Two short stories...

1. Miss M has diaper rash, so she got to spend a little time naked the other night. She was playing on the living room floor, I looked over and noticed she had pooped on the floor. I scooped her up to go wash her hands (and her tush) and Daddy ran to the kitchen to get some paper towels, but by the time he got back the poop was gone. And the dog was smacking his lips. Gross.

2. Miss M has her "bye-bye" wave down pat. This morning she waved at Curious George when he said bye-bye to his friend on TV, and tonight she waved bye-bye to the phone when Grandma said bye-bye to her. Soooo cute.

Baby on Baby Violence

Last week M came home with a scratch below her left eye. When we picked her up at daycare they made us sign an incident report explaining how the scratch got there. One of the other babies did it. What action was taken? "Clean the cut and lots of TLC." Well that's nice. We asked who did it, just out of curiousity - doesn't really matter - and we're told "We can't tell you." "Oh, did you not see it happen?" "No, we're not allowed to tell you, it's against center policy." Huh, interesting. Are they afraid I'm going to retaliate? Send my kid after the bully with a switch blade - or worse, peanut butter (allergy alert, allergy alert!).

UPDATE: We believe we have identified the culprit. We have reason to believe Miss A (yes, the birthday girl) was the scratcher. Daddy overheard Miss A's Mommy telling her "no scratching honey!" at the party. And she is an agressive little bugger. :)

Gymboree!

Miss M attended her first birthday party yesterday. Miss A from daycare turned one and hosted her party at Gymboree. M had a blast, crawling all over the slide and mats, getting right into the middle of the action with the big kids. She was jumping off the boxes (with my help) and walking across the giant air tube (with my help), she was even crawling right up to the teachers all by herself and played with them.

The parachute and bubbles where highlights of the day - they spread out a parachute, sing a song, and blow bubbles at the kids. M crawled right to the center of the parachute and kept trying to pick up the bubbles. She was completely enthralled. She also thoroughly enjoyed scarfing down her first cupcake. She sucked all the frosting off the top of the cupcake then took little nibbles of the cake while I held it (she ate the whole thing). One of the older little boys saw her and said, "Mommy, look at that baby's face!", M was full of frosting. Then I noticed that his mommy was meticulously picking the pink sprinkles off the top of his cupcake because he didn't like them. Maggie literally inhaled her cupcake, and yet the four year old was disgusted by sprinkles. I hope she stays this open-minded.

Here are a few pictures from Daddy's phone camera:


M's very first cupcake - she's in love.

Bubble time on the parachute.

Hug Your Baby Extra Hard Today

We are all so fragile, don't ever forget it. Accidents happen, children get sick, and there's nothing you can do about it. Nothing, except hug your babies extra hard today. Tell them how much you love them. And thank god that they are healthy.

I have a friend, her son is in the NICU. Her whole pregnancy has been two steps forward, one step back, even now. It's not fair. So even if your kid is screaming at you, spitting on the dog, drawing on the walls, throwing a fit in a restaurant, or 35 years old and still living at home, HUG YOUR KID EXTRA HARD TODAY!

Miss M Likes Cookies..

And here's the picture to prove it :)

My Eyelashes Froze.

It's so flippin' cold. It's so cold there is ice inside my closet. It is so cold the dog won't go outside. It is so cold, I've had to wear my one pair of long underwear three days in a row. Is so cold my eyelashes turned into eye-cicles and thawed out into a little splash of water around my eyes. The baby is oblivious of course, as she is sheathed in a poofy pink snowsuit from head to toe. If anything she is probably thinking it's rather hot outdoors, since every time she leaves the house she looks like a giant Hostess Sno-ball.

We have discovered dog toys

Miss M hasn't really paid much attention to the dogs - until now. Yesterday when we got home from work/daycare the dogs came running out to greet us and she started squealing with delight. She was whipping her head around trying to following them, laughing the whole time. And the night before, she figured out how to entertain P, the little dog. Steal the dog's stuffed squirrel, and wave it around in front of her face until she just can't take it anymore and steals it back. Little dog P is surprising (thankfully) very gentle with Miss M, it's really very precious actually. Now, if I could just keep this baby out of the dog's dishes...

Daddy's finest hour...

Bye Bye...

We have this toy called a music table. Basically another piece of plastic on three legs, baby height, that plays music or talks when you hit one of the plethora of buttons on top. If you neglect the music table for too long it says "bye, bye" and shuts itself off. So, Miss M had crawled away from the music table and into the next room by Daddy when the thing says, "bye bye". Miss M then turns back toward the other room and waves bye bye at the toy, then turns back around and keeps right on crawling. So funny!

BIG day!

We have a walker! A real, no holding on, walker! Miss M has taken her first hands-free steps today, her first steps without using the inertia of her body to throw herself at her target, her first (four) real steps! It wasn't anything crazy, like walking the length of the living room, but she went from me to her toy box four steps away all on her own. What a big girl!

Ruff Ruff!

My daughter just ate dog food. She crawled up to the dogs bowl and grabbed a handful and shoved it in her mouth. Gross.

Bad habits.

I feel like I'm being called to task on all my bad habits. The older she gets, the more she notices, and the more she learns, and the more I realize that I have to get my act together and be a "good influence". For example...can't fart, burp, or pick my nose in front of her because instead of being an ambivalent little blob, she now watches, carefully, and responds. She laughs if you burp in front of her. That's not funny, that's rude! What am I teaching my little girl! Also, I can't eat junk food anymore, and I actually have to start including fruits and vegetables in every meal. Because SHE needs them, even though I hate them. Argh! Parenting is starting to get more complicated!

Getting older

The teachers at daycare told me that everyone came back from Christmas vacation doing all sorts of new things. Miss M is now waving (and cutting another tooth) and standing without holding on, friends S and A are walking, little J is sitting up by himself, and there is a new kid in the class. Everyone is getting older! I can't believe that less than a year ago we didn't even have Miss M yet, and now she's a big girl already. Doing big girl things everyday, like eating spaghetti and green beans, picking up her toys, going to bed on her own, and drinking from the sippy cup. I know, she's hardly going off to college, but that's just around the corner. A year has flown by - a year ago I was bloated and dying of heartburn, and totally selfish, and now everything is different. Everything is better - harder :), but way better.

The Village People would be proud!

Y M C A!

We are now community people - now that we have a kid. And as such we have become members of our local YMCA. What fond memories I have of swim class, summer day camp, spying on the racket ball courts and dancing to "I Wanna Dance With Somebody" by Whitney Houston. Now it's Miss M's turn for good Christian high-jinx, she had her very first swim class today. She is in the "shrimp/perch" class, ages 6 months to 3 years. Obviously you don't really learn to swim in this class, I think the ultimate goal is to learn how to blow bubbles - although even that seems a little advanced for a 10 month old. I just wanted a good excuse to get in a pool every week. She did great today, much better than the older girl (2 and a half) that cried her eyes out as soon as her big toe hit the water.

My aching back

Last night, I don't know what I did, but my lower back was driving me nuts. J told me he would try to work out the knot I seemed to have, so I laid down on the living room floor for my mini-massage. All of a sudden I felt two little hands slapping my shoulders over and over and over again - that's some crazy massage! Then, I felt two little knees crawl up onto my back and bounce up and down. Then, I heard the giggle, and I started laughing my head off. My lower back is still not right, but that was the best massage I've ever had.

Yippee Kai Yay!

Miss M got pony lessons for Christmas this year. Well, not lessons to ride a real pony, but close enough. Her dad is her teacher. She's up toa pretty good gallop already!