are just wonderful.
Your loves this year have been many and I really should make a list. I bet there is at least one love per letter of the alphabet:
A- Apple. You love to say, "Apple" like they do in Snow White ("There was... an AHHHHH PLLLE")
B- Big Head Dogs. They are called "The Dog" and have tiny bodies and
big heads. You love them.
C- Cereal. You love Apple Jacks just like Dad.
D- Dad. You really love Dad. I think you think he's just part of you, since he's always there for you. Bet you'll always feel this way.
E- Elephants. You loved them at the zoo. We need to go back there.
F- Fish. You like to say, "Ish!" and at the grocery store, you love that the fish are also balloons (in the seafood section they have fish-shaped helium balloons)
G- Gone. One of your first concepts. Taught to you by the Teletubbies.
H- Hot dogs. Sometimes it's all you'll eat.
I- Ice cream sandwiches. I can't have one unless I share.
J- Jumping. You try and try, but only get to your tip toes. But when other kids jump, you laugh and laugh.
K- Kids. You laugh maniacally around them, just from sheer joy.
L- Lions. You even recognize the MGM lion logo from afar on tiny movies and roar.
M- Movies. You like them more than Momma, which would be the other M love. Third would be music. I think M might be your lucky letter.
N- No. For some reason, when we say this, you laugh. So you must love "no".
O- Open. You love to open the cabinets. And then close them when we say, "Close that, please."
P- Potato. For "Hot Potato" You still love the Wiggles and now do the whole Hot Potato song.
Q- Quack. You love to put your hands under your arms and quack like a duck.
R- Rocks. See "S" because if it's not sticks, it's rocks.
S- Sticks. One in each hand for HOURS. You love sticks. But also Spiderman and Superman. So maybe S is your lucky letter.
T- Talking. Not that you do it much, but when you say something and we figure out what you are saying, it makes you very happy.
U- Unison. When Dad and I sing in unison, you just clap and clap.
V- I'm having trouble thinking of a v thing... but I know there is one! I could use VIOLIN because you like all music, but that would be cheating, as I'm sure there is something better... I'll come back with it sometime someday.
W- Walking. You love taking walks with Dad each day. You go to the park or just for a walk. But you get upset if you go a different route than you are used to. I wonder if this will be a pattern for you...
X- Xylophone (duh, what else could it be?). You don't have one, but I just know you'd like it as it would make music AND you could hit it with a Stick.
Y- Yes. You love to nod your head and say, "ES!"
Z- Zoo. You loved going to the zoo and seeing all the animals.
But even though you have all these loves, none of them can remotely compare to how much I love you.
My little two-year-old.
Love,
Momma
Posted by Debbie at 07:21 AM | Comments (0)
September 13, 2004
COOOOOOOO-KEEEEEEEEEEE
Signa is related to Marc. I know we all already knew that, but it is really obvious-she makes great sound effects. In fact, she has been unlearning words in favor of cool sound effects. For instance, "horse". She was saying, "Horse" just fine. "What's that, Signa?" "Horse!"
Normal, right?
Now, though, she learned the SOUND a horse makes. Full on horse sound. So "What's that, Signa?" gets you a big ol' neigh. Loud, too.
And cookie. "Here is a cookie, Signa." "Cookie!" But now, since she started watching Sesame Street, she says, "C-OOOOOOO-KEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" in a deep scary monster voice and makes crumbling pantomime in honor of the Cookie Monster.
She won't say dog or cat or bear, either. It's the "heee heee heee" of a whining dog, the tiny "meeeeeeee" of a cat and a big growl for a bear.
But she used to say, "Dog," "Cat," and "Bear."
Is this normal?
I just don't know. All I know is that it's super cute and really very funny. Since she learned it once, I know the ability is there. I guess neighing and cock-a-doodle-dooing is just more fun than boring old words in much the same way that playing with puzzles at 3am is just more fun than sleeping.
Over the weekend we had Conner and Deborah and Ryan and Andrew over (and their parents, Jeff, Ana, Cindy and Paul). It was a lot of fun to see all the kids
Our family sure does make good kids! Austin, Melanie, Conner, Ryan, Deborah, Andrew and Signa. And I don't know Myron, Britney, Paige and JD very well, but I would be willing to bet big money that they are just as much fun and just as cute.
Next weekend is Signa's birthday. I'm still having trouble with the whole concept that our girl is going to be two years old. She is really still just my little itty bitty baby.
Posted by Debbie at 03:59 PM | Comments (1)
September 10, 2004
Pretend
8 days until Signa's birthday. You'd think she'd be talking more, but it's just words and pointing at the thing she's naming.
She's still cute, though.
She has decided that something on her head is okay, but only if it makes her look like a duck. We ran out of clean towels and so Marc used a bathrobe that we have as decoration (because I thought she hated things that went over her head). It is really more like a cape with a built in hat and the head is a duck. Well, she quacked at herself in the mirror for about five minutes and then went into her room and quacked at each thing in there.
We introduced the word, "Pretend". Well, Melanie did when she was over. So now I think Signa really gets it. She parrots it back as the "p" sound followed by the "t" sound. Pah t. And she even does fake sleeping. If only it were REAL sleeping...
Anyway, because she was so happy with being a pretend duck, we figured we would try her Supergirl costume on (little boy Superman pjs). I need to get her a skirt, but the top is still cute with just a diaper. She thought she was the coolest thing ever.
In other news (that I wanted to write down before now), my dad is miraculously doing well. He felt good last month and his kidney numbers were so high that they couldn't believe he felt okay. Now this month they went DOWN and he still feels good. I'm so very happy. More than happy. Every time I think of it, I smile a big stupid grin.
I can't wait to go see him again. Plus Signa's better with kisses and hugs now, so I want him and Grandma Molly to get some. A friend on my baby email list had some bad news about her dad yesterday and it just makes me want to run to mine super fast. I wish they'd hurry up and invent those Star Trek beaming things so that I could just pop in and out of Oregon every day.
Well, I'll try to be more interesting next week. When I went to exercise the other night, Signa wandered the house after I left making I-don't-know arms and saying, "Gone!" That's how I feel today: gone! I'm super tired.
Posted by Debbie at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)
September 07, 2004
Pictures Pictures Pictures
I uploaded the pictures from August and thought about uploading the pictures from this last weekend with Melanie, but decided to keep to my once-a-month upload.
Did I mention how much fun I had with Mel? Did I mention how I want to be six again so that I can go to school with her and be her best friend?
If only...
Anyway, next month you'll get to see the wonderful things she did with my hair for our fancy tea party. What a blast.
In other weekend news, we had a bunch of friends over for the Labor Day holiday. Charlie, Bob, Scott, Cathleen, Kenneth, Niki, Diane and Michael. Totally fun. We played Scene It and ate a lot. Signa was cranky when they came because it was naptime, cranky when she woke up because it was dinner time and then they left. They must have a great impression of her...
Anyway, she got her first birthday presents- stuffed Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman and the Spidergirl on the boat, all from Bob. She is in heaven.
I also got great gifts for my (belated) birthday: a photo album for my scrapbooking and a gift card from Borders. Awesome gifts! Thanks, Bob and Scott!
In sleeping news, Signa was up at 3am on Sunday night for 2.5 hours and then last night didn't go to bed until something like 1am? Not even sure as I left her with Marc. Poor Marc. Sunday night we got up and watched a really bad Star Trek movie that was on AMC and totally enjoyed it. Last night I don't think Marc was enjoying his Signa time... It's so hard when she's not tired. And even harder when she is.
Posted by Debbie at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)
September 04, 2004
Six is the Best
We didn't shop (much), nor did we get our nails done or make soap, but we did about 406 other things that were way more fun- Like a fancy tea party (and I even got my hair done up by the Famous Hairdresser Melanie!) and lots of Fisher Price toys all over with the two little Fisher Price girls riding all the trains and buses together. We also played with our babies (my very beat-up doll from when I was a baby, Mel's My Little Pony Baby that we got at the store), played house with Signa (who was VERY confused by all the pretend), and school.
School was the only hard one, as Melanie wanted to have (pretend) nap breaks all the time and I was really into trying to actually DO school. We had one anger fit (Melanie's, not mine) when I refused to take yet another nap in a 4-minute period, but once I heard that the anger was real and not pretend, I fixed it. The rest of the day went perfectly.
After dinner (chicken, broccoli and macaroni and cheese, we went to the old fashioned ice cream parlor for sundaes. Mel had strawberry, my mom had hot fudge and Marc and I had caramel. Signa ate so much sugar that her eyes were even dilated and she was acting like a mad woman.
We had baths and brushed our teeth when we got home and then had some quiet time in the living room while we wound down for bed. Although she didn't go to bed until later than her normal time, she really was never cranky or acting tired, so I think it was probably okay.
Melanie's mom and dad are picking her up in the morning. It's unbelievable how much fun I had. Playing with a 6-year-old makes you act six. And acting six makes you feel six. I had more fun that I've had in a very long time and I keep thanking Mel for giving me a great day. I told her it was like practice for when Signa is six, but really, it was just fun for what it was... A wonderful day with my very most favorite six-year-old girl in the world.
Posted by Debbie at 11:10 PM | Comments (1)
September 02, 2004
I Remembered!
I remembered what I wanted to write down. Gymboree! We went to a "test" Gymboree on Saturday to make sure Signa liked it before signing up. Since my mom already gave me a check for it as Signa's birthday present, I sure hoped she did like it. We went in and had to take off our shoes in the front area. Signa saw the back area and tried to get there fast. We stopped her and she just made whiny gimme hands at the gate.
We finally got our shoes off and our name tags on and went in. There is a whole big play area and, in the GymRunners class, they just every once in a while do a group activity. When we went in, Signa ran from here to there to there and back again. There were balls everywhere and mats everywhere and THINGS everywhere. She was in heaven.
And then the class started. The lady made super happy perky yelling and a shook a tambourine and Signa gave us a scared look and ran for the gate. We caught her and took her over to the class part, which she really wanted nothing to do with. At any of the times. The one she was most into was when they brought out the big parachute, but she wouldn't sit with the kids, preferring to be with us. Of course, when the "teacher" put the parachute away, she had a tantrum, but she is (almost) 2. It's okay.
In other things, she just started coming up behind me or even in front of me and giving me a great big tight hug around my legs. Sometimes she'll just run into my arms for a big one and she'll pat my back with her little baby arm. So sweet.
I wouldn't call her cuddly, but she is very loving. It just has to be on HER terms (except boobies- she'll take those on any terms!).
She has become a Superman fan, as well as Spiderman, lately. She watches the old Superman cartoons, the old Superman movie serials, the Superman movie with Christopher Reeves, anything Superman. All we have to do is say the word, "Superman" and she starts flying things around the house saying, "Woooosh!" I still don't know if she knows the difference between Superman and the Rocketeer, but I guess it doesn't really matter.
Marc called me yesterday morning to tell me that the Sesame Street letter of the day is "Y" and that Signa went to the refrigerator and got the Y magnet and took it to the television.
So what if she doesn't talk. She can READ (practically).
And the other day when she was the extra super special fun girl? It was pretty much a fluke. She was monster baby yesterday. The teeth. It's the teeth. I just know it.
Posted by Debbie at 02:08 PM | Comments (0)