Packrat

I had my suspicions early-on, the occasional stray cookie in the diaper, an errant earring placed in unusual places like my shoe or the unmatched socks found en masse under a pillow. These incidents were, however, just a small prelude to the real show... Much like the development of her speech has become quite impressive over the last year so has the development of her pack-rat nature.

Exhibit A: Last week I was looking for the charger to my kindle. (This was after Evie was asleep so I couldn't just ask her directly.) Patrick suggested that I look inside the printer because he has seen Evie hiding things in there. So I opened it up, and lo and behold there was a bookmark, a pamphlet on xeriscaping and some old law school notes of Patrick's... no charger though (Clearly we don't use the printer very often!) Knowing that there are an almost infinite number of crevices in our house I decided to wait until Evie was awake on the off chance she would remember where she placed it. The next morning I explained to her what I had lost, she stopped and thought about it for a few seconds, and then walked into her room, dug into the little cubby space under her dolly stroller and handed the charger to me. Also with the charger was a washcloth, two hair ties and a wood triangle.

Exhibit B: Evie loves purses. She has about three at any given time that are stuffed with all sorts of errata. The other day she came up to me with one of the purses (which of course is (strike that, was) my purse in the first place) hands it to me and with a big grin tells me that it is a present for me. I open the purse and inside find: a used tissue, an ornament, half a wooden orange, a twist tie, a spoon and a crumpled piece of paper. If this was a present put together with me in mind, I am not quite sure what that says about what my daughter thinks of me...

You know your a parent....

If the words “mommy I went poopy in the potty” cause you to gasp with joy and make a mad dash to the toilet. Yes folks the much anticipated moment has come… Evie last week placed a poo in the potty. For months this has been a real hang up of hers, pee pee has not been too much of an obstacle but by god if pooping the potty just wasn’t her thing. In an effort to entice her to relieve herself on the toilet we promised the most precious thing we could think of as a reward…. A princess card that sings.

Now I had not only promised her said card but also that she could pick out the card… soo we all (Patrick and I still feeling pretty darn ill, especially poor Patrick) piled into the Jeep and drove to Target, my assumed mecca for singing princess cards. I am sorry to say that Target’s supply of singing princess cards was pathetic at best (I have since realized that the place for such sundries is Walgreens.. word... now you know) We ended up with a fabulous card nonetheless. It was a birthday card for a five year old and involved a large princess on the front and a make it yourself crown. Evie also got to pick out some new undies. She (wisely) chose the tinkerbell variety. Ahh the celebrations I never could have imagined I had Evie….

Why?

Why are you putting the key in the door mommy? Why do you use a towel? Why do I have to put on shoes? Why do I have to close the fridge? Why can’t I go outside? And all of that before 8 am. Such is the Lacroix house these past few weeks. All of a sudden Evie’s question-authority gene has kicked in, and man is it functioning in overdrive!

Although it is quite time consuming, I love this new found inquisitiveness, especially because it hasn’t taken the form that I originally imagined it would. In my mind I imagined that Evie would start asking me why about things like, why is the sky blue or why does the sun set every night. I had no idea that the whys would 1) start so early and 2) be about such mundane things. I guess it is a good thing that they ease you into your role as oracle/dictionary/encyclopedia. I am well equipped to explain why a key goes into a lock but not quite ready to answer those more involved questions like why is the sky is blue (although with the modern advent of wikipedia I think I’ll do alright!)

The 10th Circle

Dante, I am afraid, missed a circle of hell. It is reserved for the parent who is not fastidious enough in their hand washing. The punishment for such sins is to get very, very sick and have to take care of a two year old. Now granted, on the surface it does not seem as bad as being trapped in a flaming tomb or having to push around great weights with ones chest but hear me out… it has its similarities. Take the flaming tomb for example. I had a fever off and on but was forced to hang out, awake, in my house and attempt to entertain Evie; it felt a bit like a flaming tomb. Then there are the weights… well this is just the shear agony of having to push your own body out of bed for the 4th time in one night because your poor two-year old (who, also by the way, still has a cold/strep) needs your help. Perhaps the most analogous is the second circle where the lustful are forced to blow about in a violent storm with out any hope of rest… ah yes that sums up the last week quite nicely.

The good news is unlike the poor souls in the inferno mine was really more of a purgatory which, I am happy to say is slowly melting back into paradise that life usually is around here…. Next time I will be more vigilant about hand washing!

Mud Puddle Party!

Today was the annual Tucson Mud Monster Party. This is our first time attending and man it was a hoot! Basically it transforms a large corner of Reid Park into a series of mud pits and obstacle courses. It is a very popular thing to do on a very hot Saturday morning, so we had to wait in line a bit but it was definitely worth it.


Evie tried out a number of the activities. First she played in the toddler puddles. (In fact she probably would have stayed there all morning if we hadn't convinced her that there was something even more fun to do) Next Evie tried her hand at a mud table with lots of mud and cups and shovels to help you build the world's best mud pie. Then Patrick and Evie went in the pig sty and got really, truly muddy. At the other end of the mud pit was a mud art ramada that the kids could use to take their newly dirtied bodies and paint with them. Finally, there was the Tucson Fire truck hosing everyone down, that part was a bit too scary for Evie.


We didn't stay for too long after the pig sty because I quickly realized I had committed a rookie error... I forgot to bring an extra diaper, let alone a change in clothes. Poor Evie's diaper was so wet and her jeans so heavy that she couldn't keep her pants up and ended up having to make her way back to the car bare-bottomed. I ended up being the official photographer of the event and didn't get more than just a casual mudding, I must admit I was a bit jealous of Patrick and Evie's grime. I think next year the camera will stay at home so that we all can go full force into the filth :)