This morning...

on our way to work/daycare. 6:24 am.

Scarlett describes the perfect daycare...

Mama- Scarlett...are you going to daycare today?
Scarlett- Yeah.
Mama- Who are you going to see at daycare today?
Scarlett- Car-key (Carson).
Mama- Oh really? Who else are you going to see?
Scarlett- Val (Carson's mom).
Mama- Val will be there too? Who else?
Scarlett- Elmo...Cookie...Oscar...Grover...(etc.)
Mama- Oh yeah? Will Lesia be there? (her actual daycare provider)
Scarlett- NO!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shortly after, still on our way to work/daycare. Stopping at a gas station. 6:39 am.

Joe is outside filling up the tank. A sketchy man comes up to him and asks him a question. Joe gets back into the car.

Mama- What did that guy ask you?
Dada- He wanted to know if I had a spare tire.
Mama- Like what, we'd just give him our spare...if we had one. What'd you tell him?
Dada- I said "no, just a donut."
Mama- Did he want the donut?
Dada- No.
Scarlett- MY DONUT!!
Dada- No Bubsy. Not that kind of donut.

The kid loves her rice

A weekend of boys

We played with boys this weekend. 2 boys. Both Mossimo and Carson.
On Saturday afternoon, we went to the Peabody Museum and saw "ROARS!," which is what Scarlett calls dinosaurs. She's such a girl. Of course she found the one other little girl in the room, who just so happened to be wearing Minnie Mouse ears, and proceeded to follow her around for a bit. She made the simple mistake of calling the little girl "Mim-mie" (she was wearing Minnie Mouse ears for crying out loud), and was then politely informed by the girl that her name was not Minnie, but Cinderella. Oh. Sorry. The rodent ears and bright red polka dot bow threw us off. Here's a video of Scarlett imitating a dinosaur...in a quiet museum setting.


After that, we saw animals. But I don't know how much seeing animals actually occurred. There was a lot of running going on. Scarlett and Carson's favorite pastime is chasing each other...again, in a quiet museum setting.

Then on Sunday we had a play date with Mossimo. (Need a Mossimo refresher? click here.) Before we left to go to Mossimo's house, Scarlett practiced saying his name. Though she didn't need much practice. She pretty much nailed it on the first try.

Mossimo had cool toys. Seriously. He had toys that Scarlett had never even seen before. He had play dough, rubber stamps, an awesome Scooby Doo punching bag, a toy castle...the list goes on. I knew that Scarlett was enjoying his toys because the "MINE" word came out...a couple times actually. She hasn't said "MINE" in awhile (at least not that I've heard) - I had to politely inform her that the toys were not hers, and that we were at Mossimo's house playing with his toys...remember? She had a blast and was very upset when we had to leave. Late Sunday afternoon we went to Toddler Tunes, which is a hip toddler occurrence that usually happens on Wednesday mornings (preventing working parents from bringing their also very hip toddlers). Luckily for us, they are doing a trial run on Sunday afternoons. Scarlett loved it. She was jumping around all over the place. Joe thought she looked crazy. Like really crazy. At one point he whispered to me "what's wrong with her?!" I told him that she obviously inherited her mother's dancing skills and to let her be. She was having fun...even if she did look a little crazy. I did manage to capture Scarlett and Carson's first dance. It was, quite appropriately, the "skidamarink...adink, adink. Skidamarink adoo. I love you" song. Scarlett could not have been happier that Carson was dancing with her. And, seriously people, how cute?!

Yay Mossimo, Yay Carson! Yay fun weekend!

Add one to the list...

Please add "her own hair" to the list of things that Scarlett must do unaccompanied.

Sledding with Carson

We've had so much snow recently that we got to go sledding again. This time we went with Carson and his parents. Still no hills....maybe next time. You might question my ability to remain calm when my daughter is so dangerously close to spilling out of her "safety" sled only to do a face plant on ice slicked concrete due to Joe's crazy sled maneuvering. Well, my friends, it takes practice. Exactly 20 months and 4 days of practice.


Yeah...we like the idea of snow...we just don't want to touch it - or come into contact with it at all really. And I'm pretty sure Scarlett is the only toddler who does not eat snow. At least, this seems to be the consensus according to other mothers of toddlers I know.
But pulling our own sled is great.

Really, really great."Hey Carson."

"Hey Scarlett."

"How's it going?"

"Pretty good...you?"

"Ahh, good....I'm outside in the snow."

"Yeah...snow...me too."

Silence.

More silence.

"(whistle)......(hum)...Yeah. Umm...seen any good movies lately?"

Even more Christmas presents

Scarlett is a lucky girl with Godparents who know her very, very well. Scarlett's Auntie Joyce and Uncle Dan got her (count 'em) 2 Sesame Street books for Christmas. Oh yeah...Sesame Street. These aren't just your average books either. These books have steering wheels and CD players built right into them. These are top 'o the line toddler books, folks. Scarlett loves them. Here is a video showing Scarlett first opening and playing with the books. Please note the sucking in of her breath in sheer joy, the telling Daddy to be careful while taking her new book at of the plastic, the adorable head bob dance...I'm sure you'll also note the fear that Scarlett has developed of...Bert. Yes...Bert, of Bert and Ernie. In her defense, the guy likes pigeons and collects bottlecaps. He's also got a mean unibrow. She may be on to something.

Thanks Dan and Joyce!

"Scarlett do"

Scarlett's independence has skyrocketed in the last week. "Scarlett do" is currently her favorite motto. This little girl wants to do everything solo. She wants to take her own coat off. She wants to put her own toys away. She wants to climb into her own booster seat. She wants to put her own shoes on. After she has asserted the infamous phrase, "Scarlett do," here is a list of things you should NOT do...at all. Trust me, it's for your own safety.
After hearing "Scarlett do," do not...
1) do not look at Scarlett.

2) do not touch Scarlett in any way.

3) do not even think about looking at her or touching her in any way - at this point in time she can read your mind.

4) do not, I repeat DO NOT, help her. Even if she asks for help. Even if her arms are stuck in her coat, pinned behind her like a straight jacket and she says, "help," clear as a bell. Do not help her. When she said "help," she simply had a temporary lapse of reason and did not at all mean that you should help her at that given moment. And you should have known this.

Following these rules will insure your safety...and your sanity. Trust me.

First nightgown

Scarlett got her first nightgown tonight. When asked who is on it, Scarlett enthusiastically replies "girl." She's very excited that there is a girl on her nightgown. Needless to say, the girl has a name (Ariel). I'm sure one day Scarlett will know it. But for now, these are Scarlett's new favorite "girl" pajamas...and her first nightgown ever. And yes...I documented the experience.

Our new car

On the way home from work/daycare today, Joe and I got into a heated conversation regarding our "new car." Let me clarify - our "new car" does not exist...it is no where near the point of existence...and yet, this "new car" required a heated discussion between husband and I. (We've got a long commute.) The discussion was about what kind of car our car would be if it were new. Joe thinks our "new car" is a truck (shudder). I think our "new car" is an Element/Edge/Outback. Neither of us was winning, so our voices got continually louder and louder the deeper we got into our imaginary car shopping conversation - as if the decibels of our voices could drown out the stupidity of the other person. (Ahh, married life.) Even better, it was a "what if" disagreement. These are the best kinds of disagreements because of their complete, total and utter irrelevancy.

Poor Scarlett was just hanging out in her car seat in the back, playing with her toys and minding her own business. She must have finally reached her breaking point after listening to her ridiculous parents for over 10 minutes because she started loudly bellowing "bababababababababababababa." Joe and I ignored her for a cool minute or so (we've gotten good at this). We ignored her until we could ignore her no longer. She was interrupting a very important conversation after all...and she wouldn't stop yelling "babababababa!" I turn around to politely ask her to be quiet...and, oh, my lovely daughter. Scarlett had her hands straight up in the air and was maneuvering them like sock puppets, all while mockingly yelling"bababababa..." I'm pretty sure she was mocking us. And I'm pretty sure she was so incredibly proud of it.

Scarlett cries wolf

When we were at the mall last weekend doing some post holiday shopping, Joe offered to stay with Scarlett at the little kids' playland while I went to try on some maternity jeans. (This was a wise decision for EVERYBODY. Maternity clothes shopping is as about unpleasant as clothes shopping while fat can be.)
Per Joe's telling, Scarlett was pulling some pretty sneaky maneuvers while playing. If she was climbing on something in the playland and another child came over to play on the same thing, Scarlett would run over to Joe and unfairly claim that she had been pushed - which was a total lie. Joe said the kids weren't even touching her. "Ca-yett push," she'd say, looking as pathetic as can be. Can you believe that?! I almost didn't believe it until I was making dinner last night while Scarlett and Joe were playing in the living room. Joe told Scarlett to stop throwing her toys on the floor and when she didn't listen he took a toy away from her. Sure enough, Scarlett came running into the kitchen, grabbed my leg, and said, "Daddy push Ca-yett." And like any other self-respecting, on the defense person would do, Joe whined "I did not!!"

Scarlett's pants

This morning on our way to daycare...

Scarlett - "mama?"
mama - "yes babe?"
Scarlett - (pointing to her pants) "Scarlett's pants."
mama - "yeah, you're right...those are Scarlett's pants."
Scarlett - "Scarlett's pants. Yeah......(to pants) good girl, pants."

Disney on Ice

I did it. I wasn't going to - especially after taking Scarlett to see both Sesame Street Live and the Barnum and Bailey Circus in the last 3 months or so. But I did it. I bought us tickets to see Disney on Ice. We went with Scarlett's Nan and Aunt Stephanie last Friday, and we all had a blast. Here's a video about it. Listen carefully - you can occasionally hear Scarlett shout out in joy, "Mickey, Mi-mmie, Do-wald, Goofy." This is especially so at the end of the finale, although not so much in joy. She was more screaming their names in horror as she realized the show was ending. (From about the 4:45 mark on.)