Random Bits

Cecilia, upon seeing the moon in the sky at 10:00 in the morning: "Go away, Mr. Moon! You're not a day moon! You're a night moon!"

Cecilia learned to pedal a trike yesterday - August 31st. She does really well on a flat surface and today, she was doing circles around the patio all by herself! Even when she fell over once and scraped her ankle, she came to me crying but immediately said, "I want to get back on!" through her tears. She is really determined and excited to ride, and she will do it for 20 minutes straight!

Cecilia: "I wanted to let the chickens out for a few whiles."

Cecilia uses the words "anywhere" and "anybody" instead of "nowhere" and "nobody." So the question "Where are you going, Cecilia?" is answered with, "Anywhere."

Cecilia, pretending to go to Kroger: "Kroger doesn't have toiletries, but I bought cheese. It didn't have a wrapper. Somebody stooled it," then, "I bought toilet paper, and they don't have toilet paper anymore because I used it all for my bottom." Hmm, that sounds like a personal problem, using all the toilet paper in the whole store... ;) I guess the toileting subject is of interest to her now that she wears "big girl panties" all the time (other than naps and overnight, although she's woken up dry from naps for the past couple days). I hear about people saying things like, "Potty training was the worst thing I have experienced with my child and nearly ruined our relationship," and such, and I am not sure what the big deal is (and Caroline was not "easy" about toileting - didn't poop in the potty until she was about to turn four even though she had bowel control for over a year prior to that)... my advice (if anybody actually wants it, ha!) is to just chill. It will happen. Provide the opportunities and let them know what the toilet and underwear are for, but don't set some idealistic date and say, "We will be potty training that week." Although if you do end up being blessed with a child who absolutely won't use the toilet even though she is able to avoid accidents, then just give it time and soon enough she will be old enough to help set a date to do it and get it over with. Kids who actually have a real hangup over the toilet won't even respond to bribes, generally - but I don't agree with bribing kids to use the toilet anyway. But a one or two year old (and several three year olds, I am sure) is not going to understand the setting of a date for "training," and it just sets up a big power struggle.

Why do I keep losing more and more of my hair? I am not pregnant. Not that anyone would ever notice the hair loss (except my husband, who uses the same shower as me!) because my hair is really thick, but it is coming out nearly in handfuls. It wasn't coming out this much until the last two months, maybe. So I am not sure what has changed... Even when I am just walking around doing my normal day-to-day stuff, I notice a loose strand of hair tickling my neck or my arm about every ten minutes. So strange...

Okay, Facebook users... can anyone explain to me why people sometimes write FB statuses (stati???) that begin with "Dear So-and-so," the so-and-so being somebody/thing that will never actually read it because they don't have access to that person's FB account or they are inanimate objects? These statuses are almost always some sort of complaint. An example: "Dear Wal-Mart, why are you always out of parchment paper every time I come into your store? I have been needing some for four weeks now. Love, Erin." [This would be if I wrote my status - something I rarely do anyway - in this somewhat common letter format that I see on FB regularly. If I really thought anyone cared about my parchment paper dilemma and I wanted to post about it on FB, then I would just say flat out, "Gosh, WM has been out of parchment paper for a month now!" Instead, I write random stuff like this on my blog, figuring that people came to my blog intentionally and might really care about what I am writing.] Wouldn't the more fruitful action to be to write an actual letter to the real people at my real Wal-Mart, or to call them, or ask a manager next time I am there? I guess it just makes people feel better to get it out there and off their chests, and they use FB to do that...

Day two of the Alphabet Path tomorrow... we will do school work/projects on Labor Day, yes, I am such a killjoy. ;) We will be taking a field trip to an apple orchard on Friday - near Nashville. So the girls and I will go on Thursday and stay overnight so we can do the orchard on Friday morning. We have been to the orchard in Ellijay the last couple years, and while they have a great selection of apples and lots of entertainment (huge slide, petting zoo at extra cost, pig races, moonshine museum - I am not kidding, go look at the website for yourself!), I am interested in the educational aspect of it. My mother-in-law found this orchard in TN that has 15 minute sessions in which the kids get to learn some apple history, see how cider is made, learn about a real working farm, and pick apples afterward. So we are planning to go there, especially once I spoke with the owner who told me," We really aren't about entertainment - we are a working farm and want the kids to take that away from the experience." Perfect! So we'll be able to go join a smallish moms' group by going on Friday (rather than a group of 100+ school kids). And... there is a free Tonic concert Thursday night in Nashville. Shh, don't tell the girls, who would be very jealous, but it doesn't begin until 10:30 eastern, so they will be asleep long before that. The only drawback is that Chris can't make the trip with us because he's already taken time off recently and will be taking more at the end of the month for another of my kooky projects (La Leche League conference)... "kooky projects" said in jest here as the words of Homer Simpson, not the words of my husband! Okay, so time for a Simpsons quote, haven't done one in awhile:

HOMER: I can't fake an interest in this, and I'm an expert at faking an interest in your kooky projects.
MARGE: What kooky projects?
HOMER: You know, the painting class, the first aid course, the whole Lamaze thing.

Hee hee... Anyway, so I am making the trip alone and will go to the Tonic concert anyway, by myself. Yes, I know, I am lame. And probably a loser too. ;)

So, now it's off to cut Chris's hair, take a shower, and make sure tomorrow's plans are in order while having a cup of tea. Once we get through A week, I will write a post about how it went, including the apple orchard!