Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

We'll post more later, but we have had a jolly good morning and we're getting ready to go out and see family this afternoon/evening. We hope that you've also had a great day!

Building My Self-Esteem

Margot: We're going to the doctor because Jolly is itchy.
Me: Jolly's doctor is called a vet. That's what you call a doctor for animals. Jolly is a dog and a dog is a kind of animal.
Margot: We're going to the vet.

[some time passes]

Margot: A dog is a kind of animal.
Me: That's right, a dog is a kind of animal!
Margot: Very good, Mama! You remembered! A dog is a kind of animal! Good job, Mama!

She was genuinely proud of me for remembering the fact that I had just taught her. Those are the sort of low expectation situations in which I can shine!

Buttering Me Up

This morning I am Margot's "Great, good Mama". She called me that after I carried her downstairs and repeated it again after I gave her bagel. She even tacked on "I love you" to that last one.

I'm just waiting for her to ask for the keys to the car now.

A Conversation with Margot

Margot: I need my own shower curtain, Mama.
Me: What?
Margot: For my bathtub!
Me: You have a bathtub?
Margot: I need my own bathtub! I don't want to steal your bathtub and steal your shower curtain.
Dad: What do you need your own bathtub for?
Margot: For my shower curtain. ... I need two bathtubs!
Margot: (walking away) hey guys, I need my own shower curtain with a bathtub!

Things I Don't Understand

Why Margot calls the book "Blueberries for Sal" by the name "Robin".

Cutie Bear (Snoozing)

A couple of bonus pics for the Margot-starved among you.

Snoozing Cutie Bear and Friend

Snoozing with her Christi-doll (thanks CB!) in the stroller

A White . . . Halloween?

I had been planning a post with some pictures of the leaves turning, and some words about how it has gotten cold out here recently. After a spring that seemed to last from March into August, then only about 3-4 weeks of proper summer, we've snapped toward the chilly side.
But of course, I wasn't getting my post done in a timely fashion, so New England Weather trumped me.
On Sunday it was cold and rainy all morning, then broke out the white stuff and snowed all afternoon. Biggest ol' flakes I've seen for a long time, too.

Early afternoon, once the snow started sticking.

Not a lot of accumulation...

... but enough to coat on grass and leaves.

Around the time we went to bed, it turned back to rain (which continued much of the night, I think). Some towns in NH or further west apparently got two inches of accumulation or more.
It's enough to make a guy think about putting on the snow tires and hard-top!

Miss Independence

Since turning two, Margot has become very opinionated about what she can and can't do. This has lead to some pretty hysterical situations. Case in point, Margot was determined to put these pants on HERSELF! Who are we to tell her that they are upside down and won't stay on that way?


In addition to trying the impossible, Margot also puts hysterical limits on what she can and can't do. She has instituted the rule that "Margot cannot walk up the stairs." Note, this is not because any parental figures have told her that she can't, but because she wants to be carried up. She actually goes up the stairs many times a day on her own to get things that I won't get for her.

My favorite random rule came out yesterday when we were getting ready to get into the car. After insisting that she had to wear her new rain boots in the sunny 70 degree weather, Margot then claimed that she had to be carried to the car "Because Margot has her boots on."* I looked at her and had no idea where to start arguing about how wrong this was. Of course, I gave up and just carried her to the car, shaking my head the whole time.

* Yes, Margot refers to herself in the third person.

Margot's Second Birthday

Margot turned two last Friday, so we had a little party over the weekend.

Naturally, there was cake - with blueberries, Margot's favorite:

... and presents:

(Thanks to Great-Grandpa Bob for Bobby the dog!)

One of those presents was a cool car - strangely, also called Bobby! (Thanks Auntie M and almost-Uncle C!)

Aine thought the car was cool - good enough to follow it and Margot around the yard...

... or even to share a wagon ride with.

Soren and Brady followed Margot (and/or her cookie?).

Danny liked the cookies too.

In case the cake and cookies weren't enough, there were also cupcakes. Soren enjoyed one.

Sam the puppy visited from next door, to play with Elisa among others. She wore him out.

Sigrid just liked sitting on the lawn (or the lawn blanket, even though it prevents her from eating grass).

We hope that everyone had as good a time as we did!

Robert's 93rd

We celebrated Robert's 93rd birthday this evening.

Unfortunately, the best photo I got (out of only a few attempts) was of him wearing Margot's black-and-white striped headband with a bow.

We're really lucky to have Bob nearby, and watching him with Margot (and vice versa) is always a treat.

Many happy returns, Bob!

Happy Birthday, M!

We'll post more after the big party tomorrow. Meanwhile, here's Margot attempting a daring dismount from her new rocking chair.

Our Little Neatnick

Our neighbor had borrowed our blender, which she returned yesterday. Being the capricious cleaner that I am, our blender was still sitting out on the kitchen counter this morning. Over breakfast, Margot asked me to "please put it away" and then she said "thank you, Mama" when I did. I foresee years of being asked to "please vacuum" and "please scrub the bathtub". At least she's polite about her requests.

Pronunciation Fun

On the car ride in to Cambridge, Margot was telling me a complex story about what she was going to do at Murray, Lisa, and Bob's house today. She ran through the list of classics (eat crackers, play with toys, etc.) and then told me that the squir-OHLS were going to run away from her. I loved that word! It has two very distinct syllables with the smallest of pauses between them and the emphasis is definitely on the last one.

I then spent the rest of the drive playing with this new way of saying squirrels. It feels great in the mouth. You should try it.

Oh no! The TV stopped working!

We've just watched Coraline on DVD. Something about it totally captured Margot - don't know if it was the animation, colors, motion, or what - who basically could barely tear her attention away long enough to open her mouth for me to spoon dinner in occasionally. She kept commenting on or asking about what "that girl" in the movie was doing, what was going on, etc.

Anyway, we got to the end, and the screen went black just before the credits started to roll. At this point Margot came to life with an "On NO!", and jumped up with an "I fix it!", walking over to try to turn the TV back on. The credits rolled, and the music came back, so she realized it hadn't stopped after all, but I was trying to figure out what she was doing, so I paused the movie with the remote. "OH!" she says, trying to figure out whether to go fix it or not. I restart the credits, telling her that I did it, to which she says something like "...it stopped by itSELF".

I'm not sure there's any great lesson or observation in this, but we were pretty amused. I like that she was going to take it on herself to go across the room and turn the TV back on, since it had obviously just turned off in the middle of us watching this entertaining show.

A Morning with Margot

This morning, Margot had a hair stuck to her chin when she woke up. Good mother that I am, I removed it. This prompted M to yell, "No, I need that!" then she reached out and took the hair from me and tried to put it back. All the while, she glared at me in that "how dare you?" way. We're in so much trouble.

A Budding Songwriter

As you've already seen, Margot loves singing. In addition to a new take on already existing songs, she has been making up a bunch of her own. Two recent favorites are "I do not love you, ha ha ha!" and "Do not worry, it is only Margot".

She cracks us up. This is such a great age!

A New Take on A Classic

Margot now sings all the time. Generally the songs are ones that she makes up that list the people in her life or things that she likes to do. Going to the playground with Murray, Lisa, and Bob feature prominently.

Here is a video of a more traditional song that Margot picked up. Check out her version of Rock-a-bye Baby. You get the gist of it from the first clip.

The second clip is a longer version of the song and involves some wonderful conversation interaction with Adam for those of you who haven't seen her in a long time. You get an idea here about how much of a talker she is and how she understands absolutely everything.

Overheard...

I'm working in the dining room this afternoon, shut in so that I don't have to answer "what Daddy do?" continuously.

Overheard from the kitchen, as Christi and Margot come downstairs:

Christi: (rustling of plastic bag)
Margot: (urgently) No hot! NO HOT!
Christi: But that's what makes it toast!

No specific reply was audible, but I also didn't hear the toaster ding...

Happy Birthday Soren (the day after)

Margot had a special "Happy Birthday" message for Soren. Owing to technical difficulties (ie: I couldn't get the movie out of iPhoto), the message is now a day late. The sentiment still applies!

I especially love the break she takes to keep her vocal chords moist before singing the song.

Guessing Game Two, Part Four

OK - last one for this series. Can anyone put current events together? Yes, "Spamalot" was playing this town last week, awesomely clashing with the tremendous gothic cathedral a couple blocks away. . .

Guessing Game Two, Part Three

It's not Prague...

Guessing Game Two, Part Two

Several days on the road mean that this is now behind the times, but here's your next hint.

Miss Manners

Margot has been very good at saying "Thank You" (pronounced "tak-ooh") for a long time. She used to say it when she handed you something or, more traditionally, when you gave her something. That was cute on it's own. Well, now she's reached a higher plateau of manner-realted cuteness. Entirely on her own, she has started saying "Thanks so much" with an adorable lilt.

I haven't been able to video her saying thank you, but you all deserve a photo at least. Here's Margot moments before stealing Mommy's breakfast.

Guessing Game Two, Part One

Where am I? There's a small hint in this one.

The Little Engine that Could ... ROCK!

Margot has learned the names of a bunch of her books and now tells us what she'd like to read. These range from the obvious, "hop" for Hop on Pop, to the funny, "Go frog, Go" for "Go Dog Go" (made all the better by the fact that she knows the word "dog" and says "dog" whenever we open the book), to the oblique, "quack" for "Moo, Baa, La La La". My favorite of all, however, comes from her recent love affair with "The Little Engine that Could" which she requests multiple times a day. Margot has taken to calling the book by its catch phrase "I think I can" which she pronounces Chaka Kahn.

A little something special will be lost in our lives when she learns how to pronounce that correctly.