The Old Gray Mare

Heidi has started using me as a horse now. When I was younger, my dad used to let us climb onto his back, and then he would walk down the hall singing The Old Gray Mare song to us on our way to bed at night. I tried it the other day with Heidi (not on the way to bed) and she kept wanting to get back on my back and go for more horsey rides. Since then, she sometimes tries to climb onto my back for another horse ride. Here are the words to the Old Gray Mare song:

The old gray mare

She aint what she used to be

Aint what she used to be

Aint what she used to be

The old gray mare

She aint what she used to be

Many long years ago

Today, we had to go to the commissary to buy something to make for tomorrow's Easter party that the battalion is having. They are having a pot luck dinner at the party. I am going to make a ham because I will only have to put it in the oven and slice it. I wanted something easy. I was hoping to find a really small cheap one for $7 or $8, but ended up getting an $11 one that had a $1 off coupon with it.

Heidi is so hard to go to the commissary with. She stands up in the seat part of the cart, even if I strap her in... and that is Dangerous! She usually tries to get me to pick her up when she stands up in the seat. If I put her in the basket part of the shopping cart, she either throws things out of the cart or she is constantly trying to eat something (even if I bring her a snack and a sippy cup). One time, she threw two yogurt cups out of the cart and they burst open. She has bitten into banana peels, orange peels, hotdogs in the package, cheese in the package, and has eaten paper boxes. She also gets mad at least half way through the store and insists on being carried through the rest of the store. She weighs about 24 or 25 pounds now, and it is just too hard to carry her around for too long and think about what you need to buy. She is not very still when you carry her. She likes to wiggle and move around a lot (usually trying to get down so she can run around and get into things)! Unfortunately, commissary day usually ends in tears.

Frustrated with this Blog

This blog is frustrating me. It is NOT spacing things the way I space them. After I hit the "publish" button, things move around and spaces are not where I put them.

Bum Bum Bum Bum

While we were home visiting my parents for Christmas, my mom taught Heidi a new song. It was a song that she would sing whenever I was changing her diaper. My mom also used to sing the song to us three girls when we were little, but I just didn't remember it. Here is how it goes:

Bum Bum Bum Bum

I see your hiney...

Bum Bum Bum Bum

All white and shiney...

Bum Bum Bum Bum

If you don't hide it...

Bum Bum Bum Bum

I just might bite it...

Bum Bum Bum Bum

I have continued to occasionally sing this song to her during diaper changes. She seems to like it and tries to sing along by saying "Bum Bum Bum Bum."

Today, Heidi followed me into the bathroom when I had to go pee (as she usually does). While I was sitting on the toilet, I guess she noticed that my bare bottom was exposed and she started singing Bum Bum Bum Bum... We both started laughing. She is such a cute, funny baby!

She has really been showing an interest in what I am doing while I am in the bathroom lately! (Also shows an interest in seeing what is in her diaper after I have taken one off.... and sometimes tells me "poo poo" when she needs a diaper change, whether it is #1 or #2) After I go pee, she always wants to see in the toilet. And then, she always wants to flush for me. Sometimes, she needs some toilet paper to wipe herself too. After she pretends to wipe herself, she throws it in the toilet and usually laughs. After we flush the toilet, Heidi usually waves and says bye-bye to the water that goes down.

I have been thinking about getting her a potty chair just to put in the bathroom, so she can copy me on her own toilet. I guess it would help her to be comfortble with it in a few months when we start to potty train. I think she is still too young to start that right now, as she is still only 16-months-old. I have read that babies' bladders are just not ready to "hold it" until they are At Least 18-months-old (and usually older). Sometimes she wants to sit on the toilet seat, so I have put her up there a couple of times. I guess it is time to at least start shopping for a potty chair.

I am not sure what I want or will need to get. There is a really cute one that I have seen in the stores, though, that I think sings a song when they flush. I think that might be encouraging. It also has a removable seat for when they are ready to move up to the big potty. I just don't know if I want to spend what they are wanting for this one that I thought was so neat. I still need to do some shopping and comparing before I make a decision on what to get. Any advice from others who know more about this subject would be greatly appreciated!

Heidi's Vocabulary

This is my first time writing a blog. I have been meaning to start writing a journal of our time together while Daddy is away, but just haven't gotten around to it... and we are now about 6 months into the deployment.

The picture above was taken last December when I was home visiting my parents over the holidays. We had gone to Destin, Florida for the day. Heidi did NOT like the sand at ALL! She was So Afraid of it and did Not want to touch it!

Heidi is now 16-months-old and is very active. She knows a lot of words and her vocabulary is growing daily. Here is a list of some of the words that I can think of that she can say (some very clearly & some in her own way):

Mommy
Momma
Daddy
Paw Paw
Maw Maw
up *
down (dow)*

please
water (wa wa)
milk (mil mil)*
drink (dink)*

yellow (ye-yo) (if I ask her what color something is, it is almost always yellow to her)

red (re)

green (gee) (she does't know which color is which yet though)
cookie
cheese (teese)
ham (she draws out the "a," so it is more like haaaam)
cracker (tatter)
banana (nana)
grapes (p's)
green beans (bee beas or bee beans)
peas

broccoli (braw-bee)
yummy yummy
spoon (poo)
eat (ee ee)*
more*
bath (ba - with a short a sound)
eye
ear
elbow (be-bow)

eye brow (eye-bow)
hair
teeth (tee)
nose (no)
cheek (tee)

mouth (mow)

tongue (tu, with a short u sound)
toes
arm (draws out the word aaaaaaarm, and sounds like slight Boston accent)
belly button (be-y-bu)
no
yeah
tissue (tiss-u)
flower (tatta or tatter)
necklace (neck-ne, w/short e and then long e)
napkin (nack-na, w/ short a and then short u)*
butterfly (tu-tie)
uh oh
bird (bir)
duckie
duck
snake (nake)

bear (bea, almost like with a Boston accent... not saying "r" sound)
moo (sound for cow)
baa (sound for sheep)
neigh (sound for horse)
bock bock (chicken sound)
quack quack (duck sound, but says it more like "kack kack")
roar sound (sound for bear or any other BIG scary animal)

ooh ohh ahh ahh (monkey sound)*
giddeyup (sound you say when riding a horse)
whoah (says while riding horse)
wow
rock rock (ro ro, says when rocking in a chair or on rocking horse)
doggy
puppy
meow (doesn't say cat yet)
fish (shhh)
baby

bottle (ba ba, she likes to feed a bottle to her baby dolls)
shoe (sometimes "sue" or "shoe")
sock (dock or sock)
bubbles

chair (chay)

wall (wa)
play (pay)*
surprise (pise) (only says this after I say it, repeating me)
happy (appy) (only says this after I say it, repeating me)
jump (dump)
tv (kee kee)
Barbie (baa - bee, like a Boston accent)
apple (was saying "buppa" for a while, but now says it very clearly)
Night Night (nigh nigh)
bye bye (has been saying this since she started waving @ 7 1/2 - 8 months)
grass (das)
sky (can't remember how she says it, but points up and says it... I think it is "die")
tree (tee)
car (ta)
walk (wa wa)
shh (puts finger over her mouth while doing "shhh", also does "shh" when people appear to be asleep)

pee pee

poo poo

diaper (doop-da)
Where is it? (says "is it" or "sit" while putting her hands up and out in
front of her)
Out (she tells me she wants to go outside a lot!)
Off (the other day she said "shoes off")
Calls all letters of the alphabet "B" ... but sometimes some are "M"
"Mommy Me" (meaning: Mommy come pick me up)

There are probably others, but I can't think of them at the moment. I think she is pretty smart!

The words that have an * by them are words that she also knows signs for. She also knows some other signs (ie - "all done").

She also knows what so many other words mean, but just doesn't say them yet. Sometimes, I will ask her to go get something for me and she knows exactly what I am talking about, but just can't say the word yet.