Baby in the Bathroom

In our house our guest bathroom is the only bathroom on the first floor and therefore is used quite frequently.  This bathroom is located just inside the laundry room which is right next to the family room.  When Maggie goes to use the toilet Catie is often hot on her heels.  This may come in handy in about a year when we're trying to potty-train Catie, but right now it's just gross.  Catie will hoist herself up to stand at the rim of the toilet while Maggie sits doing her business.  Maggie thinks that Catie is going to fall in by doing this (I think she's doomed for a nasty case of pink-eye) so she starts yelling "Mom!  Trouble in the bathroom!!!!"  Lemme tell ya, it gets old. 

So when Maggie goes to the bathroom we try to close the door to the laundry room so Catie can't come in and get to the bathroom (or the dog food in the laundry room) and cause 'trouble'.  Sooooo... to get to the point.... This morning Maggie went to the bathroom and we closed Catie out.  Then I went to the bathroom and I left the doors open (Catie is also quite fond of climbing the stairs and the kitchen chairs so I will have no privacy for at least another year).  Maggie points out that I forgot to close the door and "Here comes trouble!"  I tell her it's OK because this way I can watch Catie and make sure she's safe, even if she comes in the bathroom.  Maggie says, "Ohhh.... because you have a big butt and she can't fall in the toilet because your big butt is on there.  I have a little butt and she can fall in because there is space between my butt and the toilet.  But your butt is big!"

Yes Maggie, that is exactly what I was thinking.  Thanks. So. Much.

Baby Update

I have a love/hate relationship with my baby right now.  I love that she is growing and learning new things, but I hate that she's not really a baby anymore at all!  Catie is closing in on her first birthday and things are changing fast.  If she's near furniture her preferred mode of transport is walking (cruising), although she has gotten to be quite a speedy crawler.  She likes to crawl up the stairs all the way to the top and then turn around and walk down them (while holding Mom's hands of course).  She knows how to drink out of straw now as well (and got her first sip of chocolate milk because of that - I really didn't think she could do it).  She knows how to wave 'bye-bye' and does it every time she goes up to bed, without being prompted.  And she knows how to shove her sister out of the way to get what she wants.  Poor Maggie, she never shoves her sister, she knows it would land her in a time-out, but the baby doesn't suffer the same consequences.  Maggie's pretty smart though, when we made a big deal out of the shoving I asked Maggie if we should put Catie in a time-out and she said, "No MOM, Catie is just a BABY!" 

So like I said, love/hate.  She really is amazing, aren't all babies?  And I love to see her little brain working and growing, but WHERE DID MY BABY GO!  The year went so fast, it's weird to think that in just four months she'll be the same age Maggie was when we moved into this house, a toddler!  Wow.

Mama Down!

I'm sick.  So much for all that "healthy" living I've been doing.  I think that's actually what got me sick - everything was fine until I went to the gym yesterday, then by last night I could tell my lymph nodes were swollen, and now I'm just sore all over with a low-grade fever.  Who gets a flu in the middle of summer?  THIS girl, that's who.  There should be a mom pill for mom flu, I honestly think that it's more important that MOM is feeling 100% than it is the President.  Sure, he has to keep Libya from blowing up, but I have to keep two babies fed, clean, and happy.  I'm  sure all you mama's out there know that's no easy task (negotiating with a toddler definitely takes more skill than negotiating with a world leader....I'm sure it does).  GAWD... even my hair hurts!  I hate that.  I hate being sick.  Maggie has been mostly understanding, she sat in my bed with me and asked every so often "Are you feeling better Mom?" and that really is so sweet... it almost made it OK that she did a somersault right on to my head while jumping on the bed.  Almost. 

I Made A Hat!

I feel like some kind of magician or something. I actually made a real hat... and it doesn't suck! Pictures are below --- the hat is a little wrinkled after a day at the beach, but it still looks like a real hat. A REAL HAT! Can you believe it? I can't!

 

Maggie Dance Recital Video

Attention all Grandparents!  I've finally had time to put together the video of Maggie's dance recital.  Here you have it, feel free to share the cutenes...

Rapunzel Dance Party

Our new favorite music (thank you Erin) is the Rapunzel soundtrack and yesterday Maggie AND Catie decided to have a little dance party.  Of course Catie stopped most of her moves as soon as I picked up the camera, but if you watch her at the beginning you can see her do the moonwalk.... or, I mean, bounce up and down a little bit.  Enjoy...

Baby's First Ice Cream

I mean, honestly... is there anything cuter than watching a baby eat her first ice cream cone?  No.  No there is not.

Yesterday we were a little let down by the local "fun fair" (not really a fair, not really fun) so we decided to treat the girls to some Dairy Queen instead.  Catie got her first big-girl "baby" cone.  I held it up to her lips and she kinda kissed it and looked a little surprised.  Before I could pull the cone away she opened her mouth wide and tried to shove the entire top of the ice cream into her mouth with both hands.  I pulled her hands away with one arm and tried to maneuver the cone out of the way while holding her with the other arm.  You know how a cartoon dog looks when it's snarling and biting, trying to catch a cat through a chain-link fence?  That's kind of how Catie looked trying to get her ice cream cone through my defenses. 

We took her outside (to minimize the damage to the shop) and sat her on a table so I could have better control over her extremities and she calmed down enough to take bite after bite, slurping up all the ice cream and every last crumb of the cone.  If she had the dexterity to lick her fingers one-by-one I think she would have done it.  She was very pleased with herself... until she noticed that I had yet to touch my mini-Blizzard.  She informed me through a series of squawks that she would be happy to take some of that Blizzard off my hands.  Yum, yum, yummy.

Sew Cute!

I've finally made something Maggie likes to wear (Halloween costume doesn't count).  Super simple pattern for a little dress that I've altered to make longer or shorter (as seen in pictures below) for a shirt.  I just have to show off, I'm so proud of myself... I had a more than willing model.

From Projects

From Projects

From Projects

From Projects

Little Trouble

I've taken to calling Catie "Trouble" lately.  She started crawling a couple weeks ago and has gotten very speedy, so before you know it she's knee deep in trouble... hence the nickname.

A moment ago, as I sat with my back to them at this computer (horrible mother) I hear Maggie saying, "I have a little trouble over here!"  and of course I ignore her because she might consider the fact that the heel of her sock is askew "a little trouble" and should be able to deal with it herself.  But then she escalates, "Mom!  I have BIG trouble over here."  So I turn around.  She's referring to her sister who is sitting next to her watching out the patio door for the dogs in the yard.  Catie is not actually IN trouble, she just IS Trouble.

LIttle Things I'm Grateful for Today: June 9th

Of course I'm grateful for the big things - my family, my health, my sanity.  But I think I'm going to start periodically posting a list of the little things I'm grateful for.... because it will amuse me... and maybe you'll be grateful for something in the list too!

Today I am grateful for...

Method brand Squirt and Mop hardwood floor cleaner.  This floor cleaner is no-wax, non-toxic, biodegradable, AND it smells totally awesome - like almond!

Seventh Generation Multi-Surface Cleaner.  Made from botanical pure plant extracts and smells so good you might want to use it to season chicken breast for the grill... lemongrass and thyme.

Marzetti White Balsamic Vinaigrette.  So yummy, I'm contemplating drinking it straight from the bottle.

Goat cheese.  Really, need I say more?

Dance Recital 2011

Maggie's dance recital "All About Disney" was last week.  It was only slightly less ridiculous than the last one.  She had a great time, her routine was to "Once apon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty.  A few photos below, and more on Picasa if you click HERE. 

From Dance Recital

From Dance Recital

From Dance Recital

From Dance Recital

100 degrees, It's time for the Pool!

Oh my god.  It is so hot!  My car temp read 100 degrees while driving home this afternoon.  That's just ridiculous.  It's only June!  And we don't live in Africa, it has no business being this hot in northern Illinois.  Thank god we signed up for a season pass to the pool again this year.  I was a little concerned about the logistics, it could prove difficult to keep a three-year-old and an infant from drowning at the same time, but my concerns were without merit... we went to the pool today for the first time and all went swimmingly!  Ha!

While we were there we got to see a lifeguard get the shit scared out of her - what a way to start the summer!  She was monitoring the baby-section of the pool.  Yes, babies are present, but so are kids up to about five years old.  All of a sudden the lifeguard's whistle blows and she's pointing and running towards a naked baby floating upside down in the pool!  You would think one of the other mothers would have scooped the baby up, but nope they all just let it bob along under the sprinklers - and no one performed that lifesaving task because the baby in question belonged to a two-year-old little girl and was made of plastic. The two-year-old was pretty scared herself...  I bet mom won't be bringing that doll to the pool anymore.