Lost in Place

Now that I am finally caught up on all those stinkin' questions, I can start posting guilt-free again. Things like more pictures of insane things my child does when I turn my head for five seconds.

She took one more step and then realized she was kinda stuck. But that she got that high by herself was enough for me. I think they have a quota for daily heart attacks for their parents.

She made it all the way to the top by herself on this one. A number of times.

They're never too young to put 'em to work, right?

Posted by Kim at 12:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This was the first year she actually got to go out and do anything in her costume. Before now, we didn't have the time or the places to go for it to matter. We were pretty excited to have the time AND the places to take her this year. Then I got hit with the flu (which was tons of fun in case you're wondering) and she decided to skip her nap for the day. By the time it was trick-or-treating time, she was a demon-bee and no fun at all. Though no matter how grouchy she was, she had no problem lighting up for every new person to "look!" at her adorable little dress. She was very proud of it. I would have to agree with her, it is pretty cute.

But next year, she's most definitely napping first!

Posted by Kim at 10:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I sat down to type up a post about the fun few days Li'l Miss M and I spent at my sister's house in Ogden. Because I love to procrastinate, I did so by reading up on a few blogs. Seems my sister beat me to it. And because I am also lazy, I'll just send you her way to read about our fun few days with them. In a nutshell - a lot of toddler Rock Band and some pumpkins.

Posted by Kim at 10:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm not really sure what look she's going for here. One thing is for certain, this kid has a style all her own.

Day care is closed for the week so we spent the day hanging out, doing errands, and watching movies. She's getting more and more interested in the whole "dress up" thing. Soon enough, I'm sure, we'll need the big trunk with all the fancy dresses and shoes and accessories just to keep her out of my stuff happy.

Posted by Kim at 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Then promptly freaked out because she was all dirty after jumping up and down in the mud puddles. Go figure.

Posted by Kim at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I couldn't bear leaving the last entry at the top for the entire weekend. So instead, here's a picture of my oh-so-stylin' child in her jammies and heels as high as she is. She has suddenly become the girliest of girls. Shoes, purses, jewelry, she's all about the girl stuff. And, truthfully, I'm really not sure where she got it.

Posted by Kim at 10:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Can you say "ew?"

I know she's a toddler. And I know toddlers are supposed to be messy. But I have issues.

I hover when she eats. I wipe up as she spills. I clean up and toss as she drops. Sticky, slimy, greasy, messy. I just can't do it.

Once in a while, I accept that I am a bit absurd - that I need to just get over it. Let her be a messy kid. It's rare. Very rare. And usually outside.

Posted by Kim at 1:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

So glad someone gets to have fun with her! She loves this stuff. Though this one wasn't nearly as easy to wash off and she wasn't too fond of that part...

Posted by Kim at 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am a terrible slacker who cannot prioritize.

I kept putting Madeleine's two-year pictures off - well, that and just simply forgetting to schedule them. I kind of regret that now. Because this is what she looked like when she officially turned two:

She doesn't look at all like that anymore. See that complete lack of hair? That changed. Over night. I swear. So now, instead of having two-year pictures that show what she looked like at "two," I have pictures that are two months and two days too late. (I didn't plan it that way, I just happened to realize yesterday that's how old she was the day the pictures were taken.) Which means they are of a different kid.

Of course, when I did finally get around to taking her, she didn't want to cooperate anyway. She refused to smile. Had absolutely zero interest in any of it. And just wanted to get down and run away. Not that we had the world's best photographer anyway. (I know. I should have known better. That's what happens from lack of planning ahead.) But we did get a few "decent" shots.

Once we got home though... Well, that's another story altogether. She was all smiles then. Happy as can be. "CHEEEEEEESE" all over the place. And completely hammin' it up for the camera. I'm not the world's best photographer either, but I did manage to get a few very cute shots.

Yeah, she's definitely two.

Posted by Kim at 2:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Apparently her baby was hungry for yogurt, too.

I just wish she could learn so well with other people, not just her toys.

Posted by Kim at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I never did get around to writing about our Disneyland trip, did I? Hmm... I'm kind of a slacker. Maybe I'll work on that. More so I have a means of remembering any of it than anything else...

Miss Monster and I were looking through pictures last night before bed and I came across this one and just had to share it:

Seriously!?

Posted by Kim at 12:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Two firsts in this picture. Her first pigtails. I didn't even realize her hair was long enough to do anything to - I just knew it was long enough to drive me crazy but not long enough to get out of her face. I was obvioulsy wrong. I got home from work last night and day care had made her the cutest little *kid* around. She absolutely loved them, she was so proud of them - had to show them off and make sure they were there every few minutes. Loved them so much she made me do it again this morning. Sounds like I need to get to the store and buy some hairbands. I have no idea what to do with a little girl's hair. Help!

Second is the candy necklace she has around her neck. It came with her dinner. I wasn't too thrilled about it, but she didn't know it was candy and I sure wasn't going to tell her. Instead, we told her it was a necklace - a toy. She played with it all night. Put it on. Take it off. Endless entertainment. Works for me.

The craziest part of all though is how much of a kid she was sitting across from us eating her dinner. I am pretty sure it happened overnight. It's a little creepy.

Posted by Kim at 12:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know. I should use them for 4 different posts. But if I did that, they’d never get posted.

1.
We went shoe shopping the other day. I usually don’t put her down or at least keep her in her stroller but this time, I let her get down and walk around. Before I had done a thing, she knew exactly what to do. She sat down, took her shoes off and went straight for the highest, craziest heels she could find. She put them both on and walked around the store in them.

2.
Now that I am temporarily getting to spend more time with her at nights, we’re actually going out and doing things once I get home. The other night I took her out for ice cream. (Well, nasty, icky, gross frozen custard to be specific. Which is incredibly sad because frozen custard is so yummy!) I bought her her very own cup and sat her in her chair and let her eat it by herself. It was very sticky. But she loved it. I think she loved that it was “hers” more than she loved the actual ice cream.

3.
Her Nana D sent her birthday stuff to her a while ago but we weren’t able to get it until last weekend. We opened everything up and she was thrilled over this little blanket/pillow combo she got. She made me put it out for her immediately – even though we were on our way right back out the door. I caved (surprise, surprise) and she plopped right down on it and didn’t want to move. She was just too comfy. And interested in the show she was watching that wouldn’t possibly match the blanket. No. Never. My kid doesn’t watch Mickey Mouse. Not ever. Ugh.

4.
No, we weren’t driving. We weren’t moving. We weren’t even running. The car was completely turned off – we were just waiting for the rain to settle down a little before we ventured out of the car. She loves to do this. She pushes all the buttons, turns all the vents, causes all sorts of chaos for the next time I turn on the car.

Posted by Kim at 5:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This past Saturday, Li’l Miss M’s day care hosted quite the event. They invited all of the families over for a day of fun that included a bounce house, clowns, the fun bus, the reptile guy, a kid’s musician, and all sorts of crazy amounts of food. It was a really great turn out and it was really nice to finally (after 2 years in some cases) formally meet some of the kids’ parents. You say hi, you chat about each other’s kids and everyone knows everyone’s kids, but none of the parents really know any of the other parents. So it was nice to get the chance to meet the parents of my child’s bestest friends. It was also good to get to see my demon child interact with other people she’s familiar with. She’s very comfortable over there, that’s for sure.

She had a ball. She was a little unsure of all the people and events when we first got there and stayed pretty close to us. But then we mentioned face painting and that quickly went to the top of her agenda. She stood and waited her turn, patiently, politely and quietly for at least 5 minutes. I know! My kid! Crazy, huh? When it was finally her turn, I put her up in the chair and she knew just what to do. She sat perfectly still and closed her eyes before the lady even turned to look at her. She knows what’s up – this is all old hat to her.

Next on her agenda was a balloon! MUST have a balloon. So she went to see the balloon lady and was given the cutest little lady bug balloon. It held her attention for a few minutes. Until she saw some of the other kids jumping on and popping their balloons. So, of course, that was the cool thing to do. She took hers off, threw it on the ground, put her foot on it and stepped down. POP! She was hooked. She kept going back for more balloons just to toss them to the ground and step on it to hear the little “POP” it would give. They were small balloons, not loud at all. Which is a good thing. Kids – and the heat – were popping those suckers left and right.

In between balloon poppings, she tried out the bounce house. She wasn’t too thrilled with it the first time she went in. But the second time she was in there with some of her buddies and had a blast. And I would swear she was showing off for and flirting with the teenage boy charged with manning the house. Silly girl.

She refused to eat or drink anything – she was just having way too much fun for that. It was so hot outside we kept trying to sucker her in to *something.* Then one of her little friends was given a snow cone. My child is such a follower. Suddenly it was okay to give her a snow cone to eat. It was her first one, she had no idea what to do with it, so of course tried to drink it. That didn’t work so well. She quickly figured it out and packed it around for a good while. I think she maybe only took 3 bites from it but kept going back to the lady serving them wanting more.

We were only there for a little over an hour but Madeleine had a blast. And we had just as much fun watching her. It’s nice to get out with her every now and again and experience a little bit of real life. I just wish we were in a position (or location) to be motivated to do it a whole lot more often. But, I guess that’s what makes the few times we do get to do it all that more awesome.

Posted by Kim at 4:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

And just because I'm feeling picture-sharing happy today, I'll post a few more I've been meaning to get around to and have just been too lazy to make the effort.

Since we were in Utah for Madeleine's birthday, she got her presents from us late. As in, probably two weeks after we got home. And they weren't wrapped. And, well, she was with us when we bought them. We're not the best parents in the world right now, we know that. We're a little distracted. She still loved them. Well, loved one of them. Wasn't so much a fan of the other one, though she does like to watch it. She just hates it when it touches her.

Posted by Kim at 3:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been extra word-heavy again lately and slacking in the picture department. Let's make up for that, shall we?

We spent the 4th of July with some friends. Hanging out, having dinner, letting the kids play, fun times. The kids hadn't seen each other in a while so it took them a few minutes to warm back up to each other (??? this was Madeleine's first friend and best friend, but whatever, she had just woken up) but once everyone was back to normal - they had a blast (getting in to all sorts of trouble). We did a few fireworks in their driveway before we headed out. We had no idea how either child would respond to them. Apparently, consensus was bright lights - good, loud noise - bad. They had a great time.

Li'l Miss M as we were getting ready to leave our house

The two buddies watching driveway fireworks

Posted by Kim at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last Friday (because I am nothing if not consistent in my always late for and with everything-ness), we took Li’l Miss Monster in for her 2-year check up and for her first dentist appointment. (The trip for the chipped tooth doesn’t count.)

The check-up at the doctor was all sorts of boring for her. She totally has the “been there, done that” attitude about the doctor’s office. Except on the sick kids’ side they have a cool little bus play area that she loves! Great when she’s sick. Horrible when she’s not. There is always an unbelievable wait time when we get there so the entire time is spent fighting to keep her on the “well” side of the waiting room when clearly, all the cool stuff is on the sick side. By the time we get into see the doctor, we’re all at our wit’s end from fighting for so long. I liked it better when it was all still kind of new and interesting to her. Now she’s all, “Look, I’ve been here. I know what they do. It’s a bit annoying. Can I please leave now?” She still does okay though – for the most part. She had a good check-up, she’s doing just fine and is completely normal. Though I could have sworn she weighed 8 tons because my back sure feels like she does after packing her around all day. But no. Only 24. ??? Seriously, I was thinking at least 30. The kid is SCRAWNY!

I was a little worried about her at the dentist. She’s not a huge fan of people sticking things in her mouth. Though she does LOVE to brush her teeth (i.e., suck and gnaw on a toothbrush) She had been there before so she would have some familiarity but it was so long ago I didn’t think she’d remember. Either way, she was awesome. She let them “tickle her teeth” (brush them), and count them, and let the dentist stick her fingers all over in her mouth. Probably because she knew she would be getting a balloon. Nothing like bribery to get the kids to behave. She got a balloon, a new toothbrush, stickers, a pencil, some floss, and a water-squirter toy. Who needs Santa when you have the dentist??

I can’t believe it’s been two years. Life is moving much too quickly.

Posted by Kim at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While in Utah last week, we threw Madeleine a little birthday party. It was absolutely adorable (yes, I did have my doubts the entire planning and prepping time). It was Minnie Mouse themed since she's a little obsessed. She had a great time playing with the balloons and all of her cousins that came.

I kept it pretty simple since I was planning it from 2,000 miles away and it turned out much better than I had expected (with the exception of the damn cupcakes and icing). I did favor bags for the kids and put large Minnie Mouse bows on the bags. They were stuffed with bubbles and party blowers and stickers and who knows what else. I also made favors for the adults, which, I swear, if I ever get that bug up my butt again - someone shoot me. I spent two weekends making two Mickey Mouse head chocolates at a time. I had to improvise for the molds and it took forever (I used the container that came with cookie cutters I bought). Then, because I love making myself absolutely miserable, I took red and white chocolate and painted bows on some of them. Not doing it again. Ever. But they sure were cute.

When I got to Utah, I made the cake and cupcakes. And here's the cupcake story: Three different boxes of cake mixes. Each with different high altitude instructions. I don't LIVE in high altitude. My default is not high altitude. The first box I did, I made as the cake, it didn't have any "special instructions." It was fine. The second box... Well, let's just say - I don't live in high altitude! I don't think to double check anymore. Needless to say, they were a little, well ... flat. Definitely fixed it for the third batch. Which, of course, exploded over the edges as opposed to wilted to nothing like the broken batch. The broken batch tasted just fine, just a little on the small side. They were for kids. Who cares? (Well, I did but I got over it given it was almost midnight as it was.)

The next day was the frosting. I had tried the recipe once before and it turned out okay, I just didn't get the color right. I learned how to fix that. So I did. Perfect shade of red. But! For whatever reason, there was no thickness to the frosting. It wouldn't thicken up to frost anything. No idea what I did wrong so I just gave in and used it for the cupcakes, knowing I was going to be really grumpy with it. It tasted fine, was just really runny. So I caved and bought icing to use for the cake. Which, if I may say so myself (and I *never* do), it was DAMN cute! I loved it.

We did a cheese and cracker tray with the Mickey Mouse shaped cheese. My sister made a fruit basket and we had a veggie tray. We did red punch to go along with the "red/black/white" thing and, as I did last year, we completely forgot about the ice cream til after everyone had eaten.

Madeleine got to spend time playing with a bunch of her cousins and had a ton of sugar to keep her going. She had a ball. Which was the whole point to begin with. It wasn’t stress-free but it was a very laid-back, easy party and she had tons of fun. So YAE!

Posted by Kim at 4:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

There were a couple of days last week that Madeleine came home with her face painted. She was so proud of it. The first night, she showed off her butterflies like they were fabulous works of art. The second night she had a runny nose so mostly destroyed it but she was still so excited about it.

One of the girls at day care paints the kids up and they all have a ball. What impresses me - and I certainly can't speak for the other children, only my own - is how in the holy sam hell she gets them to sit still long enough to do anything but draw a big blob. Some of them are pretty intricate and fancy. And they're all tiny toddlers who don't sit still for anything ever. I'm kinda jealous. Maybe I need to invest in some face paint.

Posted by Kim at 5:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I can't say I mind them much myself. I was actually able to do a little bit of shopping without an impatient, melting-down child. Good stuff!

Posted by Kim at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

She had been cuddling with the baby, right up under her chin. But I'm not so quick with the iphone camera in a dark car.

Posted by Kim at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We were house-sitting/dog-sitting for some friends last week. Madeleine loves their dog. He may be 5 times as big as she is, but she adores him. He is the nicest, most mellow, patient, awesome dog. He’d let her get right up in his face, chase him around the house, follow him absolutely everywhere, try to feed him fruit snacks and god knows what else, and just overall harass the holy crap out of the poor dog. She loved giving him his treats at night, hated leaving the house because he couldn’t go with her, and she talked about him all the time. In the mornings, when I would get her out of bed, the first thing she would say is, “I want Buddy.” Five days after we’ve been home, it’s still the first thing she says in the mornings. And often, the last thing she says at night. It’s beyond adorable.

Posted by Kim at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This kid. She loves her some pancakes.

The picture isn't recent. No, it's back from when she used to actually eat her pancakes. She used to eat 6 mini-pancakes on the way to day care in the mornings. Now she takes maybe 3 bites. She's just too tired.

I'm not really sure where she learned it, but when she eats things - like mini-pancakes - she has to stack them on top of each other. She won't eat them one at a time and they have to be stacked exactly even (yes, she throws them down and throws a fit until her bite marks are exactly lined up in each piece). Usually it's just 2 or 3 at a time. However, as you can see in the picture, every once in a while she gets really over-zealous about her pancakes and stacks them all together and tries to eat them that way. But then... the bite marks get out of whack and she has to put them all down and start over.

Posted by Kim at 1:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's finally getting warm enough that we don't have to spend all night in the house. Thank goodness. Hopefully it stays that way. It's made surviving the night much, much easier.

Posted by Kim at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Walking around in my high heels, she keeps saying, "Ow. Ow. Ow."

"If they're 'Ow,' take them off."

"NO!"

Posted by Kim at 8:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

(I'm probably going to regret asking, but... )

No, we’re not actually started this yet. (Could you IMAGINE? Gasp! Choke! Hyperventilate!) But…. Li’l Miss M has taken serious interest in “potty” and “going potty” and attempting to tell me when she somehow thinks she might, maybe, probably not wants/needs to go potty. So obviously I don’t have a lot of time left (before I want to just DIE already!). When it comes to the process of, I’ll rely on books and tips and tricks from those I know and whatever – pretty much like I do everything else. But right now my concern is – what kind of “potty” is better to start out with? The kind that sits on the toilet seat itself? The kind that sits on the floor? Pros? Cons? Ideas? Suggestions? Recommendation? Any advice at all? I need to start shopping for one I think but don’t want to buy one just to find out later I should have bought the other one. But… if it’s anything else like “kid gear” each kid is so picky and individual I’m going to end up buying them both. What did you do? Or, what are you planning to do? What worked best for you?

Posted by Kim at 2:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I think we had a pretty good weekend.

Posted by Kim at 2:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Instead of making two separate posts I am just throwing two completely unrelated items together. I’m lazy like that.

A list of what my child ate today:

9 (Yes, NINE) medallion pancakes
3 cookies
Some pasta
A cup of peaches
Some chunks of chicken
A piece of chocolate
1 pack of fruit snacks
Bite of an apple
A few bites of spaghetti
2 bananas
½ Southwestern Eggroll
¼ Cheese Quesadilla

My child who barely weighs 22 lbs. Ate all of that. In one day. And was still begging for food when I finally put her to bed. This cannot be another growth spurt. She just went through one and we had to get rid of most of her clothes. I can’t afford to get rid of the rest of them! She needs to slow way the hell down.

And on to much more fun for me stuff…

I participated in the Pink and Brown Color Me Happy Swaparooni this month. I put together what I thought would be a really great package for my swap partner (don’t wanna post the details here just in case she stumbles across this post). It was so cute. Even included stuff for her kids. It’s my favorite color combination so of course I had a ball. But… Then… I put it in the mail and…. It got lost. I sent it two weeks ago and she still doesn’t have it. I am sooooo angry, frustrated, sad, everything. Ugh! Anyway, my swap partner sent me the coolest loot so I thought I’d share. She even included stuff for Li’l Miss M. Disney stuff nonetheless. I love it all.

Posted by Kim at 10:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We'll call this "Many Faces of Baby"

There. I feel much better now. Whew. It was so serious around here!

Posted by Kim at 7:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Posted by Kim at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

- The flight from Chicago was a full one. A man went to sit down in the seat next to me. Madeleine screamed, "NO!" and then pointed and started crying hysterically. Oh how I wanted to climb under the seat and claim she was NOT mine.

- The other night we were hanging out on the couch and she was drinking her milk. After a few minutes, she handed it to me, curled herself up into her "sleeping ball" and started pretend snoring. Where'd that come from??

- Dropping her off at day care today was the hardest day since the day I came back from maternity leave. Well, that day wasn't even THAT bad, that one was pretty easy really. But this one? This one ripped my heart out, stomped on it and then proceeded to laugh at it and mock it for a good, long time.

Posted by Kim at 5:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

WARNING: Not for the faint of heart. Or those without children.

I woke up to Madeleine whimpering and crying way too early this morning. That early, I usually let her deal with it by herself and go back to sleep. She wasn't giving up so I knew she wouldn't be falling back asleep on her own so I went in to check on her. The second I pushed the door open I knew it was going to be a bad day.

My nose inhaled, my stomach churned and my head thought, "You are the worst mother ever. Why weren't you in here immediately?!"

She was trying to stand up as I walked over to her but she was so tipsy and out of it she was flailing all over the place. And covered head to toe in throw up. So I didn't really want her trying to move around. I got to her and immediately pulled her clothes off, noticed the mess in the bed and felt horrible that she had to spend a second in there let alone whatever god-forsaken amount of time she had actually been in there.

I stripped her down and wrapped her in a blanket and put her in her rocking chair. She sat there, quiet as a mouse and still as could be while I stripped her bed down while - unsuccessfully - holding my breath. The sheets, the pillow, the crib-bumper, the blanket, her pajamas, all of it went straight into the washer. I picked her up, her head and chest covered in it as well, and took her into the bathroom to put her in a bath. Just my luck, it's where I had emptied her sheet before putting it in the washer and the drain decided not to well - drain. It does this every now and again and of course, the one time I really need it, it clogs.

It's barely after 6 in the morning, Dan has to be up for work soon and I feel bad that we're being so noisy trying to get things cleaned up down the hall as it is. But I give up and take her into our bathroom and run a bath for her in there. A thorough soaping and hair washing and she still reeks of vomit. I can tell she's exhausted, she had tried to drink a little bit of milk while I cleaned up (I know. She's puking. What the hell was I thinking giving her milk??? I was only half awake, it was ready and I needed something to keep her occupied while I abandoned her to try to get the stink out of her room.) and she actually wanted out of the tub, which she never does. We dry her off, put a diaper on her and I bury the guest bed in towels and her mattress covers - just in case - and she passes right out.

An hour later, she wakes up. She's happy and hyper as can be and wants her daddy. She gets out of bed, heads down the hall and not 30 seconds later she comes running back losing every bit of milk and god knows what else was left in her stomach the whole way. I jump up, grab her, put her in the sink and start all over again. Take her back to the bath tub since Dan was in there getting ready anyway and head to the hallway to clean up the mess.

Here's the cool part, my father-in-law gave us a SpotBot for Christmas that we've been longing for for ages. Not a huge need now that we don't have the dogs, but we were sure it'd come in handy at some point. Boy, did it. I LOVE this thing. Granted, it didn't come with nearly enough cleaner, I'll be buying more of that tonight. But man does it work wonders. So while Dan ran to the store before he went to work to get Pedialyte and Drano, I cleaned up the floors and got Madeleine settled in with Elmo.

She ran around, wanted to go whee! (her way of telling you to play ring around the rosies with her), went through the cupboards, the pantry, climbed up and down the stairs and who knows what else. She was fine. Except that little belly. After a while, she gave up and realized she was really tired so sat next to me and watched Elmo for a little while.

Two and a half Elmo- viewings later, she gave up sitting next to me, face-planted on the couch and hasn't moved since.

The best part about all of this? The nurse said it's highly contagious, "so you might want to just accept it now. You can't get away from it." But I'm already missing a day of work today. I have things to do this week. I was going to get to go out with friends for the first time since I moved out here. I can't get sick. No. I refuse. I say as I sit here feeling my stomach getting queasy and mouth getting watery. Though that could just be from still smelling it everywhere I turn and wanting to fumigate my entire upstairs before I have to go up there again.

The worst part is that I have been so hungry but didn't want to eat in front of her because she would want something and she shouldn't have it. So I guess I should go take advantage of her sleeping and finally get some food. And I don't know, maybe shower or get dressed finally. Or something.

UPDATED TO ADD:
Seriously! Only *I* could do this. I went up to empty the SpotBot because who wants throw-up water sitting in a container all day? This was the first time I've used it so I just went with intuition and history of other similar products. I got the container off, picked it up and went to readjust the way I was carrying it. Instead, unlike every other water container on a machine, this one didn't have a freaking lid!!! So the yucky, gross, nasty water went all down my leg and right back to all over the floor. I guess Resolve is a good back up until I can get to the store for more cleaner for the SpotBot. Which I still love. It's not its fault that I don't WATCH. what. I. am. doing!

Posted by Kim at 12:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"Show me your supermodel face"

Less commonly known (to her, apparently) as the "fish face" and the "kissy face."

Posted by Kim at 1:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

When I was little, I was so disappointed that I couldn’t just snap my fingers to clean my room. How I longed for just a little bit of the Mary Poppins magic. To be able to just snap my fingers and make simple things happen - and quickly. The time it could save!

I have found myself, once again, longing for a little bit of that magic. I think I’m going to keep snapping in blind hope because thinking of having to clean this up every day? There’s not enough sugar in the world to make that medicine go down in any sort of delightful way.

Posted by Kim at 1:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Elmo! Elmo! Yae!!

Awww. He's so cute!

Uhhh... he moves...

Holy crap. He's possessed. What the heck were you thinking? Keep that thing away from me!!

Posted by Kim at 9:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wasn’t actually planning on doing an eighteen-month post so forgive me if it’s a bit slapdash.

So she’s huge now. But still so very tiny. 21 pounds (I only know this because she’s been to the doctor a million times lately), no idea how tall, all too curious and mobile, very independent, crazy as can be, and oh so very animated. She has more personality than I will ever know what to do with.

I have spent 32 of the last 50 days with her. There was only one point where I was ready to stop spending so much time with her and ship her back to day care. I found that the more time I spent with her, the more time I want to spend with her. That’s good and also not good at all.

She has traveled a ton in the last few months. She’s a great traveler. Even when we think she’s being unbearable, she still gets comments from strangers about how great and well-behaved she is. No idea what those people were smoking.

She sleeps so well. Her bedtime is pretty flexible but it’s rarely a fight and once she’s down, she’s down. (Unless she’s fighting teeth. Then we all hate life.) She’s definitely our child in that she doesn’t wake up earlier than the freaking sun. We love that. We appreciate that. We also love that she does it in her very own bed in her very own room now. That’s been so very awesome. I think she loves that too. Napping is not so easy though. No, they’re a big fight. And on weekends or days she’s not at day care, she’s already down to just one nap a day. Which is great when she actually takes it. She’s still afraid she’ll miss something. Napping is just not in her ideal agenda.

She loves pasta and cheese and fruit and yogurt. Still not a big meat fan and, as every other kid in the world, refuses her vegetables. She’s just started using utensils and hanging out while she feeds herself. It’s made mealtimes so much more – I don’t know, survivable? She actually insists on utensils now and will not eat with her fingers. Sure, she’ll play in her food with her fingers, but if it goes in to her mouth, it must be on a fork or spoon. Which must be in HER hand. Not yours. Don’t even think of trying to feed her. And, much to my pleasure, she is her father’s daughter and isn’t a huge fan of sugar. I’m sure that will change, but right now I love that fact that she will say no to cookies and ice cream. But the kid will down a bowl of berries before you can even know what happened to them.

She knows Nemo and Elmo and Minnie Mouse and will very excitedly point them out to you wherever you are. She loves books and has started asking us to read them to her on her own. She also loves her cell phones and will wander the house endlessly, deep in important conversation. She will make a toy out of anything. I still have pumpkins in the house from Halloween because she plays with them so much. She loves to dance and has started enjoying music. And she loves to go for walks – loves to walk. Gone are the days of being held or wanting to be held. She has too much to do and see to have you hold her back.

She has more words than we can keep track of. She knows them well and knows how to use most of them correctly. It seems every few days there is a new one. And so, more for me than for you, I’ll leave you with her 18-month vocabulary list. (Cuz really, how the heck else am I going to remember any of it?)

No
Dog
Mommy
Dada
Walk
Milk
Juice
Bottle
Water
Snow
Cheese
Waffle
Elmo
Nemo
Mouse
Bear
Pooh (the bear!)
Shoes
Book
Cute
Pretty
Wow
Movie
Banana
Nana
Baby
Ball
Blue
A, B, C, D
What’s this?
What’s that?
Whee!!
Bath
Woof!
Choo-Choo
And, boy, can she ROAR!

Posted by Kim at 2:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Day care called me at work yesterday because I had a sick kid yet again.

(Seriously – how do parents who both work and have real jobs deal with this? I cannot even imagine. So I guess this would be a good time to point out how much I love my job. Right?)

So I left early, yet again, to go pick her up and take her home. She slept the whole drive home, waking to cry or cough or get grumpy a few times. That’s how it’s been the last couple weeks. The kid’s just not getting any real, restful sleep. I got her home and in the house and she was crabby and whiney and all-around grouchy as expected. And clingy and needy and … She was a sick kid. So there was lots of cuddling and coddling the poor kid.

We have our Christmas cards hanging from our mantle. One of them has a big polar bear on it and it caught her eye in one of our many rounds around the room. Then the dog in the picture next to it caught her eye. Then, her eyes lit up, she grinned from ear to ear, starting giggling and waving frantically and yelled, “Jayshsee! Jayshsee!” And then she started waving harder and bouncing up and down in my arms. She had found her little friend, Jaysen, in the picture and she was apparently very happy about that.

I know she knows who people are and can easily recognize them. But she hasn’t really done that with anyone in pictures yet. (Well, except her dad but she’s obsessed with him anyway.) But she was so excited about seeing Jaysen in that picture that she just kept waving and giggling and grinning forever. I gave her the picture so she could pack it around for a little while since she was so fascinated with it. She held on to that thing for a good, long while. See – Christmas cards really are good for something! Especially the ones with pictures in them. (Too bad they don’t come laced with some miracle drug to cure sick, grumpy kids. But I guess it eased the pain for a few minutes so that’s something.)

(Really I just like Christmas cards. Send me Christmas cards. I need more Christmas cards.)

Posted by Kim at 2:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Topic: Write a haiku about your daughter.

Man, I haven't written any kind of poetry in over a decade. Forgive me for the complete crap.

tiny sleeping babe
you steal my heart with each breath
little angel girl

Posted by Kim at 3:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

When I travel, I typically like to bring home little mementos from the place I’ve been visiting. Not so much to remember the trip, but more to say, “yep, been there, done that.” I don’t like a lot of clutter so I try to keep things fairly small and functional. Someday, when I have a house I can actually “live” in, I will put my “travel shelf” back up and be able to display all the little things I collect.

(Yes, it’s a shelf of Vegas, Disney and NYC stuff. Zip it. I’m working on that!)

This last trip, this trip to Nebraska? I brought a different kind of souvenir home. One that I think I would have preferred to have left there (no, I’m not talking about the cow farm smell stuck in my car). It’s not really a “shopping” area, we don’t really go anywhere with memento-type stuff while we’re there. And yet, with this lovely, little reminder, I will never, ever forget this trip to Nebraska for as long as I live.

What could I possibly have brought home that is so memorable, you ask?

A child that says, “No!” To absolutely everything. Oh my lands! “No. No. No.” She started the last morning we were there and she hasn’t quit. (And she never will quit, I get that.) And she’s very emphatic about it most of the time. She means business. Sometimes she even shakes her head while saying no just to make sure there is absolutely no confusion about what she could possibly mean.

This is one souvenir I could have completely done without.

Posted by Kim at 1:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No puppies this year. But at least a baby.

It's going to be a crazy night. Dan has decided to leave tonight instead of tomorrow morning for our very, very long car drive. And since I insist on handing out candy, we can't leave right after work. Come on - that's the fun of Halloween! Seeing the little kids all dressed up and happy (who wouldn't be happy getting free sugar overload??), running around the neighborhoods. I love Halloween. And since I don't get dressed up and go out anymore, I live vicariously through the trick-or-treaters. That and the little, shy ones are just so darn cute I can't stand it. I think they're my favorite part. What about you? What's your favorite part about Halloween?

Posted by Kim at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)