Snow White Barbie

Heidi has been driving me CRAZY about getting her a Snow White Barbie doll the past day or two. She keeps telling me to just go to the store and buy one. Tonight, I went to the store and got her one, but she won't get to actually have it until Christmas Day (our Christmas day will be the day after Brian gets home from Iraq... around the 29th). She still keeps asking for a Snow White doll, so I just told her once that she needed to ask Santa for one and maybe he would give her one, so tonight, she was trying to get me to take her to see Santa.... then she kept saying "Santa gimme Snow White doll... ask Santa... please."
This evening, we watched The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and Heidi told me that the little blonde haired, blue-eyed two-year-old in the movie was her. I guess it does look kind of like a cartoon version of her (same age, same eye & hair color)... She has gotten into picking a character she is when she watches movies. She is usually the princess. She sometimes will tell me something like "My name's Pocahontas and you are John Smith... come dance with me." (That's what she told me yesterday)... and then we dance around the living room for a couple of minutes.

Tonight we also read Dr Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham for about the millionth time! She really likes that book. We also read The Very Hungry Caterpiller (she likes to try to count and put her fingers in the holes on the pictures of food in the book).

I guess that is all for now. I can't think of anything else interesting about our day to write about.

Climbing

Last night after I gave Heidi her bath (before bedtime), I told her to go into her room and pick two books while I pick-up in the bathroom. That is our usual routine. We usually pick two books to read every night at bedtime. I saw her walk into her room, so I thought she might go get some books out... so I went on with my picking up in the bathroom....

Well, a couple of minutes later (after I had finished picking up the bathroom), I walked into Heidi's room and saw her sitting on top of her changing table! There are 3 drawers & she had pulled out the middle drawer and used it to climb up to sit on the top of the changing table. Then, I guess she opened the top drawer and pulled the baby powder (which we rarely use) out and had started putting it on herself. I was shocked to find her there... it was the first time she had gotten up there by herself. She was laughing when I walked in. I think she was pretty proud of her accomplishment.

When Brian gets home, we need to lower her crib all of the way down too... or maybe just go ahead and make it into a toddler bed. It's down pretty low now, but she tries to get out and I have found her up on the side rail... and have to put her back into the crib... so it's kind of dangerous right now. I don't think I can lower it though. I would be afraid I would ruin it somehow.... and Brian made it, so I don't want to chance that happening.

"I need some more Barbies Mom..."

I was sitting in the computer room writing Brian an email this evening while Heidi was playing in the living room when she decided to come in and tell me that she needed more Barbies...

Heidi: Mom I need some more Barbies... c'mon Mom, Let's go shopping... c'mon Mom c'mon... Let's go to the store and buy more.

Me: I'm sorry, but we can't go to the store and buy you more Barbies right now. Maybe if you ask Santa, he might bring you one for Christmas. He likes to bring presents to kids on Christmas day, so maybe if you ask him, he might give you a Barbie for Christmas...

Heidi: Okay, Santa Claus... Barbie

... so maybe if we see Santa again, she will ask for a Barbie next time (instead of asking for her Daddy, like she did last week in the mall).

Our Car Accident Yesterday

Yesterday on our way to Wal-Mart to print out our Christmas cards (with a picture of Heidi), I was sitting at a red light on Fort Hood Street with my eyes on the light... just waiting for it to change to green... when all of the sudden, I felt our car get hit by a big blue truck. Luckily it didn't hit us very hard because he started the hit on the door where Heidi sits in her carseat... and ended the hit on the front passenger door. I don't really understand what he was doing because he t-boned us. I don't understand how the FRONT of his car hit the SIDE of our car while we were sitting at a red light. He said he was trying to go around someone, but it still doesn't make sense to me. I talked to his insurance company and now I need to take care of getting it repaired and get a rental car. This is frustrating me because I also have a bunch of other things I need to be doing this week and next. Oh well. I guess it could have been worse. I am just glad he didn't hit us very hard because it would have probably hurt Heidi if he had because he hit right where she was).

Heidi's Visit With Santa

It has been about a month since I have written anything here, so I thought I would add something tonight. Last week, I took Heidi to the mall and Santa was there, so we stopped by to say hello to him. Heidi sat on his lap and when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas this year, she paused for a few seconds and then, with a very serious face, she said "Bring Daddy bad home." Santa said something like "I'm sorry, but I can't do that, but he will be home as soon as his time is up over there." I think when he asked her if she wanted anything else, she just said no.

She has been asking where Daddy is a LOT lately, so I have been telling her for the last couple of months that Daddy will be home when it is Chrismtas. Well, he is supposed to be home around the 29th or 30th of December (after Christmas), but we are planning on celebrating after he gets home anyway. Heidi won't know the difference. However, I think she is thinking it is now Christmas, so she wants to know where her Daddy is. She has been getting upset about it too... and she wants him home. I guess it does seem like it is Christmas now because she has seen Santa Claus & we have our Christmas tree and decorations up around the house. She just doesn't understand. It will really be nice to finally have him home again.

Too Stressed!

I have been too stressed lately! I just have too much going on with being a mom, an FRG leader, a friend (not so good one right now though, as I am either sick a lot lately or just never available), sick a lot lately... oh, have I already mentioned that?... and constantly babysitting for people at the last minute... which makes it tough to cross the 10 million things to do off of my to-do lists. I got frustrated with someone today when they didn't show up and they were supposed to meet with me so I could sign for a building that we are using for our company garage sale tomorrow. She told me to meet her at 3pm, so I was there 10'till 3pm. I waited until 10 min after 3pm... and left very frustrated. I went home made and called the housing office and the community building office and left not-so-friendly messages explaining my situation and letting them know they needed to call me back and meet me up there to give me a key. We were not even home long enough today for Heidi to get a nap! Poor baby! We stopped by the house a couple of times... and one time we had lunch... and one time for a little while I babysat at our house. I have just hardly been home. Well, it is now 2:22am. I guess I should try to get some sleep. I just thought maybe I would feel a little better if I wrote a little to explain SOME of my frustrations. It just seems like I cannot accomplish everything that I want to do every day. I just finished making garage sale signs for our company. I still need to load up my car with things to take and get a diaper bag ready for tomorrow... and then need to be in the car ready to go at 5:45am, so I really don't know what the point of going to bed at this time would be. Anyway, I'm just looking forward to a day off .... when I am not sick... and I really want this cold to go away that I have had for what seems to have been over two weeks now.

Leah?

While we were in the commissary this evening at the Midnight Madness sale, Heidi kept asking me what my name was (What's your name?)... and I would say "My name is Mommy. What's your name?" Then, she kept telling me "Leah. Name's Leah." Then she would laugh.... and say "silly Heidi" while doing the sign for "silly." She was being silly. She was pretty good in the commissary... better than she usually is. Usually, I have to fight to keep her strapped in the seat part of the cart. And, if I put her in the cart, she either starts throwing things out or she sometimes even tries to climb out. She thinks she can put her legs over the side and get out, but she doesn't realize that her legs won't reach the ground... and she could fall and really get hurt. Shopping with her is usually a struggle. This evening, though, she was actually pretty well behaved and acted a little silly telling me that her name was Leah over and over again.

I did get a few things that were on sale tonight. I got Huggies diapers on sale 50% off (4 packs). I also got a 13 pound turkey for $5.... and a few other things that I am sure nobody is probably interested in hearing about (ordinary grocery items).

Didn't miss a number...

Yesterday, Heidi counted to 10 without skipping a number. I really don't know how she learned to count to TEN! She had been counting to TWO for the longest time... and just kept starting over if there were more than two objects to count. I had just been trying to get her to count to THREE! But when she finally started counting to three, she didn't just stop there... she kept going to NINE and then to TEN a couple of days later! I was shocked since I haven't been teaching her to count that high. I think maybe she saw something once on tv that helped her learn them.

She is still napping right now. I have chicken in the oven and am making green beans. When she wakes up, we will eat some chicken and then we are going to try to go to the Midnight Madness sale at the commissary! I need to buy some toilet paper and some papertowels anyway. Maybe we will find some good deals while we are there. It is from 6pm-12am. We will probably go about 6pm though. I don't want to keep Heidi up too late. :)

Tonight's Counting...

Tonight, Heidi just started counting... "2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10."

She always misses one number... tonight it was #1.

Brian found out that he did not get into the acquisition corp today, so I guess he will be getting out of the army. It is a little scary because we don't know what he will do or where we will go. He doesn't know if he wants to go back to school or just find a job somewhere. It is especially scary because I was hoping to have another baby next year, so I hope he can at least find a job with some good insurance! His command is up in April and it takes 6 months for his papers to go through.... so he might be out this spring or summer sometime. I guess we will have to see what happens! We just don't want to be apart every other year.... and right now, I think they are on a schedule (at least at this post) to be home 12 months, gone 15, home 12, gone 15, etc.... so this is for the best.

Halloween 2007

Heidi went trick-or-treating dressed as Snow White tonight. She had a lot of fun. I don't think she was afraid of anyone that she saw. There were some things that she had to stop and stare at for a while though. I got a lot of cute pictures of her in her costume to send to Brian, so he can see his little princess all dressed up.

Before we went, though, Heidi did NOT want to put on her costume. When we bought it, she was just dying to wear it, but I told her we had to save it for Halloween. Today was finally Halloween, so I got it out for her to wear... but she just kept telling me NO, and that she was not going to wear it. Instead, she went back to the dirty clothes closet in the bathroom and pulled out a dirty dress and started dancing around the living room with it. She said that she wanted to wear this dirty dress instead. Of course, she did not really understand what Halloween was all about... so I had to call Grandma Holly up to tell her to put on her costume and bribe her with a piece of chocolate to let me get it on her.

When we went outside (after I got her dressed in her Snow White costume and red sparkly shoes), and she ran over next door to play with Amy (our neighbor). Then, we started our trick-or-treating for the night. Heidi definitely had a fun night. We handed back out some of her candy when we were finished... along with some that we had bought. I did leave some in her pumpkin basket for her though.

Ten!

Yesterday, Heidi even made it counting to TEN!

When I tell Heidi that she is smart, she says "Heidi's smart" and does the sign for smart. :)

Last night, we were in the car driving to Wal-Mart and Heidi put her fingers in her ears and was asking me if I could hear her. She is so silly! I guess she must have seen someone plug their ears... and maybe someone asked them if they could hear them? She must have seen that from somewhere.

Heidi Counts to NINE!...sort of... and she isn't even two yet!

Heidi has been counting to two for a long while now. I have been trying to get her to count to three. A few days ago, I thought I heard her counting in the car to six, but thought she may not be able to do it again... and she didn't want to do it for me when I asked her to. Well, today on the phone when we were talking to Grandpa Bob, I asked Heidi to count to two for Grandpa... and she said "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, ... 9." She had counted to 9!!! She missed #8, but I think she did Really well for not even being two-years-old yet!

She is still asking for milk in the mornings when she wakes up too. I guess I still have some milk, but I am not going to feed her. She really had a hard time with not getting any breastmilk this morning. She was not happy with me for a while after she woke up. Oh well, I fed her until she was 23-months-old... I have been trying to wean her since she was 12-months-old. She was lucky she got breastmilk as long as she did. :) Most people don't breastfeed their kids until they can count to nine.

Heidi's Pretend Play Today: The Pig wants to eat BACON?

We were just in the living room playing with Heidi's barn. I was the pig and she was the sheep. First, I put the sheep to bed (hugs, kisses, night nights, etc). Then, the sheep tucked the pig into bed (same thing). Then, the sheep said "wake up pig." I guess it was morning, and it was also time to eat because the sheep was saying "eating time.. cup please." So I, the pig, got the sheep a plastic toy cup to drink from. Then, the sheep said "eating time again." So, I, the pig, asked the sheep "What will you cook for me to eat?" The sheep said back to me, the PIG, "BACON!" haha. I just thought it was funny that the sheep would cook bacon for the pig to eat. Heidi doesn't know that bacon comes from pigs yet. Actually, I don't think she has even ever eaten bacon before. I don't usually buy it. Anyway, just something that I thought was funny from today's pretend play. :)

sick

Days 7 and 8 of the weaning (Sat and Sun) were still sore days. I was sick all night Sunday night (up all night throwing up and spent the night on the bathroom floor in between throwing-ups). Then, Monday morning I was still a little nautious and kind of dizzy... so I just rested most of the day. I even had to cancel something that I was supposed to go do with my FRG yesterday morning. We were going to get together and put together cookie mixes in jars to sell as a fundraiser, but I had to cancel it (because I am the one who has everything except for the jars and I just could not go). Now is it Tuesday morning, and I think I finally do not have anymore milk! ... and so I am NOT sore anymore! YAY! Maybe being so sick and constantly throwing up helped it go away, finally.

Day Six: Heidi wanted milk at naptime...

I am really tired tonight, so I'm not going to write much in my blog. Just wanted to do a quick update on our weaning process. Overall, I think Heidi is doing pretty well now with the weaning. She was pretty tired when she finally went down for a nap, though, (we had two things going on this morning back-to-back, so she was pretty worn out). I think she was just overly tired, so she wanted milk. I didn't give her any. We just rocked and I gave her a sippy cup with water and after a couple of minutes, she was ready for bed. Tonight, she didn't ask me for milk when she went to bed.

Another quick note: We went to a Parents as Teachers playgroup meeting today and made bread (that ended up being too salty... maybe because Heidi was helping pour and stir). She enjoyed the stirring part. She just did not like getting her hands dirty. In that way, she is a lot like me. I remember I didn't like getting dirty when I was younger. Whenver she put her hands into the dough, she would pull them out and see flour and sticky dough on her hands and it just really upset her that her fingers were dirty. I guess she won't be wanting to help me make bread again anytime soon.

Day Five: She did not ask today! ... She also went back to the bathroom and went potty by herself for the first time tonight too!!! YAY!

Today, our fifth day of weaning, is the first day Heidi has not asked for breastmilk. YAY! I am actually still kind of sore too (not as bad as yesterday though... yesterday was the worst!). I hope I stop producing milk soon. How long does it usually take to go away?

Also, tonight when we got home from a church activity, she took her diaper off because it was wet. I was going to put a new one on her, but she didn't want one on and we were watching something on tv for a little while (wind-down time to get her calmed down before bed). So after a couple minutes of trying to get her to let me put a diaper on her and her telling me "No, don't want it," I finally said "Fine, but you need to go to the back to your potty chair if you need to go pee since you won't let me put your diaper on!" After that, I totally forgot that I had not put a diaper on her! She was just sitting there on the couch in a long dress without a diaper on. When I said what I had said, I just thought I would just try again in a couple of minutes, but I just totally forgot about it!

Well, about an hour later I told her it was time to get ready for bed. She ran down the hallway and I thought she was going to her bedroom because she said "book time!" We usually have book time and read a couple of stories before I put her to bed. I got back there maybe a minute or two later to see her walking back out of the DARK bathroom (no lights on/night time) and she said "Mommy, dress wet... off, take it off... wet." There was a small spot on the side that was wet. She seemed a little distressed that her dress was wet. I immediately remembered that I had NOT put a diaper back on her!!!!! My first thought was she must have peed on the floor in the bathroom or something, so I turned on the light and walked in. There was no pee on the floor. Then, I lifted the lid on her potty chair and she had gone back to the bathroom ALL BY HERSELF in the DARK (with a little light in the hallway that was coming from the living room)... and she went pee all by herself!!! I was surprised to find no mess on the floor! This is the first time she has gone to use the potty all by herself! Actually, she has not even gone on it in at least a week. I guess she took me seriously when I told her that if she didn't want to wear a diaper, she had to go use her potty chair. I guess when she sat down on her potty chair in the dark bathroom, she did not get her long dress lifted all the way and must have gotten some pee on it. Of course I let her know how proud I was of her for going back there all by herself when she had to go. She seemed to be really happy when she saw how excited I was that she went back there and used the potty all by herself.

Another Day Without... Poor Heidi

Still no breastmilk for Heidi. This morning was really hard for her. I wouldn't give her breastmilk and she had a tough time accepting it this morning. She was pretty grumpy most of the morning afterwards too. Tonight, though, she didn't ask me for milk... She also didn't want to go to bed in her own bed tonight either. Instead, she asked to go to sleep in "Mommy's bed." I felt kind of bad telling her no, and that she had to go to bed in her own bed. I guess she thought she would see if she could sleep in my room since I wasn't feeding her anymore... If one thing changes, why can't her place of sleep change too? Maybe she just wanted to be close to me, since we aren't having that bonding time that we used to have with breastfeeding. I did rock her for about half a minute and brushed her teeth... and she went to bed in her crib. I would have rocked her a little longer, but she didn't want to. She just wanted to go to bed. I wonder if tomorrow morning will be as tough as this morning was on her. So far, the morning feeding seems to be the hardest for her to give up.

Tonight, we went to a reunion briefing for our brigade. There were maybe 60 spouses or so there. They talked about things like what to expect when our husbands come home (and having unrealistic expectations), the signs of PTSD, how people change over a year, the need for open communication, how and when we will be notified about when/where we will reunite with our soldiers, etc. When Brian gets home, he will not be allowed to drive within 24-hours of his landing back in the states. Also, he will have a three-day pass, but he will not be allowed to leave the 150 mile radius in that time. Then, he will also have different classes/reintegration training that he will need to go to.

Someone asked if it would be okay for them to bring their dog to the meeting place when a flight of soldiers comes in. Then, someone else mentioned how their child was afraid of big dogs. I don't know why someone would feel the need to bring the family dog to pick up their husband/dad who has been gone for 15 months. Also, the dog may poop on the field where we will be reunited and someone may step in it... and then someone will have to smell dog poop on their shoe for the whole ride home. There are going to be probably at least a hundred people/family members at each of the reunions whenever flights get in. Why would someone want to bring their dog into all of that chaos? People are going to be scrambling across a field to find their soldier/family in a mass heard. That's just my opinion though. I guess to some people, their dogs are their kids. I just think the dogs could wait at home for 20 minutes or so.

I had Heidi put into the free day care in the room next door from where the briefing was tonight. It was a LONG meeting... I think we were there for about three hours. They had several speakers (soldiers, a social worker, a family advocacy representative, a dietician, the rear detachment people who will be letting people know their husbands are on their way home, etc). When we walked out of the building, Heidi pointed up to the dark sky and said "Daddy fly-high-in-a-sky in helicoter." She must think he is always up there somewhere flying around, since he isn't here. Poor Heidi.... Mommy is cutting her off (from breastfeeding) and Daddy isn't ever here... Another day without...

Day Three: Still No More Milk...

I am still on sterroids and have 4 days left on them... so still no milk for Heidi. She is also 23-months-old today. This morning and this afternoon, she got a little fussy when I wouldn't feed her breast milk (when she woke up and before nap time). Tonight when I put her to bed, she did not even ask if she could have any. I think I had distracted her from it. We read a couple of books, as we usually do. One of the books we read was an old Golden Book called Baby Dear from 1962. It is a cute little story about a little girl who gets a new baby sister and a new little baby doll. In the story, she and her mother both wash, feed, rock, sing to, walk, change, write about, and talk to their babies. We both held baby dolls and acted out most of these things with the babies. We must have sang Rock-a-bye Baby 5 times before we could move on. Then, I told Heidi that it was time to brush her teeth, which she does not like to do... and she told me "No (pointed to her crib), bed!" I brushed her teeth anyway really quick and then she was ready to get into bed just to get away from the toothbrush. She DID give me a kiss tonight before she went to bed... and I think she gave me a hug too. She also told me "I lub oo." Then, she said "Daddy's bear" (meaning the bear she was holding... the one that Brian gave her when he got off of the airplane when he came home on R&R from Iraq last May... the one that she sleeps with every night cuddled up next to her chest with her arms around it). Then, she said "I lub Daddy... high-in-a-sky ...in helicoter." We saw some more helicopters today in the sky and they reminded her of Daddy today, so I guess she was thinking about him in helicopters again. When we were coloring today, she wanted me to draw a picture of Daddy in a "helicoter high-in-a-sky," so I did. I also told her that Daddy will be coming home soon and will be able to open Christmas presents with us. She doesn't know how far off that is though... and we probably will have to wait to celebrate Christmas after it has already happened.

Day Two: No More Milk...

Heidi actually is doing really well with weaning. No tantrums so far. She asked this morning when she woke up and tonight before she went to bed for milk, but I just said both times "No more milk... Don't you remember, I told you that I wasn't going to be able to feed you anymore?" She kind of made a little noise of complaint this morning, but more like a groan/pout for a few seconds.... and she was fine. Tonight when I put her to bed she sat down on my lap in her rocker and said "Some milk?" I could tell by the way she asked that she wasn't sure, but she thought she would give it a try. I just said "No milk, remember?" Then, she immediately said "BED!" ... and pointed to her crib. She didn't want to rock with me, hug me, or kiss me goodnight. Oh well. At least still no major tantrums.

Finally cuting Heidi off from breastfeeding one month before she turns two!!

Well, Friday morning, I woke up with a really bad rash/hives all over my body and had been itchy most of the day. Saturday morning it was worse! It was so bad that my eyes/eye lids were Very Swollen and it was kind of weird opening my eyes when I woke up. The swelling kind of overlaped my eyes when they were open. My throat had even started swelling and closing up a little. So, I called a friend from church up and asked her if she could watch Heidi while I went into the Family Care Clinic at the hospital here on post to have it checked out. They said that I had come in contact with something that am allergic to. I have not eaten anything out of the ordinary in the last few days and have not used any new soaps/detergents, but the doctor told me that people can develop allergies to things they have never had a problem with before. Who knows, maybe it was even the cinnamon that was in my flavored oatmeal that I had eaten the last couple of mornings for breakfast. The doctor said that, to treat me, he would have to give me a sterroid... and that I would not be able to breastfeed. I said okay, and that I needed a reason to finally cut Heidi off from breastfeeding anyway. She will be 23-months-old in a few days, so it is time.

After a long wait in the hospital pharmacy, I picked up all of my medicine. They gave me some sterroids, some pills to make me stop itching (but i am not going to take them because they will make me sleepy), some medicated cream for the itching, and 2 epipens in case my throat closes up and I can't breath (for emergencies only). I am terrified of needles, so would only use one if my life depended on it.

I did not take anything all day yesterday. I was debating on whether or not to finally do it and just cut Heidi off just to take some sterroids, so I had decided I would wait another day and see if I could get better on my own.

Well, I woke up today even worse. So I fed Heidi her morning feeding and told her that this would be the last time EVER that I would be able to feed her ever because Mommy needs to take some medicine and my milk is going to be bad. And I told her that my milk is going to go away for ever. She looked upset and said "No, mine... My Milk!" .... and she kind of pouted a little. That was her last feeding though. She fed for a long time this morning.... and wanted to feed a little more after I told her that that was going to be her last feeding from me. I told her that she was a big girl now, so she would be okay.

I started taking the sterroids today and they are amazing. My rash/hives are going away! AND... my skin feels soooooooooooooooooooooo SOFT! I think by tomorrow, I should look pretty good (and not be so totally covered in red, itchy hives all over my body).

Heidi did pretty well going to bed tonight without milk. She asked if she could have some and I told her that I couldn't give her any... and she pouted for about two seconds, but was okay. We rocked for a min and sang a couple of songs (Baa Baa Black Sheep & Twinkle Twinkle Little Star)... and then she went to bed. I guess it won't be so bad. I guess we will have to see how she does tomorrow.

Cwackers Mommy!

I think it is so cute the way Heidi says things like:

- Cwackers ...(crackers)
- Sweep ........(sleep)
- I don like it, dis ....(I don't like it, this)
- bwue.... (blue)
- oranses... (oranges)

She's actually doing really well with her speech. It is just really cute to hear her say things in her own little way. She also does say several things very clearly and correctly.

Recently, I bought The Jungle Book at Wal-Mart, as it was just released again by Disney, and it came with a music cd of some of the songs from the movie. I thought she might enjoy having it to listen to in the car. I was excited about opening it up and playing it for our ride home from the store. She, however, did not share my excitement. Instead, for every song that came on (I had kept skipping through the songs) she told me she did not like the song that was on. She would say "Mommy, no like it this... no like it... off Mommy... no like it this." Then, I would skip to the next song, and she would tell me again that she did not like that song either. We usually listen to Signing Time songs in the car or sometimes the radio. I guess we will just keep listening to Signing Time songs and sometimes the radio because she was not very impressed with the Jungle Book cd. Oh well.

I think she also thought she saw Peter Pan in the sky the other day. She was pointing up in the sky when we were outside and said "ere he go, Momma?" ... meaning where did he go, while pointing up at the sky in our front yard. I asked who, and she replied "Peter Pan, ere he go?" She also has tried to fly a couple more times recently.

Trying to Fly Like Peter Pan

Heidi has been asking to watch Peter Pan a lot lately. Yesterday, she told me she wanted to fly in the sky after she had been watching Peter Pan. Today, she climbed up into a chair, raised both arms up in the air, and said "fly-in-a-sky" and then made a grunt noise like she was trying to take off flying, as she also lifted up on her feet trying to take off.... but it didn't work. She kept trying though. When she found that the chair wasn't working, she also tried the couch (but it didn't work either). I told her that she needed pixie dust, so she would have to wait for Tinkerbell to sprinkle her with pixie dust that would help her to fly (just like in Peter Pan). It was funny watching her really try to fly. I think she really thought she might be able to do it if she tried hard enough.

I am ready for fall... WHEN IS IT COMING TO TEXAS???

I am ready for fall! October is almost here, and it is still pretty warm here in Texas.

Today, I went to a steering committee meeting and we talking about the Halloween party that we are going to have with the brigade next month. It should be fun. Hopefully it will be a low-stress event to put together.

Tomorrow, I have a BUNCH of things to do. Someone is supposed to come by the house sometime tomorrow morning between 7am-12pm to fix our oven (that has been broken since last Sunday). I also am going over to have lunch with some friends. Then, Heidi will probably need a nap. She needs 2 - 2 and a half hours every day or she just gets too grumpy. I will also need to drive to the other side of town to pick up some paperwork that needs to be filled out for an upcoming food fundraiser. I also need to figure out what kind of pie I am going to bring to a church activity the day after tomorrow.... go to the store and buy whatever I need for it. I am just ready for December/January to get here. I am going to have a lot going on in the next couple/few months with our family readiness group, as we try to scramble together a few last minute fundraisers to earn enough money for the welcome home parties, welcome home baskets, certificates/awards, welcome home banners, etc. It will also be nice to have Brian home again too. We will wait to have Christmas with him.

Joie's Look-a-like Meter

This is odd because growing up, everyone always told Joie that she looked just like her dad!

Blair's Look-a-like Meter

Dana's Look-a-like Meter

Wow! I'm exactly down the middle! I guess that's why I can't tell who I looke like in the family. Or maybe I was just switched at birth, like my parents told me I was (just jokingly)... and maybe I just don't look like either, so they put me in the middle. What do you think?

Look-a-like Meter

Heidi Washing Dishes

While I was emptying and getting ready to put some dishes into the dishwasher today, Heidi decided she wanted to help clean up the kithen...

Today after we got back home from our banner signing, Heidi wanted to wash her hands in the kitchen sink, which wasn't a bad idea. We had our banner signing at Burger King on post and she had just been playing in the play area (which was probably full of germs). So, I pulled a chair up to the sink and helped her wash her hands.

Then, She saw a couple of bowls and a cup and wanted to wash them in the sink while she had the water running. She has seen me wash dishes before. I just let her play in the water and pretend to wash the dishes. She did a good job of rinsing them off and putting them on the strainer, just like a big person would do. She had a lot of fun "washing the dishes" today.

BEWARE: In the pictures above, you may see a messy kitchen with an empty papertowel holder... I was in the process of cleaning up though! :)

Some Things Heidi Is Stubborn About

Heidi and I participated in a banner signing today for Brian's company. Some families just got together and signed a couple of banners and put handprints on them. We will mail them over after the next FRG meeting. In one of the pictures above, I had asked Heidi to draw a picture for her Daddy and then I said "Why don't you draw him some circles." You can see her drawing a circle in one of the pictures above. She also drew like 2 or 3 more next to it.

............................................................................

Today, I just thought I would write about some things that Heidi is stubborn about...

1. Heidi is very picky when it comes to getting her own silverware, or should I say plasticware, out for meal time. As soon as she finds out we are eating, she HAS to have a fork or a spoon... and sometimes even one of her plastic knives. Most of the time, she doesn't want to wait until I am finished cooking. She has to have her fork and spoon right then! She also usually wants to get it out of the silverware drawer herself. She is especially picky about the colors that she gets (also with her plate colors). She normally ALWAYS wants PINK silverware, but when that is dirty, she has to settle for another color. We have the plastic IKEA silverware for kids, which comes in a bunch of different colors.

2. She is also very picky about what plate she eats off of. She normally either wants a pink plate or a princess plate. She gets upset if I hand her another color, unless I explain to her that her pink plate and her princess plate are dirty.

3. Heidi also likes to choose which brand of diaper to wear. We have Blues Clues diapers (Luvs), Minnie Mouse (which are really Mickey and Minnie, but she calls them Minnie Mouse; Huggies), and Tweety Bird (White Cloud). She usually has to pick or gets upset, unless I explain that we are out of the kind she is wanting at that particular diaper change.

4. Heidi does not like for me to brush her teeth. She is EXTREMELY stubborn about this! She will brush them herself, but does not do a very good job, so I always brush after I let her have a try. She really fights me with this! I sometimes have to pinch her cheeks just to get the toothbrush into her mouth. Then she clamps her mouth closed, she bites down on the toothbrush, and sometimes she even will stick her tongue in front of her teeth so I can't brush them. This is probably the one thing that she is THE MOST STUBBORN ABOUT!

5. Being NAKED! I guess this is just a stage she is going through, but a lot of the time if we have been away, as soon as we come in the door and I start taking my shoes off... Heidi not only wants her shoes off, but she wants EVERYTHING taken off! She says "clothes off... naked naked." She will do the sign for clothes and say she wants them off. I have decided to pick my battles, and that this is just something I don't care about fighting over, so I usually will just take her clothes off for her. She usually sings kind of a naked song after I take her clothes off.. saying "naked naked" and kind of dances. I talked to someone else at church and she says that her daughter has done the same thing before. I guess she doesn't like wearing clothes either. I remember my sister Joie didn't like wearing clothes when she was younger. Brian had a sister that didn't like wearing clothes either, so I guess it is just in Heidi's genes.

6. Heidi is also pretty stubborn about the tv. I hardly EVER watch tv, but if I do want to try and see if something is on every great once in a while, Heidi and I sometimes have to have a talk about whose turn it is to pick what is on the tv. She gets really upset when she doesn't get her way, but I am not going to give in on this. Lately, she has been wanting to watch Pocahantas and Sleeping Beauty a lot.

MPAT Fun Day

Heidi and I went to a Military Parents As Teachers (MPAT) fun day today. We started off the meeting with a couple of songs and a story. Then, we made a paper doll that looks like Heidi and we made one that looks like a boy too. We also started an ABC book. We made two pages today, one for the letter A and another for the letter B. On each page, we put a few pictures of things that begine with either A or B. Then, Heidi got to color and we had a snack (rice cakes with peanut butter & a Caprisun drink (not sure of the spelling of that).

When we got home, it was time for Heidi to have a nap. Heidi told me she needed to go use the potty though, so we went to the bathroom and she sat down on her little potty chair. It took her a little while to go, but she eventually went pee pee in the potty. She got a Barbie snack as her reward. They had some new Island Princess Barbie snacks on sale at the commissary a few days ago, so I bought some, and that is what she had.

Tonight, I think we might try to go out to eat for something fun to go get out of the house and do. There is a family at church that has just recently opened a restaurant in Harker Heights that I think we will go to. They make pizza and some other Italian meals. Hopefully Heidi will get a good nap, so she won't be too grouchy to go out this evening.

Verbally, Heidi is on a 3.5-year-old level

Heidi has just started in the Parents As Teachers (PAT) program. A teacher comes to the house once a month and does acitivities, songs, and reads books with the kids in this program. Last month, the teacher mainly just came to introduce herself and tell me about the program. It is totally free. It is funded by the government to help prepare children for school.

The teacher who came today gave Heidi an assessement to find out where she was verbally and with motor skills. She tested at a 3.5-year-old level in her verbal skills & was just on her age level with her motor skills. She is only 21-months-old (going on 22 mo.) right now, so I think she did pretty well.

When the lady was asking her to name some pictures, she said that the bird was an eagle. The teacher said that Heidi is only the second child she has seen to call it an eagle. Heidi has really been into Pocahontas (and Sleeping Beauty) lately, and there is an eagle in the sky in the movie. Heidi also asks me to draw an eagle for her Every Single Time we sit down to color, which is maybe a few times a week. I guess she has a thing for eagles right now.

When the lady asked her to throw a ball, she kind of throws from the side. We are going to start practicing throwing overhanded.

We are also going to practice hopping over things. She kind of hops unevenly (with one foot jumping off of the ground before the other). She has jumped the right way, but usually does it one foot before the other. So we are also going to work on that.

In the bathtub tonight, Heidi showed me that she knows the letter "E" now too. So we can add that to the list of letters that she now knows really well. She likes to play with her foam alphabet letters in the bathtub. She likes to pick them up and ask me what they are ("Was dis?"), and after I tell her, she sometimes repeats me... and then sticks her letters on the wall. She had learned the letter "E" a while back, but I think she forgot what it was called for a while. She also knows "M" too. I am not sure if I put that on the list yet or not.

Heidi also went pee pee on the potty today! YAY! She told me she had to go potty, so we went back to the bathroom and she went.

Tonight before I put her to bed, she told me she wanted to wear "pink panties." I had bought some panties at Wal-Mart a while back. I told her that she had to be a big girl and use the potty all of the time if she wanted to wear them. So we are going to wait a little while before we put them on her.

Hitting: Heidi is acting out her frustrations in her pretend play

I was trying to get Heidi to go down for a nap today, but she didn't really want to go down for one. She kept telling me that she had to go potty (saying "Potty Mommy... Potty!" and doing the sign for potty). I thought she was just trying to get out of going down for a nap, but after a couple minutes of her telling me "Potty Mommy!" I finally gave in and we went to the bathroom. She sat down and wanted me to get a book to read to her, so I picked up a book called "I Love You Papa In All Kinds Of Weather." After I brought the book in and started reading it to her, she went pee pee in her little potty chair. :) Some days she is interested... and some days, she is just not. She is only 21-months-old now though (going on 22 mo), so we still have a lot of time to work on it.

At church on Sunday, she was hit a couple of times by a couple of the kids in the nursery. One little boy hit her pretty hard and when she fell, she fell pretty hard and her head hit the ground. She was REALLY upset and cried a LOT. Well, today... some of Heidi's pretend play was about someone hitting another person and the person who was hit would always cry... and I think the other person was hit back and she called them "mean." She called the two boys who hit her "mean" in the nursery too. I guess she is just acting out her frustrations.

She is also still pretend playing sometimes that one of her dolls wants to be breastfed, but the other won't breastfeed him/her... and so that doll ends up crying and sad too. She is still trying to work through my weaning her to only morning feedings. I REAAAAAAALLLY want to have her weaned by the time she is two-years-old! Maybe things would be different if Brian were home.

I Know You...

Today Heidi was dancing around the living room singing the same song as yesterday, but today it was a little more clear (and easy to understand her words). Today, it sounded more like she was singing "Upon a dream..." and "I know ooo (you)." She even took her Barbie and held her hands and danced around the room in circles singing this song. It was very cute.

S'upon A Dream... and Pocahontas Pretend Play

Today, Heidi did something that I just thought was so cute, so I thought I would write about it in my blog. She loves to dance whenever she hears music, but today she made her own music to dance to in the living room. She was trying to sing the song from Sleeping Beauty that Aurora sings in the forest (the Once Upon A Dream Song). Heidi kept saying "S'upon a dream" ... and I think she was also singing "I love you," but it sounded more like "I lub oo." She danced around in circles in the living room while she sang.

I have been taking an FRG class this week for the past three days. It was also a food training course that I had to take in order to do a fundraiser with food sales. Heidi has been in the free day care that is available in the same building this week. The ladies who work in the room seemed surprised that she knew all of her colors when they did a coloring activity. She does know them all pretty well. She knows: red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, pink, black, white, and brown.

We are just now starting to work on silver. I told her that our car was silver yesterday, and she said "silber." I am not sure if she remembers or not... we might need a couple more examples before she has silver down.

Oh, she also knows more letters too now. She has known a few for a while (like: x and o), but she also now knows really well: J, C, P, I, U, and B.

I told her that "S" was like a snake and said "ssssssss." So, she calls the letter "s" a snake. I guess we will have to work on that one a little more.

She also pretent played that she was Pocahontas today too. She climbed into a basket today and stood waving and saying "bye bye," kind of like Pocahontas does at the end of the movie when John has to go back to England after he was shot. Then, she said "boat ... bye boat." She also does the sign for boat... and she did the sign. It is interesting to see the things they do in their pretend play at this age.

We had no potty chair visits today. Some days she is interested and others she is just not.

A Picture for Daddy

Today, we made a special picture for Daddy. We also picked up a few things from the PX that he needed for us to mail to him in Iraq (razor blades, a watch battery, etc).

Heidi is 21-months-old and can recognize/identify the following shapes now:

circle
triangle
heart
star

So, I first traced her hand in the middle of a sheet of white typing paper in purple.

Then, I gave her a different color and asked her to draw a circle. You can tell that she was trying to draw a circle. It isn't even close to perfect, but it is sort of round with a line through the middle (she is still working on fine motor skills/muscle control).

Next, I asked her to draw a triangle, ... then a heart, ... and finally a star. Her triangle doesn't really look much like a triangle, but it does have some angles in it! Her heart looks like some angles and some scribbled circles, sort of. And, her star looks kind of like a bunch of scribbled angles. Even though it may be hard to tell what she meant to draw, I was impressed with how well she actually did! I could tell that she was trying to draw them.

We mailed her special picture to Brian today along with the other things that we picked up from the PX.

Right now, it looks like Brian might be coming home sometime after Christmas (with a very small possibility of being home right before). Even if he gets here after Christmas, we will wait to celebrate with him. He missed out on Christmas with Heidi last year... because he has been in Iraq. It has been almost 11 months now that he has been gone. Brian will definitely miss out on another birthday with Heidi. He will miss another Halloween with her. He will miss another Thanksgiving with her. I just don't want him to miss out on another Christmas with Heidi, so even if he comes home after Christmas, we will just celebrate whenever he makes it home.

Two Times Today

It has been a few days since Heidi has tried to use her potty chair. I have stopped asking her if she needs to use it because she has just been telling me no lately.

This morning when she woke up, her diaper was dry (as it usually is when she wakes up anymore) and she told me "Potty Mommy, potty." So I brought her into the bathroom and she sat down on the potty and went pee pee! We sang our Pee Pee on the Potty song and she got a treat (Nemo gummi snack).

Later on today, she had watched Pocahontas (again... she has been watching it EVERY DAY). She gets kind of sad at the end when John Smith is going back to London on his ship and Pocahontas is left waving goodbye to him on the land. She usually waves and blows kisses to the characters in the movie... like she is actually there saying goodbye with them.

During her movie today, I asked her a few times if she needed to use the potty, but she always just said "No, Pocahontas." I just don't think she wanted to leave her movie. She sits and really watches it!

Finally, after her movie had ended... I asked her if she needed to go potty again. She just said "No, Donald." I guess now she wanted me to put Donald Duck cartoons in for her to watch. I thought one movie was enough, but I knew she would probably mostly play during Donald Duck, so I put it on for her and I had an idea... I thought maybe if I brought her potty chair out into the living room, she wouldn't have to leave her show and maybe she would go potty.

So, I brought her potty chair into the living room and didn't say anything to her about it. She went right over to it, pulled her diaper off, sat down, and then she went pee! We did our potty song again... and this time she got a chocolate Hershey's kiss as a reward!

"Potty Mommy, Potty!"

Tonight, after Heidi's bath I was just about to take her out of the water when she started telling me "Potty Mommy, potty!" So, I got her out and dried her off really quick and set her on the potty, which was next to the bathtub. When I sat her down, she said "Book, Mommy," so I ran into her room (across the hall) and grabbed a book. As soon as I started reading her book, she pee peed in the potty! I gave her lots of praise and a chocolate hershey's kiss for a prize. She really likes chocolate, so I got some today at the commissary to give her as a reward/bribe for when she uses the potty. She wanted them right away when she figured out what I was putting into our shopping cart. I told her that that chocolate was only for when she goes potty. I put some in a little bowl in the bathroom, so she can see it... She knows it is there. Maybe it will encourage her to try to go again! :)

Heidi's Pretend Play: Bob the Builder Breastfeeds

I have recently been trying to wean Heidi from breastfeeding. Yesterday, I only fed her in the morning after she woke up and didn't feed her any breastmilk for the rest of the day. She was really sad, especially at night before bed, when I wouldn't give her any breastmilk. She would cry and hug me and cry some more. It was really sad. I kind of felt like I was hurting her feelings... and thought maybe she is thinking I don't love her anymore because I am cutting her off.

Well, I guess she is trying to work through this in her mind and try to comfort herself because today Heidi was pretend playing about breastfeeding...

In her pretend play, she had been playing with our Fisher Price barn set. She also had a tiny Bob the Builder plastic doll that she had put in the barn. She put Bob in the hard, blue, plastic bed upstairs in the barn and said "Night Night Bob." Then, Bob started crying. Not just a little cry, but a BIG, REALLY UPSET cry! Then, she moved Bob out of his plastic barn bed over into the corner of the barn. He was still REALLY CRYING!

Then, a little plastic Little Bo Peep doll was picked up and taken over to the barn where Bob was. Heidi then said "a crying... a crying... okay." I think she may have been trying to say "don't cry, it's okay" because that is what I usually say to her when I rub her back and try to comfort her after telling her I can't feed her any breastmilk.

Well, when she picked up the plastic Little Bo Peep doll, she started saying "Mommy, Mommy." Then, she picked Bob up from where he was crying in the the barn and she said "milk." I am thinking she was making Bob say milk. Then, Little Bo Peep breastfed Bob the Builder!!!

She pretend played this EXACT story THREE TIMES in a row today. I think she is trying to figure out how to cope with my cutting her off from my breastmilk.

She also pretended putting a couple of other babies to bed later and covered them up with their "covers," as she calls blankets. She gave one baby a plastic oreo cookie and a cob of corn to go to bed with. I guess she thought if that baby couldn't have milk, she should at least have something to snack on before she goes to sleep! haha

Well, tonight when I put Heidi to bed... she did not even ask for milk! After "book time," we brushed her teeth. Then, I picked her up and put her on my lap to rock her for a minute or so... like I usually do, but she didn't want to rock, she just pointed to the bed and said "bed." I asked her for a kiss and hug, like I normally do. She usually will give me a hug and kiss and then lay down with her baby (Brian's old ET doll) and go to sleep... but tonight, she wouldn't even kiss me or hug me! I put her in the crib and told her that I was sad because she wouldn't kiss or hug me. It didn't seem to bother her that I was pretend crying, so I picked her up to hug her and kiss her and put her back in bed... said goodnight and left her to fall asleep.

I am glad that she is weaning, but I hope tomorrow night she will give me a hug and kiss before she goes to bed. :(

"Doctor Is Coming"

Today, I took Heidi back to the medical clinic behind our house for an ear re-check (she had an ear infection). While we were waiting for the doctor to come into the room, I told Heidi that the doctor was going to be coming into the room. A couple of minutes later, she walked into the room and started looking into Heidi's ears when Heidi said "Doctor is coming... Doctor is coming." The doctor stepped back and looked a little shocked at what she had said... and then said "She is talking really well!" "She is not even 21-months-old yet and just said a complete sentence. Most babies that I see her age do not speak this well." She also went on to say that it is probably because I stay at home with her every day.

I think Heidi is pretty smart. She also knows her colors and animals... and can even do the signs for a couple of her colors... and for a LOT of animals. She also says some other 3-word combinations.

At the end of our visit with the doctor, she gave her a Winnie the Pooh sticker and we went home. Heidi really enjoyed her sticker and played with it the entire way home.

Heidi went poo poo and pee pee on the potty tonight!

Tonight, when we were doing "book time" before putting Heidi to bed, Heidi was sitting in the rocker and I was sitting on the floor... and she started to lean forward a little in the chair. I asked her if she needed to go poo poo and she didn't say anything, so I then asked her if she wanted to go to the potty, and she said "yeah." So, we went to the bathroom and took off her diaper (completely dry) and she sat down. I took the Richard Scarry Nursery Rhyme book that we were about to start reading and read quick nursery rhymes and she had finished going! She went POO POO & PEE PEE!

I sang a poo poo on the potty song and we danced... I tried to show her how proud of her I was. She was pretty proud of herself. She is almost 21-months-old now, so maybe we will have her potty trained by the time she is 2-years-old! (... at least I hope...) It is too bad that Brian has to miss out on all of Heidi's accomplishments this year!

Heidi Knows Her COLORS!!! ... And Has Poo Pooed on the Potty!

It has been a long time since I have written anything on here, so I thought I would try to give a quick update...

Recently, Heidi and I drove up to Olathe, Kansas to visit Brian's sister and her family. We made the trip along with Rachel and Genevieve (my sister-in-law and niece). Brian's sister, Heather, was due to have her baby July 17th, but didn't have her until a couple of weeks later. While we were there, Heidi got sick with a pretty bad cold, a fever, and even threw up a few times. When we got home, it just wasn't getting any better, so I took her to the hospital and found that she not only had a bad cold, but she also had an ear infection. Then, I ended up getting sick too! I had a little bit of a cold, a really BAD BAD BAD sore throat, and a fever for a few days! My throat is actually still sore. I went to the doctor too... but they did a strep throat culture, and I guess that was negative because I haven't heard anything from the hospital. They told me to take 8tsp. of Children's Ibuprofin for the fever and sore throat pain... so I have gone through a couple of bottles of Children's Ibuprofin.

Anyway, onto another subject... Heidi has been learning her colors over the past month. At 20-months-old, she now knows pretty well the following colors:

red
yellow
blue
green
orange
purple
pink
black
brown
white

She also knows the following letters pretty well: X and U (sometimes gets a few others right, like: T, Y, E, S, and B).

I also sing an A E I O U song with her sometimes, and she tries to sing it along with me... Here are the words to the song:

A E I O U
A E I O U
A E I O U
I know my vowels and so can you!

She doesn't sing it exactly in that order. It might sound more like:

"E E A I O U A E O I ... know can you .... E A O I U A E E O A I E ... know you can"

While we were in Kansas visiting a couple of weeks ago, Heidi went POO POO IN THE POTTY for the first time!!! I wasn't there. I had gone somewhere (I think to some garage sales) and was gone with Heather and Rachel. We left the girls with Grandma Sylvia. Grandma Sylvia said that Heidi had already started pooping in her diaper, so she put her on the potty chair and she finished on the potty.

Today, I saw that Heidi was pooping in her diaper, so i did the same... I took her diaper off and put her on the potty chair in the bathroom... and she finished pooping a little more on her potty chair! Maybe she will be potty trained before she is weaned from breastfeeding! :)

My sister, Blair, was also visiting this past week (from Colorado). Other than Heidi and I being a little sick, we had a fun visit with my sister. We went to IKEA one day. She had never been. We also went out to eat, watched some movies, and did a little shopping. I'm glad she didn't get sick with what we have/had!

My First Time Hiring A Babysitter!

It has been a while since I have written anything in my blog, so am going to do a quick update now...

Heidi and I went to Maryland for a week recently. My parents picked us up at the Baltimore airport. My parents drove up from Alabama and we all visited with my Grandma Bradford and other family members who live in the area.

Heidi is still breastfeeding, but today before I put her down for a nap, she didn't want any milk... so maybe we are working our way to weaning!

She has also seemed to know the colors black and brown pretty well. She has known how to identify the letter "U" for a while now. She sometimes confuses "T" and "Y." She also sometimes confuses the letters "M" and "E."

We have been reading Richard Scarry's Best Mother Goose Ever book a lot lately before bedtime. I think Heidi's favorite rhymes in the book (that she usually wants me to do again) are:

1. Jack Be Nimble, Jack Be Quick (This is probably her VERY favorite!)
2. Little Boy Blue
3. Baa Baa Black Sheep
4. Peter Piper
5. Fe, Fi, Fo, Fum

Tonight, I went out to eat with some girls from church. I got a babysitter for Heidi (my first time paying a babysitter) and we all met at a Japanese restaurant. It was Soooooooooooooo Delicious! I ordered chicken and shrimp. The other girls all ordered steak and shrimp, but I am just not that big of a steak fan. It was really nice going out and doing something without Heidi! With Brian gone, it seems like we are attatched at the hip! She is with me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week!

When I got back to the house and walked in the door tonight, Heidi had Brian's picture in her hands (the magnetic one that we keep on the fridge) and she was kissing her Daddy's picture. When she knew I was home, she ran up to me and gave me a big hug!

She Knows the Letter "U"

Heidi can correctly identify the letter "U" now. I've noticed the last few days, she always seems to call it a "U" when we point to it. We have some foam letters that Heidi plays with in the bathtub, and she will say the names of different letters (like: T, Y, E, C, M, Z), but usually doesn't get the right name with the right letter. Sometimes, she gets E, M, Z, and C right.... but it might just be luck sometimes.

Tonight before bed, Heidi went and picked a couple of books to read with me. She picked Brown Bear, Brown Bear, An Animal Picture Book by Eric Carle, and a Disney's The Little Mermaid book.

We named all of the animals in the first two books. Then, when she opened the third book and saw the mermaid, she started singing like Ariel does in the movie. It was so cute. She would sing "Ahhhhh... Ahhhhhh.... Ahhhh." Then, she pointed to the prince who was laying on the beach after Ariel rescued him. He looked pretty out of it. Heidi said he was hurt when she pointed to him. He did look hurt the way he was laying there. Then, we pointed at some other things and she said what they were, like the crab, fish, the octopus/sea witch, and the mermaid's "papa."

Heidi kept talking about pizza today. She mentioned it a few times through the day. I guess she was wanting some pizza, so tonight, I went and got us a "hot-n-ready" pepperoni pizza from Little Caesar's for $5. She was pretty excited that we were going to eat pizza. She kept saying pizza in the car after we got it. When I told her we could eat it when we got home, she kept saying "Pizza, home." I guess we can eat it tomorrow night too.

A Boy Was Trying to Give Heidi Kisses

Tonight on our way to Wal-Mart, we were listening to The Silly Pizza song in the car and Heidi was singing and signing several of the words along with the song:

Cheese
Candy
Apple
Crackers
Bread
Pizza

She was also singing and signing along with the Magic Words song. She said the following words with their signs in the song:

Please
Thank-you
(sang "Share" but didn't do the correct sign)
(Said "Mine" when the song said "My turn"... but did the right sign)

Tonight, we had an FRG meeting at our house and someone made a comment about how clearly she pronounces some of her words, like: play, please, sorry, hurt ... and some others.

At the FRG meeting, a two-year-old little boy was trying to give Heidi kisses, but Heidi just kept moving away from him. It was sooo cute! His mom took a picture of him trying to give her a kiss. She said she was going to e-mail it to me.

She is snuggling with Brian's old ET doll again tonight, as she often does. It is hard to believe that that thing is 25-years-old! She thinks ET is a baby, so she holds it close to her chest with her arms around it while she sleeps.

Cuddling With Her Caterpillar Tonight

I have had a problem trying to get to sleep tonight. I went in to peek in on Heidi while she was sleeping in her crib. Sometimes she needs to be recovered with her blanket. I covered her back up with a tied quilt that her Grandma Sylvia made and gave to her last year. It is mostly lavender and white with teddy bears in the squares on one side. She is so cute when she sleeps. Whenever I check on her, she is almost always either cuddling with her caterpillar or the ET doll that used to belong to Brian when he was younger. She thinks the ET doll is a baby... calls him baby anyway.

I wonder what she dreams about. She has been sleeping pretty well lately. She usually goes to bed sometime between 8-9pm (I try to aim for 8pm, but sometimes it is pushed back to about 9pm). She has been sleeping until about 5 or 6 am lately (occasionally waking up earlier, at like 4 am or so). This is so much better than it used to be!

Glad Heidi Likes the Nursery

It is Sunday, so today we went to church. Heidi was not very good for the first meeting, as usual... but she was happy to go to the nursery and "pay" with the other kids and toys. Just like last Sunday, when we got to the door of the nursery, Heidi turned around to me and said "Bye bye Mommy" and waved goodbye to me. I went back to peek in on her in between classes. She was doing just fine when I peeked. She was so cute sitting at the little table with all of the other kids having their snacks. She was doing such a good job of sitting there! When I went back to pick her up later, she just looked so happy and said "Hi Mommy!" with her arms up in the air for me to pick her up... and with a big smile, she said "Bye bye" to the lady who had been watching her.

I am really glad that she likes going into the nursery. So many kids cry when their parents drop them off there. It is just so nice to be able to be free for a little while. I enjoy having Heidi, but it is just nice to get a break from trying to keep her from running all over the place and screaming (like she likes to do at church).

Oh, someone at church today asked me if I was the one who does sign language with my baby. She said that she wanted to do it with her baby, who I think might be about 6-months-old. I told her how I started with the milk sign and Heidi started using it at about 8-months-old.

I guess there isn't much else to say about today. Heidi took a nap when we went home and as soon as she woke up, she was saying "Merman... Merman," meaning "Mermaid." She wanted to watch The Little Mermaid. I put it in for her to watch. She sometimes tries to sing along with Ariel in the movie. She sings "Ahhhhh Ahhhhh aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh." She also names things that she sees and knows the names of, like: crab, bird, shark, girl, dad, octupus, water, fish, etc.

Heidi's Broccoli Picture

Today, Heidi kept trying to take her diaper off. If she couldn't get it off by herself, she would tell me "diaper off" to let me know she wanted it off. Sometimes I would take it off for her and she would sit on her potty (and make the usual "Ssss" sound like she was actually peeing). Well, she went into the kitchen this afternoon and took her diaper off and peed on the kitchen floor! She then walked into the living room (where I was) and told me "Mommy, pee-pee!" I looked at her foot and saw that her left foot was wet and she was NOT wearing a diaper anymore! I walked into the kitchen, and there in the middle of the floor was a puddle. I cleaned it up and put a diaper back on her.

A while later, she was telling me she wanted to use the potty and she wanted her diaper off again. I went back to the bathroom with her to help her use her potty chair, but it Wasn't There! I looked in the living room and it wasn't there either. Finally, I walked into the kitchen and it was in the middle of the floor, in the EXACT place where she had peed on the floor a couple of hours earlier! I guess she thought she wouldn't let what happened earlier happen again.... but why in the kitchen?

Heidi also wanted to watch Peter Pan today, twice. She either asks for "Pan" or "Pee-Pan" when she wants to watch it. For a while, we were sitting on the couch watching it together. I tried to lay my head on her shoulder to see what she would do. I thought she would push me away, but she didn't. She lifted her arm up and put it around my neck! I guess she liked me cuddling next to her on the couch with my head on her. She is such a sweet little girl.

We also watched the short videos that we made of Brian while he was home on R&R. He sang the ABC song in one, did This Little Piggy on Heidi's toes and then his toes in another one, and they read a color/picture book together in another little video that I have on the computer. Heidi saw that she was eating strawberries in a couple of the videos and she wanted some. She started saying "stawbies" and did the sign for them. We didn't have any more strawberries though. She finished the ones that we had yesterday, so we rode over to the commissary (mainly for strawberries, but for a couple of other things too) and they were completely OUT of strawberries! We got some oranges and apples instead. I told her we would go home and have an orange instead, and she seemed fine with that. She kept saying "orses" in the car (meaning oranges) and she does the sign really well for it too (like you are squeezing an orange under your chin).

Tonight before I put her to bed, we were coloring with her "colors," as she calls them. She likes for me to sit down with her and draw along with her. She likes for me to draw birds and strawberries. Sometimes she will point to the paper and say "bird" or "strawberry" (wanting me to draw another one). I draw other things too... we usually draw on the same page together. Tonight, she had been drawing polka dots. She knows what polka dots are. She kept drawing them in different colors and saying "pokados." After a while, she had picked up a green crayon and started drawing green polka dots in a corner of the paper. She had a LOT of green polka dots in a little spot on the paper. She stopped making polka dots and looked at the paper for a second... then she pointed and said "Broccoli!" I was shocked! She says broccoli pretty clearly... and it DID look a lot like broccoli (her green polka dots, I mean). This is the first time that I can think of that she has drawn something and said that it WAS something, so I thought I would make a note of it in my blog. I guess her first actual picture was of broccoli.

Signs:
Also, she has been doing the sign for "red" really well too lately. She heard someone say something about a red ball on tv the other day and she then said red and did the sign. If you ask her to do the sign for red, she puts her pointer finger on her lips and then pulls down (the sign for the color red).

She also does the sign for "cracker" too! You are supposed to knock your fist onto your elbow to do this sign. Sometimes, though, she does it on the inside of her elbow instead of her actual elbow.

She does a pretty good job trying to copy the signs whenever we watch Signing Time. Today, we watched about half of Vol. 3 (Everyday Signs).

Bath Time:
Before I put Heidi to bed, I usually give her a bath. She does the sign for "bath" and says "bath" really well too. I couple of weeks ago, I got her some foam letters and numbers that are meant to be played with in the bathtub. She can stick them up on the tile wall or the sides of the bathtub. Every night, she enjoys playing with her "A C's" as she calls them. She can repeat the name of just about any letter in the alphabet. She can't really identify her letters yet though. She calls them names, but it is usually the wrong name. For instance, she may pick up the letter "T" and stick it on the wall and call it "Y," or she may pick up the letter "A" and call it "C."

Bed Time:
Tonight after I looked at a few books with Heidi and it was time for her to go to bed, she said "bye bye Daddy... back" and did the sign that we do for "be back." We usually blow him kisses too before she goes to sleep.

Picture Day

Heidi is napping right now, so I thought I would write something in my blog.

Today, we went to Sears to have her 18-month pictures taken. She did SO WELL! She didn't get upset or try to run all over the place... and she did such a wonderful job posing! This was our best picture taking session yet!

When we got home, I gave her something to eat. Then, she decided that she needed to go potty. She did the potty sign with her thumb between her first two fingers, while her hand made a fist... and she was saying potty. She took off her diaper and sat down on the potty and made a long "SSSSSSSsssssssssssssssssssssss" sound a few times. Then, she got up and looked in the potty to see if anything was there. She saw there was nothing in the bowl, so she sat down and said "SSSSSSSssssssssssss" again. Got up and there was still nothing there, so she did it AGAIN! I thought it was kind of cute.

"Diaper Off"

"Diaper off" is what Heidi has been telling me when she has just gone to the bathroom in her diaper.

She doesn't like wearing wet or poopy diapers anymore. If she can get it off on her own, she takes it off after she has gone to the bathroom in her diaper. I can usually tell that she has just gone because it is usually still pretty warm. Should I start getting her some pull-ups? I am not really trying to potty train her right now. I am just letting her get comfortable with the idea of having a potty chair right now. She is still pretty young (only 18-months-old).

Zoo Train

Heidi can name most of the animals on The Zoo Train and Leah's Farm dvd's now. She also tries to do the signs for most of them... and remembers some even when not watching the show.

Some of the newer animals she knows now are:

bat (says it very clearly and does sign)
giraffe (says it, but not especially clearly)
rhinoceros
hippopotamus (she has been saying "po-mus" for a little while now)
dolphin
whale
shark
crab (says crab VERY clearly and does the sign well too)
lobster
panda
tiger
zebra
*Also knows the signs for baby & shoes

There are others she knows too... just don't want to spend too much time on this right now trying to think of what else she knows. She likes doing the signs for these animals when she is watching her shows.

Tonight, we went over to someone's house from church to babysit. They have six kids between the ages of 1 - 8. Their dad is deployed and their mom had a church meeting tonight. Heidi had fun playing with their kids. We took over a couple of Signing Time dvd's... and the kids all enjoyed learning all of the new signs for colors, fruits, vegetables, and zoo animals.

Last night, I talked to Brian online. He says that he will not be home for a while (where he usually stays over there). He is going to a few of the other places where there are soldiers in his company to see how everyone is doing. I don't know when he will be back to where he usually stays. I guess I will just see him online one day in the next week or two. He says that it is already in the 100's over there (HOT). It is a good thing he has air conditioning in his room! The last time he was there, they didn't always have air conditioning. Wouldn't that be miserable to have to live in 115 degree-F summers without air conditioning? I have heard that some of the Iraqis sleep on their rooves in the summer when it is that hot. He asked me about Heidi while I was talking to him, about how she was doing. I told him that she still talks about him and asks where he is sometimes. She will say "Daddy" and do the where sign. I just keep telling her that he went bye-bye, but he will be back... it will just be a long time before he can come home. She says goodnight to her Daddy before she goes down for a nap and at bedtime at night.

Signing Time

Heidi is so cute when she tries to sign along with the theme song of Signing Time. She tries to sing it too! She moves her arms around and all over the place and sings something like "sign time... sign time... payyy (meaning play)."

Today, we went to the mall and got Heidi a new pair of shoes. They were size 7, white Keds that had a little white flower on the side of the velcro. They are just like the ones that my mom and dad bought for her when she was about 10-months-old (but those were size 5 1/2).

I also got myself a couple of shirts while we were at the mall. Heidi is not very cooperative when I am trying to shop. She does a lot of screaming and complaining... and constantly tries to get out of her stroller. I brought a sippy cup w/ water and some snacks for her. She even had her little hippopotamus and mouse to play with, but I guess she either wanted to run around or have me hold her... and that would just be too hard to let her do while I am trying to shop.

Bye-Bye Mommy!

Today is Sunday, so we went to church. Heidi wasn't very cooperative during the meeting in the chapel. I had to take her out into the hall for most of it. When it was time to go to the nursery, she ran back to the nursery... with me following beind her. When she saw the door to the nursery, she turned around and said "Bye-bye Mommy" and waved goodbye to me! I guess it kind of hurt my feelings a little because she used to always want me to be there, but I am really glad that she is so willing to go into the nursery and let me have some time without her... finally.

Brian's R&R

I haven't written anything on here in a while. Brian came home on the 11th of May (2 days before my birthday/Mother's Day)... and he had to go back to Iraq on the 27th. He was here two weeks. It wasn't really long enough, but enjoyed having him home.

While he was here, we:
- Went to Heidi's 18-month well-baby check-up together (Heidi only had to get one shot this time and didn't even cry!)
- Bought a new tv
- Picked strawberries in the front yard
- Went to the PX and the commissary
- Bought a weed eater
- Brian cut the grass
- Brian showed me how to use the weed eater (if I want to use it while he's gone)
- Watched a few movies
- Colored with Heidi and her crayons (she calls them "colors" though)
- Went out to eat a couple of times
- Ordered pizza a couple of times
- Ate some popcorn
- Walked
- Went to church
- Went to IKEA
- Bought Heidi a potty chair
- Read books to Heidi
- Brian put up a new antenna for the tv
- Brian put up a gate on our porch to the backyard (from the house across the street)
- And just spent time together

Heidi's vocabulary has grown a lot too since he came to visit. Some of her new words/phrases include:

- Covers (meaning blanket, which she had started using before he got here) - monkey
- chicken (ti-ten)
- ice cream
- cream (has been saying this since before Brian got here, but don't think I have added it to any word lists yet)
- crab
- hippopotamus (was saying "po-mus" before Brian got here)
- shark
- fork (shurk)
- snail (nail)
- nail (like a finger or toe nail)
- popcorn (po-corn)
- egg/s (not sure if I put this on an older list or not, but has been saying this a while)
- tower (she builds towers with blocks)
- yes

My mind is going blank at the moment... so can't think of anything else. She has been saying a lot of new words and phrases though.

We also recently got some new Signing Time dvd's. Just from watching the dvd's recently, she has picked up the signs for:
- crab
- snail
- pizza
- popcorn
- flower
- bird
- baby
- ball
- strawberry
- shoes
- mom
- dad
- I think she was already doing the sign for fish, but if not, she does that one now too

Brian ordered our new tv online. It was cheaper than at Sears. Plus, the shipping was free... and it even has a longer warranty. It is So Nice! It is a 37 inch HGTV with a wide screen. It is the biggest tv that we could fit into the entertainment center that Brian built back when he lived in Enterprise before we got married. He built it at the arts and crafts center on post. Some days after his flight school classes, he would go over to the arts and crafts building and work on it for a couple of hours. It took a long time to build. He didn't even have a plan to help him build it. We had gone to several furniture stores and he had taken some measurements of a few that we had seen that we had liked. Then, he went back to his house and made a picture of what he was wanting it to look like. He has also built some other things, including: a pink dinosaur piggy bank for Heidi's room, a cabinet with a stained glass window, a fish tank top, and a baby crib that will eventually change into a toddler bed/double bed.... all without buying any plans.

Brian's Arrival From Iraq:

Before we went to pick Brian up at the airport, I had been telling Heidi that Daddy was going to be coming home. I am not sure if she really understood what I was telling her, since it had been 7 months since he had been here.

At the airport, she seemed a little leery of him at first when he walked up to us. He kept saying "Hi Heidi... Hello." She just gave him a little bit of a confused look. It kind of looked like she may have been thinking, are you really my dad? We look at pictures and videos of him every day... and talk about him every day... and have been since the day he left on October the 3rd.

After about a minute, Brian opened his black backpack and told Heidi that he had a surprise for her inside. She reached inside and pulled out a little teddy bear that had a blue pull-over with a Scottish flag on it. Brian had stopped over in Scotland and had gotten it for her. She smiled and leaned in for him to give her a kiss. Brian had the biggest smile. It was really nice to have him home. Heidi seemed okay with him after that, but it took a couple of days before he was allowed to get her out of bed. She still wanted Mommy to pick her up and get her out of bed when she woke from a nap or in the morning. After a couple of days, though, she became pretty close to him. She even let him put her to bed once or twice, which he hasn't EVER been able to do.... even before he left for Iraq.

Brian has also gotten me a couple of really cute magnets from Scotland.

Soon after we got home, Heidi went outside to pick some of our Strawberries with her Daddy.

I made a list (above) of some of the things that we did while Brian was here. It would just take too long to describe in detail everything that we did over the two weeks he was here.

One night, we had picked up a pizza to eat and someone from Brian's family had called while we were eating. I think Heidi was sitting between us while we were eating. While Brian was on the phone.. I am not sure... she may have ended up sitting on his lap... but she had already eaten her small piece of pizza (except the crust)... and she picked Brian's piece of pizza up and at most of his piece too! She really liked her pizza.

Another night, I had gotten Heidi ready for bed and she back out into the living room to say goodnight to Daddy and give him a kiss. She saw he was eating popcorn and immediately started saying "po-corn... po-corn." She was also doing the sign for it (which she learned from watching Signing Time). I didn't even practice this sign with her. I had never even made popcorn the whole time Brian had been deployed. She knew what it was though and wanted some! I didn't really know if it was okay for her to have yet, so I bit off parts of some pieces and just gave her the soft, round parts to try. Before I knew it, she had grabbed a few pieces and shoved them into her mouth. She chewed them up okay and seemed fine, so we let her eat a few pieces on her own... and then I took her back to go to bed. The next couple of nights before we put her to bed, she kept asking for popcorn. She just seemed to expect that we would have it. We had run out, so we went to the commissary to get some. That night when she was in the bathtub getting ready for bed, I asked her if she wanted a surprise before she went to bed. She then said "po-corn... po-corn" and gave me the sign for popcorn! She is a smart little girl. We did give her popcorn, and then she finished getting ready for bed.

The night before Brian left, we ordered pizza and had popcorn for dessert. I think mainly because Brian wanted to see Heidi enjoy her pizza and popcorn again before he left.

I think Brian thought it was funny how she said "covers" a lot. If someone was sitting on the couch, sometimes she would bring a blanket over to cover that person up and say "covers." I guess she calls blankets "covers" because when I put her into bed, I usually say "Okay Heidi, if you lay down I will cover you up" or "I'm going to put your covers on you now." She does sat "blanket" too, but just usually calls them covers. I think she was saying that before Brian got here. Brian seemed to think it was pretty funny.

Dropping Brian off at the airport was really sad. His flight was flying out at 10:30am on Sunday May 27th. When Brian told Heidi, "Okay, I have to go now Heidi, bye-bye..." I picked her up and she put her head on me and got upset... she started crying. She knew bye-bye meant that he was going away again. We stayed and watched him go through the security checkpoint and left when we couldn't see him anymore. On the way out of the airport, Heidi saw that I had some tears and said "hurt" and did the sign for hurt. I guess she was wondering if I was hurt. She gave me a Big Hug. I am usually the one asking her for a hug... but she just hugged me on her own that time. Then, we went home for a few minutes and then to church at 11am.

Brian's time at home went by too quickly! It seems like he was hardly here. I talked to him online today. I think it was about 3 or 4am his time. He was having problems sleeping. They are 9 hours ahead of us, so he is probably still trying to adjust to the time change.

Now, it is Saturday (almost a week later). Heidi has asked where Daddy is several times this past week. A few times, she has even gotten upset and started crying when I tell her that he had to go away. I usually tell her that he will be back, though, because I don't want her to think he is gone permanently... but that he will just be gone a long time. I know that she probably doesn't understand that part of it though. She just knows that he isn't here.

One day, we were playing with some wooden blocks. She built a tower of about 4 blocks and said "Heidi's tower." Then, she handed me another block and said "Mommy's" ... handed me another and said "Daddy's" and then handed me another and said "Mommy's" and then she may have added a couple more to Daddy's tower. Anyway, we had made a tower for Heidi, Mommy, and Daddy. She does things like this sometimes... I guess to show that she is still thinking about him.

Sometimes in the morning if Heidi wakes up before I want to get out of bed, I just put her in bed with me until I am ready to wake up (especially if she wake up at 6am or so). The first couple of mornings after Brian left, Heidi pointed to Brian's side of the bed and said "Daddy's."

A few nights after he left, Heidi was in the bathtub getting ready for bed. She asked me where Daddy was again, saying "Daddy" and doing a sign to ask where. She got a little upset and started crying again this time.

A couple of days ago, we got a surprise in the mail. While Brian was waiting in the Dallas airport for his next flight that would take him on to Kuwait, he had spent some time in the USO. He had made a dvd of himself in the USO reading room reading 3 books to Heidi. He read a cute little book about a bunny rabbit and his friends, a book about an imaginitive little bear, and a Barbie book. We already had the bear book, but the USO sent us the dvd of Brian reading and the two other books. Brian picked the books out. The bunny book was really cute and he knows that Heidi LOVES Barbie. The FedEx truck had gotten here JUST in time too! It was right before Heidi's nap time. I put the dvd in for us to watch, and at the end, Brian said goodnight to Heidi and gave her kisses. Then, Heidi went to take her nap. When I first turned the dvd on, Heidi saw Brian and said "Daddy" and pointed to him. She put her head down and started crying!!! It was kind of sad. I picked her up and put her on my lap and hugged her. At the end, she said "Bye-bye Daddy." I guess she knew it was time for her nap.

Oh, the USO also (along with Disney) put together a kids fun night here on post last Friday night. Heidi and I went and everyone who walked in got 2 free Disney dvd's. We didn't get to choose them. I was really wanting Mary Poppins. I had seen a couple of people with that one. They said that they couldn't let anyone choose because there was a long line and they were just trying to get people in. We ended up with Pocahontas and Freaky Friday (the newer one with Lindsay Lohan). I was glad we got Pocahontas, and we already had the older version of Freaky Friday (with Jodie Foster), so I think we got some pretty good ones.

Today, we went to IKEA in Round Rock again with Rael (a friend of mine). She had never been and wanted to go. It was nice to get out today. It was so hot today though! I didn't get much while I was there today. I got Heidi a cheap, plastic piggy bank that she picked up while we were walking around. She kind of attached herself to it. She kept looking at it and saying "pig" and smiling. A lady walked by and saw Heidi's big smile while she was hugging her pig and the lady laughed. It was really cute the way she looked up at me after she hugged her pig... and she just had the biggest smile, so I got it for her. It is late, so I am going to bed for now.

Scared Sign, Telling Me to Sit, Identifies Orange

Last night, Heidi slept all night without waking up... or at least without waking me up! Sometimes she does wake up in the middle of the night. I hear her turn on her musical bird thing or her butterfly that plays music (both are on the side of her crib). Then, she usually just goes back to sleep. Last night, I put her to bed at about 8pm and she slept until about 8am. It was so nice to have a night of uninterrupted sleep!

Lately, whenever she says "toes," she doesn't just say "toes." Instead, she usually calls them "wee wee toes," like from the This Little Piggy toe game.

Heidi has been telling me to come sit next to her on the couch sometimes lately... especially if she is watching a movie and she wants to cuddle and/or have some milk. She tells me "a-sit... a-sit" and pats the place next to her on the couch.

Oh, she also does the "scared" sign now. We learned that one from watching a Signing Time dvd. Also, we were watching The Little Mermaid the other day and when the shark was chasing after Ariel and the fish, I kept telling Heidi that it was scary... and did the scared sign (she copied me, usually only uses one hand to do it instead of two, though). Then, later when we were looking at a book about fish... I did the scared sign and was telling her that the sharks and whales were scary (she copied me again doing the sign with just one hand). When we went to run the car through the carwash yesterday evening, Heidi was scared of the shooting water and all of the equipment in the carwash. I could tell by her facial expression and her body language (she was kind of turning to the side and making a scared face). When I asked her if she was scared of the water, she showed me the scared sign. Today before nap time, we were looking at a few books, as we usually do. One of the books I had picked out was a book about frogs. They were real frogs, not cartoon frogs. There were big frogs, little frogs, pond frogs, tree frogs, hopping frogs, etc. Well, I don't think she liked this book. She kept trying to close the book and not look at the pages. She also gave me the scared sign. I guess frogs scare her!

We watched Frosty the Snowman today (Heidi's choice). There is a little girl named Karen in the cartoon that cries a couple of times. When Karen started crying one time in the movie, I said "She's sad." I have been trying to show Heidi when I am sad by fake crying lately.... like if she does something that might hurt my feelings (ie- tear down my block tower or refuse to give me a kiss). Well, the next time Karen started crying in the cartoon, I really think Heidi said "She's sad" or "She sad." I asked her to say that again... and she said it again. I am pretty sure that is what she was saying. I was a little surprised that she had picked that up so quickly.

Also, yesterday while we were watching The Little Mermaid, the evil sea witch was singing a song (I think it was around the time she took Ariel's voice away) and in part of the song she was singing something about a "poor unfortunate sooooouuul." Heidi starting singing with her... and was singing "sooouuul" with the sea witch.

Yesterday, I saw Heidi sitting on the couch pretending to feed her baby doll. I am not sure if I asked her what she was doing, but she told me "Baby said milk." I am pretty sure she said those words. I was shocked at that too. It is really hard to believe, I think, that an almost 18-month-old can be picking up So Much! Everyday I am amazed at what she is learning.

The other day, Heidi learned to correctly identify the color black. Now, she also can identify the color orange too! When we were drawing/coloring today, I was telling her each color name and drawing a picture with each color and then asked her which color was orange. She picked the correct one. Then I asked her a couple of times later, and she got it right again. Then, when I put her pajamas on her... I asked her what color was on her pajamas. There is a lot of orange and an orange strip down the front that I was pointing to. She said orange... so I think I can say that she is correctly identifying the color orange now too.

Here's a list of even more words I have noticed her saying now:

zebra (szeeper)
snowman (no-man or mo-man)
cow
seal
girl (gir)
orange (ongzh or onzses)
bread (has been saying this for a long time)
mermaid (manand)
slide (side)
paper (pee-poo or pa-poo)
yucky
oh yucky
sit
bug

I guess looking back at this blog entry, It looks like we watch a lot of tv/movies. I don't think it is really that bad to watch SOME tv. I think she is learning some things from watching the shows that we watch. We talk about things that are going on in the shows (I guess I talk about what's going on), but I think she is learning from some of what we talk about. She has learned how to sign "scared" (along with other signs)... learning about animals... learning about emotions/feelings... and is learning more about language.

Heidi Knows Black & Cooking Sign Now

Our day started off today at 5:05am. Heidi woke up and didn't want to go back to sleep, even though it was still dark outside. I put her in bed with me, turned the tv on, and let her play with her babies while I tried to rest a few more minutes, but that didn't last for very long.

Brian sent me an email a couple of days ago saying that he was going down to Kuwait. Now, I guess he is waiting for a flight home from there. I hope he doesn't have to wait too long for a flight. Maybe he will be home tomorrow or the next day. I have been keeping my cell phone with me at all times in case he calls to tell me he is in Dallas... and is about to fly into Killeen. Then, Heidi and I can go pick him up and have him back for a little while.

I cut the grass today (front and back). Heidi was actually pretty good while I was working on the yard today. I brought out her sit-n-spin, her popcorn popper toy, her sippy cup, and a little school bell for her to play with. Sometimes, she follows me around while I am cutting the grass. Sometimes, she will play with her toys. A couple of times, I had to move her away because she was wanting to touch the lawn mover while I was using it.

Tomorrow, we are going to go to the PX to get Brian some gummi candies... just to have something special that he likes for him when he gets in. They have the cola gummis, the frog gummis, the vitamin gummis, and the licorice ones that he likes. Oh, today we also went to the commissary to get some things for him that he likes... that I just haven't been buying since he left, like: diet cream soda, grape soda, chips and salsa, peanuts, cottage cheese, the cheese that they have in star and moon shapes (easy for putting on crackers), and orange juice.

Also, whenever Heidi sees me cooking now, she says "cook" and does the sign for cooking. When she plays with her play pots and pans, she calls her pots and pans "cook" .... or maybe she is telling me that she is going to cook too, not sure.

Today, Heidi kept saying "colors... colors... colors" to me, when I finally figured out what she was wanting. She wanted her Crayons! After I got her crayons out, I was drawing on some computer paper with her. I drew a red heart, an orange circle, a green triangle, a yellow square, a black diamond, and a blue cloud. I pointed to each color and told her the name of the color and the shape. I have never told her the name for black before (or at least I don't remember telling her). After I told her the names, I asked her to find the color yellow... and she found the right color. Then, I asked her to find black, and she found it and said "black!" She had some trouble with the other colors. I guess the other colors are usually all yellow to her. I asked her a couple of times later to find black for me, and she did, so I think she knows the color black now. I guess because it is so dark and a little different.

Heidi's vocabulary continues to grow everyday. Here are a few more words I have noticed her using:

door
cook (and also does the sign for cooking)*
stars
moon
colors
black
lemon (sounds more like "lem"... and then she usually says "yummy yummy")
keys (has been saying this for a long time, just haven't added it to any lists)
rainbow (has been saying this for a while)
king (there is a king in a book that we have been looking at)

*Oh, and the word "strawberries" has definitely changed from "stubbies" to "staw-bies" now. She wants to go outside and pick strawberries every day! Today, we didn't pick any. I told her we needed to wait. I want to make sure there are several good ones for when Brian gets home, so they can go out and pick them together.