How things have been lately - month 38

Coversation #1.

"Where are you and Buzzy going?"

"Buzzy (who is one of her cow toys) is going to Starbucks. He is going to get Mama a lotty (aka Latte) and a pumpkin scone. And also maybe a blueberry muffin"

Conversation #2

"I don't like lasagna, I won't eat it. I don't like it!"

"OK, but you have to try one bite"

{eating}

"I LOVE lasagna! I like it! Can I have yours?"

Conversation #3 - happens every morning when I go into her room to get her

"Mama, what are we going to do today?"

Conversation #4

"Did you have fun at school today?"

"I caused a little bit of drama, but not too much.

Conversation #5 (as I was wearning my Loboutins)

"mama are those your treat shoes?"
"yes, Savannah, they are!"
"Such pretty treat shoes"

So I have, obviously neglected the savannahjane.com blog the last month or so, but we have had BIG happenings here.

Savannah is allllmost potty trained and if there is a tougher kid in the world to potty train, then I don't want to meet them. Seriously, it's been constant complaining, bribing, refusing to drink anything and just entirely too much drama. But I believe that hygiene has won and we have a mostly potty trained kid.

She is also sleeping in her big girl bed!!!! I was really dreading this as she told me for months she didn't want a bed, but the transition went off with absolutely no problems. It showed up, got put together, we put the pretty sheet we picked out together on it and ta-da! She slept in it for her nap with zero complaint. We couldn't believe it.




She has had no problems since either. She stays in there until we come and get her too - so bonus points. I know that she'll probably get brave one of these days, so we gate the stairs at night and have one of those little doorknob covers (which I anticipate would only slow her down, not defeat her completely - she's too good with her hands). So far, so good.

The one bit of drama we've had with sleeping is that she'll call us back into the room about a billion times before she settles down. I believe it's the precursor to "I need a glass of water!"

We've been a sicky household the last month with the scary breathing thing and THEN she had a terrible reaction to her flu shot (104 fever and completely listless) and then all of Austin got this junky cough & cold that I've had for a month, so that's been lame.

I've been busy with work and am struggling a little with balancing everything, but we have been trying to take her fun places when we can. We had a great weekend at Zilker park - there's video below.

Savannah is still very good with her hands. She loves puzzles and can pretty much do them by herself. She is also into 'fancy words'. She wants to know a big word every night before she goes to sleep. Her hand coordination is getting stronger. She's drawn a bunch of pictures that actually resemble something lately. Very impressive. She is also drawn to technology and can send a text message and play on the computer.

Her Texas accent is growing by the day. It's very funny as neither Conor nor (or?) I have very strong accents, but Savannah can string out the one syllable words with the best of them. "My Cay-ow! (cow)" "It's over thay-er!"

All in all, crazy months, but our litle person is still the awesomest!

Month 35 1/2

So here we are at month 35 1/2 and just as I was saying that nothing dramatically different happens anymore, you have done a lot of new and interesting stuff. I figured I should get this one in before the big 3 comes in a few weeks.

The big one is that you rarely refer to yourself in the third person anymore. It happened overnight I swear. One day you were telling me that "You don't want breakfast" "You want to watch Einsteins""You will go outside" and then the next you're referring to yourself as "I".

It's great, but, as predicted, it also makes me a little sad, because it was so cute. I do think it's going to help other people understand you better though. I suppose that I can enjoy the fact that you do still say "Savannah would like the blue crayon" occasionally.

You ask questions non-stop. Who's that? What's that? Why are we going here? How do you spell that? You also repeatedly ask what happens if I make 'X' bad choice? It's like you're weighing the punishment options to see if it's worth it (Oftentimes it is, to you).

School is going well, although you did tell me the other day that "I already know all my letters", so I think you are looking for a little more challenege. You really, really want to read and are trying so hard to figure it out for yourself. You know all the letters and numbers by sight and know the sounds that all the letters make. You can recognize your name, which I think is amazing, and you can spell 'pig' and 'moo'.

You are picking up some bad behavior at school. I suppose it's going to happen. There is a shover at school and lately when you get frustrated you will try to push me. I don't like that.

The teachers say that you can be a handful, but in general you have good days and bad days just like all kids. In general I think they like you though. We are working very hard on having you make good choices, but your will is strong and sometimes you don't care how much you get punished, you are going to do what you want dangit! I have pondered whether to put you up for sale several times in the last months. It is a blessing and a curse to have a highly motivated, stubborn, very active little girl. I do wish for a little less drama in the next year. I know that it comes from frustration on your part, but it is tiring.

Speaking of which we are trying to potty train. We had a big victory in that you pee-peed on the potty the other evening, but in general, you are not thrilled with the whole concept. I have resorted to massive bribes. We'll see if that works.

Crafts are still a favorite. We spend a lot of time with the glitter pens and sequins and stickers. Stickers are on every surface of this house. I got the most amazing craft project from you the other day in school. I showed up and your teacher ran over to me and said "You have to see this."

It was this perfectly straight, beautifully made caterpillar. She said that you sat and were very quiet and made this perfect catepillar all by yourself. I took a peek at some of the other kids and she was right - yours was perfect compared to theirs.

You were very interested in the voting process this year and can proudly tell everyone who our next President is (plus who everyone in the family voted for). You even cast my ballet by pushing the big red button.

Ballet is going very well. I am amazed at how it has helped your coordination. You run around the house saying "First Position, Second Position" while demonstrating your technique. You can also chasse with the best of them now. When we were down with the stomach flu, you begged and begged to go to ballet class (all while puking). I'm glad you like it.

Some girliness has also kicked in the last few months. If something is sparkly or fancy, you are right on it. Hair bows are becoming a favorite ("Mama, where is my beautiful pink bow?"). You also have veeeery strong opinions about what you wear. I rarely get to pick out your clothes anymore - I merely try to suggest something resembling an outfit.

You're not princessy or into that whole Disney part yet, which I am thankful for. This also may have something to do with me changing the words of 'Someday My Prince Will Come' to have the Princess decide to go to Graduate School instead of waiting around for a prince. Nature v. Nurture.

You are still pretty shy and would rather play by yourself quietly than run around with other kids, but you do like other kids, so that is encouraging. You are constantly talking about all of the kids that you know and how much you like them. You're a bundle of fun once you warm up to people.

We still love watching Einsteins and Charlie and Lola. You have hilariously picked up a British accent from Lola. You now call your fox, previously know as "Foxy'. "Fauxy". It's very funny. We have also enjoyed Mary Poppins and A Bug's Life on DVD.

All in all, I can't believe we are coming up on three!!!!!

Monthly Update: Month 33

I sort of quietly skipped Month 32, not because there wasn't anything good going on, but I was having a hard time articulating what was happening.

The monthly update started as "Look! She has a tooth!" "She's standing!". You know, the Big Things. Lately, while things do change overnight, they are a bit more subtle.

Over the last few months, things occur to me almost subconsciously. So here's a little sample of my internal monologue this month.

Hey Savannah doesn't use a bib anymore. She's just using a napkin and using it very well at that.

Look at her with that big girl cup. I don't have to worry quite as much about her spilling it.

She seems very close to climbing out of her crib, but she loves it so much that I don't think she ever will. She can hang quite well from the edge though. It's become part of her bedtime routine. She'll throw everyone in her crib and then hang from the edge of the crib for a minute. Then she says "Hanging, hanging, hanging".


I wonder if she'll ever be potty trained? My guess at this point is "Maybe", but there is currently such staunch opposition to the concept. M&M's aren't even helping.

She is smart. Did she just read that word? Is she really spelling words to me? Wow.

That is incredibly imaginative. This is some really active role playing right there.

She is getting kind of good at ballet.

You are really passionate about cooking. I should let you help more often.

Oh really sassypants? Well, I'm still your mom and I have the ability to lay down the hammer, so maybe you should rethink that.

But that is pretty funny, so you're forgiven.

Now that the babbling is over, enjoy some pictures. I bulked it up this month as I skipped out on you last month.

Love you pumpkin.

Monthly Update: Month 31

Oh you guys give me too much credit.....we would love to start potty training Savannah, but she is just not there yet. She recently told me that 'someday I will go pee-pee on the potty, but not right now'.

I'm hoping we can start in a month or so - but good guesses! What is this picture all about? Well, Savannah has taken to wearing her 'bloomers' as hats! It's really that simple and that silly. It just cracks me up because she looks like a Mexican wrestler.


There aren't a lot of major milestones this month, but you have said a lot of hilarious stuff lately. We are still battling with 2 1/2-ness, but as hoped there were less dramatic meltdowns and more semi-reasonable conversations.

The one weird thing lately has been your absolute insistence that I put you to bed. I enjoy putting you to bed most of the time, but sometimes I'm tired and Dad wants a turn. You held on to my neck the other night with such brute force that I had to concede - it was pretty sad. You won't even let one of the Gagas do it.

One thing that has spiked this month is your ability and desire to climb all over the place. You are a complete madwoman at the park. Your Gaga A and Daddy also fixed your playscape, so you are totally into climbing you ladder and sliding down the slide on your belly (as seen in the video a few weeks ago). You have also threatened to climb out of your crib, although that has not happened yet.

Here are a few of your choice quotes from the last month:

"I am a little dancer!!!!" - your ballet teacher always says "Come on little dancers! Let's go into class now" and you LOVE this! You also love the heck out of ballet class. You are getting much better behaved too. Just last week, your teacher (Miss Laura) singled you out for doing a good job waiting your turn on floor work. You were very excited and I was so proud. The greatest part of this is that after she told you that, you kept running up to hug her. I think you surprised her a couple of times.

"Hello Beautiful!" - your daddy greeets Mama with this greeting when he comes home from work (I married well, didn't I?). He also says it to you and the other week, Daddy walked into the house and this is how you greeted him - cute.

"Please, I don't want to 'X'" - We have been trying to impress the importance of saying please and thank you. We're getting somewhere, but I love it when you have a meltdown and are yelling this. It's just pretty funny.

You are still very into the camera. You love my new point and shoot as I let you hold it and take pictures with it. Still pretty aware that you are cute too. There have been many requests for photo shoots this past month. One of your favorite things is when a jelly bean (yes, I'm back to gving her a few every now and then) turns your tongue colors.

Your imaginative play is so fun to watch. You have these great conversations with your toys and they really do have personalities as far as you are concerned. Your brain is startling. I love it when you ask to learn math (and your dad a million times so).

So smart and so cute - we love you.

Monthly Update is coming!!

Find out soon what this is all about!

Monthly Update - Month 30

As usual, a little late.

30 Months! Yowza - that's a big kid we have now. I've heard that 2 1/2 is the pinnacle of "Terrible Two' behavior and I believe it. Savannah is soooooo fun and hilarious, but has an iron will. We have had our share of classic tantrums this month. I'm hoping that we're on the downhill of those, because they are not fun. Otherwise, we've had lots of fun this month.

Savannah's favorite color is still brown. Brown everything!!! Clothes, lollipops, jelly beans, crayons, markers. It's all about brown. I have found a few brown shirts and skirts for her to wear but certainly not enough for her to wear one everyday. There have been some tantrums about that.

Speaking of Jelly Beans....that's all she'd eat if I let her. I think they have a play value, in addition to lots of sugar, that she likes. They're sortable, they fit in a cup - it's a fun treat for her. We had to go cold turkey on them a few days ago though - they're just too sugary for everyday.

Savannah discovered this month that if you mix water with sand you can make cool shapes!Unfortunately, it has been so hot here the last few weeks, we haven't had much outdoor time. But now when she wants to play in the sandbox she says "And bring a cup of water!"

Bubbles are still a bit hit. We've spent many hours sitting out back blowing bubbles. Of course, Miss Particular over here wants 'big bubbles' and then 'lots of small bubbles to chase'.

Savannah is getting really good at triking. She is pedaling all by herself and as long as she doesn't get distracted, she can steer too!

Austin has a great sprinkler park (which you have seen some photos of) and we would go every day if we could. I am amazed at how curiosity wins over fear for Savannah. She is so fascinated about where the water is coming from and how it's coming out of the ground that she'll stick her face right up to the fountain and risk it blasting her in the face just to learn. The good part is that when she does get nailed with the fountain, she thinks it's funny.

Imagination is not a problem for Savannah. She has been playing these elaborate games by herself that feature her rescuing some animal or looking for three pieces of paper for a magic puzzle. Generally, the Einsteins or her pig are along for the ride. It's so cute how she's assigning little personalities to her friends. Just today, our DVD randomly rebooted and when I told her the TV was trying to fix itself, she popped up and said "I know! Oink Oink pig can fix it!". She ran and got one of her pigs and pretended that he was fixing the TV. Once it was righted she said "Great job pig!"

We started a ballet/tap class this month and it's sooo cute. Ten 2 and 3 year olds - in leotards. Adorable. Savannah is one of the youngest at 2 1/2 and while I'd like to say her behavior in class is due to her age - I think she is just very much her own girl.

The parents can watch the class on a closed circuit TV outside and I just cringe watching the teacher put her back on her piece of tape for the 150th time. Or when she decides that she's not going to tap, she's going to twirl or when she decides that she's not going to wait her turn in line to do the floor work, she's going to go when and however many times she wants. The teacher is great and says that she'll get there, but it seems that I am destined to have 'that kid'. She LOVES the class though and I think the movement will be good for her.

Savannah has figured out that she is tall enough to grab things off counters or out of drawers and run away with them. I don't know how many of you have read 'Marley & Me', but her behavior reminds me of the Marley Mambo. She thinks it's just the funniest thing. Mom and Dad, not so much.

I think Savannah is also hyper-aware of how cute she is. There have been many times this past month where she's been doing something and she'll look up at me and say 'Take a picture of me doing 'X'. I also once said "Oh, you are so cute!" and then she said "Oh, Mama should get her camera and take 'click-clicks' of you being cute!" I can't wait to bust out the picture of her with a bucket on her head on prom night. 'What? You asked me to take it!'

Savannah is cute, she is smart, she is funny. She is the complete package as far as a little human being goes. And even with all the tantrums in the world, we wouldn't change a thing about her.

XOXO Pumpkinhead.

Monthly Update: Month 29 1/2

I've got a few things to say...

That's dramatic isn't it? But what I mean is that, as hoped, I am over the mountain that I was climbing in month 28 and I've got some fun things to tell you this month. (or actually this last six weeks - I have started this post sooo many times)

First of all, our kid is a nut. I mean this most positively, but she is flat out crazy. Many, many times over the last few months, Conor has turned to me and said "It's really such a shame that she has no personality".



She has hit the stage where clothes are a bother to her. She will whip off her shirt and run over to whomever and yell "I'm a redneck baby!". We called her that the first time and it has stuck. Sometimes it's just that she doesn't feel like wearing a shirt. Sometimes I think she is irritated by what we chose to put her in. I was OK with it until her teacher told me that she had to redress her four times that day.

She is really starting to enjoy school. I think she's liked it for a while, but she is now asking to go to school on non-school days, which is great, considering the hysterics that started off her school career. I will say that I feel like 'that parent' occasionally though.




For three weeks in a row, the teacher would come up to me and tell me something crazy that Savannah did. I'm sure that she has these conversations with the other parents, but I DO wonder. The first week was the timeout week when she kept running away. The second week, she told me that she now has to assign someone to watch her lunch when she leaves the room as Savannah tends to scavenge off her plate (This is not limited to just school either. She is a very 'grass is greener' eater. Whatever you have is obviously superior to what she's eating.) The third week she said "Does Savannah try to take off her shirt at home? Ummm....yeah. See above about redressing four times.

The phrase of the last two months has been " I don't like 'X' anymore". It's very dramatic and is usually accompanied by a sigh or some very fake crying. Savannah is a bit of a drama queen. I am hopeful that it's just age, but she can go from zero to full on temper tantrum in 1/2 a second. She is generally a good kid, but is really testing boundaries right now. Sometimes, she'll just flat out ignore me. There's been a bit of running away when we're out in public and that can be scary (for Mama).



She is also a master negotiator. 'Three books and two songs and then one more book'. 'I would like 5,6,7 jelly beans'.

When we won't let her take something (her pig, the coffee table, a newspaper, a plate - whatever) with her (in the car, to her crib), she will say "I will grab two pieces of it then". She then pretends to grab two pieces of whatever and will then come over and 'hand' them to me. I will then be ordered to 'put it in your pocket', which I do. The trick is, that she will come up later (a minute later, a week later) and ask for the two pieces back.


She is amazing at puzzles. We bought her this awesome, giant Goodnight Moon puzzle at the Children's Museum (thanks Gaga!) and she can basically put it together herself. It's incredible.

Physical skill is improving rapidly. She is still a bit of a spaz, but she is running and climbing with a lot less fear lately. She'll tackle almost any playground. Still loves the swings.




Singing is still a large part of her life. She enjoys holding on to the jumprope (used as a microphone of course) and looking at her reflection in the oven or a window. It's like she's working on her stage presence and it makes me laugh.

Savannah told me my age was 'Fifty-four-one' the other day. For reference, the Gagas are 6. I'm not sure what to think about that.



Her favorite color is still brown.

I think the thing that exhausts me the most right now is the constant talking and questioning. I know it's good, but sometimes my brain is just tired and doesn't want to talk about what an owl eats or what Olivia is doing right now. It's also the asking of the same question five times in a row, when I have given her a perfectly good answer the first time.

Savannah has become very interested in gardening. She and Dad water the flowers almost very night.



She is also fascinated with Spanish right now. I have a few Spanish books lying around and I enjoy reading them to her even if she doesn't really understand them (It's kind of funny because kid's books are about my level for Spanish comprehension). The side effect of this is that she now wants to know how to say all sorts of things in Spanish. We have busted out the Spanish dictionary quite a lot lately. We're all building our vocabulary.

We know that she's a bright little kid that needs a lot of stimulation and at an age that comes with it's own set of challenges, but I find myself proud of her more than frustrated by her (most days). It's hard not to love someone that demands 'Two kisses' at night and a 'big, squeezy hug for Mama'.

We love Savannah!