"Im Cindy!"

For the past two days my darling daughter, Lux Sophia, has proclaimed her name to be "Cindy." After months of finding just the perfect name, not too common, not too obscure, I have had to resort to calling her "Cindy." Where this came from, I have no idea! But I do find it rather cute because I remember being "Michelle" for a short period of time when I was younger too. Well, I must go fix "Cindy" some lunch!

Another funny thing

I know I go on about the funny things Luxie says, but lately this has been really cute to me. Of course we encourage her to eat her meals, and when she eats what we ask her to she usually gets a big "Hurray! Great job Luxie!" Lately she has become the big encourager. Everytime Nate or I, or anyone else, eats all the food on their plate they get a big "Great Job!" from Luxie!

Just this morning grandma brought her empty plate into the kitchen after breakfast and immediately Luxie smiled real big and shouted "Great job Mimi!" This afternoon I finished my soup and Luxie saw the inside of my bowl was empty. "Great job Mommy! You ate your lunch!" she cheered. It's just so funny to be cheered on to cleaning my plate!

Toddler Bed

(First I must start out with a great big THANK YOU to Aunt Andrea and Cousin Ava for loaning us the Toddler Bed along with various other items over the years. It is so wonderful having family to share these baby/child items with!)

well, now that potty training is in full effect I have decided to throw another kink in the loop and introduce the toddler bed! By the way, potty training has gone very smoothly, although naps and bedtime are still to be mastered. I figure the toddler bed will help in this process, for a number of reasons. First, now that she is in a "big girl" bed there is more reason to be acting like a Big Girl! Second, I cannot STAND changing the crib sheet--SUCH a fiasco with those tiny little slots and trying to fit my hand thru, along with my big belly now it is virtually impossible to change without becoming hot, sweaty, frustrated, and irritated! So accidents will be much easier to take care of in the toddler bed. Third, I am at a good point to be tackling the two issues. Not too big, not too sick, not too sleepy. If she is having accidents in the middle of the night they will be easier to clean up, I wont be so exhausted as I was a few months ago or will be in a couple of months with the new one, and the worst part of it all should be passing by the time the new baby arrives. So I jumped in with both feet.

How has it gone? Today is the first time she has used the bed--nap time. It was actually kinda funny, although I couldnt let her know that! I spoke with her a couple of times about "once we get in bed for naptime, we stay there--no getting up!" So when the time arrived, she got in, sat there, then called out "I need HELP!" (the special phrase I taught her to say if she needed something. I came in, of course she needed nothing, told her it was time for bed, then left the room. Shortly after I heard the pitter patter of little feet running to and fro throughout the bedroom. I waited a few minutes, then went back in and gave the firm/mommy "get in bed and stay there" talk, then left. Once again the quick darting across the room for a toy and sprint back to bed was heard. Then again. Then again. Finally, I peeked in and caughter mid sprint across the room. "Excuse me! It is naptime!" I said. She gave the ole "but I just need the bird, the pink and orange bird..." speech we all gave our moms at one point or another. I grabbed the bird, gave one more "mommy speech" then left. After a little more noise, she settled down and fell asleep! Hurray!

I guess what made it so cute was the whole idea that she hasnt learned to tip-toe yet. She was darting across the room at full speed--noisy full-footed sprint! The innocence of it all was too much! Nate and I were cracking up in the living room.

We shall see how bedtime goes!

dress up

This morning Luxie and I were looking thru some photos and we came across these from last Halloween:



It was about 90 degrees with 90% humidity when we went trick-or-treating last year, and I felt terrible for having talked her into a furry lion's costume! But the weather down here is so unpredictable! So we got some photos before heading out, and she lasted for about 5 houses before stripping down to her regular clothes.

Anyway, immediately after seeing the photos she decided she wanted to try the costume on again, and I have to tell you it was still just as cute. Especially because it has gotten a little too small and when she would wear the mane, it would pull real tight in her shoulders, but that didnt stop her! She kept it on until her cousin Ava arrived to play, and I know she was really proud of it when she ran out to the car to see her. I even got her to growl a couple of times!

No Crusts!

Aside from the fact that I cant get her to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, my girl has now decided that any and all crusts must be removed from foods of any bread form. Lately I have removed the crust from not only toasted cheese (which is understandable) but also waffles, muffins (huh? try finding that crust!), tortillas, and pancakes. Any outer layering of bread that appears thicker or heavier, or a bit "crusty" must be removed. This morning we ate our muffin with a spoon, leaving a little muffin-bowl left on the plate. I thought the muffin tops were the best part?! Ah the quirkiness of a two year old.

A whole new world

There are a few things Luxie has gotten to do out here for the first time in her life. I thought I'd post them so we would always have them to remember.

First, my dad has a vegetable garden, and she has had several opportunities to pick corn, carrots, cucumbers, green peppers and tomatoes (which she squished and squirted all over the place!)He also has cows, so she has been calling the cows, and watching them eat... all while resting safely in my arms. The are a bit intimidating to someone who stands shorter than their legs!

She has also had tons of time to run and play in the backyard at my mom's house. It's like a magic garden, with tons of flowers, a huge fence, and the perfect little swing set just high enough off the ground for her to reach. The grass is perfect and she spends hours running, rolling, swinging, twirling, and laying on the soft ground. Not a mosquito to be found, and about 75 degrees in the shade. Beautiful.

I think that these are the memories I treasure about the area. These are the things I took for granted when I lived here. And these are the moments I am so happy to share with Luxie.

...

I want to apologize for not writing on Hopscotch Honey for over a month. To be honest it has gotten difficult keeping up with three blogs--one I barely write on, then this one which I enjoy but have a hard time finding time to write on, and Lulu's World. I have been contemplating closing out this one and just writing on Lulu's in the future because I think it would give me more to talk about on one blog again. But I hate to just leave it--I want to keep it up because I dont want to lose all Ive written. I actually really like the look of this blog (better than Lulu's) but just cant get over here as often as I'd like.

Anyway, Luxie has been such a trooper on this visit to Grandma and Grandpa's house. She has adjusted reasonably to the time change and is her usual perky self again. They are so surprised at how her vocabulary has increased, and at how smart she is (she really is a genius, you know!) And they are spending as much time with her as humanly possible. The weather here is very hot, but when you are waking at the crack of dawn you can hit the park by 8am and play in dry, 70 degree weather which is absolutely wonderful. This afternoon it will hit 100, but, with no mosquitos running thru the sprinkler in the back yard is a perfect way to beat the heat.

Here are a few of her funny words these days:
"pooties" (no, not what you're thinking!) it is her word for "Cooties" the game.
"kineapples" are pineapples
"yegos" are leggos
"ip-ip goss" is lipgloss
"owangpans" (you will never guess this in a million years) are marshmallows. No idea where this one came from but no matter how we try to sound it out for her she just looks back at us with big eyes and says slowly "owang pans".

Hope you all are well, and Elizabeth, thanks for checking on me!