Just another CarleSpawn weblog

Things Ezri loved about our long weekend in Denver:

1) The speed bumps in the parking garage for Coral’s apt.
There were two speed bumps so she could say, “bump-bump” followed by “again” and then we’d go over the second one. She seemed to know at this point saying “again” a second time would be fruitless.

2) Crashing Blue the dog’s 3rd birthday party –
which got her an opportunity to see 6 dogs running around, be given a balloon and a cupcake. Blue’s party was at the school where Jason teaches and he was showing us around. Ezri said, “Dogs running. Ball! Ball!” This tour also included a playground and freshly picked apples from fruit trees on the grounds. Score!

3) Running up and down the halls in the apt. building and being called a little stomper by Coral. She would stomp-stomp-stomp and then copy Coral saying, “Hey, little stomper” while Coral and I followed.

4) Chasing, petting and attempting to play with the household cats, Sugar and Smack.
She was so excited about the cats (and a bit congested) that she would start breathing heavily like a mini-darth and bouncing and stomping when she saw them. All of which made the cats VERY nervous.

5) Shower Curtain Peek-a-boo
Aunt Coral came up with a whole new fun game.

6) Finding and playing with the two toys in the house that made noise
A kitten and a pig puppet.

7) Hugging Curious George
A large costumed character george was at the Trick or Treat Street event and Ezri hugged him. Then she demanded that Mama hug George. When we went past George a second time she asked for another hug. Later that night she used past tense for the first time I recall when asked what she did today and said, “Ezri hugged George.” Thanks to whomever was in that costume for humoring Ezri and giving good hugs.

8 ) Firetruck
In the Denver Children’s Museum they have a firetruck display that let’s you climb up in a firetruck. The stuff of Ezri’s dreams.

9) The Megamind display of happy meal toys in the local McDonald’s

10) Play Dough
Coral and Jason bought Ezri a play dough set. Which she requested several times during the visit saying, “Ezri squish” and pointing at the box. I was impressed with her imagination as she made a dough ring and called it “bagel.” She also called one of my dough roll-ups “paper towels” and I had to admit it was rolled up just like paper towels.

11) Corn Maze Bubbles
A windy day means you just have to hold up the wand and bubbles come out.

12) Dancing in the living room with assorted adults and demanding various songs “again”

13) The Poster of Einstein sticking his tongue out at the Red Robin Restaurant

14) The cookie from the coffee shop at the Tattered Cover Bookstore

15) Flipping through Coral’s photos

16) Climbing up on Coral & Jason’s bed for tickling and pretending to nap.

17) Trying on the shoes of various adults from high heels to boots to sneakers and clomping around.

18) Wearing her monkey backpack which has a tail that doubles as a tether. It was great in the busy airport and she loves to put it on. Note she’s wearing it with her pajamas in one photo.

19) The gift of a doll with open/shut eyes who also is wearing glasses was a big hit.

20) I think 19 things is enough though I am sure I am leaving out some of the Ezri highlights.

It was a great trip. The little one had a blast and Eric and I got to spend time with close-to-my-heart friends who are too far away most of the time.

We are dressed as the zookeeper, his wife and Gorilla from Peggy Rathmann’s book Goodnight, Gorilla.
Ezri is showing off the keys that Gorilla uses to unlock the other cages at the zoo.

We had a great time with Coral at the Denver Children’s Museum’s event – Trick or Treat Street.
More photos of the trip soon.
Grandma Liz crafted the hats for this costume and they look good.

As a warning sometimes Gorilla is fierce! (Not really, but is this face great or what? I believe she was asked to make the noise that dinosaurs make after seeing a kid in a dino costume)

Yes, she’s learned the word “tattoo.” Ezri is proudly showing me her first temporary tattoo. It’s a sunflower & ladybug from the DuPage Forest Preserve given to her by the nice volunteer who also let her pet Tank, the rabbit.

She also observed yesterday that grapes have bellybuttons.

These two are books about toddlers who love their books.

Maybe a Bear Ate It by Robie Harris illustrated by Michael Emberly
In this book a little monster is imagining all the things that might have happened to his missing book. Maybe a bear ate it. Maybe a shark swallowed it. Maybe a bat flew away with it. Since he can’t sleep without it, he decides to look for his book. After searching the house, he finds his book under his bed. He gives his book a hug and says he loves it. Then he curls up and goes to sleep with his book. The illustrations show that the little monster’s stuffed animals are the animals he imagines doing away with his book. I’ve referred to the little monster as “he,” though no gender is assigned. No name or species is given either. Just a little critter talking about his/her book. The bibliophile in me loved this title and Ezri asked for it AGAIN.

Book! by Kristine O’Connell George illustrated by Maggie Smith
In this book a young boy (I think no gender is given in the text) is given a wrapped book as a present. Then he explains how he likes to open it and close it and put it on a shelf. He likes to wear it as a hat and read it to his cat. Ezri has been trying to read books and magazines to Sushi a lot lately, so she relates to this. The cat in the illustrations is seal-pointed grey like one of our cats, so she really likes finding the cat on each page. This is not a hard game as the cat is not hidden, but he is a part of each illustration. The boy, toy elephant and book are also in each spread. The illustrator did a nice job with this simple text. In the last page where the boy has fallen asleep with his book the eyes of the cat, toy elephant and rabbit on the cover of the book are also closed. I liked this touch that everyone was now napping. The boy also takes his book on a wagon ride to his secret place hiding under a table and takes his book to a lap so he will be read to before his nap. Yes this was a perfect pre-nap read.

Sushi has decided since we took the side of Ezri’s crib that it is a perfect place to nap. In this photo Ezri and Sushi are happily sharing the crib. Sadly, Sushi being in the crib makes it WAY TOO EXCITING a place for Ezri to sleep. She must be evicted at nap and bed time or Ezri will not sleep.

It took a little while to get going as soon as I buckled her in Ezri said,”Monkey.” We went back into the house. Then as soon as she and Monkey settled and we were rolling westward she said, “Sunglasses.” Back into the house we went. The third time was the charm and we made it all the way to the park.

“Drive!” is a lot of fun these days. Though, it is still Ezri’s preference to get to play in the driver’s seat of a real parked car. She knows just how to turn on the hazard lights and they make a great clicking sound.

I didn’t know about wearing purple to show we’re against bullying gay teens (really, I’m against bullying full stop) and in remembrance of teens who committed suicide after homophobic bullying until later in the day, but Ezri and I changed after nap for our trip to the park.

Also, there’s something sweet about my girl falling asleep with her arm still in her cat puppet.

Nature has made up for that earlier bee sting by providing Ezri with leaves, a perfect fall plaything.

Ezri took piggy to the park to play.
Here are some photos with Ezri quotes.

“Ezri Push. Swing high sweet piggy”

“Piggy drinking fountain.”

“Piggy slide.”

“Piggy nap.”

“Piggy chase.”

This is the face you get when you ask Ezri to “say cheese.”

I thought I would mention some things she says now that I know I’ll miss as she grows out of them.

I liked “nani” for banana, but it has become “nana” and I’m sure will be “banana” some enough.

I smile every time she points at the fridge and says, “maggots!” She is just ready to play with her magnets. I do not keep maggots in the fridge.

I like the phrase “inga inga” which still appears when she really wants you to put something in her fingers and was early Ezri-speak for fingers. She can say finger now, but still says “inga inga” as she reaches towards a highly desired item (play dough, cookie, somesuch).

She still says all Vs as Ws. “Womit” is the most commonly spoken word.
Vrroom in Ezri-speak is “Wuh-rooom.”

She currently refers to herself in third person.
Ezri pasta. = I would like pasta.
Ezri stroller walk. = Take me out in the stroller please.
She will learn the word “I,” but it is very fun to have her sliding at the park saying, “Ezri slide. Weeeee!”

Her talking is also helping us predict and often deflect her bad ideas.
While running down a path at the Wildlife Center she said, “Ezri swim pond,” and I knew I needed to get in front of her before she got to the pond.

Often these bad ideas involve the cats. Ezri holding her brush and saying, “Ezri brush Sushi.” A nice idea that would probably involve
whacking the cat in the face with a brush. And might be followed by her saying the phrase, “Sushi scratch.”
Sushi is very good with the toddler, but sometimes when pushed she defends herself.
When she said, “Ezri bring Sushi.” I knew she was going to try to pick-up the cat.

When she said, “Ezri lick dada pants,” it let us know she was interested in licking Eric’s pants and that it was time to explain to her that licking others and their clothing is not acceptable.

She also uses “nipples” for bra which led to a cute moment of her running towards the underwear section of Target yelling “nipples!” It’s a fun word to say.

Hearing her speak her mind is a wonderful thing.

Tilly and Friends series of picture books by Polly Dunbar
These slight tales of 6 friends (one little girl and five animals) who all live together in a yellow house have plots that seem to flit from one game to another in the way a toddler might. To Ezri it makes perfect sense to have a tale that begins with making music while doing a dance called the wiggly woo, then has a feast, followed by a post-feast pretty prance parade, then a post-parade elephant ride and ends with friends sharing a book until Tiptoe, the rabbit, falls asleep. The illustrations are charming. The animal friends have distinct personalities from earnest Tumpty, the elephant, to fanciful Pru, the chicken. There are six books in the series which begins with Hello, Tilly and includes a tale for each of the six friends who live in the little yellow house. So far, Ezri and I have enjoyed Hello, Tilly (described above) and Where’s Tumpty? (about an elephant who really wants to be good at hiding despite his size). Hello, Tilly has red endpapers with polka dots. Ezri loves the polka dot endpapers. She can count the polka dots up to 8 dots (there are dozens of them, but she only gets the first eight). I think we will be spending more time with Tilly and her friends.

Wild Animal Baby magazine from the National Wildlife Fund
This has been a big hit particularly because 5 small pictures of a red, overall-wearing skunk named Sammy hide in each issue. Ezri loves finding the pictures of Sammy as we read. She also likes describing what Sammy is doing as he is in different poses throughout. “Sammy dancing.” “Sammy sit.” “Sammy sleepy.” The magazine has brief articles about wildlife with photos and also features like find this animal at the park that asks the reader to point to the chipmunk, duck and so on. This is the first find it game that has fascinated Ezri and we are considering a subscription to Wild Animal Baby.

In other news, Ezri is enjoying having her own rake with which to move fall leaves. She doesn’t understand making a pile yet, but moving leaves around with a rake – she is on it!