Well, I promised to talk about Bug's birthday party. She turned 2 on the 19th of January. (I know!!! two!!!) We had a "small" gathering of people. Oddly enough small for us always turns out to be more than 10 people. Nanny, Papa, Dee Dee, G'rauntie Judy, Grandma Clark, Grandpa Clark, Auntie Denise, Jordan, Grandpa Terry, Mimi and Uncle Logan oh and Uncle Josh all came up for the occasion. somehow the immediate family gathering wound up being 12 people. Our family can never do anything small...... It was a nice day, though busy, but I think everyone had a good time.
So, what is Bug up to these days. Well, she's 2. That should explain everything. One minute she's super cute and you want to squish her and the next minute it's like she's possessed. Literally a Dr. Jekyl/Mr. Hyde kinda situation. Some days are better than others and some days.....OY! Some days I swear I feel like we spend all day in the time-out corner and going over the rules. (No kicking, no hitting, no throwing, no biting; and listen to mommy and daddy........) Does she know the rules? Oh yes, we recite them after being in time out. Do we follow the rules? Hell no, she's two. Most of the time though we just deal with the throwing and the listening to mommy and daddy part of the rules with a little bit of kicking thrown in every once in awhile to spice things up. The biting has already pretty much been nipped in the bud, but we still recite it in the rules to reiterate it won't be tolerated.
Aside from her moments of most definitely being 2 she is BUSY BUSY BUSY. She and I spend lots of time coloring, or reading books or playing with dolls and bears and ponies and animals. We also play with stickers. She has her own little book that she is allowed to put the stickers in and every once in awhile she likes to do that. She also is very helpful with things like the laundry and helping me do things I need to get done. Now, if it's say, a mess she's made, then it's like pulling teeth sometimes to get her to help. But, if it's say, trying to get our fireplace lit (which David was doing last night...why i don't know it was 50 degrees here, but it's not working right now so he was trying to figure out what was wrong) then bug has to be involved and helping. the dishwasher is also another good example of when Bug likes to "help." How is it she always manages to find the one butter knife I missed among the forks and spoons I'll never know. That, and she likes to unload all the dishes I've just put in.
Well, about a week and a half ago we wound up with 20 inches of snow and a blizzard warning that lasted all through the day that Saturday. David just happened to be on his ski trip with Phil in New Hampshire, which turned out to be kinda a bust in the skiing department. We had 20 inches of snow and they got rain. Dee Dee came up for a few days on a "mini-vacation" to stay with us. (I don't like being alone in the house at night...even with an alarm....) It was probably a good thing b/c with all that snow and my present condition there was no way the driveway would have been shoveled. (If some of you missed it take a gander at the top of the page and you'll see what I mean) Even Dee Dee was overcome by the sheer amount of snow at the end of the driveway after the plow's initial pass and thanks to some wonderful neighbors it was shoveled out. Bug had fun playing with the snow. I can't say in it because she wasn't quite excited about getting in the snow. She was however taking large handfuls and throwing them (or at least attempting to) at Ma and I. (Thank-you Mr. Corey and Carson!!!!!) Of course most of the snow was gone by wednesday of last week thanks to some warm temps and rain. ah well at least we got some before the season was out.
Because I was having some very very green days there in the beginning (and still do....every day is a game of chance......) Bug and I have spent lots of time doing quiet activities. some of which involved movies. Well, for the most part I watched the movie while desperately fighting the nausea and she played. On one particular day where I was so green I wanted nothing more than the earth to swallow me whole, I popped in Hayao Miyazaki's "My Neighbor Totoro"
This is by far one of Miyazaki's best animes. There isn't much of a plot. These two little girls; Satsuki (pronounced sah-ski) and Mei ,move into the rural Japanese countryside with their dad while they wait for their mom to get better at the nearby hospital. (nearby meaning a 3 hr walk) Anyway, they move into this old house which just so happens to be next to a huge forest inhabited by totoros, or forest spirits. (pronounced toe-toe-row) these forest spirits like nothing better than to collect acorns and make them grow, sit in tree branches and play ocarinas( a kind of pan pipe thing) and become the wind. Mei discovers them initially while playing one day and eventually Satsuki is introduced to them too and they teach the girls to have hope. It has a lovely happy ending. Oh and there is also a weird magical creature called a "catbus." Which is literally a cat that is a bus. (So if you hear Bug say something that sounds like "catbutt" she is most likely talking about the catbus.)
She was hooked from start to finish. She loved it. So much so that we actually "play" Totoro. This involves standing at one end of the room and yelling "SATSUKI!!!!!!" and then running over to the other side of the room. (the girls run everywhere in this movie, i don't believe they know how to walk.) It also involves lots of yelling at the top of our lungs "where are you?" and "come out come out wherever you are." So Bug's first full length feature was an anime. As her mother I couldn't be more proud. :) (Next stop Sailor Moon........ I'm kidding, she's too young for that...)
Bug also likes to play pretend fishing games. This I attribute to Little Bear. Little Bear is always fishing. Practically every episode at least involves talk about fishing, but then again since he hangs out with a bunch of animals that technically should all be trying to eat one another I guess fish is the only "neutral" option for all of them to eat. (i have to comment that I am not so very fond of Little Bear anymore. At the moment it's like Pavlov's dog. I watched it too much with her when I was super green and now when i hear it i start getting nauseous....) Little Bear did teach Bug how to do a somersault and I'm pretty impressed by that. And she's really good too!
So anyway, I've definitely babbled enough. I finally uploaded some picture files. There's about 4 new ones starting with our trip to Indiana with Lara and the girls. So, go enjoy the pics. And, for those who are wondering the approximate date of our second addition is September 19, 2008. But, we'll see how it goes. my blood pressure is already "elevated." *sigh* Ah well. We've made it to 13 weeks and Bug and I went in yesterday to check my BP again and to listen for the heartbeat. It was there and as far as Bug is concerned we were listening to Mommy's tummy. I tried explaining to her what we were listening to, but she looked at me like I was strange, so we'll just see what happens. Enjoy the pictures!!
Oh and by the way this is what a Totoro looks like:
and yes they come in different sizes.
(Mei is the little one in the hat and Satsuki is the one without.)
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