All good things come with lots of attitude

Last night after I asked Monkey if she wanted to help me make dinner:

“No, Mommy, you’re an old lady. You can do it yourself.”

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Tonight, as we were watching a movie and I answered my cell phone during the movie:

“Shhhhhh! Hey, I can’t hear the TV!”

We had our first real snow around these parts this weekend. Monkey was ridiculously excited and kept asking to go outside and play. After I tortured her by forcing her to eat breakfast, and then having her help me ensure that lunch was ready, we headed out with our buckets and boots.

This little Monkey was in heaven. She had a blast with her bucket and shovel. We taught her to throw snowballs (she’s got Mommy’s spaghetti arm), and I even managed to convince her to make some snow angels.

First, she had to gear up for the fall:

We stayed outside until we (me) couldn’t take the pissy drizzle anymore. We took a stroll around the block to help work off some energy, then headed back inside for big bowls of hot soup.

Now that we got the snow-playing out of the way, we’re ready for Spring to show up.

Monkey and I have been slowly switching to an almost vegetarian diet. I’m just trying to get us to eat a little healthier. While I normally cook healthy food here – tons of veggies and whole grains – there’s always room for improvement. (The latest beef recall has helped make this even clearer.)

So, tonight we had veggie stir fry with tofu. Monkey helped cut the tofu and mix the marinade. After it was all cooked, I hand her a bowl. She looks at her food, makes a face, and tells me, “Mommy, you forgot to put chicken in my bowl.”

A typical Sunday afternoon/Monday morning around here involves me sitting on the couch with my knitting, listening to This American Life, while Monkey plays on the floor with her puppets or coloring books. I never really thought that she was listening to the podcasts. I just assumed that it was all going over head.

This week, during one of the stories, the person retells a joke she once told. The punchline was, “Whitefish.”

Monkey, without missing a beat, looks up and says, “Whitefish? I don’t like white. I like pink!”

Hmm, looks like I’ll have to make sure to listen to kid-friendly casts…no more BBC death-and-mayhem for us.

Monkey’s going to be a big sister this summer. She’s super excited and is very adamant about wanting a sister because she wants it to be pink. I’ve tried explaining as much as I can to her in terms that she will understand. However, some things are obviously getting past her:

Monkey tells me: “I’m going to be a big sister this summer! When the baby is ready, it’s going to POP out of your belly button and be pink!”

After eating her afternoon snack: “I have an orange in my belly and the baby is eating it.”

And, my personal favorite:

On the potty the other day: “I’m going to sit here and push the baby out.”

Wednesday was a craptastic day – rainy, chilly, miserable. Since I didn’t have class, and I wasn’t really feeling like venturing out in the cold, rainy morning, I decided to keep Monkey home and have a Mommy and Monkey day. (See, I had a good excuse for Monkey’s truancy.)

After a morning of folding laundry (FUN!), we headed out for some thai food. Monkey hearts thai food. Really. See:

We took a little stroll to walk off all that pad thai:

It was the day before Valentine’s day, so we spent the afternoon making some of these:

After a nap (for both of us), we had a snack…

And finished off the day bumming around in Mamita’s house.

Monkey and I both agreed that we prefer these kinds of Wednesdays.