Everything old is Elmo again

Rainy, rainy weekend, so we ended up spending a whole lot of time playing in the house. Sylvie worked her way through all her toys, eventually rediscovering her Elmo collection. The crazy robotic Elmo (can't recall what they call him, but he's the latest version - I think) used to scare Syl when we first got him for her. But today she was fascinated. They talked a while, and then did some dancing...

The good time she had with that particular Elmo apparently inspired her to bring out the whole red, effusive gang (plus one Cookie Monster). It was cacophonous Elmo anarchy - and it made me realize that if the prediction underlying hit movies like the Terminator and the Matrix ever comes to pass, and the machines become self-aware, the Haleys are likely to be taken out by our Sylvie's Elmos. They have us significantly outnumbered.

Last night's educational energy burn

I've put up plenty of videos in the past showing how Sylvie tends to burn off a bunch of energy before bed - usually by running like an insane person around the kitchen.

Last night she decided to add an educational element to the routine, showing off her ABCs - which then segued naturally into a couple rounds of Twinkle Twinkle. Unfortunately she didn't watch where she was going and had a little head-on-table incident, but she bounced back quickly. For whatever reason, she found my suggestion of a transition to Row-Row-Row Your Boat to be highly objectionable.

After all that running around, Sylvie wanted to do a little letter/color studying before her bath. She's getting really good at her letters, but only has so much patience for my questions. If you listen, when she gets sick of me you can hear her respond to my last question with a polite "no thank you." Also, for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of hours of Dora the Explorer, when she refers to the "Y" mysteriously as "Swiper," she's referring to Dora's nemesis. I have no idea why the "Y" becomes Swiper, but I think it's part of Sylvie's effort to end the letter identification game without hurting my feelings.

Neater New 'do

A couple more shots of Sylvie's new hairstyle, after a bath and a more concerted effort by Mommy to get the mane under control.

Juice (right now)!

I am sometimes accused of providing an unrealistic account of life with a two-year-old, by posting only video and photos of the happiest times. Tonight I caught a minor tantrum on video, and offer it up in the spirit of full disclosure. Also, it's kind of a funny one, since she's so clearly faking a good deal of her supposed agony (the giggles give her away every time). The trigger for this little fit is a pre-dinner request for a glass of juice. When she was sick a while back, Sylvie got used to consuming tons of orange juice. Since it was all she was consuming, we let her have it pretty much constantly. Since then, we noticed that when she has a cup of juice shortly before meals, she tends not to eat as much. So we've implemented a juice with meals, water beforehand policy. This is not always popular...

Sylvie's New 'do

Sylvie's crazy hair is finally long enough to put into pigtails - kind of... This cute sight is what greeted me when I got home tonight. Melissa tried to convince me not to record this first stab at a new 'do, insisting that she'll be able to make them much neater. I thought it was a tremendous victory simply that Sylvie wasn't pulling them out. And anyhow, neat or not I think they look pretty darned cute.

Here's a vid in which Sylvie makes it clear that she very much agrees ("too cute," is her verdict). Also, she demonstrates her new found knowledge of her parents' "other names."

More funny stuff

With all of the wisdom emanating from Sylvie's mouth these days, I think these "funny stuff" posts might become a regular thing.  A few recent entries, in no particular order:

On a recent walk we passed an older Indian gentleman.  He had a gray beard.  He was wearing all black.  He smiled and said a pleasant hello.  Sylvie got very excited.  "Hell-o!  Hell-o!  Hell-o!"

When he'd passed, Sylvie confided to us the reason for  her excitement.  "That Santa Claus,"  she said, then added, "he SMART."

For the record, aside from the beard and jolly demeanor, nothing about this guy said "Santa."  Not sure where she was coming from on that one, but she seemed pretty certain of the identification.

Then the other night, Syl and I were wrapping up the post-bath tooth brushing routine in the bathroom (the subject of a recent video).  I asked her for a hug, as I do on occasion, and she took the opportunity to stick it to me.  "No," she said.  "You hugs toooo much, Daddy."  Then to rub it in she turned to the bathroom door, flung her arms wide and pressed herself flat against it.  "I hug the door," she said, and laughed uproariously.  Because I laughed too, she upped the ante.  "Awwwww.... I love the door," she said, pressing her cheek against it and stroking it with her hands.  "Awwwww.  I loooooove the door."  And then more of the belly laugh. After that she did give me my hug though.

Also, Sylvie now has a pet rock.  She found him on a walk last weekend, and named him - what else?  - "Rocco."  She's grown quite attached.  We'll try and introduce him in a video this weekend.

Spring is Springing!

Fifty degrees out today with plenty of sunshine, so we took the opportunity to head to Oak Grove Park to get in some quality playground time. We might be pushing the season - forecast is for 30s again next week. But the daffodils in the yard agree with us. They are just starting to push out of the ground.

Sylvie didn't take long to remember all of her favorite things to do at Oak Grove.

And in case you were wondering, yes - I've created a March 2010 gallery.

More photos there.

Daddy's big nose

Just after Syl woke up this morning, while we were walking down the stairs, she suddenly stopped and looked up at me.

"Daddy, you have a big nose," she said, and smiled.

"Daddy has a big nose?" I asked, to be sure.

"Yes," she replied. "I has a little nose," she said, and laughed.

"You have a little nose," I agreed.

"Daddy has a big nose," she said again for emphasis. Then she continued, to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding. "Daddy not a duck. Daddy not a pig." Apparently I fit within that probiuscular subset, though.

Then she continued down the stairs.

Building towers

Another indication that Syl is thinking of a career in engineering. She took her blocks and built the most unlikely, precariously balanced towers - that somehow stayed up. There's nothing holding these together. They're just plain old blocks. She's so deliberate about placement. She seriously has steadier hands than either of her parents.

By the way, I fully recognize that this might be the sort of thing that is fascinating to a parent who witnesses it in progress, but leaves the rest of the world scratching their heads and saying, "huh?"

Sylvie's Shiner, a few days on

Didn't end up nearly so bad as we thought it might... And the sweet potato and peanut butter smeared all over her face distracts from the bruising.