Fall stuff

I haven't quite got the hang of posting regularly. I know Dave and I doing this as much for a record of all those precious moments a parent gets to enjoy but seem to loose memory of over time as much as for friends or family to "see" Keira from a distance.

My cute thing is how much I have been enjoying just daily interactions with K. Of course, she is 2 and all the challenges that come with that. She is learning to do so much for herself like dress, turn on light switches, open doors all that kind of stuff and she can really fly off the handle if her little agenda is challenged by a mama in a rush. But in between helping her learn self control and negotiation skills and how to rest when she isn't sleepy I am getting a huge kick out of sharing her life. We were at Starbucks the other day waiting for some friends. Keira had to bring her purse in with her so I asked her what she was toting around inside it. She pulled out keys, a cell phone, a small pad and pencil, plastic fruit, a mirror and a "monkey George" toy. "That's all" she said. "Just stuff girls need" I observed to her that the things she packed in her bad looked a lot like what mom carries around in my purse. "Yep" she says casually. By now I am giggling. I did have to ask about the plastic fruit. "For snack mama". Makes sense. I always have a snack in my purse for myself and/or her. "What about monkey George?" I asked. "In case Peanut (what we are calling the baby in the belly for now) gets bored when she comes out and needs a toy to play with" Again, made sense, I often have a toy or 2 in my purse to entertain Miss Grace when life finds us in a place where I need her to sit still. Love this kid. By the end of our conversation I was not only entertained but fascinated at Keira's observations and imitations of me. Honored really.

I know parenting isn't for everyone, but I am so blessed and wouldn't miss it for the world.

Another Day

I never realized just how big a leap it is for a child to understand the differences in time. I know that my child is smart and seems to have the ability to pick up concepts fairly quickly. I hope that common sense keeps growing as she get older. Please! Please!

Anyway, for a while now Amy and I have been using the timer on the Microwave as a means to initiate a change in tasking for K. What I mean is that we set the timer for 2 minutes and then when the timer goes off, is K knows that it is time for dinner, or bath, or nap. It seems to work very well for her. It has also worked in the sense that she has started to negoiate for more time on the clock. Yes, yes I know that I am real trouble.

For a while K has been saying things like, " When I am 5 Pappa, I can do..." But recently that has changed to "Pappa, I can do that Another Day?" "Another day I went to the Park and played on the Swing." "Another day, I will go to your work and ..."

It is amazing to me that she is seeing that fact that "Another day" means the present, the past and the future. The say context determines meaning, right? what do you do with a 2 year old that understands the context of the situation but is still learning the words to descirbe them. I know encourage her.

So she knows all of her letters, she knows all of her sounds. Recently she was in the car with her mama and Amy heard this from the backseat, " hhh ...oooo...ttttt" Mama that says "hot"
Is it wrong for me to dream that she will be reading by 3. Is that such a far off idea.
I do know that it will be "Another day"