Gardening

Today, under the close supervision of the Tiny Overlord, the two minions started our garden. Minion #1 planted seeds in peat pots to give them a head start (okay, I admit that I did this while the Tiny Overlord was napping; it seemed an exercise that was fraught with opportunities for her to throw dirt and seeds around the entire house). Minion #2 spent most of the afternoon tilling the garden plot, raking out the dead plants into a compost pile, removing rocks (oh so many rocks) and trying to level the area. I brought the Tiny Overlord out for regular supervisory visits.

She enjoyed the tiller; she's really showing a preference for engines and vehicles. I think we have a gear head on our hands! But she also had quite a bit of fun playing in the dirt, only some of which got eaten. All in all, it was quite a productive day. Our garden plot is ready, the seeds are started, she got to play outside and get properly dirty. I love springtime!

More Words and Games

hair
ear
belly
car


She knows how to throw things away. She will pick up trash, carry it to the garbage can, lift the lid and throw the trash away. This can be very helpful, such as when she throws away her own diapers. Unfortunately, this new game is so much fun that so far she's also thrown away two toys and a cell phone. Luckily I was there to rescue all of them, and the cell phone was an old one any way. But now I have to put "searching through the garbage" to my list of duties.

Night Night!

For a while now, the Tiny Overlord has been saying "Night Night" when it's time for bed. Well, actually she says "Ni ni" but we know what she means. She waves goodbye and says night night to both cats and to her daddy, and then we head upstairs for a short play time, a change into a new diapers and jammies, then it's her blankie and a bottle. When she finishes the bottle, she usually nurses for a short time and then tells me night night, and I know it's time to put her into her crib with a kiss and Mr. Bunny.

This morning she was playing in the living room and kitchen after breakfast. She was starting to get a bit cranky and fussy, so I asked her "Is going to be naptime soon?" She looked up at me and clearly said "Night night." So we took her upstairs and gave her a bottle and put her into bed, where she promptly fell asleep.

14 months old, and she recognizes when she's tired and asks for naptime. I'm not just being a proud parent when I say that this one is smarter than the average toddler.

Cat 1, Tiny Overlord 0

The Giggling Guru has recently invented a new game. She calls it "Let's pull on the fluffy moving snake!" We like to call it "Uh oh, she's pulling the cat's tail again." We've tried to convince her that it is not, in fact, polite to yank on any portion of anyone's anatomy. She does not feel the need to comply to our standards.

Yesterday the Guru of Giggles decided to try this new game on one of her caretaker's cats, who responded in a different manner than our cats. Instead of retreating to a higher location, Callie registered her displeasure by swatting the Overlord on her forehead. 3 minor war wounds were administered, and both the Overlord and the cat retreated to fall back positions.

Her Majesty is now leaving the cats' tails alone.

Got the little one upgraded to her big girl car seat today. She looked so huge in her infant carrier, but she looks so small in the bigger seat!

Her Words

jacket
no
go
more
eat
drink
cat
Draco
Coco (her name for Callisto)
shoe
sock
bottle (said in an adorable Cockney accent)
bunny
blankie
hair
bear
fox
night night
home
phone
na na (her word for banana)
nack (her word for snack)
hot
cold

New Word

We knew it was going to happen. Last night, the Tiny Overlord was delighting herself by turning off all of the electronics in the living room. We, of course, responded with "No, don't do that. Come play with these toys instead." In a regal tone, she replied No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.
No.

Oh boy.

Terrible ... 13's?

Mealtimes have become more interesting. She's discovered that if she smacks her hand down on her tray, the food jumps, squishes and flies. She knows how to flip over her bowl and plate. The most disturbing, however, is when she looks at us, takes a handful of food, smiles at us, and drops it onto the floor.

From a psychological standpoint, it's fascinating. As a mom, it's frustrating. We'll just have to keep trying to convince her that manners are, in fact, important.