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.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, June 11, 2007
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!
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!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
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.
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.
Friday, June 8, 2007
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.
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.
Thursday, June 7, 2007
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.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
"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).
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).
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
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.
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.
Monday, June 4, 2007
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.
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.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
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.
Saturday, June 2, 2007
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
