E's long day...

For the first time in 2 months, I ventured into the subbing world again yesterday. I was going to my favorite school to sub, and working for a teacher that is ultra-organized. I wasn't worried about my day. However, I was worried about Jut and E's day.

Last Saturday, I left E alone with Jut for the first time in entirely too long. She spent an hour of the 2 that I was gone screaming for "Mom". By the time I got back, both of them were frazzled. However, I do need to give Jut credit...he somehow managed to clean up the majority of the downstairs with the little tyrant going strong.

So, yesterday I was concerned that E would display the same behavior and I was going to be gone for 7 or so hours. I wasn't sure that either could handle the grouchies for that long! To make matters worse, E was up screaming at 5:50 A.M. I gave her some Tylenol and fortunately she went right back to sleep, but it made me even more nervous about her behavior for the day.

I scooted out of the house at 7:25 and headed for my day. Shepard has the Maple Syrup Festival going on this weekend. So, it was busy at 7:40...traffic was already coming in. I thought to myself that this should have the kids hyped up pretty well...then I read the sub note and found that they didn't have school on Friday...and there was a track meet that day. If that was the situation for Central, it would have been futile to try and accomplish much educational for the day because the kids would have been already checked out. However, these kids surprised me. They were energetic but they kept it contained pretty well. I was impressed. I got to hit some garage sales over my lunch/prep and spend time outside. It was a good day for me.

I walked through the door at home and there was E playing with her toys...no nap for her today. She saw me and said "MOMMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY!" and came running at me. What a wonderful welcome home that was!!!! She was so excited to see me that she wouldn't get off of my lap for over a half hour. It was nice to be missed.

Jut had taught her a new conversation while I was gone as well.
J: Where's mom?
E: Shepard
J: Right, she's in Shepard. What is she doing?
E: Teach
J: Good. She's teaching. Who is she teaching?
E: Boys 'n girls

We've repeated that conversation about 100 times in the past 24 hours. She loves repeat conversations when she knows the 'correct' answers.

So, I asked Jut how the day went...and he rolled his eyes. I guess that after "Super Y" was over and the tv got turned off, she realized that I wasn't home. The next hour was ugly. She even managed to give herself a black eye during the tantrum by pulling down a curtain and got clunked with the rod, (which we now have to kiss to make it 'feel good'). After Jut managed to finally calm her down, they had a pretty pleasant day. They learned the "Shepard" conversation to distract her when she'd get all sad and say "Mom?".

The nicest part of the day was at about 7...I was chatting with Mom on the phone and E came up and crawled into my lap and promptly fell asleep. She's such a nice little bundle to cuddle! It must have been very stressful to have mom gone for the day. She's usually up until 8 or so...even on 'no nap' days. But, the cuddling on the couch was the perfect ending to our day!

A Wonderful Easter 2009

We had a wonderful Easter weekend this year. Saturday we took E to a community egg hunt at the Masonic Home. There were hundreds of kids there. It was crazy! E got 3 eggs during her 'hunt' and then had even more fun playing on the slide with all other 2-year olds when the 2-minute 'hunt' was over.

On Sunday, we went over to my aunt and uncle's house for a family dinner. Good food, good conversation and lots of eyes to keep track of E roaming around in the backyard with the rest of the kids. Aunt Elaine filled lots of eggs for the kids to find in the afternoon. E got 15 eggs in this hunt and she loved every minute of it! All the pics are courtesy of Sheila from Sunday's hunt.

E with her Easter basket (from her hunt on Saturday) and some eggs

Cousin Seth helping E find more eggs once he got his basket full.

Uncle John showing E that there were goodies inside of those plastic eggs and sharing some chocolate with her...E declared "treats" "good"!

E spent all afternoon watching the 'big' kids go for rides, but was quite hesitant to ride herself. However, after one spin around the yard with Mom and Uncle John, she was ready for more!

"Grandpas" "Two"

What is better than 1 grandpa? Well, two grandpas being at your house, of course. Jut's folks came over this weekend to visit. Since the weather was pretty good and E's swing set hadn't been put up yet, it was the perfect time for both grandpas to work on it. Is there a better job for two grandpas?

Since the swing set was delivered two weeks ago, we've had the same conversation repeatedly.

E: Swings

C: You have swings? Where?

E: Garage

C: Who put swings in the garage?

E: Grandpa!

Yesterday, the conversation on repeat was

E: Grandpas

C: How many grandpas?

E: Two

C: You have 2 grandpas. What are they doing?

E: Swing (or "set"...rarely did the two words get connected)

She was so excited to have both grandpas at the house putting together her swing set. She stood in the breakfast nook and kept close tabs on them, while we sat in the living room watching the MSU game. Grandpa Flegel loves that little girl so much that he missed the game so that she could have her swing set! But she kept them company by knocking on the window at them and kept exclaiming, "Grandpas" "Two" out the window at them.

By the time they were done, it was getting cold and dark, but that didn't stop E from checking out her new swing set. She got right in her swing and tried it out. Of course, a big grin followed. She then kept them company outside while they put the finishing touches on everything. I thought that she might be too helpful, but she left Grandpa's tools alone and was content to watch the grandpas work and play with her toys while exclaiming "Out-side!" very happily. Its much more fun to be outside than just an observer in the window.

This morning, she had to climb up in the breakfast nook to make sure the "set" was still there. I had a hard time getting her inside after church because she was bound and determined to go check out her new 'set'. Hopefully the weather will cooperate this week and she can enjoy it some more! She certainly is ready to check it out further!!!

E's newest excitement

Cousin Micheal came through big time, in the eyes of E, this week. He found a wooden swing set abandoned that needed a little girl to play on it. He disassembled it and gave it to my dad. E was so excited to see swings come to her house. She was disappointed to see them get put in the shed for now, but she'll be so excited when G'pa comes back to put it up. Now, she'll have a swing at G'ma and G'pa's and at home. What is more exciting than that?!

Additionally, Cousin Micheal found a little bike for her. E and G'pa had lots of fun yesterday going all over the yard with it. E can't quite figure out how to make it go by herself, but she knows that she has to get her feet on those peddles. So, she'll figure it out one of these days. Meanwhile, its tons of fun to have G'pa pull you all over! Its also fun to put dolls and stuffed animals on to ride. Now, we just need some of that nice weather back so that we can play outside!

"Hom"

At 21.5 months, E has finally named me. Some mothers hope and pray that 'momma' will be the first word out of their precious bundle's mouth. I knew that 'dadda' probably would be since he stayed home with her all last year. However, months passed and she didn't name either one of us! Since she named no one, it didn't bother us. Whatever. She was a slow starter at talking. We didn't worry.

However a month or so ago, E saw a picture of Jut and finally said "Daddy". He got a name from the precocious toddler. E began to use the name more and more. We had the conversation numerous times everyday that Daddy is a church during the day. It actually goes something like this
E: "Daddy?"
C: "Where's Daddy?"
E: "Church"
C: "Yes, Daddy's at the church. He's working"
and then we repeat it at least 2 or 3 more times. She'd call him "Daddy". Me, nothing. No name. No designation...when we'd press her to name me, she just grin a devilish little smile. I was just an extension of herself that was always around...did I really need a name?

Last week at 21.5 months, she finally looked at me and said "Hom". "Hom". Who doesn't dream of being called "Hom"? She can say 'blueberries' and 'curious', but can't manage "mom" or "mommy" or "momma"? What a crazy girl! My mom came over today and she called her "Grammy"...so cute, so sweet...and I get "Hom"?! I guess there are worse things to be called, but she just makes me shake my head sometimes. At least I finally have a name from that little stinker!

A visit to G'pa and G'ma's

Since moving back, we've made a sort of habit of going over to my folk's house for pizza on Saturday nights. We love Mom's pizza and they love to see E...so its a mutually beneficial arrangement. We went over last night, as usual, and it was fun, as always.

When we got there, Dad had decided that it was warm enough to hang up E's swing. So, he went outside and got it ready. He came back inside, grabbed E and took her outside. When he rounded the back of the house, he set her down. She saw the swing and took off running. I don't know who's smile was bigger when I got outside to check on them...G'pa's or E's. Both were grinning from ear to ear. I think E enjoyed it more this spring than she did last year and she LOVED it last year!

After everyone came back inside, Mom and Dad were showing me their newest 'toy'...a car GPS unit. We were plotting different addresses and seeing the various routes that it would send you. We were very involved with it, and suddenly it struck Jut that we hadn't heard from E in a while. So, he got up and went looking for her. Quiet little girls always give cause for alarm...and this time was no different. He walked into the living room, saw her, burst into laughter and came out to get us.

We look in the doorway and there she is...Dad's Valentine's day heart candy box wide open on the couch and chocolate all over E's face and hands. We all started laughing and E, who knew that she was in the wrong, burst into tears. G'pa went over to calm her down and she very nicely offered to share her piece of chocolate with him. Now what made this even funnier was that my dad cherishes his chocolates. He loves the carmel-filled ones and he always saves them for last. The only ones left in the box were the carmel-filled ones and she ate his favorite kind...it would have been his last piece in the box eventually had E not gotten a hold of it. I guess it might teach G'pa NOT to save his favorites...you never know when a curious little girl is going to get into them first!

E always gets a bath at G'ma and G'pa's on Saturday nights, too. She loves their tub and the warmth of their bathroom (it sits directly over the wood furnace in the basement). So, part of the fun is going with G'pa to fix the fire to get the bathroom really nice and warm. Fixing the fire gets almost as big of a grin as swinging. G'pa lets her put wood in and who knows what else, but she loves it. I don't know what she'll do when the fire goes out at the end of the season because she loves to pull him over to the door to go downstairs...she'll be disappointed when there's no more fire. When she a pyromaniac later in life, I'll remember who to thank.

It really was just a typical night at Mom and Dad's but E had an even better time than usual. What can beat a swing, a fire, a bath and chocolate????

Newest 'hiding' spot

The cabinet is suppose to be a china cabinet, but I didn't bother to unpack all of it this fall. Now, it serves as a place that we can get things out of E's reach...until now. Well, we still can keep stuff on the top 2 shelves away from her.

Pumpkin also thinks that its a good hiding place from curious little girls!