Kiddie Lit

As a life long reader, one of the things I have looked forward to is sharing some of my favorite books with my children. Having a daughter, I am really looking forward to sharing the "Little House" series. Of course, at 3 1/2, she's not quite ready to listen to a chapter book so we share other books. Some I remember and some I don't. One thing that has really surprised me lately, though, is the number of really good new books out there that Maggie has introduced me to. We have developed a routine when I drop her off at daycare that includes reading a story. If certain friends are there, they have learned to run over and listen to the story as well. Maggie gets to pick out the story (within reason -- there is a Richard Scary Word book in the pile and I don't like to read that as it is mostly word recognition with no story). At home the classics make their rotation in her favorites, but the list below are the regulars at daycare. I love them because the stories are cute, typically have an easy moral, and are easy for Maggie to "help" me read.

No David This one joined the rotation today and I just LOVED it. Little David is constantly told No, Don't, Stop, Get Back Here, but in the end gets a big hug and I love you from Mom. The drawings are somewhat crude and I think David is a little scary looking, but Maggie loved it and really "read" it to me.
Don't Be Silly, Mrs. Millie Mrs Millie is so silly she gets her words mixed up. She asks the children to stand in the lion, wash with soap and walrus, get out their paper and penguins. Maggie just loves to say "Don't be Silly Mrs. Millie. I don't write with a penguin. I write with a pencil!" The story is easy for Maggie to remember, so it's fun to talk about at supper as well.
Silly Sally Silly Sally goes to town walking backwards upside down and meets animals doing crazy things along the way. This is a short book that has a lot of different rhymes. Maggie loves silly things right now, so she giggles through the whole story.
Hiccupotomus Poor hippopotamus! He has the hiccups. Maggie loves to pretend she has the hiccups with the hippo and loves the silly rhymes! "There was a hippopotamus who hiccuped quite a lot-amus!"
Hippo-not-amus Portly is a little hippo who doesn't want to be a hippo anymore and takes on favorite features from different animals along the way. What exactly does a hippo-gir-ele-bat-onoceros eat? This story is a little longer and doesn't rhyme, but it has a nice rhythm that Maggie enjoys.

First one at daycare

Below is an IM conversation between Rocky and me after he dropped off Maggie at daycare this morning:

Rocky Dailey says: another little girl got there a few minutes after us,
and Maggie was afraid she would go in before us
Wendy Dailey says: I think she likes being the first one there.
Rocky Dailey says: I convinced her they could walk in together, so they held hands and walked in once they opened the door

Spring

Historically, I have not been a big fan of spring. Growing up, the end of winter meant mud, muck, puddles of water surrounding the house as the snow that had been present for at least 5 months melted. Spring also means that summer is just around the corner and with that, heat, humidity and staying in the house. Here in Montana, though, I am developing a new appreciation for spring. I don't know if it is Montana or a certain little girl that is helping me to learn to enjoy this season.

I took Friday off from work and Maggie and I enjoyed the day. We watched cartoons and then went shopping. Our excursion included about 2 hours at Barnes & Noble, where we had a little coffee date and read stories. Our afternoon was spent running around the backyard and rolling in the grass like Otis. When Rocky got home, we hung out in the garage and Maggie took Rocky on a trike ride.

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Saturday, we enjoyed another nice day! We started our day at the Beartooth Nature Center in Red Lodge. The Nature Center cares for wild animals who are no longer able to care for themselves or who have been raised by humans and abandoned. Maggie really enjoyed seeing all the animals, especially Speedy the buffalo, the moose and the owls. She was upset when we had to leave.

We cheered her up when we got home by breaking out the chalk and putting up the tent to get it ready for camping this summer. She loved running in and out of the tent and was sad when we took it down this morning. I think it will be ready for our first camping trip, which is set for the first weekend in May to Yellowstone.

Success!

A few items of note:

• I have lost over 10 pounds using the Wii Fit. I've been using it somewhat regularly since the first of the year, and off and on in November and December of last year. I thought I had noticed my clothes fitting better, but wasn't sure. But the numbers didn't lie last night -- and I even did the Body Test 3 times just to make sure it was correct (the first time it did lie and told me I had lost 11 pounds since my last visit 12 days ago and I KNEW I hadn't lost that much, thus the other 2 tests).
• Slush the first was located on Sunday afternoon. Maggie found him in the refrigerator of her play kitchen. Slush the second has not yet arrived from jolly old England, so once he does, he will go into hiding until the next time Slush the first decides to hide.
• Maggie is getting better about alerting us to poopies. I got a call today from Preschool letting me know that she poopied on the potty there and was very excited (they even gave her a certificate). Apparently, she informed all her classmates that she could now get her fish. A few weeks ago, I told Maggie if she pooped on the potty 5 times, we would get her another fish. She actually hit the 5 times about a week and a half ago, but for some reason got fixated on the "I poop on the potty three more times when I get a fish. Fish is at the fish store." I couldn't get her to understand she was at 5, so we kind of let it go. I did call Rocky at work to tell him he may have to make a stop at the pet store on the way home.

Remembering Nala

I'm feeling rather sentimental tonight. Nala passed away a year ago, but it doesn't seem quite possible that she's been gone that long. A few months ago, Maggie mentioned Nala for the first time after seeing some pictures. She remarked "Nala doesn't live with us anymore. Otis lives in our house." She's never really asked about Nala (and actually was much more upset that her fish Orange went missing than Nala did).

But in honor of Nala, I present: "Nala Takes a Bath"

Maggie-isms

The other day, Rocky picked up Maggie from daycare. When they got to the car, Maggie asked "Daddy, can I drive the car?" Rocky told her she would have to wait about 13 years before she could drive car. So Maggie asked "How about a little car?"

How much would you pay?

Maggie hasn't really had a "lovie" -- that constant companion that she's used in her short three years to comfort her. Growing up, I had a true lovie, my blankie that was probably with me constantly until I went to school and then just in my bed. And truth be told, I was an adult when it stopped being a part of my bed (though I did take it out again for a few nights after 9/11). My blankie was made by my grandmother and she lovingly put several new backs on it. I don't remember how old I was when she finally said she wouldn't fix it anymore. Now it is in several pieces in the crawl space of our house. I could find it if I really wanted to.

When I was induced with Maggie, Rocky bought Slush, a beanie baby Husky dog, in the hospital gift shop. I think Slush was the first non-essential item Rocky bought for Maggie. It was quite some time before Maggie even noticed the toy. And it seemed Slush would probably end up meaning more to me than he ever would to Maggie. But lately, she seems to look for him. And unfortunately, yesterday when she looked for him, we couldn't find him. We've retraced our steps, looked throughout the house (I even did a cursory look around day care, just in case she brought him there one day that we forgot about), but no Slush. Which then brought me to the questions:

1. Do we just buy a new Slush?


2. If we do, how much are we willing to pay? After all, this is a Beanie Baby we are talking about. And not a small one. Slush was just a tad smaller than Maggie when she was born. What if he's been discontinued?

Well, thank God for Ebay. I found Slush on Ebay today in jolly old England and Slush is currently on his way to Billings Montana for only $16 (including shipping). It was a buy now offer so I didn't have to mess with an auction and possible inflated prices, because when does it become too much? (really, probably around $25) But then when there's that little 3 year old face looking at you and saying "Pease, Mommy, find Slush."

Of course, now that I have purchase the toy and it's been shipped out, Slush will probably be sitting on the kitchen counter or Maggie's bed or somewhere when I get home.

Daylight Saving Time

So, did you know it starts this weekend? Of the many many things Bush did during his presidency, this is the one that makes the least sense to me. I don't know that I have ever liked the time change, but making DST last longer just doesn't make sense. Does anyone wait to turn on their lights when they get home from work? Even on a bright sunny day, I turn on my lights. But the worst part to me is not that I'm going to lose an hour of sleep on Sunday (honestly, it will probably feel like sleeping in), but next week, when I get up for work, it will be dark as midnight, dark like winter. I get up early, usually between 5 and 5:30 am. Currently, the sun is just starting to rise when I'm done with my shower and, if not for DST, would be waking me at around 5 in probably about a week or so. But nooooo, for some odd-ball reason, the powers that be think we are saving electricity or coal or something by extending DST. I don't buy it. Maybe it made sense back when people did use more natural light. And when it's warmer: i.e. not March when Old Man Winter still likes to rear his ugly head and remind us that it's NOT SPRING YET. If it were warmer, we might actually utilize the natural light and go outside, but not when it's 14 degrees.

Now DST by itself I don't mind (except that if we didn't have DST here in Montana, during the summer, movies at the drive in would start before 10 p.m.), it's the change over that gets me. Let's either go with DST or ST, pick one and let's be done with it. Make the entire country stick with that one -- Arizona and those few hold out counties in Indiana. Stop the change over. I'm not looking forward to waiting another 3-4 weeks for it to be light out when I get up in the morning.