UFO Heard in The Village!

Yesterday, Lola and I were in the living room when an airplane flew overhead and was quite loud. Lola looked up at me and said, "What's that, an airplane?" I answered her in the affirmative. She cut her eyes to the side, looking at me with a sassy grin, and said in a tone that's hard to describe, "ooorrrrrr... it's a flying saucer!" Which she followed by throwing her head back and giggling. After I stopped laughing I said, "Oh, you think so, huh? Where did you learn about a flying saucer?" To which she replied, "You know Mom, it's on one of my shows." I live with a three-year-old comedienne.

Inside My Head, Screaming to Get Out

Me: You better watch it; I’ll invade the Olympics with gymnastic cyborgs.

Him: Hmmm.

Me: The gymnastic cyborgs have you shaking in your boots, don’t they?

Him: Maybe if you were an engineer.

Me: Hey, I have connections. With one phone call, I can get a pizza.

Ok, so my material might have come from some Hollywood writers but it’s clever nonetheless. You might need to know about Randy’s obsession with the Olympics to understand the severity of my threat. Thank you, Bolt and The Mentalist, for clever lines that stick in my head and come out of my mouth.

Fraidy-Hole

Lola just climbed out of a tiny space behind one of the chairs in the living room. She had taken her baby, Raffi, a blanket and a few trinkets with her. When she first crawled in she said, "Mommy, where did we go last week to hide?" It took me a minute to figure out what she was doing and then I told her we went to Megan's to the cellar or storm shelter. She kept acting slightly confused and asking questions and then she finally said, "What were we hiding from?" She had forgotten the word tornado. "Yeah, that's it. We're hiding from a tornado!" After telling her to stay safe and a few other small conversations, she finally crawled out and exclaimed, "Whew, that was close!"

Now she is back in her crawl space or as I like to call it, her fraidy-hole; and has brought a whole lot more junk with her. Also, she just asked if we could go to the cellar again. I guess it was an adventure.

Little Miss Independent

Lola has become self-sufficient in many ways. Tonight as I tucked her in bed, I started her DVD player. I know; please don't send me any nasty comments on how I'm ruining her sleep habits and exposing her to too much television. Anyhow, when the DVD began I noticed that it wasn't her usual fare of burned Backyardigans episodes. I mumbled, "What's this?" Then I asked Lola if this is what she wanted to watch. She answered, "Maybe... let's figure it out." I noticed it was Cars and asked if that would be fine. She told me that yes, she wanted to watch it and that she had put it in the player earlier that afternoon so she could watch it tonight. Maybe I shouldn't be, but I continue to be amazed at her expanding thought processes and independence. So I walked out of her room and asked Randy if he put Cars in the DVD player for her. Before he could answer no, she called out with a slight hint of frustration, "No! I did it!"

A Month's Worth

Last time I admitted being a slacker, so it isn't news to you. I can't believe it has taken me over a month to get back here and that I never gave you the photos I promised. I've been a little busy with nausea, fatigue and the general maladies that accompany pregnancy. Yes, if you haven't heard, we are expecting another Baby Bradley in September. Of course, I've been busy with Lola, Randy, our gathering, some work projects and other things as well. So, I'm a royal slacker when it comes to this blog. So give me a break and let's get on with the stuff you want to read. I'm going to hit the highlights of the last month or so.

- After a day with one of Lola's friends, I cajoled her to leave the park with the responsibility of running some errands. Later that night as we were getting ready for bed, she told me that we didn't go to Erin's house. Erin is her Uncle Eric's significant other. I asked her what she meant. In an accusatory tone she told me, "You said we were running to Erin's." Remembering what I had said, I tried to explain what errands were. After failing to explain how errands are similar to chores, I finally said, "Lola, you know how we took that shirt back and then went to Bass Pro to get Poppy's jacket? Those are errands." Exasperated, she retorted, "Mom," (with two syllables) "Those aren't errands, that's shopping!"

- I was pleased for the short period before Lola's birthday and then again before Christmas to have the excuse of each event when not purchasing the objects of Lola's desire during shopping trips. "Mommy, I want one of these." "We'll see honey, maybe for your birthday/maybe Santa will bring it." After Christmas, she had a hard time understanding that Santa was going to wait quite a while to show back up with loot. So, I started using Valentine's as bait. She's still convinced Christmas is coming soon, though. Now, she just says, "Mommy, can I maybe have this for Christmas?" Poor girl is going to have new issues with Santa this year... namely his absence.

- On the subject of presents, Lola seems to be obsessed. This week has proven it. First there was the acting out of emotions we were reading in a book. I would ask her how you act when you are ___________. She had very dramatic responses to each feeling until I asked her how she acts when she is mad. No more drama, just a very succint answer - "You get a present." What, Lola? You get a present. What are you smoking? I've seen you mad. I'm sure you get the gist of my internal dialogue. "What do you mean, Lola?" With a slight sigh and roll of the eyes she informed me, "It makes you feel better."

- Then as we were putting her in bed Friday evening, after her stay with Eric & Erin while Randy & I went for dinner and the ballet, she proceeded to inform us that she would stay home again... for a present. While Eric & Erin watched her, they took her to get a card and a sweet little gift for us. She confiscated it right away, though - just as soon as she reluctantly let us open it.

- Lola got plenty of Valentine's presents. In her card from her MiMi and ProPro, she got $5. The next card she opened came with the exclamation, "There's no money!"

- Just so you know, Lola is extremely gracious. I realize the info above may lead you to think she's a greedy girl. However, she is unbelievably polite and grateful. I'm often amazed at her shows of affection and gratitude.

- Lola is a backseat driver. She may have been influenced by me; but that wouldn't be so if not for her Daddy's lackluster driving skills. ;-) On our way to Nana & Poppy's last weekend, I had to aggressively call Randy's attention to a stop sign he was about to run. Lola has been learning about stop signs. However, she thinks every sign is a stop sign. For the last hour of the trip, she carefully watched for signs and would yell out for Randy to stop. We keep trying to teach her the difference between signs and she keeps insisting he stop. I think she just likes to boss. I blame that on her Nana! I know that's where I got it.

- While at Nana's, Lola gave herself a haircut. I think it is pretty ironic since Mom gave me a lecture back in early fall about hiding all the scissors. Mom had three pair of her hair-cutting scissors right in plain sight in the brush drawer. She saw a big chunk of hair lying on Lola's shoulder and as she ran her hands through Lola's hair more and more hair came out in clumps. It looked like those scenes in the movies when cancer patients run a hand through their hair and look down to find a huge clump in their hand. Then we found a huge pile in the bathroom floor. Luckily, she basically texturized and layered her own hair. Only one really short chop of the bangs occurred and she left a few longer bangs hanging over that. She looks like a shaggy dog now but it could have been much worse.

- We had a little car trouble recently. It began as the Blazer's stubborness to start. It ended up as the complete and utter failure of the fuel pump. As we were leaving the house to go to church with Nana & Poppy, the Blazer really gave Randy a hard time. Finally, it turned over and Lola exclaimed, "You did it, Daddy. You saved the day!" Since then, whenever one of us does something that could be remotely heroic she praises us, "You saved the day!" I finally remembered where she came up with this saying... the Backyardigans - her very own personal heroes. We should be honored to be in such company.

I've got more to say but I'll save it for another day. I promise to show up sooner next time.