The Lizard Blog

Yea, yea, its been a while

2011-01-27T06:40:00.000-08:00

So, its been quite a while since I last posted. I know, I know. Its just , well, life gets busy, you know?
We're doing great. This was the first year since we moved back to the mainland, about 2004, I think, that we didn't go to DH's grandmother's for the holidays. We reasoned that since we just drove over 3000 miles to get to our new location, visiting everyone enroute, that it would be better to stay. It worked out but we definitely need to make time to visit this spring.
Miss C is doing well in her new school. It took a few weeks to adjust to the new classmates and the way school is set up, school vice day care which is where we had her before. Its "only" Pre-K 3, but they do have an established curriculum including foreign language class (Spanish here) and technology class (yep, three year olds on computers are so cute!). We're happy with that aspect. There have been some challenges and DH is currently "self-employed", if you will, since I am slated to travel quite a bit in this new job and we aren't sure how well the civilian sector works with kid stuff. We'll find out, eventually.
I am including some newer photos below, one of which you will note has a puppy. A couple of weeks ago, DH and Miss C decided that they would take me at my word and got a dog. His name is Perry and he is a dacshund. He is a little nutty and feeds off the frantic energy of a 3 year old but when they are calm, Miss C and Perry are the best of friends. Hope you all are doing well and forgive my extended absence here!

Family Photo Blog Entry

2010-12-15T18:27:00.000-08:00

Miss C and Daddy with Moon Beam

Miss C posing for a holiday picture

Miss C and Grandpa

Miss C and Grandma

E2 C2, the next generation

Cindy, James, Miss C and Gracie (beagle)

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T06:11:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone! Just wanted to post a quick happy thanksgiving to all of our family and friends. We've been a little out of contact because of the cross country move but we made it to our destination late yesterday. We are so thankful that we were able to visit family and friends along the way and that it was a really smooth trip. We will update more once we relax a little! HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Playing catch up

2010-11-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

So I know it has been over a month since I last posted. Please accept my heart felt apologies!
We've been so darn busy lately, its not funny. Aside from normal work busy-ness, we spent a week on the east coast finding a place to stay and a school for Miss C (success on both fronts, yea!) and since we have returned we have been crazy with getting the house ready for showing (no success on that front, boo!) and getting us ready to move. Ugh. Thank goodness DH works so hard to keep my stress levels down. I hate moving!
We spent some time this week making and packaging cookies so Miss C could bring some in for the teachers that have made the largest impact on her during our time here. We handed them out this morning and they were a hit so yea!
What next? Ok, first we pack our bags for our extended hotel stay (about 3 weeks total until we are in the new place), then we have folks come over to pack the house. Yep. After work Friday we can start the journey. Yea. I know, not so enthusiastic but I will get there. We have loads of stops planned because Miss C is a very active kiddo and needs to be able to stretch her legs. DH has arranged our hotels for the drive and I have a template for basically providing you all, my friends and family, some insights into the places we stay at in the event that you too get to move across the US! I am pretty excited about getting Miss C's take on each hotel including what she thinks of the breakfasts because we all know a bad breakfast can ruin a day, especially a travel day.
I will try to post pictures along the way but no promises! We're nearly ready! Any last minute suggestions? Here's what we have so far:
We have a dvd player in the car for her and one for the hotels, though I doubt we need that one,
We have built a project box with lots of stuff to do when we do get to the hotels
We have snacks planned and can pick up more en route
We plan to bring about 7 days worth of clothes including PJs so we don't have to worry about laundry all of the time

What am I forgetting?

Surprise Adventure!

2010-09-18T15:43:00.000-07:00

So, what do you think?

We think it was pretty successful!

Yep, that's my girl!

2010-09-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

So, we've got the house on the market and thankfully we have had a few showings. The only issue is that we have to be out of the house for the showings. During the week, its no big deal since they are usually when we are at work anyway but on the weekends, well, it gets challenging. We got a call yesterday requesting a showing late this afternoon so Miss C and I decided that we would have an adventure after her nap so we would be out of the house during the showing. Today was the day to check out new playgrounds.
We decided to check out a playground at a nearby elementary school and one near Miss C's school. We had a great time at both playgrounds but at the first, after exploring the entire area, Miss C wanted to return to one specific part of the playground. Well, there were three little boys, about 7 years old, playing there. Miss C thought they were going to try to scare her so she looks at me and says "watch this."
This is where I say, she is definitely my kid! Ok, so she starts walking very seriously, stomping almost, over to the boys and says "Hey guys, I'm brave and I can run super fast! Watch this!" and proceeds to run over to the slide and play!
Seriously! I did tell her that her initial reaction probably should be to introduce herself to the boys rather than expect them to try to scare her but wow! What a crazy kid!

Leaning forward

2010-08-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hey! So, last time I posted, Miss C had just transitioned into her "big girl" class. What a blast! She is definitely enjoying being with older kids. Her demeanor has changed somewhat, more independent, more outgoing, but she remains our sweet little girl.
A friend from Hawaii recently moved here so we had a play date on Sunday with them and their 2 year old. Miss C took the time to help her new friend adjust to being here, shared her toys (which you all know is nearly impossible at this age) and even offered to share her room if her friend needed a nap! What a girl! Hopefully we will have more play dates before we move.
On that note, we will be relocating from the great northwest to the eastern seaboard around Thanksgiving. This will be our first long distance drive with Miss C so I ask you all, what do you recommend? We have 2 cars to move so we have decided that I will drive with Miss C and DH will drive with the cat (I know, I have the better deal). We are practicing doing things for ourselves in the car (read: Miss C is trying to not drop everything then yell to me to pick it up while I am driving) to make the move a little easier. What did you do? What insights can you offer?
We've been doing great. Had visits by DH's Mom and sister, Miss C really opened up to them! Miss C also started talking on the phone more very recently. I think the impetus was a short trip I had which resulted in the first time she and I were apart for any length of time. I called after bath and she told me all about her day. She is talking to DH more when he calls and she even talked to her Grandpa a couple of weekends ago, which until now was nearly unheard of.
Well, that's pretty much us in a nut shell! We're staying busy, trying to sell the house (wish us luck!), planning to check out our new location and find a place to live there and all that fun stuff. One thing all of this has reminded me is that we have entirely too much stuff. DH got a POD (portable on-demand storage, for those unaware) to clear out some space to allow for better showings and we haven't actually missed all our junk that is in there. OK, so some of it is purely seasonal but really? We definitely have to take a good look at what we bring with us and maybe par down a little?
OK, hope you all are having a great week and remember, let us know your best recommendations for a cross-country move with a 3 year old! Thanks!

The big kid class

2010-07-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we started this week "in transition." Miss C started Monday in her original two year old class and a little while after breakfast was taken to her new classroom. She never looked back! In fact, on the way home from school on Monday, Miss C told DH that she only wants to go to the "three year old room" from now on.
We have learned a few of her classmates' names (that will take a little while), talked with the teachers about her adjusting and even had breakfast with her class.
I admit I was a little nervous about the transition, in addition to the new room and new teachers, there are potentially 50% more students in the class, all of whom are older than Miss C. As usual, Miss C kicked butt. She remembered that Tuesday was music day and brought in her harmonica. Apparently she enjoys playing it in her classroom and the teachers complimented her play. Yea!
Today was bring in your favorite toy day as well as breakfast with parents day. We managed to remember both but since so few students brought in a toy, Miss C wasn't able to share hers. She insists that she wanted to share but the teachers didn't want her to basically give up her toy to someone else without being able to share someone else's toy., Sounds fair to me.
Monday is another big day. It will be Miss C's first field trip and I admit it, I am 10X more nervous about it than she is. The kids will be away from school (via school bus, another adventure!) from 9am to 2 pm, Nope, no nap time scheduled for the kids. Ugh. Hoping Miss C gets at least a cat nap in the bus on the way back to school.
We think her teachers are terrific and that Miss C is very well adjusted to her new class. She is still being very quiet in the classroom with her classmates but she is starting to open up. We told her teachers to give her another week and she's be her normal, chatty self.
Other than that, Miss C finally decided it was time to mail her numnums (pacifier) to the babies (I have to make sure she gets a thank you card from them!) and got a trumpet in return! Yea, Miss C!
One picture just to show how big she really has gotten (she is holding her carrot harvest!):

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Movin' on up...

2010-07-16T19:34:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we finally got some resolution with Miss C's class situation. First some background... since she started her current (the two-year-old) class, Miss C has been reminded that once she is both potty trained and three years old, she will get to move to the "big kid class." On her birthday, Miss C woke up and asked me "mama, am I three year old now?" I answered her "yes, baby, you are." She then replied "when do I get to go to the big kid class?"
Well, that was nearly 5 weeks ago and each time we ask, we get told that there's no seat yet. I got tired of that answer. I asked earlier this week what the bottle neck was. See, it seemed to me that they have two two-year-old classes and only one three-year-old class. Good thing I asked. As it turns out, all three of the other classes are preschool classes, the main difference from the one Miss C is in now is student:teacher ratio which, frankly, sucks here. Its about 7:1 right now and will go to 10 or 12:1. Anyway! Once I pushed, I was told that there are seats in the other two classes that we can join now, the difference being there are four and five-year-olds in the other two classes along with three or four three-year-olds.
We met with the school director as well as teachers from both classes. Both DH and I clicked with one specific teacher and the classroom and decided to go with that one. Since her birthday, Miss C has both patiently and not so patiently waited to transition and her wait is now over. We start preschool on Monday! Wish us luck!

Happy Anniversary!

2010-07-08T05:33:00.000-07:00

13 years ago we said our vows and we continue to live them daily. I love you with all of my heart, DH!

Happy Father's Day!

2010-06-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

Can you imagine going from this:

To this:

Happy Father's Day, DH! We're so lucky to have you! Hope you had an amazing weekend, too!

If anyone want to see more pictures, hop over to our flickr page!

OBTW: Stats from the doc: 40 inches (95th percentile), 35 pounds (84th percentile). Head, can't even remember! She's doing great physically and developmentally! No more shots until she turns 4, she is happy about that too!

Has it really been three years?

2010-06-08T19:20:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it. Tomorrow, June 9th my baby turns 3!
She is such a big girl now, just ask her.
I haven't had her in to the doc yet for her check up but she is definitely at least 40 inches tall and the last time we had her weighed she was about 35 pounds. She is surely in the 95th percentile for height and about 80th for weight. She is very potty trained (thank goodness she decided it was time for that) and oh my gosh can she express herself!
We still have some trouble with certain sounds, like s sounds, those can sound like fs still but boy once you figure her out, you are bound to come up with an interesting conversation.
Lately she has come to saying "remember when" before she tells you some story. She is fond of telling people stories about her that we have told her about our childhood. For example, DH told Miss C about his childhood cat. When her sitter was here, Miss C related the very same story to her but only it started out as "when I was little..."
Miss C has also developed a keen sense of humor. We were driving home talking about water and tides. I know, interesting conversation, right? Anyway, I had been showing her the difference between high tide and low tide. Today, however, she chose to consistently answer incorrectly. When I asked her about it, she told me "mama, I am just teasing you!" Seriously! She got DH the other day when she looked at him and said "oh no, I just had an accident" and ran to the potty. DH got there and Miss C gave him a huge grin and said "Daddy, I was just messing with you!"
I have definitely got my hands full! Aside from the communication skills, Miss C has decided she is "big enough" to like certain things. For example, she decided that she likes butter a while back but now she likes syrup too! She confided in me today that she will be big enough for broccoli when she is three. Yea, we'll see that tomorrow. She has also started sticking to her guns more. When she makes a decision, it is difficult to change her mind. Its interesting to watch because we have always striven to give her opportunities to make decisions, usually giving her two choices. Now, she often gives herself a third choice which she sticks with.
I know I haven't posted in a while nor have i posted pictures, but I will try to post some pictures in my next entry (can't give you all everything at once!).
So what comes next? :)

2 going on 12

2010-05-24T19:19:00.000-07:00

So, have any of the rest of you dealt with a little one getting too grown up too fast?
Let me tell you, its interesting. It starts with stuff like you are talking to someone and you say a day of the week, like Friday and that little voice next to you asks "Mama, what's on Friday?" Or, you say "no throwing balls in the house" then your angel bounces a ball to Daddy. Daddy says "Honey, I think that constitutes throwing" and the next thing that little voice besides you says is "Daddy, what is constitute throwing?"
Then there is this "I can (insert statement here, examples include get dressed, go potty, get ready for bath, etc) all by myself." That alone is fine, its when she adds "I don't need you anymore" well, that just breaks my heart.
Miss C is 2 going on 12, I tell you! She potty trained in 3 days, through no help of mine. She gets herself dressed (it can take forever but she is just delaying!). She gets herself ready for her bath and into her bath. She bathes herself and often washes her own hair. She wants to read her own bedtime stories.
She is conscientious too. For example, when she gets up at night to go potty, she doesn't flush because, she says, it is loud and it might wake us up. She also wants to share with us. For example, yesterday she gave me half of everything, from an apple to a cookie, to me.
Yesterday afternoon, after I got back from ordering her birthday cake (a major to do!), Miss C announced to me that she is a princess. Ok, no problems. After a while she asked to wear her Cinderella costume. We needed to go outside to plant some new shrubs. What did she do? Very daintily, Miss C used a spade and dug holes, inserted dirt, mulch, what have you and planted 3 new shrubs, all without getting dirty. How does she do that?
Seriously, I know we all want our kids to grow up, but how do I keep her from growing up too fast?

Potty training update

2010-04-29T19:21:00.000-07:00

For those of you nice enough to follow our story, I felt it was necessary to provide an update.
Miss C is definitely a big girl now. As I mentioned in the last post, Miss C decided two weeks ago to only wear panties. I made a couple of mistakes along the way, one of which was to basically force her to wear a pull up one night because i was afraid she would have an accident. While it pissed her off, she proved me oh so wrong.
The day after, Miss C looked me in the eye (she does this to make sure I understand her, oh so grown up) and said, quite clearly, "Mama, I told you. I am a big girl. I wear panties. I don't have accidents, see?" Oh gosh, you are a big girl!
She has thrilled her teachers to no end. One day last week she had a minor accident, a toot gone wrong. She was very concerned that her teachers would put her in a pull up because of it. Geez, they had already asked me if I wanted to do anything with her pull ups! They reassured her and DH that they have the utmost confidence in her potty training and don't plan to put her in a pull up every again.
This week has been incredible on that front. While the teachers saw her potty last week, on Monday she really impressed them by going #2 in the potty at school. They were more than impressed, they were stunned.
When I brought her to school this morning, I asked her if she needed to go potty. She told me she did but she wanted to wait until the potty that has the door on it was available (one room she is in first thing in the morning only has one potty but it does have a door, her regular classroom has 2 potties but no doors, so, ok, I get it). No problem. I waited. Her regular teacher walked in the room (she was on break, another teacher was in the room, something Miss C doesn't like so we usually wait for Campbell, as she calls her, to return) and I mentioned that Miss C was waiting on the potty. Campbell told me "heck, we don't bother to ask Miss C if she needs to go potty, she's doing so great, we know she will go when she has to." Wow, talk about a confidence boost for a little girl!
So, that's it. We gave an entire trash bag full of bags of pull ups to another girl in her class and I have 4 very nice, hardly used potty chairs, in case anyone needs them! :)

What an amazing week (beware, potty talk below!)

2010-04-17T20:37:00.000-07:00

Since last Sunday, I have seen so many incredible changes in Miss C, I can hardly believe it.
Last Sunday, Miss C and I went out and purchased a big girl bed for her. Its a twin, hardly huge, but a big milestone in her life. Unfortunately, that bed hasn't been delivered yet. Originally, I was told it would be ready by Friday but now I can't get it until next Wednesday. Its ok though. When I bought it, I realized I needed an interim solution so when we got her new sheets, comforter etc, we also bought a twin size air mattress so she could get used to the bigger bed. What a hit!
Ok, so that was Sunday. Around Tuesday, Miss C decided she wanted to wear a "firt" to school. A "firt"? What the heck is a "firt"? So, I asked her where she had some. She told me in her treasure chest (her dress up clothes are in that) so I figured out she wanted a skirt. Success! Then, she wanted to wear tights with her skirt. Oh boy! Big girl time!
Miss C wowed them at school in skirts a few days this week (thank goodness I had a few in her size in the house!). Come Thursday evening, another huge shift. Miss C demanded panties. Oh boy. Ok, here goes.
I let her wear them, she used the potty a lot that evening. Unfortunately, she also woke up twice with a wet bum and wet bed clothes. Thankfully, I am prepared. I bought 2 waterproof mattress covers when we got her new sheets so no big deal. Each time she had an accident, she demanded another pair of panties. This is a huge change from the last time she wanted to wear panties.
Friday morning, we went to school in panties. She pottied before school and immediately pottied when we got there. Her teachers were a little thrown off balance only because a couple of her other friends, who she has been in school with for all three classes she has been in, are also starting their potty training this week (peer pressure? maybe). She had 7 successes and 4 accidents at school on Friday. Not bad for a first day.
Ok, so here is the part where i get selfish. Rather than get up a lot Friday night, I convinced Miss C to wear a pull up and then panties on top for bed. If she woke up dry, great, if not, no huge issue. She woke up a little wet this morning but in great spirits. We had a busy day planned, lots of big girl clothes shopping. Miss C wanted more skirts, a few school dresses (most of the ones we have are party dresses or getting small on her). She also needed new tennis shoes, more tights, you know, stuff.
We left the house at 930am. She tried to go potty before we left. Ok, so i admit, I might have been a little crazy to go out when she is so early in her potty training, but I packed her bag with extra clothes and panties so off we went. When we got to the store, we stopped by the potty first thing. I have learned that it is best to both go in the big potty, i go first then she tries. No output but no accident either. We found lots of great stuff and then went to lunch.
When we got to the restaurant, we told the host we needed to find the potty first. Ok, another attempt. Again, no success but no accident so no big deal. Nice lunch with one of my guys who is retiring and his brother. After lunch, we decided it was important to go potty before driving home. We got to the bathroom but the big potty was being used. Rather than try to use the little potty, Miss C said we would wait. So, we danced to the restaurant's music in the bathroom while we waited to potty. Once the big potty was available, Miss C told me I had to go first. Ok, done. When it was her turn, she asked me to run the water so there I was, running from the big potty to the sinks where you have to wave your hand under the faucet to get it to run. By the time I got back, Miss C was beaming "I went potty in the big toilet, mama! I got all the yellow potty out of my tush!" She was so thrilled with her success that after we washed our hands, she ran out of the potty and yelled to everyone in ear shot "I went potty in the toilet!" She actually got applause from a couple of people!
This afternoon, another huge success. Miss C gave me this "uh oh" look and said "mama, I have to go (#2)! and proceeded to run into the bathroom. Next thing I hear is "MOM! I WENT POOP IN THE POTTY NOT IN MY PANTIES! I CAN DO IT! I'M A BIG GIRL!" Yes you are, sweetie, you are a big girl now.
Talk about a great week! And, oh, where has my little girl gone?

A photo blog

2010-04-03T22:08:00.001-07:00

Photographic evidence of our recent exploits! Captions are below the photos. What do you think?

Post Easter Egg Hunt drive home.

Easter Egg Hunt Success!

Ready for the Easter Egg Hunt!

Easter Egg hunting with my friend!

Cheese!

Can we decorate cookies yet?

Dancing with my friends!

Big girl in a party dress

Wonderful weekend

2010-03-14T21:57:00.001-07:00

Last week was a tough week. I ended up picking Miss C up from school on average an hour later than normal due to some stuff we had going on at work. No, not going to talk about it here, just know that it was important but not as important as Miss C.
The angel that she is, Miss C didn't give me any problems despite my later than normal arrivals. She took it all in stride even though it seemed to her that we were pretty rushed every night. We were, seriously, quite rushed. I needed to get her fed, bathed and in bed in a remarkably short amount of time. We couldn't run around much outside after school because it was so late once we got home. I flexed a little on bed time but couldn't flex too much because Miss C still needs a lot of sleep. She lives in a growth spurt!
Luckily, I received very few work related calls this weekend and Miss C and I were able to have some fun times. On Saturday we went to Chuck E Cheese. For most people, this isn't too big a deal but the nearest Chuck E Cheese is a 45 minute drive and opens at 10 am. We left here a little after 9 and got there just as it was opening. I thought Miss C was going to lose it completely when she realized exactly what I had gotten her into. She figured it was a playground but OH MY GOSH it was a serious playground! I am grateful she is pretty fearless because one of the first things she did was climb into the tube climber and "drive" the little yellow car that overlooked the entire place! She just waved down to me as she explored. We had a great time! The only reason I was able to get her to eat was because I snuck a bite of pizza into her mouth when she stopped briefly. At that point, she realized she was famished! Half a small cheese pizza later, we were back at it! I had to break her heart and tell her we had to leave around 1140. It was just too darn crowded and getting perilously close to nap time. She sat down and cried as I got her to the car. Poor baby. But, heck, she was beat! Unfortunately, she was so tired that she slept for the drive home (about 45 minutes) then played in her room rather than nap. Ugh.
The rest of Saturday was pretty much a blur of playing with practically every toy she has!
Sunday was a relax day. Miss C found a recipe she wanted to try in one of my cook books (a chocolate heart!) and told me that since i said we don't have all of the ingredients that we need to go grocery shopping so we can get them! Deal! We ran out to the store and were back with enough time to make the heart and have a nice lunch together. She took a solid nap and we spent the afternoon playing, building with tinker toys and making a nice pasta dinner together. She is even getting better at recognizing when she is hungry vice just grumpy because at 4pm she demanded dinner! (Mama, my tummy is so hungry! I need pasta now, please!)
I am so glad we were able to have a nice weekend together. Sorry no pictures in this post, I haven't managed to get them uploaded yet but will try to do so tomorrow!
So, how was your weekend?

Happy 200th Post!

2010-02-22T20:52:00.000-08:00

Wow! I didn't even realize I had managed to post that much!

Ok, so the point of this post is actually just to put up a few new photos of my little girl, who we all have shared time with in life and via this blog. She is the light of my life and makes every day more special than the last. Please join me in oogling the newest pics! :)

Long weekend

2010-02-13T20:19:00.000-08:00

Since DH left two weeks ago, Miss C and I have been figuring each other out again. Its not that we don't spend loads of time together when DH is home but when he's gone, that third person to play with is gone. So, we've been trying to find lots of fun things for both of us to do.
This is a long weekend so we decided to have loads of fun. Miss C had a big FIRST today. We decided after our morning of errands (we typically grocery shop on Saturday mornings) that today was the day to get a library card.
After Miss C's nap, which was rather short due to her excitement, we got our coats and shoes on and ran off to the local library. We filled out the form and Miss C even "signed" her name (all of that signing in at school is really paying off!) and then Miss C got to hand her paper over to the lady for a brand new library card! What excitement!
We explored the children's section, built some castles with their blocks (love this library!), made a heart picture to take home (again, love this library!) and found 5 books (her decision) to read for the week. We also decided that this will be our Saturday routine.
We live in a very small town and there aren't a whole lot of things to do here that don't cost an arm and a leg. We are still going to the "new playground" tomorrow (I think someone might try to convince me that its our Sunday routine!) after nap. Now we just have to come up with something super fun for Monday!
How are you spending your weekend?

Hives?

2010-02-05T16:31:00.000-08:00

Hey all!
Its been nearly a month since I last posted. I blame, well, life. :)
You all know how busy being a parent coupled with having a full time job can be. You do your best to make sure everything is taken care of but every now then something, in my case this blog, gets left behind.
So, a quick recap. Miss C has been getting hive like rashes about once a week for the past couple of months. Before you start to worry, there is no associated breathing issues and the rash goes away within 30-45 minutes of its discovery. After a lot of investigation on our part and a quick trip today to the doctor, I have come away with a couple of points:
1. If this happens to you, keep a food and activity log for your child
2. Unless there is associated breathing issues, don't freak
3. Look through your family history to determine if there is a history of allergies
4. Find a great doctor
5. Don't let this overwhelm you
Ok. so we found a great doc who thinks that we should keep some benedryl on hand in case you do get an adverse reaction, keep up with the logs and not to stress it out. She doesn't think we need to do allergy testing because the reactions aren't severe and there is no family history of allergies.
After all that, Miss C had to get one of her HIB shots (some issue here a couple of years ago prevented most kids her age from getting these on time) but we celebrated her bravery (not a peep during the shot!) with a Mama/Daughter lunch! What a big girl! She even ordered for herself!
So, in all a very successful trip! Quick stats update: 38 inches tall and 35 pounds! My little girl is going to be a very tall girl indeed!
Hope everyone is having a great day and has a great weekend!

Happy Birthday, DH!

2010-01-11T05:32:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to my wonderful husband, DH. I don't know what we would do without you. My world wouldn't be whole, that is sure. We love you!

Vacation Recap

2010-01-06T19:30:00.000-08:00

Ok, so the long and short of our vacation:

Miss C got to go to the zoo 3 times during our grand adventure! That alone was worth the flight time involved! On the third visit, she even got to feed a giraffe! Yea!

While visiting with DH's family, Miss C built a snowman, made snow angels with me and participated in a snow ball fight (everyone got into that one!). She also got to taste her first strawberry shake (ala Jack in the Box following a wonderful Grilled Cheese Meal).

On our last day before we came home, Miss C and I had to drop DH off at the airport for yet another (albeit short) trip. After we left the airport, Miss C and I decided it would be grand fun to meet my side of the family that lived in the local area.

We drove to my Aunt's house but alas, no one answered the door (frown here). We did call later and left a message with my Uncle that we were in town and wanted to visit with my Grandmother. My Aunt called back later to arrange a good time for a visit.

Little did I know that the visit would turn into a reunion of sorts. As it turns out, two of my cousins still live near my Aunt and Grandmother. My aunt called them and they all came by with their families to see us (totally unexpected and quite a lot of fun). We all went out to dinner after a bit of visiting.

Miss C absolutely adores my cousin J. He has two kids (a boy, 9 and a girl, 11 who are both so sweet its not funny) and thinks my other cousin (C)'s two boys are supposed to come with us because one rode to dinner with us. She had no issues with this new crowd of people, probably because she had just visited with DH's side of the family and she understood me when I explained who everyone was.

Most importantly, Miss C got to meet my Grandmother. My grandma isn't doing great. I mean, she's doing ok, kind of. I was told that she was living in an assisted living facility so I didn't know what to expect but then when I talked to my Aunt, she told me that Grandma was out at the Casino playing poker so I figured, eh, really, how bad could it be? When I saw her using her walker, so frail looking, I realized how much time had passed. I decided to make the visit during this trip because it just seemed like the right time to.

To see the photos for the visit (there are quite a few) look here.

Vacation, all I ever wanted

2009-12-30T13:36:00.000-08:00

We made it, sort of!
We left the house yesterday at nap time (no joy on that, but more to be said in a minute) to drive to the airport. Since we don't exactly live around the corner from the airport, we habitually drive down the night before a flight and stay in one of the hotels there. Miss C was fine for the drive but didn't take more than a 30 minute nap (traffic didn't help much). Once we got to the hotel, she had fun for about an hour then asked to go home. Poor kiddo.
This morning we got up gawd awful early (my fault, I chose the flights) to fly out. Our flight was uneventful, thankfully, but again, Miss C failed to nap and got up 2 hours earlier than normal because of the flight. Ugh. We're at our first stop, we'll see my SIL and the Zoo tomorrow but at present, I am lounging on the couch in our hotel room, hoping Miss C settles down enough to take a nap. Fingers crossed! Photos will be taken and more posts will be made, just wanted to catch everyone up for now!

"Tis the season

2009-12-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

'Tis the season to:
Make and ship 10 batches of fudge (a whopping 30 or so pounds worth!)
Appreciate pack and ship from the USPS (11 packages per trip, but not having to deal with long lines at the post office, priceless!)
Write and mail approximately 165 holiday greeting cards (totally worth it though)
Have your hubby sick and pretty much unable to do anything (finally got the right meds so he should, fingers crossed, be on the mend)
Listen to your adorable 2 1/2 year old sing "jingle bells" 10 times in a row (its terribly cute though!)
Make stockings for school
To help your 2 1/2 year old take pictures using your DSi (she loves it, too!)
Have half of your staff on vacation and the other half trying to keep up with increasing taskers
Try to stay on track getting your department ready for a huge inspection after the holidays
Figure out how to handle flying back from vacation with your 2 1/2 year old after your hubby has to fly off on another (albeit short) trip (we've flown alone together before, its just going to be, well, challenging is all)
To have one of your people run up to shake your hand, thanking you for the card and recognition of their efforts. (Blew my mind and made my hand hurt less)
Truly, honestly, it is the season.
Happy holidays, everyone!

Yep, still here

2009-11-28T19:23:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving can be a very busy time of year normally, but this year was exceptionally busy.
This past week has run us all a bit ragged. Nothing dramatic or anything like that, just really busy with life. We started out getting the remainder of the items we needed for making Thanksgiving dinner for my folks (2 shifts worth, about 30 people at that point) on Wednesday, followed by DH picking up Auntie J (his sister).
Miss C loves her Auntie J to pieces so she has had a great time since Auntie J's arrival.
Thursday we all spent time at my work getting the meal together and helping serve. Understandably, Miss C got tired about an hour into it, so she left with DH and Auntie J. By the time i got home, they had all gotten a 2 hour nap, lucky dogs! We spent the remainder of the day playing hide and seek and making all sorts of pictures.
Yesterday we avoided the crowds (can't even imagine how Miss C would have handled the crowds that are normally out on Black Friday). We ended up having a nice dinner here at home and playing all day. It was a great time!
Today was adventure day. We went to the "new playground" again and Miss C got to "play baseball", as she refers to the batting cages. She has definitely gotten her swing down! This time we even ventured into the reading area and read a few good kids books they had. They actually have a nice selection considering the general audience of the place. When we got home, it was time for more games and the making some stained glass (we use plastic and markers but the effect is similar) and some paintings. Miss C had pretty much decided that we are making our Christmas cards tomorrow so that will be fun!
In all, a very busy and very fun weekend so far!
I do have one thing on my mind though. We can get Miss C a flu shot on Thursday (the one day they are doing it) but they are currently only offering the H1N1 shot, the regular shot is still for high risk patients only due to the limited number. At this point in the flu season, I am unsure of whether or not to get her a shot. Thoughts anyone?

Where have I been?

2009-11-11T12:58:00.000-08:00

Ok, ya'll, I know. Its been absolutely forever since I last posted. I hope you can forgive me. Its been just so darn busy and Miss C was sick for a few days (fever under 101 but you can't send them to school like that, nor do you want to risk it getting worse, ugh).
Even better? Apparently the power supply on my lap top went out and when I decided to use my desk top, yep, problems there too. We have taken quite a few power hits recently due to high winds and my monitor is kaput! So, I am basically computer-less.
How am I making this post? Well, my wonderful hubby, DH, is letting me use his lap top until I can get my stuff working again, thus the delay.
To catch you up, Miss C had a great time dressing up and trick or treating. Since we live in a very spread out "neighborhood" (everyone is on a couple of acres) we decided to go to the "town trick or treating." Basically, all of the merchants on the main street down town give out candy to all of the kids who come by dressed up. Its apparently quite popular. It started at 5pm and ended at 7pm. We got there a little after 5 and it was amazingly packed! Miss C oogled the other people in costumes, laughed at the "silly doggies" with their outfits on and demanded to eat the first lollipop she received. We only stayed there for about 30 minutes because it was so cold and the lines were just that, lines. She is, after all, only 2, and only needs so much junk.
On the way home, looking into the back seat, I saw my childhood before me. A smallish orange pumpkin with a little kid peering inside and trying to pull out the best treats with one hand, the other hand holding on to the pumpkin. We got home and had to deal with the inevitable sadness of putting up the candy and the pumpkin. Miss C was a lot less upset about it than one would imagine once we got her in the tub. What upset her more, however, was my washing the green spray out of her hair!
We are off today and are taking advantage of what little time we get at home together. DH has another, albeit short, trip next week so today we went to the "new playground" (you remember my mentioning the remodeled bowling alley). Instead of bowling, Miss C decided she needed to try to hit balls. The pitching machine was broken but they had tees set up so we decided, what the heck. What do you know? Armed with a little too big helmet and the tiniest bat they had, Miss C showed us she really can hit a ball, over and over again! DH seemed really surprised but nothing Miss C does anymore really surprises me. I can't wait to see what comes next!
Oh, we recently acquired a new pair of rain boots (crocodiles no less!) and Miss C demanded to jump in the mud puddles so here is a video!

Hope you enjoy!

A fun weekend

2009-10-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

Although DH is on yet another trip (yea, we all hate them but have to deal with them), Miss C and I have been finding ways to enjoy our time together. This weekend we decided to have a few adventures, some not big adventures, some HUGE!
The not big adventures were stuff like going to the grocery store, which, while an adventure for sure, especially since Miss C decided she was going to push the cart (yep, lots of fun there!), was pretty normal for us. We also went shopping for a new stroller. We have big strollers, you know, jogging strollers and the one you buy when you get the infant car seat, but we needed a stroller that folds up like an umbrella stroller but is big enough for my over 3 foot tall little one to fit in without jamming her back up against the back of it. We had to try out the strollers so that definitely made it an adventure. We also ran into a bunch of folks that I work with who have seen many photos of but had yet to meet Miss C. So, not big adventures but fun.
The HUGE adventures were going to the new playground at the local bowling alley. I know, sounds weird, but the bowling alley got rid of half of its lanes (down to 12 from 24) and added a video game room for older kids, a climbing area for (this is what the sign says, anyway) 3-12 year olds, a kid sized pool table, batting cages, a kid sized Foosball table and a toddler play area. They also added a lending library and a small Internet cafe. Miss C refuses to be told she is too little for anything so we did just about everything. Each time we went (we went twice, after nap both times, I'm not totally crazy!), we started in the toddler area, moved to the climber, decided to bowl (hilarious if you have a 2 year old!) and ended up back in the climber until someone was too tired to move (not just me, either!). It was a lot of fun. Miss C made me promise to bring DH when he gets home. I bet he can't wait either!

Our first haircut!

2009-10-12T20:37:00.000-07:00

The difference is only a few inches but... when you consider what she had to do to get the hair cut, I am sure you can appreciate how much of a grown-up moment this was for her.

Before:

After:

Beautiful, if I do say so myself.

What we did this weekend, a nearly all photo essay

2009-10-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

Here is our Saturday:

And our Sunday:

I love our weekends together!
So, what did you do?

Imagination explosion

2009-09-20T13:57:00.001-07:00

We have found ourselves playing an awful lot of dress up lately. Not only are we emulating animals in both sound and movement, Miss C, in her attempts to grow up a whole lot faster than I want, is now all about dress up. We used to play dress up, it's like that only 100 times more involved. Don't get me wrong, its still a lot of fun! Check these latest shots out:

I know that there are so many more changes to come, but I have to tell you. One of the most wonderful parts of my day is when I get Miss C ready for bed and she still tells me "Sit with me, mama, I need you." I need you too, little one.

An ode to my BFF - Alphagal

2009-09-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

A is for alpha, which describes both our personality types and while in most cases it would drive
people apart, I think it helped us become better friends
L is for lovely, which is what you are. You are a truly lovely friend.
P is for punny, which anyone who knows you realizes your ability to make puns out of almost
anything!
H is for healthy, which is what you have to be to run triathlons, crazy!
A is for amazing, enough said!
G is for genius, they don't just hand out PhDs to anyone, you know!
A is for always there, you are always a friend, regardless of distance and time, I love you for
that!
L is for leader, you know how to take charge and make things happen!

I can't believe it's been, gasp, shall I even say it, two decades since we first met! I know that my life has been truly enriched since the day we met and I can only imagine what the next couple of decades have in store for us (school, driving, boy friends, prom!)! I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Alphagal!

Yes, Virginia, there is such as thing as too many toys

2009-09-01T05:47:00.000-07:00

I was looking around the house the other day only to discover, gasp, that my house has become one rather large toy box. I decided, there must be too many toys here.

Miss C has many relatives and friends so we find ourselves the recipients of many very neat toys. The problem is getting rid of them.

How do you do it? I mean, I know how to pick out what I think are "little toys" but how do you remove them without someone getting upset?

My technique, thus far, is to go through them and pull out ones I remember her playing with a year or so ago and putting them aside. I put all of those toys, and yes, there were many, in bags trying to sort by age group or type, and moved them into the garage. I have put them under a tarp for now.

The next step is waiting to see if Miss C asks for any of these toys in the next week or so. If not, I intend to offer them up to friends here with little ones. Any that remain after that, I will bring to the thrift shop.

How do you deal with the toy situation?

PS Teething update: Miss C is still working on 2 of her 2 year molars but we have found that slices of apples and baby carrots seem to help. Hopefully it won't be much longer until we are out of this fun phase!

I hate teething

2009-08-18T18:40:00.000-07:00

I hate teething.
Really.
I do.
No, I'm not teething, silly, Miss C is. Well, Miss C is definitely an overachiever when it comes to teeth. She has a ton of teeth, 16 at last count, but we haven't seen a new one in over 8 months. Now Miss C is getting at least 2 of her 2 year molars (the other two appear to be close to breaking through as well). With one molar, we might get through with just a little pain. With at least two, well, with two comes a fever and lots of mouth pain, poor munchkin.
Miss C started running a fever after school yesterday. I gave her meds before dinner and she was fever free by morning, no issues. Happy as a clam. DH got a call just before lunch that Miss C was running a fever of 102. He got there right away and she was fine, except for the fever.
DH got Miss C home and she said no to lunch (an obvious indicator that she must not be 100% because she eats like me, every couple of hours!) and took a nap. DH gave her some meds and her fever does seem to be responding but meds only work for so long. Hopefully once the molars break through the fever and associated fussiness will go away, but for now, ugh.
I thankfully was able to get my back up support over here for tomorrow but I know that DH and I are probably going to compete for who gets to get home sooner to take care of Miss C. It will help but it won't take away that parent guilt that comes with not being there when you think you are the only person that can make things better. Ugh.
We're trying everything we can think of: ice, cold wash cloths, cold food, chewy cold teething rings, etc.
Have I mentioned that I hate teething? Does anyone have any advice???

So busy

2009-08-11T19:03:00.000-07:00

I know, its been quite a while since the last post. Sorry.

Couldn't be helped. We had company, yea! Miss C's grandma and grandpa came to visit! DH came home! We had a great time!

Miss C is busy spending time with DH before he goes back to work this week. She had a great time with her grandparents and was wonderfully spoiled (wouldn't expect any less). She showed everyone how well she sings, how she knows her alphabet and even how to pretend to be nearly any animal you can think of. We really did have fun. Now we are back at work. Not so much fun but it could be worse, we could be apart.

I included a couple of photos of Miss C and her grandparents. Unfortunately, I didn't take as many during this visit as normal since DH was only here for the tail end. I will do better next time, promise!

Sing your little song

2009-07-31T19:55:00.000-07:00

You all know Miss C loves to sing. She loves music, loves to dance and really loves to sing.
When I met with her new teachers before she started her new class 6 weeks ago, I remember mentioning to them that she could sing her ABC's to "G" and that we were working on the rest.
Tonight, after a rousing rendition of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" with signs and lots of arms movement, Miss C went into the ABC song. I waited for her to stop at "G" and finish with "Now sing with me."
Not this time. She sang every single letter. OMG! I was stunned. She finished the song then waited for her applause. OMG! How did this happen? I mean, we sing that song all of the time but she hadn't really been singing it back lately, just clapping. Wow. Just, yea, wow.

Can I get an "OH YEA!"??

2009-07-30T18:48:00.000-07:00

Let's hear it for independent mamas who aren't afraid to make things happen and fix problems.
You will seldom find me praising myself but I am really so darn proud of myself today.
If you have been following my posts or at least the weather in the pacific northwest, you know it has been gawd awful hot up here lately. I posted about having to come up with a solution. I tried ice in bowls in front of fans, somewhat successful, but yesterday, the temperature was over 90 IN THE HOUSE when we got home. I took action before I even left work yesterday.
I ordered two portable air conditioners (not window units, they have a hose that connects to a contraption that fits in the window but nothing else is really required) around noon yesterday (I looked here and there were none). I got them here and the price was great with no shipping costs. I got an email this morning saying the smaller of the two had shipped. When we got home, I kid you not, that one was sitting on my front porch!
As soon as we finished dinner, Miss C and I took out our tools and put that puppy in her room. Ok, so maybe she only carried a couple of small parts but believe me, she was an integral part in the installation. I convinced her that the a/c was a very good thing (she thanked me for it! Such a sweet little girl!) and now all I want to do is sit in her room. I have the machine set to 70 so it will have to run for a bit before it get that cool (the house was 84 when we got home) but it is already a life saver. Miss C sat with me to read (something she refused to do for a while since it was too hot) and she is already asleep (the past week it has taken her a long time to fall asleep).
I am so happy! I am posting my recommendation for anyone looking for one of these units to go to this company (Compact Appliance, oh by the way) because I never imagined a less than 24 hour turnaround. Its like they really knew we needed it!
OH YEA!

A weather report

2009-07-26T18:51:00.001-07:00

Sorry its been so long since I last posted. We have been pretty busy and it has just been darn hot. I mean, I didn't ever really consider 80s hot until I lived in a house with a great southern exposure (wonderful for winter, a sin in the summer) and even with all of the windows open and fans on, the house is still over 80. It sucks, let me tell you.
We play smartly, lots of swimming in mama's bathtub, no real cooking (microwave and counter top oven only!) and tons of water. If we go outside, it is to run or walk through the sprinkler. Even so, its still too hot to be comfortable to do much though we have given it out best shot.
Miss C is a great trooper. She tells me when its too hot to eat and will sit and eat a Popsicle if she just wants to cool off. She loves swimming in my bath tub (it is a bit larger than hers) and keeps me up with squirts from her water bottle. She even learned that if I give her a wet wash cloth before bed, it helps to lay it on her tummy because it makes her cooler (kind of a swamp cooler).
I need to buy ice, that's for sure. I also need to talk DH into looking into a/cs. He has managed to miss the hottest part of the year here two years in a row while he is spending his time in another hot area, we just have to figure this out here.
I know its only a few weeks (maybe 6 or 8) of the year that it gets this way but those times are miserable. Any thoughts on how to get a/c without breaking the bank or at least how to help cool the house? Ugh!

What kids eat

2009-07-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to show a couple of photos I took last weekend to share what Miss C will actually eat. It cracks me up because stuff like this makes DH say "huh??"
It surprises me but then again it doesn't. We've been incredibly lucky to have such an amenable little girl. She will try anything once even if she thinks she won't like it. Don't want to jinx myself but not sure how much longer this will last. :)
What about you? Any interesting stories about what your kids will eat?

A tough week

2009-07-11T12:41:00.000-07:00

As the title indicates, we had a bit of a tough week this week. Miss C caught a stomach bug.
It started out with a fever (around 101.5) Monday afternoon (I had to go get her from school). She stayed home from school on Tuesday (luckily, I was able to get a great sitter so I could go back to work and feel OK about it). No fever on Tuesday at all so we went back to school on Wednesday. I thought all was well until I picked her up on Wednesday and had one of her teachers tell me that "[Miss C] isn't feeling well." Apparently Miss C spent most of the afternoon sitting on a teacher's lap or in one of the little chairs with an upset tummy. Poor kiddo.
Thursday and Friday were days at home with the same sitter (college student who is the daughter of a man I work with, home for the summer). Miss C wasn't really herself on Thursday. She just wanted to lay around, not really doing much. Remember, this is the kid who always gets "Happy and busy" remarks on her day at school paper. So, of course, I spent the entire week worried about not being home with her.
She started to feel better on Friday. By the time I got home, she pretty much wore out the sitter. We even ran around upstairs after dinner playing tag, hide and seek and soaking each other with spray bottles so I think she is on the mend.
When she got up this morning, Miss C told me "I need pancakes" so the decision about breakfast was made early. We've had a fun day so far (Miss C is down for her nap) and I think this weekend will be fine, but you all know how tough it is when your little one is sick and you really can't do anything about it. The one thing I really am grateful for is that Miss C doesn't get sick often and when she does, she doesn't vomit. Its hard enough dealing with the other (you know) issues that come with it.
Anyway, we're going to spend the rest of the day painting, swinging and making play dough animals. If you have any suggestions on how to handle icky tummies aside from clear soda (she took one sip and gave it back), I would love to hear them (so I can write them down for next time).
So, how was your week?

Happy Independence Day!

2009-07-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July!

So, what do you do with a 2 year old who is too young for the local fair (I mean, way too young to deal with the madness there!) and who is in bed long before the fire works? If you are me, you find the next best thing, Pancake Breakfast at the local fire house!

Yep, we spent some time this morning enjoying pancakes, eggs and ham at our local fire house with about 100 (at that time) of our neighbors and got to, you guessed it, explore the ambulance, the fire engine and the brush truck! So, you ask, did Miss C enjoy the adventure? You bet! At first she refused to go inside until we hopped in the fire engine but because no one was outside at the engine at that time, I had to talk her into going in and asking after breakfast if we could visit the truck. Once we mentioned wanting to explore, the fire fighters jumped into action and kept a whole lot of kids very happily entertained by letting them climb in and out of all of the different vehicles.

Below is one of the pictures from our adventure, the rest are here.

Oh, for all of my friends and family who have yet to get a blogger account, I have made it possible to make comments without a logon so ... :)

Too many changes too fast for me.

2009-06-27T19:14:00.000-07:00

When did someone tell my little girl to grow up? For the last two days it has become readily apparent that I am no longer the mother of a little one but I really am the mother of a toddler perhaps even preschooler.

Why do I say this? Well, for example, the past two nights have involved a significant shift in our bedtime reading. Last night, Miss C sat in her (our) chair alone, legs covered with her blankets (like I normally do when she is in my lap) reading her princess songs book (out loud no less!) and then her animal baby book. She did let me read the second book to her but I read from the floor. After the stories, she put herself in bed. :( Tonight, again, different. Miss C sat on her bed with her Wall-E toy and I read to her there. After her third book (Good night, Good night, Sleepyhead) she laid down and waited for me to cover her up. Growing up way too fast.

Today was our first real weekend day alone with no obligations. Miss C announced during breakfast that it was "Mama, [Miss C] Adventure Day." I call our days out those but hadn't realized how much she caught on to that. She decided that she wanted to paint something for DH. I had mentioned a Paint Your World place downtown (very small town so down town is just a street!) and she got herself clothes and then, once we got our shoes on, I was told we were going to paint for Daddy. Wow.

Another big change, Miss C decided she needs to start using the potty and wearing pull ups. There is something to be said for peer pressure. Most of her little friends in school are in pull ups and working on potty training so apparently must she.

On the plus side, for her anyway, she is still napping for me and at school (I have mentioned that she is in a great class where the teachers notice that she plays with her shoes so they let her take them off for a nap, even though its preferred that they keep them on? And that they put her far away from the music so it doesn't disturb her when she sleeps? I am so pleased with her new class!) and she is still in bed around 630-640ish nightly. She is so busy at school and at home that she is still worn out enough to do both.

I never thought I would long for putting a diaper on my little one. Too many changes way too fast for me but there is little I can do to turn back the hands of time. i only hope she lets me cuddle with her still.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

Happy Father's Day, DH!

And Happy Father's Day to my FIL, SNG, LeBon and all of the other wonderful daddys out there. The world is a better place because of you!

The end of a busy week

2009-06-19T19:37:00.000-07:00

What a busy week!

If you read my last posting, you know that this week was a very busy week for us with the transition period. If you are curious, which I think you must be since you are actually reading this, Miss C did great this week! She absolutely had a great time in her new class this week. All week long, less today, I brought Miss C to her original class at the beginning of the day and sometime after breakfast, Miss J would take walk her down to her new classroom.

Since the first day of the transition, Miss C spent the remainder of each day in her new class. She was a little hesitant to get really involved, as expected, until today. She really loves the different playground (as I mentioned, it has a slide, a sandbox, lots of little cars and motorcycles and is just huge compared with the "yard" she had been playing in) and the toys in the new classroom are definitely more age appropriate and more stimulating than the last room.

Basically, she was ready for this. She didn't have any issues with the "no numnum" policy even though I haven't enforced that at home yet (too much transition in one short period could prove detrimental, especially with DH gone now). We come to school with the numnum and before we go into her classroom, Miss C says "no numnum, mama" and hands it over. Its so neat that she understands. I was a little concerned that she would either not talk in her new class since she does get shy or that her teachers might not understand her, but I needn't worry. Having talked to both of her primary teachers over the past week, they have assured me that she lets herself be heard.

Everyday this week has been a longer day than the last. I was able to get out of work shortly after Miss C's nap which meant we were actually able to spend more than a couple of hours together after work.

I considered moving Miss C's bedtime back about 15 minutes since we are getting a little less time together after school but every day this week she has been simply exhausted. She actually tells me before 6 every night that its time to go upstairs and take a bath. Wow. I know. I shouldn't really complain that she is in bed by 630 nightly and sleeps solidly but sometimes I just want a little more time snuggling with my "itty bitty [Miss C]".

So, how has your week been?

Big kid class

2009-06-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

About a week ago, I got a letter from Miss C's school that she will be moving to the big kid class this week. I met with the teachers last Wednesday and had my orientation while Miss C napped down the hallway. After orientation, during which I learned that Miss C won't be able to have her numnum (that what she calls her pacifier, if you are new to the blog), I started to talk to Miss C about moving into the two year old class.
On Thursday, on our way out of school, Miss C and I walked down to her new room. I thought it would be a good idea to show her where the room is, what their toys look like, etc while the other kids were playing outside. We also looked out into the two year old playground, which, gasp, has a big slide, lots of little cars (her absolute favorite) and a sandbox!
The next day, Miss C reported to her current teacher that (pointing to the other playground) "I go play there." She seemed to be starting to get it. We talked about the move all weekend, just here and there, about her being a big girl and being honest about not being able to have the numnum in the new room. I reminded her of which friends are already in that room, all of the fun toys, etc.
Today, before I left for work, we talked again. I reminded her that sometime after breakfast, Miss J would walk her to her new room. I reassured her that she would have fun, that she could give Miss J a hug bye-bye and that if she had any problems, she could go back to the other room. When I left, Miss L, the nice woman we all check in with in the morning, reminded me that I can always call to see how she is doing (she knows how I think and that I will probably call).
I guess I should know better by now. I called a little after noon, enough time for Miss C to see if she was ready to spend more time in the new room, enough time to find out if she would be ok without the dreaded numnum. As soon as Miss L knew it was me, she told me "Oh! She's having a great time! She signed and talked about going to the big girl room. She said she was a big kid and that she was happy! She's sleeping right now." I asked "In the new room?" She replied "Oh yea, she is doing just great!"
Yep, that's my big girl, in the big kid class. Why does that make me a little sad?

Miss C is 2!

2009-06-08T20:06:00.000-07:00

We have our 2nd year check up in the morning so I decided to put this post together now. Based on the doctor's measurements (Miss C stood on the scale and against the wall for them!), she is now 36 inches tall and 30.1 lbs. If the 2 year old formula holds true, Miss C will be 6' plus or minus an inch. Holy moly!

Here's my first attempt at a photo video. I know its a little long (just under 4 minutes) but its Miss C's current favorite song. Hope you enjoy.

Where did the weekend go??

2009-05-31T19:32:00.000-07:00

Wow, talk about a whirlwind weekend. I thought, eh, first weekend after DH left would be tough but as social butterflies, our calendar was literally full.

Let's see, Saturday we actually got to sleep in and spent a couple of hours in the afternoon at a work party. Not exactly the best party for Miss C but she did know a few folks and after a little shyness at the beginning, she opened up and even held a friend's hand (that friend was a mom and a grandma and Miss C can tell, always!).

Sunday, wow. I thought that Saturday felt rushed, today started off with us getting up at normal school time so I could go in to work for duty. I tried to get my sitter over but alas, no joy. After work, we went to breakfast and then grocery shopping. We were gone 3 hours by the time we got home. After about 45 minutes home, I got Miss C down for a nap. After an hour and a half nap, we ate lunch and were off. We went by the car wash (Miss C got to sit in DH's seat, as she refers to it) and then were off to the nursery to replace a plant that the cat accidentally knocked off the window ledge. After that, we made it to the pool where Miss C celebrated a classmate's birthday. At first she was hesitant to get into the water below the second step but once one of her buddies got in, she was all over it. She even figured out how to float which she demonstrated to everyone. Once I showed her how to jump off the side of the pool, well, we spent a lot of time swimming, that's for sure. I need to get her back in classes because she really seems to enjoy it.

After swimming, we got out and had some yummy pizza with her friends and then cake, yea cake. I thought Miss C would be all over the cake but she wouldn't touch the frosting. Once I removed the frosting, she was in heaven. After the cake, Miss C looked me square in the eye and said "[Miss C] all done, time to go home." and I knew we had to leave. She is great about giving me a warning when she is about to melt down from the excitement so we said our goodbyes and came home. Once we got home, Miss C was all about playing outside and doing everything she could to avoid bedtime. As I type this, i am listening to a very tired little girl who went to bed over an hour ago but apparently cant' quite fall asleep. I even tried going up a couple of times, once with milk and once with more water, in case that is what was keeping her up but no joy. not even a wet diaper. On the plus side, she is content talking to herself and will most likely fall asleep in the next 10 minutes or so (or so I hope, since we have to get up in the morning for work and school).

i hope next weekend will be a little mellower but since her birthday party is next Saturday, i sincerely doubt it. Miss C does seem to take all of this well though and has yet to really lose her temper with me, though I know it is coming.

I am posting a couple of photos and have already uploaded a few more to our flickr. What do you think? A true water baby, eh?

Video Blog!

2009-05-28T19:40:00.000-07:00

DH left on Memorial Day. We're doing fine but you all know how tough it is with your loved one gone. Just in case DH gets a chance to check, I am posting a short video from a recent dinner. Please note, she was simply playing and was in no danger of falling!

We're back!

2009-05-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

What a fun trip!

For those not sure of the vacation plans, we went back to Texas where Miss C got to meet 3 of my siblings (Aunt A, Uncle W and Uncle D) as well as their spouses (actually only one spouse, Aunt L) and her cousins (Cousin B, Cousin M, Cousin J and Cousin A). Talk about a busy vacation!

Ok, first, the flights went well. We spent the night near the airport the day before the flight out. That made it a little easier the next day (until I realized, after the flight took off that my cell phone and car keys were in the room still. Alas, I got them back today. Yep, not fun but nothing we couldn't handle). Other than my error there, the entire trip was a great success. We got to see everyone (almost everyone...) twice.

Rather than get into too much detail here, I am going to throw in a few photos so you can see the visit. Unfortunately, i didn't spend as much time behind the camera as I wanted. I am hoping Aunt L will be able to send me her photos as well.

The rest of the photos are here. It really was an awful lot of fun seeing Miss C interact with all of her Texas cousins. Hopefully we can do this somewhat regularly.

Hope you all have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Quick post

2009-05-14T10:35:00.000-07:00

Sorry to have been so slient recently. Been busy with work and well, life. We are getting ready to start our vacation adventure. We (Miss C and I) are getting ready to drive to the airport so we can fly out to visit family (Aunt A, Uncle W, Aunt L and all of her cousins).

I am a little nervous because its a 5 freaking hour flight and the last time I flew alone with Miss C she was 4 months old and easy to cart around. I have packed our bag and one carry on (fingers crossed). I did get us each a seat because, as you all have probably noticed, Miss C is pretty tall and we need space! I have a snack bag along with the carry on (we can each have one for crying out loud) but I will try to put everything in the carry on before the flight.

The drive to the airport is why I need the separate bag (its 120 freaking miles). We are actually staying downtown tonight and flying out tomorrow (early flight, direct). I just finished running by the dollar store to get some last minute things for the flight (a couple of new books and dicast cars, little stuff for when she starts to get bored on the flight).

For myself, I packed my Kindle. I also packed a portable DVD player and some DVDs that Miss C selected (Elmo's World is currently the rave with her).

We will meet up with DH on Saturday (he is on travel).

Wish us luck and understand if I remain incommunicado for a little while. I promise to take lots of pictures and post once we get home.

Wow, just, yea, wow

2009-04-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

Remember when we talked about kids making rapid advances when they are young? And how their vocabulary expands?

Well, we forgot to mention the really sweet stuff about when they start to read their own books out loud. Now, we know that most of the words aren't well, words, but I hope you enjoy this video. Tell me what you think.

Family Photos

2009-04-17T21:44:00.000-07:00

We got some family photos done (I know, finally!) so I thought I would share one with you here and put the rest here. What do you think?

So cute!

2009-04-13T19:05:00.000-07:00

So, Miss C has basically fallen in love with wearing her "pretty dresses", as she is now fond of referring to them. Additionally, we are wearing nighties to bed over pjs because, well, they are dresses we wear to bed, right?
I am not sure if its the grown up part of the dress, the age or what, but I think its awfully sweet. Hopefully I will be able to get her to stop moving long enough to get a picture of her in one!

Until then, I leave you with a relatively recent (relatively being the word) video of Miss C on her tricycle:

22 Months already? Not your regular post (For Maddie)

2009-04-10T05:35:00.000-07:00

Miss C turned 22 months old yesterday. Usually I try to put in a list of her achievements and milestones but this week I have been a little distracted. First because DH is sick (infection, probably something along the lines of tonsillitis based on how those look) but also because I have been following another Mom's blog for a while and she just lost her little girl.
I don't feel right trying to explain her story (see this blog or through Poobou, another young Mom's blog here) but this family's tragedy has shaken me to the core. I always knew my little one was a miracle but I never realized just how few children are actually born without any complications. Those who aren't, those little ones who need extra help, don't always get to reach the milestones I am so fond of sharing.
In deference to this family's loss, i am not going to post my normal monthly Miss C update. Instead I am going to ask you all to help prevent this from happening again by sharing another Mom's March for Babies pledge site. If you are able to support this team, a team made up of parents and friends trying to do more, or even walk your own March for Babies, please do so. Little ones need all the help they can get.

Someone is becoming a big girl

2009-04-05T11:00:00.001-07:00

Everytime I think Miss C is at some certain stage in life, she goes off and grows up on me. DH is going on travel for the summer and will miss our 2nd birthday here. In order to give him an opportunity to play with Miss C and the gift he intended for her to receive then, DH went out and picked it out a couple of months early. His argument, Miss C is getting to be a big girl and big girls need their Daddies to help them learn certain things.
This is a picture of what DH got Miss C.

As you can see, adorable as it is, Miss C hasn't quite figured out how to pedal and is just a shade too short (hard to imagine!) so I ran over to Wally World this morning after a short stop at work and picked this up.

As you can see, it is just a little smaller, about perfect for now. It does grow into a bike with training wheels, a little smaller than the other one, just right for growing into. I think Miss C is really starting to get the pedaling thing down (I did load a couple of videos too, in case you want to check them out.).

We did already institute the "you shall wear your helmet if you want to ride your bike/tricycle" rule and Miss C doesn't seem to have any problem with that.

What is the right age to start riding a tricycle or bicycle? How do you teach your little ones to pedal?

Video blog!

2009-03-24T19:30:00.000-07:00

Miss C's vocabulary and her ability to express herself are exploding as I type this. She loves to cook with both of us so here is a video from tonight. Hope you enjoy!

Miss C turned 21 months old! (Yep, yesterday, forgive my tardiness!)

2009-03-10T19:04:00.000-07:00

21 months is an in between age, I think. While Miss C didn't appear to grow physically, she definitely grew mentally.

Miss C's vocabulary and overall ability to express herself have improved exponentially. For example, while playing "night, night" in our bed (Miss C loves to play on the "big bed"), she often sends us out of the room. As soon as we get near the door we hear "I awake, [Miss C] awake!" followed by a series of giggles! Its too cute! She also tells us when she is back. For example, when Miss C decides its time for her to go "bye bye" into her play room she will often tell us "bye bye" and run off. A minute or so later, Miss C will run full throttle into whatever room we are in and announce to everyone "I back! [Miss C] back!" while poking herself in the chest to emphasize that she is [Miss C].

Miss C continues her love of cooking and cleaning (not sure how long this will last but hey, while we are enjoying it, right?). Anytime DH or I are in the kitchen, invariably you will find Miss C on her "big step" helping us out. It really is a help though. She will use her frying pan and make whatever it is you are making. On the off chance she doesn't actually want to be in the kitchen, MIss C will bring her cooking utensils, some plates, some spoons etc and cook for Elmo or her dolly. She requires Elmo to "eat" with us (which, for our sake, is just sitting at the table) which leads me to another item.

Miss C, shock of all shocks, continues to be very directive. Sometimes she will surprise you with her wiley ways though. If she wants us to sit at the table she will direct us one by one to "Mama sit down, daddy sit down, everybody sit down." Sometimes, however, she is actually quite subtle. This afternoon, for example, she asked to get help trying on a pair of shoes. Mind you, we have been home for about 45 minutes and have already eaten dinner so this was our winddown time before bath. Ok, shoes on. Next Miss C goes and gets her "yellow jack[et]", can anyone see where we are going with this? Yep, then she gets my shoes and deposits them at my feet saying "mama, get up, shoes on" and then points to daddy's jacket and says "daddy, jack[et]." Yep, before we could say "boo" Miss C had fenagled a quick trip outside. If it had been over 32 degrees out we might have stayed out longer but as it was we made it about 10 minutes before the cold won out and we went in.

Aside from the verbal skills, Miss C continues to develop her fine and gross motor skills. While announcing "I made that" to us whenever she colors a new picture, Miss C talked me (very difficult, by the way) into getting out her paints so we can paint pictures (she does bore of it after about 20 minutes but heck, how long is her attention span supposed to be at this age?). She races us down the driveway with increasing speed each time and she loves to garden (or pull weeds at present, if you will). Miss C also continues to develop her love of music and as such has taken up the recorder. We haven't started on how to use the holes to actually make certain sounds but she sure does love it!

Here are a few newer photos for you to enjoy:

So, what's new with you?

Fifth what?

2009-03-06T11:57:00.000-08:00

We were supposed to be on a plane right now. We were supposed to be visiting family today. But, we're not. Why, do you ask? Well...

Yesterday I got a call from the day care letting me know that Miss C has developed a rash on her tummy and back and that I should have her seen.

Ok.. A rash. I started to think about what could be causing it. I know she is a little congested (that was a concern to begin with about our trip but we thought she would be ok). Did I use a new detergent? No. Did she eat something new? Well, she tried a cashew the day before but if there was going to be a reaction, we expected it sooner. Ok, time to tell the guys at the office that I need to get Miss C to the doctor.

Called the doctor. No appointments available. Time to try Urgent Care. Get to Day care, Miss C is painting. Happily. Painting. What? Why again did they call? She was fussy then they found the rash. Hmm...

Urgent care. May as well call it, roll the dice for a doctor care. Luckily we got the one good doctor for kids. A couple of tests and a full check later, we are told "Miss C probably has fifth disease . You should keep her out of school until Monday and away from pregnant ladies." Huh? She's fine. She has some sniffles, what?

Turns out, this fifth disease isn't a huge deal for kids. If you clicked on the link, you will see that lots of kids get it and their parents don't even notice it because its a virus. The rash, minor. Based on what we read, Miss C shouldn't even be contageous anymore since she has the rash but do you take the chance? Do you risk the other folks on the plane and the little one you planned to visit? No, you don't.

So, we're on a "stay cation" until Miss C goes back to school. Had to call everyone and let them know we can't make it. Had to call the airlines and figure out what to do with my non-refundable tickets. Luckily the customer care people understand and with my doctor's note (the one for school that says he considers Miss C contageous and that she shouldn't return until Monday) and won't charge me a change fee on the tickets. Had to call the rental car and the hotels to cancel reservations.

No fun. Miss C isn't acting sick, just a little congested but when it comes to risking not only ours but other people's health, can't take the chance. Maybe we can get away in May? I hope so!

Mine, Mine, Mine

2009-03-03T18:24:00.000-08:00

For those of you with toddlers, this post will be familiar.

Our word of the day/week/month is "mine". It is a relatively recent development but thankfully an expected, common one. Miss C has been known, like most of her classmates, to stakeout specific areas of the classroom or certain toys and declare "mine" while not permitting even their closest little buddies to get within arms reach of said toys or area. At first I was a little concerned then I saw the rules of the classroom:

1. If I saw it first, it is mine.
2. If you have something I want to play with, it is mine.
3. If I discarded something and you picked it up, it is mine.
4. If I show even remote interest in something, it is mine.
5. And, above all else, if you want it, it is mine.

Luckily not all days are "mine" days. Today, for example, was a good sharing day. The not so good days include anytime a friend in Miss C's class decides to come over and talk to me. That, my friends, is a big no-no. One little girl used to try and sit in my lap, each attempt resulted in Miss C getting extremely mad and pushing said little girl off. If another classmate tries to give me a hug, Miss C will drop whatever it is she is doing to run over and yell "no!!!" at the top of her lungs while lunging to get the classmate away from me. Apparently parents fall under "mine" as well.

Have you dealt with this situation yet?

Happy days are here again

2009-02-24T18:54:00.000-08:00

Well, after my last posting, Miss C decided that we (mama and daddy, that is) were going to win the bed time discussion so she pretty much caved. Caved, that is, as much as any 20 month old can after 36 hours of frustration with wanting to sleep on the couch. Its really no big deal now but boy, what a rookie mistake! We should have known better, should have kept her in her bed but when your little one gets sick, its hard to not give them basically anything they want to make them feel better, ya know?

Other than that, we have been doing just fine. We are planning an exciting trip to visit a ton of family in a couple of weeks. We can only go for the weekend but Miss C will have a chance to meet Aunt A and her cousins there and see Aunt L and Uncle W and their little one. We also plan on visiting a couple of other friends in the area and perhaps one or two more family members, not sure of the schedule yet.

To help on the trip, I got Miss C a harness for her airplane seat so we don't have to carry a car seat on to the plane. I also plan on bringing a portable DVD player and some stuff to watch in addition to our normal travel fare of coloring books, paper, crayons, tons of her favorite books, snacks, etc. I admit I am a little nervous because this is the longest flight she has been on (4.5hours on the way there, just under 5 on the way back). I know how fidgety I get, I can only imagine how difficult it will be for her. That's one of the reasons we got her a seat rather than taking advantage one last time of being able to have a lap infant. In case you are wondering, we fully intend to have her pacifier handy to help her clear her ears, that or a sippy cup always make it easier to fly.

So, here is my question to you all. For those who have endured air travel of this duration, do you have any recommendations or words of wisdom?

Miss C turned 20 months old and all she got was a fever

2009-02-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

20 months, already?

Yep and for our 20 month day we got, a fever. Lovely. 103. No fun. Funny thing, Miss C was mainly her normal, cheerful, playful self. She snuggled a little more but who would think that would be the only sign (other than, later on, the fever itself). She's doing fine, taking Motrin and sleeping pretty soundly. I just got back from about 15 minutes of snuggling. Miss C woke up and just wanted to snuggle. Poor kiddo.

Well, I started this posting on Monday but didn't get far with it until tonight. Our week has been rough. Miss C has been very healthy so her getting and keeping a fever for more than a day was unexpected and we suffered, that's for sure.

It took 4 days and 3 nights of constant cuddling, sipping on juice and water, sleeping on the couch and sometimes the floor (all of us) and two visits to the doctor but I think we are beyond the worst. Miss C's fever finally broke for more than an hour this afternoon. She still isn't back to her chipper old self, but that will take time. One of the negative aspects of this situation is that we allowed Miss C to sleep outside of her bed. While some folks have done that all along, Miss C hasn't slept in anything but her bed or the cot at school, ever. I mean, she always went upstairs for her naps, always slept in her bed (even her own pack and play when we travel) so this was different. Unfortunately, she liked the different, especially when it means downstairs where we are when she needs sleep.

Well, we had to get her to sleep in her bed tonight. I mean, she wasn't running a fever anymore but she (we all) sorely needs the sleep and we know that she will sleep well in her bed, if we can get her to even lay down in it. That took a lot of doing, a lot of crying and a serious amount of will power. Miss C has discovered that crying gets attention. We are talking to her about not crying just to make noise, especially when she knows the words. I think that will be an on-going battle, but I digress. Tonight after dinner and bath, normal routine, we tried the bed again (last night we caved because she still had a mid-grade fever). Ok, so first I tried, I talked, I asked, I did everything short of close the door behind myself. DH then tried. He even offered to move a different mattress in the room. I tried again. This time I told her she wasn't getting off the bed and I sat at the opening of it. She stood and stared at me like i was the meanest mama ever. We had a stare-off. After about 10 minutes, DH came back in and we told her good night, we love you.

About an hour later (we were terrified to even open the door), DH poked his head in to see if Miss C indeed fell asleep standing up. Ah, success! She was laying down asleep in her bed, for now. Hopefully we won't have to go through this again tomorrow!

CONGRATULATIONS, ALPHAGAL AND COMPANY!

2009-02-04T18:53:00.001-08:00

My BFF (Alphagal) just gave birth to a beautiful baby boy! Hugs and kisses and of course well wishes to Alphagal, SNG, E-baby and the newest addition, A-baby! We love you all!

Talking in full sentences

2009-02-03T19:04:00.000-08:00

When did my little babbling baby suddenly turn into a little girl who could express her thoughts in full (or close enough to it) sentences? In my sleep apparently!

Just last week we noticed a significant shift in Miss C's speech, sentences! Her first real sentence was "I got it!" After that she added "Right here!" in response to "where is (whatever)". Then she began to say "here you go" and added "angel" at the end of it because apparently I say that to her. Now she is more than just directive (you remember, "sit down", "wait", "come here" and all of those fun directions) she is up front about what she wants "mama, more milk (insert word of choice, such as color, play, water, etc) please" and where she wants to go "[Miss C] go outside, play" followed quickly by "please" in case I missed the earnestness in her voice. Its incredible how much our little sponge has retained. While coloring ("mama, color [Miss C]"), I started writing and spelling her name. Now when she wants me to write her name, Miss C spells it for me! I know! Its scary!

Beyond that, Miss C has a boyfriend. Ok, quick story. Over Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa (two more words she uses regularly!), Miss C received an Elmo Live. For the entire time we were visiting, Miss C wouldn't come any closer than my arm could reach to Elmo (I say it that way because if she wanted to hear him talk, she would use my hand to make that happen!). Ok, so we couldn't bring him back with us because we only had so much bag space. Instead, Grandma put it in the mail. Two weeks separated apparently made a difference because almost as soon as we got him out of his bed (the box he was mailed in), Miss C gave him hugs and kisses. He is her little boyfriend now! I have some pictures but seem to have misplaced my transfer cord so those will have to be posted once i find it!

Ok, that's enough of an update for now. Hope everyone is doing well!

I know, I know!

2009-01-23T18:39:00.000-08:00

Ok, I know its been a while since I last posted. The only excuse I have is that we have been BUSY!

Once we got back from vacation, we went back to work full bore. I changed jobs (I am still at the same place). I went from having a couple of people working for me to running the entire watch organization. I have five divisions of folks working for me along with the responsibility for the daily operations at our command. That being said, its not a job to take lightly or one that you can just slip into. For the past week or so, since i took the job, I have been trying to first take care of the administrative stuff (re-issuing directives in mine name, establishing policy etc) then to get with each of my divisions to figure out how to improve our product. Additionally, I have been working with a couple of other folks on the same level to revamp the overall organization. There are job qualifications to approve, personnel to qualify, etc. With all that, once I get out of work, its family time.

All of you with kids (heck, those with significant others get this too, right?) understand that you have to shift modes when you get home to family time. Miss C is developing so fast and every day its something different. This week has been all about singing, dancing and lots of books and coloring. Its go, go, go from the minute I leave work to pick her up until the minute she goes to bed. After that is chore time (thank goodness DH helps out with lots of that, it just gets a little nutty when he is gone) then I get a little break.

The new job is going well and I am finally feeling like I am having an impact here. About time, considering that i have been here for over a year.

Well, that's it. That's why I've been so quiet lately.

In other news, we are planning a trip in early Spring, or thereabouts, so Miss C can meet some of my side of the family. Ok, she met Uncle W and Aunt L once when she was very little but she hasn't met Aunt A or her kids so we are going to take a long weekend and go out to visit. We have a few other folks we absolutely have to see when we are there, so we are trying to come up with a plan of action. Has anyone else taken a long weekend to visit family? How do you visit all of the folks without overwhelming the little ones?

Happy Birthday, DH!

2009-01-11T13:51:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, DH!

Miss C and I are so lucky to have you as daddy and husband.

My love, you are my best friend, my confidant, my love. I don't know what I would do without you.

Sorry no big plans this year (isn't football enough though? :) ). I promise to make it up to you over the next 12 months.

First post of 2009 and Miss C is 19 months old (ok, tomorrow!)

2009-01-08T18:54:00.000-08:00

First, let me apologize for not having posted in nearly, eh, forever? Yea. Been kind of busy with the holidays, travel, etc. Hope you all understand.

We got back from our vacation visiting with family a couple of days ago. Miss C had a great time with her Great Grandma, Grandma, Grandpa and Auntie J. We are going to try and visit other family (Aunt A, her cousins B, M and J as well as Uncle W, Aunt L and her cousin A) sometime in the next couple of months.

Ya know, I thought last year was fun but this year was amazing! The changes i have seen in Miss C have been incredible.

I am sure she is probably at least 1/2 and inch taller than a month ago which puts her around 35 1/2 inches at 19 months! She is just at 28lbs and boy have her skills changed. She pretends to be all sorts of animals (cats, dogs, alligators!) and has her puppets pretend to be even more (we found these two super cute mittens for the bath, a purple monkey and a pink pig and she uses them as hand puppets) animals (namely Elmo!). When it seems like we don't understand what she is saying, Miss C not only signs her words but if the word has an action, she acts it out! Example? Well, we were talking about our recent airplane ride and Miss C was saying "airplane". Apparently I didn't understand so she signed it then used the sign and flew the plane around "rrrrmmm, rrrrmmmm" just for me! Too funny!

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, we are potty training. Nothing too strenuous, just letting Miss C get comfortable with the potty. She actually used the one on the airplane and at her great grandma's both without her little seat on top. I was surprised and pleased. On the plus side, she held my hands rather than the potty so very little in the way of ickiness!

Miss C's favorite act now is tumbling. She does make mama and daddy do it too so she gets examples when she wants them. When we play, Miss C pretends to be the "mommy" and we are the "babies" (I asked her about this one day when she was rubbing by back saying "good girl!"). She also has a number of tasks for us. Example? She will tell us to "sit, wait, come, etc" including hand signals when she wants something. Too funny and wayyyy too much like her mama!

Well, that's about it for now. Busy, busy, ya know! We will try to post more regularly. Oh! Before I finish, I have uploaded our holiday photos, they can be seen here.

She may hate me for this if she ever sees it but...

2008-12-21T18:52:00.000-08:00

No, no silly pictures just a huge step in development.

About a month ago, one of Miss C's teachers suggested we get her a potty chair because she hates a wet butt. Well, I followed her recommendation and bought one. Since then, Miss C has used it to sit with us in the living room and to play with her animals on. On occasion, she would bring it with her to the bathroom with me. Lately she has even been taking her pants down but today she told Daddy she had to go potty. Figuring it was more playtime, I let them be. A few minutes later, DH called me in to "help."

Yep, Miss C went #1 in her potty! She earned a sticker for it and was so proud of herself she told me that she had pottied more than once. Aww, my little girl is growing up so fast! I mean, geez, she is maybe 18 and 1/2 months old for crying out loud.

Thoughts?

SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-12-17T11:38:00.000-08:00

Its snooowwwwwwinnnngggg! Not just a dusting either. Seriously!

We got up this morning and had about 4 inches just waiting for us and it hasn't slowed down yet. We think we have gotten another 2 or 3 inches since we got up!

When it snowed on Sunday, Miss C refused to even consider it. Today? Well, we managed to get her to stomp the snow and boy does she like it!

Above are a few photos from our adventures so far today!

Miss C is 18 months old today!

2008-12-09T05:46:00.001-08:00

Can you believe it?

Ok, check this out, first stats:

1. Miss C maintains her position on the growth charts. She measured in at a whopping 35 1/8 inches! Yep, again >97th percentile. Wow! She weighed in at 27 lb 14 oz, 90-95th percentile and her head remains small, not sure the number but its 25-50th percentile. She hasn't changed her progression but holy moly, I didn't think she grew 2 inches in the past 3 months!

2. Teeth, teeth, teeth. Miss C is getting in her eye teeth. She already has 12 teeth in and these two make her total 14, whoa! Not a fun adventure let me assure you. We continue to go through wash clothes at an alarming rate but hey, what's a wash cloth when it makes her happy?

3. Words, words, words! Holy moly! Miss C's vocabulary and ability to not only repeat but understand what you say is incredible. We have to be careful about what we say because, for example, if you tell her grandma that you had to talk to Miss C about not coloring on the floor, well, of course all Miss C hears is "color on the floor." She actually repeats your words then proceeds to act them out. Too funny except when you are trying to avoid multicolored hardwood! Miss C speaks primarily in sentences although sometimes they don't include all of the parts we normally associate. For example, when she wants more of something, Miss C signs and says "More (whatever, water, peas, etc) please" but then there are times when she is done so she just says "all done, down, wash hands" with no subject or noun present. We think she is doing pretty well though!

4. Balance and running. Miss C has discovered racing! Yep, racing. It started when DH was gone and we had all of the chores. One of the biggest chores is taking the trash cans to the curb and bringing them back in the next day after they have been emptied. While it is a weekly requirement, it requires some timing and coordination. Miss C likes to help me "carry" the cans so to avoid running her over, she walks on the opposite side of the can as me and pushes her hands against it (it looks like she is carrying it). Ok, so the racing, well, once we get the cans to the curb, we have to get back to the house because it is getting late, dinner needs to be made etc. In an attempt to encourage her, I told Miss C she could race me. I then said "ready, set.." and wouldn't you know it? On set, she takes off and looks back at me, laughing the whole way! By the time I get "go" out, she is at least 6 feet ahead of me, running and giggling. It’s too much fun!

5. Dexterity. Miss C helped make bread at Thanksgiving. I discovered that she rolls better to herself than away from herself so that's how I showed her. We didn't make much bread but she got to roll every piece herself. She loves to make bread! She reminds me daily by showing me how to roll her crayons.

6. Colors and shapes. Part of the words I mentioned before includes colors. She can regularly differentiate red and blue but for some reason green and yellow get confused. Miss C can differentiate basic shapes like stars, triangles, squares and circles. She can also identify cats, bunnies, elephants, etc by my horrible drawings. Whenever we color, she demands I make pictures for her to color. Coloring books are cool but apparently she likes my pictures better (for now, right? :) )!

That's pretty much it for now. I know there is a ton of stuff that I am forgetting (like talking on the phone, she totally makes her grandparents phone calls by giving hugs and kisses over the phone) but I have to cut this off somewhere! Hope you all enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T20:36:00.001-08:00

Hey ya'll!
From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving.
We're thankful that we are able to spend this time together, all of us healthy and happy. We are thankful for our family and friends who enrich our lives constantly.
What are you thankful for?

Busy, busy, busy

2008-11-23T18:40:00.000-08:00

We have been super busy over the past week. Work was crazy busy for no real reason and Miss C is just so involved in everything!

On Tuesday, we had a Toddler Dinner at Miss C's school. DH is still out of town so he missed it but Miss C had fun. I did find out that she is very territorial when it comes to Mama. One of the other little girls in her class (Kenzie) tried to sit in my lap a few times when we were reading (all of the kids gathered 'round when Miss C brought me a book to read to her) and later on when I was playing with Miss C while she climbed through the tunnel. When Miss C saw her little friend try to get some Mama time, she came over and shoved her off my lap! I kid you not, she sat down and pushed this little girl. Now, Miss C is pretty gentle in most situations but apparently this was not the time to be gentle.

On Friday, I had to go to a work function so Miss C played with her favorite sitter (Annie) for about an hour then went to bed. Annie is a savior for us when DH is on travel. Mrs J is no longer available for sitting as she works at Miss C's school now so I had to find someone new. Annie has made herself available whenever I need including weekend days when i had to work and the occasional evening function. Its nice to be able to have someone come over so I don't have to drag Miss C around in the evenings and Miss C always naps and sleeps better in her own bed.

On Saturday, Miss C and I decided to pick up some decorations for the house (mainly window clings) and she has expended hours (literally, I kid you not!) decorating and redecorating the windows and the kitchen. I posted a video on our youtube site (see the link to the right of the posting section) and will put a picture here.

Today, I have duty so Miss C got to go into the office with me for a few minutes then we went out for breakfast (kind of a tradition of ours when I have duty). We also stopped by Kmart and picked up a potty chair. Now, I know Miss C is still only 17 months old but she hates having a wet butt. I talked to her teacher and she recommended getting the chair to get her comfortable with it. She wandered around the living room (the room she moved it to when she pulled it out of the bathroom) and played with it a lot. She even told me she had to "go potty" a couple of times so I had a little half-nekkid toddler wandering around with a potty chair like a turtle's shell! Too funny! She hasn't actually done anything in it yet but the goal is to make it comfortable for now.

In spite of all of the fun, Miss C certainly had her moments. She hasn't broken any new teeth in months so its my guess that she has some coming in. When she gets fussy, I try to help her explain what the problem is and she was finally able to tell me "hurt" and "teeth" while signing both so either I influenced that or she has teeth coming in. In either case, the fussiness was shortlived (thankfully) and she is asleep.

Well, hope you all have a great week!

How much difference a year makes

2008-11-16T20:49:00.001-08:00

I was looking over some photos from last year and thought you might enjoy the comparison that I see:

These are from November 2007

These are from November 2008

Wow, what a difference a year makes! I am really looking forward to our holidays this year. Last year, Miss C was, I guess, too young to really appreciate them. This year is bound to be even more memorable than the last!

MIss C is seventeen months old! (Ok, so that was on the 9th!)

2008-11-11T19:56:00.000-08:00

I know this is a couple of days late but here goes:

1. Miss C's verbal skills are improving by the day. She is more vocal about what she wants to do and where she wants to go. When she gets up from either bed or a nap, she tells me "dia, dia" (sounds like die, die) so I change her diaper "milk" if she wants some milk, "snack" if she is hungry, "color" if she wants to color and often "pooh" or "cat" for whichever of her animals that she wants.

2. Miss C has discovered a love of shopping. We went to the Exchange last weekend to get some more pants for her and I held up two pairs to let her decide which color to get. She looked over both pairs (with quite the discerning eye) and chose one, grabbed it out of my and and immediately put it in the cart behind her seat. When I need to go to the store, I ask her if she wants to go on a "Shopping Adventure" and she says "yes, mama, shop, shop." Too funny!

3. Miss C is even better at matching thigns than I thought. Since she got her Little People's toy, I ask her to find different animals. She loves all of them and will just grab one at random and then find the matching animal on the mat and press the button to "talk" (she says it will talk too!).

4. Miss C adores coloring. I expect this is quite common at this age (and for many years to come). I tried coloring books but Miss C isn't quite into them yet but she does love her crayons (just the regular kind, not the triangle ones or the ones that look like eggs) and a basic pad of paper. I did discover that for going out, a spiral bound set of index cards is perfect. None of the pages come loose and Miss C has plenty of paper to color on.

Well, that's a few of her latest "tricks". DH has been gone a month but if the schedule holds true, he might actually be back in a couple of weeks. Yea! Its a shame that he has to miss so much of this but it could be worse, I suppose.

Ok, I am going to close out with a few new photos:

So, any thoughts on what to expect next?

Thank you

2008-11-08T19:20:00.000-08:00

Just a quick thank you on the blog to my BFF, Alphagal and her lovely family.

Miss C just got the cutest gift in the world from them and while we are going to send a thank you card, we agreed that a video of Miss C enjoying her gift might be a nice addition.

Hope ya'll like it too!

PS In case you are curious, the reason Miss C signs penguin by pointing to her nose is because we played with a toy penguin she has (keep in mind, this started months ago) by "bonking" her nose with the penguin's nose. Kids are so darn smart!

Halloween

2008-10-31T19:22:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween Everyone!

We had a great day today.

We got today off from work because we have been working a lot on the weekends so Miss C and I had an "Adventure Day." We played at home all morning then after her nap we went out. We ended up at her school (I needed to pay so we decided to stop for a visit) and two stores. Because I figured Miss C wouldn't really be up for trick or treating this year (still a wee bit young), we wore out costume out in town. I think she is just adorable!

I am including a couple of photos and a short video. What do you think?

Time off

2008-10-26T20:04:00.000-07:00

Well, we kind of had the weekend off. Kind of because I had duty so we still had to get up earlier than a normal weekend but Miss C really seemed to enjoy visiting my work. It was the second time she had been there (the first was last Christmas so she was much younger and really wouldn't remember) and she took over the place. I joked around that she was in charge but you all know I wasn't kidding!

We enjoyed a nice breakfast out on Saturday and that afternoon went out and found some papier-mâché pumpkins to decorate. I wanted to do something for Halloween and the day care doesn't let the kids wear costumes. I considered getting a real pumpkin to color but was lucky enough to find the papier-mâché ones because they are now Miss C's newest favorite toys. We both colored them on Saturday and she continues to add markings whenever the mood strikes. Another plus of our little excursion is we found a second hat (besides the ball cap we got a week or so ago) that Miss C digs because she can put it on herself. I am relieved because the weather here doesn't get warm for a while.

Today went to work again for turnover and then came home. Miss C is becoming much more vocal about her preferences so I ask her as often as I can for her decisions. Today was all about what to eat, when to play, what to color. I didn't realize how much she liked eggs until she yet again told me that she wanted "eggs" when i offered her a choice between cereal and eggs. Its funny, i thought she preferred cereal but maybe she is just changing?

Ok, enough for now. I am posting a couple of cute pictures and a new video. Let me know what you all think, ok? I think its hilarious!

Friends?

2008-10-19T19:02:00.001-07:00

So, a funny thing happened last week. When I was walking Miss C into her class she pointed to one of her classmates and said her name "Nomi" (its Naomie but you know). Ok, so that's pretty cool but what happened after is even better.
We had to put up our stuff in one room then move to another because we were there with the early group. They congregate in one room until there are enough kids to require more than 2 teachers. Anyway, so we walk into the other room and Miss C walks over to this other little girl and they touch hands. Are you still with me?
When I went back to pick her up, one of Miss C's teachers told me that Miss C and "Nomi "are buddies. They apparently greet each other with hand touches and hugs and play together! Isn't that just the coolest. "Nomi" is a couple of months older than Miss C but they have been classmates since we got into the day care.
Needless to say, i am a little surprised. I didn't think kids really played together at this age. I think its cool though to know that Miss C looks for her little friend every day and when she sees her, she is set!
What do you all think?

Miss C is 16 Months old!

2008-10-09T19:29:00.000-07:00

As I seem to do every month, wow! OK, so what has changed?

1. Vocabulary. Miss C's vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds! She is working on different consonant sounds and says stuff like "silly", "banana" and "apple". She tries to say so much more. She is still signing but is happy using either. Its funny, if we can't quite understand her (not uncommon at this age, I am told), she signs it, says it then shows us! Like, hey, if you can't get it this way, how about this? She also tries to say "c"s and "k"s. When you ask her "what does a rooster say?" she replies with "cinkle, cinkle" (its always the same). What's really interesting is that she associates the same sound with my computer (she hears me type and must make some correlation because she says the same words!). Today she started to say "happy", "funny" and anything else she can figure out! It's so neat to literally watch her brain grow!

2. Hopping. DH has been working with Miss C on jumping and hopping. We all know our little angel loves to dance, heck she makes her toys dance, but now Miss C is trying to jump. While she only gets airborne on occasion (and usually on accident), when she says "hop", "jump" or "bounce" (talking about Tigger, of course) she slams a foot into the ground so she makes the same sound we do when we jump!

3. Interest in rocks. OK, so maybe we have a geologist in the making. We are apparently very lucky to have a gravel drive because Miss C loves to go outside and play with rocks. She can sit there and sort them for hours, if given the opportunity. When we go outside now we no longer spend much time rocking in our chairs, no, most of our time is spent walking up and down the driveway finding neat looking rocks.

4. Hiding stuff behind her back. OK, that one sounds a little off, so let me explain. A few weeks ago, in the car, I noticed Miss C would put stuff like a book or a pacifier under her right thigh when she drank water or ate a snack. At first I thought, whoa boy, we are in a new stage and asked myself if we were going to see her hiding stuff. Well, that turned out not to be the case. I gave it more thought and realized she hasn't quite grasped the concept of a pocket so she thinks we are just hiding stuff behind out backs when we get it! I tested this out by giving her some paper to hold. Yep, she put it under her leg when sitting and tried basically to stuff it in the back of her pants when standing. Pockets!

That's the short of it. This is a definitely interesting time. Miss C is still struggling to take naps as long as they would like at school (they have a 2 hour time blocked out) but she's such a mellow kid that she sits on her cot and reads a book to herself when she does wake up. I hope she can work through that soon!

Lots of adventures

2008-10-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

Well, the weekend is almost over but we had a lot of fun.

Whenever we take Miss C out, we tell her we are going on an adventure because, as you all know, any outing with a little one is definitely an adventure!

On Thursday, DH picked Miss C up from school and they went on a grocery store adventure. Miss C split her time between eating an apple and talking into DH's phone. I guess she managed to snake the phone from him at some point then proceeded to impress everyone in the store by saying "hello, yes, yes" repeatedly into the phone. She's not quite at the stage where she is willing to talk to a person besides DH on the phone but she sure likes the concept.

On Friday, we all went over to our friends' B & S's house for dinner. We had some terrific pizza (thanks for making it, guys!) and Miss C was the darling of the dinner (go figure!). She discovered that there is a perfect pillow fort ready made under a built in desk and also found some finger puppets on a shelf just low enough for her to investigate each one. Before we left, B and S gave Miss C her very own bunny rabbit finger puppet. She carries it around the house and says "hop! hop!" while stomping her feet (she is really trying to hop though!).

On Saturday, we went to a nearby restaurant for lunch. Miss C enjoyed trying her lunch, my lunch and DH 's lunch as well as coloring and people watching. After we were done eating, I took Miss C on a walk through the restaurant to the bathroom to wash hands and she hammed it up the whole way, grinning at every smiling "granny" in the place and getting loads of applause for her walking and smiling.

Today we are relaxing at home (I had to work this morning but stuff happens, right?) watching some football and going outside (briefly, its chilly!) to play with rocks and flowers. DH is attempting to put Miss C down for a nap (we'll see how that goes) then it will start over again.

Have I mentioned how much I love this motherhood gig?! Hope ya'll are having fun too!

Fun with dinner

2008-09-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

A new video. Hope you enjoy!

Photo essay

2008-09-21T07:53:00.000-07:00

Miss C is just growing up so fast. Here are a few new photos of her so you can see what we see:

IKE, the aftermath

2008-09-15T10:12:00.000-07:00

Well, as many of you know, we have a lot of family in the vicinity of where IKE struck. Luckily, everyone made it through fine. Some chose to stay where they were (crazy as it may seem) and some went north to find safety. After numerous phone calls were received yesterday, we count ourselves among the lucky ones. The worst damage was loss of power to my sister's place so she had to empty out her deep freezer. The loss of a few hundred dollars in food, while economically challenging, is not nearly as bad as it could have been. That sister's neighbors weren't as fortunate. Those who chose to stay lost their vehicles as any vehicle in that parking lot sustained significant flood damage. Some also lost their roofs so their valuables were drenched and some were flooded out. We count our lucky stars that everyone made it through OK and keep our fingers crossed that our friends fared as well. Our thoughts remain with our friends and family in Texas.

Miss C is 15 months old today!

2008-09-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

Holy cow! 15 months, already?!!

Besides the standard statistics update that you already got (see last entry), Miss C is doing great.Let's see:

1. Gross motor skill development: Miss C is running and now trying to jump! She twirls when she dances (DH showed her how and boy does she love it!). It is also very cute to watch her walking backwards (she does this with an audience, of course!) and dancing while holding on to her Fisher Price Kitchen or the handle to the freezer drawer (and, no, I have no idea where she came up with that one!). She can also climb onto virtually any couch or chair she sees, something we really have to pay attention to since she forgets that she can also fall. We have avoided having her fall off but the chance is always there.

2. Fine motor skill development: Miss C brushes her teeth as well as those of her dolly, frog and us, given the opportunity. She is also very adept at getting her pants on (really surprised me on that one, but she figured that one out and showed us last night). She has almost mastered getting two of her pairs of shoes on (they are simple velcro shoes, the pair we put on her for school most days have a tongue that gets threaded through a holder so they are more of a challenge). She can also put on and take off her bib (another trick I would prefer she hold off on most days!:)).

3. Vocabulary: Talk about expansion! Miss C is putting together coherent thoughts and vocalizing them regularly. For example, when we take her into school, we usually try to carry her in from the car (avoiding the normal am rush of people and cars and all that). Sometimes she is fine with that but more often than not, she tells us "mama, down, walk" and signs it, just in case I missed it. Too cool. She does the same with DH. She can also tell you what practically any animal says (yep, she still uses her cute rbbbt for frogs!) and points out the birds on the lights in both words and signs on the way into school. DH and Miss C have been working on "who lives where?" For example, if you ask her "who lives in the trees?" she will reply "birds" and sign it too. I love that! I am eternally grateful for Alphagal's encouragement about baby sign. We were all for it from the beginning but never truly realized how much Miss C had absorbed until her teachers commented on it!

4. Fun. Miss C loves to go "out" and "play." She collects "flowers" and "walks" in the yard (the quotes represent the words and signs we see all the time!). When she wants to be cute, Miss C will try to trick you by bringing you something only to give it to the other person (when DH and I are sitting next to each other, for example). We went to a friends house for a get together recently and Miss C played that "trick" on countless folks.

Ok, so the only real concerns I have at this stage:

1. Miss C has not taken a bottle at school in about 4 months but still takes an am and pm bottle here. We are working on getting her to take all of her milk from a cup but she tends to drink about 1/2 of what we give her that way and will only drink more if we put it in a bottle. Thoughts? Suggestions?

2. Very recently (read: just the past few days), Miss C has gotten incredibly clingy with me. I mean, DH is home and if I go to the bathroom, Miss C follows me. If she looks up and I am not in her line of sight, she cries and absolutely has to find me. Is this normal? Thoughts? Suggestions?

Ok, so that's the most recent stuff. Sorry I haven't posted as many pictures as before. We are still taking them, I just have recently forgotten to charge my camera battery so I can't upload! Drr!

Hope you all enjoy these updates!

She is how tall????

2008-09-04T07:15:00.000-07:00

So we had an early check up this month. You all know that there is a normal 15 month check up and that actual date doesn't happen for a few more days. Due to the schedule at the Dr's office, we got Miss C in to see the doctor today.

Whenever we have a Dr's visit, we try to make it a fun day. We usually go to breakfast (or lunch, time dependent of course) after the appointment so Miss C doesn't associate these trips with just getting poked an prodded.

Ok, so here's what you all have been waiting for:

Height: 33 inches (yep, still >97%)

Weight: 26 lb 4 oz (yep, still 90-95%)

I don't actually keep track of head circumference since she has consistently been around 50% and the only use that number has for me is buying hats she will refuse to wear (;))! Besides, I am not exactly sure how accurate this reading was today because she is apparently very anti-head measuring. She started to flip out when the nurse went to measure her and even disliked it when I gave it a shot. Not sure what that's about. Has anyone else had that happen? I mean, have your kid just take a severe dislike to something like that?

Other than this, Miss C is just a wonderful little girl. She is really enjoying her new class and while she is the youngest, she teaches as much as she learns. We have discovered a new"game" as a result of her new class. Apparently some of the kids get their backs patted when they go down for a nap (thankfully, Miss C puts herself to sleep so we haven't had to adjust to the change in school) so when she plays with her dolls and animals, she lays them on the floor, covers them with a blanket and pats their backs. What cracks me up is that Miss C can do this for an hour, I swear! She goes back and forth between "dolly" and whatever animal she has on hand at the time (lately that has been either her frog or her sheep) and pats their backs or readjusts them. I will have to try to catch all of this on video one of these days so you all can see what we are talking about.

Otherwise, we're doing just fine. I finished my last class and found out I made the promotion list (I won't actually put it on or see the $ until next August but those are the breaks of finding out early) so I am really trying to relax a bit. I have a stack of books I would like to read sometime but as you all know, that is only possible when Miss C is asleep. On the plus side, she is reading more of her books to me so I am getting an interesting education in the world of board and lift-a-flap books!

So, how have you all been doing? Anything new on your end?

New video

2008-08-27T19:55:00.001-07:00

I got lucky enough to have my camera handy when Miss C did this.

What do you think?

We're still here, we swear :)

2008-08-21T20:05:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know its been a while since I posted. Been super busy with life and all that!

Miss C is doing great. We have been awed by her vocabulary changes of late. Today she told me "pooh bear!" Isn't that the cutest! he is her buddy and we say his name often enough but I think its so much fun to hear her work it out.

We went to the local county fair last weekend. Miss C got to see a steer up close and personal.

A few of them, to be precise. She was telling us that a cow says "moo" when the steer closest to her stood up and mooed at her! She had this look of shock and amazement on her face! It was too cute! That night, during dinner, DH told her to be careful and chew good because she had a "big piece of chicken" in her mouth. Apparently she got the idea of "big" because she signed it then said "bak, bak, baaakkk" (her cute little chicken sound). Later when we asked her about the fair she signed "big" then mooed. I guess it stuck!

Ok, other than the gushy stuff, I finished my last class! Yea! The commencement doesn't take place until the Spring (stupid consolidated graduations!) but I hope to see the diploma soon so I can send it off for work. I am not sure what exactly to do now though. DH has been after me for years to "relax" but if you know me, you know that is easier said than done. Until I figure it out, I am spending every minute I can with DH and MIss C, playing, cooking, reading, all of that fun stuff.

Well, hope you all are having a great week! Let us know what you have been up to, ok?

Miss C is Fourteen Months old today!

2008-08-09T14:55:00.000-07:00

Super quick update!
Ok, no height and weight stuff, that will have to wait until next month. One thing, though, she is wearing size 4 shoes! I barely got her in size 3's when we realized they were too small. Ugh!
Here we go:
1. Miss C's walking is solid. She runs most of the time, actually. she really cemented her walking when her grandparents were here. She and her grandma walked around outside all the time, just walking here and there, uphill and downhill. All of that helped her figure out her balance etc, so she definitely good on her feet.
2. Miss C figured out how to walk down stairs. She still holds on to our hands but she kind of slides her bum and her feet on the way down. We have a lower banister that DH is going to install which will help her walk up and down but we still will have our gates at the top and bottom of the stairs.
3. Miss C is doing great in her new class. Although the teachers haven't quite figured her out (she talks and signs and they are still a little unsure of what she is saying even though she is signing correctly and I gave them a Miss C to English dictionary!). Oh well. She is also doing fine with the mid-day nap although she does prefer to take two naps, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, over the single nap mid day. I am sure she will continue to adjust and her teachers will learn to understand her words. She is also now able to associate words with more than one context. For example, she always uses "more, please" when she wants more to eat or drink (yea, the please tickles me to death!) but now she is using it when she wants you to do something again, like pick more flowers or walk around more. Very cool!
4. Speaking of words, Miss C's vocabulary is growing exponentially! I am sure you all mentioned this would happen but wow! She even picks up on signs that aren't intentional. For example, we have a stuffed penguin from Sea World and Miss C loves it! I started to bonk her nose with the penguin's beak so now when she "says" penguin, she bonks her nose with her index finger! What a funny kid!
5. Another word issue is colors. It seems that Miss C might actually know some of her colors. We ask her for a "blue ball" or a "green duck" and she will find the appropriate one. She even said "blue" when handing us the blue ball! Too cool!
6. Miss C continues her love of song and dance. She finds music wherever she is, even on her little riding toys, and stands up and says "dance, dance, dance" (she signs it with her index finger and her thumb instead of her index finger and her middle finger but, eh, close enough for now, right?) and "dance" kind of sounds like "that" but you definitely know what she is saying (especially when she sways from side to side and cocks her head!).
7. Miss C has developed an interesting sense of humor. She likes to act like she is going to walk to me or kiss me then go to DH or kiss him instead! It cracks her up every time!

Well, that's about it for this update. I am trying to get this posted before Miss C awakens from her afternoon nap. Hope you all are doing well. If you have any insight into what to expect next, let us know! :)

Family visit

2008-08-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Well, we had quite an eventful time since I last posted. I warned ya'll it would be a little while so.. Anyway, DH's folks and his sister, Auntie J, came to town for a short visit. Miss C had such a great time! She adores both her Grannie and Auntie J and warmed up enough to her Grandpa that she gave him hugs goodnight the last night they were here. This was a huge shift from our Christmas visit. I am sure the length of the visit helped as did being in her house with her stuff.

It was a terrific little visit and we can't wait to see them again. We're already trying to figure out our holiday schedule. We went after the holidays last year and it was actually quite a bit easier on everyone. Heck, we even got the good karma for working around the holidays!

Miss C is getting so big! She is transitioning to her big girl class this week. The first day was a quiet one. She was very introspective and basically watched everyone to figure out what to do. Today she was more involved, a little more talkative (signing and talking but not as much as normal) but she didn't nap as long as she probably could have. We have noticed that when she gets home she is hungry and tired. I think this is becasue of the increased stress in the classroom. I think that another factor is the slight change in meal times. She eats half an hours later for each meal in her new class so I am sure that is an issue for her since Miss C isn't shy around food. I have noticed that she is a little clingy this week so far but I think that might have a but to do with the transition, being away from the teachers she has grown accustomed to. I just know that we are consistent so that makes all of this easier to handle.

Well, hope you get a change to check out the newer pictures. I tried to take a few with Miss C and her grandparents but you know how it gets! Here are a couple of the ones I thought were pretty cute!

So, how is your week going?

Work, work, work

2008-07-22T21:35:00.000-07:00

Seems like my days lately have been filled with more work than anything else. I had to work this weekend and missed tons of fun with DH and Miss C. She has defnintely gotten her land legs! Here's a super cute video taken the week before. Just keep in mind, she gets better by the day!

When i got her from school today, the teacher mentioned a seat in the bigger kid class should be opening in August so we are preparing for Miss C's transition to the new class. I am sure she will have a blast!

Before I forget, Miss C seems to have settled back into her regular sleep routine. No more crying when we lay her down, thank goodness! And, thanks for all the words of wisdom!

Other than that, not a whole lot going on just yet. DH's folks and sister are coming in town later this week so hopefully my subtle hints of leaving the camera out will help remind us to take loads of pictures. I will do my best at least! During that delay, I have uploaded some newer photos (read: from the past couple of weeks). Hasn't she gotten big? :)

Well, have to get back to, yep, work. I have 2 more weeks in my class then I am done with my Masters, yea! Its just been a very long summer session and these last couple of weeks aren't going to be easy. I wish Poobou good luck in her upcoming move and Alphagal a safe and smooth journey with her newest news!

Sleep issues

2008-07-16T15:30:00.000-07:00

Ok, all of you out there with toddlers, help me out here, please. Since my last string of eve watches (those are when I get Miss C until the afternoon then work until midnight so DH has to get her dinner, bath and bed), Miss C has been having some sleep issues. Specifically, she will fall asleep in your arms but when you move at all or go to lay her in her bed, she opens her eyes and starts to cry. Its heartbreaking.
She is also a little clingy right now. She is my very independent little girl but when she gets tired, she is on me like glue. Our only recourse right now is to lay her down when we know she is tired and let her cry a little. It usually only lasts a couple of minutes if that, but what i was wondering is if this is a phase they all go through and if you have any other recommendations. Please help!

Parent-Teacher Conference Recap

2008-07-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

Who would have thought I would be going to a parent-teacher conference when Miss C was a mere 13 months old? Not me. We did have our first one today though.

It was interesting to get the teacher's perspective on how Miss C is doing. I have pretty much kept ya'll up to date on her activities. Recently she has taken a greater interest in building stuff and putting those little rings on the ring sorter (you know which ones I am talking about). She also plays with "Dolly" all the time. Miss C is also quite adept at following directions, to the point that the teachers are recommending we move on to more complex directions already.

It seems that Miss C is kind of shy around other grownups (other than Mama and Daddy and a few select relatives, that is). When she first started this school, though she signed quite a bit at home, she really didn't start signing for a couple of weeks. Getting her bearings and all that. Once she started to sign and realized they understood and would sign back, whoa nelly! You can't stop her. She also figured out the "head, shoulders, knees and toes" stuff from the song. She can find any part of the song on herself, you or even her stuffed animals.

Speaking of animals, she is getting even better at telling us "what they say." During our conference she was showing off to the teacher that she knew elephant and monkey and a few others they hadn't seen. She also tends to practice a lot at home before trying stuff out at school. Walking is a prime example of this. This weekend Miss C decided it was time to let go and just walk all over the place. I mentioned this at school since they were telling me they got asked if Miss C was ready to move up to the next class. Among other requirements such as sitting in a
chair and sleeping on a cot (things Miss C got used to upon arrival as she was deemed too tall to use the high chair or a crib), Miss C must demonstrate a mastery of walking.

Well, today she gave the teachers a taste of our weekend. They even got to see her walking backwards (on purpose, apparently you generally don't do this until around 2) and even make a 90 degree turn (she was walking to DH and decided to go to me instead).

In all, the teachers are thrilled with her progress, going so far as to state that she is developmentally at 18 or so months! Wow! We are going to give her a couple more weeks before we revisit the changing classrooms discussion.

I asked about a transition period and was assured that there is a week long transition period so Miss C isn't just thrown into a foreign environment. Needless to say, I hope all of our future parent-teacher conference go so well!

Oh, about the #2 issue we discussed last time. DH and I decided to cut her off from blueberries to see if that was the issue and wow, she is definitely doing better on that front. Apparently her body has a tough time processing blueberries. she isn't quite back to normal (we still have a Dr's appointment tomorrow anyway) but she is well on her way there. Bummer though, she really seems to like blueberries. Oh the plus side, she adores watermelon and doesn't seem to have any gastro issues with that so that's nice.

Miss C is 13 months old today!

2008-07-09T07:58:00.000-07:00

For her 13 month day, Miss C gave herself a neat gift, extra sleep. As I type this, at nearly 8am, she is still asleep. Hard to believe since we usually get her up at 630am for school. I have eves today so i am letting her sleep in. Little angel.

Ok, quick updates on her stats: (read: Proud mama talking):

1. Walking! Miss C has decided its time to really walk. She started taking more than 2 steps at a time around Father's Day (a gift for DH?) and hasn't slowed down since. She walks to everything now. She even likes to climb the stairs, now that we let her when we are going upstairs for any reason. Don't worry, we still have the gates in place for all of our safety. She hasn't taken too many headers while walking and is getting more confident every day. In addition to walking forwards, Miss C is already walking backwards (on purpose!) and turning.

We have a parent/Teacher conference on Monday to discuss her moving up a class. Wow!

2. Talking! Miss C's vocabulary has grown by leaps and bounds. Most of her oral words are words she has been signing for a while like fan, fish, Mama, daddy (yep, Daddy not Dada), kitty, etc. Her signing has grown exponentially as well. We were teaching her "light" to explain the difference between the light over the dining room table and the fan (they both hang from the ceiling so it can be tricky) but yesterday she totally got it. She even got it to the point that when we turned on a table lamp she said and signed light! She also loves the word "car". She says "car", signs "car" with both hands moving up and down (that circular motion is tricky) and adds a "vroom, vroom" because that's how Daddy does it (look, [Miss C}, car, vroom, vroom)! She also has a couple of made up signs that I mentioned in the last post (patting her chest to mean come here and putting her index finger in the palm of her hand to mean (?) put it here).

3. Blowing her own nose! i know i mentioned this before but holy moly! She loves to blow her nose now. Unfortunately, she will do it with or without a tissue so Mama has tissue patrol now!

4. Imaginative play. I know i mentioned Miss C has a dolly but she is so cute with her! She feeds her (she comes with a bottle) and even puts her down for naps. At school, she took a rolling pin and tried to feed one of the babies! She also rocks Dolly and her bears in her pooh rocking car. so cute! She has also started building stuff with her blocks instead of just destroying stuff. Lots of fun to be able to do both.

5. Teeth. Apparently a year was the point where Miss C was going to get more teeth. At 12 months she had 3 teeth with a couple more coming in. She now has 8 teeth in and is getting in her bottom eye (?) teeth. She is taking it like a champ though and chews the heck out of her teething toys and a couple of frozen wash cloths.

6. Eating with a spoon or fork. We've been working on this for ages. It wasn't until she realized how much more food she could get in her mouth at a time did Miss C really go for the spoon. She eats her cheerios with milk using a spoon and loves to use her spoon and fork when she has rice. Yummy!

I guess that's about it. Plenty for 13 months though!

Oh, before I go, Miss C has been having a tough time with her #2s. We would give her prunes, but she refuses to touch anything remotely resembling baby food. I can get her to drink some juice but do you think that will be enough? I am worried that she is having trouble due to the fact that she is drinking milk.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

Happy Anniversary DH!

2008-07-08T22:22:00.000-07:00

Well, today is 11 years since DH and I took our vows. talk about a change.

In the past 11 years we have done at least 8 deployments, lived in no fewer than 6 states, visited no fewer than 8 counties both for work and pleasure, got a cat and had a baby. Whoa.

As a gift to ourselves we went to dinner, alone. Yes, you heard me correctly, alone.

This is the first time that we went to dinner alone. This is the first time we had a babysitter over at the house. Wow.

I found our sitter from a flyer at work, of all things. She is the daughter of one of the guys I work with, a recent college graduate who is going to teach English in Korea at the end of the summer.

I was worried. Boy, was I worried. I mean, aside from the time she spent with Mrs J and a few visits with the grandparents, Miss C has never had a sitter at night.

When our sitter got here, a half hour before I planned to leave in order to give them time to acclimate, Sammy (our cat, remember) ran over to her like she knew her. She mewed and purred and loved all over her. Once the cat was in awe of her, Miss C decided, heck, she must be alright and walked over to her.

In less than 15 minutes, Miss C got comfortable enough with the sitter, a girl, young lady, whatever, she just met, to let her carry her up and down the stairs during the quick house tour.

I was flabbergasted. It made me think about what it was like when I was baby sitting and how I could get the kids to just glom on me. It made it easier to enjoy our anniversary dinner.

We only spent a couple of hours out but by the time we got home, Miss C had already been in bed an hour (long days walking and all that!). The sitter told us she was incredibly easy and asked us to explain a couple of the signs Miss C uses that aren't on the chart (example, Miss C pats her chest when she wants someone/something to come to her. She also points to her palm when she wants you to give her something. Neither sign is on the chart so we guess she made them up).

What a relief.

Oh, and, we really did enjoy our dinner.

I love you, DH!

A Miss C tale

2008-07-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

So life gets more interesting when you have kids, right?

That's what I was told and yea, I agree. I thought that Miss C wouldn't be able to blow my expectations away as quickly or consistently as she has and continues to do. Today is a prime example and the aforementioned tale in the title.

After a busy day at school of walking, signing, and talking at school with her teachers and little friends, Miss C came home to let her Mama and Daddy get some time with her. While waiting on milk to warm up in the kitchen, Mama gave Miss C a piece of paper towel to keep her busy because Miss C really enjoys the sound it makes when you rip it and that gives Mama a little time to put stuff away. While ripping the paper towel, Miss C realized she had to blow her nose. Rather than let her nose run or simply wipe it on Mama or Daddy like normal, she chose to put her little paper towel to her nose and (I kid you not!) blow her own nose! Sounds and all!

This should serve as a lesson to never lower your expectations of what someone can do regardless of age. I don't know when I thought Miss C would do this but it sure wasn't at 12 months!

Oh, I chose this picture because it just makes me smile. Imagine that, our little girl reading a book at snack time! (And, yes, she does say "snack", more like "nack") :)

Quick, I mean really quick, update

2008-06-28T18:48:00.001-07:00

Hey all,

Sorry I have been so bad about updating lately. Something about Miss C becoming 1 year old caused a significant shift in what she does and what she thinks she should do so we have been busy! So busy, in fact, that someone (no, not me, sadly) took 3 1/2 hours worth of naps today (am was 2 hours!). I swear, I don't know how she does it. She is on full speed whenever she is awake. Miss C has been taking steps for over a month and is gaining confidence with each step. Before bed tonight, she played pong between DH and myself for a good 15 minutes in between building stuff with her big legos. She is an amazing little person. I have been looking over the photos and I think I am in toddlerhood.

What do you think?

Family addition update

2008-06-25T21:18:00.000-07:00

All,

Wanted to post some photos of our little niece. She is just adorable! Miss C can't wait to meet the newest addition, Miss A!

I will be back later this week when life gets a little less hectic on our end to update ya'll on Miss C. Until then, have a great day!

Quick family update

2008-06-18T12:03:00.000-07:00

Miss C is now officially not the youngest member of our family.
My brother, W, and his wife, L, welcomed their little girl into the world last night. She was a couple of weeks early but weighed in at a solid 9 pounds. Congrats you guys! Call if you need anything!

Happy father's day!

2008-06-15T13:13:00.001-07:00

A quick Happy Father's Day to DH, SNG, LeBon, DH's DOD, Alphagal's DOD, my little brother W (a Dad to be) and all the other fathers and fatherly types out there.

Our weekend consists of DH coming home from another trip and me on eve watches. I get to spend half the day with DH and Miss C then I go off to work and DH gets the rest of the afternoon, dinner, bath and bedtime. It is an interesting time but we all deal with it.

Well, that's about it. Check out the video in the last post, if you haven't already. It was my father's day gift to DH while he was gone!

A NEW VIDEO POST!

2008-06-12T19:47:00.000-07:00

I know its been a while since i posted a video and I hope this one was worth the wait. After watching Miss C color on construction paper for a while, I realized she needed a coloring book. Little did I know how much the coloring would open her up!

The video is a couple of minutes long, but please be patient and wait because there is a super cute part towards the end.

So, what did you think?

Miss C is 1 year old!

2008-06-09T09:18:00.000-07:00

Wow. Has it been a year already? Has my little one gone from such a tiny thing to such a big girl? ***Edited to add stats: Miss C is now 23 lbs 10 oz (75-90%) and 32" (yes, really!) (>97%)! ***

I can't beleive the changes we have witnessed over the course of the last month much less the last year. Its amazing that this little girl is already talking, trying to walk, trying to read, teaching us so many things. I knew it would be a mindblowing change but this is remarkable. What kicks my butt is that this is only the beginning. I mean, there is so much more to come.

Ok, so we have our check up scheduled for the 10th so I will edit this entry afterwards to give everyone her "stats" but until then, the proud mama must start filling you in:

1. Miss C's vocabulary is growing exponentially. She recently started saying and signing "down" when she wants to get down from your lap, her chair etc. She also says "done" when she is done, even in the bath. We have a rule "bum in tub" so she knows she only gets two chances if she stands up. When she is ready to get out of the bath, usually because she is tired and ready for bed, she stands up and says "done." She has also recently added "Thank you" (it sounds like "tan koo" but you know what it means) and uses it appropriately. DH gave her something she asked for and she looked him square in the eye and said "thank you." Its like every time we think we have a handle on what she says or signs, she shows us something different. She said "bottle", "fishey" and "good" just yesterday, all in very valid situations. Mind blowing!

2. Miss C is getting 3 new teeth in at once! Yep, its an OMG situation. She is handling it quite well though. We took some advice (thank you to the Dr and to both Alphagal and Poobou) and are giving Miss C some Tylenol before bed to help her sleep. She is chewing on everything within her reach but whatever it takes to get her through this. Its also possible she has another tooth coming in on the top but since she has been going through so much pain recently, she is hesitant to open her mouth for us to check, poor baby!

3. Miss C is showing a keen interest in walking. When she started this a month or so ago and took a solo step on Mother's Day I thought that we were there but Miss C is taking her time. She does demand to walk everywhere now though. she will reach for your hands like she used to reach for you to pick her up. Now, instead of wanting to be picked up, she wants to hold your hands and walk. If she wants you to pick her up, she will let you pull her into a standing position and grab onto your legs. She lets go on occasion and just stands there but I think the recent ear infection took away some of her confidence about her balance. She did take two steps towards me yesterday while trying to take my glasses and that is one more than she took on her own before. Its only a matter of time before she decides to let go of the couches and our hands and is off and running.

4. Miss C loves the slide! We discovered this at a little park on our way to the grocery store one day. I decided we needed a little park time and put Miss C on the slide. I thought, heck, cool view. Well, she let go of my hand and pulled. It was a fast slide too! I ran to the bottom just as she started to launch off it! She now kind of grabs your hand to have you go down the big slide with her but she still has a great time!

5. Miss C got a new chair and has figured out how to climb into it! I was sitting on the floor playing with her and she decided to climb up into the chair. Its so cute! Now I just have to worry about her falling out of it or climbing further up!

Well, that's about it for today. Miss C is just growing up so fast, its not funny! I hope you all get a chance to check out the photos on our flickr page, I added some to the twelfth month from her party. It was a blast!

Someone is getting to be a big girl

2008-06-02T12:34:00.000-07:00

Ok. So you all have followed the recent events with the ear infection so let me give you a quick update. Last night Miss C slept very poorly. Just like when we figured out she had an ear infections so of course I am stressed out. Aside from getting even less sleep than she, I am worrying that Miss C has another ear infection or her antibiotics didn't quite work as advertised. She also has a bit of a diaper rash (Alphagal warned this might happen after the antibiotics) so we decided to see the doctor regardless. We got an appointment for this morning and headed off to learn our fate.

Well, after a little umm and ahh talk while looking in her ears, the doctor announced that they look beautiful. So, huh, what is the problem? I reminded him that she had been running a low grade fever and got kind of snotty starting yesterday. We managed to get her mouth open and would you believe it?! She has not 1 but 3 new teeth coming in! Yep, the other front tooth and the two on either side of the two top front teeth. Oh boy! That surely explains her inability to sleep soundly. I got the go ahead for Tylenol (the doc actually thinks orajel is pretty bunk and recommends Tylenol and some cold stuff to chew on). We also got some more Nystasin (it is in her happy hiney cream but they don't carry the ready made stuff here so I get the ingredients separately and mix them myself. Yea.) for her bum. Thank goodness it wasn't worse.

Miss C fell asleep in the car on the way home. Poor, tuckered out little one. Hopefully I will be able to help her through this stage. I totally feel for Alphagal and SNG's pain with the molars. I can only hope that next time Miss C only gets one new tooth at a time but who knows, eh?

So, anyone have any sure fire advice on how else to help Miss C?