Backsacksack

I can’t keep track of all the funny things Marielle says these days. I thought I would do a blog that went through a few of my recent favorites so I could always remember them. First, Marielle has made up her own word:

Backsacksack

Marielle uses it in so many contexts that I can’t figure out what the word means or how it is supposed to be used. Marielle will say, “oh, I am sooooo backsacksack,” or “do you want to go backsacksack,” or “that backsacksack is so funny.” Marielle has also come up with new sayings I have never heard of. The other day we were out for Uncle Ryan’s birthday and I took Marielle to the potty. Usually, when I take her and she doesn’t have to go, she shakes her head and says, “nothing.” The night of Ryan’s birthday I took Marielle to the potty and when she didn’t do anything she said,

“nothing but ice.”

I asked her to repeat what she said so I could be sure, and she said it again, “nothing but ice.” When I asked her what it meant, she said she didn’t know and then gave me a look of major attitude like “why are you asking me?”

Today Marielle kept repeating over and over and over,

“I farted in my pants. I farted in my pants.”

I don’t know who taught her that one, but thanks whoever you are.

Marielle also likes to tell us to speak to her nicer. When we are upset at her and are using a stern voice she usually rolls her eyes (yes I know she is going to be a fun teenager) and tells us,

“don’t talk to me that way,” 

or 

“why are you talking to me like that?”

Marc’s favorite from Christmas is that Marielle would take wrapping paper and swing it around all crazy and say,

“what is going on with this thing?”

Like the wrapping paper was moving on its own even though Marielle was totally in control of it. I know there are more sayings like “F'ing Bees”, but I can’t remember them all right now.

Oh, I have a new one to add. She just asked Marc, “Dad, is Harper happy or is she pissed?” Great.

Genetically Engineered Fruit?

Target is selling these fruit called Pummelos, and they are as big as Marielle's head. They look like grapefruit, but they're scary-big!

Marielle's been Naming Things

This is the owl on Marielle's PJ's. She named him Todd.

The Butterfly Pavilion is for Adults ...

and people who like the inferno of a tropical rainforest. This past Sunday, Viv attended a baby shower for a coworker and friend, and while she was out, I thought I'd take the girls to the Butterfly Pavilion. It's only five minutes from the house, yet we've never gone with the girls before. I managed to get pictures of the girls and pictures of the butterflies, but none with both. Here are some of the butterflies.

Despite having been to the Pavilion myself, I completely forgot about how hot it was inside. We've had these annoying wind gusts of doom (no, I’m not being dramatic) here for the better part of a week, so I had Marielle in a jacket and Harper in a fleece onesie and blanket. As we walked into the main greenhouse, I realized how unnecessary such clothing is in butterfly country. After shedding a few layers, we spent a good hour and a half walking through the exhibit.

Marielle spent a combined minute and a half switching between observing butterflies and running from them in terror. I was just happy that she didn't step on the one that was "blocking" her way on the path (I don't think they let you come back if that happens). She liked watching them fly around from a distance. Here's Marielle using her binoculars to see the butterflies. Harper was completely enthralled with her view skyward from the stroller. She spent the whole outing content to watch the butterflies floating above her head. Although Marielle and Harper had fun, I'd say that adults probably enjoy the place more. They certainly outnumbered the kids last Sunday. The vast majority, myself included, toted around cameras trying to catch shots of the colorful insects. There were fewer really spectacular butterflies to really capture kids' attention. There were, however, two little footbridges near one of the water features that Marielle thought were the highlight of the outing. We spent a lot of time crossing back and forth over the bridges. She would pretend that they were part of a boat dock and that crossing them would, “take us to Minnie [Mouse]’s boat.” She has quite the imagination. We also saw turtles, koi, and a white-faced tortoise.

When I noticed the sun glinting off of the sweat beads on Harper’s head, I decided that it was time to go. If you look closely you can see them in the pictures.

Not So Little Anymore

We've gotten plenty of comments over the months about how big our little one is. We totally agree when compared to Ellie at that age, but being in the 60th percentile is hardly ginormous (<----one of Viv's favorite words). I'm starting to see her "bigness" more these days, but not in the same sense. It's more that she's been doing bigger girl (baby would be more appropriate) things. She's gotten really good at rolling over which is partly due to her Opa who cuts her no slack on the tummy time front. Meaning that if she doesn't roll to her back herself, she stays on her tummy. She's also began sitting really well. She can hold her balance for a pretty long time, which allowed me to snap these shots, but she still needs supervision otherwise she's destined to take a pretty good digger. She loves being plopped in front of Sophie. She will play with Sophie's nose, tries to grab her lips, and dodges Sophie's kisses. Inevitably, Sophie lands a few good licks which Harper instantly laughs about.

She also continues to enjoying eating things other than formula although feeding herself is obviously a skill we won't start working on for a while. I gave her this spoon to play with after a meal.

Our New Computer's Self Portrait

This blog entry is hardly noteworthy to most because no matter what computer we use in the Barrios household, the posts look the same and are just as infrequent. But, I can assure you all that somewhere Steve Jobs is wringing his hands and laughing maniacally. I suppose PC (the friend in Okinawa, not the guy in the Apple commercials) might be doing the same as he's been trying to convert us to a Mac for years. And in case you are wondering: yes, the image is a self portrait, which Viv was rather annoyed with since I had to borrow the mirror from our living room to take it.

So far, we've had a lot of fun playing around with it. We've done some video chat with Lisa and Nathan, distorted Marielle's face with the Photo Booth filters, and used Harper's voice and Garage Band to make whale song recordings. Viv checked her email... twice.

I'm not sure that you could call us full converts. For day to day stuff, I wouldn't say the Mac does things any better than a Windows PC. However, it does look better doing it. The interface is just plain sexy.

PC, I'll leave the floor open for you, and I expect many pro Apple comments to follow ;)