whatcha bean sayin'?

wow! did i really lose the whole month of may?

how did that happen!?

bean likes to point out boogers.

her own

other people's

anything that seems gross and booger-like

she says "eeeeeeeew booger"

and gives it to me on the end of her finger.

how thoughtful.

when she wants to be picked up she says

"carry you"

she still doesn't really like swinging on swings.

well strike that -

she likes swinging

but at her own speed

which is more like sitting still.

she mostly likes to enjoy swinging through others.

she will stand next to a friend who is on a swing

and yell really loudly

"weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

as they swing back and forth

or she will sit on a swing

and yell

"weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

for herself

but if you try to actually move her swing -well...

she isn't such a big fan of that.

she also likes to put my bra on around her neck.
she says "boobies"
then she pulls on the bra and yells
"oooooooooooooooooooooooooooow"
i show her how to take it off over her head
rather than trying to pull it through her neck
two seconds later she puts it back on over her head
and pulls on it while yelling
"oooooooooooooooooooooooooooow"
it's a process.

beantiful weekend weather

we had a lovely lovely weekend.
bean went to the ocean and LOVED it.
she's been before
but this time she knew that she was somewhere cool

she was so visibly excited when she laid eyes on the waves and water
she clapped and let out high pitched squeals of delight
it was an amazing thing to watch her
such a great moment

she dug in the sand and played in tidepools
no fancy equipment needed
a few empty bottles and a plastic fork and she was good to go
the water was shockingly cold or as she liked to call it
"HOT!"
apparently it was burning to the skin!
but she liked sitting in smaller puddles and trying to capture
tiny hermit crabs

then on sunday we went to a festival
where she got to hippie-watch
and enjoy some music
she sure can boogie!

i'm a beantician

bean's hair is ridiculous
i have to admit that
the front is too long to be considered bangs
but too short to go behind her ears.
i'm not ready to cut it yet
i'm not ready to commit to a style.
i can't even style my own hair
how am i supposed to be responsible for someone else's
it's scary
no one warned me about this part of mommy-hood
we've come up with a temporary solutionwhen bean let's me
though often it involves chasing her around
and around and around
while she giggles and thinks we are playing a game
and then just when i think it looks perfect
she pulls one side out
or both
fun

...but those eyes!

i realize i have been taking a lot of videos...
so i thought i'd post some quick pictures to satisfy those
without sound
or without video know-how
or without time to watch a babbling 1 1/2 year oldthese are from a month or so back
humpty dumpty took a little fall
but all was welli'll add more later...

bean noticing the weather?

it's starting to get a bit nicer outside
and bean likes it.
she says "side" and points to the door.
if you don't listen she brings you her coat
and her shoes
and maybe a hat
then she begins pounding on the door.



sometimes she changes her plea to "ride."
don't make the mistake of thinking she will settle for a ride in the car.
that may be outside
but it isn't outside enough.
if you pick her up to try and put her in the car
she screams and wriggles
and demands to be put down.
then she grabs one finger
and you are on your way
for a walk.


speaking of demanding to be put down
she also now wants to walk down and up all stairs
sometimes she'll walk partway up or down
and then say "carry"
but she mostly wants to do it herself
and it's no easy feet
when your legs are so short.

( i know - i'm getting crazy with the videos...but she is so fun in action)

a little something for those of you who've BEAN waiting...

hopefully this will do for now...

bean bean phone home

bean loves to mimic
and apparently i talk on the phone sometimes.
today bean actually called my friend martha
twice
it was a nice conversation
this is a glimpse into what martha heard on her end.



now i am all about the videos.
they are so fun.
and bean likes to watch herself over and over
she is the only tv she gets to watch

she's a BEAN-ius

bean is a genius.
really she is.
today she was playing with an abacus.
i said "bean, can you say abacus?"
(we play that game often.
i ask her to repeat things and she holds on to one small part of the word while changing the rest of it so that it is all her own.)
she says "aba - MMMMMMWWWAAAH"
(get it...i said "aba-kiss")
i'm tellin ya...
genius!

and that's not her only trick.
check this out:

my favorite part is when she comes shooting back into the room!

it must be all the broccoli she's been eating since birth.

you should see the other kid!

doesn't bean look tough?
she got that shiner at daycare.
no...she was not in her first fight.
she fell.
these days her feet just cant take her places as quickly as she'd like them to.
she tends to get ahead of herself
or forget to navigate around things
or randomly fall over when absolutely nothing got in her way
she's still working out the kinks of this whole moving thing.
give her a break!


we went to the doctor for her 15 month check-up.
she is now in the 75th percentile for weight...
(24 pounds 14 ounces)
so though she still looks ginormous to us
she is actually less ginormous than she was
and taller
she is now in the 90th percentile for height
but her head is still crazy big.
more brains we keep telling her.
which accounts for all the studying she is doing.


always reading
and taking notes.

sometimes on the wall.
hey...when inspiration hits...


oh...and we actually took the pictures for our holiday card.
we might get them out by st patrick's day after all!

the low down

bean loves little chairs
we had an extra car seat in the house for a while
and she would back herself into it often and hang out.
she also likes to chill on her little wooden potty
(we inherited it. it used to be her dad's)
she doesn't use it as a potty yet...
though a few weeks ago she did pee on it.
she was having some diaper free time and
while sitting on her potty she decided to go.
was this part of her master plan or a coincidence?
you be the judge.
you should know that the top was down on the potty.

bean loves puppets.
she loves kermit and calls him "mimi"
she has discovered what to do with other types of puppets.
she puts them on and they dance
or kiss each other
or kiss whomever might be nearby.
there is much puppet love to be enjoyed.
finger puppets, hand puppets, bath mitts, socks, oven mitts
they all give love freely in our house.

bean says "all done"
many times she isn't actually all done...
but she says it
and does the hand motion.
we attempted to do baby sign language with her
we never got passed more and all done
she has conjunctivitis right now
we have the pleasure of trying to put drops into her eyes every 2 hours
torture
for everyone involved
it takes two people minimum
one to attempt to hold her arms and head still
the other to try to pry open her eyelids
she used to wiggle and wriggle and squirm
now she's learned that if she shuts her eyelids really tight
it makes it hard to do anything.
as soon as i put in the last drop she chants
"all done"
"all done"
"all done"
actually her latest tactic was to say "all done" after i put in the first drop
nice try.

bean can pick out some random body parts
though to her noses go "beep"
we realize now that we should have taught her the actual word "nose"
but beeping seemed so cute
when we ask her where her belly is
she grabs it with both hands and says in a deep voice
"belly belly belly"
that's my kid

snow bean

happy holidays
happy new year
anyone that knows us knows that we habitually send cards late
all cards
often they are done on time
and just sitting on the table
waiting to be addressed
waiting to be stamped
or more likely
waiting to be mailed
i dont know why it is so hard for me to get to the post office
or even to the mailbox right by our door
but it is
and holiday cards are the worst
we make ridiculous cards
with family portraits better suited to a different family
the situation gets more insane with each passing year
we hope to have this year's done by st patricks day.

anyway...
snow snow and more snow
that has been the order of the winter
we took bean out in it
she was skeptical
especially after she slipped and white-washed herself
when you put mittens on her she suddenly refuses to put her arms down
for a few minutes she treats them like puppets
but after her private show she continues to hold her arms outstretched
as if she is a robot
even when sitting in her car seat.
take the mittens off and the arms return to a neutral position.
weird.

we spent the first part of our holidays in nj

bean was spoiled and stuffed by her grandma
she got many many fabulous gifts
and a knitted hat for everyday of the month
we could seriously throw them away after wearing and
we'd still be good all winter!

then we headed down to dc where bean experienced many new things

she met kermit and jim

she rode the metro.

she tried ethiopian food.

she finally got to meet our super awesome friends.

a great time was had by all!