TODDLER TOYS 101....Welcome to Class.....

I decided to make a mini "class" if you will of some of Bug's favorite toys. I mention them all the time in her Blog so to give people a visual while reading here are some of the regulars.......

This is "Mini Blah" He is only about 4 inches tall and he's supposed to be a finger puppet. He's Bug's nighttime companion along with Marco the polar bear. He got his name because he looks like a miniature version of baby Einstein's "Bard" character. (We didn't know Bard's name initially, he just came on the screen and said "BLAH!!!!" So, we just called him Blah for the longest time. David will call him Bard now but I still call him Blah.....) We have about 3 or 4 Mini Blahs but I couldn't tell you where they all are.....

This is "B" and "Bear." They participate daily in Bug's activities. (I should make a note it has been suggested that Bear arrived at our house by some very suspicious means. It is speculated that he was swiped from Nanny and Papa's house. This activity was carried out under Dee-Dee's watch so neither David nor I can take responsibility for the bear-napping; if indeed it was a bear-napping........)

This is poor innocent "Lambie" who sometimes gets more beat up than I would like to see; but I can only assume it means he is well loved.

The famous Fisher Price SUV with both Momma and Baby in their proper positions in the car. Generally she puts them in the right way. Sometimes though, she lets the baby drive.




Ah, the Infamous "FatCat" FatCat has long been an important member of Bug's posse. FatCat was Bug's first true stuffed animal love, followed closely by PinkPig, and FatHen.




This is "Baby" Bug hasn't named her Cabbage Patch Kid yet. I look forward to the day when she names all of her toys. :)



This is Bitty Baby. She's the one who usually ends up with serious headaches after playtime. And, who routinely has her eyes poked at.



Bug's ponies. Well, some of Bug's ponies. She has quite a few more but these tend to be her favorites. The blue one is Whistle Wishes and the pink one is Swirlypop. (they are both generation 3 my little ponies) next to Swirlypop is Milkweed (a generation 1 newborn my little pony) and in front of Whistle Wishes is one of the new Ponyville ponies. The other items are random generation 3 my little pony accessories that she carries around with her. The brushes in particular go everywhere.

Bug's My Little Pony Scooter Brigade. (there's one missing....I believe it is in the kitchen....)

"Maow" the pink stuffed kitty. She found this one recently upstairs in her stuffed animal basket and decided to bring it downstairs. (It could also have been dropped through the railing of the loft for all I know.......)



Larry the Cucumber. He was originally my Larry the Cucumber but I can learn to share. He's one of my favorite characters from the Veggie Tales series, along with the peas......

Ah Ha!! Fluffy Bunny!!!! This is Evil Bug's right hand, uh, fluffy thing. David got him for her for Easter. He's fluffy and rolly polly. What's not to love?

Terrance and Phillip from "South Park." Bug's Auntie Heather crocheted these for me for Christmas this past year. (We're pretty big SP fans here.) Bug stole them from me. They make occasional appearance from time to time. I included them because I wanted to show how talented Bug's Auntie Heather is. (You can also check out her own Blog in the links section now. It's a Blog about her crocheting)

Wow!!!!!! and Bye-bye!!!

Well, I realize it has been a few weeks since I last updated. Nothing too terribly exciting has occurred so there really wasn't a whole lot to report. Bug's Dee-Dee turned fifty this past weekend and we had a surprise dinner at O'Charley's for her. It was great fun and it was the first time Bug didn't shy away from all the people!! Yea!! She really liked our waitress too (who was pretty cute and bubbly to begin with) but she would smile at Bug and respond to her when she said Hi! or Bye-bye!! Some of Dee-Dee's friends who hadn't seen her in a very long time got to see her as well. As always, everyone thinks she's just "too cute!"

We had another visit to the Dr.'s last week because of a double ear infection. She had been super cranky ran a temp of 103.4 last monday and wasn't sleeping well, but as always didn't really show that it was her ears that were bugging her. I'm not exactly sure we're over it yet but we'll see what happens over the next few days. The person who invented the ear numbing drops should be crowned ruler of the free world as far as I'm concerned. It's amazing what a few little drops can do to make it feel all better. Even I can vouch for how wonderful they are! I used them when I had an ear infection. It's like when they give you the happy drugs to feel better. It's a blissful feeling..... LOL And, somehow I've mastered putting them in her ear when she's sleeping!!! Helps us get through the night better.

Lately her favorite word has been either "WOW!!!!" or "Bye-bye!" Anything that remotely looks or sounds like a present, elicits a very excited "WOW!!!!!" She's been slightly spoiled a little over the past few weeks. she has a new monkey toy, a new vacuum toy and a new doll stroller. She's reached that point where opening toys is a very exciting prospect and she has to be involved in the process which includes throwing temper tantrums when you don't open it fast enough!!!

The monkey toy is unbelievably adorable, (you can see it here ) major snaps to Fisher Price for whoever invented it. We originally saw it at Auntie Ashley's house when we visited her before she had her baby. While we were shopping at meijer's (like I said people we have to eat!!) She noticed it as we went down the toy aisle and got very excited. So, mama decided to get it for her. She particularly likes it when Gr'Auntie Judy mimics the mama monkey. Fits of giggles abound. And of course we all know how funny Judy is so I'm sure you can appreciate why Bug thinks she's funny. :)

She isn't too terribly sure about the vacuum toy. We got it for her because she was continually trying to steal Carson's. (Carson is the little guy next door. He's going to be 2 in September.) So, we thought it would also be a good idea to have one to help her get used to the vacuum noise. As of this moment she hates the vacuum which makes it somewhat difficult for mama to vacuum. (It's hard to calm a hysterical toddler and vacuum at the same time.) So, we were like "cool this will help that fear." I took her with me to find one and she seemed very excited about it when we picked it out. She didn't even mind the vacuum noise it made! I was like, "Sweet!" and we took it home with us. We were all "Wow!!!!!!"'s when daddy struggled to get it out of the packaging, which we all know getting toys out of packaging anymore is like trying to get into Fort Knox. She played with it for a moment but then we had to eat lunch. So, after lunch she came back to it. Went over to touch it and it made the vacuum noise. She didn't like it very much. So, *sigh* we'll continue to work on it......

The doll stroller was an immediate hit. We liked driving our little car-walker toy around and the doll stroller is just as exciting. Plus, she can take stuff with her!!! I decided to get the doll stroller after she pitched a fit about not being able to put one of her pony scooters on her car-walker to take with her. I decided to look for either a doll stroller or maybe a grocery cart-type toy. Low and behold I found one that can be both!!! Sweet!! So I brought it home and got it all set up. (which included at least 2 temper tantrums because I wouldn't let her play with the unassembled pieces....) We immediately put "Bear" in it and took off!! She's been driving it in circles around the house. Somehow, even though it has caster wheels, it doesn't quite steer as well as the car-walker. It took a little bit to show her how to maneuver around objects but I think she has the hang of it now. It's really cute because she talks to "Bear" while she drives him around.

Now, for those of you who are wondering. "Bear" is different from "B." They are both teddy bears but they are different. And it's so damned cute when she says "bear." It sounds more like "Baey-wuhr" (I don't know how else to phonetically spell it.) Right now anything that is fuzzy and fluffy is either a "baby" or a "bear." Unless it is a cat, then she calls it a "Maow." (She does know the different cat's names. She just prefers to call them all Maow.)

Her other new favorite word is "Bye-bye!" She spends a good portion of her time telling me "Bye-bye!!" as she runs through the house. She tells David "Bye-bye!!" every time he goes up the stairs. She said it so much the other day that I now ask her where she's going when she says it. David put a new cover on the tower of the computer upstairs. It came in this really big box and Bug found it. It is now her little "house" and she delights in going in, closing the side flaps and saying "Bye-bye!" It's even funnier when she goes in and either pretends to talk on David's phone, or pretends to put on deodorant. (Ok long story short: Last time I bought soap it came with a sample of Dove's newest body wash. The little container is purple and kinda deodorant stick shaped. The deodorant that I use has purple packaging. Ever since she found this little sample she likes to pretend to use it as deodorant. Actually i probably should be slightly embarrassed eh?) Anyway, its really cute.

Until Sunday Bug didn't like the grass. It was all David and I could do to get her to put her feet in it or even touch it with her hands. Remember, I told you we could put a blanket out in the yard and not worry about her going far because she wouldn't leave the perimeter of the blanket? We finally got her to walk in the grass. or i should rephrase that. She suddenly decided that she wanted to walk in it. *sniff* I'll miss the blanket..... She's still a bit unsure about the grass but doesn't mind sitting in it or walking in it as much. hell, earlier in the day on Sunday she threw a fit because David tried to get her to step down in it. Go figure!!



BUG'S NEW HOUSE






Here she is in her new "house." The box is literally as big as she is.





Here she is in the box making a phone call. No joke, she knows how to make the phone work now. Generally, she calls Uncle Troy or Uncle Henry. I'm sure they both receive plenty of short 10 seconds or less calls from David on their phones on a daily basis......