Happy New Year

Wow, when I went to write that title it already knew what I was going to write (guess I haven't gotten any more original since last year).

Well, Happy New Year to everyone, may you keep some of your resolutions (maybe not all, but hey, put some easy ones on the list too).

My resolutions:

* Enjoy my daughter every day
* Remember to tell my husband how much I love him constantly
* Spend more time with my dad before we lose him
* Start our plans for remodeling of our new house (get at least one room done)
* Go out to more parties with friends

and the ever famous theme:
* Lose all the weight I gained while pregnant

Still kickin'

Left for San Francisco on the 20th and just made it through the Christmas festivities in one piece.

Got to catch up on some work and will be back to record all the fun stuff for posterity. Our horse and carriage ride, my daughter's amazing haul of goodies (glad I cleaned up just before), the insane amount of food I ate (how I blew my diet by gaining back 5 pounds of the 25 I lost), our family party, our separate friends party and why though I haven't gone grocery shopping for two weeks I have enough food to feed us for the week.

Some great talent

We successfully donated toys

My car was packed full of bags and boxes of toys and clothes (some of my clothes too). Some items I saw in the garage and knew I would never need. A few things that I passed in the house and realized I didn't have any good reason to keep and so on.

We then drove to goodwill and gave it all to them. They were very happy and graciously took everything (though I don't know if they will actually want all of it).

I feel a little proud in that this is the first time I have dropped off an entire car load (and this is an SUV we are talking about - something else I have considered changing for environmental reason, though I love the car) to charity.

MLO hasn't missed anything as she still has more toys around than she could possibly play with. I did hide a few more toys thinking that we can either "discover" them later or maybe they will end up in the next car load.

Another good indicator, I haven't missed anything I sent away yet either.

Presents under the tree

Last year every single present under the tree was pulled out by MLO and she stood on them (as soon as I figured this out, had to pull out some that this wouldn't work with).

So I was a little worried what she was going to do this year with them.

We wrapped a bunch of presents (none for MLO, those are still hiding) and put them under the tree while she wasn't home.

She came home and saw them and yelled, "presents!" Grabbed the closest one, took it to our coffee table and tried to open it. I had to take it away and explain that the present wasn't for her, she would get hers later.

The next day she saw the presents, went running over and I was prepared to wrestle them away. She stopped, touched one of the presents, looked at me and said:

"Present?"

I nodded.

"Not for me?"

I nodded. She nodded back, smiled and walked around the tree looking at all of them.

Though the same drill is repeated occasionally, all presents are now safely sitting under the tree.

I don't need to cry

So we are going through the phase of MLO pushing the envelope to see what she can get away with and what method makes it so she can get away with more.

I have been just trying to talk her out of it (though she did get a time-out once) and have told more than once that she doesn't need to cry when she wants something, just needs to ask.

Well guess what her new favorite phrase is (title of the post might have given it away): "Mommy, I don't need to cry, can I have..." fill in the end with all sort of things.

Funny thing is we haven't had any sign of tantrums in awhile. She cries when something happens and she is tired or hungry, but otherwise she is back to being an angel.

And I always tell her she is absolutely right, she doesn't need to cry.

Cleaning out the toys

In preparation for the Xmas haul I have decided to handle old toys and clothes.

This means confronting those bags of clothes I have been storing. There are some items I will want to keep for future babies or because of sentimental reasons, but now would be a good time to turn them into a charity as well.

This also means deciding which toys she won't really miss (or the ones that drive me the most crazy) and donate those as well. MLO isn't rough on her toys so they are all in good condition to donate.

Because come Christmas, her room will get all filled up again.

MLO did something really cute

She did, just the other day, we were all in the car and it made us all laugh.

Problem is, I didn't take a note or anything and I can't remember what it was.

What is worse, hubby said we needed to write these things down and I reminded him of my blog and said I would put it in here.

I am thinking and thinking and my eyes are crossed and my nose is all wrinkled up and I can't remember.

So sorry :(

Happy Hanukkah

Christmas lights

MLO loves the Christmas lights, she wants to go out walking every night to see them.

A neighbor of grandma's has a HUGE display with airplanes, trains, Santa sleigh, deer, and so much more. MLO loves going out and seeing that one whenever we are at her house. She is very respectful of other people's lawns though and we just had to tell her once that we couldn't go touch them she was fine with pointing them out over and over again.

I put up my decorations last weekend and she has to go touch all of them when we come home. I have two light up Christmas trees and about ten red candy canes along our walk way that she love to run up and down hitting each one.

Her favorite is the snowman who she says has stars in his belly (the way the lights shine through the plastic when you are close to it looks like stars). It is the last one she visits and she can sit by the snowman forever. I eventually have to trick her into coming into the house.

My husbands family is Jewish so we are also doing Hanukkah stuff, my family does Christmas, so our house is an interesting mixture of both traditions.

I love Christmas, mostly because of how it changes so many people into much more kind and loving beings. I love the smiles and the warmth the season brings and how much people give and treat each other with respect.

You are so cute

I have said this to MLO a few times, but she is now saying it to me.

Last night she came running over to me and gave me a big hug and said, "You are so cute."

I laughed and said "I love you", she let go smiled at me and said, "you love me".

I am loving this age and how she keeps learning so many things, especially the cute things!

Favorite bed-time book

MLO has acquired a favorite bed-time book, it is One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish.

This means I have read it to her every night over the last month. I tried hiding it but she would just reject every book I offered and state "fish book". So I would finally pull it out and read it again so that she would go to sleep.

I am really starting to hate fish.

Videos

A funny video on what would happen with no writers due to the writer's strike:



In the Xmas spirit:



I stole this one from Be a Good Dad:

"During Disability Awareness day this summer they had a man with special needs sing the National Anthem at Fenway Park. While singing, the man developed a case of the giggles. Then, the crowd gets involved. Don’t worry, this is a happy video but you might want to grab a kleenex first."

A quiet day

Well I thought it would be. MLO would go to daycare, grandma would pick her up and take her to grandma's house for a bit.

I would get to finish off work leisurely and eat some dinner without trying to constantly stop MLO from wiping her hands on her shirt and so on.

Well, work was crazy with papers flying and folders being scattered. I had so many reports to suddenly get done that I couldn't remember my name.

Then hubby had a consulting job he had to go to around 3pm and wouldn't be back until after I was asleep. I think to myself, well I get more quiet time.

Instead he reminds me that he is almost out of clean underwear and the dishes (which did get done yesterday finally) are already starting to pile up again. Plus we have no food and so on.

I think I am going to rebel anyway and watch some of my DVRed shows.

Dishes

So after Thanksgiving several rounds of dishes had to be done. As my mother put it "Thanksgiving is the time you use every piece of cooking and serving ware you own".

Plus you get to clean up afterwards.

Since I already hate doing dishes, you can imagine how overjoyed I was.

This has resulted in no dishes being done since then, my sink is totally full.

This morning to eat my cereal (which I like in a particular type of bowl of which we only have four and they were all in the sink) I cleaned the bowl and spoon I needed and left everything else.

I am a horrible wife and mother.

Thanksgiving at my house

This year (since we just bought our house and it is big and beautiful) my family decided Thanksgiving was going to be at my house.

This is the first year I have hosted it and was a little worried.

I can say I managed to only ruin the gravy - everything else went well. Luckily my mom came and bailed me out on the gravy and the meal itself went pretty good (with plenty of compliments which are always given).

MLO was in heaven because she had a house full of her family (favorite people) and got to sit on everyone's lap and give and receive hugs.

Today is time to clean the house (though I just cleaned it right before too, ugh) and start seriously thinking about Christmas. I have some presents, but now is the time to make the list and check it twice.

Plus we got to find all the Christmas decorations which are probably scattered to the four winds since we moved and I wasn't in charge of the unloading of that part :)

Spelling words

We have just recently started spelling words around MLO.

Last night I asked hubby to give MLO a "B-A-T-H" and MLO yells, "I want a bath".

I have only spelled this word a few times, but MLO has already figured it out (she is 2 years and almost two months old).

I think we are going to have to be very careful around this one :)

Birthday Party

We went to a birthday party over the weekend at Kids Funtown for a three year old friend from daycare.

Kids Funtown was really great indoor play ground that was very clean and everything was in great condition (something I have worried about before at other indoor playgrounds). MLO had so much fun she skipped birthday cake so she could go play on the slide some more.

She did know it was a birthday party though and sang the birthday song (with the appropriate name in it) over and over again that day as well as the rest of the weekend and even this morning on the way to the daycare.

Off and On

MLO is working on the difference between off and on.

She walked into the dinning room last night and yelled across the house "mommy, turn lights off."

I looked and the lights were already off.

"You mean turn them on, right?"

She looks at me for a second, "yes". Which also, unfortunately, means I didn't understand the question so I just answer yes.

I walk into the dinning room, "the light is off now." She smiles and nods, "and you want mommy to turn it on?" another nod.

"Okay, mommy is turning it on," and I flip the switch with the immediate result of her running out of the room.

Shortly after, "take socks on," my socks are on.

"You mean off?"

"Yes"

We will get there...

Writer's Strike

Living in Los Angeles there is a lot happening in regard to the writer's strike.


In case you haven't heard, it is basically over the fact that the writer's feel (and I agree) they should get something from electronic sales of their work. When the shows go to DVD and people buy them, the writer's don't get anything. This includes Internet use and the like.

So I just wanted to post my little note to say I am with the writers

Getting dressed

This morning MLO didn't want to get dressed.

After finally convincing her to look at her shirt drawer she was willing to put her Tinker Bell shirt on, but that was it.

As time ticked away I couldn't convince her to put on a pair of pants, skirt or a dress.

She did however want to put socks and shoes on.

So we got into the car with a t-shirt, socks and shoes on (and the diaper).

When we got to daycare she wanted to walk and I simply told her, no walking without pants on. Then the pants finally went on.

Lions for Lambs Review

Hubby and I went and saw a movie over the weekend, first time we went to the movies in a long time. Have to say, hard to pick a movie when you are in a funky mood, but we picked Lions for Lambs.

I have seen some reviews for it that said it wasn't an action movie and this was bad.

Just wanted to add my two cents on this. They are right, not an action movie - don't pick it if you want to see an action movie. It is a make you think movie. While many of the items they bring up, have been brought up before there were a few things that I really liked.

In the Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep discussions, one thing that really rang true for me was how the press really helped sell the war. They have some fault in this bad choice, just like all the politicians. We trust the press to dig for truths and find out what is really going on, not speak as they are told to speak.

Another good point brought up with Robert Redford and the unknown actor (had to look up his name, it is Andrew Garfield) was that you can't just talk the talk of how politicians are all bad and lie and cheat, someone needs to actually go replace them. All our talk doesn't really do it, we need action and we need to support that action.

There was some "action" with a few soldiers fighting our infamous war, but was mostly about their decisions, not their actions.

Well acted movie, technically very well made, so the point that this isn't an action movie is true, but not something that makes it bad, I really liked it.

Feeling strange (gags on husbands)

This last weekend was a quiet one, just at home with family which was nice.

On Sunday I started feeling strange - had a headache (that went away) was tired, muscles achy as if I had been exercise heavily (but hadn't been) and very, very cold.

This morning I still didn't feel great, very achy. I was telling a friend about it and she said "maybe your pregnant". While this is not impossible, it is very unlikely.

The funny part was my hubby and I were talking, he was trying to call someone and I mentioned what my friend said. Just then the voicemail came on for his call and he left a very unconventional message.

I told him we were joking and I am not, luckily he thought it was funny too.

I love the fact...

I actually wrote this post first, but decided I should change the sequence so that I left everyone on a happy note.

I love the fact that when I go to pick MLO up at daycare, when she sees me she screams out "mommy" and stops whatever she was doing and comes running into my arms.

I love the fact that when she gets hurt the thing she wants for it all to be better is a hug and/or kiss from mommy (daddy works too sometimes).

I love the fact that she will go grab a pile of toys and bring it out to me and say "lets play mommy".

I love the fact that when she is drawing she wants me to draw too so she can mimic me.

I love the fact that she came into my life and made me whole.

Sad News

Daddy's daddy died yesterday.

We were expecting it, but still leaves a missing spot in one's life. I wrote the below poem for him (for his memorial book) and thought I would share it here too:

A whisper you may hear
late into the night.
That sound could be me
telling you sleep tight.

Across your sleeping face
a soft sigh may do.
Telling you once again
I'm thinking of you.

We all change directions
sometimes even roads.
But forever friends
is how it always goes.

To you my friend
always in my heart.
Forever together
and never apart.

I wish you peace and joy
and remembrance for years.
When we meet again
we need shed no tears.

"I do it"

MLO's favorite phrase.

Getting into the car seat before we go anywhere. I can't pick her up and do it, she must climb up herself and sit down. Of course, there are the times when mommy is in a hurry and MLO gets picked up when she is going too slow. Doesn't like that.

Getting out of the car seat once we have arrived. Run into the same problem as the previous one.

Getting food out of the fridge. There is the problem that she isn't quite strong enough to open the door so she always needs a little help.

Washing her hands/feet/face. Must climb up to the sink herself, turn on the water and get the soap. Mommy shows up with a wet rag every now and then which isn't always appreciated.

Eat her food. Nice one, except when said food ends up everywhere except her mouth.

Clean up her mess (bonus!). Like this one when it appears, though mommy has to come back after and actually clean it, but the thought is nice.

There are more, but my brain decided to stop here :)

Another moment to remember

Hubby has been home in the evening much more than previously. Which means, we all get to play together.

MLO's favorite game is to have me sit at one end of the couch and hubby at the other, then she runs/falls/jumps between us. Both hubby and I keep legs and arms ready to catch her if she gets too close to the edge.

We were playing this game last night and the house was filled with laughter.

MLO was having so much fun, even when taking a break (just standing in the middle of the couch) she would just look at one of us and we would all start laughing. This became a game in of itself, with us just glancing at the other and laughter would start.

My tommy hasn't hurt this much from laughter in a long time.

BTW: no sign of any stomach upset or anything, she is totally fine

What happens when your daughter's stomach doesn't like something

Yes you guessed it, I had an adventure recently with the V word (vomit). Skip this if you have a weak stomach :)

MLO seemed totally fine, we went to a friend's birthday party. MLO ate the hot dogs they cooked for dinner, she played with other kids and got to meet a 5 week old baby.

We get home, she gets a bath, PJs are put on and we crawl into bed.

I read her our designated one book and then we cuddle up to fall asleep.

Suddenly MLO starts coughing, really hard. She just keeps coughing and I hear a sound like vomitting but when I look at MLO she seems to have swallowed it back up (first mommy gag of the night).

More coughing and she sits up crying. I scoop her into my arms and lounge for the bathroom, just in time to keep her room and sheets relatively clean, but guess were it all landed.

ALL OVER ME (more gagging).

Hubby got called and he got to clean up the floor and handle the clothes while MLO and I jumped into the bathtub.

We got all cleaned up (and MLO loves the bath so had a hard time getting her back out). Went into her room and there were a few drops on the sheets, so they got cleaned up (even the idea of sleeping on them causing more gags).

New PJs get put on. I was a little worried that with all the excitement MLO would be impossible to get back to sleep, but she was out like a light in record time.

When I got back to the bathroom, more gagging as I cleaned up the spots hubby missed.

More joys of motherhood!

Finding Dory

My daughter's favorite movie is Finding Nemo (with Cars a close second).

However her focus has changed from the general story to watching Dory.

She actually makes me skip the scenes with just Nemo (by himself in the fish tank) and go back to Dory.

It cuts the movie time in half, but I think it is funny that we watch a movie where she specifically has me skip the scenes with the namesake of the movie in it.

How it went (tricker/treating)

Well I didn't have anything to worry about, MLO was too shy and scared to actually go up to any of the people who answered the doors.

So she got to walk around outside in her Ariel dress and get compliments, but didn't get one piece of candy.

Of course, only two kids showed up at my door, so I have a lot of left over candy at home that I have to figure out what to do with.

Just can't win :)

Tonight we go tricker treating

Tonight will by MLO's first time really tricker/treating. She went last year when she was just over one year old, but we only hit like four houses and it was easy to take the candy away and replace it with something else.

That hits my exact dilemma.

Up until now hubby and I have been very careful not to give MLO much sugar. Her birthday cake was sweetened with honey, we do healthy deserts and so on.

Tonight she will have a bag full of sugar and I am not sure what to do with it. I thought about buying some toys and trading her the candy for the toys or something similar.

Guess I will report in tomorrow and let you know what I do and how it goes (suggestions welcome)...

My one year anni

Today is my blog's one year anniversary, strange that I started it on Halloween - don't even now how that happened.

I thought I would share the reason I blog (since I have seen that on other people's anniversary posts).

The main reason is to have a running record of my child(ren)'s life. I want to remember the important and fun things and then someday give it to them to read if they want. I tried hard copy traditional journals and it just wouldn't stay in. I would forget, or not be able to find it. For some reason a blog on the Internet has been much easier to keep.

Plus, I have got to make some new friends and join a community on-line that is fun and supportive when needed.

While I don't particularly write this blog to get readers, this is always a nice benefit and it is fun to have people read what you wrote and contribute.

Vocabulary

MLO's vocabulary seems to grow daily. She comes home from daycare with new words and phrases all the time.

Something her grandma pointed out to me is she has figured out the difference between "mine" and "yours". She will point to something that belongs to me and say, "that is yours" and I will acknowledge her and tell her, "that is right, it is mine." She nods her head as if she just taught me something.

So this rapid increase in vocabulary also means watching the words we use around the house. I would not call myself a huge swearer, but it does come out every now and then. For the most part I have applied the philosophy of trying not to use them, but if it does happen, don't make a big deal.

I was cooking dinner last night, with MLO perched on my hip (having a child definitely increases your multi-tasking abilities). I spilled something and mumbled "s**t".

MLO still happily watching what I am doing.

Hubby says, "be careful what you say."

I ask him what he is talking about, you see I mumbled it and hadn't even realized I used a bad word.

MLO "might pick up on your words."

I realize what he is talking about and tell him I don't think she even noticed.

At that exact moment MLO goes "oh s**t" and I get a raised eyebrow from hubby.

Addiction to YouTube

I think I am forming an addiction to YouTube. Keep finding stuff that fits me perfectly at that exact moment. Then I want to share.

Here is another one:

Precious Moment

A previous moment I wanted to go on forever, so I will just go for remembering it forever.

MLO woke up at 7am and called out for me. I came in the room and she told me to lay down in her bed with her. I obliged.

We laid side-by-side and she smiled and said "hi". I returned the "hi".

She started sucking her thumb and played with my hair for a few minutes. Then she started brushing hair off my face with her little hand. When it was all clear I said "thank you". She smile and said "you welcome".

We laid in bed for a few more minutes and just smiled at each other.

Heaven on earth...

Halloween Costume Picking Time

So, it is time to decide for sure what MLO is going to be for Halloween (we have had rumblings up until now).

I have been collecting those costume catalogs and figured we could go through them and I would see what got the biggest reaction.

We did and I started tearing out the ones she liked, Nemo (of course), One of the Teletubbies, a butterfly, Arial, Tinker Bell, and about a half a dozen more.

Then I put them all out in front of MLO and the hands down winner (in that she picked up the paper and walked around with it the rest of the night, not even looking at the other ones) was: Arial.

So, now to find an Arial costume that will fit and not break the bank :)

Video will make you laugh

Chasing the kibby

I just found an old notebook I tried to turn into a journal of things MLO did. It never really worked and then I lost the journal (this blog works so much better).

One note says in August of 06 we were at Gramma's house and MLO wanted to play with the cat.

The cat, Minerva, was sitting on an upside-down plastic bin, MLO waddled over to the bin and tried to pet Minerva. She promptly jumped down and started to walk away, so MLO started pushing the bin after her and followed her around the room.

Poor Minerva was very confused, but MLO had the silliest grin on her face as she followed the cat with the bin.

Zoo and Great Grandma (Nana)

This weekend MLO's Great Grandma (Nana) was in town (Nana is 80 years old and in the best shape of anyone I have ever seen at that age - good genes). Being that MLO is her only great grandchild as of yet, I am the oldest grandchild and the only one married, she tries to come see her every three months or so.

We decided we were going to go to the Zoo and look at the animals, when MLO found out she was very excited.

It had rained the previous night, so some of the exhibits were closed or not really very fun to be around (the petting zoo was closed because of the mud). But MLO insisted on running around on her own and exclaimed over the animals she saw.

When we try to ask her what her favorite was it goes something like this: "...Zebra.... Elephant.... no Giraffe... more Monkeys!" Lets just say she loved them all.

The best part was that she kept running for Nana (who up until now, she had always been shy around). We would be walking along, holding my hand and then she would suddenly let go and yell, "Get Nana!!" and go running towards her.

Nana was very happy with the day.

Cuteness

This morning MLO woke up at 6:45, got out of bed and tried to open her door (I keep it closed because our cat doesn't know how to stay quiet through-out the night and ends up waking her up).

When she couldn't get the door open she called out for me, which woke me up and I came to help.

She wanted to cuddle on the couch for about ten minutes, eyes open, looking around, but nestled into me and playing with my hair.

Then she heard daddy in his office (who hadn't gone to sleep at all yet) and happily exclaimed, "daddy" and ran to him. She then happily sat on his lap or near him for about half an hour while he finished up work. They read a book together and then she realized she was getting hungry.

She called me in and we agreed on cereal.

Fifteen minutes of breakfast with Sesame Street watching and then she was ready to go to the daycare.

We were the first to arrive and we looked at some of the frog figurines together and then she happily went into our daycare lady's arms, pushing me out the door.

I love these kind of mornings.

My little angel

So now that MLO is two years old, we get asked a lot about having another one.

I have always wanted two kids and even gone up to three (though never higher than that) but I am worried about one thing:

I have been completely spoiled by MLO.

She is an angel, everyone who has ever watched her said so, her nannies, the lady who runs the current daycare. I can tell MLO anything and she understands, "no" with an explanation is almost always complied with.

Example, this morning I was running late (with a new big client expecting a 9am planning meeting) and MLO wanted to go to the store (see earlier post). I explained to her that I needed to take her straight to daycare because mommy had a meeting, she said "ok" and was the fastest at pushing me out of the daycare door ever.

She has got sick maybe twice in two years. She wasn't colicky or anything when a real little baby (since she is SO grown up now).

I have heard stories that when you have such a perfect child as your first, the second ones aren't nearly as good. I am sure I would be able to rise to the challenge, but why spoil a good thing?

TV Shows

I have set up my DVR to record all the shows I want to see whenever there is a new episode.

Doing this, there are always shows waiting for me to watch. I haven't figured out how to keep up with them.

You see this doesn't just include the usual, like Heroes and Grey's Anatomy but other strange ones like Doctor Who and Torchwood on the BBC station, and Jake 2.0 and such on Sci Fi.

With work and the little one insisting that I lay in bed with her until she falls asleep (and thus I fall asleep too most of the time). I have almost no TV watching time.

Do most working mom's give up on TV or do they find ways to squeeze it in (between 3-5 am maybe)?

Potty Training

Just a quick note, we recently purchased a Padded Potty Seat with Step Stool so MLO could climb up to the big toilet, thinking this might introduce her to the potty better.

Well Saturday morning, MLO told me she needed to go potty (she has said so before and nothing happened). We got her properly undressed, she climbed up her stairs and she went pee-pee.

A mother's joy :)

Wow

Interesting title, no :)

Has been a world-wind couple of weeks, that is for sure. So sorry I haven't been by here more often, but these last few months of the year are just crazy.

On top of it, we went to Mexico for a week. I think I should have my husband and I committed for that. Not that we didn't have fun, we did, but now I need a vacation from my vacation.

We went snorkeling but MLO hadn't gotten her nap yet and so was a little cranky. When she is like that, all she wants is mommy, which meant I got to float on the ocean on my side, MLO perched on the hip and in the water with me, and me dunking my head every now and then to see under the water. It was quite a sight, I assure you.

We went to some Mayan ruins which were fascinating, but all MLO really wanted to do was run up them so that was a little short lived.

We went to Xcaret which was great, like a zoo, with dolphins and turtles and such. MLO LOVED that one, didn't want to leave even though it was closing.

I got to go to the spa one morning and get a 50 minute massage (my first ever) which was awesome!! Hubby took MLO and she was apparently a perfect angel.

We definitely fought a battle (and lost) with the bugs, hubby is still soaking his legs at night because of all the bites.

Then we get home and it is my sister's birthday and my pops. Plus we got Halloween and I think you get the idea...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Because I can't resist good giveaways, especially when they are for a good cause, go check this one out.

Just got back

We just got back from a trip to Mexico. Went to Playa Del Carmen which is one hour south of Cancun.

It was great and we had lots of fun.

Must catch up on things, but will come back soon to tell you all about it :)

Tinker Bell

One of MLO's birthday gifts was a little Barbie like Tinker Bell.

She loves it, of course she has already managed to break the leg off a few times and come crying to me to fix Tinker Bell. Being the dutiful mom, I always do.

It now goes to bed with us at night, on it's own pillow. While we are reading our book, MLO checks on her to make sure she is still laying down and didn't wonder off.

When she wakes up in the morning a frantic hunt for Tinker Bell starts (because my adorable MLO is quite the toss and turner with a few good kicks and such while she sleeps). Once found, she comes and eats breakfast with us.

However, Tinker Bell always stays home once we leave for daycare.

I guess she isn't old enough for that yet.

MLO's birthday party

This weekend we had MLO's birthday party (she is turning two on Sept 27th). I invited about seven kids with their parents and other various friends.

MLO wasn't sure what was happening and why so many of her daycare friends were suddenly at her house!

She took it in and sat with me or gramma while she decided if it was okay that they were around. Then she got into it and there were little kids running around in our backyard like crazy.

Later she didn't totally understand why everyone was singing to her. Missed the point of a cake with candles being brought out and why she was expected to blow, but she obliged. She of course ate the cake (there is a bakery in West LA called Mani's bakery which makes sugar-free cakes that are SOOOO good, so we had one of those).

Then the present experience was very high randomity. She sat on my lap and ripped up boxes with paper, ohing and ahing over stuff. Her friends helped open some stuff and our little circle got tighter and tighter with each present.

Her godparents couldn't make it to the actual party, but showed up just as the last people were leaving. They (who don't have any kids of their own yet) brought her as many presents as she had gotten from everyone else combined.

The cutest part was after the house was finally quiet and I was cleaning up, she was sitting on the kitchen floor playing with some new toys and I heard her start to sing, "happy birthday to [her name]" to herself.

Dinner

As each item is being put on the table, MLO is labeling them:

Mommy's plate
Daddy's plate
[MLO's] plate
Mommy's juice
Daddy's juice
[MLO's] juice
Mommy's fork
Daddy's fork
[MLO's] fork
Mommy's spoon
Daddy's spoon
[MLO's] spoon
Mommy's napkin
Daddy's napkin
[MLO's] napkin

If I forget anything I am corrected by my two-year-old and given a very stern talking to.


o0o0o0o0o0o

A super-duper give away here, come on, you know you want one.

Missing MLO

Is it usual for mommies to suddenly start missing their kids a WHOLE bunch when they are gone.

In the last week, I am sooo anxious to go pick up MLO from daycare. I miss her terribly during the day and can't wait to see her again.

Too much?

Morning Routine

Our morning routine before arrival at daycare:

We wake up, she insists I lay in bed with her for about fifteen minutes and cuddle (my favorite part) and talk.

Then she starts feeling hungry and we have to get up to get some food. In asking what she wants the first answer is always "[insert her name here] food" with a big smile after because she knows I can't do anything with that. From there we usually get to cereal (with milk she insists) or a bagel with cheese melted on it.

After breakfast we get dressed. She will start tugging off her "jammes" before I say anything. She has progressed to the point of pulling her own pants/shorts up (usually with a leg in each hole, but sometimes both legs in the same pant side).

The newest development is that we can't drive straight to the daycare. We first MUST go to a store, any store doesn't matter, but must be a store. We only need stay a few minutes, but MLO has to be able to get out of the car and walk through the doors at least.

We went to the grocery store once to get protein drinks for mommy. We went to Juice it Up and ordered drinks for both of us. We went to a pet store once and walked to the bird cage and then turned around and left.

Then we can go to daycare with no fuss whatsoever.

Learning how to work the system

MLO: I tired

Me: Want to take a nap?

MLO: Yeah (crawls in bed) mommy read book

Me: (picking a book) how about this one?

MLO: OK!!

Me: (reads book) nap now

MLO: No (jumps out of bed) outside!!!

And off she runs - she pretends to be tired so I will read a book to her since she knows we always read a book before going to sleep. She loves books that much!!

Birthday Weekend

My Birthday weekend was both great and bad at the same time.

The great part:

Hubby took me to see "Wicked" at the Pantages Theatre on Thursday (my actual birthday). Absolutely fabulous and so much fun, haven't been to live theatre in awhile and I really missed it. All the actors were great (except the Wizard who was a little weak but workable). Could tell that they had a lot of fun with costumes and such and overall a great night.

The bad part:

I then got home to MLO and gramma to find that MLO had gotten the stomach flu at daycare that day and was throwing up and grumpy. Friday me and her stayed home and ate fruit here and there (except when I had to go out for a meeting and then a friend came over to watch MLO).

By Friday evening, she was all better.

Saturday was fun, with MLO and I going shopping and other fun stuff for mommy's birthday.

However come Sunday morning - hubby got the stomach flu and I ended up with a tooth ache (the kind that prevents any chewing and little talking to avoid opening your mouth wide).

Went to the dentist today and nothing wrong with my teeth - but gums are seriously infected. So off I go to get my drugs...

So this was a very interesting weekend - but I will look back and remember the run stuff more :)

Birthdays

September is a very busy month in our household:

MLO turns two at the end of it and...

today is my birthday (yes the 13th, so I get occasionally Friday the 13th birthdays). I am turning 29 - just got to keep reminding myself that I have one more year left of my twenties :)

Oh also - Happy Jewish New Year :)

I hate doing dishes

Unfortunately - so does hubby (well not "hate", but just so busy that doing dishes seems a poor choice with the little bit of relax/free time he gets).

This means dishes pile up in our sink until it is full and I finally have to do them because I need the pan at the bottom or we are out of plates.

I don't mind cooking - just hate the clean-up.

I know what MLO's first chore is going to be just as soon as she can reach the sink on her own!

Farmer's Market

Sunday morning (early) MLO and I went to our local Farmer's Market.

Since we moved to our new house I keep meaning to go (it is five minutes away), but come Sunday morning, I totally forget. So Saturday night I set up a reminder and lo and behold it worked.

I told MLO we were going to some "outside stores" (two of her favorite places to go - outside and store) and she jumped and ran to the door.

After getting her out of her jamees (the word for PJs) and into clothes and shoes, we packed up and went.

It was great!! She could run around wherever she wanted and I could still easily see her. They had fresh fruit and veges (of which I bought an insane amount) as well as one of my favorite vices - kettlecorn.

There was also pony rides and those jumping things and a lot of fun stuff for little ones. MLO told me she wanted to go on the pony, but when it was actually her turn (and she was required to let go of me) she backed out. I told her it was okay, we would get chances to try later.

Of course, once back in the car she kept asking me over and over to ride the pony. I told her we would try again next week. We will see.

Coughing

MLO has developed a nighttime cough, she is perfectly healthy during the day and you don't hear a single cough. When she lays down to sleep, she starts coughing.

I have tried elevating her head, which seems to help, but, MLO moves a lot in her sleep and she always manages to scoot herself down and off the elevated pillows.

I also tried a warm humidifier which just made her sweat up a storm. Note, humidifiers have a tendency to fill up diapers as the diaper sort of sucks some of the water out of the air. I have been told it might be better with a cool one so will be going out and buying one of those.

This has lead to very little sleep for mommy so my posting has fallen behind as everything else seems to take longer to get done when you are tired.

If it doesn't handle soon I will be taking her to her doctor and we will go from there.

Hopefully it will though :)

Labor day weekend

We had a quiet labor day weekend.

Saturday we went to the mall (because Southern California is REALLY hot and the power people have asked us now to run our AC full blast all the time otherwise we are going to get blackouts).

MLO had a great time pushing her stroller. I think we ran the entire length of the mall (which is about two city blocks) three or four times. She was just doing great between running besides me (and bumping into people so mommy got to say "sorry" every other minute or so) or pushing the stroller.

I bought the one thing I wanted which was some spaghetti string tops for MLO to wear to bed so she doesn't wake up totally drenched in sweat.

Sunday we stayed home and ran our AC all day (heaven forbid) with lots of visitors. MLO's old nanny came by and after a few minutes of MLO starring at her, seemed to remember her and was dragging her off to her room.

MLO's aunt (my sister) also came by and they played. Then MLO's uncle (my brother) also was there, so MLO had a lot of people to play with.

Monday we had some friends over and even though I told hubby he was crazy, he went out in the heat and actually barbecued. Of course, the burgers and corn were fabulous (I even had a second burger, which is a lot of food) so I just gave him big hugs and thanked him over and over for braving the heat.

So, we had a good weekend with just the right amount of randomity happening for MLO.

Mommy Mistakes

I just read a story over at Antique Mommy about a small mommy mistake (my only comment on the spanking thing is I don't agree with it, but I don't think those who do it gently should be criticized).

This reminded me of a recent mommy mistake I made:

When I pick MLO up from daycare, we have to set her up in her seat. Put her sunglasses on, gave her some juice (all liquids are called "juice") and one of her favorite toys.

Now, MLO has recently gotten into this habit of taking the sunglasses off while I am driving and then asking me over and over to help her put them back on. I have told her that I can't while I am driving and usually she accepts that. Note: She won't let me leave her in the car seat without putting them on before we go though.

One day she just kept getting louder and louder about wanting the glasses on. I told her she could do it, but mommy couldn't help. I let her cry it out and she eventually stopped and then found something else to play with.

The next day same routine. Glasses go on, juice in her hands and we start driving. I glance back and see she is taking the glasses off. After I face forward again she starts crying. I tell her mommy can't help, without looking back to see what was happening. After about five minutes of her still crying I finally look back and realize her juice had spilled all over and this was the upset.

I pulled over, got out, gave her a big hug, told her I was sorry and cleaned up the mess. After everything was all cleaned up she was as happy as could be.

I should have known better because MLO almost never cries about the same thing twice, once the boundary is set she knows.

It isn't always easy I tell ya'


Also on the grouchy thing: the daycare put her in her own room to nap where she wouldn't be distracted by the other kids and she slept for over two hours. She has been her usual "angelic" (well as close as they get at this age) self after that so we seemed to have found the problem.

Toy stores

In our new house there is a half a basketball court in the backyard with a big regular hoop. MLO sees others (me, daddy and her aunt and uncle) throwing our balls into the "basket" and she wants to also. We have picked her up and raised her as high as we can and she can't seem to through the ball up high enough.

So to help ease the frustration I decided to get her, her own.

This meant taking MLO to the toy store over the weekend and boy it is like going to Disneyland.

First toy store we went to was a smaller local toy store. MLO found a miniature shopping cart and she was pushing it around all over the place. We had great fun running around the store and through the aisles with me chasing and her pushing her cart. We also found a great collection of cars (including characters from the Pixar movie "Cars" which MLO loves) and beep, beeped those around.

However they didn't have any basketball hoops in stock. So I told MLO we had to go to another store and she happily agreed.

Then we went to a Toys-R-Us and my goodness, that girl got lost in the toys. We found some tables with train tracks and all sorts of gadgets set up and she was there for at least fifteen minutes before I managed to distract her.

Then she found the collection of balls and we were both chasing bouncy balls all over.

Then she found the toys with buttons that talk and you would have thought a convention was going on.

At last mommy found the basketball hoop and I had to bribe her to get her to go (with a cute little kitty stuffed animal that had stars on it's paws so MLO could sing Twinkle, Twinkle over and over - her favorite song of all time by the way).

It was an adventure and we both got our exercise. She fell asleep in the car on the way back and we both crashed when we got home.

MLO has been grouchy

Every night for the past two weeks MLO gets grouchy earlier and earlier. Before it was hunger, but even if I feed her dinner right away, she still complains about things easily and such.

Except on the weekends when she is with my all day and she is as happy as a clam, not a single tantrum no matter what I ask her to do (even leaving the toy store).

I was worried that there was something wrong at the daycare. However this didn't really make sense because MLO is SO happy every morning when I tell her we are going to her daycare. She happily climbs in the carseat and says the name of the daycare lady over and over again while I am driving. The daycare lady has told me over and over how good MLO is while there and how well she is playing with others. Just the other day gramma told me that MLO is developing really well, with a huge difference in her vocabulary and such since she saw her last (four days prior).

Then I realized that MLO takes really long naps on the weekend (2 to 3 hours) and I recalled a mention by the daycare that she takes the shortest naps of all the kids.

So today when I dropped MLO off I asked the daycare lady. Sure enough her naps have been no longer than an hour and I told her the problem I was having. Luckily she had some ideas on what to do and we will see what happens when I pick her up tonight.

Sleeping in a box

MLO's Godmother came over on Saturday to hang out with us, eat dinner, watch a movie, etc.

I warned her that we would be watching the movie in my usual fashion: with lots of distractions from MLO. We would have to pause the movie often if we wanted to hear it all, or resign ourselves to missing small details. She was fine.

While the movie was playing, MLO brought out a large gray plastic tub (the kind that is used for storing and stacking).

One of MLO's favorite activities is to sit in the tub and have me cover her feet with beads (a friend of Grandma gave them to her). She thinks it is the funniest thing.

Another favorite activity is for me to get her small pink pillow and a small blanket and package her up in the box as if she was going to sleep there.

After we did this, godmother asks "does she actually nap in there?" This is testament to how comfortable she looked though her knees were practically under her chin.

We laughed and played (missed half the movie) and had a great time.

Note: Thor kibby likes to sleep in the plastic tub too and whenever MLO sees her in it, she yells, "no Thor kibby, mine!"

Prize for a good cause

Go visit mod*mom to find out about winning one of these and helping with breast cancer at the same time:

Side Effects

Last night I went and saw a small showing of the independent movie "Side Effects". It stars Katherine Heigl (yes, from Grey's Anatomy) and she was really good. I haven't seen Knocked Up yet, but have heard it got great reviews and I think she is definitely going to do good work even after Grey's Anatomy.

The movie itself was very fascinating and fun. It was about Karly (Katherine Heigl) as a legal drug-pusher. She is a pharmaceutical rep and gets doctors to buy drugs from the company she works for. It is about the moral issues she runs into versus the pull of the great money and bonuses she earns.

The amazing thing about the movie is it was written by someone who did that in real life and is based on her own problems she had and things she saw.

I recommend seeing it, I believe it is on Netflix (where I rent all my movies).

P.S. Because of some of the controversy I have read about being paid for things and not disclosing it I wanted to say that no one paid me for this :)

Chicken

Guess what MLO's new favorite food is - CHICKEN!!

She can't get enough of it. She wants a plate in front of her full of chicken at all times.

Last night we had fish for dinner, she wanted chicken. I would like to make a note that she has had chicken for dinner the last two nights in a row as well as one of those lunches. Over the weekend we had our party and one of the items of food I got was chicken.

This is no way has reduced her desire for more.

This seems to be the case as she goes through phases of food she likes.

First thing in the morning she has to have a bagel. Nothing else will do she says, however I have made toast with cheese on it and told her it was a bagel and she ate it. So it isn't a taste thing, just a name thing.

Maybe if I had called the fish "chicken" last night, she would have eaten it. Will have to try that...

Took the cat to be fixed

Our cute little kitten (six months old now and "Thor kibby" as MLO calls her) went through her first heat recently and it was time to take her to be fixed.

This meant an overnight stay at the vet and no kibby for MLO to play with.

We took her yesterday and I tried to explain to MLO what was happening and that kibby would be okay and we would see her tomorrow. She seemed okay on it and hugged and kissed her kibby goodbye.

After she got home though she kept asking me where Thor kibby was. I would explain it all over and again and she would be okay but ask again in half an hour.

Thank goodness I picked Thor up today and when MLO comes home from daycare her kibby will be here.

Had official housewarming

We had our official housewarming this weekend and it went really well. I am totally exhausted after doing all the planning and stuff but I enjoy putting on parties.

MLO made some new friends (as we had many families come) and you can really see what a difference being in this daycare has made.

She is willing to share and actually gives toys to someone when they look like they are reaching for it. The kids played in our backyard until it got dark and then were in her room the rest of the evening.

Which meant mommy got to enjoy the party too and talk to friends and such.

The cutest point was when MLO was eating with her gramma, uncle Erick "erit" and grampa and saw me. She then called out "mommy, I eat with gramma" which made not only me smile, but everyone within ear shot.

A little later that night (after everyone had left) she made a little bit of a mess which got on gramma and she was so upset that she had made a mess on gramma. She kept crying "I gramma mess" and gramma had to give her a big hug to reassure her it was okay and she still loved her.

Counting

For a few weeks now MLO has been able to count to ten with help from someone.

Well last night she did it all by herself, from one to ten. Since then, and probably because I gave her such a huge acknowledgment, she has done it several times, clapping when she says ten.

She will be two the end of September and I think she is just amazing :)

Swim lesson

Last night we started our Swim Lessons again at the local YMCA (we did some last year too).

MLO loves the water and for the half an hour "mommy and me" class she has the biggest grin on her face the whole time.

She has gotten to the point where she can kick really well, moving herself forward. She holds the wall and can almost float on her back without my hand present.

She just loves the water and likes to splash me and herself. She "swims" to the teacher (with a push) and back to me.

Getting her out is the hard part, she is just as happy sitting on the step watching the next class and splashing her legs, as she is swimming with me.

Going on Rides

We took MLO to a beach boardwalk with rides and such. They have a kiddy section and my entire family had come to the boardwalk (it is usually just the kids and one or two adults who go) to see MLO go on rides.

We watched some of the rides so she would get the idea that little kids go on them and she can too.

I took her on the carousel and she wasn't interested in sitting on one of the horses, so me and her sat in a carriage thing they had on the ride.

She really seemed to like the look of the boat ride so we put her on that one first. It went great with her turning the wheel, ringing the bell and putting her hand in the water.

Well it went so well, she wouldn't go on any of the other rides. We did the boat ride over and over again. If you tried to convince her of another ride, even the ones where an adult came along, she just kept crying and saying "boat".

We got a lot of cute pictures and Nana (MLO's great grandma) took video. No one seemed too disappointed that it was the same ride over and over so I think it turned out okay.

Getting used to the ocean

Well the cutest point of the trip was when MLO got used to the ocean again.

We have taken her several times before, but at this age if you let something go too far between then they forget.

So her Aunt and I spent a lot of time with her, slowly getting her used to it. At first just me and MLO went down to the water (because everyone else was still sleeping, sleeping in an all) and sat on the beach and watched the waves. She decided the foam looked like bubbles and would exclaim over the bubbles. This lasted about an hour.

A little later that day her Aunt went out and chased the waves. MLO thought it looked like fun and started chasing and being chased by the waves. This lasted about half an hour.

Then her Aunt and one of her great aunts took her out and started jumping the waves (The front of the wave being the scariest part). After about a half an hour of that, she couldn't be kept out of the water.

She would grab anyone willing or go it on her own and start jumping waves and splashing.

We went to a boardwalk and every time she saw steps down to the beach and ocean, she made a run for it. Hubby ended up going down with her and they splashed in the ocean while I got to rest. The both came back very wet (with no swimsuits or towels on us) but very happy.

Since being back, every time she sees a picture or the ocean is on TV she yells out "ocean" and runs towards it.

Being that we live in LA, I think we will be making some more trips down there.

Just got back from family reunion

Hello everyone (mostly Kat I think - though there are a few others)

We went to a family reunion which is why I have been so quiet. Every year my family rents a beach house and we all go and stay together. At the end of the week I am just about ready to kill most of them.

I will have stories to tell but right now I need to get the house in order, buy food for us to eat, answer all my emails and so on. So I will be back with family reunion stories...

Love ya

Want to win something?

Try these places:

Elmo is getting ready for school in “Sesame Street’s” latest DVD, “Ready For School”

Insignia® 37″ Flat-Panel LCD HDTV (Model: NS-LCD37)

Back To School Giveaway With Gymboree

Chatter-box

I picked MLO up from the daycare yesterday.

The entire ride home (about 20 minutes) she talked. None stop.

Sometimes quietly to herself or her shoes, but she didn't stop.

She told me about playing with her "guys" (what she calls the friends she is making at the daycare).

She told me about how her clothes got messy and had to change pants.

We played "what's that" with the different cars and mommie had to get inventive because she didn't want the same answer over and over (car).

So MLO started her education on the different types of cars and we continued working on colors. Found out she loves trucks.

All of it in the cutest baby/grown-up talk that has a made-up word here and there, but you get the general idea of what she is saying.

Daycare success

I successfully dropped off MLO at the daycare today without any tears.

She pushed me out the door (something the daycare personnel promote - to make the kids feel like they are causing the leaving and not being left) today and smiled as I waved goodbye.

She likes the lady in charge of the daycare and willingly goes into her arms when it is time for me to leave in the morning. When I pick her up at the end of the day she says good-bye to her and then says "good-bye kids" to everyone else.

Thank goodness, the tears were too much.

Birthday parties

Now that MLO is making friends and such we are getting invited to more and more birthday parties. Overall a good thing, but they are really tiring.

MLO likes them but if there is a strange kid there (which there always is) she doesn't want me to leave her side.

We just got back from one for a little boy who turned 2. They had one of those blow up pools set up in the backyard and if no one else was in it, MLO loved it.

As soon as another kid showed up to play (younger or older) I had to be near her and she would rather splash in the puddles around the pool than go back in.

The only break I really got was when they put on "Finding Nemo". The little boy just got it for his birthday (had never seen it) and all the little kids were mesmerized.

Her birthday (which is coming up soon) will be interesting.

The Give-away winners

So the winners of the CDs are:

1) Toni Braxton - Snowflakes
--CrystalG

2) Johnny & June Carter Cash - 16 Biggest Hits
--Jenny at http://lifeisnotacereal.blogspot.com/

3) Paula Abdul - Greatest Hits
--Linda SS

Congrats and I hope you like them.

I have posted on the blog or emailed the winners but if you didn't get it, go ahead and comment here and I will try again :)

Happier note

The give-away is still open so go here to enter :)


MLO is saying "thank you" all the time now. People are amazed at how polite she is and respectful.

It is sort of funny because I didn't try really hard to teach her this - I said thank you to her when she did something I asked and mentioned to her to say it just a few times. Now she says it all the time.

She also says "sorry" if she drops something or bumps into you.

We haven't gotten to a willingness to share her toys, but she recognizes the fact that other items aren't hers and she will give them back to the owner.

I need to put a little more effort into "please" I think - but am amazed at how it has been so easy so far.

Where did that week go?

The give-away is still open so go here to enter :)


I hate those weeks that just run away from you. You don't get anything done, all your plans go to h**l and so forth.

My week:

MLO got sick last Wednesday, had a temperature, cough and I suspect a headache and itchy throat. She was restless and just wanted to sleep on my lap. So I spent the whole day with her, giving her vitamins and letting her sleep whenever and however she wanted.

Thursday she seemed better so I took her to the daycare.

Friday her nose was running away from her face and she was coughing again. I kept her home and we hung out.

Saturday she seemed all better and we went and saw friends, went to parties and such.

Sunday her nose started running again.

Monday she is almost better but I didn't want to risk getting the other kids sick so she stays home one more day. However I start to get a yucky throat, cough and headache.

Tuesday she is fine, hubby takes her to daycare because I am sick as a dog.

Wednesday hubby takes MLO to daycare again, I am feeling better but as I get dizzy spells I didn't think driving was a good idea.

Today my ears and nose are plugged, still coughing but otherwise better. MLO is at daycare and gramma is going to pick her up and hang with her (so I can get that last bit of extra rest I need).

What a week - phew....

Give-away

I meant to do this on Monday but with being sick and all I just didn't get to it.

So here is my entry for the Rocks In My Dryer: DOG DAYS OF SUMMER Bloggy Giveaway. Go check out the link for A LOT of stuff to possibly win.

I have CDs to give away and it is a strange mixture.

They are (click links to go to Amazon and hear some of the songs):

1) Toni Braxton - Snowflakes
2) Johnny & June Carter Cash - 16 Biggest Hits
3) Paula Abdul - Greatest Hits

If you would like any of these leave a comment below and I will pick a winner on Friday. You don't have to have a blog to play, but I do need an email address if you don't have one.

I will ship anywhere internationally.

Thanks :)

Update: You can keep commenting until noon PST on Friday July 27th, and I will pick the random numbers that afternoon.

Got sick :(

MLO has been sick for almost a week and now that she is getting better I come down with it.

Will be back soonish when my head stops spinning and I stop sneezing myself out of my chair.

Nemo went to daycare

MLO has a little Nemo doll that she plays with when I refuse to play the movie again and again.

This morning she decided she couldn't be parted from it and insisted on taking it with her in the car. So before we left (thinking the doll might continue joining her in her travels) I stole it for a minute and permanently inked her name on its tail.

As I thought Nemo also went into the daycare with her and when she ran outside she climbed the steps to the slide. While sitting on the top of the slide she would yell "Nemo slide" and down would come Nemo.

Then she would yell her name and "slide" and follow Nemo down. This was repeated over and over and I am sure continued even after I left.

New Daycare

So today I started MLO at a new daycare. The previous one just didn't work out (the owner passed away a little bit ago - before I got there - and the new people just weren't holding it together).

Hopefully this one will work out.

There is a little girl who is about three months older than MLO and they were playing together very nicely while I was there. They took turns on the slide, picked up toys that the other one dropped and gave it back to the other and all that sweet stuff.

Of course, when it came time for mommy to leave, MLO cried and gave me a strangle hold. Oh dear, what to do :(

Purses just get in the way

I have decided it is so much easier to not be carrying a purse if I am going to try and go shopping with just me and MLO.

A purse is an additional distraction that I sometimes just can't afford.

Like when MLO pulls her hand out of my grip and runs under a counter and out the other side. The last thing I want to have to worry about is grabbing my purse before making the mad dash to the other side to a) make sure she doesn't get to far away and b) I am the only one there to greet her.

So purse stays in the car, with keys attached to my belt loop, phone in a little case on my pants and drivers license, credit card and extra cash in my back pocket.

Then I can play along ;)

Contradiction

"Mommy, poopy"

"Okay, lets change you."

"No", runs to the other side of the house (our new house is very long).

I go get a diaper, set everything up to start.

"Mommy wants to change your diaper."

"No... okay", new thing - haven't figured it out, expect maybe it comes from me often saying okay after she says no.

"Can we change it."

"Thor Kibby!" Our cat's name, given to her by MLO, and off she goes.

"Please come here, I'll be quick."

"Okay."

She actually lays down on the mat.

Starting to take off her pants, "No".

Wrestling starts.

Diaper finally gets changed.

"Thank you", with a hug before running off again.

Yep - happens at least once a day.

Hard questions have started

I am already getting hard questions, like: What noise do animals make?

There are a few I am at a loss on how to describe them to MLO:

Fish - splash?
Butterfly - flap?
Caterpillar - ?
Spider - ?
Giraffe - ? (found out they don't have vocal cords)

She isn't even two yet!!!

Clothes (shorts this time)

So it had become time to buy MLO some new shorts. She really only has about three workable pairs and unless I want to be a slave to my washer/dryer, she needs more.

Being that she will out grow these in only a few short months I rarely grace any of those high end baby/toddler clothing stores.

We hit Ross and bought two pairs of shorts (and a really cute jean dress) and we went to a cute little place called "Once Upon a Child".

"Once Upon a Child" is one of those trade in your outgrown items for bigger clothes or better toys, type place. I once brought a huge bag of clothes and they only wanted a few things, so I pretty much just shop there and keep the outgrown stuff for the next kid or to give to friends who have babies.

While there, I bought her another two pairs of shorts and a very cute red skirt.

So this brings us to seven pairs of shorts. Some weeks this means I only have to do laundry once (my preferred method). However other times this still means more than one load a week (along with those occurrences of more than one bath a day).

Breakfast

(originally couldn't type in the title field on blogger for some reason - but they fixed it)

Hi, I am back. Sorry, the holidays and work just ran me over.

MLO is doing great, absorbing information at an astonishing rate. She really has learned so much and just keeps going. We get a lot of surprise sentences now and she can communicate in words exactly what she wants.

We have gotten to the point where I have to LET her tell me something. She has to tell me what she wants for breakfast, she has to pick out her own clothes (still working on getting them on, but that is moving right along).

Of course, there are the times she doesn't want anything that happens to be in the house. This morning it went:

"Are you hungry?"

"Hi" (her Japanese word for yes - not sure where that came from).

"What do you want?"

Silence...

"Cereal?"

"No."

"Eggs?"

"No."

"Chicken?" (Left overs from the previous night which she had devoured at the time).

"No."

"Juice?" "Apple?" "Grapes?" "Any fruit?" "Bagel?" "Cheese?" "Jerky?" (can you detect the desperation?)

All with "No" as the response.

"What then?"

"Food."

Ugh.

Note: She ended up eating my cereal once I had poured some for myself. The other trick that always work - wanting whatever mommy is having.

Too cute

Great Grandma is in town

MLO's Great Grandma came to visit over the weekend. Yesterday she took over watching MLO (with gramma there as well) and they played all afternoon. We then had a nice dinner at our new house and got to chat.

As you might have guessed Great Grandma is no old granny. She is traveling to Peru in a few months to do some tours there and then is going to the east coast, Maryland area to visit her younger sister. While she is 80 years old, she is very active.

So MLO and her had a great time and I and hubby got an "errand date". We got to go out and do errands (and not have to worry about the time I had to get back) together. Errands mostly ended up consisting of household items needed and not as much work stuff, but it was all good.

Then I came home and made us all some Chinese food (orange chicken, vegi rice and egg rolls - all from Trader Joe's and pretty easy to make).

Great Grandma loved our new house, thought MLO was a total angel and very bright and responsive. We think so too :)

"What's That?"

This is MLO's newest favorite phrase.

This means I am now spending all waking hours naming things and answering questions.

She has been opening up her books and pointing at pictures and asking "what's that?". She smiles when you tell her and sometimes repeats the name.

When outside walking around or at the store it is asked, over and over and over.

I think I have named every farm animal in existance, many different types of bugs, clothing, elements of a house (like door), plants, furniture, parts of the body, fruits, vegetables and more.

Means my little girl is growing up, doesn't it?

We are officially in our new house

I just picked up the last item from the old place and we are officially out of there (I do have to go back and clean it).

There is something nice about knowing all your stuff is now in your new home.

Of course it is all in boxes and every now and then when we need something we have to hunt for it. But it is in "my house"!!!!

I have resolved to empty at least one box a day no matter what else is happening. So far so good and I will update later on how this works out.

The new house is about twice as big as our old one, so I have a lot of planning to do on organization and such. However, the real great thing about the new place is there is A LOT of storage space. I have a huge pantry (such a luxury) and closets everywhere. Plus a two car garage, an attic and a basement.

Yes - this girl is very excited!!

P.S. MLO's cough resolved and she is happy as a clam again.

MLO has a cough

MLO is coughing a lot. No other sickness symptoms but gets mad when she starts coughing and can't stop.

Made for a really bad night as she kept waking up coughing and would cry and call for me when she wouldn't stop.

Despite it all she is really cute about it. She will be sitting on my lap, with her head against my chest and once she has finally stopped coughing she says "cough" makes a little noise and then sighs.

Breast Feeding

I managed to totally wean MLO.

I was trying to do it slowly and had gotten rid of the lunch meal a while ago but couldn't get any further.

She could ask for it (said "nurse") and would cry if I tried to say no, so I would give in (I am a softy when it comes to MLO).

She has been eating full regular meals several times a day for months now (including breakfast, lunch and dinner) and so I knew it wasn't really a hunger thing - but a comfort thing.

Well the last time I nursed her was last Friday morning. It has been almost a week.

The trick was going out of town for two days and leaving her with gramma.

She has asked in the last several days, but is really easy to say no and give her some juice instead.

So my weaning advice is when you know your little one is really ready and just hanging onto it because of comfort - go out of town for two days (one night) and just refuse to start back up when you come back :)

This is moving week

We are moving to the house we bought this week (from our rental) so Internet will fluctuate and I will have my hands full.

Will be back as I can and should be back more "full time" after this weekend.

Love and kisses

10th Wedding Anniversary Weekend

Hubby and I went away for the weekend (just Sat and Sun) and left MLO with Gramma. This is the first time I have been away for her for this long and I missed her more than she missed me, I think.

We were celebrating our 10 year wedding anniversary.

We went to Las Vegas and saw Love by Cirque du Soleil. It was AMAZING!! The artistry was so spectacular, the feats they could do mind-blowing, not to mention the costumes and set design. The two hours of the show just flew by in the magic.

We also walked around some of the hotels like the Mirage, the Hilton, the Wynn and Paris (each with their shops and special features). Paris was great with the sky ceiling making the whole thing so comfortable. The Wynn was the strangest as we couldn't figure out the theme.

Hubby and I were contemplating what a strange mixture of artistry and vices Las Vegas is.

We had a great time but I am VERY glad to be back with MLO again - I missed her to pieces.

Bed Rail - First Night

Update:

Well, the bed rail I got was meant for regular beds and not transformed cribs. So it looms a little high (the rail obviously expecting a taller regular mattress) and then starts tilting in towards the inside of the crib.

MLO didn't really like laying in her crib and feeling like the railing was going to fall on her. So we spent a bunch of time trying to fix it. We ended up with one of her very large stuffed animals (the kind that is as tall as me) being wedged in one corner of the bed and sort of holding the rail up.

MLO still wasn't that happy with it and we had a rough night.

Hopefully she will get used to it and be okay tonight.

Bed Rail

Okay the bed rail arrived today and I am going to put it on her toddler bed.

Until now she has actually been on the floor. I have one of those large cushions made for those who like to sit on the floor. Well I set it all up with her large stuffed animals around the outside and it has been her bed.

She sleeps through the night on it and therefore I know the problem with the toddler bed was that she would roll out of it and wake up.

So this should handle that.

The next challenge is convincing her it is time to go to bed and keeping her in bed until she falls asleep. She wants to come play with my or the kitty or da even when she is tired. Unfortunately she doesn't get exhausted until about midnight and this is just WAY too late for her to be awake.

So, I admit I have resorted to driving her around in the car two nights in a row (she falls asleep in her car seat) because I am so tired I just need her to go to sleep.

Dropping MLO off at daycare

Okay, I don't know how parents manage to drop their child off somewhere when all the little one wants is her/his mommy.

Two days in a row now I have tried to pull myself away after arriving at the daycare and can't do it. I love her so much I don't want her to cry. I just want to hold her and kiss all the tears away.

So when I start leaving and I hear a frantic "mommy" from MLO I turn around and give my little angel a hug as she comes running to me.

The lady who runs the daycare has been great and helps me eventually slip away.

Does it get any easier?

Toddler bed time

This weekend we moved MLO to her toddler bed rather than the crib. The reason being that she had figured out how to crawl out of the crib and the thump in the middle of the night was too much to bare.

So, we are getting her use to the toddler bed.

The biggest problem so far is she moves around A LOT in her sleep. She rolls around and she even has sort of sat up in her sleep and laid down in the opposite direction (she has done this when sleeping in the bed with me so I know).

As we got to find out while changing the crib over to the bed, it doesn't come with toddler bed rails. Of course, I didn't think about it when we bought it (and moving to a bed seemed so far away, I prided myself on even getting one that would transform).

So, she keeps falling out of bed. I have lined the floor next to her bed with a large cushoin, stuffed animals and so forth. She hasn't hurt herself, but it does wake her up and she then comes looking for me.

So, mommy is running low on sleep and frantically looking for a better rail to put on the bed to see if we can at least keep her in the bed while she sleeps.

Cartoon Speak

Two strange phrases that have appeared in my vocabulary:

"Love it" - think the two headed dragon in DragonTales

"Just keep swimming" - sung by Doree in Finding Nemo

Seeing daddy

Daddy has been out at clients a few times this week during the night and with MLO in daycare now (not at the house) he hasn't really gotten to see her.

Well last night she insisted on staying up until he got home (9pm) and hanging out with him. She would run between the two of us delivering hugs and kisses.

When I finally took her to sleep we got a big family hug (with her little arms around both my neck and daddy's neck).

After lying in her crib for about half an hour she started crying out for me. I went to see what was happening and she kept pointing to the door saying she wanted to see "da".

Her love keeps me warm...

Daycare

MLO started at Daycare on Monday.

Both my sister and myself have been going over there and hang with her to show her that it is safe.

She likes playing in the yard - this place has many, many slides and different toys. MLO is having a great time and actually didn't want to leave yesterday (good sign).

So far she plays by herself and hasn't really played with the other kids (there are five girls and two boys). Though they keep trying and I think she will warm up to them.

June arrived

Wow, June arrived and totally took me by surprise. Haven't had time to breath really and keep track of all that has happened.

We do have a new invented word by MLO "mommyda". This is a person who is supposed to be at her beck and call. From what we have been able to figure out it is either both or us (mommy and do) or either one of us (mommy or da). However sometimes she does mean both and when only one responds she gets upset.

Today is her first day at a daycare. I will probably be worried about her all day (even though my sis is there for most of the day with her to get her feeling safe there).

Other than that, we are working on getting the new house set up for us to move. Helping the landlord find a renter for our current place.

Plus MLO was sick on Sunday and on and on.

Will get back to funnier individual anecdotes in a bit :)

Errant raisin

A few days ago MLO found an errant raisin on the carpet and decided to pick it up and eat it. This was left over from an earlier in the day snake of raisins where the box must have been tipped over when I wasn't looking.

Seeing my daughter eat something off the floor I freaked out and grabbed it out of her mouth.

Oh - just a raisin.

Of course MLO didn't like that and grabs it back out of my hand and pops it in her mouth - quickly swallowing it.

It was yummy (she is very fond of raisins) and looks for more.

Miracle of miracles she finds two more (I checked what it was, but she wouldn't let me get anywhere near it) and decides to eat them too.

This has lead to a daily hunt now on the carpet for something edible. This has also lead to more than once a day vacuuming and sweeping.

Petting Farm

Our big activity for memorial day was a Petting Farm - not a zoo, but just some farm land with animals wandering all over.

There were goats, lambs, sheep, horses, donkeys, pigs, chickens, ostriches and more. We didn't buy the feed because I didn't want MLO to be rushed.

It took about half an hour for MLO to warm up to being surrounded by animals. At first she wouldn't let me put her down, I would kneel to pet the animals.

After a little bit it was okay if she was down on the ground and no animals were walking in her direction.

Then there were no barriers. She walked up to any animal and would pet it. We found a nearby plant that most of the animals liked to eat and would pick it and feed it to the animals (then we didn't have to buy feed or get rushed).

My sis came along and she really wanted to pet the pot-belly pig, but he wasn't into it. Didn't let anyone pet him and so we cornered him and my sis got to pet him quickly while he ran by us.

The had a little playground in one section of the farm and MLO spent a bunch of time on the slide.

MLO was having so much fun she didn't want to leave and I had to take a crying little girl out of the farm (she was also tired and hungry).

We got to see some bunnies while we left and that cheered her up.

Memorial Day

Hope you enjor your time today.

Go here to see why we are celebrating and be sure to keep all of our soliders in your heart and mind today.

Live Performance

We (gramma, my sis and myself) took MLO to her first real live performance. It was a group of very talented kids who put on a two and a half hour show.

I figured if MLO got tired or if it got too late for her we could leave. We had seats in the back and it would have been easy to exit.

The first half of the show she was pretty much in my lap the whole time. Trying to figure out what was happening. We also had eaten a hasty dinner so she was a little hungry.

Well, after the intermission, where I picked up a better dinner for her, we got back to the show.

We are back in our seats, MLO is sitting in my lap and the music and dancing starts again. During the second number, MLO puts both hands in the air and starts singing. It was the cutest thing in the world (both gramma and my sis said they would have come to the show just to see MLO do that).

So, the whole second half MLO dances, sings and almost runs up to the stage a few times.

We got out of there around 10pm, but MLO had so much fun she wasn't cranky and didn't care at all how late it was.

We will be going back for more very soon.

The Beach with MLO

We (meaning myself, the nanny, my sister and MLO) went to the beach today.

My sister just got out of school and since the nanny (who is a personal friend of my sister's) is going to Europe for six months at the end of this month, we thought it would be great if we all went out and did something.

Well, we went to the beach and got to watch MLO play in the sand. She wouldn't go anywhere near the water, but loved the sand.

There was a little slope near where we sat down and MLO had a great time rolling up and down the hill (getting totally covered in sand). She would lie on her belly in the sand and pick it up and throw it around.

She buried feet and dug holes.

My sister tried to make a sandcastle with her, but MLO had more fun trampling the towers then building them.

Lots of fun and good quality time with the people we love.

MLO says "gramma"

I forgot to post the fact that over the weekend MLO said "gramma" for the first time.

We were all together in the living room, talking and then MLO points at me and says "mommy", then points at hubby and says "da" and then points at her grandma and says "gramma".

Gramma was so happy and we all told her what a good job she did that she was smiling and of course had to do it all over again.

We got a kitten

Sunday we picked up a ten-week-old kitten. He and his litter had been found by some friends of friends, abandoned at about week one. These friends of friends had taken the litter in and raised them for a bit. They are now looking for homes for each of the kittens.

Knowing that I have wanted a kitten for MLO, and hubby (who never had any pets whilst growing up) wanted one too, we went and picked him up.

His is a orange and white stripped tabby. We named him Thor because I have a tradition in my family that all our pets are named after mythological beings.

Well MLO loves him to pieces. She gives him hugs, pets him and tries to pick him up. She found a ball of hers that has a string attached to it (used to hang from her mobile) and Thor loves it. MLO will throw it across the room and he runs after it.

There is a lot of chasing and laughing right now and it is fabulous!!

They both seem to get tired about the same time too so I have a few photos of them resting next to each other.

Hubby had to stay up late last night and work and apparently Thor kept him company. Even when hubby fell asleep at his desk, Thor curled up on his lap.

He is the perfect new addition to the family.

Hosted a party

Last night we hosted a party. Had about 30 of our family and closest friends (and their family) over to celebrate the purchase of our first house.

There were a lot of faces that MLO doesn't really know yet and so she spent most of the night doing the shy thing. Just wanted to be in my arms or on my lap and I definitely couldn't be out of sight.

Despite that, I still had a great time and got to chat with friends. It was a potluck and all the food was great (and plenty of it, thank goodness), we even barbecued for the first time at our new house.

We haven't moved in yet, so the house was empty except some chairs we managed to bring over. I believe everyone had a great time anyway.

After most of the people had left and all that was left were people she knew well, MLO opened up.

At one point, she was running around the house with a cup and fork and showing them to various people. If the people would play along and start naming the object she held out to them she would start laughing.

She would go faster and faster (between the cup and fork) until you started messing up and then just crack up.

We had to go back to our old (rented) place at the end of the night, but didn't want to leave the house.

Oh well, we will be there soon enough :)

Finding Nemo

MLO's favorite movie is "Finding Nemo" or "memo" as she puts it.

She loves the movie and smiles at the funny parts, laughs sometimes. Gets scared during the shark parts or other appropriately scary parts. She calls both Nemo and the father "Memo" (they do look pretty alike). She learned to say "turt" for turtle after watching the movie.

This movie has played at least once a day, each day, for the past few weeks.

I used to like this movie.

Now - I am thinking of forgetting it in some deep dark corner of the universe.

Is that evil?

Daycare/preschool

So I am on the hunt for a daycare and/or preschool for MLO.

Nanny is going away (all good reasons and we are all VERY happy for her) and so in order for me to continue working, must put her in a daycare/preschool (can't really afford the nanny thing anymore anyway).

There are SOOOO many out there it is hard to even pick a place to start. So I decided to start with the closest ones and work outward.

Went to one today that was very nice - they start at 3 months and take them all the way to 4 years. With real teachers so they actual start teaching them and they will help potty train your kid and all sorts of stuff. Nice place.

I am trying to not be too picky, because there isn't going to be any place like her actual home, but I want it to be as warm, safe and welcoming as possible.

The only other thing that is going to make this harder is the fact that I didn't immunize MLO.

Not sure how the laws work on this, but I guess any privately funded facility can choose not to let her in unless I immunize her. Since I won't do this, should be interest little fight I might have on my hands.

After I go through anything that looked promising, I will make my list and do the whole pros and cons thing. Then come up with the one I want her in and hope they still have space for her.

Oh well - all for the good of my daughter :)

Mother's Day was relaxing

Wow - what a nice, peaceful weekend.

My present from MLO was she slept in (so I got to) and then she took a really long nap in the middle of the day which I got to share with her.

MLO and I went to the mall and got to hit some of the sales. Got her some very urgently needed socks, PJs and pants. Got myself some of my favorite shampoo and silly stuff.

Then MLO got to have a lot of fun with the escalators.

Other than that, we didn't do anything spectacular, just was either relaxing at home (or at my mom's house).

Hubby got me a Blackberry Perl for Mother's Day. A nerdy present, but appropriate from him and it is a cool little gadget. One of the best part of it is that it also works like an MP3 player so I can have music on the phone too.

Great Grandma gave us goodies

When I was little my grandma (MLO's GG or Great Grandma - the one who recently turned 80) always kept a cupboard where ever she lived, filled with kids books, toys and such stuff.

I am the oldest grandkid (by five years) so GG's collection started small with me and just grew and grew. Whenever any of the grandkid's where at her place she would open it up and we would pull out all the stuff.

I remember reading the books and naming the animals for the first time (showing them to my mom).

I remember climbing under the overlap of her kitchen island to open the cupboard and pull items out.

I loved that cupboard and it meant grandma's house for me.

Well, GG decided it was time to clean out the cupboard.

All the grandkids had grown and I am the only one with a great grandkid (none of the others are married or close to such a development in their lives).

So GG gave me all the stuff.

MLO is having a great time playing with the new books. There are a bunch of pop-up books of animals and places. She also got little dolls and such from other countries like New Zealand.

There were also some of those classic story books. The ones with about 40-80 stories in them, that will probably be worth money when MLO grows up.

So we both have a lot of new reading material and I feel like grandma is now always near me.

No T.V.

So I made a new rule where there is no TV allowed during certain times of the day.

TV had somehow slowly crept into our lives so it was on (even as background noise when we were doing other stuff) almost all the time.

So I have now replaced it with music for background noise and don't turn the TV on until 8pm. MLO usually goes to sleep shortly after that, so there is almost no TV time for her at all.

I am very happy with this as we go outside, play, talk, color, read and do so many other things.

I think this is very important for kids that they don't get over exposed to TV and instead move around and see their world. There is so much to do without TV that you don't want to miss.

Free Blog Design Give-a-way

I have been thinking about wanting to upgrade my design to something more unique and better represents my family. But don't have the budget for it currently. So if I win one - that would be great!! There is a mother's day blog design giveaway happening here:

Head to Toe

So yesterday was my first experience of dirt actually spread head to toe.

MLO was playing outside and, as has happened a lot recently, she goes and sits in the dirt and moves it around. She makes piles on the ground and on her legs. She puts it on the sidewalk and spreads it around. She drops it like water onto other plants.

I have told people, figuratively speaking, that she gets covered from head to toe in dirt and loves it.

Well, yesterday this wasn't figurative at all. She was actually totally dirty. Her hair, face, neck, chest (shirt), arms, legs (shorts), socks and shoes.

I wasn't sure exactly how to proceed. If I let her in the house, the house would get filthy.

So I grabbed a few rags, got them wet and proceeded to at least wipe down the worst areas. She protested and hated that (but loved being dirty).

After I got her somewhat cleaner, we marched through the house and straight into the bathtub.