Jesus is my DJ
On more than one occasion now, Elsie has wandered off and we have found her, holed up in her room, dancing to Christian rock. Elaine has the radio in her room set to such a station and Elsie knows how to turn the radio on and she loves to dance and she doesn't "rock out" to anything quite like she spins and head bangs to this music. We'll try to get some footage to confirm. Next thing you know she'll be changing the channel from Sesame Street to the 700 Club. We may have to draw the line there.
Thursday, November 29, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Jesus is my Baby Daddy
The Salty Dog was filled with many delights.
We'd ride bikes down there to see the "cat kitty meow"--Elsie's multi-word name for "cat." At the beginning of our Thanksgiving break, in fact, we found "cat kitty meow" in the toy bin at the General Store so from then on we'd beeline for said bin in search of cat kitty. Elsie enjoyed the playground there, lunch there, ice cream there, beers there--well, maybe that was her parents, as well as the Salty Dog parrots and t-shirts.
With Christmas coming, though, this season held new South Beach attractions: Santa and snowmen displays, Santa himself, as well as an Elsie-sized nativity scene. Our little nugget got to try out some of her favorite barnyard calls: "hee haw," "baaa," "meow" (the "cat kitty" was napping in the manger scene), and she also got to see baby Jesus who she affectionately called "Daddy"--a highly functional term for Daddy, Mommy, and all other babies. Obviously, Grammy is proud of the religious devotion of her granddaughter.
The Salty Dog was filled with many delights.
We'd ride bikes down there to see the "cat kitty meow"--Elsie's multi-word name for "cat." At the beginning of our Thanksgiving break, in fact, we found "cat kitty meow" in the toy bin at the General Store so from then on we'd beeline for said bin in search of cat kitty. Elsie enjoyed the playground there, lunch there, ice cream there, beers there--well, maybe that was her parents, as well as the Salty Dog parrots and t-shirts.With Christmas coming, though, this season held new South Beach attractions: Santa and snowmen displays, Santa himself, as well as an Elsie-sized nativity scene. Our little nugget got to try out some of her favorite barnyard calls: "hee haw," "baaa," "meow" (the "cat kitty" was napping in the manger scene), and she also got to see baby Jesus who she affectionately called "Daddy"--a highly functional term for Daddy, Mommy, and all other babies. Obviously, Grammy is proud of the religious devotion of her granddaughter.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Ice Scream, You Scream, We all scream for Addie!
Check out this beautiful dress Addie smocked Elsie. Addie adores Elsie and makes her so many beautiful things and plays with her and loves on her. And the feeling is mutual. In fact, "Addie" is one of Elsie's favorite words. It is the name I gave my aunt when I was little and couldn't say "Aunt Andrea" and now here Elsie is fluent in Addie and mute in the face of Mommy. Maybe I need a nickname so I can be Daddy 2 no more.
Check out this beautiful dress Addie smocked Elsie. Addie adores Elsie and makes her so many beautiful things and plays with her and loves on her. And the feeling is mutual. In fact, "Addie" is one of Elsie's favorite words. It is the name I gave my aunt when I was little and couldn't say "Aunt Andrea" and now here Elsie is fluent in Addie and mute in the face of Mommy. Maybe I need a nickname so I can be Daddy 2 no more.
Ice, Ice, Baby
Another favorite word is Rocky--"Ocky." Elsie adores Rocky--Rocky and Oscar both. Dog words--"Ocky," "Ocar," "Doggie," "Woof Woof"--these are often her first words of the day.
And then Poppa is another favorite word. Poppa means grandfather, yes, but it really means the guy who taught me to wink. She loves winking now and ice after our week at HHI. Ice makes Elsie really really happy--ice from Poppa's gin, the best you could hope for. And when we say "Poppa" or when she sees him coming she calls out "ice-y, ice-y." Poppa will be sure to get his granddaughter some "yummy ice-y" in her stocking this Christmas, or maybe just out of his gin.
Another favorite word is Rocky--"Ocky." Elsie adores Rocky--Rocky and Oscar both. Dog words--"Ocky," "Ocar," "Doggie," "Woof Woof"--these are often her first words of the day.
And then Poppa is another favorite word. Poppa means grandfather, yes, but it really means the guy who taught me to wink. She loves winking now and ice after our week at HHI. Ice makes Elsie really really happy--ice from Poppa's gin, the best you could hope for. And when we say "Poppa" or when she sees him coming she calls out "ice-y, ice-y." Poppa will be sure to get his granddaughter some "yummy ice-y" in her stocking this Christmas, or maybe just out of his gin.
BEEBO
While Elsie is learning and trying out new words every day, she also knows more words than we realize or will even say yet. Inspired by Sandra Boynton's Belly Button Book, she has adopted the term "beebo"--hippo shorthand for belly button. She doesn't say it, but if you ask her where her beebo is, she will delight in finding it--on the other side of that big ole belly. Then, she'll sometimes want to see yours which she finds very funny, more funny than we find our big bellies.
And there are other words she knows but doesn't say. If you ask her if she wants to go get the paper, she immediately runs to the front door. And she and Oscar are both bad about the word "park"--she calls out "duckie, duckie" to indicate that she does want to go to the park and must see the duck merry-go-round post-haste--and Oscar runs to the door to spin and spin, ready to lead the way.
While Elsie is learning and trying out new words every day, she also knows more words than we realize or will even say yet. Inspired by Sandra Boynton's Belly Button Book, she has adopted the term "beebo"--hippo shorthand for belly button. She doesn't say it, but if you ask her where her beebo is, she will delight in finding it--on the other side of that big ole belly. Then, she'll sometimes want to see yours which she finds very funny, more funny than we find our big bellies.And there are other words she knows but doesn't say. If you ask her if she wants to go get the paper, she immediately runs to the front door. And she and Oscar are both bad about the word "park"--she calls out "duckie, duckie" to indicate that she does want to go to the park and must see the duck merry-go-round post-haste--and Oscar runs to the door to spin and spin, ready to lead the way.
Look Joseph--there are the horsies!
On the way to the Hilton Head house for longer than I can remember, we would pass Lawton Stables which would mean we were really almost there. Just across from the co-op Heritage Farms and just before the Sea Pines traffic circle, horses milled about the fields and patiently trotted children and families about.
Lawton Stables was the stuff of family legends: So the story goes, my Granny would take me there with Aunt Addie. They would lead a pony around in circles so I could ride my favorite animal. Bored with the pony ride, I would call out "Faster, Granny, faster!" demanding she trot the horse, or better yet canter, around the rink. And ever gracious in the hot hot sun, they would actually oblige.
Then every year when the dear Davis family--our oldest friends--arrived to spend a few weeks with our family at 20 Belted Kingfisher, they too marked the arrival with Lawton Stables and Donna's refrain pointing out the horses. So, it is no surprise that the stables figured in our visits to HHI with Elsie and I find myself understanding why a grandparent would run in circles and a parent would point out with childlike enthusiasm: "Look, Joseph, there are the horsies."
On the way to the Hilton Head house for longer than I can remember, we would pass Lawton Stables which would mean we were really almost there. Just across from the co-op Heritage Farms and just before the Sea Pines traffic circle, horses milled about the fields and patiently trotted children and families about.
Lawton Stables was the stuff of family legends: So the story goes, my Granny would take me there with Aunt Addie. They would lead a pony around in circles so I could ride my favorite animal. Bored with the pony ride, I would call out "Faster, Granny, faster!" demanding she trot the horse, or better yet canter, around the rink. And ever gracious in the hot hot sun, they would actually oblige.
Then every year when the dear Davis family--our oldest friends--arrived to spend a few weeks with our family at 20 Belted Kingfisher, they too marked the arrival with Lawton Stables and Donna's refrain pointing out the horses. So, it is no surprise that the stables figured in our visits to HHI with Elsie and I find myself understanding why a grandparent would run in circles and a parent would point out with childlike enthusiasm: "Look, Joseph, there are the horsies."
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Donna and Rick come to visit!
It was so much fun having Donna and Rick come to visit us this weekend. Always so kind and generous
and patient--we are fortunate to have them as friends. While they never would admit it, I'm sure they found our conversation less than scintillating: yummy, yucky, birdie, tweet-tweet, cat kitty, meow, bye bye, daddy (all purpose name), no Nani no, doggie, duckie, star, and Old MacDonald for good measure. Next time they come to visit, we can invite them to Elsie's new favorite game: tea parties where we feed the toys imaginary "yummy" and then we can show them today's new word--"moon."Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Sitting Pretty
So, no new words lately, but a renewed interest in Old MacDonald; the E-I-E-I-O with the "woof woof" verse really tops the charts currently. Our new tricks are more physical than verbal lately: climbing up and onto (not down), running, and we are really interested in sitting and standing. Whenever E is near the piano, she squats to sit, whether the bench is behind her or not. It really is a portrait of blind faith--she doesn't look back, just sits and hopes it will be there. Sometimes we'll run over and slide it under her rear, just in time, before she notices the bench is nowhere near. I guess that is parenting for you... protecting that sweet booty at all costs.
So, no new words lately, but a renewed interest in Old MacDonald; the E-I-E-I-O with the "woof woof" verse really tops the charts currently. Our new tricks are more physical than verbal lately: climbing up and onto (not down), running, and we are really interested in sitting and standing. Whenever E is near the piano, she squats to sit, whether the bench is behind her or not. It really is a portrait of blind faith--she doesn't look back, just sits and hopes it will be there. Sometimes we'll run over and slide it under her rear, just in time, before she notices the bench is nowhere near. I guess that is parenting for you... protecting that sweet booty at all costs.
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