because they know what I like...

I came into work the other day, hopped on the computer and was working away for about 15-20 minutes before something caught my attention just to the right of the screen. This:

That has got to be the most homo-erotic shower add ever.

And for your viewing pleasure.

Mama and Brynna Day

Being a State employee and all I had yesterday off; B-girl and I had big plans. We started the morning off by both sleeping in - me until 6 and B until 6:30 - good times! We slowly came around by watching a riveting episode of Dora. Brynna is gradually leaving the Mickey Mouse obsession behind and moving on to a full blown Dora obsession. On the plus side, she is learning Spanish - she can count to 5 in espanol and even knows words like run (corre), jump (salta), and El Zorrito (The baby fox). All thanks to a multitude of Dora inspired books and toys.

Chance was also forced to watch Dora AND LIKE IT!

Next it was off to Brittany's (my niece) cheerleading competition at the Augusta Civic Center (KVACs). Britt is 16 (yikes!) and a varsity cheerleader for Winslow High School. They are a small squad(Class B) but did a GREAT job! Brynna spent all weekend talking about going to see "Britterny" cheer. This was her first cheerleading experience and she LOVED it. When the girls were doing stunts or jumps Brynna was shouting "Look Mama, they're up high!" She even tried to demonstrate to Rick last night.

Britt's squad during one of their stunts.

Brynna calling in the standings to Papa...or so she said.

Brynna FINALLY in her cousin's arms. She spent two hours (Winslow was THE LAST squad to take the floor) asking to "go see Britterny".

Her first snow cone.

Recovering an errant bit of post-nap yogurt.

enter the two's

Now that Brynna is officially in her third year of life, we're starting to see the first incling of the terrible two's. She's a great kid overall, usually listens to us and does as we ask but under the surface you can tell that there is a screaming, writhing, gibberish speaking demon under there just waiting to burst free. She's also not above manipulation and her negotiation skills are pretty darn impressive for her age. She has figured out it is in her best interest to make every request seem like she is doing it for us. For example: "I'll watch Mickey while you cook dinner?" or sweetening it up with "I love you mommy. Can I watch Mickey?". Of course, all of this is in the sweetest gum drop voice she can muster.

The attempted manipulation we can tolerate, find cute even, but it's the onset of bold face lying that has us stunned. For example, as she's slamming the computer keyboard (while we watch) she'll say the whole time "I'm not doing anything, I'm not doing anything." Infuriating. The good thing is that we know when she's up to no good because she now announces that she is not doing anything when she is being naughty so we can nip it in the bud. I assume she'll eventually catch on.

new house

I finally got up to see Mimi and Papa's new house this weekend. They've been in for a few weeks but just hadn't found the time to go.

It has that "college students must live here" sort of feel.

That is only because they don't have all their furniture yet and it hasn't been decorated but it is full of potential.


See, here is a piece of furniture!

Big snow!

A couple of weeks ago, before all of this freakin warm weather and rain, we had a dumping of really heavy, damp snow. Perfect snowman snow. So we bundled up the spud and headed outside. Task number one was to build Brynna's first snowman.

check

Task number two was to build a snow tunnel for B to crawl through. To be honest, I didn't expect her to actually crawl through but you never know til you try.

After much piling and shaping I had a barely passable tunnel (for me).

But B had prenty of room for B, bulbous melon and all.

A great dog has passed.

We'll miss you Petey.

You didn't always listen,
We couldn't get you to "Come!"
But if we were going for a bike ride,
You were up for the run.

You were such a happy dog,
Master of Drake Hill.
Cruising up and down the street,
Stopping cars at will.

Ambassador of the neighborhood,
Ruler of the bunch.
Meeting neighbors at their driveways,
To eat their leftover lunch.

You were always gentle,
Great with all kids.
and tolerated Chance,
More than anyone did.

This is Brynna's first lesson,
Of a loved one passing away.
She doesn't understand yet,
But will one of these days.

We'll miss you Petey,
The cuddles on the floor.
The warm companionship,
Always meeting us at the door.

And though you're gone,
we won't forget.
What a great dog you were,
the best we ever met.

Similarities

Not only does B share Weird Al's beautiful locs, she also shares his aptitude for taking common songs and making them her own. Over the last month or so B has begun to sing for a good portion of the day. She is a toddler so I wouldn't say she is always on key but she does do a pretty good job replicating the ebb and flow of most songs. Put it this way, at 2 years old she is probably already better at singing than mommy and daddy. Mommy for sure...

Sometimes she will sing entire songs word for word. Sometimes she'll combine two, three or four songs somewhat seamlessly into one but my favorite is when she takes songs and totally changes the words.

For example:

" Where is Thumbkin"
Where is Thumbkin?
Where is Thumbkin?
Here I am,
Here I am.

Brynna's version:

I have diaper
I have diaper
Put it on
Put it on


"The Farmer in the Dell "
The farmer in the dell,
the farmer in the dell
Hi, ho the dairy-o,
the farmer in the dell

Brynna's version:

Hi, ho the dairy-o
the boogy's in my mouth!

See any patterns?

B did this herself with absolutely no prompting from us.