Jelly Book vol. 8

I've been keeping a Jelly Book for three years now, documenting all the things Gianna says and does that I don't want to forget.  Here's my Fall 2011 entry:
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I know lots of folks like the kids show Yo Gabba Gabba.  I, however, am not one of them. The silliness is excessive and it just annoys me to no end.  (Not to mention the fact that the one episode she saw was about the tooth fairy which caused to be terrified that 1) her teeth were going to one day fall out and 2) someone was going to come into her room at night while she was sleeping and reach under her pillow and take them.  Lovely.

Anyhoo, one day a preview of the show came on Nick Jr. and she says to me,

"Okay Mommy, I know you do not care for Yo Gabba Gabba, but I DO care for Yo Gabba Gabba. Do you think we can work something out?"

She says she wants to a doctor but, we just may have an attorney on our hands, folks.

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We got Gianna got some cute little brown expensive Mary Janes for really cheap. This is the conversation that happened after she put them on.

G:  Mommy these shoes don't fit.

Me:  Are they too big or too small.

G:  Ummm...too small.

Me:  (checking the fit)  Gianna, look at all this room for your toes.

G:  Yeah, well - Mommy (pause) I just don't really like them.

Me:  Gianna these are so cute.

G:  Mommy, they look like Santa shoes!

Me:  Hahahahaha

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Often when she's frustrated, disappointed or angry she'll say:

"Oh, this is just impossible!"

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Me:  Gianna, you don't like that cookie? (after she took one bite)

G:  No Mommy, I'm not a big fan.

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I haven't really introduced the concept of a Christmas list or a letter to Santa - just because I don't want the whole focus to be about 'getting.'  Well, a precious 11 year old friend filled her in today and asked her what she was going to ask Santa to bring her.  She quickly replied,

"A Barbie Jeep and some Christmas Eggs." 

Hmm.  We may need a little remediation on holiday symbols.

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I was rinsing the shampoo out of her hair and she said,

"Ahhhh.....easy as pie."

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Lately when I give her something Gianna replies,

"Thank you, your majesty."

(And no, I didn't train her to say that...nor do I correct her! :)

When you're having a rough day with the kids....

...just watch this and be consoled by the fact that it could be worse!

G Speaks

Every now and then I remember to video a conversation with Gianna at various stages in her development.  I asked if I could interview her - with the reward of a lollipop.  She'll do almost anything for a lollipop (except poop on the dang potty!)  Anyway - this is really for me for my video vault - but I thought some of my family and friends might get a kick out of it.

Potty Training Hell

Oh crum.  I had this post saved in a draft and didn't realize it was saved for later publication. I wasn't planning on posting until we had complete success.  Oh well.

Back in May 2011

We've been potty-training.  For almost two weeks I hardly left the house.  Torturous.  She has had remarkable success IF she walks around 'bottomless'.  It certainly is something to be proud of, however, that behavior might throw a wrench in our social endeavors. And while she totally gets the idea of it - she's definitely not bought into the concept yet.

And for Gianna, I think it's more about the reward than it is about the milestone.  She is totally motivated purely by those little gummy treats.  She actually tries to 'make' herself urinate just to earn a little gummy treat.  One day she announced her potty success and invited me to "Come and see...and let's go get a treat."  The potty was dry and I said, "Gianna, there's nothing in your potty."  Her reply...

"Well, I know, but can I just have a gummy treat?"

We tried underwear, which she loves, but it must give her that familiar security she's used to and she doesn't want to bother with the removal of them.

Not long after she donned her first pair of Tinkerbell undies she told me,

"Oh wow....that sure is hot."

"What's hot, Gianna?"

"My teetee on my legs."

One step forward, two steps back.

We even had success in the #2 department.  The first day we wore ourselves jumping up and down for joy.  I've been horrified by people taking pictures of their kids' first poop in the potty. It was during the day and I'm ashamed to say I even took a picture - which I have edited for you all so as not to lose my loyal 7 readers.  Actually, I texted the unedited picture to Iain because I knew he'd never believe me.

Girl Interrupted

Then we went on vacation to Florida for a week and a half and really threw a wrench in our training efforts.  We started back up upon arrival home and then our house went under contract.  The goal was to re-start once we moved into our new house.  Well, that fell through...and then a week later Iain died.  Yeah, let's go ahead and add a grieving mom and pre-schooler to the mix.  That's added quite a bit of resistence.  She completely breaks down if I mention sitting on the potty to poop.  It's really quite pitiful. "I'm just a little kid!  I'm NOT big. I just can't DO this anymore."  Tell me about it!

I honestly couldn't give a flip if she's potty trained right now.  I love the convenience of it and not having to scope out decent bathrooms in every place we visit/shop/eat.  The problem comes into play that I'm struggling to keep my head above water these days and could really use a mother's day out once or twice a week.  I recently called our church with is right up the road and was so excited about their program.  As I was getting ready to hang up, I had the presence of mind to ask about their potty training policy.  "Oh - they definitely have to be potty trained."   I cried for an hour.
I decided that I'm going to start praying to Padre Pio for assistance in this area. 

No, he's not the patron saint of potty training (I'm pretty sure there's not one) but I chose him because of his initials.
(P.P. -- Ha!!)

M&M's and Skittles worked well at first (for #1)  and then candy corn came in to save the day.  At this point there are no prizes or charts that really entice her but guess what has caught her attention?  An invitation to Disneyworld once she's got dry panties for a month or so!  Okay, that's extreme, but desperate times call for desperate measures and I am planning on taking her in the spring anyway.  So, between Padre Pio and Mickey I'm looking for some serious results in the coming months.

Vintage Tee

Going through old boxes and found some keepsakes from my eighth grade year THIRTY YEARS AGO! I found an old cheerleader tshirt that might make a nice little pajama alternative.

Stylin'

Silly little girl.

All Soul's Day

November 2nd was All Soul's Day, and there was a beautiful candlelight Mass at the cemetery where Iain was buried.  The liturgy, music, homily were spirit-filled and consoling.

 Following the mass, the priests when to each grave of those gathered in prayer and blessed it and their families.  It was a special way to reverence our newly departed husband/daddy.

 Gianna has a lollipop because she was an absolute angel during Mass.

(I was nervous since it was so late.)

I should have waited to be nervous the following Sunday.

Church is challenging these days.

Pray for us.

Brought to you by the Letter "G" and the Number "11"

For all you Gleeks, this is a Sesame Street Spoof on the show - called "G" - So darn clever.



And how 'bout the nifty date today?  11-11-11! 
Saying a prayer of thanksgiving for all those who have served our country and sacrificed so much - as well as their families.

Muddy Puddles

Lately, Gianna has become smitten with a sweet little British cartoon:  Peppa Pig.  There little five minute short videos are strung together to form a 30 minute show found on Nick Jr. As a matter of fact, Gianna started calling Iain, "Datty" before he died and it took us a weeks to realize she was sporting her best British accent.

Anyway, this cute little family of pigs LOVE muddy puddles and pounce about giggling all the while.

Gianna thought it was more than enticing when she found a muddy trough on the firetruck at the park.  I heard a maniacal laugh and saw mud and water flying all about.

Looks like someone was recreating her favorite cartoon.

 

 Gross.

 AND it was much colder than we anticipated.  Good job, Mommy.

And this little runt may have well been a pig.  She could not have been happier. 

Hmmm.  Do you think the laughing adults and the videotaping momma were helpful in deterring the behavior?

Skype

We've been video chatting quite a lot lately.  Iain's family all live far away, my brother's been in Florida for several months and I even have a friend in Thailand who we've skyped with.  Well, my parents wanted in on the fun (even though they only live 14 miles away), so they got their computer guy to hook them up. Not sure who's having more fun, Gianna or MeMaw and PePaw.

Watching them online made me laugh and think of a recently video of an older couple that went viral not long ago.  Hope you laugh....

"Whatever Jesus Sings"

I finally dug her karaoke machine out of storage - and she's definitely making up for lost time.

I also retrieved the keyboard which she played around with this morning.  It has quite a few programmed songs and she sang along to her favorite christmas carol.  She's a little rusty on the lyrics, but I sorta liked her version.



"Whatever Jesus Sings"   That's a classic!

Comin' and Geaux-in

Comin'

Yesterday Gianna and I had a big treat. Two of Iain's closest friends from college and young adulthood came to visit.  Carrie, Dave and Iain attended the University of Kansas ("Rock Chalk Jayhawk" -- which is the wierdest spirit chant of any school I know!) back in the day and all migrated to Lake Charles for a brief chapter as they began their engineering careers. So gald Iain stayed in LC!!

(This was taken several years ago when we visit KU in Lawrence, KS. 

I'll bet he's not missing posing for silly pictures at the request of his wife.)

These days Carrie lives in Houston and Dave and his family are now in Denver.

 I was humbled and thrilled that they made the trek to visit us.  They had never met Gianna, so they were sweet enough to spend time with her. 

She ate it up. 

I know Iain's heart must've been full.  Mine was.

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Geaxin'

Okay, I'm not a big sports fan. I do enjoy a good game when I have the time and attention span to sit and watch, but it doesn't happen often.  I have no emotional or personal attachment to LSU.  It's just part of the culure in this area.  I did happen to catch the LSU vs. Alabama game yesterday. (Okay, well, parts of it as I flipped back and forth to HGTV (hoppin' Saturday night in Lewis Land.)

Maybe she'll be more into sports than her mom and dad.
(And to show you how into sports I am - I originally posted LSU vs Auburn - and was kindly correctly by a TRUE fan.)

Or maybe she'll just look cute in game day colors. 

Makes no matter to this momma. 

I love this girl to her core.

Pumpkin Patch

In 2008 we took Gianna and our godchild to the Pumpkin Patch the day before Halloween, only to discover it was closed for the season.  Thankfully some friends had decorated their yard and let us take pictures there.

In 2009 Gianna was newly toddling...

In 2010 it had officially become tradition...

 

Well, during the last hour it was open for the 2011 season, we finally made a visit to the pumpkin patch.  It was Halloween Day in fact and I just didn't want this year to be the year we didn't go. Iain and I always took her and boy, did I miss his help this year.  She wasn't poorly behaved, it's just the wrangling and trying to snap a few shots that always takes so much effort. We did it though.

 

Me. Want. Coooookie!!!!

I guess in my attempt to make sure that we keep 'embracing life' in the wake of Iain's death - I made an extra to make Halloween special for Gianna.  Iain loved celebrating Halloween with her and got the biggest kick out of seeing her dressed up.  He was always my biggest cheerleader in my attempts to make or assemble her costumes.  So, in his honor I made her this Cookie Monster costume. 

I saw the idea somewhere on Etsy for almost $50 and was convinced I could make it for much less. Sometimes my frugal determination gets the best of me, but this project wasn't so bad.  I spent about $10 thanks to my Hobby Lobby coupons. Am I the only slowpoke out there who didn't know you could pull up a digital coupon on your smart phone?  So helpful! 

 We only made three stops for the big day. No trunk or treats or anything like that.

 First stop was to see our godchild, Nate.  How beautiful is this four year old?

 Aren't posed pictures are so challenging at this age...

 ...these two lost interest FAST.

It's always nice to have a costume big enough for momma to hide behind...

 We went to my parents house and just Trick or Treated at a few houses.

 Met up with a sweet friend along the way. Matthew was the cutest Mickey.
He's also the cutest Matthew.

 It was funny watching her Trick or Treat.

 I neglected to mention that she shouldn't walk INTO the people's homes or help herself to candy from their bowl or make requests for her favorites.

"You got any lollipops?"

 I'll have to remember to do some better training next year.

 One of my parents neighbors and friend of mine suggested I ride her bicycle with baby trailer to her husband who was several houses ahead of us. She said her baby would be tired and her husband could chauffeur the kids. I wish you could have seen my hauling my cookie monster down the block. And wouldn't you know, her husband rolled his eyes (very sweetly) and said he wasn't interested. (Couldn't blame him one bit!)

His wife showed up later and took both Isaiah and Gianna to go find her older daughter. She came back with ANOTHER bag of candy.  The kid probably didn't go to a dozen houses in total and came home with some SERIOUS loot.

It was a nice evening. So happy for the blessing of my little Cookie Monster. 

So sad that our family photos just seem so empty. Missing Iain. :(