This blog has been woefully neglected in recent days. Its owner has been far too busy doing things like cleaning baby powder off of the floors of the foyer and re-rolling the remains of toilet paper strewn about the bathroom.
It’s a busy job, this toddler mommying gig.
I love this itty bitty Covenant College sweatshirt. My brother Andrew wore it as a child and now Liv can wear it, too. My heart doesn’t even want to calculate the year Livia will start college (both because anything beyond year 2010 freaks me out and because I can’t fathom the notion of Livia ever leaving the nest), but I wouldn’t mind if Covenant was on her list of college choices.
However, as the photo above seems to indicate, Livia’s choices now involve: cream or sugar? This child, due in no small part to her Papa, loves coffee. [sigh]
“HI! A-Becca Tredway! Play at Nana’s? With the toys? OKAY! BYE!”
Hangs up. Punches a few keys. Ear to phone.
“HI! A-Becca Tredway! Gampa and Gamma, nigh-night. [Other language, possibly Mandarin.] Sleeping. Gamma, yeah, [Mandarin again]. I brush hair. Oh yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yes! Ummm… Crying in bed. Yah, yah, yah! ‘kay? Gamma. Pasta, yeah, yeah. BYE!”
Continues with key-punching… More conversations ensue involving Daddy at work, scaring Noonee, Mommy painting, lunchtime plans and the bleating sounds of goats. Oh, and she likes water, milk and apple juice. Don’t forget it.
It’s a special time when my younger brother Andrew comes home for a visit. He now lives in Chattanooga, TN, and we don’t get to see him all that often. Considering the rapid growth of toddlers, I especially wanted him to spend some time around Livia to see what new things she’s doing and saying. Well, after going to the zoo with “Uncle Noonee” (I call him Noonee; unfortunate, but true), she’s got a few extra phrases in her vocabulary:
Baboon scare Uncle Noonee! Ha, ha, ha!!
Leopard scare Uncle Noonee! Hee hee!!
If the idea of Noonee being a name for a 6’4″ twenty-four year old doesn’t crack you up, the notion of him being scared by a baboon and leopard should. Of course, Livia also loves to talk about how the Huskers “run fast and fall down.” Indeed those brawny young men do run fast on the football field… and then fall down. Ah, life through the eyes of a two year old!
This, THIS!, is the part of parenting that I adore. Whereas I’m completely obsessed with appearances when it comes to public tantrums and fits, I’m the kind of mom who thinks a huge noggin covered by teeny green glasses is hilarious. Last Thursday Liv wore a pair of yellow ones (perhaps belonging to Mrs. Potato Head) into HyVee. This girls cracks me up.
Every mom knows she should worry when it gets quiet in the house. After a few minutes of dead quiet, I rounded the kitchen corner to find my daughter. And there she was, lips painted ever so slightly with Burt’s Bees Nutmeg Lip Shimmer. Her left hand clutched the exposed tube of chapstick, her right hand held the cap, and between her sparkling white baby teeth was chunk of Nutmeg. Niiiiice. After last night’s hairbrush-caught-in-her-teeth fiasco (truly priceless, yet unphotographed), I knew I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to snap a shot for the blog.
Dear Livia,
Even though earlier today I told your Uncle Adam that I just may have the worst job in the world, I was wrong. This photo shows why I have the best job in the world. It may perhaps be the hardest job as well, but smiles like these go a long way in easing the stress of it all. You are in the middle of the toddler testing phase and I can’t even count how many times you were forced onto the Naughty Spot this past week. This discipline gig is not an easy one, especially when you say “I’m sorry” before you even make it to the Spot for two minutes. I still don’t like it when you cry, but I’ve discovered I don’t like it at all when you do things like throw your chicken nuggets on the floor at Burger King (or bite Mommy in unbloggable locations, or chuck your sippy off your highchair, etc etc etc). But the smiles and hugs and sweet caresses you’ve recently been giving, those lovely things make my job the most beautiful one imaginable.
Love,
Mama
