Cinderellie, Cinderellie

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Active Watching

So I have a confession to make.

Margaret didn't watch any tv until after her 2nd birthday, you know, how they tell you it's supposed to be?

And Ellie?

Well, that didn't work with Ellie.

But she's not just a passive, slack-jawed, drooling recipient of the day's recorded entertainment.

Oh no, she participates.

Sometimes she yells at the screen when a character does something she doesn't like (which is often).  I look forward to the days when she yells at the ref and throws popcorn at the screen, provided that she cleans up the popcorn later.

And she probably will.  She's a tidy child.

Mugging During Lunch

Margaret rather likes having her picture taken, particularly when she is supposed to be doing something else, or even more when she is doing something that she's not really supposed to do, and my documentation of that fact will allow her to keep doing it for longer.

Do you see, readers, what I sacrifice for you?  I let her get away with misbehavior so that you won't have to miss a minute of her development.

(I know, and then I didn't blog for 3 months.  Details.)

Anyway, here she is standing up in her chair while she's supposed to be eating her lunch, but she's modeling her princess shirt which Lea got her for Christmas.  And enjoying it.  Being bad.  And having her picture taken,  Humph.

Sick Ellie

In early December, both Margaret and Ellie contracted some illness that made their fevers spike ridiculously high, (but only in the afternoons).

They gave it to me.  I was not subject to the afternoon exemption, and to make things worse, I got it on the weekend, so it did NOTHING for me.

Anyway, there was one afternoon where all that would do for Ellie was to sleep on top of me; when I tried to put her down, there was weeping, wailing, gnashing of teeth, and then the sad, pathetic cry of "I need Mommy" that knifes through any resolve one might have about not giving in.

Besides, I had my phone, and it's surprisingly relaxing to sit and be slept on.

Besides, she eventually let me put her down.  Or rather, she eventually got so shifty on my shoulder that it was clear that the only way she was going to stay asleep was if I put her down and let her sleep.

And then I was sad, because she didn't need me any more.  Even though she was asleep.  And I had wanted her to be asleep.

Takeaway from this experience: I am fickle.  And Ellie is snuggly.  Especially when slightly dopey because of fever and tylenol.

Weather Girl!

Margaret has caught (a bit) the superhero bug, but since neither Leo nor I are what you would call into superheros, she doesn't have a lot to work with.

Enter "Weather Girl"

She tells people what the weather is and helps them wear the right clothes for that weather and keeps them from being hit on the head.

I assume by weather, but that was unclear from her narrative.

I asked her what her superpowers were, and I got a bit of a blank look, followed by "knowing . . . what the weather is?"

So Margaret's superpower is that she can look out the window.

Watch out, people.  This one's going to rule the world.

Madame Butterfly

Margaret has begun going to birthday parties, which has given Margaret notions of birthday parties that far exceed our capabilities.

One of the last ones that we went to involved a juggler, and face painting, and far too much fun.

And Margaret ended up looking more like a geisha than I am strictly comfortable with.

Anyway, one of the things that she took away from that adventure was that she was going to have a facepainting booth at her birthday party (to which, in case you're wondering, she plans to invite everyone she knows).

I explained that hiring a face painter was expensive, and we had other things that we wanted to do with our money.

Margaret came up with a brilliant solution: "Mommy, you can learn to paint faces for my party!"

"But I am not very good at drawing, so I don't think that I would be all that good at face painting."

"No, Mommy, you are a good drawer*, so I know you will be able to facepaint."

I think that she still thinks it's going to happen.  I guess over the next week and a half, we really need to work on dialing down those expectations.

*draw-er, I think, not drawer.  I don't think that she thinks that I present bills for payment, or that I am a receptacle that slides into a piece of furniture.  Of course, with Margaret, you never know.

Trains, Planes, and Immunizations

In early December, we went to the doctor so that Ellie could have her 18 month checkup late, or her 2 year check-up early.  We're not certain which.  So you see that I've been too busy to do things that are far more important than blogging, right?

Margaret came too, which made for an interesting atmosphere (also, stealth flu immunizations for Margaret, when she was least expecting it).

While they waited, they decided to make a train out of the furniture in the exam room, you know, like you do.

We began with Margaret as the conductor, soothing the fears of her passengers with ease and practice.  Or at any rate, telling them fiercely to sit down and play the way she said, which comes to the same thing.  

But that soon degenerated.  Because Ellie wanted to be the conductor.

This was not met with universal glee, just in case you were wondering.  And then Ellie decided to play something else.  Well, she decided to stand below the clinic's tupperware bin of cheap plastic ducks that they throw at children to distract them while they stick things into them and quack.

Margaret attempted to stop her by holding up her hand, but it didn't work.  Not even a little bit.

Anyway, they are all vaccinated, and apparently Ellie is more or less proportionate.  And she's talking more than a not-yet-two-year-old ought to.