My Baby *sniff* (updated)

From the moment I got pregnant with Cherry, I knew that if I had a girl, I would wait as long as humanly possible to cut her hair. My plan was to wait until she asked to get it cut. After being a regular reader of Belinda's blog, and noticing that she hadn't cut her daughter's hair until she was three years old, I was adamant that I was going wait and to do the same thing.

Until recently. When I noticed a bunch of split ends. In Cherry's baby fine hair. SPLIT ENDS! NOOOOO!

At the time, Armondo and I were cuddled with her in her bed reading a bedtime story. I said out loud how I noticed she needed a cut, and I started quietly whining to Armondo about how much I really didn't want to do that!

But then I asked Cherry if she wanted a hair cut.

Her answer: "LET'S GO!"

"Ha ha, sorry sweety, not right now! You have to go to bed now; we'll do it another day!"

That was a couple of weeks ago, and every day I've brushed her hair and almost shed tears thinking about losing her baby curls.

To me, it's more than just the curls though. It's the "baby" part. Because I had Peach so soon after Cherry, Cherry didn't have much time to be the "baby". She was out of her crib early, (partially due to the baby coming, partially due to the fact that she's CRAZY and would climb everything and was thisclose to being able to climb out of the crib.) She had her jolly jumper and swing taken away early (more because we were trying to sell the house, and our realtor told us to get them out of the way.) and I put away all of the "baby" toys on her first birthday when I replaced them all with toddler toys. (Those baby toys will be leaving the house soon all together, because honestly, I can't stand them, so Peach will be deprived of her baby toys soon too!)

Cherry was also a pretty early walker, and was fearless from day one. I wouldn't go so far as to say that she's "gifted" or a child genius, but she's always been able to talk circles around kids her age. Those two factors, combined with her being tall, have also made her less of a baby to me.

The only thing left that was "baby" was her curls. And I was so sad thinking about them being cut off. Even if she had a rat's nest mullet.

But today was the day.

Getting up onto the big chair.


This is actually a look of excitement, not fear.


"So, what do you want me to do, exactly?"

"Umm.. she has split ends, and I really don't want you to cut off her curls, but *sniff* if that's all you can do, then *sniff* I guess that's ok."

"Well, I can just take a little bit off. I don't have to take off that much."

"*sniff* ok, just do what you have to do!"




The little sister, waiting patiently.

NOT sitting still. Not even for a sucker. But not freaking out either.

Still waiting....

And Voila! All done. Still mullety....

But she still has curls!!! I big puffy heart the hair dresser!

And Cherry was so happy with her sucker, her new weird comb thing, and her new "hair tut" that she did a little pigeon toed dance for everyone in the waiting area!

And in the end, I survived. And I didn't actually cry. Mostly. And, actually once it completely dried, it actually looked quite cute. Even if it IS still a mullet. Poor kid.

Oh yeah, and Cherry did fine too.


ETA: Now, the day after, I LOVE the haircut! It's so cute! And she had random comments on it today when we were out. The curls and waves are adorable! Getting her hair cut was a GREAT IDEA! Ha ha

Cherry's "E I O Dirday Party!"

She has been begging for a barnyard themed birthday party for months, and this is the result. (Her actual birthday and the family party are tomorrow.)



Cherry playing in the hay pile. I hid a bunch of toys in the pile, and all the kids searched through it to find the prizes. One other adult, Cherry, and I, all had allergic reactions to all the hay being thrown around by the kids. All three of us took benedryl to get over it, and I managed to get by relatively unscathed, but my friend ended up almost passing out due to the drugs, and Cherry ended up with hives on her cheeks. And she's off today with Armondo to get her 2 year portraits done. She had marks on her face for the last set of portraits done with the cousins at Easter! Oh well!

Armondo and I drew pig and cow faces on balloons, and had the kids "herd" them into the barn I made out of a fridge box.


This is Cherry waiting for her cake as we all sang Happy Birthday. She's watched so much TV that she knew exactly what was happening and was very good at sitting still!


In fact, she has seen so much tv that she knew to blow out the candle without being told to! (No, I am not proud of the fact that my child watches so much TV. But when Armondo is gone for weeks at a time, it's pretty much my only saving grace, and the only way to get her to be calm for awhile so that I can cook or clean or poop. She watches much less TV when Armondo is home.)

A close up of one of the "pig" cupcakes I made. The other ones were cows and sheep, but really, only the pigs looked all that great. I made the cake and the frosting from scratch! Overall, it didn't taste all that great, but I'm still proud that I put all that effort in. Next time the cake and frosting are coming from a box. Cheaper and faster, and will leave more time for decorating.


Cherry eating her pig. She only ate the frosting. Her nose is running from the hay inhalation.

Some of the other kids eating.


The "akk, the sun is in our eyes, and dang it, I still have my pig ears on" family shot in front of the barn I made.

Cuddle Time.

This heat and the long days is making regular bed times an impossibility. Last night Peach woke up at about 10:30 and refused to go back to sleep until 1am. I blame the heat and all the sweat she woke up drenched in. Cherry has been going to her ROOM at her regular 7pm bedtime, but hasn't gone to sleep before 9:30pm in several days. She's usually happy to just play and sing quietly in her room until she falls asleep. But sometimes, she sort of gets a little out of hand when she trashes her room.
That's right, she's sleeping UNDER her mattress, and is using her blanket as a pillow. When I went in there and removed the mattress from her, and put it back on her bed, she very quietly woke up, said "Thank you mommy" in the cutest little voice and crawled onto her bed and went back to sleep.

Tonight (Saturday night) she wasn't so happy just playing in her room and trashing it quietly. Tonight she was upset because she was "all wet mommy." (Covered in sweat). So, I asked her if she wanted to cuddle. (I know, cuddling doesn't exactly solve the sweat problem, but I thought it would make her feel better, and I don't really get much alone time with either one of my kids, so I thought I'd take advantage of the situation.)

She was super excited about cuddling, and so was I, really, 'cause it's only been a few months now that she's actually let me cuddle with her since she was a little baby. And I mean REALLY cuddle. And she's not shy about the kisses now either, which is excellent!

ANYWAY... we cuddled for awhile, but she was no where near ready to go to sleep, and after several rounds of "I love you"s and talking about how much fun we had at the beach today, I decided it was time to go to sleep. So, I rolled over and pretended to sleep, complete with full out fake snoring. Cherry tried EVERYTHING to get my attention. She was calling out "Mommy, mommy, I love you!" and stroking my hair and everything. It was very cute, and I did an EXCELLENT job at continuing to fake snore and not crack a smile.

But then she got me.

When she knocked on my head and said....

"Knock, knock, Helllooooo? Anybody home?"

I totally cracked up laughing, which sent her into a fit of laughter, which turned into a tornado of kisses.

Then she let me tuck her in and she went right to sleep.

Aww, I love being a mom.

A Visit to Daddy.

A few weeks ago, we drove up to where Armondo's boat was docked for a day, and we had a quick visit. We hadn't seen him for a VERY long time.

First, we went to a little diner and had some lunch.


Cherry was VERY happy to see her daddy!


Then we took some time to play with the Sea Lions (arouf ar ar ar)





Then we had dinner in the Galley on the boat. Armondo cooked! And yes, that's Paris Hilton on the calendar in the background.

When we first got there, the tide was pretty low, so we could see all sorts of star fish on the rocks just below the water. One of them was a good two to three feet across! It was huge! Anyway, I guess when she saw them, Cherry started singing "Twinkle Twinkle" with her Aunt (with whom we drove up there with, and who's (whose?) husband is the skipper). Well, when she sings "Twinkle Twinkle" she refers to the stars as "DeDe stars" (just like she calls her BABY sister "DeDe")

SOOO.. now when I say "Hey, where's Daddy?"

Cherry answers: "On da doat, with the DeDe tars!" (On the boat with the baby stars) And then she'll say "And the seeeos!" (and the seals!) Which are actually sea lions, but I don't argue the point too much with her!

It was really great for us to be able to take Cherry to see her dad on the boat, 'cause now she has a much more concrete concept as to where her daddy is. Now when I pray with her at night and ask God to keep Daddy safe, she says "Daddy on da doat?" I think it makes it much easier for her to handle him being gone, as she now really knows what's going on.

I know they're saggy.... but?

Cherry and I always rehearse body parts. This usually takes place during bath or diaper time, and usually consists of the basics: Eyes, earrrrs, nose, mouf, kneeees, etc.

Yesterday, as I was changing her diaper, we were going through the list when suddenly Cherry grabs my breasts and yells out "KNEEEEEES!"

Thanks kid.

What Cherry's been up to!

Cherry, my darlin' girl, you're such a joy to hang out with these days! Every day you come up with new phrases or activities that just make me smile with joy. You're becoming such a cool little person and at just over 20 months old, it's been awhile since I've documented your phrases and favourites, so here, is a sampling.

We'll start with some of your favourites.

Movies:
~"Non-Hee" (Monkey movie, aka Curious George.)
~"Fiss-hee" (Fishy movie, aka Finding Nemo)

TV shows:
~"Non-Hee" (Monkey show, aka Curious George.)
~"Ollie, Ollie, Ollie" (Rollie Pollie Ollie)
~You also like anything "ELMO!"

Foods:
~"Ssssssnick" (snakes aka, curly fries.)
~"Teeessse!" (cheese)
~"Seer ee oh" (Cereal)
~"Snack" (any kind of food that comes in a package that we feed you between meals, but usually refers to granola bars.)

Beverages:
~"Na!" (Milk),
~"Dooce" or "jus" (said the french way for juice.)
~"Wow-ow" (water).

Hard to choose between some of your favourite things! What do you go for? The snakes? The soother? or the juice?

Things:
~"Soo Zdurr" (soother)
~"Non-Hee" (You have three stuffed Monkeys, including a Curious George one, and you also like your "Barrel of Monkeys")
~You also love your Dollies, which, when you talk about them, sounds like you're calling them "daddy", which is pretty funny to me sometimes.
~You have taken over some of Daddy's Star Wars figurines, and you love Chewy the best. When he's in the house, you'll take him to bed with you, and when he's in the car, you'll hold on to him the whole car ride, and I'll hear "MmmWA!" over and over as you give your furry friend kiss after kiss. The rest of the Star Wars figures are cool too, but not as good as him.
~"Fwower! Woks!" (Flowers and Rocks-which you collect on our walks.)

Flower in one hand, rocks in the other-PERFECT!

~Your pink flower blanket, which you have yet to name, which surprises me, 'cause you really, truly love it. In fact, one day, when you saw that I had put Peach on it, I saw the quiver in your lip and the rage in your eyes, so I quickly scooped up your sister and avoided near disaster!

Activities:
~"Walk!" (said faster than normal though, making sound more like "Wok")
~"Snow!" (play in snow)
~"Pway!" (go to play group)
~"Pooo!" (go to the pool)
~You also like to step on your sister which makes "De de sad!" (baby sad) But to make up for it, you say "Sew wee" (sorry) and you give her a kiss.
~Another thing you like to do is "Seeee!" (Which means colour with crayons, but sounds nothing like it!)

~You also like to talk on the phone, real or play, or anything that sort of looks like a phone. (Like remotes, etc) One day, when your sister was crying, you said into a fake phone "De De Sad!" When talking to your daddy, you said "See soon" (see you soon) and a few days later (Feb 25th), you told my grandmother "Dunno say!" as you shrugged your shoulders (I don't know what to say). These were some of your first real sentences.

~You also like to sing, and you usually make up your own songs. You often sing about "NAnnie", "Osssie", "Jee Cee", and "Fwowers". (Annie, Ozzy, Jacy and flowers) Sometimes you'll also sing about Momma, DeDe and Daddy. You will also sing songs from TV shows and movies, with "Ollie, Ollie, hoo aay, Yay!" (He's Rollie, Pollie, Hurray, Hurray) and "Fwip Fwap Fwy!" (Flip Flap and Fly) being among your favourites. You also attempt to sing the "Wonder Pets" song, which is a song we sing together with you filling in the blanks.

Me: "Linny, Tuck.."
You: "Ning ning oooh!" (Ming Ming too)
Me: "We're wonder pets, and we'll help you. What's gonna to work?"
You: "Eee Ook!" (Team work)
Me: "What's gonna work?"
You: "Eee ook!"

~You like to play with all of your toys, and part of the joy of playing with them is removing them ALL from their proper places. You're always quick to help clean up though. You just get distracted easily. And you now know the proper answer to "Heeeeyyy, WHO MADE THIS BIG MESS!" which I ask you every evening, and to which you always reply with a huge grin: "NeeeEEE?" (Me?)

Part of your mess making includes taking all of your clothes out of your drawers and, now, your new thing is to throw the clothes in your dirty laundry basket, which is a habit I SO DON'T APPROVE OF, but I'm able to laugh about it, 'cause every time I open your drawers to put your clothes back, there's always some sort of little prize to be found from sippy cups to teddy bears to neatly lined up Little People.

Other things you say and do:

~"Momma, Daddy, I Tuck!" (Momma, Daddy, I'm stuck!) When ever you're stuck or hurt, or whining, you always yell "Momma, Daddy" instead of just picking one of us. It's pretty cute.

~"A HOW! A HOW!" (Help! Help!) you've learned to yell this when you REALLY need us, and are not just whining. When you use this term, it's usually combined with "I tuck!" as you seem to get yourself into the strangest spots sometimes. (Legs caught in your headboard, climbing half way up shelves and can't get down, twisted through the bottom rungs of your rocking chair, flopped over your toy horse-head down, etc.)

~"EEEWWWW!" Said while changing your diaper.

~"Pleah" Said while sticking out your tongue, and is a companion term to the above.

~"A Hans!" Commanding me to let you wash your hands.

~"A teess!" (Brush teeth.)

~"Neeeerrrooom!" Said when listening to airplanes fly over our house, which is in a landing path for a small airport. You also make the sign language sign for it, but you wrap your ring finger awkwardly around your pinky, which makes no sense at all, as it's not the easiest thing to do!

~"Yee Haw!" Said when riding your toy horse, seeing a horse, talking about horses, etc.

~"Ollie Ollie ollie Yee Haw!" Your yodel, which started a couple of months ago, which is a combination of "Rollie Pollie Ollie" and Yee Haw.

~"Seeee!" (Oopies!) Said when you drop something. (slightly different than the "seee" used to describe crayons, or when you say you want to see something)

~"Duh Dye" (Buh bye.)

~You also say "Peeeesss" and "Tan you". And you're always good to say "sssuuse me!" when you fart or burp.

~You also say "Huuuh?" in a long, drawn out, inquisitive voice, which always cracks me up, and which made me think for a minute "now where could she have got THAT from!?!" (answer=me)

~Any time you hear your sister talk or cry, you yell "De De!" and run to her. You're also quick to give her kisses and cuddles and you're always sharing with her. Even when it's something she totally could not find any use for!

Cherry sharing her crayons with Peach.

~Bed time is also a fun ritual with you. You love "stow-ees" and one of your favourites these days is Robert Munsch's "I'll Love You Forever" which you so fondly refer to as the "Momma!" story. It's a great (but sad) book, and I love to rock you back and forth as I sing the lyrics to the song in the book. When Daddy is out at sea working, we'll also pray for his safety every night, and every time I mention him, you yell "Daddy!" in a very enthusiastic voice that makes me giggle. One night recently I said "Yes, we're praying for Daddy! Do you love your Daddy?" To which you answered with an enthusiastic nod. Then I asked you "Do you love ME??" to which you answered by rolling over and closing your eyes. (You brat!)

There are many more things you say and do that amuse me everyday, but the list is so long there would be no way for me to record it all. But I will try, and I will be adding stuff to the end of this list as it comes up.

Wisdom From CeCe (with two new ones I forgot last night)

~It is acceptable to wear a toque to the dinner table when your wood stove is malfunctioning and your house is an ice box!

~When the power goes out, and leaves three digital clocks flashing, it is ok to only re-set one. And when you (accidentally) re-set that one an hour ahead, it's ok to (purposely) leave it like that, 'cause you've got to change the time on all of your clocks in a month anyway.

~It is perfectly fine to wash your kid's shoes in the kitchen and leave all the dishes for another day.

~It is also perfectly fine to leave those shoes in the dish drying rack.

~But don't wash all the shoes in one day, 'cause then your kid will have no shoes to wear.

~Be careful when "testing" your freshly boiled perogies. I went to try one, and boiling water dribbled out, burned me, and left a blister on my lip that looks like a cold sore. And it bloody hurts!

~Taking a walk at dusk with your two little ones just to see if you can "find some horsies" can be a lot of fun. Even when it takes you so long to walk up the road that it's dark by the time you get to the farms and the horses have "gone to bed", the walk itself can be fun as you pick snow drop flowers and gaze at the moon and point out the geese flying overhead.

~It is ok to take 48 pictures of one child in 10 minutes just to get a couple really good ones. (red eye doesn't count.)