petting zoo
Did I tell you all that we went to an exotic petting zoo on Saturday? I don't think so. Consider yourself told.

The State Fairgrounds had a kids thingy in the Orr building, so we decided to check it out. Ally had a blast. She got to see (but not pet) kangaroos, monkeys, and tigers, (and pet) an aligator, goats, llamas, oh, I don't know what else. There were animals. She cracked up at the monkeys.

They also had a couple rides. (It sounds kinda lame as I write this though. Am I that easily amused?) She rode the camel with Rob. It didn't look at all comfortable, and I'm not sure I could have gotten on even if it hadn't been a stupid thing to do 7 months pregnant. She jumped in a blow-up jumping tent thing a couple times. Then she decided she wanted to ride the swings.

Scary.

These swings were pretty big seats, but did not have seat belts. I did not notice this until we were committed to letting her ride. There was a bar across the front, and a chain between her legs. that's all. It's not like the ride was extraordinarily fast or anything, but she could have stood up and fallen at any time. I was holding on fears in because Rob seemed to be sure of himself, but when the ride was over, he said "I can't believe we let her on that" I about kille dhim. Anyway, it worked out. We only had 1 scare. But the ride operators couldn't get her out of the swing. Rob had to go get her kicking andscreaming. She was tired by that point, and wanted to swing some more.

She took a good nap. In fact, that may be the day that we snuggled up on the couch to fall asleep...?

swiper
Ally has become a little Swiper. She's terrified that Swiper will take her stuff, but it seems to be okay to pretend she is Swiper, and take our stuff.
She'll take something and then yell "You'll never find it now" and giggle like crazy.

sleeping
Ally is. I'm not. Rob can't. It sucks. Rob's finally got a c-pap machine, but it doesn't help. he can't fall asleep with it on. I can't gte comfortable. Ally though, has really taken to sleeping in her toy room. Most of the time, I don't even have to get up with her once. I still can't make her go to bed on her own - I have to stay with her, but it's not too bad I suppose.

Sometimes she wakes up in the middle of the night yelling about someone taking her stuff. I swear she is obsessed. 2 nights ago it was her pancakes. I wake up to hear "MY PANCAKES!!! MY PANCAKES!!" The kid was still asleep and dreaming that someone is stealning her pancakes. I had to wake her up a little bit and remind her that she was in bed and sleeping. She slept the rest of the night just fine.

where did the time go?
I know that this is a huge cliche, but it's really true: Children grow up too quickly. On the way home tonight, Ally asked me "What happened to my big rock? I don't see it." She's 2. That's a pretty complicated sentence for a 2 year old, isn't it? I would have expected "where'd it go?" or maybe "where my rock?" or something similar. She's not my little baby anymore. The other day for nap, I snuggled up on the couch with her and read her umpteen stories and she fell asleep in my arms. It was so perfect. (Partly because I didn't have to fight to get her to nap, but anyway...) I realize that there aren't that many of those days left though. She's already getting too big to pick up and carry for long.

But the worst part is this - Last night, Ally called me Mom. just plain Mom. I went from being The Milk-Bringer, All-Knowing Fulfiller of Needs, and Center of the Universe, to Momma, to Mommy, to Mom. It's kinda depressing. Granted, she switched right back to Mommy this morning, but it's a little sneak preview of the future, and makes me a little sad. Pretty soon, I'm not going to be Mom anymore, I'll be that witch who won't let me _____(fill in the blank).

Of course, then I might get to eat my supper in peace...

What was I thinking?
Forget all that crap I said about being sad Ally is growing up. It must have been the pregnancy hormones talking. Is there anything I can do to make it go faster? I hear a lot of people talking about how the chemicals in food these days seem to make kids grow faster and stuff. There any truth to that? and which foods exactly? Hopefully it's chicken strips, becuase that's about all she eats. Or maybe there is some kind of steroid I can put in her peanut butter? She drove me insane tonight!!! It all started out just fine, she played nicely before tumbling, and then we went and she did her stretches (which she usually doesn't do) but from then it broke down.

I think she was hungry. The problem with that is that she won't eat anything but munchies unless she's starving first and 6 is her usual supper time. That's what time class starts. If I get her something on the way, she doesn't have time to finish it before we get there. Then she doesn't want anything to do with food, she wants to play until class starts. Anyway, we usually manage, but tonight did not work out well.

Add to that the fact that I'm pregnant and tired half the time, and don't have the energy to discipline her like I should, it just wore me out. (And I'm paying for the stinking class and she better enjoy it Dammit!) We came home early, because she wouldn't listen, and threats only work if you follow through with them. We didn't leave too early, but hopefully it will show her I mean what I say. I gave her some food and sat her down in front of the tv. Does that make me a terrible mom? That's just a hypothetical question, btw. I don't really want to know. I'm too tired for this shit. Plus the heartburn... oy-vey!

scrapbook
I finally got around to making a couple scrapbook pages again. Check them out.

September 2004

2005 Composite

little girls and the potty
Helpful hint:

Don't assume that a little girl who sits on the potty won't pee on you, just because she doesn't have a penis. Gravity is not necesarily the only force at work here. Make sure said little girl is leaning forward, not back and positioned far enough back on the toliet... especially first thing in the morning.

This has been a public service announcement. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

I know where my memory went
Ally drained it all out of me. She knows almost every word in "Birthday Monsters" by Susan Boynton. If I could figure out how to capture a sound clip out of a quicktime movie, I would totally do it and post it here, but it's too big otherwise, because it's so cute to hear her say "raiding the refrigerator" I say the first 1 or 2 words on the page, and she says the rest. There aren't that many words on each page, but still...

Last night, I decided to see if she's committed her other current favorite to memory - Elmo Loves You (a valentine's book. Actually, Grandma Glinda and Grandpa Bob gave us both of these) It has quite a few more words in the book, and some more subtle illustrations of them. I was amazed. No wonder she has suck a vocabulary.

I knew having kids sucked out your memory, but I had no idea they got to keep it and use it themselves!

uno...dos...tres
Who snuck in my house and taught me child to count in Spanish? Oh nevermind. I bet it was Dora.

I asked the kid how many fish sticks she had left the other night, and she said "I don't know. Let's count them. (Standard response from her. We count everything around here. even if there is only one thing to count. We counted everyone's nose the other day. Surprise - no one had more than one) uno, dos" And she was right. There were 2. So then, I asked her to count her fingers. She's pretty much got it down up to 5. She can count to 5 in Spanish just from watching Dora! I worked with her a little, and she's now up to 7 reliably, and sometimes remembers more.

Now I may be biased, but I think this just proves the fact that she's a dingus! (Or I'm a horrible person and let her watch way too much TV. One or the other)

Delivering what I promised
Some time ago, I promised that I would get this pic out there. Is it not just too cute for words? I love my family.

the stupidest thing ever
Oh boy. I have some great ammunition now. My husband has done the stupidest thing you could think of. I mean dumb. He called me at work the other day and started our conversation with "What's the stupidest thing that you can think of that I could do at home by myself today?" I gave him a lot more credit than he deserved. I didn't think of it. However, he was right. Haha, he was also in some pain because of it. Not that I'm uncaring or anything, but it was damn funny in hindsight. I can't tell you all what it was, because he's kinda ashamed of it, and would be upset, but you would SOOOO laugh if I could tell you.

I'm never going to let him forget it.

by the way
The baby is doing fine. (I have a helluva nasty cold bug, but and still at work, passing my germs on to everyone who comes near though) We had a checkup yesterday, and all the measurements, and heartbeat and everything are as expected. They want me to take a little extra iron, but that's no big deal. I got my glucose levels checked, but haven't heard the results. I'm sure it'll be fine too. I am now on a 2 week schedule instead of monthly visits. 3rd trimester, here we go... Beginning of April, I'll switch to every week. The countdown continues.

The baby is very active, just like Ally was. I think she started later, but Rob says I just don't remember. I love to watch my stomach move around. But she gets up in one place and pushes and it HURTS. I poke at her and sometimes she moves, and sometimes she pokes back. I hope she's not as strong-willed as Ally - I don't think I can fight 2 of them.

Am I the luckiest person in the world?
Sometimes I get overwhelmed by the love Ally stirs in our lives. Like when she is giving her Daddy a hug, and she says "Mommy, Daddy, Mommy, Daddy" That's my cue to join them in a big three-way cuddle-hug. She beams the brightest smile ever and I feel her love wash over us and sometimes it makes me want to cry. I wonder how I ever thought I was happy before she came into our lives, and I wonder how I could ever get happier with another one. But I know I will.

life jackets and socks are fun
As promised:

In those big bags of clothes that Ruth gave us were a bunch of socks, and some coat-type vests. One vest was green and had Dora on it. We love Dora at our house if you haven't noticed by now. Ally saw it when we got back from the baby shower, and grabbed it. She just had to put it on. She is convinced it's a life jacket to "keep Ally safe". Every time Dora gets on a boat in the cartoon, she says this. She argued with me when I told her it wasn't a life jacket. Oh well, whatever.

The pile of socks, I left in the bottom of one otherwise empty bag. They were all different colors and designs. we spent about 45 minutes that night changing socks. She's never been interested in her socks before, but now she definitely is. The next day (I think - it's been so long) she threw a fit when I tried to put white socks on her. We had to have yellow ones. Yellow didn't even come close to matching the clothes she had on, but WTF? It's not worth fighting over, right? The next day, she wore pink with a green shirt. Now, when I pick out her clothes in the morning, I have to try to find exciting socks that match, so she won't fight me getting dressed.

Ally needs permission to fall asleep
As promised:

Last Saturday(? My God that was a long time ago) When we took Ally for that drive to fall asleep, she was sitting in her seat wide-eyed and looking around. i turned around and told her that if she wanted to close her eyes and take a nap, that would be okay. I turned back around, and Rob was laughing. I was confused. I turned around and looked at her again, and she was asleep. He said that as soon as I got done talking, her head FELL forward to her chest, and she was out. I guess she was just waiting for us to tell her it was okay?

tumbling
Ok, so Rob didn't argue at all when I told him how much she liked tumbling class last week. We went again last night - all of us. When I picked Ally up from day care, she didn't really want to leave. usually I tell her "Daddy's waiting at home for us" and that hurries her up. That didn't work, so I told her we were going to go tumbling after supper. Oh, she was ready to leave then.

On the way home, she wouldn't stop taking about it. I reminded her that she played with the kids last time and they were running and jumping. She said "and rolling and dancing" You all might not think that's such a big thing, but it's a great leap forward in her retention of details. I was so proud.

Then, she started looking around for the kids. She wasn't getting the idea that we weren't going to go for a couple hours. I told her we had to go home and get Daddy first and eat. She said "Tell him come on and play kids?" The whole 15 minute drive she was talking about it some way or another. Man, that kid can talk.

And, of course, she had a blast tumbling this week too.

I wish I was 2.
If I were 2 years old:
I would never have to fall asleep alone.
I would get a bedtime story read to me every night.
Someone would brush my hair for me every day.
I would only eat 5 things that I deemed acceptable.
I could pour orange juice down my shirt, and not have to do laundry.
It would be fun to do dishes.
I'd learn to use the potty, because... YUCK
People would buy me pretty clothes to wear.
I could be entertained by a 3 foot tall plastic slide for hours.
It would be funny if I stick my hands in someone else's pockets to steal their money.
When I got mad, I could just scream.
When I got done screaming, I would absolutely forget I was ever upset.
Everyone would be proud of me for every minor accomplishment.
I'd be surrounded by love...

Yes, it would be nice to be a 2 year old in our house.

more weird things
This time, I'll do a bodily functions type thing. FYI: It may be more than you wanted to know.

1. I can't stand to have a peeling sunburn. If I start peeling, I have been known to stand around for an hour or 2 just to peel it all off. My husband likes to let it fall off at it's own pace. I have to restrain myself from peeling it off him. I can't stand it.

2. I'm obsessed with my feet. They are very ugly, but I can pick things up with my toes, and do often. I can't take my socks off without cleaning out the sock lint from between my toes. I seem to have passed this obsession on to my daughter.

3. I wish my husband and I were back at that embarrassed stage where you didn't fart in front of each other. 'nuff said.

4. I light a match after I stink up the bathroom.

5. In the past 3 years, I have only had 3 periods. YAY! I don't get a period regularly when I'm not on the pill. When I was breastfeeding, I had to take a mini-pill, and didn't get a period until the DR made me switch back to the regular ones.

tumbling
Last night, Rob had to work, so I decided to try out a place I heard of that has a toddler tumbling class. I didn't know if it will be worth going every week, since Rob doesn't get to see her all that much when he's in school, but thought it worth checking out.

Ally loved it!!!!! it was not really very structured or anything. First we (the parents did it too. You can't really get toddlers to follow directions except by demonstrating) all did some stretches. You try touching your toes when you are 6 months pregnant. I didn't manage it. Ally wasn't much interested to start, but then...then we got to run ni circles around the room. It's a HUGE room with mirrors all on one wall and a thick pad floor. (over ecment. It was kinda cold) The pads have a joint between them, that we all walked up and down the lines with, and then hopped up and down them. Then they got a couple big cushy things out. One was a big wedge to run up and jump off of. One was a big hexagon - the kids stood with their backs to it, and the teacher helped them roll over backwards and kick off like a backwards somersault. One was a 18 inch balance beam thingy shaped like a crayon. And they had a little trampoline! Ally ran and ran and ran. There were 4 other kids there too. The class lasted 45 minutes, and ended with everyone going into another room where they have this thing like a bouncy road. I don't know what it's called but it was really long, and the kids climbed up onto it, and it was all trampoline-y. Ally had a great time running all the way down it. She even started to yell at me if I came near here. "Ally Do It!!" I think we might be going back if Rob doesn't put up too much of a fight.

cleaning, Chucky Cheese, and visit with Grandma
So we finally got all the crap put away this weekend. I spent Saturday morning organizing and finding places for a bunch of the stuff that got displaced last weekend. We went for a drive around 2 to give Ally a chance to sleep, and return the flooring samples we looked at. The stupid store closed at 2 though, and we didn't make it, so I have to do that today still.

When we got home, Rob did some homework, and we finally got our car ad written up and put on CarSoup. Cross your fingers for me. Ally woke up kinda cranky, so I took her upstairs and held her a bit. She seemed to want to go back to sleep, so I tried to lay her down a bazillion different ways, but every time she lost contact with me, she'd start fussing again. Finally, I gave her to Rob the hold and went back downstairs for something. When I came back up a half hour later, they were both sleeping together on the couch. It was so cute. I took pictures, but since the USB ports on the computer still aren't working, I can't download them yet.

Marley's 4th birthday party was at 6 at Chucky Cheese's. What a crazy time it was. People everywhere and kids running around. They were packed. Ally refused to sit still. She followed the girls into the shoeless kid-tunnels, but they didn't stay there long, so she went on to something new. She found out that she could put tokens ("tickets") into the rides and games ALL BY HERSELF and was thrilled. She rode a couple of the little cars and played the little kids version of whack-a-mole and just generally had a great time. We kept trying to get her back to the table occasionally so we could eat, but she was having none of that. We had to take shifts. Rob took most of them. He's always so helpful when family is around. I think it's to that he doesn't have to socialize.

Ally went home with Mom afterward. She went to church* with her Sunday, and I picked her up from there to take her to my nieces baby shower after. Mom says that she never shut up all the way home for the 40 minute drive. Within 5 minutes, Bamako had fallen asleep. That's my daughter. Takes after me. I remember wondering if she was ever going to talk and being worried. but, as soon as she got those tubes, it all went quick. She could talk your ears off.

Ruth sent home 3 big bags of clothes Marley has outgrown that Ally will grow into soon. So Sunday morning, I went through them all and sorted them by season. I love having Marley at Ruth's. Ruth is a shop-a-holic, and buys nice clothes. She has great taste, which I don't. This means Ally gets nice clothes, and I don't have to buy them, which means the next kid will have 2x hand-me-downs. The greatest part is that there are so many clothes, Ally doesn't even wear them out. She probably has 10 pair of jeans, alone - not to mention all the other outfits and such. We don't use the pajamas though. Ally has decided that she only really likes to sleep in flannel pants and a onsie.**

She did lots of cute things, but this has gone on long enough, and I'm tired. I'll come back later and finish up. Here's a sneak preview.

Ally needs permission to fall asleep

Ally has too many grandmas

Ally plays with Lane

"Life jackets" and socks are fun

* Yes, we let the kid go to church. This was a huge issue between Rob and I once upon a time. Rob thinks that sending kids to Sunday school is akin to indoctrinating them in the church/religion before they have a chance to make their own decisions and therefore a form of brainwashing. (Yes, he's a little psychotic over dramatic extreme.) He's very against it. I'm fine with that. Whatever makes him happy. But while I was pregnant, we discussed it occasionally, and he didn't even ever want to let Ally go to Mom's house on a Saturday night to avoid the issue with her. I don't think playing in the church nursery or Sunday school or whatever is going to scar the child at the rate she's going (once in over 2 years). We butted heads. I got him to grudgingly admit that he overreacted based on the fact that he was dragged to church all the time growing up (??? His mom and dad say this wasn't so. Rob has a horrible memory, so I'm betting on them. The only ones that went to church all the time were the grandparents, and so it couldn't have been more than the summers that Rob was forced to go. But I can't argue with him). he still isn't thrilled with the idea, but we tabled the discussion. So when I agreed to let Ally go to Mom's I conveniently left that little detail out of the picture. Rob happily didn't think about it, and life was grand. Then Christy brought it up in front of Rob at the party. Rat-fink sister! She didn't even take a hint and shut up about it when I gave her "the look". He didn't get upset by it though. We both would have been happier if he hadn't had to know, (He said this himself) but oh well. Ally had a good time and it won't happen again for a couple months most likely. Rob can put his head back in the sand by then.

**exception to this rule is another story for later.

(I remembered )