Wishes

I used to wish on shooting stars, wishbones, dandelions, same numbers displayed on a digital clock (i.e. 11:11 or 3:33), etc...
My wishes were usually to sell one of my scripts, or make my own film, or just make it somehow in Hollywood.
I do, in fact, still make wishes on the above occasions. However, since watching my daughter all day long, my priorities have changed. Of course, above all I wish for her good health. Then immediately after that I wish for the following:
- I wish she would stop climbing on dangerous things
- I wish she would stop eating everything in my garden and calling it "apples"
- I wish she would stop eating cat food
- I wish I could go to the bathroom alone for a change
- but most of all, I wish she would just go to sleep for her nap right about now!

Sincerely,

Worn Out Dada

wake up

Last week Marlo woke me up by saying, "Pat... up, Pat... up". When I didn't respond she said "dada... up!". She knows my name. Of course I want her to call me dada or daddy but I see nothing wrong with her calling me Pat every now and then. It's pretty cute.

gaming and pooping

so last week, I believe it was Friday morning (I know I failed to blog about this until now, tsk tsk), Marlo went poo poo and the potty. the BIG potty! it's probably the coolest greatest moment involving defecation ever to have happened. me and her mother were really excited. it was a wonderful milestone :)

later that night, I was playing online with a good friend of my back in MS, Matt forrest. we play and chat on the headset of xbox 360. anyway I had to run to the bathroom so I set the controller and headset down. when I came back I saw marlo with the headset on, holding the controller. she was playing the game and talking to matt. when I got back on the headset, I asked matt what she said. he said that she asked "who is this?" then proceeded to say hello and speak other things that he did not understand. although I probably could have translated. it seems these days everyone, including her mother, asks me to translate some of her words. I hear them just fine, but I guess because I spend the most time with her I just picked it up :)

"What are you doing?"

Marlo woke from her nap today, walked into my office and said "what are you doing?" Of course it came out not as clear as that but she asked me again.

Also, I bought her this awesome new circus tent today at IKEA. She loves it! It's pretty neat.

Also, she is REALLY good at doing her puzzles. Amazingly good. She wakes from her naps and goes straight to them. She does all of them almost perfectly. There are around ten of them.

Also, she loves money. She sees it and calls out "money, money". It's only change at the moment. I give her quarters mostly. I don't want her to have anything smaller just in case she tries to eat it.

more climbing

yesterday, while i was talking to a friend (Bo), Marlo climbed up her highchair all by herself. when i found her she was standing up and laughing. i couldn't help but laugh, although i was a little worried. it's pretty high, hence the name high chair.

today she grabbed to large bags (a diaper bag and her mother's travel bag) and put them on her shoulders and drugged them around the house saying "bye bye, bye bye". i guess she is ready to go somewhere.

everyday

this girl makes me smile and laugh everyday. today is her grandma's 70th birthday!

I'm not sure if i mentioned it but Marlo is a climber. In fact, she climbs on everything all the time. she has no fear. if she falls, she cries, then gets mad and tries again. i admire her determination, at the same time I'm constantly on edge. I see every bad scenario before it happens. This only increases my steadily growing collection of grey hairs.

yesterday i was fussing at her and shaking my finger. she got mad and tried to but my finger. i was shocked but it made me laugh a little. although i tried ot hide it, but still it was pretty funny.

oh, and she LOVES ice cream! she actually "screams" for ice cream, like the saying goes.

Walking, Talking... Driving?

so Marlo is talking... A LOT. yesterday she was showing me where all her body parts were. ears, eyes, teeth, nose, etc... then showed me where mine were. she also says belly button. can you believe this kid?
today she climbed up on the seat at the table and proceeded to eat her breakfast. she wants (thinks) she is big and wants to do whatever Candice and I do.

also, i taught marlo to drive. here is a picture and a video:

I suck at journals/blogs

i say I'm going to do things and i do at first, then seem to fizzle out. on journals i have always had this problem. its not that i don't have anything to write, its that i write too much. this idea makes me procrastinate and ultimately i just don't execute.

so I'm going to try and write a little each day.

Marlo is getting big. she has many words now. most she knows, but some she just mimics. she's so cute and sweet. she is sick right now but she is strong. she doesn't whine too much. she has super high temps for the past couple of days. i hope she gets better soon. i love her so much

Marlo is walking a lot now. still no more than a few steps at a time but it's pretty awesome. She is so proud of herself when she does it that she celebrates by dancing a little, ultimately throwing her off balance and she has to lower herself slowly to the ground to regain her self.

marlo said momma today. she was mad at me as i was trying to wipe the snot and food from her face. she kept turning away from me. finally, she called out "momma momma", like "help momma get this maniac out of my face" lol.

Walking

she's been walking with assistant for a while now, however, 2 days ago the 26th she took her first step towards her maw maw. this was a surprise for everyone and we all clapped. she had been close to it before but she never could commit to lifting one leg. one or two times she has faced me and i can tell she knew what she had to do but she just was a little nervous...not scared because she would laugh.
it's so awesome to see her little brain working. it's in her eyes and face. she is always figuring things out. it's so awesome, and scary. she seems so smart for her age. i know a lot of parents probably think that so i will not brag too much, but it's still fun to watch her.
today