Statue of Liberty

She is yelling, "I look like the Statue of Liberty!" in this photo.  She really loves that statue!  She is a handful and this month between a three year old, being pregnant, the February grey days and work kicking my butt, I have been one tired lady.  This year should be interesting.  Polly is definitely at an age where you never know what in the world is going to come out of her mouth.  I truly can't document it all but this first interaction sure does sum it up many of our interactions this month:


Polly: (angry voice) GO AWAY!
Me: (nice calm voice) Polly, be nice.
Polly: (louder angry voice) PLEASE GO AWAY.
Me: silently walking away to laugh in the other room

Other highlights:

• I was leaving for work and then for a night away to attend the Midwest Craft Con, organized in part by my awesome business partner in Crafty Supermarket crime Grace, and feeling a lot of mommy guilt about working too much and going away for the night.  Earlier in the morning I told Polly that I wouldn't see her until tomorrow night and she was quite sad which doubled my guilt but as I was leaving out the door she stood up in her chair and yelled, "BYE MOMMY HAVE A GOOD TIME!"  It melted my heart.  She is such a perfect combination of salty and sweet.  It's terrifying.
• Last night we were reading books before bed and she wanted to cuddle with the baby so she laid her head on my belly, rubbed it and said, "I love you baby".  I'm basically going to cry a lot between now and this time next year I think.  I can't handle the idea of my little Polly being a big sister.  It's too much for the tear ducts to handle.  
• My insides still turn upside down when watching Polly and her dad.  He is such a great dad and it's my favorite thing to see.  
• The other night we were at Skyline eating dinner and above our heads a TV had the news playing.  Polly looked at the television and said, "Look, it's Donald Trump".  I said yeah, we don't like Donald Trump.  Polly's face gets all sad and she says loudly, "BUT I LIKE DONALD TRUMP!"  Ben and I are both shaking our heads frantically saying no, no!  Hopefully we don't have an Alex P. Keaton on our hands here.  Donald Trump is like a cartoon character so I can see the appeal to a toddler.  No I can't.  This is terrible!  What have we done wrong?!?!  
• I'm too sleepy for more bullets.  

She Has Things To Say...

This month this kid has made me laugh until I cried and she's made me have to put myself in time out because she's tested every ounce of patience that I have.  One day Ben texted me at 10:30 in the morning to say Polly hadn't stopped talking since I left for work.  That pretty much sums up this month.  Here are some of the highlights:

• Today she visited the preschool class in prep for starting preschool next week.  The change doesn't even phase her.  In this way, she is a very easy child.  When I picked her up today she introduced me to her teacher using my first name.  "My mommy's name is Chris."  My kid has better social skills than I do.
• To Ben after his hair cut. Polly: Daddy your hair looks silly when you take haircuts.  Ben: You don't like it?  Polly: no, it's silly when you take haircuts.  
• While driving her home from school one day I was trying to talk to her about her day but she instead asked me to turn the music up.  I've always hated the term threenager until Polly turned three and began acting like a teenager.  
• We often have dance parties or pretend to be at dance class but sometimes she won't let us participate, she just wants us to sit on the couch and watch.  
• I've been trying to explain pregnancy to Polly over the last several months pointing out pregnant women we know or pictures or women with babies in their bellies.  A few weeks ago she was studying my waistline and asked me out of the blue, "mommy, do you have a baby in your shirt."  Stunned into silence I didn't know what to say and she pressed on with an excited smile on her face, "do you?"  Lucky for me I do have a baby in my shirt but I thought I could get away with a few more weeks of not telling anyone.  Surely I wasn't fooling anyone at work if my three year old busts me out at 10 weeks.  The body isn't as forgiving with the second I've come to realize.  So there you have it, Polly is going to be a big sister.  She couldn't be more excited.  
• The above new information has lead to SEVERAL hilarious things coming out of her mouth including her immediately asking if she could see it which she asked for several days in a row until she began to realize it is going to take a while.  13 weeks and counting!  
• She also likes to talk about how it's going to POP out!  I have no idea where that comes from in her little mind.  I hope it pops out easily.  
• She starts sentences about the baby with, "when MY baby gets here..."
• She also said that when the baby pops out its mommy will come.  I had to explain that I'll be its mommy.  "But you're MY mommy," Polly says.  I thought we were in for it but after sleeping on it for a night, she was cool with it.  
• Sometimes she'll be doing something like watching a short TV program and she'll say, "Maybe my baby can share my lean back chair (bean bag chair) with me."  That makes my heart explode.  We are all trying to imaging what this change will be like for us.  She even thinks she will finally learn to share when the baby comes.  Magic.  
• While eating dinner the other day she said, "when you eat the baby gets dirty".  I nearly shot food out of my nose thinking about her thinking about the baby all mixed up in my belly with the food I'd just eaten.  We discussed anatomy for a bit.  
• It's hard to imagine that I will feel this big love for another one but everyone says I will.  I'm going to trust them but for the next few months I'm going to try to really enjoy our family of three until we become four at the end of July.  
• I'm so lucky to know Polly.  

P is Three

I can't believe my baby is three years old!  I'm thankful she still lets me rock her before bedtime after we read a few books.  Tonight I was very aware of the fact that those days are numbered and it made me cry a bit.  She won't even let me walk with her to get in bed because she wants to do it herself.  The will is strong with this one. While I know that is going to server her well one day, she can drive me insane when she sets her mind to defy me.  Here are a few highlights from this month:

• She calls tears "crying water".  
• She has declared that she hates vegetables and I'm convinced daily that she's going to starve.  If  I would let her, she'd live on cheese and crackers.  The other day when snack time arrived I offered her fruit, she said, "NO! I want a good snack out of the brown cabinet."  That's where we keep the crackers.  The sacred crackers!
• I'm still amazed by how I'm biologically predisposed to love her face.  I JUST LOVE HER LITTLE FACE SO DANG MUCH!
• She thinks all of our close friends are our cousins.  
• When she wants something from either her dad or I and one of us says no, she goes to the other.  I didn't expect this to start so early.  Luckily we are a good team.
• She is experimenting with yelling and pitching fits and it's all I can do not to laugh at her sometimes.  She can be so tiny and angry it's just hilarious...sometimes.
• Her favorite Christmas present was a stretchy caterpillar that cost $2.14 and her favorite birthday present was blue Play Dough that was an extra party favor.  We really could have saved ourselves a lot of money and time here.  
• The face in the picture above is the face she gives when she's trying to get something out of you like chocolate.  We see it often and it puzzles me how she learns to cut her little eyes and turn her little head to try to get what she wants.  WHERE DOES THAT COME FROM!?!  
• While visiting my home state last week we stopped to visit my childhood best friend and her family.  I bought her daughters, much to her dismay, the slime that makes farting noises when you stick it back in the container thinking I want her daughters to remember me.  It was all fun and games except Polly is really into "toot" jokes now and really enjoyed stinking up the bathtub tonight.  The joke is on me now Sarah.  :)  

Almost Three!

Today is Thanksgiving which seems like the perfect day for Polly's monthly picture because we have a lot to be thankful for around here.  I swear she smiles all the time but she loves torturing us with protesting these photos.  I'm thankful for her willpower and:

• everything really.  The events happening around the world these days are hard to comprehend when you have such innocence surrounding you in the form of a smart, funny, stubborn, curious little girl.  I hate that she will have to understand more of the world some day but I'm extremely grateful that we are lucky enough to get to protect her from it a little longer.  At least I hope that's true.  
• I'm thankful for all of the friends and family that we have around us who love Polly SO much.  They are all so different and that is vital to who she will be when she grows up.  
• I'm thankful for a little girl who while sitting in a quiet Graeter's Ice-cream shop exclaims loudly, "poop is brown and so is chocolate ice-cream!
• having a kid who's only experience with eyepatches is in reference to pirates.  We are so sorry to the gentleman at the pizza restaurant that she spotted, pointed to and yelled with excitement,"there's a pirate!"
• I'm thankful for the excitement Polly had today when she pooped AND peed in the potty at Great Grandma's house.  She ran into the kitchen and announced to everyone, "I just did a BIG poop!"  Luckily it was dish time, not dinner time.  To her credit, it is still astonishing to me how much poop can come out of a tiny person that seems to barely eat anything.  She clogged the toilet a few weeks ago.  No joke.  She's only three feet tall.  
• I'm thankful for so many people out there who give so much to others.  The new year is coming and while I give a lot through my work and through small charitable donations, I'd like to find new ways to give where I can include Polly.  I want her growing up in a world where she's not just living in a bubble or complaining about the way things are.  I want her to know that she can do things to make a difference in the world around her.  
• I'm really thankful for my husband who is an awesome dad and he keeps me laughing and learning 12 years later.  Even when he gets on my nerves I still love him to pieces.  I can't wait to see what the next 12 years bring.  I'm so afraid of the speed that time moves these days.  I want it all to slow down but I do try to take the time to stop and be thankful each day.  Growing up I don't know why but I didn't think I'd have all of this.  Life is not perfect or without hurt and heartache but I'm thankful for that too. 
• I'm thankful for having too many things to list.  

I'm Not A Thane!

This photo pretty much sums up what it's like trying to get an almost 3 year old to do ANYTHING they don't want to do.  It's hilarious and maddening at the same time.  Here's what we've been up to this month.

• We're trying to savor the days of dressing her in what WE think is adorable or hilarious (note the suspenders above).  Since she started daycare, she wants to wear a dress everyday unless her Nirvana or Superman shirts are clean.  That's a pretty good mix I guess.  
• Conversation between Polly and Ben: 

Polly: (looking at a can) is that paint?

Ben: no it's polyurethane.

Polly: I'm not a thane!

• Every night there is something that prevents her from going to sleep like:

Polly crying in bed, I enter concerned.

Me: Polly, what's wrong?

Polly: (crying) My foot is sticking out of the blanket.

• In order to go to bed she must have the following things in her bed with her:
1. Bear
2. Little Bear
3. Baby Bear (not to be confused with little bear, little bear is SMALLER!)
4. Little Kermit
5. Baby Kermit
6. Pink blanket
7. Flower blanket
8. Other blanket
9. Bear's blanket (a tiny cloth that was cut to be a pretend kitchen towel)
• She is definitely in a developmental stage where she is testing her boundaries and authority.  Tonight we had a debate about who would put the cup on the counter that SHE was holding.  I asked her to sit it on the counter, she says "no you sit it on the counter."  I'm learning a lot about patience.    

2.75 Years Old

This month was a blur.  Daycare sickness struck twice and the last one knocked me out.  I foolishly tried to work through it and finally had to throw in the towel.  Here are a few highlights through the fog:

• We've started venturing out of the house without pull-ups on.  She's successfully marked some territory yesterday alone including a busy furniture store floor.  The shop clerk thanked us for telling him in a way that let me know that this wasn't the first time but most people seem to dash.  Note to self.  
• While driving in the car the band Hole came on the radio and Polly asked, "why is she sad".  I gave her the general, "I don't know" answer.  I figured trying to explain Courtney Love to a 2.5 year old would be too difficult.  I asked Polly if she wanted me to turn on a different song and she said, "no, I like it."  
• My mom and stepfather came to visit and I love seeing my mom play with my little girl.  It's sort of magical.  
• Riding in the car I hear a sad tiny voice say, "why is the sky grey, I want it to be blue." Welcome to most days in Cincinnati kid.  
• We may be known to frequent Skyline on Wednesdays.  This past Wednesday we had different plans but when I picked her up from school she said, "I want Skyline!" Figuring a 2.5 year old doesn't know it's Skyline Wednesday I asked her how she knew it was Wednesday and she said to me seriously, "I know it's Wednesday because I want to go to Skyline."  That is an interesting way to tell the days of the weeks but it seems to be working for her.  I'll stick with my iPhone calendar.  
• The smile on her face above is right after I asked her if she wanted some juice.  She is in for a serious shock when she realizes that her "juice" is 1/4 juice and 3/4water.  We also need to at some point tell her that a glass of water at a restaurant with two lemons squeezed into it isn't lemonade.  I sure will miss it when making shit up doesn't work anymore.  
• It's terrifying to love someone this much.  I feel lucky everyday even when the days are hard and long.   

Two and Some Change

This kids is just fun to hang out with and growing so so fast.

• She talks about monsters but then reassures us that they aren't real.  "Don't worry mom, monsters aren't real."  
• She says creepy things. On the way to drop her off at day care one day she sadly said, "I'm going to give you a hug and a kiss and I'm never going to see you again." Well doesn't that just start your day off terrible.  I assured her that I would see her later but she repeated her statement TEN TIMES.  So I drove very slowly to and from work that day and watched my back just in case my kid could see the future.  I made it and she did indeed see me again.  
• These are lyrics we thinks she either made up or they are listening to toddler punk rock music at day care.  We are cool with both options.  First she counts to three and begins pounding on her drums, "watch out for me, watch out for me, 'cause I'm a kid!"  Consider yourself warned.  
• We took Polly to see her first movie Shaun the Sheep.  She sat through the entire thing and ate popcorn like a pro.  On the way home she was still munching on some popcorn and we heard a kissing sound so we asked what she was doing back there and she said, "I'm giving the popcorn a kiss because it's going bye bye in my mouth."  That is my kid for sure.  I love popcorn so much.  In fact I nearly ate an entire large popcorn myself which caused me to have to take Tums, get Ben to rub my back and then sleep sitting up straight for a while.  
• She still loves her bear.  He helps her brush her teeth, she shares her food with him and he even uses the potty when she does. It's cute and hilarious but that thing is getting disgusting.