Most of my weekend was spent picking up discarded tissues, administering echinacea, nursing non-stop and cuddling two sickies in our family bed. The house is a disaster area, mostly because Topher is ordinarily so helpful on weekends that we get a lot of deep cleaning done. (Toilets await me for tomorrow.) But he’s been languishing in bed, along with a congested Thumbelina who rallied intermittently and decorated the house with a smattering of art supplies, stickers and dollies. Oh, and laundry. Dirty laundry. My living room has a massive pile of bed linens that need to be washed. Why are they in the living room? Because Thumbelina loves to create work for herself (and me) by transferring laundry (or oatmeal packets, cups, toothbrushes, markers, shoes, etc.) from the hamper (or pantry, closet, counter, shelf, cabinet, etc.) to anywhere else. She had a grand time running back and forth from our bedroom to the top of the stairs and dragging, lugging, or tossing whatever her little arms could carry, down to the first level. The floor of her bedroom is wall-to-wall books, miniature felt people and stuffed animals. Also - I can’t believe I’m admitting this, but our Christmas tree is still up. Mmhmm. Yes. I’m considering making it a Valentine’s Day tree, because every weekend that we’ve intended to take it down, other responsibilities or illness have intruded. Topher has asked me to let him take care of it (not that I really wanted to, I just want it gone) because the entire tree has to be taken apart branch by branch and he wants it to be organized in a certain way to make next year’s assembly as easy as possible. Which is fine. But, meanwhile, it’s FEBRUARY and we have a Christmas tree. A friend commented that at least I have a jump on the holidays for this year, right?
Speaking of holidays, Thumbelina will turn two at the end of March. We’re committed to being at wedding on the weekend of her birthday, so Topher and I have been discussing options for celebrating at a different time. I just assumed we’d do the usual cake, small party and a few presents - but Topher asked me today if I’d be up for a road trip. Apparently this year is the 20th Anniversary of Barney and… get ready…. prepare yourself… but, BARNEY IS ON TOUR!!! Yes, so exciting. In early March, Barney will be performing “LIVE” at two venues several hours away. And, ahem, ever-so-shockingly, I think tickets are free and we just show up. So we could potentially catch TWO shows and Thumbelina would be thrilled. (We hope. We suppose she might be terrified of a gigantic purple dinosaur prancing around, looming large. But most likely she’ll love it.)
Two of my good friends live in the area of the concerts, so we’ll probably get a chance to see them, too. Plus we’re just dorky and have an odd love for road trips - and an understandable happiness in bringing Thumbelina joy, even if it involves an eight hour drive. Woo.
Speaking of Thumbelina, some of her garbled jargon is becoming more decipherable. “I don’t know” is her second phrase. It comes out as, “Ida-no!” and she repeats it a few times in a row with crazy-adorable gestures, like shrugging her shoulders and putting her palms face-up with a puzzled expression. (Topher demonstrated this for her and she, being quite the actress, spent plenty of time practicing it because her daddy and I were so delighted.)
Thumbelina is praying more spontaneously. We always pray as a family before mealtime and bedtime, but I notice she prompts us if we aren’t as quick as she deems necessary. I sliced her an apple the other day and forgot to pray before turning around to wash my hands - and she reminded me with, “HAPPPPPPPPY! AYYYY-MEN!” (Yes, she’s still calling me Happy instead of Mama.) She and Topher kneel down on the floor before he leaves for work, and Topher says a few short prayers like, “Jesus, thank you for today,” or “God, bless our family,” and Thumbelina says, “Ayyyy-men!” after each phrase. The other day, we were in her room and she was very busily involved with creating a scene for her dolls, balancing them in a way that continued to knock them over, which I was trying to ignore because I didn’t want to interrupt or distract her - plus she’s starting to get reluctant sometimes, when I make a big deal about something - but, I finally figured out that she wanted her babies to kneel and pray with her. She knelt down and said “Ayyyy-men!” and then bounced her Barney doll a few times and said it again, trying to make him pray, too. So cute!
We haven’t been pushing the toddler bed (or really even trying) since everyone has been sick lately. But once we’re well, round #2 is on it’s way. Topher actually put Thumbelina in the bed last week and she slept a few hours in it - but woke up disoriented and fell out, off the side. I woke up totally panicked because I thought she fell out of OUR bed, and I couldn’t understand how that happened since it’s NEVER even come close to happening. But, no, Topher moved her when she and I both fell asleep and weren’t the wiser. She seems a little wary of the bed now and continues to put Sleepy Snoozle under the covers, alone, before climbing into bed with us. I don’t really mind, though. Last night I was drifting off and heard her giggling in her sleep, wiggling within the crook of my arm. It was one of those deep, only-from-the-belly laughs, but slightly muffled since she was asleep. I think she was dreaming of tickles.
