Random Bits of Cuteness

Last night I got out my horn to practice for tonight’s rehearsal. I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I hadn’t practiced at all in the two weeks since the last rehearsal. In fact, I hadn’t really played at home at all since…springtime? Maybe? Practicing is not my forté.

Anyway. Carrie was fascinated by the horn, and kept sticking her face up into the bell and saying “Hi Mommy!” into it. Finally she announced “Mine turn!” and tried to grab the horn away from me. So I showed her how to buzz her lips against the mouthpiece. Then I put the mouthpiece back into the horn and held it up to her mouth. And she buzzed perfectly and made a really nice sounding tone come out of it! She did it several other times in between playing with her toys, so it wasn’t an accident.

I wish they made kid-sized horns like they have kid-sized violins. I’d be totally willing to indulge her interest in the horn if it weren’t a) much too big for her to hold and b) much too expensive for me to replace now that we only have one income. I wonder if they still even start kids on the horn in fourth grade anymore?

There are times I wish I had a tape recorder on the baby monitor. This is the conversation I heard this morning before I went in to get Carrie:

“Whoa, be careful! You ‘K?”
“Yeah, I ‘K.”
“Need kiss? (mwah!)”
“Thank you!”

I guess she was either talking to one of the triplets or was having two of them talk to each other.

Oh, and Carrie learned the word “mine” over the weekend. Now everything is “mine”. “Mine socks”, “mine apple”, “mine, mine, mine!” I guess it had to happen eventually! (She does know it’s “Mommy’s knitting”, though.)

Can you guess what the following words mean?

two-pops
punky-comb
pankins
hunkey punk

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Carrie figured out how to jump yesterday – a real, coordinated, both feet off the floor jump. Then she practiced jumping around the house counting backwards from 10 to 1. She knew it was a new thing, too, because when we went to Grandma and Grandpa’s house for dinner I told her to show them her new trick, and she started jumping.

Bedtime has been fun lately. We tuck Carrie in with her binkies and loveys, and as we walk out the door she starts fake snoring. It’s all I can do to get out of her room without cracking up.

Carrie’s imagination seems to have taken off in the past week or so. She pretends to be a caterpillar crawling, a kangaroo hopping, a dog wagging her tail, an owl hooting and an elephant stomping – sometimes all at the same time! Her “babies” (which include everything from a rag doll to a ronald mcdonald little people dude) are fed, diapered, bathed and rocked to sleep. She imagines that Leah and Alex, the kids in her Signing Time videos, are her friends that we can call and talk to. She “talks” to Poppy on her play phones regularly. The other day she had an oddly shaped green bean and said it was a fish, and fed the fish another green bean. We never used the airplane game to get her to eat – we never had to, since she eats everything! – but now all on her own she’s started playing airplane with her food.

It so cliché, but I think this is my favorite age so far.

Where did my baby go? This little girl insisted on sliding down the stairs by her “self!” this morning:

A year ago, Carrie had no teeth. Now look what she can do!

Last night was a bit rough – Carrie woke at 2:30 wanting milk and a diaper change, and then again at 4:30. The second time she was dry, and I told her she could have water instead of milk. She was pretty upset, so we cuddled in the rocking chair for a bit, and I asked her what was wrong. She said “doggie miss you” and pointed to the doggie on her pajamas. I asked her what she meant, and she said, “I miss you!” She said it a few times, and in such a sad little voice. So I told her that I miss her too at night, but that if she went back to sleep we’d see each other again very soon. Maybe she had a bad dream? It was so sad and so cute I couldn’t decide whether to laugh or cry. Where do they pick these things up?

Manners are becoming a big thing around here. Carrie regularly says “thank you, mama” (emphasis on mama) when I give her things (or when she wants things she sometimes says “please? thank you, mama!” thinking it might help her cause) and “bless you” when someone sneezes.

And “I love you” is starting to be a freely spoken phrase. I love it! There’s nothing sweeter than a kiss and an “I love you” at bedtime every night.

After a terrible night that involved Carrie sleeping (I use that word loosely) in our bed for several hours, it seemed like she was up for the day at 6:30. I said to Denis, “well, there’s nothing for it but to make a big pot of coffee”. To which Carrie replied, “I want coffee, too!” At least, that’s what it sounded like to both of us, and when asked to repeat herself, she clearly said “want coffee!”

What a nut!

Luckily for us, after this exchange she put her head down on the pillow and when I asked her if she was sleepy she said “crib!” Only it sounded more like “crap”, and it took a couple tries for me to figure it out. But then she want back to sleep in her crib until almost 10. I think she’s working on one of those big back molars, based on the amount of drool, but since it’s still pretty early for her to get them I’m guessing it’s going to be a long few months.

Carrie couldn’t decide whether she liked the fireworks last night or not. I hadn’t intended for her to be up late enough to watch them, but they woke her up. She kept saying “no fie-fur, no fie-fur”, but then would say “yay” and clap after each burst. And for a little bit she was saying “shhh, quiet, shhh” because my mom was telling her to listen for all the people clapping. (You could hear everyone down the hill at the display and all the people in our neighborhood, it was such a clear quiet night.)

We have quite the little parrot on our hands now, so we really have to watch our language. I said “oh, shoot” the other day, and Carrie wandered around saying “oh shoot, oh shoot, oh shoot”. Sigh. I suppose if she’s going to learn these things, it’s better she learn them from me than on the bus, right?

My favorite current mispronunciation is “bee-fee” (barefeet). She says this as she pulls her sandals off her feet or tries to head out the front door without shoes. I swear this kid would go barefoot 24 hours a day if I let her. We’ve had several tantrums in public places because I won’t let her play at the park or walk around the mall barefoot. “No, mama! No! Bee-fee!”