September 1, 2009
[Nathan]: One of these days, I should tell Lorelai about the old seminary video called "Spiritual Crocodiles." She's doing pretty well on her own though...Tonight, when it was her turn to read scriptures, she instead told a story about crocodiles swimming and a man who fell in the water and was eaten by crocodiles. Because we were reading the Isaiah chapters in the Book of Mormon, I inserted crocodiles into my own verses. Momma was laughing so hard she couldn't read when it was her turn.
September 3, 2009
[Adrianne]: Lorelai has been on quite a reading tear lately; she wants me to read to her more and more often, and Story Time has started up again at the library, so the library has become (again) a great source of new books. At home, she'll pull piles of her own books off the shelf, choose 10 to 12 paperbacks, and bring them all to Daddy or myself, demanding to be read to. If we're not around, she'll sit quietly and thumb through them herself.
This evening, she even took her pile outside onto the back porch, sat down on the concrete and read away as the drizzle came down beyond her seat. Celeste, who's been copying Lorelai in so much these days, followed her outside with a few books of her won, and the two of them "read" outside as I made dinner. It was peculiar but cute. I'm so happy to have two little readers.
On a funnier note, I stepped out of the shower to her hear Lorelai screaming and crying just outside my door. The reason? She had to "go poo" and couldn't get her overalls off. Poor kid.
Also, she's starting to call me "Mommy," instead of "Mama." I wonder where she picked that up.
September 6, 2009
[Adrianne]: Today, Lorelai sat down at the piano randomly smashing keys and singing a creepy ditty she called "The Dead People Song." The lyrics included "My family knows the dead people / We'll be dead people someday." Yikes! Where does she come up with this stuff.
Tonight, we went to the Nielsen's to celebrate Scott and Elizabeth's birthday (they're within several days of each other). Lorelai had been playing with her buddy, Conner, and her evening climaxed with a "slide," built out of stiff foam mats laid out on the staircase. Over and over, she slid down the stairs, squealing in delight and ending none the worse for wear. Fun was had by all.
September 10, 2009
[Nathan]: Lorelai was pretending to talk on the phone tonight. She called her friends, talked to them about various things, and then called other friends. She called Amber, who was at the Doctor's office; Kent was home with Brad. She concluded her bevy of faux phone calls with a call to Jesus.
September 12, 2009
[Adrianne]: Lorelai was very moody today for some reason, crying at the drop of a hat about any little thing (including wanting to play at the playground instead of on the baseball field with the other kids at the Pixton farewell party we attended). I guess there are days like that.
Something I'm not sure I've mentioned before: Lorelai is absolutely terrified of car washes. She's screamed bloody murder when I've taken her through them and even mentioning that the car needs washing sends Lorelai into a whimpering panic attack. To try and get her over this, we told her tonight that we'd take her to the local Octopus Car Wash, where you get out of the car and watch them wash it from afar. That idea seemed to cheer her up; besides, as she pointed out, Nemo (the fish from the Disney movie) wasn't afraid of car washes. He would help her out. Here's hoping he does.
Nemo is just her latest playmate. She has also pretended to be WALL-E and had long involved dialogues with the toy dinosaurs and Littlest Pet Shop figures in the toy room. Her imagination is truly growing by leaps and bounds. More on that later.
September 15, 2009
[Adrianne]: This morning, during a play group, two of Lorelai's friends were play-acting they were heroes, and they decided Lorelai would be the villain. Lorelai got mad at this, and sulkily insisted that she was a "good girl." An uneasy, glaring stand off ensued. The protective side of me wanted to intervene, but I tried to keep my distance to see how it would be resolved. A minute or two later, Lorelai was the hero, the other two kids were the bad guys and everyone was friends again. I hope times like that will teach Lorelai conflict-resolving skills and courage and independence. And I hope I learn how to give my daughter room to grow.
September 16, 2009
[Nathan]: Lorelai's imagination is not just active, it's adaptable. A few weeks ago, she was pretending to be a "white dog." When I informed her that dogs don't talk, she adapted and became a "talking white dog." The Talking White Dog has been part of our family for several weeks now. She'll walk around on all fours, carry things in her mouth, and sleep "outside." This latter came about when I told her she couldn't sleep in her bed because dogs sleep outside. Tonight, she informed me that she was going outside, then pantomimed opening and closing the sliding glass door, and then crawled into bed. Active and adaptable!
September 21, 2009
[Nathan]: While I was bathing the girls tonight, I started to sing the old Muppet song, "Mahna Mahna." Lorelai loved it so much and was quickly providing the "mahna mahna" lines in their appropriate places. After the bath, I found the video on Youtube, and both girls loved it.
[Adrianne]: Also, Lorelai actually took a nap today for the first time in a while! It was great; I was able to have a piano lesson go peacefully, for once Also, as we read scriptures tonight (the end of 2nd Nephi), I told Lorelai that "prophesying" means "to tell the future." She nodded intently, and added, "and also it means you fight bad guys." Parental laughter ensued.
September 22, 2009
[Adrianne]: Although Lorelai's language skills are constantly improving, she still uses some interesting phrasing that often changes her intended meaning. For example, she often inverts cause and effect in sentences, making it sound like the effect is the reason for something (not coincidentally, she rarely, if ever, uses the word "because").
Some examples: "there's lots of stars in the sky. That's why it's night time." "I'm going to eat dinner now. That's why I'm hungry." or "The baby is crying. That's why he's sad now." Clearly, the proper usage of the phrase "that's why" needs to be taught better in this house.
September 28, 2009
[Nathan]: Last week, Lorelai wrote her own name on a piece of paper. It was missing the "R" and the "A" was upside down, but it was an unmistakable first effort at writing her own name.
Tonight, we went to my parents' home in Green Valley to drop off a housewarming gift to greet them when they move down here full time. We've visited with them in that house before, so Lorelai expected to see them and was VERY disappointed to learn that Gramma and Grampa were not home.
October 5, 2009
[Adrianne]: Although Lorelai is STILL a "talking white dog" much of the time, she's added another alter ego: a superhero. This is undoubtedly due to the "Supergirl" pajamas she has recently inherited, with pink "S" logos all over them. Every night, once the PJs are on, Lorelai "flies" around the house, proudly proclaiming her superhero-ness. She will occasionally do good deeds, too! Tragically, though, she often calls herself a "boy" superhero. I have to teach her that girls can be super heroes, too.
October 21, 2009
[Adrianne]: I haven't written in a few weeks; I took a solo excursion (well, Nate didn't come, so I was the sole parent with two kids) to Utah to visit some friends and family; since then, I've been fighting off a cold. None of these things are much fun when you're six months pregnant.
Lorelai is becoming a better traveler all the time; even though we had to take more potty breaks to accommodate her small bladder. She moves methodically from activity to activity (reading, drawing, or watching a video in the case of this trip) without much complaint. She will also sit peacefully for long stretches without complaint, even though I'm sure she must be bored. I think Lorelai is an innately good child, who doesn't like to cause trouble. Sure, she has her difficult times and difficult habits, but she's not defiant by nature. Part of it is that she's just too friendly and excited by life to let inconveniences and setbacks keep her down for long.
With the holiday (Halloween) fast approaching, Lorelai has decided she wants to be a "girl robot." Assembling a rickety robot costume out of cardboard boxes and clumsily painting it silver with pink and black trim has not been my idea of a good time. Lorelai loves it, though and that probably makes up for any design deficiencies it has. Those are some general thoughts; I'll try to write again with more specific "daily Lorelai" news soon.
October 25, 2009
[Adrianne]: Today, Lorelai took it upon herself to punish Celeste. When she wasn't acting to Lorelai's satisfaction, she yelled at her and told her she "needed a time-out." She put Celeste in their bedroom and closed the door on her. Celeste then began crying loudly. We need to be more clear in letting Lorelai know who really handles the discipline around here.
Also, Lorelai was the only person who actually sang "Happy Birthday" to me. It was sweet; even if she did it while running helter-skelter through the house. I love my spunky little girl.
This Friday, we learned that Lorelai qualifies for speech therapy, and is thus eligible for attending preschool at the Early Childhood Center for no charge. We like the finances and think it's the right move for her developmentally, but it's a LOT more preschool than what she's used to (and what I'm used to). Plus, she's really come to love her current school; I hope we can all adjust to this change quickly and easily. All this, and a new car and new baby on the horizon. A lot of change is coming and Lorelai is not always good with change. Here's hoping...
October 30, 2009
[Adrianne]: Lorelai is Mommy's little girl in many ways, not the least of which is her love of Halloween. She doesn't scare as easily as some little kids her age; in her fantasies, she's not afraid of monsters, she just fights them. Also, she enjoys being a little spooked (a big step to enjoying Halloween, IMO). She delights in creepy rubber spiders and ghosts and monsters; she watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and was quick to declare her love for it, even though some parts clearly upset her. Enduring and enjoying scary stuff is something she wears as a badge of honor. It's cool to me to see that Lorelai's burgeoning imagination is being tempered by a sense of realistic boundaries and realizations of what's really dangerous and what isn't.
This year, Lorelai has decided to be a robot for Halloween. After painstakingly building her robot costume, we have had the chance to try it out publicly this week. The results are a little mixed; she is certainly very proud of her costume, and she gets many reactions as to how cute she looks. However, her maneuverability is quite limited when she has the costume on; she can't sit down, see behind or to the side of her, and her arms can't reach out very far. At our (very cold!) ward trunk-or-treat this last Wednesday, we were gathering together to bless the food, and Lorelai told me intently, "I can't fold my arms!" When I encouraged her to clasp her hand, she whimpered, "I can't do that either." So, we held hands for the prayer--crisis averted. I wonder how tomorrow night's trick-or-treating will go...
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