Facing Her Fears

Although we can't see it for all the trees, we do live right off a highway and it is noisy! We are constantly hearing sirens sound their hurried, "wee-woo, wee- woo" calls as they drive by. It is very fitting then that our daughter, age 2, has nicknamed all emergency vehicles, wee-woos. Baby has a shirt with a fire engine on it, and bibs with fire engines and police cars; our daughter calls them his wee-woo clothes. She points out emergency vehicles everywhere we go and when we hear them at home she runs to the window and calls out, "Wee-woo! Where are you? Come here- wee-woo!"

Last week, a friend from church organized a play date at the local fire station; I just knew we had to attend! There was quite a crowd of moms and children who showed up to tour the building and admire the vehicles. The crowd, the firemen gear, and those huge trucks and ambulances made our daughter extremely nervous. Mostly, she stood by me wide eyed and shaking. I'm learning not to push our introverted daughter into new circumstances, so I let her hang back and take it all in but gave her opportunities to explore by asking her questions about the inside of the trucks or about all their gear. She was clearly terrified and fascinated at the same time.

Afraid that my daughter would burst into tears when the trucks pulled out of the station and sounded their sirens, I scooped her up ready to distract and comfort her. (Can I just get a nod here for my super mom strength holding 50+ pounds between my two kids in that hot, humid garage. Honestly, they're giving medals to all the wrong people... Well, maybe not. I am grateful to the men and women who work to save our lives...) Anyway, the huge garage doors went up, little girl kept shaking. The fire truck pulled out, tears shown in her eyes. And then those lights flashed and the loud sirens wailed, and do you know what she did? She leaned forward in my arms toward those big, scary trucks and she roared! Yes, she roared like a lion at that truck and when she turned to face me she was wearing a big ol' grin! As the truck disappeared down the street, she called out, "Go that way, wee-woo!" Then, she stuck her tongue between her lips and blew a slobbery raspberry in its direction. Fears conquered.

*Thank you so much, friend, for putting this play date together for us! Thank you Dear Husband, for finding a ride to work that morning so we could have the car and attend the fire station tour.  And thanks to the awesome firemen who did a really great job engaging the kiddos and showing off all the cool features!

Here's a classic fire engine that was actually used in our town back in the day!

Kind of checking out the ambulance.

Interested, but hanging back for the fire truck presentation.

Not another baby brother!

My toddler caught me stepping out of the shower 
the other morning and exclaimed, 

"Oh! More baby in tummy, mom?"

No, sweetie, that's just fat... Thanks for pointing it out.

The purpose of boobs.

The hour was late and the mood was tense. After a long day of travel, we had missed our connecting flight and were crowded into a dirty van like shuttle set to bus our little crowd of cranky strangers to a nearby hotel. We'd have to sleep here tonight, and continue on to our destination first thing in the morning. My husband climbed into the front seat and the kids and I took the last available seat a couple rows back; baby on my lap and toddler squished between me and a very professional woman clicking away on her smart phone. All was quiet as we pulled away from the curb and merged onto the highway. I am learning that there is something about silence that invites toddlers to share exactly what's on their mind. And so it was just then, when my daughter reached out her little hand to grab the woman next to her's breast and ask loudly, hand lingering on her chest, if she was going to feed the baby? Oh. My. Gosh. I could have died! My daughter persisted and would not stop asking until this patient woman just told her yes, "that's what they're for... sometimes."

Who are Buzz Lightyear and Woody?

        We have watched Toy Story probably a zillion times in our home. We even have a Toy Story book to read before bed. Rather than reading the story last night, I used it to spark conversation with my sweet two year old. We discussed how the piggy bank held money and how Rex the dinosaur roars. Then, pointing to Buzz, I asked her, "Who is this?"
        "Bless you!" She answered confidently. Apparently, I need to annunciate better if she thinks Buzz Lightyear sounds like Bless You!
        Surpressing a laugh I continued by pointing to Woody and asking, "And, what is his name?"
        "Toy Story!" 

Close enough!

Picture of "Bless You" courtesy of disney store. com

Picture of "Toy Story" courtesy of disney store. com

Farmers Market Lotion

Little Girl thought I bought her new lotion from the 

Farmers Market yesterday! 

Toddlerisims: Bunnies in Yellowstone

Spent a wonderful Mothers Day in beautiful Yellowstone National Park. We saw lots of buffalo, some elk, and an eagle, but our daughters favorite animal were the bunnies! We saw bunnies eating grass, walking in the stream and even hopping across the road. Each time we came upon them, our daughter pointed and would excidetly exclaim, "Bunnies!!!" Or, "Bunnies jumping!!!" Oddly enough, these bunnies looked an awful lot like deer.

I guess I can see the resemblance to her favorite bunny book! 

Toddler Logic: Little Mermaid Wears Glasses

Our daughter, LJ's, favorite toy right now is the Fisher Price Little People Little Mermaid set.

She was playing with it yesterday and wanted to tell me about Ariel. LJ cannot say mermaid, but she held her up for me to see, pointed to her bikini top and told me, "Fish baby wears glasses!"