trip to Kennywood, J's vocabulary, and B's quirkiness
Yesterday, D and I loaded the kids into the car and went to Kennywood! They just opened the park over the weekend, and it was a nice if somewhat cold day, but we had a really good time. B is a daredevil, like her parents, and if J's bored expression at riding the Little Phantom is any indication, so is he :) He laughed on the Little Whip though, so that's a good sign. I guess amusement park rides aren't very exciting after spending one's days chasing a daredevil for a big sister around the house. Oh, he also laughed when they were riding up in the little airplanes, so he liked those as well. J is more of an observer, enjoying new sights and places and faces. He's content just to look at stuff for a while. Had to laugh after B went on the Pirate Ship twice and then started running to go on it a third time, and D asked me to go with her because he was starting to feel queasy. We're getting so old that now rides make us nauseous!
Finally figured out what two of Baby J's words are. "Mama" and "Dada" were easy enough to distinguish, but until the past week, I wasn't sure what "Baba" and "Yaya" were. I think for many babies, a "baba" could be a bottle or even a ball. But he doesn't hear those words enough for it to have meant anything significant to him. I was thinking it was Becca (aka B), but I know from personal experience that many babies focus on the last syllable of someone's name when first learning it. For example, someone with the name of Melissa, perhaps, might be called Sissa or Zsa Zsa, much to her chagrin. As a result, when J said Yaya, he could have been asking for Becca. But, Yaya could have also meant "I love you" since he seemed to say it mostly when one of us said it to him or if we were snuggling him. Last week, we finally got it straightened out :) B is Baba and Yaya is "I love you." Now he's even progressed to it sounding like "I yaya," which is very sweet. It's silly, I know, but it feels like I can almost communicate with him now. Today we were at the gorcery store after dropping B off at school, and he said, "Baba." I said, "Your sister's at school, honey," and he seemed content with that.
On a side note, I've noticed that lately when he's caught doing something he's not supposed to, like, oh, scurry into the bathroom and take the toilet brush from its holder, he freezes and his little mouth forms a great big O as soon as he's caught as if to say, "Oooooh shit. Is there any chance my invsibility charm is working and you can't see me?"
B seems to have accepted that she can't guilt me into doing something by vowing not to be my friend anymore ;) However, in her dictatorial quest, she has not given up complete hope that that line won't work in some form. Today, when I picked her and her little friend Nadine up from school, B said she wanted to go to Eat & Park for dinner. I told her no. So she said to me in her most stringent, don't-argue-with-me tone, "If you don't take me to Eat & Park, I'm not going to be Nadine's friend anymore." Thank God I wasn't looking at her or I would have burst out laughing. Poor Nadine!
Also, I've noticed that my girl is a severe stickler for verbal exactness. God forbid if I use the wrong word for something. She jumps down my throat! For example, if I say, "Will you put your skirt in the hamper?" on a day when she wore a dress, she'll say in her perfect enunciation, "It's not a skirt, Mommy. It's a dress." I swear, I have never gotten in so much trouble for using a wrong word than I do with her.
Spent part of today helping B make a Mother's Day gift for my mom, a green t-shirt with the kids handprints on the back that says Hugged by B & J and that has flowers sponged on the front by B. It turned out pretty cute and I know she'll like it. I've got to finish up my mom's gift from me tonight, while I watch "24" which we TiVo'd. The excitement never ends!
Finally figured out what two of Baby J's words are. "Mama" and "Dada" were easy enough to distinguish, but until the past week, I wasn't sure what "Baba" and "Yaya" were. I think for many babies, a "baba" could be a bottle or even a ball. But he doesn't hear those words enough for it to have meant anything significant to him. I was thinking it was Becca (aka B), but I know from personal experience that many babies focus on the last syllable of someone's name when first learning it. For example, someone with the name of Melissa, perhaps, might be called Sissa or Zsa Zsa, much to her chagrin. As a result, when J said Yaya, he could have been asking for Becca. But, Yaya could have also meant "I love you" since he seemed to say it mostly when one of us said it to him or if we were snuggling him. Last week, we finally got it straightened out :) B is Baba and Yaya is "I love you." Now he's even progressed to it sounding like "I yaya," which is very sweet. It's silly, I know, but it feels like I can almost communicate with him now. Today we were at the gorcery store after dropping B off at school, and he said, "Baba." I said, "Your sister's at school, honey," and he seemed content with that.
On a side note, I've noticed that lately when he's caught doing something he's not supposed to, like, oh, scurry into the bathroom and take the toilet brush from its holder, he freezes and his little mouth forms a great big O as soon as he's caught as if to say, "Oooooh shit. Is there any chance my invsibility charm is working and you can't see me?"
B seems to have accepted that she can't guilt me into doing something by vowing not to be my friend anymore ;) However, in her dictatorial quest, she has not given up complete hope that that line won't work in some form. Today, when I picked her and her little friend Nadine up from school, B said she wanted to go to Eat & Park for dinner. I told her no. So she said to me in her most stringent, don't-argue-with-me tone, "If you don't take me to Eat & Park, I'm not going to be Nadine's friend anymore." Thank God I wasn't looking at her or I would have burst out laughing. Poor Nadine!
Also, I've noticed that my girl is a severe stickler for verbal exactness. God forbid if I use the wrong word for something. She jumps down my throat! For example, if I say, "Will you put your skirt in the hamper?" on a day when she wore a dress, she'll say in her perfect enunciation, "It's not a skirt, Mommy. It's a dress." I swear, I have never gotten in so much trouble for using a wrong word than I do with her.
Spent part of today helping B make a Mother's Day gift for my mom, a green t-shirt with the kids handprints on the back that says Hugged by B & J and that has flowers sponged on the front by B. It turned out pretty cute and I know she'll like it. I've got to finish up my mom's gift from me tonight, while I watch "24" which we TiVo'd. The excitement never ends!