She called Mama’s hand

Reesa is now a two year old, made official by a birthday party with our neighbors the Knight’s and their two young children and Grandma Lois. A good time, and ice cream, was had by all. Don’t expect to get any reliable information about her age from the blondie herself.
“Reesa, how old are you?”
“Three and a half!”
“Noooo. Try again.”
“Um…one.”

* * * * *

Genevieve was pitching tantrums and being frequently crabby and recalcitrant this evening. Finally, at the start of dinner, she complained about having only one fork and received a warning that she did not need any more utensils and that if she continued to complain that she would be sent to bed. She thought for a few moments, then said “Well, if I can’t get another fork, then I’ll just go to bed.”

Big mistake. Mama said, “You called my hand, and now you’ll see it was no bluff. I’ll see your ultimatum and raise you one trip to bed,” took her by the hand and marched her to bed. (Daddy silently cheered—that child had been working on his last nerve of the evening.)

Much later at dinner, Reesa paused from her eating long enough to say to us, “She…called…Mama’s hand!”

T minus 1 to two years

Tomorrow is Reesa’s second birthday. In advance of the obligatory post-birthday party blog post, I’ll list some of her traits. She…

• is blessed with good overall health and physical development.
• is very whiny and cries, a LOT, when tired, hungry or thirsty.
• is not very interested in the concept of delayed gratification in regards to good or drink.
• has an exploding vocabulary. Works hard at correct pronunciation, and is verbally articulate for her age.
• has shouting fights with her sister. “Stop dat!” and “You don’t say dat!” are common themes.
• leans forward from the hips when screaming at her sister.
• likes climbing.
• loves to play with dolls, and really likes playing with toys in general.
• is a little shy with new people.
• continues to provide no consistent evidence that would refute the theory that she is color blind (most everything is “blue” or “pink”).
• gives all books she likes the same high praise (Oh, dat's my favorite!).
• can count to three or four reliably. The numbers after that are “six” and “eleven.”
• mosquito bites are very unpleasant and long-lasting for her. Not a useful physical trait in Wisconsin.
• would rather not wear shoes or sneakers. She’s a barefoot girl.
• doesn’t particularly like meat. Love mama’s tofu (don’t we all!).

Magic-ness and goofball

The children are somewhat fascinated by the concept of magic. They like to put hooded towels on their heads immediately following their bath and run around dripping wet screeching, “Abra-ca-da-bra, jiberty-jabber!” They like the Kiki the witch thing, and at their ages some perfectly pedestrian things seem to occur like magic.

Genevieve is taking the Aristotelian approach by investigating what is the magic-ness of an action or occurrence. She told me that her tricycle has some magic-ness that keeps it going toward the street after she stops pedaling and removes her feet, so she has to counter it by using her feet to stop her before getting to the street. Inertia is magic at age three and one half.

Reesa is something of a goofball. She’s exhibited that tendency even as an infant, and I think the quality that makes it seem so endearing is that for the most part, Reesa is an introvert who likes to check things out (can you say “daddy’s girl?”). Then, this seemingly quiet and contemplative tyke will suddenly burst into funny faces or giggles.

Not only is she a goof, but she invites people around her to be goofs, too. Tonight, she once again starting laughing and egged her sister on to do the same. Genevieve snickered back, and suddenly I had two guffawing girls making food-stuffed faces at each other in attempt to out-do the other.

Sometimes Genevieve will be grumpy, and will not want to play with Reesa, and will in fact tell Reesa to stop it. This never goes well for Genevieve, because Reesa doesn’t miss a beat in continuing her goofiness. Oh yeah, Reesa knows when she’s got some serious teasing available.