It was a cold, cold long weekend. The winds were harsh and bitter. The sun was not warm. It even snowed a couple of times. The Bumble said "ew" at the snow, but she did like the hot cocoa that followed.
When the wind died down, we bundled up and took the Bumble to the zoo's Festival of Lights. It was gorgeous and the Bee got to meet Santa's reindeer and Santa's missus.
Thanksgiving over, now we are decorating everything in sight, including the Bumble. She isn't so sure about this, but if she puts up with it, the Santa will bring her stickers. So she hears.
Any time there is a new sound, the Bee gasps and asks me "Noise?" She waits for me to identify the noise and then nods solemnly and repeats the answer back to me as best she can. When she does recognize a noise, she says (for instance)
Dog! I hear you! woof woof! Train! I hear you! choo choo! Bird! I hear you! Tweet!
I think she needs her own little snack table. I have been thinking it for a while, but today that thought was really cemented when the Bumble carried her snack tray and sippy cup over to our dirty old stepstool and turned it into a tiny half-picnic table.
Last week, the Bumble was watching "Shaun the Sheep" while I was washing dishes, when she suddenly ran screaming into the kitchen "Scary! Scary!" Scary? I didn't even know she knew that word. I walked into the living room to see what was so scary and it was this claymation bull on the screen, huffing and puffing with glowing red eyes.
I turned it off and tried to explain that there was nothing to be afraid of, but I don't think she got it. In fact, I know she didn't get it because now she is even afraid of cows. Just regular cows. Cows on the milk carton. Cows on commercials. Stuffed cows in her toy box. She points at them and screams "Scary!" I tried to correct her and told her the word was "Cow," but she came back with "Scary cow."
It's not all cows and screaming, though. Look, here is a video of a dancing baby!
The Bumble has been fine-tuning her dexterity by stringing and re-stringing her beads. Here she is showing off the beads she made, painted, and strung.
The Bumble took a tumble and landed on her mouth. The poor thing had such a swollen face, she burst into tears when she saw herself in the mirror. Suffering so terribly did have its upside, though..
Today we began our Christmas tree ornament project. It was a very easy recipe. You just mix together
1 Cup of salt 2 Cups of flour 1 Cup of water 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
Shape the dough however you'd like, then bake at 250 degrees for 1-2 hours.
The Bumble really enjoyed playing with the dough. She was pretty bad at shapes, though she did like destroying the shapes I made. We made a lot of beads, a couple candy canes, and a few circles.
Tomorrow, we paint!
PS- A million thank-yous to Aunt Brenda for the smocks!
She's only 19 months old, but it's already happened. The other day, I took away the huge jar of Goldfish crackers she was carrying around the house before she spilled the contents everywhere and she screamed "MEAN!" at me. Not just once, either, She followed me around for several minutes screaming "MEAN!" over and over again until... actually I can't even remember what made her stop. Mike, maybe. Or Halloween candy? Possibly both. But I can assure you, I will never forget the sound of her first accusatory "MEAN!"
