Nov 2006
Oh, but the shoes are so pretty
....So, there I was, getting ready for work. Cady was already dressed, except for her shoes, and our morning routine was unfolding. I walked into the garage to get yogurt out of the garage refrigerator, for Cady to take with her to school. The door leading to the garage shut behind me. No biggie. The door leading to the garage always shuts behind me.
But then, it happened.
A few sounds of twisting metal on metal....and then silence. I moved to open the door and it wouldn't open.
"Cady?" "Cady! twist the handle." "Cady??"
She had, in her infinite wisdom, or more likely...out of curiosity, locked the deadbolt on the door. I spent the next several minutes calling her name, and wondering if she was alright. I could hear her through the door, scurry around at times, but she was not responding to my calls out to her. Of course, my mind was racing with the worst case scenarios. What if she falls and bumps her head? What if she jumps head first into the empty bathtub, and passes out? What if she gets into something poisonous that I somehow forgot to leave out of her reach? I kept calling out for her but she was not responding the way I had hoped.
I had considered calling 911 on my cell phone, and imagined them busting in the door to get to her. But, all I needed was a house key. Instead I called Scott, as he works only a few minutes away from home, and I knew he had the coveted key. I figured he would probably be able to get here sooner than anyone else, anyway. "Relax", I told myself. The odds were very low that something really dreadful would happen to her before Scott's arrival. But I had to get into the house. That was for real.
I went around to the backyard, and continued to call Cady's name from the window. It was cold. I was barefoot. My neighbors were probably still in bed, and if they were not up yet, I was surely going to wake them with my calls out to Cady from the backyard.
Finally!!!! I saw her cute little red, sparkly shoes coming toward me from the hall to the family room. She had spent the past several minutes in her bedroom, looking for, and putting on, her cute little red, sparkly shoes. But, of course. That was why she'd been so quiet. She gave me a half smile and looked down at her shoes then back at me. We had eye to eye contact, but were communicating two entirely different messages to each other. I was instructing her to twist the lock on the door knob, while she was using body language that said, "Look what I did!" as she glanced at her feet and back at me again.
I gave a sigh and looked in at her. I could relax a bit. My baby was okay. And, she had put on her own shoes. And she was so damn cute! I smiled back at her. But I still had this little issue of being outside of my house at 6:45 am, and her being inside. OK, so reality wasn't as cute as it had appeared to be a few seconds earlier.
"Cady, go to the garage door and unlock it. Go to the door in the garage and twist the knob." Did she even know what I was saying? Flashbacks of Pirates of the Caribbean, at Disneyland swirled through my head. I recalled the image of the dog with the keys in his mouth, wagging his tail, as the pirate tried to entice the dog toward them to unlock the jail door. But, she did walk away, and into the hall, toward the garage. I went back to the garage and attempted again to open the door. It WORKED! She had unlocked the door.
Ha! I knew all those puzzles I'd gotten for her were good for her hand/eye coordination. And that one puzzle with the locks and levers on it, well that one was the especially good for her learning skills. I knew I had made a great choice with that puzzle! And Scott had said that particular puzzle was not a good idea, because it could get her into trouble. Pffffffft! Hmmmm.......Well, alright, so maybe he had a good point. Nah. Never mind, she would have eventually learned how to lock the door anyway.
I called Scott again, and told him not to leave work.
And today, instead of going to work to participate in the Monday morning rat races, it was an unexpected vacation day for me.
Trust me, I needed it.
|
In the mind of a two year old
Mom and Dad and Two are
playing with playdough
Mom: Can I have some of your green?
Two: (using her best reasoning skills) NO! Yucky!
Mom: Please?
Two: (realizing "yucky" didn't work) No. Mine.
Two gets Daddy's play-dough, shaped like a snake:
Mom and Dad: Snake!
Two: Yes, poopie snake!
Two breaks Daddy's play-dough snake on purpose:
Two: OOPSIE! Broken....TWO!!! TWO!!!
Mom and Two are playing in the playhouse
Mom: Is it time for nap?
Two: No, Mama. No nap!
Mom: Go give Daddy kisses and tell him, "Nap time".
Two: (ignores Mom)
Mom: Better run, I'm gonna get you!
Two: (SQUEALS AND RUNS)
Two: (runs to Dad and gives him a kiss then tries to play with his computer)
Two trying to play with the dog's toys
Two: My turn....My turn...My turn!!!
Two singing ABCs
Two: A...B..C...D....ecko.....I
Mom: (repeating the song, with E F G...)
Two: (in her best singing voice) Aaa...Bbb....Ccc...Dddd...eck-ooo.....IIIIIIIII
Mom getting a snack for Two:
Mom: Want something to eat?
Two: (eyes widen)
Mom: Come on..Let's get a snack.
Mom: (goes toward the kitchen while Two wanders toward the garage)
Two: Nogert...Nogert...Nogert? NOGERT!! (starts to panic as she says Nogert!)
Mom: (wanders down the hall toward Two)
Mom: What?
Two: (crying) Noooo-gerrrrrrt!
Dad: She says she wants yogurt from the refrigerator in the garage.
Mom: Ohhh...Yogurt!
Two: (giggles as if nothing was wrong a second ago)
Two: OHH...KAY! Nogert.
At the computer:
Mom: (trying to type this entry)
Two: (creeps up Moms lap)
Mom: (lets Two sit in her lap, but negotiates her hand to the keyboard)
Two: (cries) No, Mama!
Mom: (ends this post)
Two: (off to another adventure) Get it...Get it!
And I wouldn't change a thing:
Two: (in bed and zonked out)
After a full day of the sun and the moon revolving around her, she's now fast asleep and Mom already misses her.
Mom: (sneaks in to Two's bedroom, realigns her lop-sided body, pulls the covers up, gazes down at her, and whispers) I love you to the moon....and back again
Mom: Can I have some of your green?
Two: (using her best reasoning skills) NO! Yucky!
Mom: Please?
Two: (realizing "yucky" didn't work) No. Mine.
Two gets Daddy's play-dough, shaped like a snake:
Mom and Dad: Snake!
Two: Yes, poopie snake!
Two breaks Daddy's play-dough snake on purpose:
Two: OOPSIE! Broken....TWO!!! TWO!!!
Mom and Two are playing in the playhouse
Mom: Is it time for nap?
Two: No, Mama. No nap!
Mom: Go give Daddy kisses and tell him, "Nap time".
Two: (ignores Mom)
Mom: Better run, I'm gonna get you!
Two: (SQUEALS AND RUNS)
Two: (runs to Dad and gives him a kiss then tries to play with his computer)
Two trying to play with the dog's toys
Two: My turn....My turn...My turn!!!
Two singing ABCs
Two: A...B..C...D....ecko.....I
Mom: (repeating the song, with E F G...)
Two: (in her best singing voice) Aaa...Bbb....Ccc...Dddd...eck-ooo.....IIIIIIIII
Mom getting a snack for Two:
Mom: Want something to eat?
Two: (eyes widen)
Mom: Come on..Let's get a snack.
Mom: (goes toward the kitchen while Two wanders toward the garage)
Two: Nogert...Nogert...Nogert? NOGERT!! (starts to panic as she says Nogert!)
Mom: (wanders down the hall toward Two)
Mom: What?
Two: (crying) Noooo-gerrrrrrt!
Dad: She says she wants yogurt from the refrigerator in the garage.
Mom: Ohhh...Yogurt!
Two: (giggles as if nothing was wrong a second ago)
Two: OHH...KAY! Nogert.
At the computer:
Mom: (trying to type this entry)
Two: (creeps up Moms lap)
Mom: (lets Two sit in her lap, but negotiates her hand to the keyboard)
Two: (cries) No, Mama!
Mom: (ends this post)
Two: (off to another adventure) Get it...Get it!
And I wouldn't change a thing:
Two: (in bed and zonked out)
After a full day of the sun and the moon revolving around her, she's now fast asleep and Mom already misses her.
Mom: (sneaks in to Two's bedroom, realigns her lop-sided body, pulls the covers up, gazes down at her, and whispers) I love you to the moon....and back again
