I'm probably too old for this.

So I finally, finally joined Facebook. If you're there too, maybe we can be friends?

She's putting words together now.

[Scene: The Mall, Wetzel's Pretzels. Daddy is ordering pretzel bites for a visibly upset Lorin.]

Daddy (slightly exasperatedly): Okay, we're getting you a pretzel.

Lorin (stops crying and with perfect diction): And a drink!

Adventure #12: Children's Museum of Phoenix

Hard to believe that the 6th largest metropolitan area in the US didn't have a real children's museum before. There are topic specific museums, like the Arizona Science Center and the Arizona Museum for Youth, but they are not the same. While there are still a lot of "coming soon" signs, the new Children's Museum of Phoenix is already worth the 35 minute drive and $9 each entrance fee (we got a membership - it'll be worth it after 4 visits).

The first area is the atrium, a 3-story room with an under-5 play area/tunnel system and an amazing collage of CDs with children's wishes written on them (heartbreaker: "I wish for a happy family with my mom and dad").


I think this was Lorin's favorite part of the whole museum - we started and ended here.



Second favorite part of the museum? Painting in the art room. They had a bunch of projects available - oil pastels, making a refrigerator magnet, playdoh, and painting a house. Lorin likes painting with a brush way better than fingerpainting - a result of my dictator-like utensil training, perhaps?



There were plenty of other things to do: a "carwash" with tricycles, a grocery store, a kitchen, a room full of tubes for balls, a race-car track, and lots of little sensory stations. And a reading nook:


Thanks Aunt Karen and Cousins Ellison and Charlotte for sharing a great day with us!

****

General life tip #1: If you are going somewhere with two children between the ages of 17 and 23 months, bring along a 4-year-old - they are great at corralling toddlers.

General life tip #2: Don't push naptime too much. Otherwise, you may find yourself chasing your toddler from the "no shoes" area to the exit and carrying a full-blown tantrum back to the "no shoes" area to get both of your shoes to leave. See if you can spot this tip in the first picture.

Making Quite an Impression

Okay, stop what you're doing right now and go hear about my BIL's 2d week of work.

Gotta stay on my toes.

Since she first assigned it a word, Lorin has called water "ba." We think she associated water bottles with baby bottles and ultimately assigned "ba" to water in general. She knows the right word now, but she refuses to say it.

Yesterday, out of the blue, she asked for "water." I am so conditioned to "ba" that I didn't understand what she meant.

She went back to "ba."

I think I failed some motherhood test or something.

Gimme a head with hair, long beautiful hair...

See this?


I never thought we'd get here.

Not at 6 months.


Or at a year.


Or even at 16 months.


What I'm saying is, deep down I was worried that Lorin would always be bald. And that people would always think she was a boy even when she was dressed in all pink. And since I have the opposite problem, I wouldn't know what to do about it.

But I think we're going to be okay.



Guess who did the first pig-tail honors?