Funny Girl

I'm loving the age that Scout is at right now.  Each new stage she hits seems better than the last.  Yes, her emotions are huge right now and everything is amazingly exciting, horrifyingly scary, or devastatingly sad.  Yes, there are starting to be some of those tricky moments where you have to think about how to explain to her why she needs to do something that she doesn't want to do (brush her teeth, get in her carseat, wash her hands after touching poop, etc) but it's really because she is forming ideas and making connections all on her own.  And she doesn't understand the big picture the way we do (or think we do!).  Some of the connections she makes can be frustrating or confusing for us, but most of them hilarious.  Here are just a few of the moments that have made us laugh recently.

While walking by Victoria Secret, she said loudly enough for everyone around to hear.  "Oh, nice bras.  So cute.  Mommy needs it."

When she talks about anything being a baby, or cute, or nice, or loving it she uses an ooey, gooey voice, scrunches up her face, and snuggles it up between her face and shoulder.

She found an itty-bitty lego computer and sat on the couch repeating, "I'm working" incessantly.  She also likes to climb up on the computer chair, move the mouse around, and proclaim that she "just needs to work a  minute".  Maybe I've said that one before?

If you are doing anything in the kitchen she is likely to frantically run to the the laundry room yelling "I need me tool!"  Which translates to, "I need my stool!" as she wants to help with whatever we are doing.  Dishes are a favorite chore.

During dinner one night Scout randomly announced that "The garbage man comes on Saturday."  A phrase which she repeated frequently for several days.  Our garbage man comes on Monday.  We tried to get her to say "The garbage man comes on Monday" and she just responded "No, on Saturday.  The garbage man comes on Saturday."  You can even ask when the garbage man comes.  For a while it was always, "On Saturday".

If you touch her arm, even very lightly to try to get her attention, to change directions, or turn around, she might just yell "Ripping my arm off!"

One night Scout told us "I have to go to work".  We asked her where she was going to go to work and she said "with lamby". Then we asked her if she was going to mom's school to work "nooo", going to play the trumpet for work "noooo", going to be a "garbage man", nope "a farmer girl!" she replied.  She's obsessed with being a farmer girl and planting seeds.

She knows the names of a lot of our plants and talks about them when we are out in the yard.  Rhubarb, lavender, lilac, rhododendron  lemon balm, mint, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries are some of her favorites to talk about.

She yells at Lucy to tell her what to do.  "Lay Down!"  "Move!"  This is probably from us talking sternly to Lucy, but it's funny to hear it come out of such a little mouth.  The other day Andrew and I were talking about Lucy and I said that she's an idiot (she is) and Scout of course repeated "She's an idiot".  With perfect diction.  Oops.

Scout wants to be outside by herself all the time.  She will open the back door and say "Going outside Mommy!  Bye!" and play happily outside by herself.  And yell at you if you try to come out with her.  "No Mommy, go inside!"  We watch her through the window.

She has gotten really good at singing songs and read a book with us.  If we start a song (or read a line in a book) and then stop, she will pick up and sing the next part.  We can go back and forth like this for a long time. Here is a little sample of 10 little monkeys.


When need to have her leave a situation, and she doesn't like it, she usually cries, "Taking me away!"

She is so free and loving and sincere with her compliments. She has been known to tell me that I sing nice (I don't), Andrew that he's a good reader, or that we look beautiful.  She doesn't give hugs and kisses unless she means it, so if you get a compliment or affection from her, appreciate it.

Last night she asked for music.  As I was putting it on, I asked her if she wanted quiet music or party music.  She told me party music.  So I put on David Bryne and St. Vincent.  The music came on and she ran over, looked at the screen, and yelled "That's not a pirate!".  Yes, mam you are correct.

She will dances upon request, unless she has an audience.  She likes to shake her booty.

"I'm not Scoutie.  I am Isla Scout  Bybee."   She also knows that Andrew's full name (or big name) is Andrew Jay Bybee and mine is Lauriel Bybee.

Randomly making up words is a new phase....like yesternight.  Makes perfect sense right?

While Scout was digging around under the sink in the bathroom (I was there getting dressed), she found an old sonic care toothbrush.  She happened to turn it on and exclaimed "Oh!  Grandpa noise!".  My dad uses one to brush his teeth.  I sat down to show her how to use it like a toothbrush, but after trying it she said that it was "too loud in my mouth".  We have since found her a kids electric toothbrush - "Thomas one".  It has Thomas the Train on it.

We love our little chatterbox, she keeps us on our toes!

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago we met with Jen, from Jen Martin Studios, to get family portraits done.  I was a little bit nervous, as Scout has a tendency to yell "No pictures!" if you ask her to smile for the camera.  And I tend to dislike most photos of myself.  But Jen was great and I am pleased to say that getting our pictures taken was a pleasurable experience!  We met at a park near our house and spent 30 minutes playing, hugging, and blowing dandelions while she snapped photos.  And I love the way they turned out!  Yes, I can still be overcritical and we can still find things about ourselves we don't like in each picture, but when I stop being so obnoxious, these really are perfect.  We look happy and like we are having fun.  They look like us.  Which is way more important than looking like supermodels!  We will definitely being doing this again in the future, these are going in the keepsake file!

P.S.  Isn't our kid adorable?

Mama's Day

Almost two years ago, this little girl made me a Mama.  It's a role that is constantly changing as we both are figuring out this living thing day by day.  I am amazed at the little person that she is becoming and I love learning how to be her mother.  She makes me a better person.

Happy Mother's Day to all of those who have mothered us, we are lucky to have such an incredible support system.  We love you!

Kisses

Lucy

Remember this adorably cute puppy we used to talk about all of the time?
She's still around.  And she's still pretty cute.  And we love her, even though we usually whine and complain about her (isn't that a given with dogs?).  And apparently we yell at her a lot, because Scout pretty much only yells when she's talking to Lucy  (Move!  Lay down!).   And Scout likes to mention how Lucy is crazy, or Lucy is bugging her.  It's lovely having a mirror of all of the ways you talk.  Despite all of our complaining (and yelling?) Lucy is a good dog, and she lives a pretty plush life.  So don't believe the sad, picked on face that she likes to give.

Weaning

My baby weaned herself.  It happened in the middle of January, so it isn't exactly new news.  But someday I want to be able to tell her how it happened, so I figure I had better write it down.  This post has been in various stages of development for months, crazy how unable I am to sit down and write a focused piece right now.

I had fully planned on breastfeeding for at least two years.  Then after that, I was planning on letting Scout nurse as long as she wanted, letting her take the lead on when she was ready to be done with that comfort and support.  I had stopped pumping long ago (around a year) and she wasn't drinking any bottles.  She drank cow's milk out of a sippy cup and food like the crazy fast growing toddler that she is.  This helped nursing feel much more sustainable for me; it was no longer a stressful back of the mind wondering if I making enough to nourish my baby, it became solely a time for us to snuggle up, slow down, reconnect, and be sure that she was getting lots of extra vitamins, and nutrients.  It reassured me that she was getting antibodies and I was helping her build her immune system even stronger, I get exposed to a lot of crappy germs on a daily basis.  She didn't nurse that frequently.  First thing in the morning, if she got up before I left for work.  It was a nice morning snuggle up before the crazy fast moving day.  Right when I got home from work, a nice way for us to reconnect.  And just before bed, perfect way to get her to relax and be just a little bit more ready for sleep.  It was a good routine for both of us and I wasn't at all in a hurry to change it.

Then she got sick.  A stuffy nose and plugged up ears.  Her and Andrew both got this terrible high fever and body aches.  it was a bad bug.  On a Tuesday, she kept asking to nurse, but then would just cry instead of nurse.  Didn't even try to nurse, just told me to "shut them" and a lot of "no mommy".  We figured that her ears/nose were bugging her and kept trying to help her relieve the symptoms.  Over the next week, she didn't nurse at all.  She kept asking then changing her mind, slowed down on the asking, then I started offering and she would say no.  On Saturday or so of that week as we were getting ready for bed, she told me "no more nursing girl" and I started realizing that she might be really be done.  That it might not be just a phase.  She didn't ask again, but I offered at our usual times.  She always said no.  There was one day, in the early part of the next week, when she nursed, for 5-10 minutes.  She held my eye contact the whole time, somehow telling me that she was done with this.  And she hasn't nursed since.  She's talked plenty about it, saying funny things about how "nursing nice", "snuggle up", and talking plenty about how my "boo-boos" are for nursing and that they are "so nice".  She's even said she wants to nurse, to which I say "ok" and get all ready.  But she just pretends to nurse and then laughs.  In her own words, she's a "no more nursing girl" and is all grown up.

Reflecting on this change for us, it's made me sad and proud all at the same time.  Although I didn't have it anywhere in my head that it was time to be done nursing, I wanted it to be her decision.  I wanted her to feel like she was ready to let go of that part of being a baby, that she could be snuggled and comforted differently.  So I respect that she is really done, she has not seemed to miss it one bit.  Now, she wants us to read her books, look at pictures, and do so many big kid things.  We "talk" when she's feeling sad and give hugs and kisses, but she doesn't need to nurse anymore.  So while I'm sad that she's getting so grown up and is feeling that much more independent, I'm also proud that she knows what she wants and needs.

New, kind of...

...in a stream of consciousness, what's on my mind sort of way.

I cut my hair off, like three weeks ago. This is what it looks like when I straighten it. Which I gave up doing like a week in. My hair is like semi-curly, wavy, crazy looks different everyday. I should take a not straightened picture one day. In the morning after I've "fixed it". Not right now as I just got back from running.

 I've been running. Not a runner yet, but I've been running. Maybe more on that later. Exercise post-Scout is different for me and I feel like I'm just starting to get my head wrapped around it. Andrew's been running. And I think he's a runner. He's going to run a half in June, so proud of him for committing to the training...even though I won't do it with him!

 Andrew's been milking our neighbor's goat for the past few weeks. He gets up every morning with me and milks, takes him about 30 minutes. He's been getting about half a gallon of milk a day. That's a lot of milk and butter and ice cream. They are going to be selling their goats in June; we will be a bit sad to lose the milk, but we are sure now that goats are something that we'd like to get in the near future.

 I've decide to do my National Boards to get my professional certification. Enter a lot of work this summer and next school. Not Master's level work, just (sigh) work. And thinking and writing. It will be good for me and good for our bank account. But work.

The garden is coming along nicely, the apple trees are slowly improving, the cherry trees we planted last year are blooming, and we added a few pear trees for part of my birthday present.  The other part of my birthday present are two awesome benches that convert into picnic tables by rotating the back.  They are pretty sweet.