Tidbits from the month: May 2009

The girls are doing so many interesting things! I can hardly remember to write them all down, but here is my best shot for May:

p{color:gray}. Photo: Rosie loves to look upside-down between her legs. The world is an amazing place!

* Rosie learned to climb up on the kitchen chair this month — and therefore on pretty much everything else (for example, the kitchen table). We are prohibiting that activity, so wish us luck.
* Lucy started sleeping without a diaper at naptime at the beginning of the month. She only had one accident, probably on the second or third day of this new practice, and the whole rest of the month has stayed dry. Go Lucy!
* Lucy slept without a diaper at nighttime for the first time on the evening of May 29. And she stayed dry all night! We gave this a one-week run, and she stayed dry half the time. We’ll give it another try in a month or two.
* Rosie has four molars now, so twelve teeth total. We started toothbrushing this month on May 18. I don’t know why we waited so long for this milestone with Rosie when we started brushing Lucy’s teeth when she only had six of them.
* At naptime, part of our routine includes putting Rosie in her crib to play for a few minutes while I do some pre-sleep singing and praying with Lucy. Sometimes while I’m gone, Rosie stuffs books and animals in the crack between her crib and the wall, like she’s playing a toddler version of ConnectFour. Lately, when I go back to get Rosie, she tries to escape from me in the crib, scrambling all around and laughing. Once I’ve got her into her sleepsack, I pick her up and we walk to Lucy’s room to say “good night” one more time. And these days, when I close Lucy’s door, she says, “Take care of Rosie, Mama, okay?”
* Rosie has learned to point to her nose and mouth when prompted. We are working on the “armpit recognition”:/news/2007/our-little-announcement.
* Rosie has some new words! She says “tickle” while holding her feet, since that’s where she gets tickled. She can also say “belly button” (“bay-bay”) and baby (“bee-bee”). These are quite similar, but they make sense in context. And of course, Rosie says “Mama” constantly. We are starting to think that “Mama” might mean “family” or “love” in Rosie-speak, especially since she keeps saying it while pointing to Papa and Lucy.
* The other day I said, “Rosie, why don’t you put that bib in the laundry basket?” And she did it straightaway! Then I tried again later: “Rosie, why don’t you go into Lucy’s room and get a book?” And she did it! Hooray for the verbal comprehension!
* Lucy has been experimenting with calling us “Mom” and “Dad” every once in awhile. It sounds sort of weird coming out of her mouth! But I suppose she can call us whatever she wants, within reason. I’ll draw the line at “Old Lady” and “Pops.”
* Rosie started to give up her morning naps in late May. She’s not going cold turkey, but we can tell it’s the beginning of the end — and I rejoice! Lucy and I are looking forward to more all-girl morning outings with the Rose.
* Lucy slept with George the dog for much of May, then suddenly stopped. “George should go in the living room,” she said. “He’s a toy dog.” Which makes it clear that Lucy views Piggy Lou and Barney Bear as real, à la the Velveteen Rabbit.

*And now for the latest _bons mots_ from Lucy:*

* “Good morning, Sir Charles.” (A quote from “_The Pink Panther_”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0009S4J3C/octothorppres-20.)
* “Mama, Laurie Berkner’s hands are dancing like birds.” (Referring to “All Around My Room” from Laurie Berkner’s “latest album”:http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001A62ZII/octothorppres-20 ).
* “Mama, you are being very generous with Rosie.” (After I gave Rosie some of my brownie)
* “How about a perfect toe chef?” (Lucy claims this is a quote is from They MIght Be Giants, but we have no idea where or what the line really is.)
* “What I did?” (This is Lucy’s version of “What did I do?”)
* Lucy, after watching some Looney Toons, took a big chomp from a carrot at lunchtime and said, “What’s I’ve got?” We later realized that this was her interpretation of Bugs Bunny’s classic question, “What’s up, doc?”
* Jon: “Lucy, I think you are potty trained now!” Lucy: “Where’s my potty train?”