things I should have outgrown by now

Chocolate milk. I used to buy two 125 ml-size Dairy Home chocolate milks from the cafeteria at ISB if I arrived a little early to collect Madeline from kindergarten; one for me and one for her. I would feel a little silly if I saw anyone I knew as I wandered down the corridors, sipping away. I don't remember my mom ever putting a carton of chocolate milk in her shopping cart when I was little, so maybe I am still compensating into my adulthood. Sadly, the chocolate milk here in Vietnam is not very good. It's sugary milk that happens to be brown. The chocolate element is noticably absent!

Sleeping in socks. I am not sure how old I was when I started doing this, but I have a serious issue with having my feet poke out of my covers when I'm sleeping. Wearing socks helps to prevent my toes from accidently brushing against a cold wall, a footboard, or – gasp – air! 

Anne of Green Gables. I mean, of course, the two-part miniseries that aired on CBC when I was nine years old. I remember that it was a very special event; it was broadcast from 8 – 10 pm over two nights, and my usual bedtime was 9 o'clock. The first time I was allowed to stay up past nine was to watch Anne of Green Gables with my mom. For a number of years, I'd catch a re-run of Anne during the annual pledge drive from a PBS affiliate in Spokane that our local cable picked up, but now, I have to watch Anne on DVD. If someone on the street asked me what my favourite movie was, I'd probably say The Shawshank Redemption, but really, it's probably Anne of Green Gables. I loved the story, the casting, the Canadian-ness, and also the sequel (but not the third Anne movie, which was just so very wrong). Oddly enough, I don't really care for the actual novel. I thought it dragged!

sadie sneaks one by …

This evening after dinner, Sadie was pushing herself around the dining room/kitchen in her little red car. We weren't surprised – it's been one of her favourite toys since she was about five months old. I was in the kitchen washing our dinner dishes when all of a sudden, I hear Chris asking me if I knew how old the sippy cup was that she just pulled out of her car's hood. 

Hmm. I hadn't noticed her putting things into the hood and taking them out at all since we moved. "She took a sip, make a face, and put it back," Chris added helpfully. I dried my hands and pulled the Take n Toss cup out of the hood, revealing about two ounces of a mysterious dark liquid. I took a sniff, and it had definite notes of fermentation. Ew. I dumped the contents of the sippy cup down the drain and was left with a bit of dark moldy sludge. 

I can't help but feel sad for my poor little Sadie. She was probably delighted to come upon the sippy cup that she'd packed away in June, when her little red car was wrapped in cardboard and slipped into our sea container for the journey from Bangkok to Vietnam, and now on the fourteenth of August, it sort of betrayed her … 

Definition: Mermaid Leg

When you try to wrestle a pair of pants onto your baby whilst holding them over your shoulder, only to end up putting both of your baby's legs into the same leg-hole on the pants.

The Quotable Madeline, Big Sister Edition

Chris told me about an exchange with the kids that he was part of today. 

The girls were playing in Madeline's bedroom, and he was pretty certain that he overheard Madeline referring to Sadie as her "Little Brother". Chris poked his head in to remind Madeline that Sadie was, in fact, her little sister. Madeline promptly explained that she knew that, and she was actually calling Sadie her "Little Bother" because "she is always taking the things that I am playing with before I am done with them!" 

Quotable Madeline: the Prune Edition

This evening, me and the kiddos were having dinner in the kitchen. Madeline and I were munching on homemade pizza, and I had Sadie in her bumbo seat on the counter, where I was passing her cereal-loaded spoons, which she is actually pretty good at getting into her mouth. Madeline came over and helped Sadie with a spoonful and asked, "Mama, what is Sadie eating?"

"Oatmeal with stewed prunes," I replied.

"No fair!" my little helper pouted. "Why does Sadie get DESSERT first????" 

Hmm. Maybe that was funnier in real-time … 

Quotable Madeline: On Gardening

Last night, Madeline was using a brand-new bar of homemade soap to wash the layers of school yard sand off of her. "Look Mama! It has nuts in it!" she exclaimed, showing me the bar of soap.

"Actually, those are poppy seeds," I gently corrected, indicating the little black specks that were interspersed with oatmeal flakes in the bar.

Madeline’s excited response: "Seeds? Then we can plant them and grow more soap!"

small medium large

About eighteen months ago, any time that Madeline and I would take a walk around St. John’s, she would practice one of her favourite activities: finding similar objects that came in different sizes. "There’s a mommy snail, there’s a baby snail, and that’s a daddy!" she’d gleefully announce, crouching on the side of the sidewalk watching a group of snails slowly make their way to the lake. The same logic – that objects came in Baby, Mommy, and Daddy sizes – was applied by my little whiz kid to leaves, dogs, socks, crayons, and vegetables alike. Chris and I thought she was brilliant, making a size connection like that!

One day last week, Madeline announced that I was "medium", and I was sad. Somehow, small/medium/large isn’t as endearing. But I am glad to know that she must be paying attention in preschool at least some of the time 🙂

The 108th Wonderful Thing about Madeline

Her chatter from the backseat of the car. She loves to play "I Spy" while driving around, and today she said that she was sleepy so she was cuddling with her carseat.  Amazing that a year ago, I was worried that she’d never have more than a 20-word vocabulary!

project runway: toddler edition

I didn’t think that Madeline was actually able to get dressed by herself until yesterday, when she rejected the jeans and tee that I’d brought downstairs for her to wear. She was so mortified by my taste in toddler apparel that before I even knew what was happening, she maneuvered herself into a pair of pants and long-sleeved tee of her own choosing. Huge accomplishment! The only negative was that the outfit she’d chosen was her favourite thing to wear: her purple jammies with the fairy appliqué. Not quite what Chris or I had in mind for a St. Paddy’s Day lunch …

cat nap on a friday afternoon

Today Madeline elected to nap somewhere softer than the floor. She’s more comfortable; I’m more nervous …