Giraffe

Violet was down for a nap but I heard her calling out, "I need my giraffe."  I went into her room and gave her the giraffe that sits on her shelf.  She took it but said she wanted another giraffe, pointing to one she had brought into her room earlier.  As she was settling down, she hugged her "new" giraffe and said, "Nice to meet you" over and over.

Candle

While Violet was washing her hands in the toilet, she apparently took a small break to bite into and eat part of a battery operated wax candle.  After the toilet fiasco I decided to let this one slide.

Handwashing

While Daddy went for a quick liquor store trip and I finished dinner Violet was left to play by herself.  She proudly came from the other room wiping her hands together claiming she had washed her hands.  Being a nurse, I am very proud of the fact that my toddler is slightly obsessed with washing her hands.  However, I quickly realized there was only one water source at her level.  I brought her into the bathroom and asked her where she washed her hands.  She proudly proclaimed, "the sink!"  I felt the sink and it was dry.  Panicking, I picked up the toilet seat to make sure there was no yellow mellowing.  Then, I proceeded to scrub Violet's hands...again.

Weird Tired Violet

"Violet, what are you doing?"  This is becoming a more and more common sentence in our house.
"I sleeping," Violet says.  We have taken off Violet's shirt and pants in preparation for the bath.  We were waiting while the the tub filled.  Violet decided to lay down on the bathmat to "sleep."
I wanted to get her off the floor, but decided it wasn't worth the fight.  "OK, you can sleep for a little while."
"No, I want to sleep a lot."
Somehow, though, her second wind arrived once the bubble bath was ready for her, and she's being nuts doing some kind of tub pushups.  That's my Violet.

Flexible

Yesterday we did a big cleaning of the house, which was a bit overdue.  I moved the dining room table and chairs to vacuum. I had two chairs right next two each other, pulled away from the table. I vacuumed and
wasn't paying attention. When I looked back, Violet was "sitting" on the two chairs with one leg extended onto each seat. She was in a perfect split reading a book, happy as can be. It was like a Jean Claude Van Damme pose from Kickboxer. Don't ask Daddy to sit like that.

Hygene

I went to get Violet up today, but she was pretty busy.  She was washing the hands of all of her stuffed animals.   Wash Bear Bear's hands now?" she asked.  I provided pretend soap and a pretend towel to help.  After about six  more animals I was finally allowed to get her up.  Is this what happens when your wife is a nurse?

Shoopa the Friendly Ghost

Nicole babysat Violet today and looked down at the monitor during one of the ill-fated attempts at a nap.  She watched Violet take the pillowcase off her pillow and look at it.  Then Violet said, "It's a hat" and put it over her head.  The pillowcase went all the way to her knees.  Nicole watched as she walked back and forth in the crib, looking like a two and a half foot ghost.

Remember?

Violet wanted to take a plastic Ernie figure into the bath and I told her OK.  We did our standard bath and pajamas routine and settled into reading books.  In this huge Elmo matching book, I pointed to Ernie, standing in a play fort in the play ground and asked, "Who's that?"

Violet looked at me and said, "That Ernie.  Like from my bath, remember?"

Stinky Sesame Street?

For some reason Violet got stuck on that phrase today.  She got stuck on the line "Cow is STRONG" from her In the Doghouse book.  She kept point to it and saying "Sesame Street is Stinky!"  And then she'll cackle madly.  She did this easily a dozen times before we coaxed her to the next page.  My favorite part is that the laughed even harder on the last "Stinky" as the first one.

First trip to dentist

Upon arriving at the office Violet announces to everyone, "Violet is at the dentist!"

Rip

Violet was looking at our wedding proofs album.  Despite Christie making it clear that she needed to be gentle because it was a special book, a minute later we hear the rip.  I look over and I see Violet holding a torn page.
"Violet, that is very bad.  Why did you do that?" Christie said.
With a shrug Violet says, perfectly calmly, "I rip things."

Weird

Violet hits Momma. She asks why did you do that? "Sometimes I just being weird", she says.

Mirror, Mirror

I was in the bathroom and Violet came in and stood in front of the mirror.
Directly into the mirror, she said, "I Violet, and this my friend Daddy!"

Honesty

Violet's grandparents Papa Pete and Grammy Lynn were visiting.  After a few minutes, Violet came over to Christie and quietly said, "I don't like Grammy Lynn," giving Christie a big hug.
Violet and Grammy went on to have fun, but the honesty can be tough.

... and a Pink one

Christie and Violet were watching MTV's Super Sweet 16 one morning.  A spoiled girl was getting a brand new white BMW SUV for her 16th birthday.
Christie asked Violet, "Do you want a car when you turn 16?"
Violet said, "Yeah.  A pink one and a blue one."

Violet the Sponge: Remembers the Shirt

Christie put a shirt on Violet that she had only worn one time before.  "What does your shirt say?" Christie asked.
Christie was stunned when Violet looked down at the shirt and said, "Daddy's little Monkey," remembering what it said from a couple weeks before.
Sponge!

Hiding

Auntie Nicole was babysitting and she came upstairs to get the door for me.  "Hi," she said.
I said hi and looked around for Violet.
"She's downstairs playing.  I just came up for the door," Nicole said.
We went downstairs and looked all over but we didn't see her.  It's usually pretty obvious where she is.  We checked the office, the bathroom... nothing.  The basement's not that big so I started to get concerned.  I finally came around to see that Violet was hiding behind her big easel, which was nearly pressed up against the wall obscuring her.
"There you are.  Why didn't you say anything when I was calling your name all those times?" I asked.
A wicked grin washed over her face.  "I not talking," she said.

Jerry v. Cookies?

Violet loves trains, and Uncle Jerry was visiting.  I decided to pique her interest and combine the two.  "Violet, the next time we go to Uncle Jerry's house, we can take the train.  Would you like that?"
"Yeah.  Train to see Uncle Jerry," Violet said, elated.
"Good.  Next time, we'll take the train."
"Cookies on the train?" she asked.  I wasn't sure where this leap in logic had come from, but it sounded possible.
"Sure," I said, "we can bring cookies on the train next time."
"Cookies, cookies," she said and ran into the kitchen looking for her second dessert.

Jonquils

Today Violet was playing in her cousin Seanie's huge sandbox while Seanie was napping. Gramma Kelley tried to engage her in conversation.
"Hi Violet!" she said.
Violet didn't answer, but kept on digging in the sand and playing with the trucks and cars.
"What are you doing?" Gramma tried again, but again no answer.
"Are you playing with trucks?" Again nothing.
Gramma Kelley tried a different tact. "Violet, do you see those flowers on the hill over there? I think they're jonquils" Violet gave no reply, but kept on digging.
"Violet, Gramma Kelley can't remember what color they are. Do you want to go look at the flowers with me?" Nothing.
"Violet, will you come look with me? I want to see what color they are."
Without looking up from her important digging Violet said, "White and yellow," curt and to the point.
She's serious about her sandboxing.