My New Project

Shortly after Kenji gave me my awesome camera for our anniversary last year, I heard about a photography project that I wanted to try. I've finally gotten around to starting it. The idea is that every day for a year (for 365 days) I have to take a picture of...something. I'm currently one week into it and think I've had some pretty good results. We'll see how it continues over the next 51 weeks.

So here it is, my 365 project. Please feel free to look and comment.

Something I Made

A few months ago, my brother came to me with an idea for his wife's Christmas present. He wanted to take one of their wedding pictures and put ghost-like pictures of his kids around it. Having just installed Photoshop on my computer, I was game to help him with it. After getting the picture from him, I decided to clean it up. In the end, adding the kids' pictures was the easy part.

So here we go. Before:
After:

Things Tamsin Says That Make Me Laugh

* She yells "stuck" while in her carseat.

* She calls her Etch-a-Sketch an "A-B-C-D"

* She calls the harmonica "Buffy"

* Whenever she cries for no apparent reason, we tease her about having a hard life. Now she'll say "Hard. Life" when she's crying.

* She gives hugs and says "Love you" to many things. "Love you, Daddy. Love you, Monkey. Love you, water."

*My sister Robyn is "Wawa" in Tamsin-ese. Robyn's daughter, Danika, is "Ca-la-la."

* Corn is "corner"

* She talks about Santa a lot. However, when asked if she wants to go see Santa, she very quickly and vehemently replies "No Sinta."

* She pretends to snore when she's playing "Sleeping."

* All deer (reindeer, regular deer, etc) are called "Oh dear."

My Little Genius

Here are some pictures of Tamsin in the snow. It took longer to dress her in snow-appropriate attire than it did for her to decide the snow is cold and she wanted to go in the house. And why do kids feel the need to eat snow? Whenever we walk out the front door Tamsin has to grab a handful of snow and put it in her mouth. Every. Single. Time. Why???? At least she has deemed the snow "Nummy."


















































And Now for the Genius Part
Some video of a pop quiz given to Tamsin just before Thanksgiving.

What's In A Name?

Working Titles
Tamsin has always loved books. Her favorite toy is her books. Her language skills are now at the point where she can request each one by name. Sort of. Most of the names for her books are pretty obvious - Fish for One Fish Two Fish, Mooney for Marvin K. Mooney, Moon for Goodnight Moon and Duck for Cuddle for Little Duck. Others are a little more creative, like Mama Mama for Inside Outside Upside Down (from the last page of the book) or Sheep for Time for Bed (the cover). Bear could be Brown Bear Brown Bear or Baby Bear Baby Bear or Panda Bear Panda Bear. My personal favorites, though, are Goat for Dr. Seuss's ABC and Doctor No Monkeys for Eight SillyMonkeys.

More Names
Tamsin has started naming her Little People. The guy wearing a hard hat is named Hat. The girl in glasses is named, of course, Glasses. She'll run across the room screaming Glasses or Hat looking for these toys. I think this is hilarious.

Update:
Apparently Dr. Seuss ABC book is now BeeCees.

A Little of Me and a Lot of Tamsin

It's Been an Unproductive Week
Things I was unable to do while my computer was broken:

• Look up the number for the laptop repair place
• File my unemployment claim - yes, there is a phone number, but I have no idea what it is
  
• Entertain my child with endless viewings of Elmo's Song and Hey Ya on YouTube
• Shop for various things like a holiday dress/outfit for Tamsin, step stool, Christmas gifts and a food mill
• Add a shopping cart to Tamsin's wishlist
• Watch TV - does anybody still watch when shows are actually broadcast?
• Update my blog (I honestly had started an update before the computer died)
  
• RSVP to a couple of parties
• Prepare and print November invoices for my piano students
• Send resumes to the few available marketing jobs in order to receive my unemployment benefit
  
• Check my bank account balances
• Check my credit card activity to make sure no one is using my missing card
• Call the credit card company to report aforementioned card as missing

My Genius
I know it's a cliche, but I really do think that Tamsin is smarter than other kids. For example: Sometimes I put a hanger in her bedroom door hinge so that she can't shut herself in there - she can close doors, but is unable to open them. Her genius does have limits. Anyway, one night Kenji was putting her to bed and I was trying to close the door. I was unable to do so because of the hanger. Tamsin saw my struggles and repeated "hanger, hanger" several times. After complimenting her on her awesome problem solving skills, I closed the door. Of course, now she says "hanger" anytime we close her bedroom door, so I'm beginning to wonder if she thinks "hanger" means "close the door." Sort of the way she thinks "more" (both the sign and spoken word) means "I want that." Maybe she's just confused rather than intelligent.

I Don't Know What This Means
A couple of weeks ago, my brother's kids spent the night at our house. My 3 year old neice left her baby doll and Tamsin has adopted it as her own. (Parenthetical Sidenote: My neice, Callie, calls the doll Tamsin and Tamsin has decided the doll's name is Callie. I just think that's funny.) This is one of those dolls that will laugh, cry, or say "mama" depending on where you squeeze her belly. For the first few days, Tamsin asked us to make the doll laugh for her, and then she'd giggle back. Now, though, she asks us to make the doll cry. She is very insistent about it crying and becomes upset if we squeeze the wrong place and the baby laughs instead. Once we manage to find the magic cry button, she hugs the doll and pats its back, being a comforting mommy. So, at least she has some empathy. I'm a little worried about the potentially psychopathic need to "hurt" the doll first.

Photo Dump

Some pictures of my beautiful girl: