sunflowers

We planted some Sunflowers along the fence in our backyard and they are beginning to grow! It is so fun and so easy to grow Sunflowers! We actually got a little package of them in the "one spot" (aka dollar section) at Target, and when we got home I realized it was just a pack of Sunflower seeds and some soil. They suggested planting a couple of the seeds in their soil, and then pushing any extras (there were about 20 seeds total so we had lots of extras!) into your garden soil. The seeds were just plain old Sunflower seeds, nothing special about them (unsalted :). We pushed them about an inch into the ground--no special soil just what we call dirt out in the back yard--and they are now growing! Some are just pushing thru the soil, and others are about an inch or two high with leaves. We lost a few, but I cant wait to see what happens with the ones that are now sprouting up!

"clouds are bumping!"

Down here in the south there are some pretty big thunderstorms that roll thru every few weeks. At first Luxie was frightened (let's face it, Im frightened too!) but I have found a way to ease her fears by explaining the situation a little better, and by teaching her a few songs to pass the time.

One thing that has really helped is telling her the "clouds are bumping." I explained that there are just too many clouds up there and they are all bumping into each other on their way across the sky. Now everytime a we hear a roll of thunder, she excitedly cries out "clouds are bumping! clouds are bumping!" She even says it if she hears a loud noise, like our neighbors' car, or some kind of construction. But it has given her a tangible reason for why the sky is so noisy at times.

You may have heard the song "Rain, rain go away, come again some other day" when you were young, and that is one of the songs I have taught her to help us get thru the stormy days. She likes to sing it all the time, actually, and the other day it really cracked me up.

It was bedtime and everytime I would accomplish one task she would run off giggling and make me chase her down. The first three times were funny, but by the fifth time I was at my wits end. "Luxie, you come back here right now! Right Now! No more playing" I said. And as she walked back into the room and sat down, what do you think she sang? "Rain, rain, go away...."

Coffing

This conversation took place while playing with Luxie's kitchen set.

(Luxie grabs a coffee pot off the "stove" of her little kitchen)

"Oh, are you going to make mommy some coffee" I ask?

(suddenly she is having a coughing fit.)

"Are you ok," I ask?

(A few moments later) "Coffing" she says, as she hands me the pot.

Too cute.

Luxie-ese

I think every mom figures out their child's language before the rest of the world. Lately I've felt like a foreign language interpreter when amongst family and friends, although Luxie's words have gotten much better! Yesterday in the car she was just talking up a storm and my husband and his friend finally got to laughing because everything she said had to go thru me! So I thought I'd create a little dictionary of meanings here on the board Ive dedicated to her.

1. "waty"....
2."wasus".....
3. "Idajojo"....
4. "yeties"....
5. "numnumnumnum"
6. "ah paggy"
7. "a yiddy"
8. "bidbud owaj"
9. "gabe pokanos"
10. "suwin sat"


1. is water
2. are raisins
3. I want to watch JoJo's Circus
4. are letters
5. Im hungry
6. I want playdough
7. its little
8. big bird's orange (we made him out of playdough)
9. Gabe poked my nose
10. swingset!

my turn!

Today Luxie and I went to the park with a few friends and their kids. One of the little girls is about a year or so older than Luxie, so of course everything Sydney did Luxie had to do too. And everything Luxie wanted to do Sydney was going to do faster and better and....first. Dont get me wrong, all of the kids present were actually very well behaved, but sharing and taking turns is just a difficult learning experience all around for every kid, and that is where my story begins.

Sydney was doing a great job going down the cork screw slide until Luxie decided to join her. Every time Sydney would go down Luxie was right behind her and soon Sydney was doing everything she could to beat Luxie to the slide the next time around. Sydney was becoming a little frustrated with Luxie and at one point said, "Wait, you cant beat me down, it's my turn!" Of course Luxie, having no idea what Sydney was talking about, continued on down the slide and gleefully screamed back up at her, "My turn! My turn!" Sydney's mom decided to pull her aside and help her straighten out her frustrations, while at the same time I helped Luxie back up the steps to the top of the slide. Sydney beat us to the top and decided to stop the whole thing once and for all. She sat with her arms folded at the top of the slide and waited. When Luxie and I reached the top I said, "Ok Sydney, we are waiting on you. It's your turn!" "No, I cant go down," she said. "Why?" "Because my mommy made me sad," she said.

Now in the meantime all Luxie knew was that Sydney didnt seem to be moving. So she did what any other naive little 2 year old would do. She marched right up there, sat down next to Sydney, and slid right past her down the slide! "Wait! You cant do that!" yelled Sydney. Luxie pranced gleefully back over to the stairs, "My turn! My turn!" Unfortunately, Sydney got the 1-2-3 count from mom to come down the stairs and soon they decided to go. But I couldnt help giggling to myself at Luxie's innocence. If only I could look past the huffy folks I run into each day and just go about my business with a gleeful hippity-hop in my step!

(Again, Sydney is a very sweet girl, but Luxie knew just how to push her buttons today!)

cantaloupe

"Here, Luxie, you like this" I said while standing near a "taster" bowl of fruit at the grocery store today.
She made a funny face and pulled back.
"It's like watermelon, taste it" I said as I put a little piece up to her mouth.
She took a little bite, "mmm" she said as she continued eating.
"It's cantaloupe" I said.
"Camel" she said with a smile.
"No, it's not a camel silly!" I said "It's cantaloupe."
She took another bite. "Candy" she said, then she paused and looked at it and added, "soap".
"Candy soap" she said with a smile.

Hurray!

I am happy to say i have figured out the sleep problem. After about two weeks of waking up off and on around 6 I posted up my problem here and emailed some other moms asking what in the world could it be? Just about that time (Good Friday) Luxie got a low grade fever and I thought "Ah ha! a virus!" Then the very next day she was fine again except for one thing....she was making funny faces with her mouth! There is only one thing that causes her to twist and contort her mouth into funny faces....teething. And low and behold a few days later i got a good glimpse inside her mouth and found the culprit--the dreaded two year molar!

That weekend she was back to her normal routine, and although she has only popped two corners of the molar thru the gum, and although the other lower molar is just about to burst thru the gum, things have basically returned to normal. Hurray!