Daddy's in charge!

Carey's having lunch with some old friends from Dover she hasn't seen in awhile. So Greta and I had the run of the place after breakfast. The first thing she did, with no prompting from me, was try on one of Mommy's bras:


An hour later, it was lunch time. I asked her what she wanted to dip her ham and cheese into -- ketchup or mustard? "MUSTARD!" was the decisive reply. That's my girl!

Friday at post time

Sorry no new photo the last couple of days. Greta's been a little sick. Not sick enough to keep her home from daycare (we've decided to do what other parents do, which is syringe her with Motrin an hour before drop-off and pick her up at 4pm with a mild fever), but enough to make her less photogenic. A weekend of rest is probably just what the doctor would order, if we weren't too busy to run her to the doctor. While you wait for a new image, surf on over to Elmo's World and play any of the games. That's what Greta would want you to do.

"Aunt Kathy!"

Sorry, Grandma, Grandpa & Grandma, the first full name of a relative that Greta has mastered is Aunt Kathy. Yes, I know it's because she doesn't see her grandparents more often. (Hint: Priceline.com, what are you waiting for?)

We try to see Aunt Kathy -- Greta practically barks the words, by the way, emphasis on the KATHY! -- at least twice a month and take advantage of her babysitting offer every few weeks. Last Saturday, she came over for breakfast (and to receive her Valentine). Carey snapped this pic during the post-breakfast book reading session. (Vickie, note the stethoscope, which based on her last check-up has definitely helped Greta deal with her fear of doctors -- thanks!)

Shhh... we're restin'

That's what we say to Greta when it's 5:30 a.m. and not a single of the 200 windows we can see outside our balcony are lit. It's also what we say when we're feeling a little under the weather, as we were on Monday. She played through it all, but you could tell she was a little "off." But she's smart and took advantage of the Merrill Household Rule: If you're sick, there's no limit on TV time. Or as Greta calls it, "Elmo time!"

On frozen pond

We couldn't let a week of sub-zero temperatures stop us from feeding the birds this morning. The ducks and the geese are smart enough to stay out of the cold, but the seagulls turned out in full flock. They got a special treat -- leftover blueberry pancakes from Sunday's breakfast. I'm trying to be more like Matthew Gilmore and think about photographic composition, so I took this shot.

Greta bakes bread

Mommy & Greta made banana bread again on Saturday morning, but this time, after the loaf cooled, Greta had her way with it. Here is how a child eats bread if given no other guidance.

Pitchers and catchers report

Sorry for the delay in posting. I was in New York on Thurs. & Fri. and was so busy that I didn't even have time to write something to accompany this photo, which Carey took last Wed. Sorry, also, that it's out of focus. The Sony Cyber-shot remains something of a cipher to my beloved.

Anyway, if this doesn't look like my son, then I'm not named Robert.

Snow Day!

Despite the federal government only operating on a two hour delay this morning, my office closed (with minimum manning) just as I leaving a message from Greta's daycare that I would be a little late because the CDC didn't have enough caregivers for kids and were not going to accept any more! I had planned to stay at the CDC with Greta until another employee showed up, but instead we headed home (much to Greta's delight!).

We bundled up and headed out to play in the snow with our neighbors, Alexandra (almost 4) and Aiden (almost 2). Greta seemed to enjoy pushing a shovel and dusting off their yard ornaments. After a half-hour of "parallel play," the rain/snow/ice combo that fell last night proved sticky enough for us to make Greta's first snowman. I had given it raisin eyes, but she preferred Oreos to match the buttons. As you can see, she also enjoyed a mid-morning snack of Oreos, too. She still ate a great lunch of fish sticks, tater tots and corn, and is now napping with visions of snowflakes dancing in her head. Post nap, we plan to walk to the corner coffee shop with our neighbors for a little Valentine's Day treat. What a nice, unexpected day off for us both!

Happy Valentine's Day!

As Rob mentioned in an earlier post, Greta and I hosted 18 people (12 adults and 6 kids) on Sunday for a Valentine making party. We made more than 100 valentines for the local VA hospital as part of the USO's Miles of Smiles campaign. We also provided a bunch to the USO for delivery to patients at Walter Reed. It was a lot of fun, although I think we more than maxed our little townhouse's oxygen capacity.

When we finished the "official" purpose of the party, the kids made Valentines for relatives (Greta's grandparents and great-grandparents should be getting them in the mail today or tomorrow). Here she is with her Valentine for Aunt Kathy (which we'll hand-deliver this weekend) and some extra Valentines we made yesterday when the government closed at 2 p.m. for snow and we had an unexpected afternoon together.

Greta is a HUGE fan of glue stick and fingerpaint now, so you can expect even more crafts with upcoming holidays!

God Bless Aunt Judy

Greta LOVED vegetables as an infant. Pureed green beans, carrots, sweet potatoes... she would eat anything. Then, at 15 months, she finally cut a tooth, and started refusing any solid veggies. She finally warmed up to corn, and recently we learned she'll eat fresh carrots if we grate them. But the girl needed more green in her diet! Until tonight, every time we tried to sneak a piece of broccoli onto her fork, she would pick the piece out of her mouth and flick it onto her tray with a "You can't fool me!" look on her face. This evening, however, she tried Aunt Judy's famous chicken-broccoli casserole, and hand to God, she couldn't shove those little broccoli florets into her mouth fast enough!

It was hilarious watching her discover new flavors -- Cream of mushroom soup! Cheddar cheese! She was enjoying her dinner so much that she didn't even cry when I dashed upstairs to grab the camera! Looks like I'll be making this dish much more often, which will probably please Rob, too. Her recipe doesn't just fill our stomachs, it warms our hearts.

Anticipating Easter

We ran our usual errands with Greta on Saturday morning. Started at Panera's, a popular bakery here in the mid-Atlantic, then checked out kitchen countertops at Lowe's, then went to Michael's to shop for Valentine's crafts. (Carey promises to blog later about the shindig she hosted this weekend -- 8 adults, almost as many kids, and lots and lots of glitter!) Anyway, Greta wouldn't leave the house without one item, pictured here, on her head.

Swimming in February?

Alert Al Gore! Global warming is definitely real. How else to explain Greta Corleen Merrill in a bathing suit on Feb. 10?!?

OK, turns out the parents of best buddy Jay are members at a recreation center in Falls Church, Va., that has an enormous pool. A wader for little kids, a 3 1/2 ft. section for adolescents, roped off lanes for adult swimmers, and a deep end for divers. Greta had a blast being back in the water for the first time since Sept. We're definitely going to enroll her in a course this spring. 30 minutes every Saturday for 8 weeks at our local rec center.

Brush art

The kids in Fort Myer Child Development Center room 106 got into the watercolors yesterday. Greta came home with this masterpiece, which we're told she painted using a brush! I'm very proud of her, but her grandfather will be ecstatic.

Little doctor

All week long, I haven't been able to pick Greta up for fear of snapping my vertebrae. Most of my time at home is spent on the couch with a heating pad. Greta's been a real sweetheart watching Daddy struggle to get around. Tuesday morning, after Carey went in to get her out of the crib, she asked about me, and Carey told her Daddy has an "ou-ie" (pronounced oww-ee) on his back. So Greta went to the bathroom and got me a Band-Aid, which she presented to me in bed. On Saturday, when the pain was particularly intense, Greta got out her doctor's kit and went to work on me. She used the blood pressure sleeve, the stethoscope, and even a syringe! Thankfully, she practiced on her stuffed bunny first. None of it works as well as the muscle relaxant and Motrin, but it's nice to know that Greta realizes her true purpose even at such a young age: To take care of her parents when we're old and feeble.

Grandpa is Canada's choice!

For those to whom my father doesn't forward his snow sculpture photos, here's the front and back view of the elephants his team carved last week in Quebec. The original block of snow was 10' high, 12' deep and 18' long. Once again, they won the People's Choice Award!

Shopgirl

This photo's a couple weeks old, but I was scrolling through my cell phone pix and stumbled across it. Going to the mall with Greta is not as easy as it once was. She doesn't like to ride in the stroller anymore, and she likes to carry all the bags. Fellow pedestrians seem to get a kick out of it, but all I see are dollar signs. Being a fashion plate will be expensive.

Birthday brick

One of Greta's favorite things lately is working in the kitchen with Mommy or Daddy. Last week we washed dishes together, with her standing on a step stool. Today, she did something better: pushed a kitchen chair over to the counter so she could easily stand up and bake blueberry muffins with Mommy. When the muffins went into the oven, Greta pitched a mini-fit, so Mommy decided they'd bake a cake -- from scratch. But not a real cake. Greta got to pick the ingredients. They started with some flour, no need to measure anything, added a cup or two of water, stirred it into a paste, emptied the sugar bowl into the mix, and added a packet of Quaker Oatmeal. They stirred and stirred, with Greta licking the spoon in between. Then they poured it all into a mini-loaf pan at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.

The result? Something that looked, to me, like a brick of organic soap. The oatmeal gave it a rough texture, good for exfoliating. I didn't dare taste it, but Greta declared it her "birthday cake," and had a few bites for dessert tonight.

Bird chasing

My back was feeling strong enough this morning (thank you Motrin, thank you muscle relaxant!) to take Greta down to the river. She walked the longest part of the dock for the first time, chasing seagulls.




Didn't want to feed them, because the enriched white, 99 cent bag of hamburger rolls was too good for her not to eat.

Back pain

I know this is Greta's blog, but it's also an easy way to communicate to friends and family. Your humble blogger is incapacitated with back pain. I woke up Wed. with a slight twinge in my lower back, but figured it would loosen up throughout the day. Made my planned trip to New York, and I don't think the train ride or the hotel bed were very good for it. Struggled through yesterday with the help of some Doan's back pills and a ThermaCare heat wrap, and am now back home resting and hoping the doctor can see me today. I've never felt more like an invalid in my life. My boss, who has sciatica, says his doctor told him back pain is the closest men can come to child birth. If that's the case, you women are freakin' heroes.

Photo du jour

I'm in New York for a couple days, so won't blog again until Friday. Until then, the grandparents can fight over who buys Greta a tricycle for her second birthday. I snapped this photo on Sunday at Target.

Artist at work

Play-Doh says "ages 2 and up," but we've decided Greta is advanced for her age. She loves to make "worms," which involves simply rolling out the clay. Next time Dad visits I'm going to ask him to bring his "Sculptee," the raw material that eventually ends up larger-than-life in snow.

My Dad is always the kids' choice!

I found an updated site. Team New York won the kids' choice with this sculpture of an elephant family! My Dad knows how to satisfy the important audience.

Full results here.

First beater

Mommy made a birthday cake for her friend Jenny this weekend. From scratch! She was proud enough of herself to share a frosting beater with Greta. It goes without saying that she enjoyed the sugar rush.



Not related to my daughter, but I just found this video (requires Quick Time) on the Summit Daily News Web site about the Breckenridge International Snow Sculpting Championships. It was shot the first or second day of the carving, so you don't see any finished blocks, but I think I saw Dad's in the intial "blocking" stage. Pay attention towards the end of the video, something that looks like elephants. Still trying to find out who "won" the event. It doesn't seem to be breaking news on the Internet. (Judging was Saturday.)

Precocious

Sorry for the couple day lag in posting... my folks were in Breckenridge, Colo., and I figure they're the primary audience, so I took the opportunity to be a little lazy myself. We've had an eventful few days. Carey can post about her ER visit some other time (don't worry, Greta's just got pink-eye, it was just medical bureaucracy that led her there).

Anyway, to get us back in the groove, here's our precious, precocious one with what she calls "pretties" in her hair.

Play day

Greta coughed so hard she vomited yesterday at daycare, so she has to stay home for 24 hours. She's in great spirits today; doesn't seem to be sick at all. Carey and I are splitting the day. My half is almost over, just waiting for The Wife to come home from work. Greta's napping. I tired her out with a visit to the coffee shop, a trip to the playground, and a quick car ride to feed the ducks down on the Alexandria Potomac waterfront. We spent most of our indoor time wrestling and Greta started to get familiar with the camera. She figured out how to turn it on and now realizes the LCD screen shows you whatever you point the camera at. I'm not joking, here... once she learned that, she turned the damn thing around, pointed it at herself, and took this picture. Scout's honor. Genius kid.

Feline companion

I've waxed poetic about this before, but it really is a joy to watch Greta grow up around Jinx. He no longer just tolerates her, but actively seeks her out for food and companionship. I snapped this photo a couple days ago as they both were daydreaming, and I've seen them cuddling under the kitchen table numerous times. She loves to touch his paws and Carey tells me she once touched his nose, discovered it was wet, and said, "tissue," implying that Jinx needed one.

Finally ... snow!

The weatherman didn't predict it so we had no idea it was coming, but when Greta woke up from her nap on Sunday, the white stuff started to fall! We went over to play in it with Jay, whose Daddy coincidentally happened to buy a toboggan at Target before it started snowing. (I'm willing to bet they were sold out within an hour of the first flakes.) Greta seemed to like the sled more than Jay, so we pulled her around the backyard for a few minutes, until she removed her mittens and wanted to touch the snow. We let her do that for a few minutes, then slid down the snow-covered slide in the park behind their house. She looks like she's making a snow angel in this photo, but she really just slid so fast off the slide that she landed on her bottom with a giggle.

Learning to be a big sister

We spent a couple hours with our friends the Bengs this afternoon. Sadie is 3 1/2 and the quintessential Big Sister -- at times proud, at times scolding. Greta seems to relish the role of being the Little One, but I hope she's paying attention, because she'll be Sadie soon.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

I don't really know what it means to have a birthday, but Mommy told me that Daddy's 35th birthday is today. I think he had a very nice day, because he and Mommy both took the day off from work to celebrate. I still went to daycare, but for a shorter day than usual. Mommy said I had to go so that I could make something for him, which I did. I felt very special because I was the only kid who got to finger paint today! Miss Leah and Miss Te helped me with the writing, because I'm not a very good speller yet. But I did the hand prints all by myself. Daddy really liked the art I created for him.

I think he almost cried when Mommy was taking the picture, but he said that the wind was just a little too brisk. I love you, Daddy, and hope you enjoyed your day. Just between you and me, though, every day with you is pretty special to me.

XOXO,

Greta

The birds & the bees

Well, we got that awkward conversation out of the way at 20 months. Greta found a new drawer last night in Mommy's bedside table and emptied the contents, as you can see. Her "S" words to this point were Sadie, shower, snack, shoes, socks, star, sorry, slide, see-saw, swing, and snake. Now you can add two more: "Safe sex."

A woman's place...

Yeah, Carey voted for Hillary and will probably do so again in '08, but as you can see, my women know where they belong.

The Birds

Our little ornithologist has added a new species to her bird vocabulary, and a new sound: "CAW!" We spend at least an hour every nice weekend down by the Potomac River, where the seagulls outnumber the ducks about 10:1 and the people 5:1. We long ago ran out of stale bread, so now we feed the birds whatever is on hand. They like Cheese Nips more than Goldfish, and they don't really care for Teddy Grahams. I want to try big hunks of suet next.

The seagulls are pretty aggressive, as you can see from the photo. They literally fly about five feet from your face, performing all sorts of aerial acrobatics... mid-air suspensions, slow glides, barrel rolls. Greta doesn't even flinch. And if the food is heavy enough, they catch it out of the air. I spend most of my time trying to get the seagulls to do dangerous maneuvers, while Carey and Greta try to isolate the ducks and make sure they get their fair share. It's all very romantic for me, having fallen for Carey while waist-deep in the "flying toward heaven" philosophy of Jonathan Livingston Seagull.

"Aunt Kathy"

Greta learned how to say the name of her nearest geographic relative this weekend. We had breakfast with Carey's Aunt Kathy on Saturday (pictured at Metro 29 in Arlington, Va.), and she babysat for us Sunday night when we went to see local band Eddie from Ohio. She must have liked the quality of care, as she has added "Aunt Kathy" to her list of names (the others are Mommy, Daddy, Sadie, Immy and Jay). She says them all the time, often in succession. If I'm leaving the house, she'll say, "Bye, Daddy." And then she'll say "Bye, Mommy, bye, Aunt Kathy, bye, Sadie, bye, Immy, and bye, Jay."

Flower girl

We strolled through Costco this morning and Greta stopped to smell the flowers. Because I'm a softy and because $8.99 seemed like a fair price for that smile, they now adorn our dining room table.

Why you should buy Starbucks stock

Into the weekend

A couple photos heading into the weekend. Greta on Friday night imitating Jinx, and Greta on Saturday morning, practicing her butt wiping.

Language development

Carey is too busy or too intimidated to share stories, so she shares them with me, and I post them here. It's a little like the "Telephone" game, so excuse me if something is not quite right in the retelling.

Anyway... Greta pretty much talks all the time. She goes to bed babbling and wakes up babbling. Many of the words are perfectly recognizable: "Mommy, Daddy, meow, airplane, train, teeth." But a whole bunch of them just sound like gibberish to her parents. So Carey's begun playing semanticist, trying to decipher whatever it is Greta's trying to communicate. In the car on the way home from daycare some evenings, Greta will urgently repeat a word or a few words, something like, say, "mippy seemy baht." Carey will repeat a few words that sound vaguely like whatever she's heard. "Sippy cup?" "No," says Greta. "You saw a bird?" "No," says Greta. "You don't like bats?" "No," says Greta.

Then Carey will say, "Mippy seemy baht," and Greta will nod her heard three times and reply, "Yeah, okay!"

Clean up! Clean up!

I've blogged about how Greta is the first to volunteer when it's time to put away the Legos or the crayons at daycare. Now I'm trying to bottle that enthusiasm for house cleaning tasks, as well. This morning she dragged the Swiffer out of the pantry closet. I shortened the handle to fit her height and put a new sheet on the bottom of the broom. She pushed it around for a solid five minutes, but I couldn't convince her to not Swiffer the same place twice. So the 3 square feet in front of the beanbag chair shines a little brighter than the rest of the hardwood.

P.S. Wondering why the links to Legos and Swiffer? I'm thinking about making this a money-making venture! It seems product placement is all the rage in the blogosphere. See this story in today's Washington Post (you'll need a WashingtonPost.com login).

Strollin'

It took her awhile longer than most kids, but Greta now loves pushing stuff. Vacuums, Swiffer mops, strollers... she rarely goes in the direction you want her to, but she thoroughly enjoys the journey. Here she is with playmate Imogen Bengs at the playground last Sunday. Amazing slate blue eyes on that youngster.

New friends

An old friend of mine, Eileen, still merits inclusion on our holiday letter list, even though it's been almost 10 years since we've seen each other. She and her husband live in Harrisonburg, Va., now. Eileen and I used to work together at Very Special Arts.

Anyway, she gets our letter and sends me an e-mail with the subject line: MY FRIENDS ARE YOUR NEIGHBORS. Turns out Josie & Eric Nelson, who lived near Eileen when they were both first starting their families in Washington, moved back to the area because Eric is a Lt. Col. in the Air Force. They live about 3 blocks away and have for more than a year. I'm sure we've crossed strollers more than once. But thanks to Eileen's push we met for coffee Sunday morning and introduced our families. Sophie, above, is 4 1/2. Not pictured, their son E.J., is one day younger than Greta, born May 6, 2005. The kids had a nice time at our neighborhood playground. Sophie, who brought two dolls with her, shared her Raggedy Ann with Greta. They actually posed for this photo, which pleased all the parents. I'm sure we'll see each other again soon. It's not easy making "family" friends, and if you find some that click, it's usually a relationship to cherish.

Greta's badge of courage

Since about one year old, Mommy has eagerly given Greta an ice pack when she hits her head. Stumble and trip? Ice pack. Walk into a wall? Ice pack. Hit self on head with toy hammer? Ice pack.

This morning Greta was crawling around behind a chair and knocked her head on the corner of a windowsill. Now she looks like chapter one of Johnny Got His Gun.

Potty training!

Snapped just minutes ago on this Saturday morning... won't let us take off her diaper yet, but obviously knows there's no place better to read a book.

Sipping cereal

Mommy went to work a little late this a.m. -- morning sickness! -- so we had a family breakfast. Crispix with milk. Mommy had a lot of milk leftover, so she picked up her bowl and drank the remainder. Obviously, monkey see, monkey do.

"I want TV"

Mommy and I are both very impressed by Greta's language development. She's hitting all the milestones, identifying things she sees in books and reality. But now she's combining her language skills and her diva-ishness. This weekend she came up to me and clearly demanded: "I want TV." Apparently she's watched me enjoying ball games for too long and now she wants in on the fun. We try to limit TV-time to 30 minutes daily, with zero preferred. But it's hard on the weekends, especially with college football bowl games and the NFL playoffs. Thankfully, she seems to enjoy sports and hasn't yet begged me to change the channel to Disney, Nickelodeon or Sprout.

Getting cozy

We visited our neighborhood coffee shop on New Year's Eve and Greta noticed that Mommy had something wrapped around her coffee cup. She was determined to have one for her sippy cup. Once she did, she drank with gusto, draining the cup and asking for more.