alexist

And I'm suddenly thinking of all the things I didn't do in my 4 years here! I should have made more of it....

I bought Aliza baby Play-Doh (technically, Crayola Beginnings Dough, which according to the reviews doesn't have quite the same smell as real Play-Doh, but i can't really remember so what's the difference). She doesn't seem to get it yet. She did try to eat it (which reminded me of the Simpsons when Maggie makes Homer the Play-Doh doughnut). I had fun making and stacking balls of dough. I am easily amused.

The pots have enormous play value, however, regardless of the contents. Stack the pots. Open the pots. Close the pots. Rearrange the pots.

Favorite is still the Crayola jumbo baby crayons. I got her some more of those because for some reason, Crayola US don't do them! They have triangular ones but not in the giant pots. (these: http://www.crayola.co.uk/pages/gallery/24-jumbo-crayons7222.php) As well as drawing (she drew on the walls, sigh, apparently WD-40 will remove it like magic, though I'm going to try wipes first as it's washable crayon) she likes scattering all the crayons, then picking them up and putting them in her box. She found an empty baby wipes box and decided it was her crayon box.

she also has the superwash markers but she hasn't worked out how to take the caps on and off on her own.

Far as I'm concerned, buying art supplies (and building toys) is the best part of parenting. :)

I need an "Aliza chaos" icon picture.

When we were at Emily & James' in June, they had these giant Lego Quatro blocks. They were fantastic, and I wanted to buy some after we moved. I just went to look for them, and they're discontinued. :-( They do have Duplos labeled as being suitable for ages 1 1/2+, but they don't look as big.

(I can't go nuts with buying her toys now, but I do have to buy her a couple as I can't take that many in my luggage and she can't go nearly 3 months without toys!)

1) She did a header off the sofa yesterday (she was running around like a madwoman) and now has a nice goose egg on her forehead. The swelling's gone down but there's quite a bruise. Damn, toddler heads can take a beating. She went *whack* (I didn't see, I only heard, so I don't know if she hit the table or the floor--both hard), started bawling and then after a cuddle she was fine. I tried putting ice on but she didn't like that.

2) She knows how to turn the TV on. I don't think she knows what the power button is, but she knows if she keeps pressing buttons she'll hit the right one (plus, on ours, hitting one of the channel buttons also turns it on). Worse, she goes for the remote to turn it on. I think a TV vacation once we move is in order. (Especially since the layout at my parents' mean it's much easier to keep an eye on her from the kitchen.)

3) Must show you the pic of what she wore Sunday. Black t-shirt with skull and crossbones (in rhinestones) saying "my dad rocks". I actually put black trousers on as well.

Not the best shot because of the sunlight but I couldn't get a better angle (and i couldn't turn her around).

http://www.sporcle.com/games/mostspokenlanguages.php

I got 18/20--and I was close to one of the 2 I missed. (Was thinking of a related language...)

Right before we leave, the pound falls! It was below $1.90 at one point...