Helena Can Whistle

So today mommy is out cleaning up the yard after the dog and I hear whistling. Now I'm in the back of my 2 acres and am really mystified - wondering who in the world has come into my yard whistling. Then suddenly I look down to see little 2 year old lips pursed and sure enough those pursed 2 year old lips are letting out a whistle as Helena comes meandering up the hill right behind me. I couldn't believe it! I've never heard of a 2 and 1/2 yr old that can whistle!

Daddy's Girl

Helena is always so excited to see Daddy get home. She watches for him, explodes with excitement and runs to the door to greet him. Yesterday, she was out with me for a while and coming home, she was looking expectantly to the greeting she would get from her Daddy.

"I bet my Daddy is really going to love me!" She told me. Then as I carried her to the house, she pushed back the side of her hood. "I'm making a tunnel so I can see out. So i can see my Daddy looking up at me, smiling at me."

The Comedy Called Toddlerhood

A story: When I wake up in the morning in my bed I look at the window and there is a badger hanging there. He's hanging there for me and he comes in my room. He pooped in my room and he growled at me.

Reading her Bible: Then they went from Nazarem to the City of David to Bethlehem and then they had to go to Jerusalem.

Creative license with Noah's Ark: They builded a big ark for the animals. It was so big like this (showing me with her hands and arms) and they built it like a pig so big (showing me again) and it was like a big pig and it was crawling and it was so big and it looked like a pig like Wilbur (her toy pig).

Relaxing on the couch - she jumps up, runs across the room and gets in my face and says in this awful tone of voice "I'm being u-noxious" Then she points her finger at me and says "You listen to me! I'm mean!" And here I am trying soooooo hard not to laugh as I correct her and explain that it's not nice to use that tone of voice and be "mean". lol She's trying to be funny in doing all of this and it really is hysterical. Still, not something I want to encourage.

Seeing the dog being a dog: she asked me what deer poop tasted like (thank goodness I don't know the answer to that one!)

Noticing it's *very* quiet in the other room, I call her in to see what she's up to. She comes running to the doorway, bends slightly at the waist and cocks her head and says "Shhh... don't call me now mommy" I'm a bit bewildered til I notice the finger she has still pointing at me has bits of chocolate all over it. lol I had left Joe's birthday cake in the DR and she had found it and decided to help herself to the frosting. Since she's usually allowed to help herself to any food that is out I couldn't be too hard on her. But I did explain to have "treats" w/o asking is "naughty". Then I wisely put the cake away. ;)

Her bringing me something she's made to eat from her kitchen "You can only have this once in a while mommy because it's a treat. It has sugar in it".

She's so cute I could eat her all up!

Me: Your so cute I'm going to have to eat you.
H: Later, like hummus. (saying i need to eat her like I eat hummus)
2 seconds later: It's later now

She likes it when I "eat" her all up with kisses. Sometimes we say a little rhyme:
What shall I eat?
Something tiny and sweet!
I'll start at her head...
And end at her feet."

What I Know About Baby Feeding

This is how I feed my baby. It's how mommy fed me and it's how our friend feeds her little newborn Ruby. One time Ruby's mommy was trying to feed her and the blanket was slipping. "I'll fix it for you" I kindly offered as I quickly yanked it off of baby Ruby's head.

Making Bread with Mommy (fall of 07)

Pumpkin Painting

This is Helena back in the fall painting a pumpkin at a lovely craft fair. She just saw the picture and said to me "Mommy, can we do fall again?" Me - "Why do you want to do fall again?"
"Because I wuv it" she replied with a big smile on her face.
"What do you love about it?"
"About so big pumpkins. That's what I wuv about it"

Stairstep Picnics

There's just something fun about purching on the edge of a step to eat. Helena often sets up little picnics on our stairs - real ones and pretend.

Resting After Grocery Shopping

Yes, that's a bed of toilet paper that she made for herself! lol

Sleeping Beauty (fall of 07)

Making Applesauce

After we went apple picking back in October, I helped mommy to make some applesauce. Then she canned it and we gave it to some people for Christmas gifts - and of course we ate lots of it too. It was really yummy!

Me and My Baby

Hi Everyone! This is me and my baby. I call her "fuzzy baby" because her hair is really soft and she's all snuggly filled with wool and with soft organic cotton skin. I really love her! My mommy made her for me for my first Christmas. I feed her just like mommy did me when I was little.

One of My Favorite People

This is my Aunt Kt. She's one of my favorite people. This was taken last summer right after she moved in to live with us while she finished her last semester of school. I loved having her here. But then I'd get upset when she had to leave or stay in her room and do homework. I really miss her right now because she's all the way across the ocean in Romania.

Te iubesc you! (that means I love you in Romanian and is what Aunt Kt and I would shout out to eachother. She'd say te iubesc and I'd say "te iubesc you!"

Christmas Traditions

We worked hard (and fun!) this year to help Helena to understand the true meaning of Christmas.

We started off with a "travelling nativity". Mary and Joseph began their long journey in the master bedroom upstairs. Each morning, Helena found them just a bit closer to their destination: Bethlehem, which was located downstairs on her "nature table". Bethlehem was all set up with an empty nativity, fields of wool snow, a shepherd and some wooly sheep. Trees made of evergreen branches stuck in playdough and some pretty stones rounded out the field which was bordered by a bit of wood fencing.

These pictures were taken on Christmas day when Mary and Joseph and Baby Jesus were all in the stable and the angels were flying overhead.

Most of our nativity was homemade, as you can probably tell. The characters were made from unfinished wood peg people with Baby Jesus wrapped in swaddling wool and lying in a walnut shell manger. The angels were made of wool except for some feather ones we bought at a craft fair. The stable was made of sticks, an opened bird's nest that had beautiful white fuzz (snow) woven thru it and some more wool for drifting snow.

Another tradition we instituted was that of an advent wreath. Each night at dinner we lit a candle (or more depending on the week) and sang a corresponding number of Christmas carols. On Christmas day, the Christmas angel candle was lit as well. Joe made me that angel last Christmas and I really love it! :) Hope you all had a wonderful Merry Christmas - and I really hope these pictures last this time. They have a habit of disappearing the day after I put them up which is why I've taken to ignoring this blog. But hopefully the new way of posting them will be successful!

The Barn

Here is daddy's architectural work of art, fresh off the workbench - well actually still on it. Helena is thrilled to have a barn now to house all of her animals and for her farmer family and their tractor. She has even discovered that certain of the animals can sit up on the peak of the roof! What a great Christmas gift! Thanks Daddy!

Christmas

We had a lovely peaceful Christmas day at home this year, with Helena leisurely opening gifts, enjoying them and then opening more. Here she is intently (notice the tongue) trying to put together a bead chain. She was delighted over each and every gift, tho she insisted her favorite was the box of raisins in her stocking. I think her true favorites were the barn daddy built her and the riding toy with cart.

Kissing the Snowbird

Already Borrowing Mommy's Clothing

Helena absolutely loves mommy's new bathrobe (or "bathroom" as she was originally calling it). So after her bath yesterday, I generously allowed her to borrow it. She was thrilled!

I have to also add that this was accompanied by one of those confusions so common to the English language. Helena shares my bathrobe because I shared it with her, but she doesn't borrow my bathrobe because I "borrowed it" to her. I explained that I lent it to her and she borrowed it. English sure is confusing!

Cozy in January

After her nap today, I made Helena a nice mug of warmed raw milk with raw honey and vanilla in it. I found her a few minutes later cozily curled up in her chair with the felted wool throw pulled up on her lap. She was happily sipping her milk and thoroughly licking her lips between each dainty sip. So cute! This is how she stays cozy in the winter.