A Small Moment to Remember

Eliza and I took a walk to the neighborhood park today. That's a major accomplishment for me lately, I walk at a slow waddle when I'm feeling good, and sadly getting dressed has become more optional than not. But I woke up feeling good and it was still below 80 degrees at 11:00am, so off to the park we went. I pushed Eliza in her stroller and we slowly made our way the 1/3 mile to the neighborhood park with slides. I was regretting the decision not to wear my maternity support belt by the time I got across the street from my house. But we made it in good time and Eliza enjoyed herself. I did my best to follow her around but take advantage of shade and places to sit. When it was time to go home Eliza wanted to walk rather than be in her stroller. Off she ran as 2 year olds do. Her whole body gets into the run, with her elbows swinging back and forth and her torso twisting from side to side as she runs. We stopped at a nice bench in the shade and drank a little water while talking about the wind and the sounds we heard. Soon some kids came out of their yard to play on the parkway and Eliza went over to say hi.  The nice teenagers gave her a ball to throw, which she decided she wanted to take home instead, but what a pretty good sport when I told her to give it back. We continued on our way and she yelled "Goodbye kids! See you later!" over and over again.  Off she ran once more, but then she turned back, ran to my side and held my hand for the rest of the walk home.  And that's the small moment I want to remember, my two year old grabbing my hand as we walked home from the park. There's not much I can easily do these days. Getting down on the floor to play is too hard. Running in the back yard is impossible. Even getting up to dance with her requires major effort these days. I'm basically the size of my full term self when I was pregnant with Eliza but I still have three months to go. So doing little things like walking and holding hands is a pretty big deal for us right now, and it feels wonderful to spend this one on one time with her while I can.

(Right now it's after "nap time" and she's still playing in her crib.  I'm sitting in the chair in her room and she's roaring at me like a lion and asking me to roar back.  Anytime, Baby Girl, especially because it makes you smile and giggle.)

Magic Eraser

I was cleaning the kitchen the other day and Eliza was doing her usual playing about the house in and out of the kitchen, playing with her dolls, chasing Scooter, when I realized she was in the kitchen with me, doing something on the floor. I turned around and she was drawing on the floor with a rogue crayon! We keep crayons safely stored away, but somehow this one managed to get into the hands of a toddler and I had her artwork all over my tile floors.  Oh well, it was the day to mop the floors anyway. I took the crayon away and put it on the butcher block island safely away from little hands and went about cleaning the kitchen. Then I moved everything (including the island) into the living room and went about vacuuming the floor (I love that my Dyson vacuums my kitchen.) Eliza was happily and quietly playing in the other room.  Which was my clue that something was wrong, am I right? As I passed through the living room to get the mop I noticed that she had climbed up on the kitchen chairs and was playing on the island. As I passed back through the room with the mop I noticed what exactly she was doing. She had found the crayon and was thoroughly decorating the butcher block! Oh Eliza! This was NOT the day for decorating the butcher block. So, I turned to Instagram and Facebook and posted a picture asking for help! How do you clean a butcher block? Magic Eraser, people! Magic Eraser magically erased (most of) the crayon! And the Swiffer Wet Jet took care of the floor. The morning continued with Eliza emptying all of the spoons and utensils out of the drawers in the island and then chasing Scooter around with the spoons and generally wreaking havoc while I was trying to clean. Nap time could not come soon enough! But then in the afternoon Eliza turned into my little helper shadow following me around while I vacuumed the rest of the house with one of the vacuum attachments, pretending to vacuum and "sweeping" up after me.

Toddler Chores

I believe in letting Eliza help around the house, to her capabilities. Which lately means that she puts her dirty clothes in her clothes hamper and she helps feed Scooter. But she's 20 months, which means this doesn't happen every day and is very dependent on her mood. But she actually does a great job of feeding Scooter. We have his food measured out into tupperware and she dumps it into his food bowl.

The other day Eliza was playing in the other room and I hear her yell "Cooter!" (She sadly no longer calls him "Ga" which was super cute, but "Cooter" is pretty cute too.) Usually Scooter ignores her but this time he took off running to her. And a minute later I hear him eating out of his food bowl. I had already fed him and figured he must have left a bite or two, but I decide to investigate anyway. And there's Eliza holding a measuring cup of food and pouring it into Scooter's bowl. The 20lb bag of food was open (but still standing) and she had figured out how to pull off the clip closing the bag and feed Scooter whenever she felt like it. Of course Scooter is THRILLED with this new prospect of extra meals. Momma and Daddy feel like we're constantly one step behind her in terms of toddler proofing our house.  What can she possibly get into next?

Salt N' Peppa

Lately the Toddler loves to play at the kitchen table.  She can move the chairs just enough to climb up on them and reach whatever is on the table. Today when she was playing at the table I moved a few dishes and some papers that I didn't want her playing with and the porcelain salt and pepper shakers we got in London a few years ago. I handed her a plastic cup and the metal salt and pepper shakers and let her keep playing.  About ten minutes later and she was happily and quietly still playing but I decided I had better check on her. She was covered in salt and pepper. The table was covered, the floor was covered, the chairs were covered, salt and pepper were everywhere! The dog was covered! I didn't know that much salt and pepper were even in the shakers! So, I did what any good momma does, grabbed my phone for some pictures and went to work cleaning up, laughing for a good solid ten minutes. And in case you're curious, the Dyson does pick up salt and pepper on my tiled kitchen floor.