The power of language

Lately Scarlett is in the phase where she says 'you' when she means 'me', referring to herself.  She reaches up to us and says 'Pick up you!' or hands us a book with 'Read to you.'  The you/me concept is a hard one to grasp.

[Random and gratuitous shots of Scarlett and friends to follow]

Charlie's favorite thing she says is 'not too bad'.  Yesterday I asked her what Mama's real name is and she said Emily, in her sweet, high little voice that I love so much.

She also recently learned 'pin cushion' and 'somersault'.  Then, she learned how to do a somersault, with assistance. She says 'costume' and 'Halloween' and she is very fixated on saying the name of her uncle Robert. 

We have the clear lid from a shaving cream bottle that happens to be her favorite bath toy.  She calls it a cup.  A new bathtub game is that we 'hide' the cup under the bubbles in the bath water, and she reaches around trying to find it.  Once I hid it in a yogurt container that was also in the tub (who needs real toys?) and it stumped her.  She's getting really smart, I felt like she needed to be taken down a notch.

Scarlett and Ella did a lot of matching this week.  Particularly these smocks, from the children's museum...

And some matching PJs...

Oh, and their birthday suits.  Tonight during her bath, Scar kept pointing to where Ella had been sitting and was saying 'Ella in, Ella in'.  She went home, I told her.  'Ella in, her house' she would say.

Taking Notes

Ok gang, listen up.

Scarlett discussing the day with her stuffed friends

20 months

Dear Scarlett,

Happy 20 month birthday!  It's been an eventful month and I've loved toting you along to all the places we've gone.  A wedding, a marathon, trips to the grocery store and birthday parties.

We turned your car seat around so now you're facing forward, and you are fascinated with the buttons on the dashboard.  On the drive to Eugene, you liked it best when your baby doll took the wheel, and pretended to push the radio buttons.  "Buttons" you would demand, pointing to the buttons, and "knobs". 

You've started talking so much that now, we can have real conversations. Right now you're in the other room with your daddy, saying "Daddy do it". 

Most popular phrases of the month:

• "Tiny more" as in 'I'm going to eat a tiny bit more of this"
• "Doing?" as in, 'What are you doing?'
• "WHALES!"  Your love for whales and dolphins knows no boundaries
• "Mini backpack" Daddy took you to the zoo, and you both had your backpacks.  Now you like to talk about daddy's mini backpack, even though yours was smaller.
•  "Happy birthday Ivan" and then, after his birthday passed, "Happy birthday Aunt Sally"

You've also started learning to misbehave.  If we aren't giving you the attention you want, you reach for knives on the counter, or hit the laptop keyboard, or turn on the water in the bathroom- all things you know you aren't supposed to do.  It's a very, very effective way to get noticed.

A few weeks ago we noticed some ripe figs on the tree, a few doors down.  So each day after work, we walk up there and pick a few figs- they're so ripe, the juice drips all over our hands- then we come home and you eat them as a pre-dinner snack.

At nighttime, we do the usual bath and pajama routine.  Then, I sit next to your crib with a flashlight and read a few books. Then we kiss through the bars of the crib, and you give me a gnome kiss- touching noses. 

And you've expressed an interest in potty training- HALLELUJAH.  You sit on your little potty, you call it the mini potty, and starting out we'd sit next to you and read books.  But you're starting to get the hang of it, and sometimes afterwards we reward you by letting you pick out big girl underwear to wear for a little while.  Your favorite part is washing your hands after.  "With soap" you say.

We've had so much fun with you this summer.  I love you!


Mama

Growing up

Her cheeks are still chubby, like a baby.  But her legs are long and gangly, like a real kid.  Here she is, chillin' on the couch with her babies.

26.2

People often compare marathons to childbirth- the months of anxious preparation, talking to everybody about their experiences, practicing your breathing, knowing the big day is looming and wondering if you're ready. But my husband just trots out there on marathon day, full of confidence and sporting his muscle shirt, and made it look easy.  Perhaps he will be in charge of birthing any future children in our family.

Charlie kicked so much ass yesterday.  He ran an impressive time of 4 hours 6 minutes, and looks none the worse for wear. 

Scarlett and Grandpa taking one of many walks, which she calls 'wats'.  As far as I know, she didn't run into the race route and didn't trip any runners.  Not even one! 

Charlie and Jon at mile 6.  This is where you yell encouraging things like 'Only 20 miles left to go!  Keep up the good work!'

Mile 6 support crew- Cheri, Burt, and Jon's adorable girlfriend Adelina who was one half of team 'keep Scarlett away from imminent danger'. 

Scarlett cheering Grandma on, at mile 6. 

My dad and I are really good sherpas.  We can hand out water bottles and energy bars, and stand there drinking coffee like nobody's business.  I enjoyed this marathon tons more than the one I actually ran.

Mile 11 support crew- Erin and Ramona. 

So there's a big gap of time here, in which we changed locations, drank more coffee, cheered for runners, saw my mom finish the half marathon, ate some animal crackers and raisins, and met Charlie's huge fanbase at the finish line.  And then, here he comes around the corner, smiling after 26 miles.  Sally ran the final 10K with him and when I asked how his morale was, she said 'he's great.  He wants to go to Foster Burger this week.'  There was no hitting the wall at mile 20, no complaints about legs that couldn't keep going.  He ran the last 10K faster than he ran any of his earlier splits.  It's sortof irritating, because isn't running supposed to be hard and sometimes unpleasant?  And Charlie makes it look easy. 

Thanks to everyone who came to cheer him on. 

All week we were preparing Scarlett for Sunday.  We said- Daddy's going to run lots of miles.  Grandma will be walking lots of miles.  Grandpa will be there.  We taught her to say 'marathon'.  We will cheer, we'll say 'Go Daddy' and 'Go Grandma'.  It might be cold or rainy.  And by Sunday, she was massively prepared- she cheered and clapped and seemed excited.  Which is good, because she has a lot of race spectating in her future.

Jon at the finish:

Dirk at the finish:

"Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts."
-Steve Prefontaine

Only 26.2 miles to go

Marathon Eve...

Mud wedding

Scarlett and I went to a lovely Eugene wedding last weekend.  I tried to prepare her on the way down, telling her we'd be outside, there would be a bride and groom getting married, there would be music and food.  By the time we pulled up she was saying 'outside party, outside party' and 'Auntie Lauren'.
 
At the start, Scarlett was a lovely little angel in a party dress, eating crackers, sharing them with the dog, and being generally sweet and adorable.  During dinner, it started RAINING.  There were tents set up, so it was cozy while we ate under them, with the rain pouring right next to us.  But as time went on, she had enough of sitting at the table and wanted to explore the back yard.  Specifically:

1. the koi pond.  She tried to climb in.  I said no, this water is not for touching, it's only for looking at.  So she got her face down really close to the water and said 'at it, at it'.  But then she tried to climb in again, so we had to move on to..
2. the chicken coop.  Scarlett makes excellent chicken noises.  And finally:
3. The stairs.  She spent the second half of the reception climbing up & down two sets of wet, muddy stone steps.  She was so happy, I wouldn't dream of stopping her.  Even though she was covered in mud- by the time we left, the butt of her tights was black- and she got me covered in mud too, it was still really sweet.  And I wore a black dress (yes, to an outdoor October wedding) so I was prepared.

Congratulations to Lindsey and Leif.  Thanks for the lovely afternoon!