Voicemail

April 27, 2007

While at work today, I had been working on my computer or talking to my colleagues when I looked at my phone and saw that my red voicemail light was on. Since I had been near the phone for several minutes and didn't hear the phone ring, it meant that I had not yet turned off my "Do Not Disturb" feature, which causes incoming calls to move directly to voicemail. Usually, those missed calls pertain to business matters and don't necessarily require me to speak with the caller. But this one missed call nearly broke my heart. Tiny had wanted to call me to ask me to come home. She wanted to play with me, so Melissa had dialed my work number and gave the phone to Tiny so she could surprise me. Of course, I didn't get the call. Instead, I listened to the resulting voicemail, and here's what I heard:

Hi Daddy ... Daddy!
I need you, Daddy!

I'll talk to you later. Bye Bye!

He didn't answer.

Melissa in the background: "If he's not talking, it might be his voicemail."

I called home just as fast as I could dial. Melissa picked up, had figured it was me and had told Tiny that I was calling to talk to her. Tiny was eager and happy to be talking to me. Hearing her sweet, happy voice, so pleased to be talking to me erased the heartbreak I was feeling. She wanted me to come home after work so that we could go to McDonald's for chicken nuggets and french fries.

"Then, after I eat my chicken nuggets and french fries, I'm going to drink my milk and then get my special treat."

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Actually, we all went to Sweet Tomatoes for our Friday night fun. Tiny usually eats a pretty good meal there. We ventured to the toy store after dinner where we pick up a couple of after-Easter Peeps stuffed animals and some new Littlest Pet Shop toys. Outside of her art, the LPS toys are her favorite occupation. Sometimes she merges the two by posing an LPS toy and drawing a still-life portrait of the pose.

She's a great girl.

Strawberry Picking (Pics)

April 26, 2007

Tiny has been waking up earlier than usual for the past week or so. Melissa typically gets to sleep until 7:30 before Tiny rousts, and the day of go!go!go! begins. On several recent days, Tiny has awakened at 7:00 and on a couple of occasions, 6:45 - oh! horror!

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Today's playgroup event took Melissa and Tiny to an Apex strawberry farm that catered quite well to children. For $5, Tiny received both a berry basket for hauling her harvest and instructions on which strawberries were suitable for picking - Just the red ones. Not the green ones and not the ones with just a little red on them.

Then it was out to the field to find the best berries for Daddy! Melissa did the actual picking, but Tiny provided the supervision, giving her approval on select berry beauties that Daddy would certainly appreciate. While Melissa scoured the berry patch to select only the most suitable gems for plucking, Tiny's tough scrutiny deemed some as Too big! - and others Too little! Eventually the small basket was filled, and just in time because Tiny's attention had drifted on to other goings on.

The strawberry farm featured a friendly horse that another visitor decided needed to eat an apple. Tiny marveled at just how messy the horse devoured it. Globs of apple and spit streamed from the horse's mouth. That horse needs a napkin, doesn't he Mommy!?

Then, over there, Melissa led some of the kidlets on a quest to find the farm's peacock, which was screaming from the hardwood thicket. The small parade followed her to the source of the noise and were delighted to chase the fowl around the grounds, where he pleased them all with his uproar.

Tiny continues to develop her social skills and played happily with her friends in the playgroup. As she did last week, she found joy in sharing suckers with each of them.

Click the following pic to view the fun!

Strawberry Picking

Farm Day (Slideshow/Video)

April 19, 2007

Today's playgroup event took Tiny and Melissa to the NCSU Research Farm for "Farm Day," an annual event hosted by NCSU students that offers children the opportunity to see and touch a variety of farm animals. Tiny couldn't have been more excited to arrive at the event and was all smiles as the two of them drove onto the farm property. On the grounds, the NCSU agriculture students had set up several pens with a friendly farm animal or two inside each one. Tiny had a great time feeling the sheep's fleece, petting a horse and cow, and holding a baby chick. She had hoped to pet the pig, but when it squealed up such an awful commotion while its wrangler tried to grab it -- well, Tiny and her playgroup friends decided that the "squeal pig" was maybe just a bit too scary to touch. Also big fun was the chance to watch one of the students squirt a stream of milk right from the cow's udders. Tiny had a fine time walking around looking at the amazing animals. Melissa and the other playgroup mommies had packed lunches, so Tiny and Melissa sat and ate on hay bales -- Are these real hay bales, Mommy? -- and savored their fun in the cool spring sun. Following her peanut butter sandwich, Tiny enjoyed a small cup of chocolate ice cream offered by the farm. And for the big finale, she shared some of her pastel Easter suckers, which the playgroup kidlets couldn't wait to eat! Tiny had a great time with the animals and her friends!

Click on the photo below to view pics of the fun!

Farm Day

And here's a video!

In the Stream

April 17, 2007

Tiny continues to improve in her ability to get along with other children in social settings. There's still room for improvement, but she's much more tolerant now than even a couple of months ago. Today, in her MOPS session, she fussed mildly at another child who had decided that Tiny might need some assistance in completing a puzzle. Once she completed the puzzle, however, she passed it on to the child who had coveted it. She's fiercely independent and doesn't mind reading the riot act to anyone who offers her unsolicited help!

Prior to dinner this evening, Tiny and I took advantage of the warmer weather to explore the stream behind our house. We've had considerable rainfall this week, so the stream had some nice remnant puddles suitable for wading. With her pink rain boots on her little feet, we ambled through the recently felled timber to our newest adventure. She was excited by the prospect of having permission to stroll around in the stream. In the water, she shuffled her feet slowly and carefully, exercising special caution to keep from slipping. She probably would liked to have walked in some of the deeper pools, but Daddy thwarted that idea! That fun lasted for about ten minutes, then it was back inside for dinner.

Toys for Sale

April 11, 2007

Because the play room is now overflowing with numerous forgotten and lonely toys, Melissa decided to clear the clutter and see if we can become wealthy by selling off some of the stockpile via Craigslist or a yard sale. She enlisted Tiny's assistance in determining what toys to sell off. Tiny has become quite familiar with our question: Do you want another child to have this toy? We've noticed that she tires of most toys almost instantly. There's a few "core" toys that are mainstays in her toy rotation, but mostly it's just her art sessions that she loves. She will spend large swaths of time drawing, coloring, painting, molding Play-Dough, etc. Needless to say, the art easel will not be appearing on Craigslist or at a yard sale!

We entertained Mimi and Granddaddy for dinner. Tiny put on a dance recital for them afterwards, which included examples of her breakdancing abilities and general rolling around on the floor. She's eclectic with her dance routines.

New Friends!

April 10, 2007

Tiny had some visitors today. Some previously unknown - to us! - friends of hers stopped by for a quick, unannounced visit.

These were her pretend friends!

This was the first time she's ever mentioned the existence of any pretend friends. She was so excited when she announced that they had arrived. Melissa was uncertain as to how many stopped by, but Tiny explained that one of them -- the "spooky" animal -- didn't feel comfortable being with the group and went upstairs to be alone. Meanwhile, downstairs, Tiny performed a number of tricks to the amazement of her little pals. They stayed only briefly -- about 15 minutes -- then departed. We're hoping that the spooky animal left with the rest of the bunch.

After our evening walk, Tiny helped me try to establish grass in some of the front lawn's bare spots. She did a fine job of scooping bagged topsoil with her orange, plastic shovel and depositing the small mounds carefully in the exact spots to which I had pointed. Watching the two of us scraping, shoveling, and tossing out seed was a solitary toad who seemed intrigued enough with our activity to simply stay put and monitor our progress. From time to time, Tiny would poke at him with an aluminum tent stake to prompt him to hop a bit. His hops produced gleeful squeals from her every time!

After dinner, she and I sat down for an advanced art session. She loves watercolor painting, so we brought out a new set of watercolors. Tonight I suggested that she draw an image of her choice -- an animal, of course! --with a crayon and then paint the hand-drawn figure. She didn't need much convincing once I stated that this is the technique used by real artists. She went on to draw and paint a handful of multi-colored watercolor animals.

Carousel

April 9, 2007

This evening served as our "weekend" because I had to work both Friday and Saturday evenings. After a satisfying dinner at our favorite Pizza Inn, we headed to the mall to allow Tiny to enjoy some of the activities she's come to appreciate. As we strode through the seemingly empty mall - so sad! - Tiny said "Thank you for bringing me here." I don't believe we'd received an unsolicited comment of appreciation from her prior to this heartfelt moment.

To our chagrin, two of the three activities -- the "jumping house" and the little train -- were gone! Only the carousel remained. Tiny didn't seem to even notice the departure of the other possibilities. She was content to drift up and down for several minutes on her white pony. Weeeeeeeeeeee!

Next up, a visit to the toy store to grab a gift for an upcoming playgroup birthday. So far, in all our visits to toy stores or toy departments, Tiny seems content to look at or play with the toys at the store and doesn't make a fuss about needing to bring anything home. She browsed her favorite toys and looked at them and laughed, but then was quite happy to place them back on the shelf and move on to the next fun thing.

On the ride home, Melissa popped in a specialty CD that we hadn't heard in several months. Purchased from the State Fair when Tiny was a baby, each track includes lyrics that allow for the singer to sing her name. Though she'd heard that cd countless times as an infant, she didn't seem to remember a single tune. The first time she heard her name, she asked "Did she just say my name?" We confirmed. Each subsequent mention of her name on each forthcoming song produced "No Katie!" from her. To our amusement, she argued with each singer of every song. She attempted to inform the singers that she was some sort of dinosaur - a pterodactyl? - who had a rhyming name we'd never heard prior.

Easter: Bunny Mania (video)

April 8, 2007

This magical day of chocolate bunnies finally arrived.

Melissa and I like to inform Tiny of upcoming holidays and special events that may not arrive for weeks or even months. We'd started hyping up Easter Sunday - and the associated chocolate bunnies - three or four weeks ago. We're not sure if she remembers last year's bunny feast and how she had tore into the 2006 bunny - beginning with his long, chocolate ears; however, she advised us regularly as to what her strategy would be in 2007. Again, her carnage would start with the long ears. From there, her strategy seemed to change daily. At her last pre-Easter briefing, she claimed that after the bunny ears were consumed, she would then skip the head and torso but would flip the bunny over and resume with the bunny's feet.

Still in her Little Einstein pajamas, Melissa and I launched a crash course of the "Getting Warmer/Getting Colder" game as the moment of the Easter basket search was at hand. Not sure if she actually understood what we were trying to teach her, we let her start her hunt. She immediately headed down the stairs and continued down them even as Melissa and I chanted "You're getting colder. Getting colder..." Now convinced that she didn't really understand the rules of the game, we blurted out that the basket wasn't downstairs. She climbed back to the top step and headed toward the bonus room where the basket rested in her tv chair, turned to face the wall and awaiting her to investigate its unusual position. With some minor prompting, she stuck her head around the turned chair to gleefully find the basket of goodies.

"IT'S A CHOCOLATE BUNNY!," she exclaimed, followed by "IT'S ANOTHER CHOCOLATE BUNNY!" as she verbally inventoried her bounty. She plucked the brightly colored flower basket from the chair and plunked it on the floor to examine its treasures. Four chocolate bunnies, miniature chocolate bars, watercolor paints, play-dough, and a My Little Pony movie. Good stuff. And, yes, Tiny was allowed a solitary Reese's miniature egg. After all, it is a special day.

At church, with no children's Sunday school, Tiny sat with Melissa and me in "Big Church." The last time she sat in a "Big Church" service with us -- well over a year ago -- she had talked nonstop and finally had to be taken out to the lobby where she and I roamed the halls until the service ended. This year, Tiny seemed amazed with the choral arrangements but bored with the pastor's Easter message. When he was speaking, she amused herself by sketching puppies, kitties, and other animals in her drawing pad. And to our pleasure, when she did speak, she whispered! Overall, she did much better than we expected and earned a Lifesaver sucker for the trip home.

Lunch with Nana and Li'l Papa proved especially difficult for our three-year-old chocoholic. With new bunnies and assorted chocolates within eye-shot of every turn of her head (strewn about the floor, in the table decorations, on the Easter cake), Tiny's addiction could not be eased in our pleas for her to eat her dinner roll, her applesauce, a couple of bites of banana, some baked beans. Stubborn as she is, and since it was Easter, she was allowed to eat the biggest of the bunnies. Departing from her most recently stated bunny-feasting strategy, she nibbled on him "top down" style: starting at the ears and ending with the feet. Nothing splashy about the approach, but it satisfied her nonetheless.

Grandmommy and Papa joined us later in the afternoon. We all stepped outside for a quick Easter egg hunt on the front lawn in the surprisingly brisk April afternoon. Tiny made quick work of the hunt, and her little basket was soon heavily laden with treasure eggs that would spill from the basket whenever she'd abruptly change course as she darted from this spot to that. Afterwards and again inside, she marveled at each egg's chocolate treasure with a cute little - gasp! A Three Moosekateers bar!

With all the searches finished for the day, Tiny laughed, played, and danced her special dances to our renditions of "Coming Round the Mountain" and to Cotton-Eyed Joe from the CD player.

Playgroup Egg Hunt

April 5, 2007

Today, Melissa and Tiny attended playgroup, a nice collection of other 2- to 3-year-old kidlets that Tiny meets with once every week for any number of fun activities. The group had an Easter egg hunt today. Each child's mother brought ten plastic eggs, loaded with toys or candy. Tiny has come to love the concept of the Easter egg hunt and the surprises found within each egg. The playgroups have been great for getting Tiny ready for pre-school. Where once she had little use for the other children in the group, she now seems to be establishing small social connections with them.

In the evening, Tiny and I walked around the neighborhood with her little friend Noah and his dad, Thom. Noah really likes Tiny and she seems to really enjoy his company. There's a natural and easy bond between them. Tonight's walk took us to mud puddles, a gravel pile and "yucky" houses. Yucky houses are those homes currently under construction and that are especially dirty and littered with trash. Tiny usually asks if we can go look at the "yucky" houses. She'll parade through each room of the house and ask what room it will be when completed. On the construction site, we found an unlocked house and eventually hiked upstairs. It was great to see Tiny engaging in a small conversation with Noah. She and he were looking out the upstairs window when she turned to him and said excitedly "We sure are up high in the air," to which he turned to her and exclaimed "yes, we are!"

As the neighborhood walk neared its completion, Noah spun around and asked if Tiny could come inside and play. We did so for a few minutes. He showed off his fancy fire engine to her while she held tightly onto one of Noah's little dump trucks. It's nice to see her becoming increasingly social with other children!

April 4, 2007
Grandmommy and Poppa stopped by on their way to Richmond for dinner with us. While we enjoyed white spaghetti and broccoli salad, Tiny continued her struggles with eating "grown-up" food and ate some cheese cubes and applesauce. She managed to eat two slices of banana (without gagging), which resulted in a reward of a miniature Twix. We continue to try to get her to eat what we eat for dinner, but it's a battle.
After dinner, Tiny and I walked around the block. I found some maple seedlings and introduced her to the joy of throwing them and watching them spin back to the ground like little chopper blades. Back at home, we sat on the driveway and inspected the night sky. She recognizes Venus and knows that all the stars that she sees are actually distant suns.
She spent the last bit of her evening playing with Easter eggs. She enjoys placing candies inside them and amassing a pile of loaded eggs.

Reading Her First Words

April 3, 2007
I sat down with Tiny tonight to read her a couple of books just before we got her ready for bed. One of the books - her favorite of the recent library loans - is a book with pictures of dogs made from various fruits and vegetables. When we first brought it home, she was simply intrigued with the fact that dogs were made out of vegetables. In the past week, however, she's noticed the words associated with each image: "Bad Dog" and "Mad Dog" and "Chilly Dog," etc. Last night, she wanted me to help her read the words. We started with "Bad Dog." She proceeded to sound out the letters. "Buh" "Aaah" "Duh." Putting them together, "BaaaahhDuh." Then more quickly "Bad"! Very exciting. She smiled. She moved to the next picture and next little word: Mad. Again "Muh" Aaah" "Duh" And then "MaaaahDuh" Followed by "Mad." Again, she was tickled with herself. We continued and I helped a bit with a few of the bigger, more complicated words. She quickly tired of the exercise and decided to relax and enjoy my interpretive reading of "The Baby Beebee Bird."