Monsters Inc.

A couple nights ago Peter was reading a bedtime story to Lucy titled, That's Not My Monster.

In case you haven't read it, it's a touchy feely book. It goes along the lines of "That's not my monster, it's nose is too bobbly," and you can feel the bobbly nose.

"That's not my monster, it's horns are too rough." 

Then Peter got to the page that says, "That's not my monster, it's eyebrows are too fluffy." The monster on the page has gigantic fake fur eyebrows. Lucy pointed to the eyebrows and said, "Like Mommy!!"

I guess it's time to pluck them.

This morning Lucy woke up and was playing in her room. She was pulling toys out of a box and explaining them to Tommy.

Lucy, demonstrating Vanna White style: "Look Tommy, it's a dinosaur. ROAR!!"
Tommy the obedient pupil: "ROAR!!"
Lucy: "Look Tommy, it's a rubber duck! Quack Quack!"
Tommy: "Quack Quack!" CHOMP! Rubber duck goes into his mouth.
Lucy pulls out a Shrek doll. "Look Tommy, it's Daddy!"

And now we know what our daughter thinks of us. I'm a monster with poorly groomed eyebrows, and Peter is an ogre. Who also has poorly groomed eyebrows.

She's not even thirteen yet. 

The Pajama Saga Continues...

In case you missed it, we've been having some pajama drama in this house.
Catch up here: Pajama Drama
And here: More Pajama Drama

Tonight when I put Lucy to bed she came to me with two pairs of footie pajamas in her hands. THE "jammies" from previous posts (fished out of the washing machine where I hid them), and another nearly identical pair. I started to undress her. I took her shoes off. Then I took a sock off.

Cue tantrum.

"NO JAMMIES!! NO JAMMIESS!!! I NEED MY SOCKS!!"

Obviously the pajama fad is over.

More Pajama Drama

That's right. The Saga continues.

So I got Lucy dressed successfully (in something besides her "jammies") this morning. Score 1 for me.
Then she brought her "jammies" everywhere with her today - including to school with her. Score 1 for Lucy.

She carried them into her classroom wadded up under her arm like a football. When she got to class she announced, "These are MY jammies."
Then she put them away in her bag and left them there all day. As soon as we got home, the pajamas came out of the bag.
She showed them to me and again instructed me. "These are MY jammies."
They got their own place of honor at dinner tonight. Score 2 for Lucy.

On the way up the stairs, I asked her if I could carry the pajamas upstairs (I didn't want her to trip) and miraculously she agreed. Score 2 for Mommy.

So then I had to poke a little. I can't just leave well enough alone. I put the pajamas on her dresser, opened her pajama drawer, and asked "What pajamas do you want to wear tonight?" She barely even looked in the drawer. Instantaneous reply - "MY jammies!" She started hunting around the room for them as I pulled out pair after pair of pajamas from her drawer.
"Do you want THESE Lucy? They're green?"
"No, no green."
"Do you want THESE Lucy? They're soft!"
"No! NO SOFT! MY JAMMIES!!!"
Score 3 for Lucy.

Needless to say, she won that fight.
She's wearing The Jammies to bed for the second night in a row. As a consolation prize though, she did agree to take my choice of pajamas to bed with her. Maybe by tomorrow they'll be the pair of choice.

Pajama Drama

Last night I made a parenting mistake.

At bedtime, I asked Lucy to lay down so I could put her "pants" on. Her silk, pink, pajama pants with puppies on them. They're soft. She likes them. Except for last night. As soon as the pants touched her leg, the screaming started. "NO PANTS!! NO PANTS!!!"

Lately we've had some bedtime battles. I thought this was another form of bedtime resistance and I disciplined her for refusing to follow directions/refusing to go to bed. After we sorted out that bedtime was not optional, her behavior improved immensely. She submitted to her pink silk pajamas. She was very sweet and gave me and Tommy hugs. And then she walked over to her drawer, pulled out a pair of too-small worn-out footie pajamas, and said, "Mommy, it's BEDTIME. I need jammies!"

The soft, silk, pink pajama pants are no longer in the category of "jammies" because I labeled them as "pants" when I took them out of the drawer. And apparently we don't wear pants to bed. Only "jammies." I tried to reason with her. I tried to explain that she was WEARING pajamas. No luck. A compromise was reached though. Lucy wore the pajamas (the "pants") I picked out for her to bed without any further argument. But, she also brought her footie pajamas to bed with her. She informed me, "I NEED my jammies," and slept cuddled up with them like a blankie.

This morning when I went to wake her up she was sitting cross legged in bed with her footie pajamas in her lap. When I opened the door, Lucy said, "Hi," in that flat voice that means I'm in trouble. I said, "Hi Lucy! How are you today," and she responded by holding up the pajamas and explaining, "THESE are jammies." In case I missed the point last night. Then, to further drive home her message, she carried the jammies all over the house today. When I picked her up from daycare, the first thing she did was grab her pajamas and announce, "These are jammies. I need my jammies." I asked her if she wanted to put them on right at that moment, and she replied (in a "duh" tone of voice), "NO. It's not bedtime!"

Deep breath.

Bedtime came around. I was excited to put Lucy in her pajamas so the argument could be resolved. Lucy was excited for her pajamas. Then bath time happened. I ran the bath. I undressed Lucy. I reached over to pick her up to put her in the tub, and she was clutching the pajamas to her chest. "MY jammies."

"Yep. YOUR pajamas. Now put them down and get in the tub." 

"MY JAMMIES!!!"

I had to pry them out of her hands to bathe her. There was lots of screaming. I dried her off and put the pajamas on her. As soon as the fabric touched her skin, she was a happy kid. When I put her to bed she was hugging herself saying, "My jammies."

Now the challenge will be getting them back off of her again tomorrow!

Trend Setter

Thanks to Auntie K for pointing this out:

Remember Lucy's stylish safety glasses?

Well apparently the fashion world was impressed with my daughter's fashion sense!

Even Tommy is one cool dude:

Good to know Lucy has a future in the fashion industry if she doesn't do anything else!

Everything is hot.

Lucy can correctly use the words "hot" and "cold." With the recent temperatures (115 degree heat index anyone?) everything has started to fall in the "hot" category.

Even ice cream.

Lucy frequently asks if things are hot. I'm not sure why she asks because she never believes our response. Last week my mother-in-law was sitting on the front steps watching Lucy play on the front porch. Lucy decided she wanted to sit on the front steps too. Before sitting down she asked my mother-in-law if they were hot. After being assured that they weren't hot, Lucy tentatively sat on the very furthest corner of the step, with only about an inch of step supporting her. She only sat down comfortably after she ascertained that she wasn't going to burn her heiny off.

She also likes to blow on things to cool them off. Last night as Daddy was preparing dinner in the kitchen Lucy stood on the far side of the baby gate and declared that dinner was hot. Then, in an effort to cool off dinner faster she tried to single-handedly air condition the kitchen by blowing through the baby gate. She also tries this technique in the car. When she gets in the car she blows air on the carseat in an effort to cool it off. She even blows on ice cream. You never know, that ice cream might burn you.

Birthday Party!

Miss Lucy turned two on July 20th. We threw a birthday party for her last Sunday. She and two boyfriends played in the pool in the backyard for about two hours. Then they ate hotdogs. Lucy got lots of gifts. Her boyfriends were a bit bent out of shape that they didn't get lots of gifts too. Tommy chewed on his hands. Here is a sampling of some of her presents:
Dressups:

It's fun to dress Daddy up too:

A bed. It was too small:

Oh wait, not a bed for Lucy. A bed for Tommy?

A bed for Tori?

Oh I get it now, a bed for dolls!

Disclaimer: Despite the position of that doll, smothering babies to sleep is not a regular practice in this house.

The bed was a big hit. Even Lucy's friends tried out the bed:

And this kitchen, which I built myself:

I'm quite proud of it.

Then there was the cake situation. I made cupcakes. There were cats, dogs, bears, birds, fish, and bunnies. I was quite proud of them too.

Lucy took one bite and burst into tears. *Sigh*