22 months

I am able to have an actual conversation with Pancake where she asks intelligent questions and makes related comments.  Out of the blue she hugs me and says, "I love you, Mommy."  She takes a much more active role in controlling her own life than she did even a month ago.  She will run away when I'm trying to get her coat on, and say, "No, I don't want my coat on."  Or she will announce, "Mommy, come play with me in Pancake's room."  Though she still refers to herself in the third person, she has been using pronouns much more. 

She keeps her dolls' names straight, and there are an increasing number of dolls.  She likes to dress, feed and read to her dolls.  She will turn the pages of a book making up words that resemble the plot as it occurs on each specific page, and if there are just a few words she'll often remember exactly what the page says.  She occasionally will say, "Mommy change my diaper.  I pooped."  She sometimes calls me or Mr. D a "stupid head" or a "poopy head" which we discourage, of course, but she thinks it's funny. 

Her face is so demonstrative.  Her intonation is adorable.  She's awfully lovable, even when she's calling me a stupid head.

snowy day

"Pancake, did you poop?"
"No, there is no poop in my body (pronounced bawdy), it just stinks in there."  Pointing to her diaper.

It snowed about six inches this morning, no roads were plowed or salted and Doodle's school was not closed or delayed.  So I loaded both kids in the car and slipped our way up the hill to school.  When we got there the parking lot was nearly empty (and not plowed) and there were only four kids' coats in the coat room.  I immediately regretted making the trek and wished I had not rushed through our morning routine -- I only did half of my yoga routine.  I left him there and decided to walk to pick him up at noon.  My neighbor and her 10-month old walked with me and Pancake to our kids' school to pick them up.  It is the only time in my life that I can remember thinking that school should not have opened in these conditions, and I grew up in Vermont. 

Doodle and his friend had a great time throwing snow balls and walking home together, which was fun to see.  I'm assuming his school will be closed tomorrow after their idiotic mistake this morning, but you never know.  Right now it is sleeting, but we're supposed to get another six to eight inches later today.


Another Pancake quote:
Picking up a doll, "This is my sistah, he's a boy."

new year's resolution

I normally don't make resolutions at the beginning of each year, but I came up with a good one that I can come close to fulfilling this year.  I am trying to read at least one NY Times article every day.  I have not kept up with the goings on in our country or world.  When I worked in Washington I read multiple newspapers and checked news sites regularly.  I used to watch the morning political shows every Sunday.  Now I live in Philly where politics is not most people's livelihood and I have two children who keep me very busy. 

So far I have missed three days of reading the NY Times, but I'm getting into the swing of it now and it's rapidly becoming a part of my daily routine.  I already feel more in the know.

car accident

Mr. D was in a car accident trying to get from Center City to our neighborhood for Doodle's Christmas concert on December 23rd.  He was stopped behind a city bus that sat through two green lights.  Everyone was going around the bus (it was on a two-lane one-way street) so Mr. D followed the crowd, but he misjudged the width of our car and side swiped the bus.  Our passenger side doors were dented but the bus was unharmed since it was standing still and Mr. D was going 2 to 5 mph.  All but one bus passenger got off and caught the next bus, which came only two minutes later.  One passenger hung around looking for a free pay day and told Mr. D that he was going to go to the emergency room after he picked up his son and was planning to sue Mr. D.  When the police arrived they asked for our car registration and proof of insurance, which was not in the car, though I assured Mr. D several times that it was in the car.  He started getting really concerned that we botched our attempt to register to pay our insurance premiums on line and that we were in fact uninsured -- with a guy threatening to sue and a car that needed body work. He got a ticket for not having an updated insurance card and the ne'er-do-well requested the police report from the officer and took down Mr. D's name, license plate number and insurance information.

Mr. D walked in to Doodle's school just as the concert was ending.  He was so distraught and annoyed and depressed.  We talked it over and he realized that he had received an email from our insurer a few weeks earlier that he hadn't opened.  I drove our damaged car home and Mr. D walked Doodle and Pancake home.  Since I got home first I quickly got on the computer and found the aforementioned email.  It said that our credit card would be charged our bi-yearly fee and to print out our insurance card and keep it in the car. As soon as Mr. D arrived home I greeted him with the good news.  He then called the insurer and found out his marching orders.  The car spent almost two weeks in the shop and we had a rental car during that time.

I was unaware that Dodge still made cars, but apparently they make crappy cars that are so awful they're mostly only rentals.  The 2010 Caliber is what we had -- a cheap metal box with tiny windows.  I got the call today to pick up our good old Accord.  It looks great.  They even cleaned the inside which anyone who has kids knows is a huge value.  I'm happy to say that our Accord is much more to my liking even though it's nine years old now.

I'm also happy to report that the insurer has not heard from the guy who said he was going to sue, though he legally has two years to file a claim.  He doesn't seem like the type to follow through.

21 months

Pancake is getting scarily close to two years old.  She had a great Christmas receiving a play kitchen and tons of accessories to go with it (cooking supplies, food, pizza-making kit, cupcake-making kit, shopping cart).  She loves playing with it.  She wanted me to put her real banana on her play wooden plate today.  Her favorite things to make are eggs, pizza, quiche and ice cream.  She also got a tea set from my mom.  She requests to sleep with either the pink or green tea cup each time she goes to bed.  She is very much into her baby dolls now too.  She sleeps with Penelope every night.  Penelope has to be in the bassinet she came with, and has her own blanket that must be shoved into the bassinet.  She has named two of her dolls after a mother and daughter who live around the corner from us.  One of the dolls, Rachel, came with her own pacifier.  Pancake is just as worried that Rachel will be without her pacifier as she is about her own. As you can tell she is getting into make-believe play.

She's not great at sharing her things, but taking turns is within her mental capacity.  Whenever Doodle wheels her shopping cart around she screams, Nooooo and tries to grab the handle from him.  When I say that Doodle is taking a turn with it, she is okay as long as the turn isn't too long.

She remembers everything.  I can't put her off without her reminding me that I told her she could have juice, crayons, a book, whatever.  She likes to watch Doodle play "video games" on PBS.org and cheers him on sometimes.

She's become a contrarian like her brother, though not to the same degree.  At bedtime I read her two books and sing two songs.  I usually ask what songs she wants and if she doesn't come up with one I'll go through the list of regulars -- Twinkle Twinkle? ABCs? Take Me Out to the Ball Game? I've Been Working on the Railroad?  She will say no to every one until I threaten to put her to bed if she doesn't choose one.  She has also taken to purposefully prolonging her bed time routine.  I'll be carrying her across the room to her crib and she'll say, "one more song, please."  It's just so cute to hear her ask so politely that I have to sing another song.

She is agreeable most of the time and if I stick to my decision -- like, "you can't keep spilling your milk on the table" (a few months ago she figured out how to get the liquid out of her sippy cup) -- she accepts it much more easily and quickly than Doodle, a result of his/her age I believe.

She's outgoing, not clingy at all, cuddly, loving and generally a really good toddler.

Pancake and Doodle wearing snowman hats a friend made for them.

Pancake is wearing a frog backpack and holding a frog hat and her baby Rachel, she is "ready to go to school."