Went out to lunch today with a coworker, been a long time since I accepted that kind of invitation and it was nice. I ate enough food to last me through supper, though... another good reason why I try to keep away from that habit (I usually bring ramen noodles or a simple sandwich etc then spend half the hour allotment doing some craft or etc.) Mark fried up the week's worth of chicken and Esme demolished her playhouse box during that time. Poor Daddy! I saw ducks migrating across the highway today on my way to work - and it is supposed to freeze down to 23 degrees tonight.
Esme is wearing her sunglasses tonight and she looks very 'rockstar'. She even wore them in the bathtub!
Last night we were playing blocks all together. There are like thirty of the little blue blocks, give or take some. Esme was counting them and she got up to nine, and then she couldn't remember 'ten', so everything was 'some-teen'/'thirteen','some-teen' etc etc all the way down the line. She realized it was funny after a minute and rolled around laughing. Daddy and I were impressed even by nine :)
Friday, November 05, 2010
Thursday, November 04, 2010
Third birthday party
We had a birthday 'party' at Grandma and Grandpa's again this year. Mark took LOTS of pictures, of which only a few are here. I love some of the 'sequence' shots he got of her with her cake and the flashlight. This year she knows what a 'birthday cake' and a 'birthday party' is. I told her last night she would have a birthday cake today and she was VERY excited about it. She watched me make the cake this morning (eggs - you crack!) And then she was very excited about going to see Grandma and Grandpa.
Frosting!
She blew out her candles (again and again and again! She even had Grandma in the kitchen two more times to pretend birthday candles again.) and ate some ice cream but very little of the cake. Then she got to open her presents. Grandma and Grandpa got her a Clifford collection of DVDs, which she has been watching here at home and isn't quite sure why she hasn't seen them before. They also got her a bag of BIG balloons and a Clifford book. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa :) We got her some socks, the box of blocks, a handmade shirt from Mumum (clifford pattern, she wasn't sure what to make of that either), a balloon, some little wind-up dinosaurs that were on the clearance rack and some cow things a friend at work had given to me to pass along to Esme. She was enraptured with the cow flashlight and figuring out how it worked. It moos and shines the light out of it's mouth when the switch is pushed, but sometimes can be made to moo and turn on by jiggling the mouth while it is forced open. She says the dinosaurs are 'dragons' and she likes them very much.
birthday dragons
'It goes MOO.'
How do you do that?
Grandma wearing a pair of sunglasses from Gwen
And the playhouse. She LOVES the 'box house', and has been all over the idea since she first saw it. Definitely worth a little bit of time invested in it. It was very easy to make because it is all one big box, with just some cuts made in it and painted.
'Come in, Grandma!'
She was ducking and coming back up to blow a noisemaker at us from inside the playhouse :) She also threw all her present bows out of the house at Grandma and for a while they had a bow fight.
Coralling ballooons
At Grandma's house it was a corral for balloons. At our house, it has become a corral for cats! Hmm.. kind of expected that :)
She drug the playhouse around the room, and her Daddy around the room.. and Grandma around the house. She said she had a balloon, and this was Esme's birthday PARTY, and that it was beautiful :) I'm sure she meant the balloon was beautiful but the whole day is, too :)
Happy birthday Esme, and thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for having a wonderful time again with all of us together.
LATER: She got to go for a chicken leg for supper, and a lollipop. The sunset was beautiful. We really wished we'd brought the camera for that, and to catch the picture of her asleep with her second chicken leg still in hand strapped into her carseat when we got home.
She blew out her candles (again and again and again! She even had Grandma in the kitchen two more times to pretend birthday candles again.) and ate some ice cream but very little of the cake. Then she got to open her presents. Grandma and Grandpa got her a Clifford collection of DVDs, which she has been watching here at home and isn't quite sure why she hasn't seen them before. They also got her a bag of BIG balloons and a Clifford book. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa :) We got her some socks, the box of blocks, a handmade shirt from Mumum (clifford pattern, she wasn't sure what to make of that either), a balloon, some little wind-up dinosaurs that were on the clearance rack and some cow things a friend at work had given to me to pass along to Esme. She was enraptured with the cow flashlight and figuring out how it worked. It moos and shines the light out of it's mouth when the switch is pushed, but sometimes can be made to moo and turn on by jiggling the mouth while it is forced open. She says the dinosaurs are 'dragons' and she likes them very much.
And the playhouse. She LOVES the 'box house', and has been all over the idea since she first saw it. Definitely worth a little bit of time invested in it. It was very easy to make because it is all one big box, with just some cuts made in it and painted.
At Grandma's house it was a corral for balloons. At our house, it has become a corral for cats! Hmm.. kind of expected that :)
She drug the playhouse around the room, and her Daddy around the room.. and Grandma around the house. She said she had a balloon, and this was Esme's birthday PARTY, and that it was beautiful :) I'm sure she meant the balloon was beautiful but the whole day is, too :)
Happy birthday Esme, and thank you to Grandma and Grandpa for having a wonderful time again with all of us together.
LATER: She got to go for a chicken leg for supper, and a lollipop. The sunset was beautiful. We really wished we'd brought the camera for that, and to catch the picture of her asleep with her second chicken leg still in hand strapped into her carseat when we got home.
Wednesday, November 03, 2010
Esme at three years old
She will have her birthday party tomorrow... but wanted to catch some of her real personality and thought process today.
Interest and focus
At three
I worked hard to get a shot from this angle because.. (see below)
compared with at two years... much more chin now.
Always with the animals...
And capturing the intent and concentration she has daily...
I worked hard to get a shot from this angle because.. (see below)
Please Thank you and You're Welcome cookie cow
Someone at work gave Esme a cow cookie jar yesterday, as well as a cow flashlight I put away for her birthday tomorrow. The lady said she was going to throw it away because it was chipped, but she heard Esme liked cows so she wanted me to see if I would take it home for her. I did, and Esme does like it (naturally, she is pretty easygoing). The cow has apples molded all around his feet - and Esme picks up an apple (in pretend) and gives it to the cow to eat. Then the 'cow' says 'thank you' and Esme says 'you're welcome cow.' And then she pets it on the head 'good cow.' She also asks the cow 'please' if she can have a graham cracker from inside and then says the 'thank you' and 'you're welcome' afterward. Silly and very very cute.
We're getting things ready for the birthday tomorrow - a few things left in town during our regular grocery run, bake the cake etc... Esme might be sporting a nice bruise in her birthday pictures tomorrow. She tried to ride Tansy dog and fell off as soon as she got on (with help from the dog). She smacked her forehead on the floor but said she was 'okay.. okay.. BAD DOG you go OUT.. I okay.. I okay....' The way she says that last part is very funny - with one hand out like some celebrity saying 'no pictures please'.
I'm printing out excerpts from the last month to send to my mom in Minnesota. I do write a lot! This past month takes up eighteen pages in 12 point font. She'll have to get someone else to read some parts of it for her (small text, some technical words), but I know my aunt will be able to summarize it and I don't want to 'edit' it and lose anything.
Another odd game Esme plays: We will descend or ascend the staircase and she will match our feet and then take her own turn to change how her feet sit on the next step - and watch to see if we match it. Example: We go down two steps and land on the lower step with our right foot and the upper step with the left foot. Then she matches, and puts both feet on the next step - waits for us to match, then steps back up one step, waits for us to match, then we take a turn etc. Silly... but maybe she'll learn to dance one day by watching someone else's feet :)
We're getting things ready for the birthday tomorrow - a few things left in town during our regular grocery run, bake the cake etc... Esme might be sporting a nice bruise in her birthday pictures tomorrow. She tried to ride Tansy dog and fell off as soon as she got on (with help from the dog). She smacked her forehead on the floor but said she was 'okay.. okay.. BAD DOG you go OUT.. I okay.. I okay....' The way she says that last part is very funny - with one hand out like some celebrity saying 'no pictures please'.
I'm printing out excerpts from the last month to send to my mom in Minnesota. I do write a lot! This past month takes up eighteen pages in 12 point font. She'll have to get someone else to read some parts of it for her (small text, some technical words), but I know my aunt will be able to summarize it and I don't want to 'edit' it and lose anything.
Another odd game Esme plays: We will descend or ascend the staircase and she will match our feet and then take her own turn to change how her feet sit on the next step - and watch to see if we match it. Example: We go down two steps and land on the lower step with our right foot and the upper step with the left foot. Then she matches, and puts both feet on the next step - waits for us to match, then steps back up one step, waits for us to match, then we take a turn etc. Silly... but maybe she'll learn to dance one day by watching someone else's feet :)
Monday, November 01, 2010
Frog toy on diaper change station
While I was at work. Esme was playing with her toys nicely while Mark was reading a book. He heard her playing 'diaper change' with her frog, and then he looked again and he saw this.
frog diaper change
Baby powder, LOTS of baby powder. Mark didn't even have to yell at her, he just got the camera. She was so ashamed she wouldn't look his way at all. Then Mark took Mr.Frog outside and smacked him on the porch until the powder was mostly gone. Poor poor frog got doused and then beat up!
He's gotten a dress and pants this week as well, been forced to eat homemade french fries WITH ketchup, and been told daily that he stinks and needs a butt change - and at night when he is sleeping next to her on her pillow she tells him 'go sleep frog - don't poop.'
In other News: I put the sleeves on the green dress - may take them off and try again. It isn't bad though, overall. I made most of the alterations to the paper pattern (still need to adjust the front neckline a bit) and will be ready for another run at it later in the week. I painted several more sides of the playhouse and picked up some bigger socks and a cheap wind-up toy pack for Esme's birthday stuff. Even the 3-5 year socks look small, I hope they fit. Need to get her a can of frosting (what flavor?) for the cake and want to get her a mylar balloon because every time she asks for one at the store I tell her 'it's not your birthday' HAHA poor kid :) She should get one on her birthday to validate that!
Baby powder, LOTS of baby powder. Mark didn't even have to yell at her, he just got the camera. She was so ashamed she wouldn't look his way at all. Then Mark took Mr.Frog outside and smacked him on the porch until the powder was mostly gone. Poor poor frog got doused and then beat up!
He's gotten a dress and pants this week as well, been forced to eat homemade french fries WITH ketchup, and been told daily that he stinks and needs a butt change - and at night when he is sleeping next to her on her pillow she tells him 'go sleep frog - don't poop.'
In other News: I put the sleeves on the green dress - may take them off and try again. It isn't bad though, overall. I made most of the alterations to the paper pattern (still need to adjust the front neckline a bit) and will be ready for another run at it later in the week. I painted several more sides of the playhouse and picked up some bigger socks and a cheap wind-up toy pack for Esme's birthday stuff. Even the 3-5 year socks look small, I hope they fit. Need to get her a can of frosting (what flavor?) for the cake and want to get her a mylar balloon because every time she asks for one at the store I tell her 'it's not your birthday' HAHA poor kid :) She should get one on her birthday to validate that!
here and there
Mark got sick the other night - and I wasn't feeling too good yesterday, which has wandered some into today. I think I have myself a bit better now -- at least I haven't actually thrown up - headache, stomach pains and general 'something is not quite right in Denmark' feelings. He did throw up, a few times. Esme seems fine, for now. She has been her usual sweet active bubbly yet sometimes stubborn self. She is downing food at an extraordinary rate again, cereal, yogurt, poptarts, fish sticks, crackers and chips, milk, juice, more cereal, pizza, raw pepperoni, applesauce.... she just keeps pointing at her mouth and saying 'Esme hungry - put food here'.. sometimes LITERALLY that is what she says *haha*.
She gave me an entire demonstration of what making a pizza looks like last night to encourage me to make one for her. It was quite amusing. She knows where they are, where they go, that you 'get up there and go 'push push push'' on the oven and then you look at it - check on it - say beep beep - go get a hot pad, pretend to open the oven, put it up there with the buttons, then get plates and eat pizza saying thank you thank you you're welcome this is GOOD.
She has been watching 'Between the Lions' clips on youtube with me. She really likes the 'Chicken Jane' bits, but there are only eight of those. She points her little finger at the pictures and says 'this one? Chicken Jane?' The poor chicken gets hurt in every episode saving the two children. She thinks it is SO funny...
She was 'signing autographs and blowing kisses' last night with a pad of pink paper and a marker. She would scribble on it, kiss the scribble and then make a big deal of throwing the paper in the air and either watch it flutter or get on to the next one. Cheap entertainment - hope she doesn't think that extends to anything but the pink notepad!
I took up the hems on some shirt sleeves for a lady at work. I wish I could have done better with it. I guess it is a learning experience. She wants to know how much I want for it... I'm thinking the equivalent of a few spools of thread, 4 to 6 dollars. They hang exactly where her model shirt does - look decent, but not entirely professional straight-line thread etc... I'm very hard on myself.
I just have to make it through today and tomorrow - and then get Wednesday and Thursday off. Thursday is Esme's birthday! I need to finish the paint on the playhouse as well.
She gave me an entire demonstration of what making a pizza looks like last night to encourage me to make one for her. It was quite amusing. She knows where they are, where they go, that you 'get up there and go 'push push push'' on the oven and then you look at it - check on it - say beep beep - go get a hot pad, pretend to open the oven, put it up there with the buttons, then get plates and eat pizza saying thank you thank you you're welcome this is GOOD.
She has been watching 'Between the Lions' clips on youtube with me. She really likes the 'Chicken Jane' bits, but there are only eight of those. She points her little finger at the pictures and says 'this one? Chicken Jane?' The poor chicken gets hurt in every episode saving the two children. She thinks it is SO funny...
She was 'signing autographs and blowing kisses' last night with a pad of pink paper and a marker. She would scribble on it, kiss the scribble and then make a big deal of throwing the paper in the air and either watch it flutter or get on to the next one. Cheap entertainment - hope she doesn't think that extends to anything but the pink notepad!
I took up the hems on some shirt sleeves for a lady at work. I wish I could have done better with it. I guess it is a learning experience. She wants to know how much I want for it... I'm thinking the equivalent of a few spools of thread, 4 to 6 dollars. They hang exactly where her model shirt does - look decent, but not entirely professional straight-line thread etc... I'm very hard on myself.
I just have to make it through today and tomorrow - and then get Wednesday and Thursday off. Thursday is Esme's birthday! I need to finish the paint on the playhouse as well.
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