Corn Maze

It was time for the annual trip to the corn maze. Mike's Maze, to be specific. Best in the area. This year's maze celebrated Charles Darwin's 200th birthday.



Punk enjoyed climbing on the hay bales with the big kids.





And of course she loved the pumpkins!





When it was time to enter the corn maze, I strapped her on my back for the long haul.





She liked it for about 30 minutes, but she doesn't particularly like to be contained. There was no way she could free-range in a giant corn maze. No way in hell. So I spent the last hour of trying to solve the puzzle of the maze listening to her alternate between whining and hollering. And begging to hold the flag they give you in case they have to locate you. And hitting me with it.

(Re: the puzzle - this year's puzzle involved finding certain checkpoints in the maze and solving for the family/class of animal, and then finding the rubber stamp of that animal, and then stamping the circle on the map that corresponded to where you found that stamp. Have you SEEN the size of this maze? You had to REALLY be aware of where you were on the map so you could stamp the right circles. Even with Senorita Screamy Pants, I managed to correctly stamp all 13 circles we located. We gave up on the last 2 because I couldn't take it anymore, and it was getting chilly.)

Here is our completed map and victory pumpkin.



For comparison, here is a little throwback to our excursion last year:



We live in such a beautiful area. I love being able to take advantage of neat things like this and sharing them with my little prodigy.

A little FYI

A little birdy told me that Operation: Frankenbaby might be gearing up for 2.0...

I have a two year old!

My darling Punkin Pie:

You have walked this earth for two full years. You have lived and breathed and screamed its energy for 730 days. You are the earth, and the earth is you (and we are all together, coo coo cachoo). You are an amazement and a joy.

Life has been very busy for us lately, Punk. You are growing and learning and changing so much, it is staggering. You speak with the fluency of a three-year-old, yet have the emotional struggles of a two-year-old. You want to own everything, do everything, be everything, experience everything. You are conjugating verbs, identifying gender (though what is gender anyway, I wonder?), and... you HAVE PREFERENCES. Oh lordy, do you ever.

"Mama, I want a beautiful dress!"
"I want the purple one!"
"I want to brush first and you can brush after!"
"I want to have a blue bowl!"
"I want to do puzzles now."

It is so sweet and so exciting to hear you voice your opinions out into the universe. I hardly believe you are the same child from a year ago, the knee-walker who was beginning to say "ball." How does one little brain go from "ball" to "I want to brush first, and you can brush after!" in one year? It is staggering, my love. Staggering.



Things you love: books, puzzles, toy phones, trains, and beautiful dresses. And anything purple. And television. You have become a certifiable television junkie. You need a 12 step, for sure. You know the theme songs for every television show we have ever watched. You pretend to watch television using your dollhouse furniture. You request, "Let's watch some 'On Demand.'"

I think the most exciting thing, Punkeroo, is how much living your childhood is reliving mine. We are so similar and you are just so bright and exciting and fun and lovable. You have so much empathy, so much spunk, so much action... yet you have the most amazing auditory memory and are such a people-pleaser, just like yours truly. You are growing into your own person and we can do so much together. Mommy and I love having you in our lives so much - truly you make our lives worth living and make us better people. You are everything we could have imagined.

Happy 2nd birthday to my most beautiful shining star.

Love,
Mama


Punk and a friend sitting on the dog at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence, RI. I have sat on this dog so many times in my own childhood. Amazing.

One for a few more hours...

Tomorrow I will be TWO!!

23 months!

Dear Punk,

You are 23 months old. In one month, we will be celebrating your second birthday. That is amazing. What a difference 12 months makes when it's between 1 and 2!

You speak in complete sentences and are incorporating more mature speech such as articles. You are asking questions. Your favorite is still to give orders, though! ;)

You really REALLY wish you could jump but you are just not coordinated enough to do that. You squat down and shoot up and... nothing happens. It's adorable! You are getting better at going up and down stairs, though motor skills are not your forte. You must be too busy learning all of your colors and numbers and letters and shapes! This month you started identifying "rectangle," "oval," and "octagon." Where do you learn these things?

You have finally, FINALLY, started sleeping through the night on a semi-regular basis. Thank you for that. I feel like I'm almost out of the haze of sleep depravation and can start functioning at work. I feel almost rested! You wake up in the morning singing songs and sitting in the crib with a big smile. It's really nice.

You are always so happy and full of joy. Everyone remarks on your big, wide smile. You are always full of glee. I love being around you. You are infectious.

Soon we will be celebrating another turn around the sun for you. I can't believe it! You are such a big, beautiful girl!

Love,
Mama

22 months!

My dear Punk,

You are 22 months old. In just two months, you will be two years old. How can that be? It doesn't seem like that is even remotely possible. Yet at the same time, I can hardly remember the tiny newborn bundle I brought home from the hospital, or the little imp at last year's first birthday party. You are growing into quite a kid.

You have so much personality and zest for life. You tend to experience everything at 100%. It's either all great or all terrible. You are either shouting with excitement or shouting in frustration. You have never been one to throw temper tantrums, but lately you have been overwhelmed with your desires to get your way... even if that changes from one minute to the next!

You continue to be obsessed with television and will talk about probably every character on every show. Lately you have wanted to take about Wonder Pets and Max and Ruby, even though you are not interested in either of these shows. You continue to enjoy Super Why, Curious George, and Blue's Clues. You still insist on a Curious George book every night before bed, although your obsession has moved on to Curious George Goes to the Ice Cream Shop.

Your language continues to grow in leaps and bounds, and now you frequently speak in full sentences (subject-verb-object). You have added some cute phrases and questions into your vocabulary, such as, "Guess what, Mama?" and "Where going?" You understand everything and try to get in the middle of everything going on around you. You want to be wherever we are and do whatever we do. Today you decided you were making 'cat food.' You are such a trip.

We have started saying prayers together every night and when it's time to go to bed, you insist, "Prayers! Prayers, Mama!" but always remind me, "'I Love You' first!" (We always sing the Barney 'I Love You' song before bed.) It is one of my favorite times of day.

Being your mama is all I have ever wanted in my life. Thank you.

Love,
Mama

21 months!

Dear Punkin Pie,

You are 21 months old. In three months, you will be TWO! That is so unbelievable to me! Two years ago, I was enjoying my pregnancy with you and starting to develop a nice, round belly while you grew big and strong inside of me. And now you are growing big and strong right before my eyes! You are really enjoying learning about your world and exploring everything you can, which really means getting into things.

The weather has gotten warmer, so we have been able to spend a lot of time outside, which is a blessing. You enjoy having the freedom to run and play, and you like picking up sticks, acorns, and rocks along the way. You like to "help" with the yard work and ask for your turn with the rake. You were not walking last spring and summer, so we are having a good time toddling around the outdoors.



Last month you had your first trip to the Holyoke Children's Museum with me and Uncle Rick. You called him "Uncle Ick" and had a fantastic time running around and playing with all of the toys. Uncle Rick and Aunt Gretchen love you so much and wish they lived closer and could spend more time with you. They are glad for every moment they can get!



You had a play date with Nolan, who is the son of some of Mama and Mommy's friends. He is a few months older than you and the two of you had a lot of fun on your little slide. Mama found that slide on the side of the road last summer and dragged it home even though you couldn't walk yet. You are really getting a lot of use out of it this spring and I'm sure you will continue to love it in the coming months. We hope to get you a play set this year as well.



You are getting so big and look much more like a little girl than a baby. You think you are running and you yell "fast! fast!" but really you are just walking a little more quickly. You are starting to walk down stairs if someone is holding your hand, but we still have a long way to go. You are coloring circles and can identify every letter of the alphabet and some numbers. You sing so many songs, and know almost all the words to the Super Why theme. You are nearly 3' tall and probably weigh about 28 pounds. And you are still rear-facing in your car seat, as long as we can get away with it.



As always, I love being your Mama.

Love,
Mama