moo

My sister, Beth, has taken on another job—a super-fun one at a petting farm. Bridget and I went out to see her on Saturday, and at first Bridget was intimidated by the animals. I blame it on the llama. I was holding a tray of carrots in my left hand, and Bridget on my left arm. We were walking around the barn feeding the animals when the llama stretched out its neck, right to Bridget's side, and started eating the carrots! It took a while for her to want to get down among the animals after that.

Bridget warmed up to running around on her own when we went to the pond. Ignoring the geese and ducks, she proceeded to climb up the one step to the porch/dock they have there, and down it. Up it, and down it. Up it, and down it. When mommy (yes, me) got bored, I encouraged her to walk farther along the pond. Still ignoring the geese, she saw a family come out from behind the trees on the far side of the pond. She went running that way, and soon we found ourselves in a pathway between the cow pasture and the trees lining the pond. The pathway ended at a gate, closed and chained, barring entry into the cow pasture. The shiny silver chain attracted Bridget and she immediately began playing with it—tugging at it, trying to get it loose, and pulling at the gate itself trying to open it. So cute! I thought, and probably told her. I snapped a few pictures and watched her as she played. Suddenly, I noticed a sound. A loud, mooing sound. I looked back and all of the cows in the pasture were looking our way and mooing earnestly (and angrily, I imagined). Every single one of them. Uh, oops.

When I got Bridget away from the gate and headed back toward the pond, a steer with long horns came charging at the fence, still mooing. He didn't come all the way to the fence, though—he stopped at the trough and seemed quite disappointed to find it empty. A few more cows stood there staring at us and mooing, and some of the little ones even came up to the fence to be scratched. Bridget looked at them but wouldn't touch them—she acted more interested in the stick she had picked up than in the cows. I think she was still a bit intimidated at that point.

While we were there, Beth took Bridget on her first pony ride—she was quite intimidated at first, but loved it when the pony started moving and kept trying to go back to the pony corral afterward—and on her first hay ride, which Bridget also loved. We had so much fun and I'll definitely go back again—Bridget loved it! By the time I was ready to leave, Bridget was running back and forth through the barn, letting the bunnies nibble on her fingers, going up to the youngest pony and the baby goats, and trying to steal other people's strollers to push around. She didn't want to leave! But since I hadn't had lunch and she hadn't had a nap and it was already after 4:00, I had to end the fun. Don't worry, Bridget—there will be a next time!

time flies...

Papa & Bridget

Suddenly, I'm the mother of a toddler. A definite toddler. I know she's been a toddler for a while now, but Bridget's been growing so quickly—intellectually and emotionally—in the past few weeks that it's impossible for me to keep up. It's amazing how these little ones grow!

Bridget's vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds, and it's very common for her to speak to us in phrases, short sentences, and short questions now. She learns new words and phrases every day and has taken to calling me "honey" (have no idea where she got that from), but I keep reminding her, "Hey, I'm mommy to you!" When she sees me cry (which I've done when I've had a huge migraine, for example), she asks me, "Are you crying?" (or says, "Don't cry") and puts her arm around me and pats my back trying to console me. That is one of the most precious things to me—Bridget has such a sweet spirit and is so caring and loving! She's also quite funny and happy. It's such a joy to have her around and I only regret that I have to have her in daycare and can't be with her more myself. I'm consoled by the fact that the interaction with the other kids is great for her and she loves it—but I still miss my little girl!

To my surprise, she has also taken quite an interest lately in the toilet. I have always let her come in with me, and with her growing interest in flushing for me and washing her hands, I decided to go ahead and buy her a potty chair of her own. I bought it last Thursday (the 9th) and she pooped in it that night—and the next night! Since then the novelty's worn off a bit and she hasn't been as interested in sitting on it and wiping her butt (that's her favorite part, besides putting the lid down—which she does with more consistency than Al), but that's okay. I'm going to go the no-pressure route and keep letting her come in with me and then use her own when she wants to (she tells me "a (on) potty" when she is interested) and just wear diapers when she doesn't. Although I wouldn't mind going without the cost of diapers!

Sigh. I love writing about my little girl, but now I've got to work on that dissertation. Fun, fun, fun!