Living with the parrot

Delia is cracking me up lately. I don't know if she understands half of what she says, but here are the latest gems:

*Delia can recite the numbers up to 13. She can say the alphabet. She can sing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; Happy Birthday; and Itsy Bitsy Spider.

*"This is my tushie, this is my bum." (Repeated for a good five minutes in the bathtub this evening, while pointing to her bottom.) She later looked at my belly and asked whether the baby has a bum.

*Is there a song about the number of humps on a camel? Delia must have learned it at school today, because she spent the afternoon saying, "My camel has one humm, my camel has two humms." If anyone knows this song, please fill me in.

*Delia has been watching a PBS show called "Super Why" about these kids who solve problems in books. She loves the show, and I think she is dreaming about it. When she woke up from her nap the other day, she said, "Super Why to the rescue! Back to the book club."

*I need to talk to Delia's teachers about a potential incident with a rabbit. For a week Delia has randomly been saying, "sorry." When I ask her why she's sorry, she says, "Say sorry to the rabbit." The only rabbit she knows is at school. What did this child do that poor rabbit?

Return to Kids' Gym

Delia's friend Mary Catherine had her birthday party today at Kids' Gym. Delia used to go to a weekly class there, and she was VERY excited to go back today. We had a rough morning, though. From 6:30 to 10 a.m. all we heard was, "I want to go. I want to go to Mary Catherine's birthday party." This, of course, is my fault. I told her several days ago about the party, and she has been forcing us to sing Happy Birthday ever since.

It is past time I learn when to keep my mouth shut with Delia. I got into the habit early on of narrating my thoughts to her. I read somewhere that this would help her develop language skills. However, I haven't stopped doing it, and I must!

Yesterday, I told her we had to go stand in line at the registry of motor vehicles, then we would reward ourselves with ice cream. For ONE HOUR in that line all Delia talked about was ice cream. I don't think she had ever had ice cream before, but she was fixated on it. Every person in line talked to her about what flavor to get and where we would go to buy it. When we finally got the window, the clerk said we had a refund coming to us for our old car tags. "Maybe you can use it to buy the ice cream," she said. Oh, my.

Anyway, we had a great time at the party this morning. Happy Birthday, Mary Catherine!
























This is the fit Delia threw in the middle of the party because she did not want to share. It isn't easy being a toddler.

The new adventures of "I can do it myself"

Yesterday we stopped at the grocery store on our way to Miss Audrey's house for playgroup. Delia pushed her own cart, and picked out some strawberries.






I didn't notice until we got to the checkout, but she also picked out some other random items. Hmm.




At playgroup, the kids sat around and ate a yummy lunch.





It seems everyone is growing up all of a sudden.

Out of the mouths of babes

I don't have any pictures today, but I thought I would share some of the funny stuff Delia has said lately.

*The other day Delia wanted me to play, and I kept saying, "OK, I'm coming," but I was engrossed in something and didn't move. Finally, she came over, looked up at me, and said, "Mommy, what's wrong with you?"

*Tonight, David asked Delia to do something and she said, "no." He said, "Excuse me?" And Delia replied, "Yes, ma'am."

*When we ask Delia what's in my belly, she says, "Baby." When we ask her what we should name the baby, she says, "Candy." Classy. We are seriously considering it. Can a "Candy" be a Supreme Court justice?

*As we were leaving the grocery store today, the cashier looked at Delia and said, "bye, bye." Delia said, "Bye. See you next time!"

*David and Delia were recently playing, and he kept saying, "5...4...3...2...1...blastoff!" Delia has her version of this, which she has been repeating often and in public: "1...2...3...bastards!"

Toddler-style Passover seder

Passover preparation, as I have recently learned, is not something one should do at the last minute. This is especially true in Birmingham, Alabama. We've been to five grocery stores in the past few days and have found a total of two boxes of matzo.

Despite this, we managed to have a toddler-friendly seder at our house on Sunday, complete with matzo ball soup, brisket, haroset, veggies, and bubbe's famous jello mold. I would like to take this moment to thank all the women in my family who have cooked Passover meals over the years. I never truly appreciated your hard work until I tried to do it myself (with help from David, of course.)

We started our meal with a discussion of the seder plate. Ours is a really beautiful one made in China. It doubles as a puzzle.






We poured the wine. We selected a fine bottle fit for pregnant women and almost-two-year-olds.





Matzo ball soup tastes even better when you eat it with your hands.





In between courses, we colored, just as they did in ancient times.





After dinner, Delia looked for the Afikomen. I remember losing out at this to my Burke cousins year after year, but Delia had no competition. She found it quickly with a few subtle hints (check the tent!).













Daddy gave her a prize to put in her piggy bank.






And when we were all good and stuffed, Delia decided to take a few pokes at her baby sister.

Chase's birthday

Delia went to her first real birthday party on Saturday.

She has been singing "Happy Birthday" for a couple of weeks now. I can't figure out where she learned it, but when it was finally an appropriate time to sing it, she played shy.

Oh, well. We had a great time, anyway. Happy Birthday, Chase!


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Conversation at our house today:

Me: Delia, we've just had an urgent e-mail from Bubbe. She needs new pictures of you, stat. Let's go outside!
Delia: OK. Let's go.
Me: Can you do something cute?
Delia: I want to eat.
Me: Yes, but can you smile for the camera first?
Delia: I want to go pee pee.
Me: We just sat in the bathroom for half an hour, Delia. You do not need to go pee pee. Smile for Bubbe.
Delia: I see the kids.
Me: Yes, the kids are playing across the street. How about a smile?
Delia: Delia upside down.
Me: Yes, I see you turning upside down. How about a smile?
Delia: (Maniacal laughter.)

This is the face of a man...

...who just found out he will spend the next couple of decades in a house full of women.


We're having another little GIRL!


We had a great view of her today during the ultrasound. She was very cooperative and showed her "business" right away. We also saw her flexing her little toes and sucking on her fingers. She looks to be about a pound right now, and the technician said she is in the 81st percentile for size at the moment. We are still on target for an August 21st due date, although the doctor said we could induce a week early to make labor a bit more manageable for me this time around, as well as for logistical purposes. We'll see...

I'll get some ultrasound pictures up here as soon as I figure out how to link my laptop to the scanner.

Learning is bad

We moved Delia into her big-girl bed on Saturday, and things have gone really well. She hasn't fought bedtime, and she's sleeping well during naps and nights. In the morning, she has waited on her bed until I come to get her.

That all appears to be over.

Today Delia's friends came over and had a good time playing on her bed. Then they taught her how to climb down all by herself. Grrrr.

When everyone left, I got Delia settled for her nap. We read a "Madeline" story, sang a song, got all her stuffed animals arranged, and shut out the light. A short time later, I heard a knocking sound, and went to her door. The knocking stopped, but when I got down to look under the door, there were her little toes on the other side.

When she figures out how to turn that door knob, we'll really be in trouble.

The princess and the firefighter

Once upon a time, two little girls had a playdate. One dressed up in a firefighter's hat, and the other became a princess. Both, though, enjoyed coloring and playing. And at least one later had a fabulous afternoon nap!



"Do you think this hat goes with my bow?"




This princess prepared to pull her skirt on over her head.


Enough coloring books to go around.


"Don't look! It's not finished yet."