Phone call to Auntie M

From Auntie M:

Last night when I talked to Rosie on speaker phone, she told me "Rodie's eating." She sang itsy-bitsy spider and twinkle twinkle little star for me. I told her I wasn't feeling well (tooth) and she wanted me to go back to sleep. She picked up the phone so she could say a special "bye bye auntie."

She is very sweet!

Rosie's reading list

Along with the princesses books Rosie likes, AJS and I dug up some of our favorites from when we were tykes such as "Miss Suzy" (a story about a squirrel who gets kicked out of her tree house by a gang of nasty squirrels—mine) and "Too Much Noise" (a story about an old man who complains, but gains perspective through wise advice—AJS's). She's been watching favorite Disney/Pixar movies like Beauty & the Beast frequently, but also likes Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life, Peter Pan, and also a good find: Schoolhouse Rock. My mom plays her Barney & Little People videos while she visits at my parents' house.

She's a real chatterbox with us and at daycare, but I noticed when I spent Thanksgiving at my parents', she is very quiet and focused with them. I think they are so attentive to her every need that she doesn't feel it's necessary to vocalize over there? She spends a few hours with them every weekend.

Thank you, Auntie M. & Kelly

I told AJS about my pregnancy last night and AJS didn't take it too well. Okay, he said he felt like he was about to throw up.

Auntie M sized up the situation this way:

"AJS will come around. He was so scared before, remember? He's just a grumbler by nature, so he needs his grumbling space. And he's such a good daddy. Rosie will love a sibling!"

Here's Kelly's take:

"I was really hoping AJS would keep his sh*t together, especially since this can't come as a complete surprise (hm?) and since Rosie is just about the cutest, sweetest, most charming bundle of 2-year-old EVER. But it is a big thing, a big wonderful thing, but yes, a big thing."

So empathetic

So, we were driving with Rosie when AJS started to go of on some rant about how he's "doomed" and "a failure" and "everything he touches turns to crap" (I understand this is verbatim from his father's rants).

From the backseat, sweet little Rosie held her arm out toward him and said,

"Calm down, dad-dee!"

What a little darling! He forgot what he was saying immediately and thanked her for calming him down.

Ms. Independence

Rosie was very cute at home with me yesterday, although obviously not feeling well. After getting her meds, she at least slept through the night last night and even tried to get some sleep on our commute (unusual -- normally wants books read the whole ride).

Yesterday afternoon, she and I looked at a new daycare center. It's a beautiful location! I was very impressed with the facility. The director didn't tell me exactly how long the wait on the waitlist might be; they need more information from me, and then will do some elaborate calculation with our eligibility versus other on-site families, etc.

Rosie is back at daycare today. Her teachers were very impressed with the BM in the potty that she did at home yesterday! The lead teacher told me that they hadn't even been trying potty-training on her yet. I guess they will be working on it now.

Rosie's 18 Months

Rosie is 18 months and thoroughly expresses her character and opinions. She can be very serious and careful about things — seems to think through her actions/choices before she acts. AJS is such a clown with her, he can make her break into giggles with just a look! She is very pretty and girly; interested in my cosmetics, jewelry, handbags. Somehow, she picked up my mom's curly hair! My friends with kids have noted that she's happy and calm, serene almost, and is very good with crowds or at parties. She's not too good with the talking yet, but on the verge of making intelligible words (so far daddy, mama, bubbles, car, and outside are fairly easy to make out).