Dursing the Baby Doll

Yes, I know! Stop the madness, right?

I planned to nurse until 2 years of age, but I am really starting to get concerned on how to actually wean this child after 2 years, especially with hubby traveling full-time.

This morning, while I was making my bed, Annabelle sat down on the floor, and she then held her baby doll, which she has named "Baby Atty" (Adie), close to her chest. She said, "Durse baby." I said, "What?" She then proceeded to tell me again that she was dursing the baby, as she held the baby in her arms just as if she were nursing her.

Fortunately, she did not make the connection that the baby's mouth needed to touch her. But, she did know that the baby's paci needed to be removed first, before she could "durse" her.

It was very sweet. And, I know she is going to be a wonderful Mommy one day as she is already very loving and affectionate to her baby dolls.

Let's just hope I can get this child weaned before I confuse her too much!

Choo Choo Chain

We dropped hubby off at the Marta station on Sunday for another week away in Minneapolis, Minnesota for work. Well, for a fun day with his little girl a while back, I recommended they ride the Marta train for a few hours. So, they did, and Annabelle talked about it all day after that.

So, we pulled up to the Marta station on Sunday, and Annabelle immediately spotted the "Choo Choo Chain" as it pulled away. She was so excited!

Well, we left hubby at the Marta station, and we went home. She talked that evening about "Datty, Choo Choo Chain" over and over again. I kept telling her that "Yes, Daddy took a choo choo train to catch an airplane."

Well, I spoke with hubby this morning, and he wasn't feeling so hot. He sounded miserable, and he blamed Annabelle for this cold that he apparently has. Of course, she seems fine, and I now think it is just allergies for her.

So, when I went to get Annabelle up this morning after talking with her Daddy, one of the first things she said to me was, "Datty Hooome." I said, "No sweetheart. Daddy is not home. He's out of town for work." She then said, "Datty Choo Choo Chain," as she nodded her head yes. It was so sweet!

I called hubby, and I told him that I needed to tell him something "that would make him feel better" since he was obviously a little under the weather. I told him, and he just laughed and said, "Aawww." Then, he said, "That's supposed to make me feel better?"

I think hubby misses his little girl, and I think she misses him just as much! She has talked about him and the "choo choo chain" all day long.

Fisher Price Pull Along Puppy

Annabelle got a Fisher Price Pull Along Puppy for Christmas 2007 from her Uncle Ken, Aunt Katie, and Cousins Carter, Charlie and James. I think Charlie is actually the one who picked the toy out for Annabelle though, per Aunt Katie. I actually had put the toy aside with good intentions of pulling it out later because she had gotten so many toys for Christmas, and I had plans to rotate the toys.

Of course, the rotating never happened, and the Fisher Price Pull Along Puppy sat placed away in the dresser in our office ever since Christmas.

Until...Annabelle spotted him on Sunday. She started to bark in her own version of barking to let me know that she had spotted the toy dog, and that she wanted to play with him. Why on earth she had not spotted him sooner, I do not know. The toy was really in plain view all along.

So, I pulled him down and left him in the box. Daddy opened the box for her later after asking me why I gave her a toy still in the box. I don't know. Maybe because I was too lazy at the time to actually go through the 30 minute process of removing the toy dog from the box. Or, maybe because I thought I could pass this toy off on someone else for their child's 1st birthday later on. That's awful, I know. But, since I had forgotten to pull it out earlier, and it is a 12 month+ toy, I thought it was probably a little too young for her now.

Well, I was apparently wrong! She loves that puppy dog! Probably much more than she would have if I had opened it back at Christmas. She pulled it around on its leash all night. And, she just grinned from ear to ear.

I asked her what her puppy dog's name was. She didn't skip a beat, and she said, "Nonnie." Hubby said, "Yes, Nonnie has dogs." I told hubby that I had just asked Annabelle the puppy dog's name and that was why she responded with "Nonnie." We both just laughed. Of course, Nonnie, if you are reading this, I think she really named her dog "Nonnie" as a term of endearment! I am writing this post on Tuesday (after the Sunday this happened), and when I ask her the puppy dog's name, she still says, "Nonnie."

The sweetest part of all was when Annabelle and I were taking hubby to the Marta station so he could leave from Marta to catch his flight to Minneapolis. As we were coercing Annabelle out the door, she decided that she didn't want to leave "Nonnie" behind. Of course, we tried to persuade her otherwise. Hubby told Annabelle that the puppy dog needed to take a nap. So, that cute little stinker girl of mine ran back over to her puppy dog, after she had left him, and she laid him down on his side so that his head was resting on the floor. Is that not sweet? Of course, little does she know that puppy dogs don't sleep on their sides!

I love these sweet moments, and I am glad that hubby is the one who noticed it to point it out to me. He turned to me as I was walking out the door and said, "Mom, look."

Go Balls!

On Saturday, we decided to go to the Yellow Daisy Festival at Stone Mountain Park to check it out. Neither of us (nor Annabelle) had been before, so we wanted to see what all of the fuss was about. According to the website, it has been voted the Nation's #1 Arts & Crafts Show five years in a row by Sunshine Artist Magazine. Of course, I know nothing about that magazine, but it still sold me!

The traffic just to get into the park was backed up on to the interstate! This is wild because on a normal day, you can drive right up to the gate entry. We did enjoy ourselves very much though even though we didn't spend a whole lot of money (besides the $8 we spent on chicken fingers and french fries to split between the three of us). The chicken basket with fries was a serving enough for one person, but fortunately, I packed a leftover peanut butter and honey wrap, apples, waters and a fruit cup for Annabelle. The extras I packed along with all of the snacking we did at the different booths, provided us with plenty of nutrition (or lack thereof) to make it through the day from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. If we had purchased bottled waters at the festival, they would have cost us $3 per bottle!

Annabelle had her very first silver dollar pancake. She's had regular pancakes previously. She also had her very first Snowie (aka snow cone or snow cup) flavored with a mix between pina colada and grape, which she loved and could not get enough of. I think her Daddy really wished he had bought Annabelle her own! We split the $3 Snowie three ways.

Of course, she starting asking for her first Icee at the last Braves game we attended even though she didn't even know what it was. She spotted the guy carrying the Icee's around at the ballgame, and she said, "Peas, Peas, Peas." Both hubby and I ignored her. We weren't about to spend $10 (probably more like $5 in reality) on an Icee for an almost two year old at a ballgame when we could purchase one for $1 at Target!

But, the best part of our day was when Annabelle said, "Go Balls!" Hubby left me to watch Annabelle while he sampled around one of the larger sample booths that I had already sampled. While he was gone, I showed Annabelle her Daddy's water bottle, and I pointed to the Power T (which stands for the University of Tennessee) on the water bottle. I proceeded to ask her the color of the Power T. She immediately lifted her arms up in the air, and she said, "Go Balls!"

Translation: Go Vols!

How on earth she made the connection that the Power T stood for "Go Balls!," I do not know. I could understand the connection if we pulled out the orange and white shakers, but I don't recall ever showing her a Power T and then saying "Go Vols!"

It was a wonderful moment though! Probably more because I knew that she was going to make her Daddy's day! Not that she really has any clue what she's saying, but it is a start, right? When her Daddy came back from his sampling, I tried to get Annabelle to show off her new talent, but she instead just smiled pretty for him like she normally does. She finally did say, "Go Balls!" and her Daddy said, "I may just have to buy you a puppet now." Two little boys next to us were playing with puppets, and Annabelle just loved watching them.

Of course, her Daddy never did follow through with his promise. He asked the grandmother how much they cost, and he decided that $9.95 was just too much money to spend on his little girl. His justification: "She won't know the difference. She wouldn't really play with the puppet anyhow."

Of course, I think he's wrong because I think she really would have enjoyed playing with the puppet. But, her Mommy's too cheap, and her Mommy didn't make the promise!

I suspect next year that Annabelle will not let her Daddy get away with breaking another promise. I think I'll remind her next year at the Yellow Daisy Festival to say, "Go Balls!"

Starfish

Annabelle has this fish bowl full of soft, crinkly and squeaky toys that has been her very favorite since she was only 3 months old. Her Daddy actually picked it out for her for her very first Christmas even though I would have picked the harder Fisher Price fish bowl.

She loved that toy as a baby. But, we haven't pulled it out in months because it is a baby toy. I did put it away in the cabinet that her Daddy made her for Christmas 2007 though because I didn't want anything to happen to it in the shed.

Well, this evening, she wanted to get it down so she could play with it. So, we did. Well, she played with it a little while, and then she stopped playing, and her Daddy and her read a book together.

While they were reading the book, her Daddy pointed out the shapes in the book. When he got to the star shape, she stopped, and she immediately ran over to her fish bowl and grabbed the starfish.

Her memory is completely amazing to me! I am sure this is probably normal for most young children her age, but it still completely shocks me. This evening, I had not even mentioned to her that one of the soft toys in the fish bowl was a starfish, but she made the connection, even though she has not played with the fish bowl in months! And, I mean months! I probably put the fish bowl away on that shelf 7-8 months ago.

If only my memory were that good!

Raising McCain

Okay, so I have never blogged about politics, but this story is worthy of mention.

Annabelle is a girl after my own heart! Well, that was already a given, but...

This evening, we were driving back from Sam's Club, and we were listening to Sean Hannity on WSB Radio. He was interviewing John Rich, and apparently, John Rich has written a song titled "Raising McCain" because he was tired of hearing that all of the young people were voting for Obama for President.

So, they played a piece of the song that was to be played at the Republican National Convention this evening. The song came on the radio, and I just happened to glance back at Annabelle as the song was playing. It was hilarious as she was rocking out and moving her hands back and forth to the beat. She apparently loved the song!

Now, that is definitely a girl after my own heart, republican through and through!

And, just as a side note, that was one heck of a speech by Sarah Palin this evening! And, yes, I know that she didn't write it, but her delivery of the speech was exceptional. You go girl!!!

Keep in mind, I am not a liberal feminist, but so far, I am very impressed with her. And, I have typically been of the opinion that a woman would not make a good President because we, as women, are way too emotional. But, she seems to be a woman of true change!

Let's all pray for the best for this country! May God bless America!

The Purpose of Q tips

Annabelle has discovered that the purpose of Q tips is to clean one's ears.

It is amazing (and very scary) how quickly these little people catch on to things. I guess she has watched either me or her Daddy clean our ears using Q tips because this morning, I found her walking around with a Q tip in her ear! This particular Q tip had Vaseline on it too, so she got Vaseline in her hair.

The Q tip she had found was the same Q tip I used to put Vaseline on her thermometer before I inserted it rectally to take her temperature. I guess it is a good thing she didn't connect the Q tip to the thermometer and the thermometer to, well, you know where I am going with this!

I think I'll be careful about leaving Q tips lying around now! She's lucky she didn't bust her eardrum with that Q tip this morning. I wish I could have grabbed the camera for a picture, but I thought my baby girl's ear drum was far more important.