"A present for you!"

Have you seen the SS Elmo episode about birthdays and presents? Mr. Noodle, with the help of friends, learns how to wrap a present. Early in the day yesterday Vanessa came to me with a block and asked for paper. It didn't take me long to figure out that she wanted paper to wrap her present, especially since once I handed her the paper, she then asked for tape. :) We sat together while she worked really hard to fold the paper and tear the tape. She didn't do all the folds on her own -- she asked politely for Mommy's help. And she also asked for help to cut the tape into smaller, more workable pieces. Sometimes the pieces would stick more to her little fingers than to the paper, so she needed a little help with that too!

"Happy to you!"

She carried the present around most of the day and would "give" it to us over and over. It's neat to see her developing the concept of giving. I can remember when I was between 4 and 6 and I wanted to give gifts to those I spent most of my time with. For instance, I'd sneak into Mom and Dad's bedroom and take something that already belonged to them. I'd then wrap it with whatever I could find (sometimes I just hid it behind me) and then I would give it back to them. (And let me make it clear that I wasn't playing Robin Hood by taking from one to give to another -- I always gave back whatever it was to the original owner. :)

Why not?

Vanessa deserved a treat last week for eating really well. What's better than eating right out of the brownie dish?! It was the end of the brownies, and some parts were already petrified, but she was able to enjoy the chocolate nonetheless. :)

A few additional comments from the treated . . .

The next Julia Child?

I think I read somewhere that Julia Child was 32 when she began to cook. (I've always loved Julia Child and her wonderful seemingly carefree personality.) And although you don't read about her ever cooking from packaged mixes, I'm sure she would support this step as good place to begin for a girl who just turned 2. Vanessa already loves to cook. My earliest memories in the kitchen are from when I was about 3, so I'm all about letting Vanessa try simple steps to get started.

Last Thursday I decided to let her do almost all the work for making Martha White's blueberry muffins. She proudly chose the bowl and spoon to mix with. (I couldn't persuade her to use a smaller bowl and a better utensil for scooping and pouring . . . but hey, this was her thing -- trial and error, right?)

"Mommy, I'm pouring?"

"Mommy, I'm mixing?"

"Mommy, I'm scooping?"

"Mmm . . . smell good? I put in oven?"

(Mommy had to convince Vanessa that it was safer for her to let her mommy put the muffins in the oven. Understandably, it was hard for Vanessa to give up control of something she worked so hard on. But she got to help push the buttons for preheating. And she listened patiently for the timer to beep when the muffins were done.)

Zoological Garden

Our membership to the Columbus Zoo is providing for extra treats that we're thoroughly enjoying . . . we love the fact that we can just up and go when we feel like it. Thursday morning the zoo was empty. Vanessa and I could be in one spot for a minute or two without seeing anyone. We went the North America route, then to the falls in Asia Quest. We made a random stop by the penguins, where we talked to Daddy on the phone.
And of course we made a stop by the Discovery Reef and Aquarium, before leaving to go home for a nap.
As soon as the slides come into view, Vanessa gets very excited about the new Zoombezi Bay stuff. The entire time while in the parking lot, arriving and departing, she asks to go see. I keep telling her that she's too small now but one day when she's bigger . . .

Watching the grizzlies play:

"Here kitty."

I'll just play here for a while . . . who needs animals when I can climb all over this cabin . . .

"See?! The water fall! Listen . . ."

"See penguins, Daddy?"

Cute and Clever Connections

Vanessa makes very interesting connections. Some of you have heard me tell stories over the last couple months about some of the ones documented in this post. So sorry for the repeats but I figured the pictures that support the stories might interest you. And frankly, these are the easier ones to share since others are really abstract and aren't easy to capture with a photo.

So, I think back in June or July, Vanessa pulled the object below out of the dishwasher and held it up and in a surprised voice exclaimed, "Mommy, a dinosaur!" I can see that. Can you?

When playing with round, smiley-face stickers one day, Vanessa put one on her shirt, right over her belly button and announced, "Look, a belly button!" See the green sticker on her shirt?

Some of you know that I collect crosses and there are many throughout our house (I like to be reminded of the gift of salvation everywhere I walk, in case you were wondering. :) The cross below is one that sits on our kitchen window sill. One day Vanessa asked to see it. I handed it to her and we talked about what it is and then she walked off with it. After a minute or two she came back into the kitchen holding the short "bar" in her hands with the long "bar" positioned between her legs while saying "I'm riding a tricycle."

And yesterday after taking a few bites from her graham cracker, Vanessa held it up and said, "Look, a 5!" I can see that too. Can you?

Applelicious

We enjoyed apple picking at Lynd's again. We're lovin' it!

Mommy (for the one hundredth time): "Vanessa, come on sweety . . . just follow me to the car . . . you can bring the apple . . ."

And don't let Baby Megan's picture fool you -- she merely grew frustrated trying to bite into the apple . . .

When not sidetracked by the deliciousness of the apple, Vanessa was very good at staying by Mommy's side. (Okay . . . and when she didn't want to climb trees . . . my hands were too full at that point to take a picture. So much for Vanessa wanting to pull her wagon -- I think she pulled it three inches and realized the grass was too high and it was too much work . . .)

I didn't have to do a thing to this picture for it to look this way . . . just somethin' funky with the camera . . . and shareable:

Our Sweet Wild Rose

Vanessa has learned quickly how to be wild and crazy for Buckeye football. From this last Sunday to Wednesday each time I would go to get her out of bed, or I would pull out red clothing, she would ask "Go see football?" Then this afternoon, while dropping some things off for tomorrow's tailgating, Vanessa flipped out when she learned that she'd have to wait to show off her Buckeye pride.

So in the meantime, she's sending good thoughts for a Buckeye win tomorrow, with hope to ultimately be Big Ten Champions once again.

Not sure the Tournament of Roses would allow us to register a wild rose, such as ours, but we know her vibrancy could win.

Grandma's Girls

O-H!

I-O!

And married 10 years !

(Although we know we look silly, Vanessa thought this was pretty cool. She said, "Wow!" And that's what matters, right? Not that we look like goofs.)

Where'd she go?

There she is!

A couple weeks before Vanessa's 2nd birthday, she moved to sitting at the kitchen island for breakfast and lunch. We've put the highchair away for now. We have to keep a close eye on her since she's almost always in motion -- I don't want her falling off the stool!

An interesting tidbit -- for some reason Vanessa always places herself at the head of the table/island/whatever. We've been enjoying dinner at the dining room table without a highchair for months now, but even when we started that, Vanessa chose the seat at the head of the table. Her daddy was very nice to relinquish the spot, at least for the time. :) I have to think that any future children might be in for it with her -- I can already imagine them saying "Yes, Queen Vanessa." I'm sure we'll have lots of lessons for being kind to and considerate of others. :)