A new skill

Buttons!

She wore a shirt with 3 big buttons on it the other day. I saw her putting it on, left the room (probably to go pee for the thousandth time that day...), came back in and it was buttoned. I asked her if she did it herself- like maybe I thought Peaches did it for her or something. She very proudly told me she had. Then yesterday she noticed that the buttons on my sleeves weren't buttoned, so she buttoned these tiny little buttons all by herself! I asked her how she knew how to do it & she said she just figured it out! I know it wasn't because Dave or I taught her- it never even occured to me to teach her how to do a button. She's so proud of herself and I think it's pretty cool how she figured it out without ever really having practiced it- she doesn't really have any shirts with buttons on them.

A small misunderstanding...

Dave went moose hunting yesterday. He was complaining of his lower back and butt muscles hurting when he got home and said "Oh my buttocks!" as he was getting up from laying on the floor. Dillon stopped whatever she was doing, looked at him and said-

"Did you say your butt talks?!"

:)

Baby names

Dillon's votes for what we should name the baby:

Jab
Dillon
Scissor ("We'll call her scissor, but we won't use scissors on her!")

I keep telling her we'll put her choices on the list :)

A rough week...

It's been a rough week around here! First Dillon was sick, though seemingly for only a short time. Then I caught whatever she had and was sick for 3 solid days, including an ER visit for IV fluids. Dillon was pretty upset by me having to go to the ER, but once we got there and saw that I was really OK, she was OK. She was pretty enthralled by the IV & the fact that we came home with it in place for me to get a second liter of fluid. She also learned a new word- dehydrate- when we were able to compare what was going on with me to the process that makes raisins out of grapes. Hey, education is everywhere! As for me, I'm finally feeling better, getting my appetite and energy back.

Then yesterday afternoon, she was trying to play with something that Peaches kept standing on. She got frustrated with Peaches and grabbed her head, poised to bite her when I grabbed her arm. She pulled away from me and in the process pulled her elbow out of socket- "nurse-maid's elbow." So, on to another trip to the ER. She was scared of having to have a needle in her arm. I didn't know if she'd have to have an IV or not and could only assure her I'd be there with her no matter what. Dave met us in the ER, and they sent us up to the pedi clinic. In the process of waiting to be seen, she popped it back into place herself. So by the time we were seen- which wasn't really all that long- she was climbing on and off the table, waving both arms around, you name it. All was well.

And in true Dillon style, as we were finishing the visit, the pediatrician asked "Do you have any more questions?" Without missing a beat, Dillon said "Why did all the dinosaurs die?"

An epiphany for Dave

Dave: "You know, I never realized how much Dillon is like me until my vacation. I mean, I knew she had some of my traits, but there were so many times over that week that I could totally see myself in the things she did and said and how she reacted to things. I mean, she looks like you but she acts like me."

Uh huh. I told him I didn't ask that many questions when I was that age.

The newest line of questioning is along the lines of- "let's pretend that dinosaurs are still alive. What would happen if one stepped on our car? Then there's the ubiquitous "Why?" of course. It gets more complicated- let's pretend you're me and I'm you and Peaches belongs to someone else and you're trying to fix dinner and I won't let you. Would you like the taste of cherries then?

Making applesauce

We had plans today to go pick apples, but Mother Nature had other plans. We woke up to pouring rain and watched it continue to do so all day long. Instead, we went by the orchard, ran into the tent and picked up a bag of pears, a bag of MacIntosh apples and a half gallon of cider, paid for them, ran back out to the car and came home, staying mostly dry along the way.

At home, we got out the apple peeler & peeled several apples to make applesauce. We also sliced up a couple of pears and apples to dehydrate in the oven so we'd have some dried fruit. As the applesauce turned into sauce, Dillon got the priviledge of adding the cinammon. We now have very liberally cinammoned applesauce! :) It is delicious though and turned out to be a nice way to spend a couple of hours.

I've really enjoyed thinking of educational and fun things for she & I to do together, especially since she isn't going to go to preschool (or even school, for that matter). I think it's really important that she knows where food comes from and what fresh food tastes like. We're really fortunate to live in the midst of many kinds of farms, so it's been great taking advantage of that opportunity. I enjoy cooking with her (far more than playing with toys...) and she seems to enjoy cooking with me. She's gotten pretty good and stirring without sloshing everything out of the bowls. Maybe she'll be cooking dinner for us in a couple of years...