happy half-day!

December 18, 2009 at 11:10 pm (birthdays, cheesy sentimentalities, holiday, picture post, status report)

“There are three hundred and sixty-four days when you might get un-birthday presents … and only one for birthday presents, you know.”

– Humpty Dumpty
(as written by Lewis Carroll)

December 18th marked a somewhat important date in Super Puff’s life. . .because December 18th is her half-birthday!

*WOOT!*

Happy half-birthday to PUFF!

We (meaning me) are thrilled to announce that she has officially made it to the ripe old age of

*drumroll*

TWO-AND-A-HALF!

(This is very exciting)

It IS important! Dontcha remember when YOU were a kid? How excited were you when you could say that you were X–AND-A-HALF!!!? C’mon, admit it. You tossed that ‘and-a-half’ in as soon as you could get away with it. I know you did. . .because half-birthdays are awesome. They rock my socks . . .
Totally.

I’ve convinced her to allow me to photograph her to commemorate this grand event. I’m thinking this is the last year for the half-birthday in a pretty present box. I’ve also filled in a silly survey for Puff’s future reference. . . It’s very long, and prolly boring. Skip it – unless you’re suffering from severe insomnia.

Name: Teaball

Height: Pretty darn short. . . 37 inches, which is 3 feet and 1 inch. Kinda scary if you consider that I, her mother am exactly 2 feet taller. 2 FEET taller than my 2.5 year old daughter! How is this possible!??

Weight: ‘bout 30 pounds-ish

Hair color and style: blonde as can be and never been cut! Usually ‘styled’ with a barrette to keep the bangs outta the eyes and a pony-tail about half the time. Puff has recently found the love for pig-tails, much to my delight!

Eye color: Smoky Blue

Distinguishing physical characteristics: Adorability

Personality: Puff is a very happy and confident little girl. She’s extremely chatty and social, and has (or will make up) a song for any occasion (gets that from her mom). She has not a shy bone in her body. . .and the silly factor is through the roof. Also stubborn. Oh yes . . .gets that from her daddy. No doubt She’s quite precocious, and picks up on everything and anything without trying. She’s also slightly logical. Slightly because, although you can follow her rationale perfectly, her logic pertains to very specific rules which exist only in her own mind. . . she gets THIS from her mom.

Date of Birth: June 18th 2007

Favorite color: If you ask HER you’d get a different answer every time. But based on what colors she picks when she has to choose (like when she has to pick a crayon, or a shirt. . .or anything), I’d say it’s a tie between purple and yellow, with green possibly coming in close second/third. These have been the first color choices for Puff since she was about 1 year of age. *EDIT* asked her, and she says its blue. *EDIT* just asked again (5 minutes later) and now she says its yellow *EDIT* just asked again (5 minutes after th’ last time) and silver it is! *EDIT* asked one more time – just to make sure she has no idea, (5 minutes later again) and NOW th’ answer is green

Favorite kind of music: T likes all kinds of music. . .there is usually music of some kind playing in our house. Classical and nursery rhymes are on all day during the week when my daycare dayhome is in session, and on evenings or weekends, who knows what kind of music daddy has playing! Puff picks up on lyrics and tunes very quickly.

Favorite songs: Twinkle Twinkle has reigned supreme as her most favorite song for quite some time now, but close behind is the alphabet song, The Elephant Song (by Eric Herman), and the song that she just made up (she makes up a new song about every 3.2 seconds – much like her mom!) *EDIT* When I asked, just to make sure, she said its Twinkle-Twinkle. . .so 10 points for me!

Favorite holiday (and why): Halloween. But only because it’s the funnest holiday she can remember – we’ll see how it holds up as favorite after she re-meets Christmas! I think its my favorite still!

Favorite movies: Puff can’t really sit through an entire movie yet – except for Frosty the Snowman. She loves that one – even in the middle of the summer.

Favorite T.V. shows: Blue’s Clues is still up there on her favorites list, but edging ahead are Ni Hao, Kai-lan, Toot and Puddle, and the Wonder Pets. Oh! And she also adores Max and Ruby for some reason.*EDIT* I asked, – Blue’s Clues it is!

Favorite wild animal: Elephants. Maybe bears, penguins?!. . . she’s pretty fond of squirrels, too. *EDIT* I just asked and she said “SKUNKS! Because skunks are YUCKY!” *scratches head* Now she’s babbling about squirrels, and how much she loves them. . .

Favorite domestic animal: Kitties!

Favorite drink: Juice, of course – any flavor – especially if it comes in a box with a straw. But she’s also a sucker for milk, warmed if its close to bedtime, and she’s a fiend for herbal tea with honey. . . *EDIT* I just asked her, and she said her favorite drink is water, which is great – but. . .I have my doubts as to the accuracy of this statement!

Favorite food: Mac n’ Cheese. Cuz’ its awesome, and she knows it.

Favorite non-fruit snack: pretzel sticks, cottage cheese, string cheese, or yogurt *EDIT* I just asked her and she says that her favorite snack is cereal…

Favorite dessert is: cupcakes!

Favorite fruit: blueberries (especially if they’re frozen)

Favorite vegetable: either broccoli or baby carrots (with dip)

Favorite manner of dress is: um. Her favorite? Prolly a tutu with a feather boa, or possibly her footie pajamas. . .but what she mostly wears is jeans and a tee-shirt. In the summer time she rocks the sun-dresses. . . *EDIT* When asked what her favorite thing to wear is, she replied “Shiny silver birthday hats, because they’re shiny, and silver, and BEAUTIFUL!” *EDIT AGAIN* THIS time she said “dresses. . .and shirts, too!” *EDIT AGAIN* Footie pajamas it is!

Greatest strengths are: Running super-fast, making messes, jumping, making up songs, and being fabulous in general.

Greatest weakness: Loss of rationality when bedtime (or nap time) approaches. The general state of being a 2 is definitely a weakness IMHO. Plus she can’t reach very high. . .

Greatest fear: toys that vibrate – though we’re working through it. . . and those ‘toys’ that you see for holidays that generally involve an animal that sings and dances and moves around. Puff can’t STAND those things. *EDIT* I just asked, and she said “Kitties, because they scare me in the dark” This is because a week or so ago, we accidentally shut the cat in her bedroom while she was sleeping, and she got quite a fright when he jumped off the glider and started yowling to get out of the closed room. . .Aside from that one incident, she has shown no fear of the cat. As a matter of fact she tortures him (nicely) as a part of her daily routine.

It’s hard for her to: Pay attention to things that I want her to (though she has no trouble being absorbed in the silliest little things if they appeal to HER), hold still (again, only when I have cause to desire the stillness – otherwise she does just fine), pronounce the letter ‘L’ (it always ends up coming out with a ‘W’ sound. Funny how that works. . .

These things make Puff angry: Other babies playing  with certain toys at certain times (it remains a mystery which toys will set her off and when, as this changes constantly.) Being forced to share. Being forced to help clean up. . . When mommy gets water in her ears at bath-time. . . *EDIT* When asked, Puff replied “Ummm. . .skunks! Skunks make me very mad!”

These things make Puff sad: Whenever anyone else is sad or hurt, getting spankings, taking naps, bedtime, when its too cold/wet outside to play, when I won’t let her have candy or watch TV. . .

These things make Puff happy: Everything and anything makes Puff happy! *EDIT* when asked, Puff replied. “Ummm, chickens! And GAMES! And snuggly lambs. . .”

She feels heroic when: She helps her mommy and daddy do ANYTHING.

Favorite possessions: Her stuffed animals are her very favorite things in the world. Lil’ Cohen (a bear) is a favorite, as are her bears and elephant stuffies in general. . .she’s a big fan of her books. Really her favorite things change by the day – or the hour, even! Lambie was a major favorite last year, but she doesn’t seem very attached to him anymore, though she still sleeps with him every night. . .

Favorite toys: See above. . . She also really loves to play with her Lego’s, cars, My Little Ponies, dinosaurs, and tiny baby, she loves all of her toys, but there doesn’t seem to be one or two things that she prizes above all else at this time. . .*EDIT* When I asked her what her favorite toy was, she said “PONIES! And CARE BEARS!”

She likes to play: *in no particular order* Kick-the-ball, ring around the rosie, follow the leader, peek-a-boo/hide and go seek, catch, in her sandbox, on her swing. . . arts and crafts (including coloring, playdoh, beading, etc.) She also likes to play with her puppet theater, and her chalkboard, her bike, and her play kitchen. One of her favorite things to do is to run as fast as humanly possible from the front of the house all the way to the back, over and over and over again. And jumping. She loves to jump! Kneebouncers.com is another favorite thing to do. . . *EDIT* When asked, she said her favorite thing to do is to bounce on beds and couches. *sigh*

Favorite books: Where the Wild Things Are and Goodnight Moon seem to be the reigning champions at this time. Bill Grogan’s Goat is another thats on top of the chart at this time – but she’s really very fond of all her books.

Favorite thing to say:  Recently, T has been very much into best friending people – especially me and her father. She just comes up outta the blue and says “I love you! You’re my BEST friend! You’re my favorite. . .” The other silly thing that she’s been on about for the last week or two is to constantly reassure us that she’s okay. Just randomly; “I’m okay, mom. I’m okay. . .” This might happen after she coughs, or trips over something – or sometimes for no apparent reason at all. It’s very strange. She’ll also let us know that OTHER people are okay. *scratches head* Another silly Puffism thats been floating about of late is the random reassurance; “Thats what it’s all about!”

Newest word: Earlier in the week, T was playing by herself – stacking something. It wasn’t going so well. . . finally she gave up, and with a great big sigh said “Mom, I’m not playing this anymore. Its making me mad. . .I’m getting very FRUSTRATED!” She then huffed off and found something else to do. Frustrated isn’t a word commonly used in my home, so I’m not really sure where she picked that one up from, but it’s awfully adorable. She told her father that he was frustrating her a few nights later. . .according to him, he wasn’t doing anything at all!

And because you know how I love the flashbacks. . .

Here is my Puffy Wonder-girl on her
ONE-and-a-half birthday!

And here she is when she was just. . .a half!
Six months old

The CUTENESS is unbelievable!!!