Stinky Pants and other tidbits

Mama:  Elsie, I smell something.  Is there something stinky in your pants?
Elsie:  No, Mama.  Elsie makes her poopers in the potty chair.
Mama:  Oh you do, do you?  I think I smell something in your pants...
Elsie:  Mama has stinky pants!
Mama:  No, I don't think it's me who has stinky pants.  Who else could it be?
Elsie:  Grandma RJ!
Mama:  No, it's not Grandma RJ.  Who else could it be?
Elsie:  Grandma Dorothy!
Mama:  No, it's not Grandma Dorothy.  Who else could it be?
Elsie:  Daddy!
Mama:  No, I don't think it's Daddy.  Who else could it be?
Elsie:  Maaaaaybe Elsie?

***

Daddy:  Elsie, I think we should get you a big hamster wheel and hook it up to a generator.

Elsie (eyes huge):  Yes!  Elsie would like that very much.  Daddy go get Mamster Wheel right now?

***

Playing on the iphone in bed, just like Daddy!

***

Elsie:  Mama, you want to look in Elsie's bottom?

Mama:  Look in your bottom?  What would I find in your bottom?

Elsie:  Elsie's tail!

Mama:  Your tail?  What kind of tail is it?  A kitty tail?

Elsie (grabbing my braid and shaking it):  No, Mama, it's a Mama tail in Elsie's bottom!

***

Elsie:  Daddy, I want to be just like you!

***

Elsie (While being tucked into bed):  Mama, Elsie wake up in two minutes, okay?

Mama:  Well, it's night time, so I think we better sleep longer than two minutes.  We need to rest our minds and rest our bodies so that we will be ready to play again tomorrow.

Elsie:  Okay.  Elsie go to sleep to rest.  Elsie be ready in two minutes!

***

 Giving myself a ride on my big-kid swing!

 ***

Elsie (while rubbing her eyes and laying her head on the table): Elsie is very sleepy.
Daddy: Maybe we should go lay down in your bed and take a rest?
Elsie (as she sprints out of the room): No! Elsie doesn't need to rest!

***

Elsie:  Elsie's baby had a pooper!  

Mama:  Oh, my!  Should we change her pants?  

Elsie:  No, her pants are clean!  

Mama:  Hmm...if her pants are clean, where did she make her pooper?  In the potty?

Elsie:  No!  On Elsie's foot.  See baby's pooper?

(No, it wasn't a "baby pooper"....it was a fur ball Elsie had stepped in.  Lovely.)

***

Daddy (upon "finding" Elsie "hiding" under the yoga mat):  Elsie!  There you are!  What are you doing in there?

Elsie:  Daddy, Elsie drinking tea in here.

Garden Fail- guest post from Mama

Our garden this year was, well, was NOT.  Lack of energy and man power, lack of an effective spring tilling, lack of a raised bed, lack of appropriate research into seed choices...all conspired against us to produce nothing but a harvest of tomatoes and raspberries.  Quite a sad state of affairs, after last year's plethora of goodness in the form of basil, tomatoes, raspberries, corn, string beans, snap peas, carrots, lettuce, and strawberries.  Ah, well.  This year did make for a nice harvest of weeds, so at least something was growing.

I was feeling quite sad about it, really, until I ran across this lovely thought from Amanda Soule.  Though her garden is practically farm-sized, and her harvests do a large part to supply her family of seven with food for the winter, I was instantly consoled by her beautiful thoughts on gardening failure.

"...Each year that I've gardened has shown me once again how very different each year is from the last. I'm assured that it will keep the act interesting in the years and decades to come - with no two gardens ever looking the same. I am reminded that it isn't a formulaic mathematical process after all - but rather a dance. A dance with weather, landscape, time, health and energy all factoring in to creating something together."

Humbling words, no?

And one unexpected benefit of missing out on our own garden has been a renewed joy in finding the plethora of life growing in our neighborhood.  Our neighbors have been extremely generous with their extra produce and flowers, and Elsie has moved on from picking berries to picking other growing things...like flowers, sticks, and pine cones.  She's become quite the leaf connoisseur, bringing home beautiful handfuls at a time for various craft projects.  Luckily, our wonderful neighbors Lila Puppy and Heather have let us tag along on their walks...Lila has a nack for finding all the best, most colorful trees in the neighborhood!

Eplegaarden with the Albrechts!

Mama and Daddy have been going apple and pumpkin picking with the Albrechts for years- since even before I was born! Now that Simon and I can help, apple picking is a lot more fun for them.  And next year there will be another Baby Albrecht and another Baby Cooper to help out, too!

Daddy and me and Simon and Mister Alex all walked together.

Last year, Simon was too little to walk (I could walk, but I didn't want to)!

And the year before that, he wasn't even around yet!

The pumpkin fields are really big, so Daddy carried me while we searched for the perfect one.  I would have walked, but I was wearing my pumpkin coat, and Mama and Daddy were worried I would get lost amongst all the REAL pumpkins!

After we all found pumpkins, we loaded them up in the wagon.

When we were looking at the horses, Mister Alex found milk pods to play with.  Simon and I love throwing the fuzz into the windy, windy sky!

And just in case you were wondering how big I am, 

Mama has been taking these fun pictures to help you remember!

2010

2011

2012

At the Gym

I think our little gymnast enjoyed her first experience at the gym!

At the zoo with friends!

On a beautiful fall day, we met some friends for some fun with animals. The statues were equally as interesting as the live animals.

The spider monkeys ("stinky monkeys") had babies, and the little ones loved playing Patty-Cake with me and my Dexter friend through the glass!

Lots of the animals were inside sleeping, so we had fun jumping!

I decided that it was time to tackle the rope net at the children's zoo- a lot of the bigger kids were turning around or making their parents come get them half-way up, but I climbed to the top all by myself!

I was pretty proud!

I tried out the rock wall, too...lots of fun to go up, but I couldn't figure out how to go back down...

Irene and I found an easier place to climb together!

What a lovely day at the zoo!

Craft Day

When illness struck unexpectedly after nap time, Mama had to cancel my walk with Lila Puppy and Heather Friend. I was pretty upset, but luckily Mama had a few Halloween art projects up her sleeve to make my sick afternoon more fun!

We turned a cereal box inside out and trimmed it down, then painted it orange.

While it dried, I practiced my cutting skills and made lots of black scraps.  I glued them on the glue dots Mama placed to make a Jack-O-Lantern with a big smile.

When the craft was finished I wasn't done with my art time, though, so Mama quickly came up with another project- she painted a pumpkin shape for me.   I filled it in with orange paint, then made some grass, and gave it a stem (Mama put the curly leaves on).  Mama was really impressed with how well I stayed inside the lines!  When the painting was over, I did my cutting and pasting again (and yes, all Jack-O-Lanterns need ears)! 

Fun at the apple orchard!

Checking out the pumpkin patch.

Cavorting with chickens.

And my first taste of apple cider doughnuts- delicious!

Favorite Elsie Quotes of the Week

Elsie (in Dubuque, while we are sitting on the couch):  "Mama, move please."
Josie:  "Do you need more room?  Where should I go?"
Elsie:  "Get in Kermit Car and drive to Elsie's house."
Josie:  "That is a long way away.  Are you going to come with me?"
Elsie:  "No.  Daddy come with Mama.  Mama and Daddy drive to Elsie's house.  Elsie stay here with Grandma Cooper."

***

Elsie, upon waking in the morn:  "Where Elsie go today?"
Josie:  "Well, what do you want to do today?  We can go to the park, or the zoo, or maybe the Children's Museum?"
Elsie:  "Elsie want to go to TJ Maxx!"
Josie:  "Wouldn't you rather go to the zoo today?"
Elsie:  "No.  TJ Maxx.  Or how about Elsie go to garage sales?"

....and later, in the cart at TJ Maxx, announced at full volume to the entire store:
"Elsie's Mama is Elsie's best friend in the whole wide woooooooorld!!!"

 ***

Elsie (at dinner): "Thank you, Mama, for making lots of good food for Elsie.  And food for Daddy and Mama and Elsie, too."

***

Elsie, while we are debating bedtime duties:  "Mama rock with Elsie and read Elsie stories!"

Josie:  "I'll read you stories, then Daddy can come back to tuck you in and sing you bedtime songs."

Elsie:  "No, Mama sing Elsie bedtime songs!"

Josie:  "Okay, Daddy can read you stories and I will come back to sing you songs."

Elsie:  "No, Mama read stories and sing songs to Elsie!"

Josie:  "Well, if I read you your stories and sing you your songs, what will Daddy do?"

Elsie (turning to Andy):  "Daddy, go to bed!"

Coming March 2013...

...and then there were four!  Looking forward to introducing you to our newest family member!

Bedtime Walk with Daddy- a guest post from Mama

Elsie loves to take an evening walk with her dad.  They bring a basket with them, and fill it with a great bounty of natural wonders.  Leaves, flowers, pine cones, rocks, acorns, and feathers are all fair game to take home to play with and ponder in days to come.  Last night, under a particularly beautiful night sky, Elsie turned to her Daddy and said, "Elsie want Daddy put moon in basket, okay?".  What a lovely thought.

A Tea Party.

As you may remember, I really like having tea parties.  I set up my tea sets, and all my bunnies have to come and have tea and cookies and milk and water.

Well, tonight I got to have an even BETTER tea party!  Daddy made himself and Mama and me all REAL TEA.  I didn't want my bunnies to miss out, though, so I invited them to share some tea from my cup.  Since it was Sleepytime tea, after they had a drink I put them in my bed and tucked them in so that they could "go to bed real tight."  What a lovely tea party!

My Good Friend.

Tonight, Mama read me a story called Take Care, Good Knight.  It's a really good book.  It's about three dragons who have a good friend called the Good Knight.  Mama asked me if I had any good friends, and I said, "Yes.  My potty chair is a good friend."  When she looked a little confused, I added that my friends Miss Adah and Baby Finn are also Good Friends.  She seemed to think those were better answers, but I think she just doesn't understand the true nature of my potty chair.

Singing Patty-Cake with Kitties

Dialogue (for those who are not yet fluent in Elsie-ese):

E: Patty-cake, patty-cake, baker's man!

E: (noticing camera) Elsie want to see Elsie play patty-cake patty-cake baker's man with kitties!

M: What comes after "patty-cake patty-cake baker's man"?

E:  Roll it and pat it and mark it with E, put in oven for Elsie and Kitties!

Guest Post from Mama

Remember this picture of Elsie and her friend Henry from this spring? 

Well, a few weeks ago, I took these pictures of Elsie and Henry playing together again at the park: 

And I recently was sent these pictures from Henry's mom, 

who took them during a play date they had: 

Hmmm...should I be worried? 

:)

Playing with Papa!

Papa came to play with me for a few days last week. What fun was had!

He had a tea party with me

and we drank lots of pretend tea and ate pretend cupcakes and cookies.

We played along the lake

and Papa helped me watch for sailboats.

We went to the petting zoo and practiced milking cows.

Papa held me up so that I could pet a donkey, and he tried to eat the flowers on my pants!

We fed bottles to the baby goats (they were really thirsty!).

And we fed the Mamas, too!

I love my Papa!

Incriminating Puppy Story

Upon walking into the kitchen to see Elsie's food and bottle on the floor...

Daddy: Did you throw your food on the floor, Elsie? 
Elsie: No!
D: How did it get on the floor, then?
E: Puppies threw food!
D: Puppies did it?  I don't see any puppies...
E: Puppies in Elsie's bottle.
D: They're in your bottle?
E: Yes.  Puppies came out of bottle, threw food on floor, go back in bottle.