Saturday, May 24, 2014

Lois At The Zoo!

 I didn't get a picture of Lois actually petting this little white goat (I thought it was a lamb but apparently not?) but she chased it around a bit until it let her pet it, then it would run away again.
 If you click on this picture you can make it bigger (as with any picture in these posts), and you'll see that Lois' hand is NOT being eaten by this albino deer. She's feeding it special feed we bought at the entrance!

 This camel, on the other hand, is clearly trying to eat my daughter's entire arm.
 Early on, Lois didn't quite "get" what she was supposed to do with the food so when this llama bent down to try and eat it out of her hand, she threw it on the ground.

The llama was happy, Lois was happy, that's all that really matters.
 Lois was not drunk.

She was also apparently not impressed by the elephant, as shown in this photo.

(Actually, she loved the elephant and clearly said "cool" and "wow." This is just a funny picture I snapped really quickly.)
We had fun today! It was a great day out with friends and family. Sure, we got home late and also may have forgotten to put sunscreen on anybody, but overall it was a really good day.

Friday, May 23, 2014

My Daughter: The Dork, The Awesome, The Adorable

 I don't care what anybody might say, my daughter looks absolutely amazing in my trilby and she has a look in her eye that just dares you to say otherwise.

 She loves wearing hats, whether they're fashionable or monstrous.
When she gives me looks like this, not even yet two-years-old, I know I'm going to be in trouble later on in life as she asks, doubtful, about every single decision I try to make for her about her life.

 We traveled to the Smithfield Plantation, me, Laura, Lois, and Auntie Amanda. After going through the whole guided tour Lois was a little bit fussy and bored. We let her outside and she wanted to run free without holding our hands.

She threw herself on the ground when we'd try to hold her hand.
She would throw a fit, and then try to take a nap.

She was a little bit tired.

 We're a week away from moving and Lois' sleep schedule has been absolutely destroyed. When we can get her to take her naps she is quite obviously wiped out.

Here, she is cuddling with Rompy and absolutely sound asleep.
This is my favorite new photo of Lois. We went to the Cascades, walked around, and let her play a little bit (though with the rushing water nearby she was never out of arm's reach and rarely free to roam on her own).

She started counting the rocks and placing them in her stroller. Later she played the "let's throw these rocks away" game but when this picture was taken they were her precious jewels.

Monday, May 19, 2014

I Think That Just Happened

Sometimes conversations with my daughter are a little difficult to follow. She doesn't actually have language yet, except for when she does, and so most of the time I'm just making up what I think she said based off of how the constant babble coming out of her mouth sounds. I think all parents do this.

But sometimes it's different. Sometimes she's very clear.

For example, an interesting conversation snippet just happened here.

Me: Lois, do you want to sit with me?

Lois: No, daddy. (Incoherent babble here that sounded like she was explaining how she was comfortable standing.)

Me: (Smiling because she's so adorable.) Lois, do you know that I love you?

Lois: I said I just wanna be friends, daddy. I want cheeseburger, please.

"Also, pull me around in this and fan me with large fans. Thank you!"





Friday, May 16, 2014

Picture Friday: It's Still Friday!

Today was a very busy day with Laura's graduation (she will henceforth be known as "Doctor Mommy," as Lois calls her) and so I'm a bit late on this but I have some great photos to share.

Enjoy!
I don't wanna smile and you can't make me, daddy.
She was pointing out the window at trees, saying "Window, trees!"
The graduation was a little rough on the little one since it went on for several hours and she was expected to sit still.

She did extremely well but in the last half an hour or so she was done with the process. She had already seen mommy graduate so we went out and sat in the hall for a while.
Once we got to Chateau Morissette for Doctor Mommy's graduation celebration, Lois had spent most of the day cooped up and unable to run. There was a large field nearby where I allowed her to run off some of her energy while the other adults waited patiently inside for their food.

These pictures were difficult to get as she was running from me, yelling "Run! Run away!" and then giggling like a madman.
 She would walk up to these flowers, pat them, and say "touch flower," then run away laughing like she does when she does something "wrong." I wasn't scolding her or telling her no so I'm not sure what she thought she was doing wrong but hey, if that's as rebellious as she gets, I'll count that as a win forever.

I think I have a new favorite photo of Lois.

Saturday, May 10, 2014

That's Not What That's....Nevermind

I learned an interesting lesson today: Toddlers think weirdly.

When she first crawled in I was going to correct her, maybe help her sit in the actual seating area.

Then I thought about it: She's doing no harm, she's adorable, and she's not going to be hurt. Let her be, let her enjoy the world.

And she did.

She sat in here, contentedly, for about half an hour. Maybe it was only 5 minutes in actuality but anybody with a toddler will tell you that 5 minutes of toddler quietness feels like half an hour or longer.
 She wasn't even watching TV or anything. She just kicked her feet out, sucked her thumbs, and contemplated life.

 I snapped photo after photo, making sure I had at least a few good photos. She stared at the wall. Somehow I think she was happier than I was, even though I was thrilled with her adorableness.
 After a while she realized there was a camera. You can feel her rolling her eyes at me in this picture. Seriously, look at that face.

When she's a teen I am going to be in a lot of trouble and I just know I'm going to hear "You're embarrassing me to death daddy!"

And I will laugh.

Because I am evil.
 I was a little concerned about how she would get out and if she would need help but she showed me with ease that she didn't need any help at all, daddy is unnecessary.
Mostly unnecessary. Mostly.

Someone had to man the camera.

Otherwise, even when this happened, she wanted nothing to do with anyone helping her.

Friday, May 9, 2014

Picture Friday!

Lois was invited to a birthday party recently! It was hosted at Romp n' Roll and it was a ton of fun!

Auntie Amanda came with us and ended up being the main photographer so these were on my camera but taken by her.

She captured this picture moments before the little girl to the right tried to steal the xylophone. There were tears but no blood.

Not Lois' tears, for the record.
 After that, Auntie Amanda captured this moment, worthy of my picture-taking skills and priorities. "She's falling? Better take a picture!
 I'd just like to clarify that I am not choking the baby. This is not a Homer and Bart moment here, this is daddy tickling Lois' clavicles.

She's going to be the only three year old who knows the word clavicles. She'll also be the only three year old who giggles and runs away when she hears someone say it.
 Can't you hear the thunk of my daughter's head hitting the ground, slightly padded by the soft flooring but still a good, solid "Thunk?"

Again, I would like to point out that I did not take this photo. Auntie Amanda did. Blame her.

Because I've never done something like this. I always consider her welfare first before even thinking about picking up the camera!
Auntie Amanda did not snap this photo. I did.

It's been a little tiring in this household lately, what with a baby, a PhD student, moving, and general life stuff.

Here's mommy, getting a nap.

Sleep well, mommy. Enjoy the nap while you can.

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Language Warning: Conversations I Never Expected With a Less-Than-Two-Year-Old

"I'm gonna shake the maraca all the way to hell, daddy!"
Lois has recently been introduced to floating balloons. Grammy Pam gave us three, red heart-shaped balloons filled with Helium. They're awesome and they are Lois' favorite toy right now as they float around the room or follow her when she's actually holding onto the string.

She and I sat on the dining room floor, her holding a balloon, and an overhead fan on low spinning above us. I asked her why she thought the balloon floated up when she let go of it. The following is the conversation I am pretty sure happened:

Lois: Balloon float up because good!

Me: So you think that the balloon goes up when you let go of it because it has some kind of inherent goodness?

Lois: Yuh!

Me: Okay. Why does the milk fall down when you let go of it, then?

Lois: I no want talk 'bout morals of milk.

Me: That's fine, honey, you don't have to talk about milk, then. Can you tell me more about the balloon? What's going to happen if you let go of it right now with the fan spinning above us?

Lois: I'm gonna make that fucker fly!

*Stunned silence*

Laura from the kitchen: What goes on when I'm not in the house?

Me: I apparently have no idea.

Lois then proceeded to let go of the balloon. To be fair, that fucker flew as it smashed into the fan and was flung all about.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Picture Thursday!

We will be on the road tomorrow (and have been for a few days, thus the dearth of posts) so I'll put up some pictures today instead, from the trip we've been on to find an apartment in Chicago!

 First off, here is Lois, in case you've forgotten what she looks like in my absence. Just wanted to make sure to give you a reference photo.
 The doofus in blue is me. We were going in to watch the 4-D experience "Sea Monsters." It was pretty intense but Lois seemed to really enjoy it! I think I jumped more than she did at the parts that are made to make you jump.
 This is Lois standing in a penguin enclosure.

Okay. Go back and check the reference photo to find out if I'm just messing with you because I might be messing with you.
 She did this to herself, I SWEAR!
 Being a dad can mean being a sippy-cup rest. Knee, hand, face. You know, whatever. Even on vacation.
My new favorite picture of my daughter.
She liked playing with the trains, though she didn't quite understand what the track was for.
 This is me very carefully not yelling at the other little girl for slamming my daughter into the ground several times. The other little girl didn't mean to do it, she just had no idea how to gauge how much/little strength it took to teeter-totter.

Lois enjoyed herself and that's what mattered.
In the light of the shark tank at the Shedd Aquarium, my little girl who should have been taking a nap was having too much fun to sleep.