Since we spent the last three weekends in a row in Memphis, it's been a while since Evie's been at home with the dogs for long periods of time. Usually when we get home from daycare I put the dogs out in the yard and she will watch them for a bit before we have dinner, but they don't get a lot of time together during the week. It's on the weekend that we tend to all hang out in the house together, so this past weekend, Evie enjoyed playing with the dogs. She has a lanyard with a plastic card on it that I wore when I was working an event a few months ago and she enjoys pretending that it is ChuuChu's necklace and will spend lots of time attempting to get it to sit just right on Chuu's chest (not easy for a dog with no neck). Evie also realizes that Herbie is exactly the right size for hugging, as Seth and I have always said; he is massive - he weighs almost 50 lbs! - but he is a gentle giant and puts up with Evie attempting to ride him and hug him.
I would say Chuu is Evie's favorite, followed by Herb, and then Edgar. Not that she doesn't actually like him, just that he's not quite as gentle and accommodating as the pugs are. Corgis are herding dogs and to that end Edgar dislikes anything that moves in a seemingly unorganized fashion, which is pretty much the only way a toddler does move. So Evie and Ed butt heads a little - usually not literally. On Sunday I was amused for several minutes by Evie attempting to run past Edgar to go to the hallway and Edgar rounding her up to herd her back onto the rug. Of course, he is not aggressive or nippy, and I do watch carefully for any signs that either of them is getting truly annoyed with the other. So long as it remains a game to them both, though, I don't interfere.
I have been amused and impressed (as always) at Evie's speech and memory. One night last week while Evie and the dogs were in the house at the same time, Seth went upstairs and Edgar started to follow him, as used to be typical since the dogs hung out in the bonus room from the first day we moved into this house. However, a month ago we got new carpet upstairs in preparation for selling the house so we have banished the dogs to the garage for now. I yelled at Ed to come back down and not go upstairs, which he obeyed. That moment has stuck in Evie's mind, I guess, because every night since when she opens the gate at the bottom of the stairs and starts to climb up to go to bed, she'll say, "Eda - no ussairs! Eda no!"
I am also impressed at her ability to help you understand what she's trying to say when you can't figure it out. A few entries ago I mentioned the weed whacker reminding her of a cow and her saying "moooo" when I didn't understand "dao". Along those same lines, she has used synonyms to help me understand what she means. Recently we've been reading a story called "Good Night, Gorilla" in which the protagonist - a gorilla, obviously - lifts the keys off the zookeeper as he is telling all the animals good night, and the gorilla lets himself and several other animals loose so that they can follow the zookeeper home and sleep in a comfy bed. Well, after changing Evie's diaper and putting her in pjs a few nights ago, before I even asked her what she wanted to read, she said, "Wiwa". I thought at first she was saying "Rella" which means Cinderella - a movie, not a book - and then I guessed she meant water. She said wiwa about three times before she gave up on me and said "Monk-she" which is monkey. Then it finally clicked. But how incredible for a two-year-old to be able to think of another word for the thing she is asking for.
Not that she has complete command of language or anything, as evidenced by her adorable usage of the word "mine" this weekend. I was going to go to the grocery store and was sorting through some coupons when Evie came up and took some. I asked her if she would give them back and she said, "No! Evie's mine!" I guess she thinks an object can be Mama's mine or Dada's mine or Evie's mine - she did the same thing with a breakfast item earlier that day. Here she is on video, declaring the coupons to be Evie's mine and demonstrating how cooperative she actually can be if you're patient.
Another cute moment from this week is when we had some macaroni and cheese last night and I guess it put Evie in mind of the last time we had mac and cheese, which was at Granna and Grannadaddy's house. I asked Evie whose mac and cheese she was eating (since I'm trying to raise her awareness of wh- questions and possessives) and she told me it was Daddy's, meaning Grannadaddy's. "It's Daddy's noonle", she declared.
Evie's been in a particularly loving mood this week according to her daycare teacher and from my own observations. Part of this may be because she hasn't seen much of her Dada this week. Seth had sinus surgery on Monday and has been pretty out of it. He hasn't been too steady on his feet yet and has been awake a total of about 10 hours since the surgery Monday at 11am (it's now Thursday at 4pm). I am hoping he'll start feeling more alert soon, but aside from being sleepy and off-balance he seems to be healing fine. Evie gets to kiss him good night, but that's about the extent of their interaction right now, partially because Seth is so sleepy and partially because we don't want to risk her getting excited and somehow hitting his nose or face. But I suspect that this change in her usual routine is what's making her so loving. She has been giving her teachers kisses, I hear, and certainly has done so with me several times. I love the way she asks for a kiss these days: she puckers her lips and says, "mmmmmmmmm" until you lean in for the kiss and then she says "muah!" Very sweet.
A sweet moment for me was a couple of nights ago when she brought me the A, You're Adorable book which was a gift from Granna and Grannadaddy when Evie was first born, in honor of my Grandaddy (Mouse, Dad's dad) who used to sing that song to me. I have sung it to her while flipping through the book many times, but I've never heard her sing along before and she surprised me with how much of it she knew. It was so sweet to hear her little voice singing that song. She just does something delightful that puts a smile on my face every single day.
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