Binkies, macaws and the garbage truck

Today was a pretty typical day at home with Valerie. It was a busy one - I had decided I would start with a barre class at the gym on my last day of our free trial there, then we would go to the zoo (which is really more of a kids amusement park than a zoo but they have a few animals), and then we would come back home for naptime and I would get some laundry done while she napped. At least, that was the plan.

We started the morning with the sweetest snuggles, followed by a totally insane meltdown at breakfast that she was tired, and wanted to lay in bed instead of going to the gym daycare.

We usually only let her have her binkies (pacifiers - she has two of them) at night and at naptime, and also when traveling, but when she's really lost her mind and needs help calming herself down we sometimes make exceptions. I decided to let her have her binkies in the car on the way to the gym and it worked like a charm. She calmed down, said she felt better, was in high spirits by the time we got there and had a great time in the kids' room.

When I finished my barre class and went to pick her up, she came running excitedly to see me and shouted, "We're going to the zoo!  I'm so happy to see you, Mommy!"

Another mom picking up her baby said to me, "That sounds like a fun day! She is so cute! I could just take her home with me!"  I just smiled and said thank you, rather than "please, take her, she is 50% off today only. She comes with a carseat, two binkies, crayon on your hardwood floor, pen on your leather couch and an utter refusal to pee on the potty."

I get it though, she was maxing out her cuteness right then. She's always SOOO happy to see me and I admit I'm that happy to see her too, after I've had a peaceful, child-free hour to work out.

She said so many funny/cute/nonsensical things today.

• It was garbage day so she ran outside to watch the workers collect our garbage and they honked and waved at her, which she loved. Then the truck pulled up to the next house, and she came running back to me, saying "It's scary! I don't like it!"  Huh?

• At the zoo, she sat with 3 or 4 other kids learning about macaws, and the zoo employee asked a few times, "Does anyone have any questions?"  After seeing an older girl ask a question, she started raising her hand every time and saying "I do!" We would lean in to listen to her "question," and she would sign with her hands and mumble something unintelligible about butterflies, or flowers... "When.... the butterflies.... come... mumble mumble..." The poor zoo employee was clearly making a maximum effort to make sense of her babble. She leaned in and said, "....what?"  I said, "I think it was more of a statement than a question."  Moving on...

•  Later, I'm sitting at the computer and she comes running in from the next room and says "Don't worry Mom, it's trying!"

           "What's trying?"
           "The carpet got wet, but it's trying!"
           "You mean it's DRYing?  What's drying?  Did you spill your water?" I get up to assess the damage and see that she has gotten a towel from the kitchen and placed it over the wet spot on the carpet. Can't be mad.... at least it's just water. And she tried to clean it up herself!

•  While tucking her in at night, we said "I love you, Valerie." She doesn't often say "I love you, Mommy and Daddy" unprompted, although once in a while she does. So sometimes we encourage it: "Do you love Mommy and Daddy?" "I do." Then Rich, to his detriment, asked her, "What do you love more, Mommy and Daddy or your binkies?" "Mommy." Okay, so she loves Mommy the most. "What about Daddy? What do you love more - Daddy, or your binkies?"  She thinks about it.... "Binkies." So, now we've established what Valerie loves most in the world:

             1. Mommy             2. Binkies
             3. Daddy
            At least, I said to Rich, you can take comfort that she really, really loves her binkies, so coming in next after the binkies isn't too shabby. Haha.... sorry babe.