Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Watch what you say

Sara Beth has gotten a knack for repeating phrases that she hears.  Heather will talk to the other drivers while traveling down the road.  So, as she pulls up behind a car at a stop sign, Sara Beth pipes up from the back seat exclaiming "Go Person!" to the car in front of Heather.  Heather, always looking for teachable moments, seizes the opportunity and explains how a 4-way traffic stop works.  Sara Beth responds by saying, "Hurry up mommy!"

In other news, today while Heather and Sara Beth were in the cleaning supplies aisle of the grocery store, Sara Beth declares "I need chocolate."  When Heather asked for clarification, Sara Beth explained "A good treat for a good girl!"

Sara Beth has been eating quite a few gummy bear rewards; each time she goes to the bathroom, we give her one or two.  Well, one time, I handed her the little squishy treats, and she bounded to our bedroom and flopped on the couch right next to the Gracie-cat to munch on them.  The cat was in a dead sleep, right up to the point when Sara Beth exploded into her personal space.  Understandably, the cat bolted from the room.  It just so happens that Sara Beth flopping onto the couch also knocked the gummy bear out of her hand.  So, now, Sara Beth is sitting on the couch without her treat while the cat bolts from the room.  Sara Beth came to the conclusion that Gracie-cat must have stole her gummy bear, so she leaps back off the couch and takes off after the cat calling after her to give  back.  This is all near bed time when she should be settling down.  I had to catch Sara Beth, bring her back and show her where the gummy bear landed, and then made her apologize to the cat for the false accusation.

My parents were in town for the weekend.  Sara Beth loved to read with them.




By dinner time Sunday, Sara Beth was exhausted and ready to go to bed.


Tuesday, August 24, 2010

To the farm

Heather took Sara Beth to a farm/museum/petting zoo down the road.  Now that Sara Beth understands how to pet the cats, she wanted to pet the chickens, but since they had a tendency to bite, Heather didn't let her.  She also got to wash cloths the old fashioned way, pick apples, visit a one room school house and have a wagon ride behind a tractor. The only thing that she didn't want to go near was the milking machine that looked like a cow.

Sara Beth uses her kitchen toys.  When I get home from work, she will occasionally run up, grab my hand, say "Come with me", and drag me back to her play room for some tea while Heather finishes up with making dinner.


Heather was trying to take pictures of Sara Beth while she was having a tea party.  She was so serious and not cracking a smile.  Heather said "Smile big.  Show your teeth."  This was the result.

In case you forgot, Sara Beth still loves to drink tea.  Heather left her "empty" cup unattended one morning and Sara Beth grabbed a hold of it and sucked every last drop of tea out from the bottom of the cup.

It has finally started to cool off ( relatively speaking).  Today, it was only in the high 90s, so Sara Beth played in the backyard quite a bit.  If she walks outside without sunglasses in the middle of the day, she will say "It's bright.  Where sunglasses?"  

This evening. after dinner, I took her around the block on her tricycle.  She can reach the peddles, but she prefers to propel herself forward by running with her feet on the ground while sitting down.  It works, mostly, but her arms will move in time with her legs.  Since her hands are holding onto the handle bar, the tricycle zigs and zags back and forth with each step she takes, and it is actually very effective.  Her top speed is better than my comfortable walking speed.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Bed time stories

When I put Sara Beth to bed for the night, Sara Beth will tell me bed time stories.  She will tell me about things in the day, like seeing a fire truck or splashing in a fountain, and other times she will tell me embellished stories, like how a bunny rabbit jumped into the sky near the moon and how Cookie Monster came over and ate cookies and strawberries and friends.  I was afraid to ask for clarification on that one.  Tonight, she said that she saw a loud train with a window.  I told her that if the window was open, then all the loud noise from the train would come in the window.  Sara Beth responded, "Train go inside window... no fit"

Who would have guessed that little girls like to play dress up.  Sara Beth and her friend Sophia tried out some of the dresses that Sara Beth got for her birthday.

When her friend Adrianna joined the mix, it became a high volume playtime in the bedroom.  They pretended to be sleeping, but as soon as any one of the girls got under the covers, the other two tried to tickle her.

If there is one thing that Sara Beth likes more than dresses, it is shoes.  She outgrew her old pair of house shoes, but fortunately, Heather was there to the rescue.  She kept her eyes open for a good deal on another pair and her vigilance paid of when she found a new pair for $3.  Sara Beth, of course, took off her outside shoes to try the new pair on right away.  

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Poop everywhere

There have been several poop related incidences in Sara Beth's life, but yesterday took the cake, as long as "taking the cake" means grinding poop into everything.  Heather went in to get Sara Beth in the morning.  As she walked up to the room, Sara Beth stood at the gate and said "need diaper change."  And then Heather smelled it: Sara Beth had been awake for a while and had been busy.  There was poop all over the floor and ground into the carpet.  It was in Sara Beth's hair, on her bed sheets, in her books, it coated her bracelets.  Unfortunately, taking a picture of the scene was not Heather's top priority, so there are no actual pictures.  But it took Heather 2 hours to clean up, and if you know Heather, you know how big of a mess it needs to be for Heather to take 2 hours to clean it up. Fortunately, everyone survived the incident.

Heather did some research about how to prevent repeat incidents.  Someone suggested putting a bathing suit on over the child's pajamas.  Sara Beth does like bathing suits...


Heather will occasionally drink coffee in the mornings.  Sara Beth will beg and plead to have some too.  So Heather will put some in "Sara Beth's cup"

Ice cream is also a favorite.


So one of Sara Beth's friends has a toy laptop and Sara Beth enjoys playing with it.  The last time we were at Target, a week ago, Sara Beth saw the toy on the shelves.  So when Sara Beth and Heather went to pick up some milk there today, Sara Beth reminded Heather that the laptop was still there.  She then batted her eyes and, since Heather was so impressed with her memory, Sara Beth is now the proud owner of a new laptop.


Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Party like your 2

Sara Beth turned two years old over this past weekend, and she had a great time with friends.  If you haven't ever heard 7+ girls all under the age of 6 all screaming at the top of their lungs ... repeatedly, let me tell you, it can create some rather unique resonating patterns of interference, and it is loud.  I think my ears are still ringing.  

Heather did a wonderful job decorating, and Sara Beth tried several of the strawberries to ensure they were still fresh before any of the guests came over.

Since she still fears tearing wrapping paper, or even removing tissue paper from a gift bag, so we helped her unwrap presents after everyone left.  She, of course, wanted to try everything on at the same time.

She also got a fuzzy pink stuffed poodle, along with matching blanket and neck pillow.  She calls the neck pillow her "poodle necklace".

I think she is starting to look like the "Mr T" of bracelets.  She will put so many on her arms that they are no longer able to bend at the elbow.  But she loves all of them.  In her other hand, she shows her "cammera," as she calls it. 


She has changed so much in the past few weeks.  She will routinely say complete sentences. She now enjoys jumping into swimming pools and going underwater. When her hair is pulled back she looks like she is old enough to go into kindergarten. But then I realize what age she currently is, and that we need to get through the "terrible twos" first.