Trickeration, yes it's a word. Well at least according to a college football announcer. A few years ago Jeff and I were watching some random football game and the announcer said something that caught my attention which to this day never fails to make me laugh. As far as my non-sports understanding mind can decipher, trickeration means a really cool play, something totally awesome, or some serious trickery that totally fakes out the opposing team. So...since I'm a week behind on the blog posting, thanks to stupid school and internship stuff, I decided to post some of Pearl's best "trickerations" this week. I really should take the time to blog about her new tricks right after she learns something new or does something funny, but hey this will have to do. Just a warning, it's kind of long because Pearl has some serious new trickerations to tell you all about!
- Hair do's. I've tried everything - bows, curlers, gels, piggytails, messy, and even flowers. But nothing, absolutely nothing stays in that girl's hair longer than 3 minutes. You would think ripping out a section of your hair would hurt and encourage you to not continue to pull at it, but no! Pearl is bound and determined to go with the "just got out of bed" look. So to make sure everyone out there who has seen Pearl at the end of the day know that I do in fact comb her hair every morning, I've posted a picture of her with her hair done, a very stylish flower in her hair, and hold your breath, proof that she actually left her hair alone all through church! Now once we got home, that was another story!
- Hungry? Again, before seeing this next picture I have to say that I do feed my child. She eats three meals a day and multiple snacks. But the past few days she has shoveled anything she can get into her mouth, well let me clarify, fresh cucumbers and tomatoes. Sometimes I feel like people must think we don't feed her. Last Saturday, we had Jeff's mom's side over for the Petersen reunion and Pearl found a cucumber to gnaw on. I don't know how she managed to bit off anything with four teeth but here's the proof. I just wish I would have had the camera when she got into Jeff's tomato plants the other day and started stuffing 3 or 4 grape tomatoes in her mouth at a time. It was hilarious! I forget that she is still learning all this stuff so it must have been exciting for her to think she had found food - and one of her favorites - outside.
- Must keep eating. While we're on the subject of food, last night Pearl fell asleep eating dinner. It was so funny! She was almost totally out of it but still kept opening her mouth and trying to put food in it. Enjoy the video!
- Trying to be just like dad. Jeff religiously mows the lawn every Thursday and this week was no exception. The only difference was Pearl has decided she wants to help daddy by following him around the yard with her little lawn mower. She had been playing happily in her sandbox but as soon as she saw Jeff, she took off after him. It took me a minute to figure out what she wanted but once I got her lawnmower she was happy as could be. I think Jeff was pretty pumped at the thought that in a few years he could stop doing this chore and make Pearl do it. Lawn looks pretty good, huh?
- Ta-da! Jeff has taught Pearl some new trickeration this week with a new saying, "ta-da!" At first Pearl used "ta-da" at ever opportunity she could just to get a clap from us but we've tried to help her use it only selectively from now on. You know, when she does something really cool, a sweet dance move, or trying to jump up and down. She puts her arms high above her head and says either "da" or "ta" and then claps. It's so cute!
- Shoes. My child (and husband) is obessed with shoes. The two new pairs she got this week just aren't enough. She has to find Jeff's shoes, boots to be exact, and try to put them on while wearing her own shoes. She's actually getting pretty good at doing this and can take a few steps with his boots on before face planting it. Oh and heels, no problem for my Pearl! As soon as I take them off after work, she's clomping all over the house in them. It really is quite frightening and I found out at Jeff's family reunion last Saturday that this really does run in the family because Jeff's grandma also was a shoe fanatic! I knew Jeff's mom and sister were but I didn't realize the shoe gene extended back even further along the family tree.
- Naked water fight. First of all a disclaimer, only Pearl was naked. Yesterday we decided to enjoy the last few days of summer (not to mention trying to distract Pearl from getting out another toy or screaming at us one more time) by filling up the pool. Well, let's just say it didn't take long before Pearl was bored so Jeff promptly proceeded to drag the playground over and stick the slide in the pool. Pearl had a great time on the new water slide - oh and did I mention the fact that originally Pearl and I were playing in the sandbox with clothes on mind you when she headed for the water. So I stripped her down and figured what harm is there in letting her play in the pool totally naked? After all she loves being naked! Anyway, back to the story. So Jeff decides, even in his sickly state, to join in the fun and himself slide down the slide into the pool, clothes and all! It was pretty funny. You can imagine what happened next - Jeff's wet, Pearl's wet so...mama gets wet. Not on my own either but with the help of Jeff and a bucket. It turned into a family water fight. Pearl just laughed and laughed when Jeff threw buckets of water at her. It reminded me of this ginormous water fight my family had growing up. Without getting into too much detail, let's just say giving grandkids super soakers then expecting them to not squirt the adults didn't work so well. Long story short, everyone got soaked, the neighbors even came out to help get those not yet dripping wet, and even my grandpa got in on the fun going inside three times to change his clothes and making us promise to not get him wet again (at this point, it wasn't the just the grandkids that he made promise but my aunts/uncles, and dad too) - yeah right! Why else would we climb on the roof with a bucket of water to wait for him to come back outside. I hope the memories we make with Pearl are as much fun for her as my childhood memories are!
- Dancing queen. Pearl loves loud, beat-y music, and to dance! Especially naked or in only a diaper. She does this little squat thing and then bounces up and down shaking her whole body all while saying "da da da" which I interpret to mean "dance, dance, dance." Lately she's added some new spin moves to the routine followed by these random arm and feet stomping movements and the grand finale attempt to stand on her head, which I think she picked up watching the gymnastics during the Olympics. We had a great time dancing around the kitchen this week and Pearl thought it was the funniest thing to dance with her dad. Now this love of dancing will never, I repeat never turn into actual dance lessons! Real sports only please (not that dancing isn't athletic, but "sports" in our household require a ball).
