Thursday, May 26, 2011

suddenly, we had a dog


a while back (winter of 2011), we discovered that our daughter had transformed into a puppy. i think most kids go through this stage. it is quite comical...and then gets progressively annoying! good thing it didn't thoroughly last for too long. we still get puppy every couple of days, but definitely not as intense as it was. when puppy arrived, she licked toes, licked faces, requested to wear a leash and be pulled around, played fetch, drank water from a bowl, nuzzled with her nose, crawled on all fours of course, and barked and barked and barked....a shrill high-pitched "shut that dog up" yip. it was fun. ;)
but she sure did make a darn cute puppy. and again, i love the imagination and would never stomp on that!

tomboy


i think our daughter just might have some tomboy in her. and i must admit, i am pretty darn proud! before we recently found out that we are pregnant (after a discouraging year of trying), i had come to place of pure peace and contentment over having only one child. if she was the only gift that god was going to give us, then she is the most perfect and best gift of all. seriously, the best child. i had encouraged myself by realizing that, in her, we had a perfect mix of tomboy and little girl...best of both worlds! of course, now, we will be doubly blessed by the much prayed for arrival of a second child. god is so good.
our girl loves dinosaurs. she is enchanted by dragons. she is thrilled by cars and trains. she is excited over soccer balls. can you even guess how much mark loves all this?? as girly as i am, i surely love it all, too. it is not what i expected from her and it makes me love her all the more. she knows barely a thing about princesses and really could care less. she's been given dress-up clothes, which have been tossed to the wayside. if she cares about what she wears, it is in preference of her comfy stretchy "jeggings" and a dinosaur shirt.
she will play with dolls and most definitely has a very nurturing side of her - which tells me she will be an excellent big sister. she does enjoy sparkles and butterflies and definitely loves to cook (with me or in her kitchen)! she loves to dance and sing. but, she also loves to make dirt soup, play with swords, race trains around her train track, throw or kick balls...etc.
when we are in the car, almost every time, she will point out a distant hill or mountain and claim that it is 'dragon mountain' and that the dragons are up there sleeping and then requests that we go find it. when we are on walks and walk past a small wetland, she will exclaim that dancing dinosaurs are hiding in the marshes (from dinosaurumpus, a book we love). and when we walk through woods, she whispers that the fallen logs are dragons sleeping. oh how i am in love with her imagination!!
i realize the reason that she is drawn more to the cars and dragons and dinos is because of the movies we have allowed her to watch. i didn't purposely steer her towards them, i have just intentionally steered her away from most of the disney princess movies out there (that i grew up with) which are full of witchcraft and scary evil that i really don't want filtering into her mind. out of all the non-witchcraft movies we have shared with her, she has been drawn most to Cars & How to Train Your Dragon ...also, with a love for Bolt, Ice Age, Iron Giant, & Astro Boy. heheh it makes me giggle.

little brewster


mark is quickly becoming an avid beer-brewer. i sure wish i enjoyed the stuff....but ick! i can tell, though, that our daughter is going to develop an advanced appreciation for beer once she is older. she has become his very capable and detailed little brew helper. the other evening while they were brewing together, all i could over hear from the other room was a sweet little girl voice saying:
"good job, beer!"
"oh dadda, be careful of the beer"
"i love my beer"

not sure if i should be proud or concerned!

what she said

for the next few posts, i am just recounting all the darling or hilarious things vienne did or said that have been stored up in my head.

vienne has been going through an intense "i prefer daddy" stage. when he is home, i am basically off duty. her rejection is crystal clear! one day, it was especially evident and she was being a bit "snotty" about it. being sensitive to emotions though, she asked "mama, are you happy?" (her way of asking 'are you ok?'). i replied, in ornery fashion, "i am when you love me, vienne". to that she hemmed and hawed and responded "hhmmmmmmmm.....i love Father."
i feigned hurt feelings. but it was hard not to laugh.

precious moments

after every bath or shower, vienne loves to get wrapped up in her towel and cuddled in the rocking chair. she lets me pretend, for the moment, that she is still a baby. we rock and sing as i cradle her in my arms. it is a warm and snuggly moment that i treasure each time. this morning, vienne did not want to leave our cozy spot. so i grabbed a handful of beatrix potter books and we read, cuddled beneath a blanket, for an entire hour.
it was heaven.