Some new silly, funny RE stories

She cracks me up these days...if it isn't one thing it's another.

She LOVES to talk, and is constantly (and desperately) trying to communicate with us. Example: on Tuesday, she was telling me something, in Toddler, that I couldn't understand. I told her I was sorry but I didn't know what she wanted. It's hard, but I have to remind myself that she understands English, even if she doesn't speak it well yet. She rolled her eyes, sighed emphatically, and repeated herself, "yabahdahdbablahblahdahabayaya BALL." Uh huh. Right. Ball. OK. "What about the ball?" I ask. To which she replies, "Nooooooooo," whilst shaking her head and again, she repeats herself: "yabahdahdbablahblahdahabayaya BALL." She then goes over to the ball, and pushes on it like she wants to bounce, so I ask her if she wants to bounce on the ball. I got an excited head nod (cutest thing ever, really) and we bounce. Good times, but this communication thing is tricky. Very tricky.

And on that communication note, she says many words now. What can she say, you ask? Pretty much anything I ask her to, at least the once. She's getting great at names: Julie, Lucas, Meghan, Mike, Matt (though they sound VERY similar), Owen, daddy, mommy, Nonna, Papa, Kai, Sadie and the list goes on. One of my personal favorites, blueberry, which sounds like boobewwy and is SO cute. She also says butterfly, sounds like buhfy, and flaps her wings (either her bath towel, or if it's her "little wings" her hands). She had to learn butterfly after asking what that on my back was. Oh yeah, mommy has a tattoo. You can't have one until you're 18. And don't get a butterfly.

She also loves to dress up, loves shoes, and loves sweaters/jackets/sweatshirts. She will run around the house in her red polka dot raincoat, flip flips that are 2 sizes too small, and her purple first birthday crown (thanks Nonna and Papa). She loves this, and gets rather angry when I tell her that we a) must wear clothing when we leave the house and b) she may not wear flip flops (that are 2 sizes too small) out when it is raining. We compromise and she wears her 1 size too small faux Crocs that she LOVES. They're hot pink, what's not to love? I am thinking that nothing but hot pink Ugg boots will do as a winter replacement for those. But yes, my little peanut loves to dress up, and she also loves to undress. She managed to remove a dress while in the carrier, on my back, in Macys a few weeks ago. Classy. And today, at home, she nearly got a poopy diaper off on her own. Yeah, my bad for not hearing her say, "poopy," and removing it. But in my defense, she says poopy all the damn time and it usually means nada!

She loves babies. LOVES babies. Real, fake, whatever. Doesn't matter. We saw Meg and new baby Elaina today, and Ryan was just fascinated with her. Elaina was pretty smitten with Ry too, which spells TROUBLE for Meg, sorry to say. Ryan's a bad influence. But no, she just loved her, and I let her hold Elaina on her lap, very carefully, on the floor, with me right there. She did so well, holding her gently, and touching her hair, and saying, "baby," and detailing all of her facial features, in case we'd forgotten where her eyes were. Then she lost interest, found her baby sling, and popped Elmo in for a good nap. Oh, excuse me, Melmo.

Speaking of naps, she actually takes them now. Willingly. I asked her the other day if she was ready to take a nap, and she walked into her room. I told her to grab her stuffies so I could put her in her crib, and she grabbed them and walked over and just stood next to her crib. I picked her up and put her in and she settled herself down on her pillow and waited for me to pull the blankie up. That was it. I walked out of the room and she slept for 2 hours, and woke up super happy, hollering for me! It was great, and I really hope this is a turning point for us!

Other big news for the kid? Well, at 18 months, she weighed 23 pounds, was 31.5 inches tall, and her head is in the 80%tile! She's just shy of average for everything else, though I still think she's a bit of a peanut. She's got every tooth she needs at this point, and will just continue to rock some molars as she gets older. She will start pre-preschool next month, and I think she'll have a blast! It's mostly playtime, with a short circle time for songs, and an outdoor playtime and a snacktime, but I think it'll be great for her to get with some other kids, and have access to activities I'm not willing to do at home, like art tables, water tables, and sand tables. No room, no patience, and no desire to clean that up!

I am certain there are more, and there are certainly pictures that deserve to be posted, and I'm sure sometime in the near future I'll get on that. In my spare time, you know, those hours I have between 11-1am when no one else is awake?

Oh, and what's going on with the rest of the fam? Well, Zoe's great. She's a farty dog though, and it's high time we changed her food and spared the air. Hey, I'm concerned about gas emissions. Daddy is doing well...work's going well for him right now. He's also been chopping up a downed tree from last years storm, and is enjoying playing Paul Bunyon. Me? I'm working at the mall again, just a few hours a week to supplement that darn car payment! The writing center starts back up in early October, and I'm looking forward to getting back over there. Oh, and I am taking classes to become a Childbirth Educator, and look forward to teaching classes on labor and delivery in the New Year. REgarding Peanut is doing well, and growing, and we're in the process of getting a website up and running.

Cute Ry story for the day...

Just another funny Ry story for your morning.

I was hollering at the dog yesterday, trying to get her to sit on the bed so I could get her breakfast ready. Ryan, standing by my side, looked at the dog, pointed to the dog bed, and yelled "SI" (her word for "sit"). Zoe sat. Ryan clapped, and toddled to the back door. We went outside, where she took the scoop with Zoe's food to her bowl, and dumped it in. She then picked up EACH ONE of the little pieces of dog food ONE at a time, and put them into the big bowl.

Truly, truly adorable.

Oh, and Gabe (Tammy's Gabe) tried to help out by diapering Izzy...silly, darling, helpful boy. We can't wait to see them next month!

Slop, sloppy joe

Sloppy Joes

1.5 lbs 85% lean ground beef

1 yellow onion

1 red bell pepper

Sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste

1.5 C tomato ketchup

3 T Apple Cider Vinegar

3 T Worcestershire Sauce

2-3 T brown sugar

3 T yellow mustard

4 burger buns, toasted

Brown beef in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, 5-7 minutes. Add onions and bell pepper and season with salt and pepper. Cook until vegetables soften, about 7 minutes. Add ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, sugar and mustard. Stir to combine. Simmer until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Spoon over split toasted hamburger buns.

Serve with a green salad…sooo good!

Peanut was a flower girl!!

She's a scene stealer...that much we've already established. However, Peanut took it one step further with her flower girl role this weekend. She was decked out in a pink tutu, white tank, pink and green striped babylegs and white ballet shoes. Um, can we say adorable? As I was also in the wedding party, I didn't have a chance to take many pics, but the wedding photographer did, so they will be forthcoming. She did great during the formal pictures, even managing to smile for several of them. RE warmed quickly to the 10 year old ring bearer, and they quickly became pals. RE is always obsessed with the "big girls" and this one liked kids too, so it was a perfect match. The ring bearer managed to drag RE down the aisle without me, surrounded by "ooohs" and "aaahs" from the guests. Once at the front, she came straight to me, stole my bouquet, and used it to "sweep" the altar area...what can I say, she loves to clean?

We spent the cocktail hour greeting guests, thanking them for their kind words about RE's adorable-ness, and eating grapes. Mommy didn't manage to snag any cocktails, but that's cool...

By the time dinner rolled around, it was already half-past Peanut's bedtime, and the little party animal was still rockin' it out. She sat patiently in her high chair, surrounded by pink tulle and all covered up with her giant pink bib. When bride wants pink, bride gets pink. She did amazingly well for a kiddo who hadn't really eaten yet, and was well past bedtime. She played, ate, and wandered around, dancing for a bit, playing with the drumset for a bit, and generally flirting with anyone who'd look at her.

Close to 930, she started doing her drunk walk, which generally means that she's pretty tired. She will walk into furniture, walls, and random people, much like drunk people at a good party. We packed it up and headed home, taking a cupcake and milk for the road.

First flower girl experience was a total success, and we can't wait for next summer to be in Uncle Mike and (to-be) Aunt Allison's wedding!

What's RE up to now?

Here's Peanut, cheesing it for the camera...silly boo. As Kami says it, "cheesebuster!"

She's nearly 16 months...she walks, well, runs pretty much anywhere we'll let her. She talks all the time, though not everyone else will understand her. She can say book, dog, mama, dada, nonna, poopoo, booby, bottle, baby, eyes, nose, belly button, bubbles, itchy and others that I'm sure I just can't think of.

She's a rashy kid. She's always got some rash or another (rarely contagious)...this week it's eczema and a wicked diaper rash. Good times.

She does the funniest things. She plays peekaboo by putting her hands over her eyes, but peeking through her fingers. She points to eyes, ears, nose and mouth and like to kiss her toes goodnight before they get zipped up into jammies. She also likes to touch her toes to her ears, because it makes mommy laugh! She holds her nose and shakes her head when I say stinky, she covers her ears when things get loud, she signs more for EVERYTHING, puts her babydolls in her sling and rocks them, dances everytime she hears music, tries to jump (one leg at a time), does "flops" which closely resemble sideways somersaults, and truly enjoys playing in the dog's water bowl on the deck.

I am constantly amazed at the joy and awe she brings to use daily. It really does seem that if I blink for a minute, she's grown another inch. She's now almost able to reach the top of the kitchen counters. I looked at her today and wondered when she got so big. And grown up, really. She's not been a baby for a while, but more and more each day, I watch her change into a little girl. And of course, I'm crying writing this, because while I'm so proud and pleased at the fantastic job we've done raising her, I'm not really ready for her to be a girl yet.

Time sometimes seems to simultaneously slow down and speed up. It's like red light and green light at the same time, and though I can freeze moments with photographs and videos, I still seem to find moments that I missed. Moments in my memories that are there, clear as the day they happened, but already getting a little fuzzy. Example: I don't have a single photograph of me nursing Ryan, and I never will. I'm crushed by this realization, and cannot believe that I took every single moment that we spent together like that for granted. We nursed 3-12 times a day for 13 months and I don't have a single photograph. I can recall so many moments where we just say quietly looking at each other in the dim green glow of her room, truly relishing in the moment, and I wish that had been captured as I saw it, or as I see it in my mind: as the lovely, dimly lit archetypal photograph of mother and child. But it will have to survive in written word and memory, and I can only hope that will be enough.

I'm working on my final culmination project for my Senior Seminar right now, and as I read more and more about the mana of clothing and memories located within garments, I can't help but recall all of the treasured moments of past events. I'm going to be creating a photo essay of garments that hold import in my life, including my wedding dress, my favorite pair of jeans, my cherished, holey, green cashmere sweater, RE's Brit Bat dress, Michael's favorite excessive pocketed cargo shorts, and other storied articles of clothing. I'm really looking forward to the final product, and hopefully, with the help of my photographer friend, the essay will actually look like I envision it, and not be a dissappointment to my overly perfectionist self.

Speaking of school, and me, for a minute, my research cohort and I presented our undergrad reserach at the UW Seattle today and what is apparently the larget symposium of undergraduate research in the country. I guess it's something UW is renowned for, and being the entirely oblivious student I am, I had no idea really. But anyway, we created a poster based on the countless hours of research we've done on Myth, Media and Post-Apartheid South Africa over the last 5 months. It was really interesting to be at such a meeting of the minds, and I'm really going to float on the academic high that gave me for a while. Our research is slightly controversial, not playing to the general partyline that many have of Nelson Mandela, the ANC and the transition from the aparthied state, and we were called on to defend our research, and actually able to intelligently do so. Not to mention, the poster that I spent a week working on ROCKED, looked really professional, and pretty much blew away most of the others around us. And we drew many curious onlookers to it, but it was so well constructed that most could understand our point without much explanation from us. Honestly, I'm just really proud of the work we've put into it and look forward to wrapping up this quarter and beginning work on the actual article that we hope to write.

Oh, and I graduate in 3 weeks. Sure, I have a truckload of work to do before then, but it seems everytime I'm faced with an excess of academic writing to do, all I want to do is barf words onto a page, and thus becomes another blog entry. Or sometimes, an actual paper; it's a wonder I'm managing to graduate with a 3.76.

Ack! She's One!!

I do not know how this happened, but my little girl is one...this year has gone by so fast (cliche, I know).

She's changed so much in the last year, it's hard to believe she's even the same human being. She's gone from a poopin', cryin', eatin' machine to a little girl who still does all those things, but so much more!

She can:
crawl
walk holding my hand
stand
try to eat with a fork
brush her teeth
brush her hair (and mine)
try to put on socks, shoes, shirts
try to take off diapers!
put her cap on her sippy cup
do a somersault (with help)
climb up slides
and go down them
blow out
kiss
hug
drink from a bottle (this was a big feat)
say "see you later" and "i love you" (sounds like seoolayla and ilavoo)
talk on the phone, and call people too
say "nana" and "hello" and "bye" and "bubble" and bark like Zoe

She's just an amazing little thing, and the most perfect thing Michael and I have ever accomplished together. I think surviving her first year is also a huge accomplishment, and I'm giving us a much deserved pat on the back for the great job we've done. We've thus far raised a compassionate, loving, sweet little girl, who's intensity of emotion continues to surprise and amaze me.

Peanut is fantastic, and judging by this first year, the rest of our lives are going to be a rollercoaster of epic proportions and I can't wait! I really do look forward to watching her continue to grow and change and develop as a person.

-Mama

Par-Tay!!

Woohooo!!! We had a party for Ryan's first birthday and it was crazy fun!!! We had all of her friends (and ours too) over for food and fun! There was a play area for the kiddos, burgers and beer for the adults, and good times had by all! I'm always so pleased and amazed when I get all of my friends together how well everyone gets alone. My playgroup friends mingling with high school friends mixing with Michael's man-buddies...I love it. I mean, one of my playgroup friends was making plans with my neighbor to go to a pub down the street (one sitter for all the girls, we all go out, good stuff!)! And another friend was getting maternity advice from another playgroup buddy. It's just awesome!

Ryan had a blast, though she was totally overwhelmed by all the people! Thank goodness my parents came, because they totally helped Michael and I with RE. She thoroughly enjoyed her cake, digging her paws into it before I even got her into her high chair! She then tasted it, and ate it, and offered it to anyone within reach!! Then she put it in her hair, cause frosting makes great conditioner!

I just can't thank enough everyone who was there to celebrate with us: first and foremost, my parents...we really couldn't have done it without you guys. Julie and Brian, thank you for helping with the aftermath! Maui and Erika, thank you for helping with the BBQ. Kami, thank you for loaning us the great playmat. Jim, thank you for taking pictures, and I'm sure it will be your turn soon enough. Meghan and Kory, thank you for being there with all our random friends and for always being there for all the biggies for us. I can only hope we can do the same for you guys. And to everyone else, thank you so much for being such great friends. I'm so glad we've either known you forever, or have just met you and really made you parts of our lives.

Much love and thanks to all who donated toys to Children's also...we'll be donating them in the name of Ryan and her friends this week...we know they'll be appreciated by the children there.

Present Orgy

Ryan has figured out presents...they are all for her, and they are all super fun. She LOVED everything that everyone sent her, especially a baby doll from her GiGi. We've named her Olivia, or Livi and Ryan has been hugging her, kissing her, and stepping on her all morning. She LOVES the gumball thingie we got her with the gift card from cousin Mimi, thinks the shape sorter from Nonna and Poppa is pretty cool stuff, and loves the balls, books, and cups she got from us. She's had so much fun exploring all of her new toys!

Check out www.dropshots.com/katymama for videos of Ryan opening presents, including some Hanukkah gifts, and as always, there are a million pics on www.afruma.net.

We wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas, a Happy Hanukkah, and a fantastic New Year!

Love, The Afrumas

Kisses!!

Our little princess can now make kissy noises! She discovered it in the car today, and has spent the entire day making kisses to everyone and everything! Adorable.

Hanukkah Presents

So, it hasn't taken Ryan long to discover how to open presents. She got her third one today, and went to town on it! We just sat by, watching her slowly and carefully rip the paper off of it, and upon discovering that it was a box of cookies, handing it to her daddy to open it for her! She's so clever!!