Vocab lesson

As I mentioned last week Genevieve has gone from a totally unintelligible chatterbox to a mildly understandable chatterbox. When I was about this age my mother wrote down all of my words and their “meanings” and saved it for me; so I thought it would be cool to do the same for Evie. Not to mention the fact that it is a handy guide to give to anyone who is taking care of her and doesn’t naturally know the lingo. So here it is; vocab lesson a la Genevieve at almost 15 months:

• Milkie – pronounced noilkie = any liquid
• Cookie = all food, except for cheese
• Cheese = the good old cow stuff
• Balloo = balloon (she surprised me at trader joes this week by asking for one by name)
• Uppie = up and down
• Cuppie = cup
• Shoe = self explanatory
• Bath = the good old daily wash (and yes it is daily now… her eating habits are just to messy to do anything else)
• Eye = your eye, her eye any eye that she can poke a finger in
• Noooe = nose
• Book = big or small, this one also occasionally gets “ie”d to become bookie
• Blankie = usually means her green and white blanket that Lara made for her but can also refer to a towel or other cuddly object
• Duck = those yellow tub guys, also frequently gets “ie”d
• Baby = anyone smaller than her
• Car = those large tin boxes we ride around in
• Go = get me outta here
• Hot = anything with more heat than a fridge
• Keys = self explanatory and a personal favorite for stealing
• Hat = yup you guessed it, that thing that goes on your head to keep the sun out of your eyes
• Wow = expression for anything she deems to be exciting, new or fun
• Yes = hallelujah we finally got her to say yes! Usually accompanied by an emphatic nod.
• Give me = duh, give it to me. I am trying to turn this one into “please”… I know, good luck.
• Thank you = usually only uttered when we tell her to, but occasionally we get an unsolicited thank you
• The golden oldies of vocab: No, Hello, Bye-bye, Daddy, Mommy, Uh-oh, tickle, cat and doggie.

And, finally, my personal favorite: I Love You

ChicWOWgo

Last week the whole clan packed it up and took off to Chicago. Patrick had a conference/training deal-o there and I thought it would be fun to take advantage of a nice hotel room in the city! (Plus Patrick didn’t want to spend too many nights away from his “girls”) It was great for me because I was able to visit with a friends from grad school (Sara came by the first night before leaving for a trip to Las Vegas) and college.




The theme of the trip was WOW. Evie has recently converted from an unintelligible chatterbox to a marginally understandable chatterbox. One of her new favorite words is wow. On our first day we went to Millennium park and took part in some fun free kids festivities that included a circus show. As the jugglers juggled and the balancers balanced she started clapping and saying “wow”. I was soo amazed because this was the first time she was really saying things all on her own in reaction to something abstract as opposed to just the good old doggie or milkie.



The wows continued into the next day when we took a trip to the Art Institute. Patrick and I would show her a painting and she would look up at it and say wow. Although, quite frankly, it was the sculptures that really caught her eye. Fortunately for her the whole basement of the Art Institute is kid friendly and included a number of touchable works of art.

The biggest wow of the vacation was definitely Saturday morning at the Shed Aquarium. I let Genevieve out of her backpack and allowed her to wander around the exhibits. She would toddle up to an exhibit, smush her little nose on the glass, look back at me and then proclaim, “wow”. We stood at the Caribbean reef exhibit for at least 15 minutes (which to a 14 month old is the equivalent to 3 years I think).



On Saturday afternoon we went to visit my good friends from college Rachel and Lara and Rachel’s husband Mike made us a fabulous lunch. Rachel is pregnant and I am a bit afraid that Evie’s visit put the fear of baby-proofing god into them…. Don’t worry guys you have plenty of time before you need to do it ☺

When not out and about, Evie and I spent quality time in our hotel room. The biggest wow-factor here was the huge window complete with a ledge big enough for her to stand on. Literally every morning I had to drink my coffee and stand behind her (in case she got too brave and tried to walk along the ledge) for a good 20 minutes while she wowed at the street below.



Overall it was a fabulous trip and I was a bit sad to see it end because Evie and I really got to spend 5 solid days of mommy/daughter time, just a reminder I guess to do it again and again.

A hairdresser I am not...

OK. I give up. How the heck to other moms with little girls get their hair to be so darn cute? I have given this my best shot, honestly, and all I can come up with is a daughter who looks like an escapee from a Dr. Seuss book. Everywhere I go I see little darlings all dressed up with enviable pigtails and other forms of cutsy up-dos.

As I see it I have a couple of (pretty significant) forces working against me in my quest to be a master baby hair doer. 1) The only time Evie stays in one place for more than T-minus 10 seconds is when she is asleep (and even then you only get about a minute before she tussles one way or the next) 2) Having never really had luxurious locks of my own I have very little experience in this department and 3) The hair clip for the extremely fine-haired baby like my own has yet to be invented.

So I guess for the time being she will just have to be a stunt double for a Sneech (hopefully she won’t really be a snooty starry sneech though)

Paper Products

About a year ago Patrick’s Dad, Gerry, came to live with us for awhile because Monique, Patrick’s step-mom, was helping us watch Genevieve while I worked and Patrick studied for the Bar. One of his biggest concerns with our lifestyle was the serious lack of “paper products.” Gerard was appalled at the notion that we would not have any paper towels or paper napkins and only two or three spare rolls of toilet paper in the house at any given time. Living without an abundance of paper products was, well, not quite living. I thought this paper-rich lifestyle choice to a bit odd at first but have since accepted it as just another way of approaching a problem. (I myself am a cloth rag girl, for everything but toilet paper of course). Having accepted his way of life; whenever Gerry and Monique come to visit I make sure to go buy the jumbo pack of toilet paper and a few rolls of paper towels just so that they can feel at ease.

As it turns out my early acceptance of this lifestyle is a good thing because the “paper products” gene apparently skips a generation. Yes Gerard you will be happy to know that your granddaughter shares your penchant for paper products. Unlike her Abu, however, Evie is not satisfied with just an abundance of paper in the house. Oh no our little paper princess loves it so much that she feels the need to not only immerse herself in it but also to trail it around the house like a blankie. And all this would be messy but none too problematic, but Evie must, as is per usual, take it step further and has acquired a taste for paper, and therefore insists on carrying any paper she finds around with her like a snack, taking little munches here and there as the hunger takes her... (And yes I do think this is a comment on my cooking….)

Alas, I was originally hoping that the paper obsession was just a phase…. Given her family history, however, I fear it is going to be a permanent problem!