Almost Touching

So Siena's heading with Mama off to school the other day, and she pases Baby on the floor. This, of course, could refer to any of four baby dolls that Siena has; I think that in an earlier post I mentioned three Babys (yes, I think that's the correct spelling), but I'd simply forgotten about one. Anyway...

So Siena passes Baby--doesn't matter which. And she says "Hug Baby." Just like she hugs and kisses Daddy goodbye, Siena wanted to show her Babys that she loves them. Cute, Right?

Except that she goes over, picks up Baby off the floor, gives Baby a very affectionate hug...then throws her back on the floor and runs for the door without looking back.

Does she really pretend that Baby is her baby, and that she should show Baby the love that we show each other? Or does she hug Baby like you or I might rub a rabbit's foot? I hope it's the latter, because I'd hate to think that Siena perceives us as giving her token affection before ditchign her and moving on to more important things.

Wow, even I don't think this post is funny. Sorry. I promise that we'll contrive another humorously blogworthy incident soon.

Stupid Stuff

It's not that she's stupid. Siena knows half the alphabet, and can tell you what number follows a given number, though she can't yet count from one to ten. It's that she does stupid things. But they're not really stupid things when you consider that a two-year-old's doing them. They're really just frustrating.

For example, Siena's imagination is growing every day. The other day she wanted to give a drink from the hose to these decorative little stone frog-shaped stands for the potted plants out back. This morning, she wanted to give Baby a sip of Siena's milk. From a normal cup, not a sippy-cup. As you might expect, Baby didn't drink what Siena poured, and it ende dup on the rug. But why didn't Siena expect that?

Maybe she never intended to actually pour the milk, and couldn't control it with her little hands. But she's trying more and more to do grown-up things, though she's clearly not ready to do them. And that leads to what I, in my frustration, called stupid stuff.

Perhaps what's stupid is expecting a two-year-old to act like anything but.

A Daddy Babysitting Riddle

What do you get when you
--give a two-year-old a sippy-cup full of apple juice;
--strip her down for her bath;
--fail to force her to go on the potty like a big girl; and
--let her play in her room, naked, while you draw her a bath?

You get exactly what you deserve. Then you get a handful of paper towels to clean the floor.

Yes, We're Those Kind of Notre Dame Parents

The kind who have taught their kid to say Notre Dame before the kid can really talk well; it comes out "No-No Name." We've also taught her to say "Go Irish!" which she does almost flawlessly, excepting the "w" for an "r." She even does it with feeling, like she's really cheering. Our L.A. Girl is quite an actress.

And no, we have not taught her to say "Fight On!" They can teach that at USC day care, but not in my house.

And that's all I'm writing. My theory is that if I write less each day, I'll write more often. Will it work? Tune in tomorrow.