rummage sales

We took Esme out to rummage sales today. She grabbed a pair of Fisher Price roller skates from a box of toys. I thought at first they would be 'too old' for her - as in she would need to grow into them. However, then I remembered that there were often times I thought back to items I wish I would have bought and saved for later. When we got home she wanted to put them on her feet. When we did put them on her she cried and screamed to have them back off, but is happy to vroom them around like a car.

We also found a Tigger doll and a few other random toys for later. We bought Esme a shake and some chicken which she ate and drank like a big girl in her car seat. I was quite impressed with her eating skills. She fell asleep halfway home with a french fry still sticking out of her mouth. I wish we could have gotten a picture of it!

Esme is a ham

And Mark gave me a really nice gift for Mother's Day (besides Esme) - some yarn and candy and a copy of the Goonies. Thanks Mark ;) Now I have to think hard for Father's Day.

Rainy weekend and 18 month stats

climbing and coloring on boxes in a junk corner of the workshop after her bath

It was raining all weekend, and with the fears of getting sick going around we opted for a weekend at home doing nothing much. Esme was pretty upset about not getting to go visiting or outside - she brought me her jacket and shoes many times. We went to Starfall a lot, drew on the easel and played with letters in the kitchen. She is making some progress on different letters than 'E' and 'O'!




Mark gave her a 'stylish new look' the other day in plaid and a black belt (of mine). The handiwork on the easel is not all hers, the spirals on the right were drawn by me.

And she has grown out of her 18 month old sleepers. It has been cold so I dug out this 24 month one that was stashed in the 'future' box. She thought green stripes was really cool!

some things I heard from her this weekend 'book' (not just her 'read this' approximation), 'ear', 'pat kay'(patty cake), 'green' and 'orange' again - it's been a long time since I heard her say any color words. We were going through crayons in the bathtub and later I was showing her all the green things that matched her new pajamas.

Tomorrow she is 18 months old! We did her 'stats' at home - 26 lbs, 31.5 inches (maybe a bit more but she is still wiggly) and 19 inch head circumference, not a lot of difference physically from her 15 month stats. But wow - she has come a long way in three months! Her vocabulary has more than tripled and she understands so much more about how things work and how to communicate what she wants to do/have etc...

Note: She has grown out of those sleepers - so she has to be a little taller than before, right? She fit into them fine then and now they are too short on her. She almost fits into her 24 month pants but they are just a little long on her. We're going to have to pin her down and measure her better ;)

More childrens songs

There are two songs I have heard two different versions - of course they are very common children's songs so you may recognize one or the other of the versions as the one you grew up with.

Patty Cake (yes!) - Esme really likes this now so here are the two versions I've heard.
'Patty Cake - Patty Cake, Baker's Man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can,
Roll it up Roll it up, put it in the pan,
Patty Cake - Patty Cake, Baker's Man'

Patty Cake - Patty Cake, Baker's Man
Bake me a cake as fast as you can,
Roll it, and pat it, and mark it with a 'B',
and put it in the oven for Baby and me (squeal and hug baby)

My mom told me the second version and Mark's mom told him the first one. Esme likes both of them.

One, Two, Buckle my shoe
Three, Four Out the Door
Five, Six, Pick up Sticks
Seven, Eight, Lay them Straight
Nine, Ten, Do it Again (do it a-gain...)

And the other version
One, Two, Buckle my shoe
Three, Four, Out the Door,
Five, Six, Pick Up Sticks,
Seven, Eight, Shut the Gate,
Nine, Ten, A Big Fat Hen!

A little stunned

I took the puppy out this morning after the rainstorm that had lasted all day yesterday. It was before anyone else was up - except the puppy of course. She woke me up by whimpering by the side of my bed and trying to wake Esme up in lieu of us. I slipped in the mud and fell backwards onto a tree - slamming pretty hard under the back of one shoulderblade. I'm glad that was the place I hit - as I'm just a little stunned with a sore back. If I'd hit my head that hard on the tree I'd probably still be out there lying in the mud *whew!* I'm also glad the puppy didn't get in the way when I was falling - that would have been awful too!

The Other day at Grandma's House

The other day at Grandma's house I thought we had a different kid! Not really, but Esme showed a few new abilities and tendencies. She drank from a straw for more than just 'by accident' - and was happy about it. She also said (although not very clearly) a word that sounded like Gramma, but she said it for Grandpa too. She also sat at a chair to eat some pudding from the table height - and was very very proud of that. So proud that ever since she did that up there she has been getting into a chair here and pounding on our kitchen table. We don't eat at that table - and the chair isn't quite the right height for her, but she tries anyway.

Esme also did something very strange while sitting at Grandma's table. It took a few days for me to get a good explanation of it. I put her Cheerios on a napkin and she put the napkin in her lap and wiped her pudding-covered hands on it. That looked like a very grown-up manner she would have not seen in our house, or even in Grandma's house. But she did it anyway, and repeated it here at home as well when I put Cheerios on a paper towel. I got an explanation yesterday - Mark has been putting a paper towel in her lap in her 'high' chair here at home to catch spaghetti sauce etc... so Esme took the napkin on the table as needing to go in her lap like Daddy had done. I hadn't seen that habit either as he usually does it when I'm not home -- when I'm home she gets messy and I take her off for a bath immediately after supper.

She is turning into such a "little person" - with lots of habits, thought processes and ideas about how the world should work. She knows about faucets and doorknobs and cabinets - about the refrigerator, dishwasher, dryer, ziploc bags and shoes - toys and books and how to get Mom to sing songs and visit Starfall.com and how to get a piece of paper and put it on her easel etc etc... it is so hard to believe sometimes that a year and a half ago she was a tiny little 8 lb baby unable to even hold her head up!