Last night Auntie Katie called Ada and I while we were driving home but the call lasted longer than the drive. After we arrived home we stayed out in the car because I would have had to dig my phone out of my bag in the back of the car to pull it off the Bluetooth in the car and also because the car is one of Ada's favorite playgrounds.
As some background information on the way home Ada spilled some water on her shirt so she insisted on taking it off as soon as we pulled into the driveway.
While sitting in the car I opened the sun roof to let in some of the nice night air. Ada thought this was GREAT!
As her mother, what I'm about to tell you was both hilarious and enough to make me want to lock Ada in her room until she is 35.
Once the sun roof was opened, Ada, topless Ada, pulled herself through the hole in the roof and started shouting, "WEEEEEEEEEE YEEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA". She did this over and over again. Pulling herself back into the car to laugh hysterically.
Note to self. Ada is not allowed anywhere near limos when she hits high school.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Horray for 2009
Welcome to 2009! We had a wonderful break, traveled by car, boat, and plane. Saw almost all of our family, spent time catching a tan and playing in snow. Welcomed Santa back into our lives after many years and really got a lot of time to enjoy the wonderful little girl that Ada is becoming. Granted we had our battles of wills as well - but for some reason when I look back on the two weeks of family time I just remember the funny stuff.
Our vacation started with our cruise down to Cabo, or as Ada liked to say "On the big boat". Ada LOVED the cruise. Everything was new and exciting and the boat was big enough to not get bored but also small enough that Ada had it figured out after about a day. Elliot and I will remember this trip for the amount of sleep we got, Ada will remember this trip for the amount of ice cream she consumed. The cafeteria had soft serve machines and our waiter in our formal dining room discovered Ada's love of chocolate ice cream on the first night and would then just bring more and more and more every night. This might have been the highlight of the cruise for Ada if it weren't for dance show on the last night. Ada was mesmerized by every little twirl and beebop to the music. Put it this way she sat still and focused for close to 45 minutes, not even Nemo can warrant that kind of respect.
Next we spent a few days at home, preparing for, and participating in Christmas. Ada loved mass, but not so much for the religious aspects as the musical aspects. After every song the choir sang, Ada clapped as loud as she could and shouted out, "YAYAYAY". Just to let the choir know she appreciated their effort. We also spent lots of time at Nana's house, and without fail, immediately after we would leave Nana's house Ada would start asking to go back to Nana's house. I think it had something to do with the way Nana lets Ada jump on the couch after she has already knocked off the cushions.
The day after Christmas we boarded a big airplane and headed up to the frozen tundra of Seattle. Lucky to have avoided the big lack of de-icing fluid catastrophe that held Seattle hostage for days, we had a great flight and actually only took one hour from landing to driving our rental car away from the airport. With checked bags, a two year old and all that snow - that was really something.
We managed to make it up to my Grandma Ott's house while Ada napped in the car. Once we got to Grandma's house we told Ada that we were at her Great Grandma's house. She looked at me and said, "Big Grandma's house" with the authority of a grade school grammar teacher correcting he young pupils. So it became Big Grandma's house from that point on. After visiting for awhile we headed up to the cabin, or as Ada would like to call it HOME. She adapted to the cabin really fast and when it came time to leave she threw the tantrum to end all tantrums. If we ever do move out of our house in San Diego I think Ada will have to go on vacation as we pack up everything because the trauma we inflicted on her when we left the cabin this year was right up there with the trauma she goes through when she poops in the shower (all you parents out there know what that shriek is).
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Baker was once again fun and relaxing. Ada got to hang out with Taylor the whole week (and has been asking for her everyday since we returned home), and she got two solid play days with Erica and Nicollo. She also has a new BFF - his name is Tony and Ada now brightens up when she hears his name. She also got to reacquaint herself with Jason, Emi, and Nonna Donna, as well as her Tia Jackie. Tony and Jackie did quite a good job keeping up Ada's Spanish lessons while we were away and now Ada will sponateously break out into a "Tiaaa Jaaackkiee" while in the car.
We also had a ton of snow up in Baker. On one of our play days with the other Hickses Jason, Elliot, Emi and I build a variety of snow objects for the kids to play with. There was a wonderful snowman (complete with moss for hair), a snow couch and a snow chair, and best of all... a snow slide. Erica was by far the most daring but Ada did a round or two going head first.
All in all a great way to end the year. Thanks to everyone for a great 2008 - here is to hoping 2009 is even better!!
Our vacation started with our cruise down to Cabo, or as Ada liked to say "On the big boat". Ada LOVED the cruise. Everything was new and exciting and the boat was big enough to not get bored but also small enough that Ada had it figured out after about a day. Elliot and I will remember this trip for the amount of sleep we got, Ada will remember this trip for the amount of ice cream she consumed. The cafeteria had soft serve machines and our waiter in our formal dining room discovered Ada's love of chocolate ice cream on the first night and would then just bring more and more and more every night. This might have been the highlight of the cruise for Ada if it weren't for dance show on the last night. Ada was mesmerized by every little twirl and beebop to the music. Put it this way she sat still and focused for close to 45 minutes, not even Nemo can warrant that kind of respect.
Next we spent a few days at home, preparing for, and participating in Christmas. Ada loved mass, but not so much for the religious aspects as the musical aspects. After every song the choir sang, Ada clapped as loud as she could and shouted out, "YAYAYAY". Just to let the choir know she appreciated their effort. We also spent lots of time at Nana's house, and without fail, immediately after we would leave Nana's house Ada would start asking to go back to Nana's house. I think it had something to do with the way Nana lets Ada jump on the couch after she has already knocked off the cushions.
The day after Christmas we boarded a big airplane and headed up to the frozen tundra of Seattle. Lucky to have avoided the big lack of de-icing fluid catastrophe that held Seattle hostage for days, we had a great flight and actually only took one hour from landing to driving our rental car away from the airport. With checked bags, a two year old and all that snow - that was really something.
We managed to make it up to my Grandma Ott's house while Ada napped in the car. Once we got to Grandma's house we told Ada that we were at her Great Grandma's house. She looked at me and said, "Big Grandma's house" with the authority of a grade school grammar teacher correcting he young pupils. So it became Big Grandma's house from that point on. After visiting for awhile we headed up to the cabin, or as Ada would like to call it HOME. She adapted to the cabin really fast and when it came time to leave she threw the tantrum to end all tantrums. If we ever do move out of our house in San Diego I think Ada will have to go on vacation as we pack up everything because the trauma we inflicted on her when we left the cabin this year was right up there with the trauma she goes through when she poops in the shower (all you parents out there know what that shriek is).
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Baker was once again fun and relaxing. Ada got to hang out with Taylor the whole week (and has been asking for her everyday since we returned home), and she got two solid play days with Erica and Nicollo. She also has a new BFF - his name is Tony and Ada now brightens up when she hears his name. She also got to reacquaint herself with Jason, Emi, and Nonna Donna, as well as her Tia Jackie. Tony and Jackie did quite a good job keeping up Ada's Spanish lessons while we were away and now Ada will sponateously break out into a "Tiaaa Jaaackkiee" while in the car.
We also had a ton of snow up in Baker. On one of our play days with the other Hickses Jason, Elliot, Emi and I build a variety of snow objects for the kids to play with. There was a wonderful snowman (complete with moss for hair), a snow couch and a snow chair, and best of all... a snow slide. Erica was by far the most daring but Ada did a round or two going head first.
All in all a great way to end the year. Thanks to everyone for a great 2008 - here is to hoping 2009 is even better!!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
TA-DAA!!!
Recently Ada was enjoying her dinner and, clearly impressed with her own ability to successfully shovel at least some of the food on her plate into her mouth, raised her arms victoriously over her head and exclaimed "Ta-daa!!!". Sitting on the stool in front of her, I provided what seemed to be the appropriate response by raising my arms in kind and returning the ta-daa.
Ada was delighted by this exchange and followed it with the logic of any 2 year old - if something is funny once, it should be repeated ad nauseum. I played along, mirroring her ta-daas dutifully. After what seemed like the 30th go-round of ta-daas, I decided to inject some variety into my end of the performance by responding with clapping and a hearty "yeah Ada!". Ada pondered this response for a moment then raised her arms up for another ta-daa. I again responded with clapping and "yeah Ada!". After a short pause and a confused frown, Ada addressed me with the restrained frustration of someone explaining an obvious concept to a not-so-swift student. "No daddy," she said slowly, "not yeah Ada. Ta-daa." while raising her arms instructively. Thus chastened, I returned to the proper response and Ada was happily ta-daa-ing again.
Ada was delighted by this exchange and followed it with the logic of any 2 year old - if something is funny once, it should be repeated ad nauseum. I played along, mirroring her ta-daas dutifully. After what seemed like the 30th go-round of ta-daas, I decided to inject some variety into my end of the performance by responding with clapping and a hearty "yeah Ada!". Ada pondered this response for a moment then raised her arms up for another ta-daa. I again responded with clapping and "yeah Ada!". After a short pause and a confused frown, Ada addressed me with the restrained frustration of someone explaining an obvious concept to a not-so-swift student. "No daddy," she said slowly, "not yeah Ada. Ta-daa." while raising her arms instructively. Thus chastened, I returned to the proper response and Ada was happily ta-daa-ing again.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
I say la mesa, you say...
Being the over-informed and freaked-out modern parents that we are, Katie and I take Ada to a toddler Spanish class every Saturday morning, concerned that our collective foreign language skills, being barely sufficient to order a ham sandwich in Paris, will permanently stunt Ada's ability to pick up other tongues.
Neither Katie or I have studied Spanish, so we struggle along with Ada trying to pick up the new vocabulary. This is fine in class, where the ever patient Miss Linda encourages our feeble attempts to help out as if we were just a few more two-year old students, happy if we just make an attempt at saying the words and make it through class without wetting ourselves. At home, it's a little tougher. As parents we feel duty-bound to reinforce Miss Linda's teachings in spite of our complete incompetence with the subject matter. This primarily consists of repeating colors and numbers in Spanish while reading with Ada, but occasionally we'll chuck in a random word out of the blue.
The other night Ada was sitting in her high chair finishing up with dinner. As usual, a good portion of her mac and cheese had found its way on to the chair's tray, the surrounding floor, and probably some not so obvious places we'll only discover when we move out of the house. I grabbed a sponge and handed it to Ada, asking her to clean "la mesa" - no doubt this clever use of Spanglish was delivered with the perfect diction one would expect from mid-western Canadian. Leaving Ada to her cleaning, I stooped down to pick up some errant mac. When I stood up, Ada was looking at me with a puzzled expression while dutifully using the sponge to clean the top of her head. No doubt she found it odd that her dad would ask her to clean her "cabeza" while "la mesa" clearly had a mess on it. I took heart that she was willing to follow instructions from her dad, no matter how idiotic, but I fear her foreign language skills may still be doomed.
Neither Katie or I have studied Spanish, so we struggle along with Ada trying to pick up the new vocabulary. This is fine in class, where the ever patient Miss Linda encourages our feeble attempts to help out as if we were just a few more two-year old students, happy if we just make an attempt at saying the words and make it through class without wetting ourselves. At home, it's a little tougher. As parents we feel duty-bound to reinforce Miss Linda's teachings in spite of our complete incompetence with the subject matter. This primarily consists of repeating colors and numbers in Spanish while reading with Ada, but occasionally we'll chuck in a random word out of the blue.
The other night Ada was sitting in her high chair finishing up with dinner. As usual, a good portion of her mac and cheese had found its way on to the chair's tray, the surrounding floor, and probably some not so obvious places we'll only discover when we move out of the house. I grabbed a sponge and handed it to Ada, asking her to clean "la mesa" - no doubt this clever use of Spanglish was delivered with the perfect diction one would expect from mid-western Canadian. Leaving Ada to her cleaning, I stooped down to pick up some errant mac. When I stood up, Ada was looking at me with a puzzled expression while dutifully using the sponge to clean the top of her head. No doubt she found it odd that her dad would ask her to clean her "cabeza" while "la mesa" clearly had a mess on it. I took heart that she was willing to follow instructions from her dad, no matter how idiotic, but I fear her foreign language skills may still be doomed.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
starbucks
This morning as I was helping Ada get ready, Elliot asked me if I wanted coffee for the road. Meaning that he was going to make me a latte for my travel mug that I could drink on my way in. Ada heard this and immediately stopped what she was doing and ran to the door shouting "COFFEE, I WANT COFFEE". Now before you think we have already started Ada on a steady drip of caffeine, Ada gets either a steamed milk or a cold milk from Starbucks when we go out for coffee. This is usually a Sunday morning treat when Elliot and I are still rubbing the sleep out of our eyes and Ada needs to burn off a little energy.
Well this morning I needed to desperately get out the door at 7:45 or earlier due to my first meeting time, so a motivated Ada was a good thing. Elliot and I told her we could go to coffee if she hurried up and got her shoes and socks on. Ada took this as MOMMY needed to get her shoes on. So she ran back to our bedroom shouting "Mommy get your shoes and socks on." Like I was going to ruin the whole coffee opportunity for her.
We managed to get out the door on time and as soon as we got to Starbucks, Ada busted through the door and ran straight to the cooler where she picked out her milk and handed it to Elliot. You could almost see the sigh of relief as she watched Elliot pay for her milk and hand it back over.
If she is this addicted to Starbucks now, I'd hate to see her after pulling an all nighter.
Well this morning I needed to desperately get out the door at 7:45 or earlier due to my first meeting time, so a motivated Ada was a good thing. Elliot and I told her we could go to coffee if she hurried up and got her shoes and socks on. Ada took this as MOMMY needed to get her shoes on. So she ran back to our bedroom shouting "Mommy get your shoes and socks on." Like I was going to ruin the whole coffee opportunity for her.
We managed to get out the door on time and as soon as we got to Starbucks, Ada busted through the door and ran straight to the cooler where she picked out her milk and handed it to Elliot. You could almost see the sigh of relief as she watched Elliot pay for her milk and hand it back over.
If she is this addicted to Starbucks now, I'd hate to see her after pulling an all nighter.
Monday, December 8, 2008
so proud
We started potty training Ada over the Thanksgiving holiday and after the first weekend Elliot and I were both silently thinking maybe we had attempted too much too soon. But Ada with some help from day care has proved us wrong. One thing we did change was her napping and bedtime condition. The day care instructions on potty training stated that they would not diaper her during nap time and that they requested that we did not diaper during nap OR night time at home. Being good little instruction followers we tried this, until Ada's teacher told us that they were diapering her during nap time. OMG!! Once we flipped to sleepy time diapering it took all of the trauma out and Ada is now well on her way to being potty trained. We still have an accident here or there, but Ada is very good about telling us she has to go to the bathroom, or that she needs a "diaper change", or saying out loud, "I'm holding it, I'm holding it". I'd like to say that it is Ada's maturity that has helped us make so much progress is so little time, but really I think it is the promise of Elmo and Princess big girl underwear, as Ada insists on wearing nothing but "Big Girl UNDERPANTS!" At least she has goals.
I could not be more proud!
making out like a band-aid
Ada is talking up a storm these days. And repeating. Repeating EVERYTHING she hears. This has presented some funny situations, and we are frequently reminded that kids definitely say the funniest things EVER. The other night as we wrapped up a shopping trip to the mall where Ada walked away with 80% of our purchases we commented on how Ada was "making out like a bandit" that night. Ada, trying her best to sound cool, confirmed our statement with, "I made out like a band-aid". A Tinkerbell band-aid, I'm sure.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
