A collection of calamities

Yesterday was such a complete and utter disaster I'm not even sure where to start. I guess I'll first say, the chance of posting something last night was totally out of the question because I was laid up on the sofa with a pounding headache.  Why, you might ask?? I'll get to that in one second. That would, of course, be calamity number 3.  But first, let's run down the list in proper order.

1) Ah yes, calamity number 1.  Yesterday was going to be a fun filled day. It was complete with lots of outings both new and old and the Monkey was going to be worn out and nap like a champ.  That was the plan. And I will say, the Monkey held up her part of the bargain, no problem.  I, on the other hand, did not.  After a great morning nap (60 minutes) and a nice run, the Monkey, Gramma Judy and I were going to walk to Elizabeth Creamery for some ice cream.  It's exactly 1.5 miles from the house and so off we went.  We arrived around noon to find - once again (since this is my new trend) - a closed ice cream shop.  At this point, nothing surprises me with closed outing locations.  We went to ImaginOn on a Monday recently - CLOSED due to new summer hours.  We go to "PYO" farm - CLOSED due to inept farmers who choose to close whenever they feel like it.  And we arrive at Elizabeth Creamery - CLOSED - doesn't open on Monday's until 1pm.  Lord.  The only thing going for me at this point is the fact that Eloise is 13 months old and doesn't realize that she just got sandbagged on her ice cream outing.  It was hot, the 3 of us were sweaty and the freaking ice cream store is closed. Unreal.

2) Calamity number 2.  We get back home and it's time for the next Monkey nap - which was also a rock star nap of exactly 100 minutes - THANK YOU, Miss Monkey!!  - and while she's sleeping, I receive a call from the Public Library of Mecklenburg County. Huh, that's interesting. I'll admit to you right now, I hesitated even putting this next calamity up on the blog.  It's pretty embarrassing but since I've opened up the airwaves to basically "all things Eloise" that means I can't start changing history (like we're Russians or something) just because something happened that I'm not all that proud of. 

Ok, what did the Library employee have to say? That "we are being fined for 'several books' that were returned to the library because they had chewed corners. They can no longer go back into circulation and we are going to be charged $5 per book."  Are you serious???  Come on.  This was all left via vm. I didn't recognize the number so I didn't pick it up.  Well as soon as I got this message I called back immediately to the number she left.  Here's where I stand - and what I'm going to say if anyone at the library would ever pick up the phone....."You're right. We're guilty.  There's certainly a chance that my daughter put public property into her mouth. I try my best to keep a watchful eye on her oral fixation but sometimes I miss things and therefore, I'm not surprised that some of your books had to pay the price with some baby chewing.  But that said, we took out 30 books and some were in pretty rough shape to begin with so please take this into consideration when you are tallying up my fine."

But as I said, I tried to call several times. And not only was I not getting a live person, I couldn't even get an answering machine because the number was busy for hours.  What is the deal??? Well, then it finally dawns on me that the freaking library is closed on Mondays - hence last week's trip to ImaginOn and their new "Summer Hours."  But someone called me from somewhere so why is it that they left me a phone number to call back when it's busy and when they are supposedly not even working?  I finally throw in the towel on the phone option and I decide to lob in an email to an anonymous email box from their web site. Of course no real email addresses are listed for actual real people from their web site. Just a "Hey, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you!" email box. Fine. You're gonna hear from me. 

My email said something like I typed above.  "We're sorry. We'll certainly pay our debt to society for my menace-book-eating-child but please take into consideration that the library books we're pretty banged up to begin with, yada yada yada."  I had no preconceived notion that this email would actually be read and responded to but to my surprise, I heard from the Circulation Mgr. this morning.  And he was really nice.  But get this - he has no record of my daughter eating his books anywhere in the system.  Um......you called me!  Great - at this point, I'm confessing to a crime they aren't even aware happened. Or at least he's not. Anyway, he's going to look into it. He completely understands that sometimes things happen and that he appreciated me taking some responsibility and he'll get back to me. Ok, thanks.

Now let's get down to brass tacks here.  I let my daughter chew on public library books.  Could anything be nastier??  What's next??  A public toilet??  Now I'm not trying to be hard on myself. Obviously I don't think I'm a bad mom. I may joke that DSS needs to be called from time to time but all in all, I feel like I'm doing my best with Eloise. And by doing my best, I'll have to admit, that means I'm not 100% "on-it" all day, every day.  And sadly, that also means that sometimes things get into her mouth that I would rather didn't.  This list also includes dirt, mulch, sticks and the like. To say she's extremely oral would be the understatement of the year. You know it's bad when you see your daughter's hand reach for something and her mouth opens at the same time. Yes, that really happens. 100% of the time.

I spend all day every day saying, "Out of your mouth. Out of your mouth. Do not put that in your mouth. Rocks do not go in your mouth. Do not put that stick in your mouth. Out of your mouth. Out of your mouth."  It's non-stop and it's what I do.  It's starting to sink it but it's a work in progress that I don't see stopping anytime in the near future. She knows not to chew on books but obviously it's something she enjoys. She also knows that sticks, rocks, dirt, mulch, her crib and much, much more do not belong in her mouth but she's 13 months old. And "Curiosity is King" right now.  Honestly, I don't think she can help it.  So I'll continue with my constant encouragement (or rather demands) to keep things out of her mouth at which point I will get the same reaction I always get, which is.....I say, "Do not put that rock in your mouth." She stares at me. The rock goes into her mouth. She continues staring at me.I say, "out of the mouth. Get that out of your mouth." And then it comes out of the mouth.  She's driven. She must get that lick in there or else. And therefore she does. And so as I continue my quest, and so does she.  And sadly this time, library books were the sitting target.

3) Now onto calamity number 3.  I'm listing these in order of how things went down yesterday since it technically should have been called "Menace Monday."  Last night when Mike got home from work, our plan was to suit the Monkey up in her bike helmet and give the bike trailer we're borrowing a test drive. This will be her first voyage in the bike trailer and so per usual, I'm geared up and ready to go to make this the most exciting outing ever and of course, the best bike ride this little girl will ever have.  We all suit up with our helmets, we get the Monkey into the trailer, who at this point is screaming her fool head off because she hates the helmet (not surprised) and we're off.  She was a little skeptical at first. Certainly not pleased with the helmet but sort of enjoying the ride.  Well then the darn helmet kept sliding down and covering her eyes. So we'd stop, adjust the helmet and take off again.  Repeat, repeat.  After the 3rd stop Mike and I are talking about some ideas of what we can do to prevent the helmet shift. It fits her perfectly so it's not that. Rather, it's the soft seat the kiddos sit in with bike trailers that is causing her to slide down a little and thus, pushing the helmet up in the back and down over her eyes.  I don't blame her for fussing. She can't see anything!  So we get going again. I'm trying to brainstorm a loud of what we can do to the seat and all of a sudden my bike handle clips a trash recycle bin that's sitting on the side of the road and I literally go flying off the bike.  Yes, picture it. I was completely flat out crash victim on the road because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, was looking at the Monkey and talking instead, and thus clipped my handle and boom, up over the handle bars I go and SPLAT....on the ground. Unreal.  Yes, I'm fine. I'm a little banged up with some scrapes on my hands, hip, elbow and shoulder but I will tell you - THANK GOD I had my helmet on.  I seriously cracked my head on the ground but because I had my helmet on, I was completely fine. I had a headache for the rest of the night but nothing an Aleve couldn't fix.  Honestly though, I really hit my head on the ground pretty hard and we were barely moving. Like we had just taken off and were going like maybe 1/25th of a mph. I had maybe gotten in one pedal and then boom, clip the garbage can, and whammy, I'm lying on the ground.  So you guessed it, here's my public service announcement, if you ride a bike, you HAVE to put on your helmet. I don't care how far or fast or slow you are going. Do it. I'm not kidding, I would have been in the hospital last night with my head split open if I didn't have my helmet on. Wear your helmet. Do it!

Ok, so off of my helmet high horse - let's get back down to it here.  I'm trying to make a huge hay day out of the biking adventure. We want the Monkey to love the bike trailer. Both of us are hooting and hollering and trying to have tons of fun so the Monkey decides, yeah - this is kind of fun. I like bike rides!  .....and then SPLAT, she witnesses her mother - complete bike crash victim - go flying off of her bike and down on the road like a sack of potatoes.  I have to say, the entire scene was straight out of a movie - go figure - and was completely hilarious.  I mean who else would this happen too?? And yes, you can laugh. It was that ridiculous.

Anyway, we get back to the house after "the recycle bin incident" (we were maybe 2 blocks away) and we see the neighbors who are letting us borrow the trailer. They say the bike store guy who sold them the trailer said kids don't need helmets in there. I'm going to be honest, no helmet freaks me out - especially after I literally just bounced my brain off of Hanover Street. I believe that he's right in that the trailer isn't going anywhere and it's really sturdy and stable so if Mike was to fall off of his bike, that trailer will stay put but god forbid the trailer was clipped by a car????  Would that helmet help her?? I don't know. I have to think yes. Agh. All of these outings and activities we're taking her on. Are we sure we want to do this?? I realize I can't keep her in a bubble but am I putting her in harm's way just because we selfishly want a baby who enjoys bike rides???  And yes, it doesn't help the cause that I crashed. And the helmet seriously saved me from a hospital visit. But alright, let's try it. Let's take her helmet off and see. So we did and as you can predict, she liked the trailer much better.  But I'm torn really. It's scary to me to have her out there without a helmet on.  We're going to give the trailer another try again tonight when Mike gets home. I want to do it with the helmet first and see if I can't sit her in there in a way where it won't shift on her head. And if that doesn't work, we'll try it with no helmet.  Again, that kind of freaks me out. It's not like we're going to be riding on the highway or busy streets but you know how drivers are. They're crazy. They're on the phone, they're texting and anything can happen anywhere and if something were to happen to Eloise because I put her in harm's way, I'm not sure I could ever forgive myself. Ok, enough on this. I can't think this way.

The trailer is awesome and I do hope she loves it. We're so glad we get to give one a trial run with our neighbors before buying one. They can get kind of pricey so we wanted to really make sure she'd enjoy it before we decided to shell out some cash.  Fingers crossed on tonight's trek.

And as you can expect, here are some biker trailer pics from last night....I'll start from the beginning.

Yesterday's outing - FAIL

Yesterday, we wanted to take the Monkey to a "Pick Your Own" farm, also called "PYO" in the world of farming (who knew??) and so I was able to quickly find one in the Ballantyne area. After seeing their web site and discovering where they were located, I realized that I've heard other moms talk about this exact farm. Perfect. Our plan was to head out after the Monkey's second nap, plenty of time to enjoy the outing and also burn some energy out of our "full-on" little Monkey.  So she went down for her 2nd nap around 12:45pm and we were going to head out the door around 2:30pm-ish, depending on when she got up.

Here's when things started going down hill.  The Monkey took a terrible nap.  Only 32 minutes. Sigh. (Nap Update: the Monkey has now been regularly sleeping for about an hour per nap, I think due to her walking b/c this has been in place for about 4-6 weeks.). Then we headed on out to the Ballantyne area and took the roads vs. the highway turning a 35-40 minute trip into maybe 60 minutes. Bad idea.  The Monkey is better in the car, as I've said, but not great so I either sing or put in mind numbing Kindermusik cd. Mind numbing cd was the winner.

We get to Ballantyne, which honestly isn't that far away but like I said, the route we took made it feel like we were in Georgia. We finally get there. The Monkey is fussing from what to her is a long car ride, combined with not taking a good nap and what do we find?? The farm is closed. What?? It's 3:45pm.  Agh!!  I'm so mad.  The web site said it was open from 9am - 7pm daily.  Hello, it's 3:45pm. Agh!!!

Alright so at this point, a good mom would have had a plan B. I have no plan B. The Monkey's fussing, we're in Ballantyne, have been in the car for 60 minutes, we're 35 minutes from home at best and I desperately need some kind of park, playground or something so I can get her out and and let her run around. Then to pile it on myself even further (is this my new thing??? painful.) I start thinking about how Mike is in town so seldom and here I am, driving around like an idiot taking us on baby outings to locations that aren't even open. Agh!  "Honey, are you mad?  Do you wish we had found something different to do?"  Meanwhile, he's like, "You're being crazy. What's the big deal? We'll find a playground on the way home and she'll be fine."  Which we did and she was.

So much for picking berries. Maybe another time. And the good news to try and top off the somewhat ruined afternoon, after the playground we found, we made a quick stop at ImaginOn before we came home so we could return her library books and get a new stash.  Thus the day was not a complete waste.

I really would like to try this outing again but I'm a little annoyed by this initial experience. Maybe another time. I guess it's best if I call first. Today we're suiting up the Monkey in her new bike helmet and giving our neighbor's trailer a test drive. We want to get a bike trailer but first we thought it would be safe to see even she even likes it (and if she keeps her helmet on - not looking good since she refuses to keep hats on.).  Pics later.

Friday's update

I admit it. I was going to slack today and not post. But Mike is out of town, and my turkey pepperoni and banana pepper pizza is baking in the oven so I've got some time to blog. Turkey pepperoni is seriously good, btw. You should try it if you haven't.

For updates - the Monkey is working on 5 new teeth coming in all at once. Her mouth is in serious overdrive and therefore, everything goes to the mouth. She's constantly chomping on something.  In total she has 7 teeth either in or making there way. She's going to be a regular old jack-o-lantern pretty soon!

I don't think I've blogged about naps in quite awhile. She's now pretty much regularly doing 3, 30 minute naps. Unreal. It's not enough and she often wakes up crabby but she will never go back to sleep. Anyway, that's our reality right now. 1st nap is around 9am. 2nd nap is around 1pm and the third nap is around 4pm. Night time continues to rock and has been this way since what, 10 weeks? I don't remember exactly but thank god for her night time sleep skills. I'd go clinical without them.

Ok, my last tid bit for this week...last night we introduced the Monkey to The Penguin, a delicious diner up the street from our house. They are known for their fried pickles and I believe I've taken you all there at one time or another. If not, let's go the next time you're in CLT.  It's an ecclectic place with great service and something like 10 "Juke Box of the Year" awards hanging all over the joint. It's full of the Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Beastie Boys. The list goes on and on and has always been Mike's favorite. The place is pretty cool.

So the back story. Back in the day, Mike and I got into the habit of going out to eat the night before he traveled for work.  Often that would take us to The Penguin.  But since Mike now travels weekly, going to The Penguin that often would put one or both of us on the fast track to a coronary. So that trend needed stopped.

Anyway, Mike is in Raleigh this weekend visiting a friend so since it was technically the night before he was going out of town, I decided to introduce Eloise to The Penguin. And, she loved it!  I will admit, I did put her back into her punk rocker outfit, Ramones onesie and all. I had to. No other place would appreciate it like The Penguin and their tattooed and pierced wait staff. Of course she did get compliments on her costume, she loved the juke box and was all in all completely enamoured by the entire scene going on.

It's really a perfect place for kids. We went at 6pm when there was no one there. Sat down immediately, ordered immediately, had beers in front of us in like 39 seconds. Our dinner arrived shortly there after and the Monkey had constant entertainment around her to take in. The music was loud so if she got loud no one knew. The buzz of the wait staff kept her head going back and forth like a tennis match. And we were in and out, from first greeting the hostess to then thanking her on our way out, in 30 minutes. Literally. Yes, we kind of ate fast and pounded our beers and on a scale of 1 to 10 for a "nice evening out with your husband", I'd rate it a 5 but for a "dinner with a nearly 11 month old and her 2 parents", it was a solid 10. We will definitely be doing this again. And next time I'll lay off the fried pickles:).

Friday's update

Big week with baby news as Cousin Chloe made her debut on Tuesday. Then yesterday, my friend Megan announce nugget #2 is coming in mid-October. I love baby debuts and baby news!!  As far as Monkey updates - I only have just a few.  She continues to crawl head down and I actually got it on video. Here she is zooming across the kitchen and back and then at the end she has a complete meltdown for no apparent reason. That's my girl!

We've added some new things to her diet - she's now regularly eating grilled cheese sandwiches and also couscous either plain or added with one of her "meat mixes", as the baby whisperer and I call the foreign jars of ground meat that I select from the organic aisle. Organic or not, that stuff is Gross - capital G.  Sorry Monkey. But you love it and it's good for you.

Tomorrow Aunt Liz, Uncle George and Cousin Maddie come from NY.  We're super excited for them to see Eloise again. She'll have to show them all of her latest tricks. She's developed many since they last saw her. They are on their way south for Spring Break and are passing through so we can all get together. We're all looking forward to seeing them!

We missed music class today but when I tell you why, you'll be as happy as I was.  The Monkey was still napping!  Yes, I know these 75 minute naps are few and far between and yes, I know we paid for music class and should not be skipping it but in this house, we don't wake the baby from good naps.  Or really, we don't wake the baby from any nap.  If she's sleeping, we leave her be.  And with that, it meant we missed music class.  I put her down at 9:45am and she didn't get up until 11:01am. (music class starts at 11am.)  To make up for it, we went to a playdate across the street and had a really fun time. The mom group in this neighborhood continues to impress me. I feel really lucky to have this group of girlfriends and babies so close by. It's something I had no idea we had and now that I know we do, I'm so thankful!

Ok, enough yammer from me. Happy Friday! Mike is sadly traveling for business until tomorrow - who works on the weekends???  Mike does. But it's because he's super dedicated and because he's the best Dad and Husband he could ever be. Thanks honey!! We miss you and love you!

Check out this super sweet picture of Todd and Chloe. Ahhhh.....I could eat her up!

Monkey updates

I feel like I'm turning into the worst blogger. Agh. I've been so busy lately and blogging has fallen off my to-do list. Not good. I'll try to get back on track here.

Ok, Monkey updates that I've been meaning to jot down. I'm going to list them and then come back to explain...

1) Tooth number 4 has poked through.

2) The Monkey has stood on her own at least 3 times that I've witnessed and to be perfectly honest, it freaked me out.

3) She's officially "cruising."

4) Dare I say we have a nap schedule around this place??

5) The Monkey's boyfriend Brody is here this weekend and it's going to be a 2 day slumber party for the kiddos!! (Mommy is equally as excited about said slumber party!)

6) The entire state of North Carolina is covered in florescent green pollen.  Like you'd see a green outline of the state border if you were up in space. I'm not kidding. Oh wait, that's not a Monkey update.

7) Big bath tub.
8) Climbing the stairs.

Ok, the Monkey has another tooth popping through on the top. It's adjacent to the other and it's a top incisor. She's been fussing a little so I figured something else was poking its way through and sure enough, there it was. Another sharp edge.

As far as standing goes, it lasts for like 2-3 seconds but it's the real deal. She will not be holding on to anything, have no clue that she's even doing it and then plop, down on her bottom she goes. It's impressive but scary all at the same time.

The Monkey is now cruising down the sofa, the ottoman, the window sill, and anything she can get her hands on. This skill is starting to pick up some speed but for now she's still very deliberate and thoughtful. Walking prep. Ah! Scary!

Nap schedule - do I really say it? I've been advised not too but for the sake of sharing Eloise's sleep woes, I might as well share some good news. She pretty much now takes 3 - 30 minute naps a day. Weird that this is where we've netted out after all of our efforts but she seems to sleep from 9:30-10, 12:30-1 and 3:30-4. Completely random but that is where we are at this very moment - and have been for about 2 weeks. Not the best but sort of a "schedule" nonetheless.

This weekend the Larsons are in town and they are staying with us for a few days. They have relatives that live in town so typically it's easier for them to stay there. But this time, they've decided to stay here for a few nights and we could not be more excited! Brody, my super fav 2 1/2 year old is definitely courting Eloise in a bad way. This will be his weekend to really put the moves on since they'll be having a slumber party!  Many pics to follow.

It's truly a miracle that I don't have allergies. For all of you who do, I'm so, so sorry. It's that time of year again when the entire state of NC turns a disgusting color of green. Our cars are covered. Our house is covered. Every nook and cranny of this place (outside for now - and trying to keep it outside) is completely covered. The freaking cat is green.  It's the sacrifice we pay for our beautiful trees blooming and believe me, our neighborhood is looking pretty great these days but this dang pollen is insane. I must push it out of my head each year. Anyway, we need the leaves to finish and a good rain to soak this place and we'll be good to go.

About a week ago I put Eloise into the "big bath" vs. her rubber ducky bath to see if she was ready. Conclusion - Mommy is not ready for Eloise to start taking "big girl baths." I almost had a heart attack. And meanwhile, she was having a blast. Slipping and sliding all over the place, diving head first for toys.  Ah, yeah. My heart can't deal with that quite yet so we're going to keep using the pink duck tub that she's quickly growing too big for. Maybe in a few weeks we'll give the bathtub a whirl again.

The Monkey can offically climb the stairs. Outside that is. For some reason she has not tried the inside stairs at all but the brick ones on the front porch she loves and has gotten quite good at climbing up in a flash. Pics below on climbing.

But first - and as promised, check out this hilariously cute tutu pics!  My friend Kimmy has done it again with her fabulous crafty skills and came up with this darling number. I mean can you even get enough of this??

 (as soon as the box of goodies arrived, I busted out the tutu and put right on over her clothes. and then of course, took 7,000 pics. who wouldn't??)

And the Monkey climbing the front stairs...

Friday's update

First off, Graham keeps me on my toes with the Friday song so here it goes. Who doesn't love this song?? While you're enjoying this tune, I'll carry on.

Let's start with today and back track. The Monkey was acting very bizarre most of the day and I couldn't figure out if she was getting sick or what. She slept 12 hours last night (awesome), took a great morning nap (55 minutes) so I was none the wiser until we got to music class. She's typically very curious and wonders around, interacts with the instruments, the scarves, balls, etc. but today she didn't want me to put her down and she barely played with any of the activities. She even busted out that pout face and bottom lip and cried a few times. That has never happened in music class. So we snuggled up the entire class and then bolted as soon as it was done. I was afraid she was getting sick and we were also nearing her next nap time so I wanted to get out of there and get home so I could get her down with no problem. Which I did. She went down for the nap fine but then only slept for 25 minutes and refused to go back to sleep. The rest of the day we spent snuggling because, again, she wouldn't let me put her down. She didn't have a fever. Her appetite was fine and so I couldn't figure it out. She then took a late afternoon nap, which she hasn't done in weeks, to make up for that 25 minute joby and out of nowhere, come 6pm...she was back to the regular Eloise. How strange! She not only wanted down but she was all over this place playing with everything. I'm hoping this was just a fluke and that she's not coming down with something. We'll see how tomorrow goes.

Speaking of tomorrow and this weekend, we're busy. Tomorrow am, Florida Tile Charlotte is having a "sidewalk sale" and so Mike, the Monkey and are going to head over to see the crew. It's open to the public but they expect current customers (builders, tile contractors, etc.) to be the ones who swoop in and get tile on the cheap. But for any of you weekend warriors looking for tile or tile laying equipment and materials, stop on by. They are cleaning house so there should be lots of deals to be had. Here's where they are located. (click on "store locator".) And there's more scoop here.

Then tomorrow afternoon the Monkey and I have a play date set up for 4pm with some friends. Very much looking forward to some good catch-up sessions here. And also, we're heading to a park we've never been to so the adventure of discovering a new place will be fun.

Come Sunday, we are going to another Charlotte Checkers game at 2pm. This might just become a regular thing for us. It's such a great outing for the baby and the games are fun (even if I don't watch the game). It's a great arena and we have a good time. For those in the area, I highly recommend going to see a Checkers game.

Ok, let's now back track on this week. The Monkey and I had a great time visiting Paige and Nicole on Wednesday. I forgot to mention (thankfully we have "Friday's updates", right?) that Miss Eloise LOVED Nicole's dog Charlie. It was seriously the cutest thing she did this week (aside from kissing me on the cheek, of course). Charlie is an enormous dog. Like probably would have had 4-5 inches on Jack. Seriously. And he's a total lover. He’s such a great dog! He was outside and the screen door was closed. Well, apparently Mr. Charlie poked through that screen a little while back and although I'm sure he got into trouble for his bad acting, I loved it because it allowed him to poke his head in and give Eloise sniffs and kisses. Envision this....Eloise was on the inside. Charlie was on the outside and the two were facing one another with just the screen down between them. Eloise then threw her hands up into the air while Charlie would bob his head in and out and in and out putting his nose right up to the Monkey’s face. She was a complete giggle-fest! Ah, I swear it.....SO stinkin’ cute! We need to get another dog. I don't know when but we need one. This little girl needs a doggie around here! Thanks Nicole - great seeing you guys!

Food - Eloise tried grilled cheese this week and it went over ok. She'd eat it and she seemed to like it but she definitely didn't go to town on it like waffles or some of the other foods that she definitely enjoys. This time I used provolone, a nice mild cheese, and like I said, she was just "whatever" about it. Good that she didn't flat out reject it, I guess.

Also, and my final note for the evening, the Monkey is pulling up on everything. Like everything! The shower glass, the window sills, appliances, the ottoman, the sofa, the chair, the bar stools, her mommy, her daddy, her baby whisperer, the front steps, the stairs inside, the side table, the console take, the music table it's non-stop around here. As a tribute to Eloise's fantastic pulling up performance this week, here are some pics...

Sleep revelation

This is in regards to night time sleep. No, naps haven't changed. I'll get an occasional 1 hour nap out of her but things are still pretty "standard Eloise" around here.  But for the night time, this is what I've discovered. The last two nights I've left Eloise's room without the night light on (used back when I fed her in the middle of the night and I just got in the habit of leaving it on for her) but instead with the "Twilight Ladybug" (a gift given to us awhile ago and we never used until now). The Ladybug stays on for 45 minutes then clicks off but most often, Eloise is asleep within minutes so she's not really star gazing. Point being, I'm leaving her room completely pitch black at night now and for the past 2 nights she's slept for 12 hours and 15 minutes and 12 hours, respectively. Big win!  She was sleeping 11 or 11 and 1/2 before so not earth shattering but in the morning, that extra 30-45 minutes seems like eons so I'll take it!

Some other tid bits that are on my mind. My neighbor told me about a Charleston-based traveling childrens photographer, Dubose Blakeney, that I wanted to share. Check out his web site. He has a very unique style. His prices are not listed here but she said it was very reasonable. You can click on his calendar and see when he's in the area.

Also, game on for finding a landscaper to help this pathetic yard we have. I've refrained from complaining on the blog but let's just say, the "do it ourselves" method did not net the results I was looking for. Our yard was trampled on repeatedly creating ankle breaking divots (the last of the construction crew really did a number on the front yard). The seed thrown down was all weeds and the garden areas have bad soil and do not properly drain water. All combined, the front yard is driving me closer and closer towards insanity daily and since it's now beyond my ability to change or improve, professional services are being called in. I'm getting quotes over the next few weeks to see what the damage is. Hopefully it'll be something we can bump up on the priority list around here. Stay tuned.

Oh and Mike and I are getting our taxes done this morning. This ought to be quite interesting.  Fingers crossed on this "work for yourself" gig I thought was such a super idea before. (not thinking that will be the case any longer. boo.)

Goulash

Before I get into the Monkey's meal today I must say that daylight savings time is screwing with more people than Eloise. I can't believe it's 7:28pm right now and it's light enough for me to jet out of here and go for a run. Of course, I'm not going to jet out of here and go for a run but the idea is a good one. We already ran today and also, Mike's out of town. But regardless, it's nearly 7:30pm and it's so light out.  (it's like I've never been through daylight savings time or something.)

Tonight was the first night the Monkey really had a hard time going down. (who can blame her. i could have sat on the floor of her bedroom and read a book it was so light in there.) Yesterday she was completely warn out from the hockey game so she must not have realized it was so bright in her room. But tonight was tough. I finally got her to settle down after about 20 minutes of rocking her and I never rock her - for naps or bed time. I read quite a few stories about how daylight savings time is a complete nightmare for parents. Kids of all ages struggle with this and honestly, I completely understand. I guess I was so used to it being dark out before I took Eloise upstairs that it completely threw me off as well. Anyway, we'll all adjust.

Ok, goulash. There are 10 million goulash recipes out there and mine is likely not similar to any of them. Some may call my goulash "baked ziti" but to me it's goulash. It includes pasta, marinara sauce, diced tomatoes, cheese and ground turkey. I whip it all together and then bake it for 35 minutes on 350 degrees. Cook the pasta and ground turkey first, of course. It's a staple around the Vail household and if any of you have had babies, it's likely been dropped off on your front stoop courtesy of moi.  It's simple, it's delish and it's easy to freeze, reheat, etc.  Warm comfort food. Well since I knew Mike was going to be out of town from today through Thurs night, I whipped up some goulash last night and we ate it for dinner. Then we had tons of leftovers that I can munch on all week. My first helping was today for lunch and so I cut up a bunch and gave it to the Monkey for her lunch as well. And.....she loved it! Which is perfect because it's another "real food" meal I can add to her diet and it's good for her. We have plenty left so I hope she's feeling like goulash tomorrow and the next day and the next day...

Here she is - my little goulash girl.

Nap update

Lolololololololololololololololol!!! Lololololololololol!!  Ahhahahahhahahhahahhhahahhaha! A good laugh. We all need them from time to time. Ah yes, another nap update. What a surprise. No, it doesn't make me feel better that if you were to compare blog labels on "sleep" vs. "milestones", sleep would probably win by a landslide.  (no need to check on this - it's just my theory.) So a good laugh was in order because yet again, I'm adding another blog post to the "sleep" label and rather than wring my own neck, I choose to laugh about my daughter's unique daytime sleeping skills. Let's all laugh together. No need for aggression. Let's just laugh, my friends.  Aaaaaahhhhahahahahahahaa! (and on top of a good laugh, I'm also indulging in a fantastically delicious chocolate chip cookie. I deserve it.) Ah, that felt good.

But wait, before your update, let's take a brief pause and go off topic for a moment.....I've been getting Eloise quite a few board books out from the library. We bring a bag home every other story hour and return them 2 weeks later and pick out a new stash. It's been working quite well at keeping new, fun books around here to entertain both the Monkey and her mommy.

During nap time prep the other day I realized that a few of her books were using the word "wriggle." And since I just used the word "wring" in the preceeding paragraphs, it jarred my memory and I remembered the word "wriggle." (I'm liking these "wr" words.) So while reading, I thought to myself, is that pronounced "wiggle"?  And what does wriggle mean?  Is it "wiggle" in some olde English spelling? (am I showing my hand a little here?? go with me.)

Since I was mid-way through the book, I thought, oh that must be pronouced "wiggle". Just keep reading. So I do and I say wiggle. Thankfully my under 9 month aged audience is none the wiser. Well I just checked and it's not pronounced "wiggle". It's actually pronounced "riggle". Right, you all already know this and I'm a retard.  And here's what wriggle means: to move the body or a bodily part to and fro with short writhing motions like a worm (another "wr" word. nice.) To squirm. Well, isn't that the definition of wiggle? Wiggle: to move to and fro with quick jerky or shaking motions. To jiggle. Huh. And there you have it. A board book created for a toddler taught me a word that is what I thought it was but it isn't. Who knew? Lordie.

Ok, back to the nap update....the Monkey is back on her 34 minute, multi-daily nap schedule as we speak. Bummer. Serious, serious bummer. Sigh. She'll occasional give me a 68 minute nap but all in all, this girl is a short napper and therefore, I have zero chance at a schedule around here. I've had high hopes of forcing the 9am/1pm dream schedule (that all moms in the universe have except me) but it never works because it's difficult stretching her to 9am and if I do, I'll still net the same results - a 34 minute nap.  Then the idea of stretching her again to 1pm, forget it. After her short nap, she's done within 90-120 minutes and then I have to put her down again. I can't wait 3 hours. That's nearing baby armageddon.  So the nap situation continues. I do repeat sayings in my head over and over again just to try and keep myself sane such as, "I'm ok with my terrible daytime sleeper. Thank god she's so awesome at night. I'm not jealous of every other mother in the universe that has a great napper. I'm not jealous at all." And with that, you now have your latest Monkey nap update.

Signed,

Mom who is not jealous of every other mom in the universe.

For pictures, today I grabbed some of the Monkey playing with my shoes. She absolutely loves shoe laces (note to self - I must buy the Dressy Bessy doll for the Monkey.)  She's so into shoe laces that she now follows around strangers young and old no matter where we are just so she can get her little mits on some delightfully fun shoe laces.  Throw this one right into the "she doesn't care about toys yet mommy keeps buying them" category. Wait, maybe I don't buy the Dressy Bessy doll.

Friday's update

I'm glad it's Friday. Mike's back, the Monkey is healthy again and the weekend is now including the hubby when I previously thought he was going out of town with friends. His work travel has gotten a little hairy as of late so rather than joining his buddies for a weekend away he decided to stay home with his girls. Yeah for us!

The Monkey and I returned to music class today. Since she seems to be completely healthy again, I thought it was safe to venture back into the world of germs so she can catch something else and we can go through this all over again. I will say, last Friday I thought she was fine but every time she sneezed,which was still quite a bit, a trail of snot would come flying out of her nose. I honestly didn't want to see the reaction of the other moms (I guess I wouldn't blame them. I would have wondered why the kid wasn't left at home too if I saw that.). Anyway, she's snot free and sneezes have disappeared so out we went.

Music class is a riot. She really enjoys it and really, I do too. The moms (and caregivers) are all very nice. The kids are cute and each week is totally different so we never know what to expect from the teacher. Today the class was unusually small (which was kind of nice) and so for each activity, the kids got tons of space to spread out, no one was banging into each other (an occassional toddler tumble happened here or there but that's to be expected) and there were lots of extra props from the teacher.

Eloise's fav from today was the giant bongo drum that all of the kids surrounded and each tapped their hands on (I'm so bummed I didn't have my camera today. as of now, every parent has broken the "no pics rule" so I will be doing the same next week.). Then she was totally digging the brightly colored scarves that she brought out. We played hide and seek and sort of a parachute game with those. Also, the bouncy balls came out again (we've seen these before and they were a hit) and she's a big fan. She bounces on them, with them, we roll them, and then in true Eloise fashion, she tries to eat them, which they are literally the size of basketballs so I'm not sure what she's thinking.

This class has been really helpful in showing me new ideas for fun activities to do with Eloise at home. I've learned that I don't need to turn the living room into Romper Room with tons of brightly colored plastic toys that make sounds and sing songs. She's just as happy with a scarf or a bouncy ball. (or a giant bongo drum - not sure were ready to go there yet.)

Anyway, for the weekly update - during music class today, Eloise was signing "more" like a mad woman. I'm now starting to wonder if she really understands what she's saying. She basically wants "more" of everything. Hilarious. The teacher realized what she was doing so she was helping me follow through on what "more" of she wanted but really, I don't think either of us could keep up. And then when we got home, she was chasing her kitty around - never ending quest - and when she was unsuccessful, she'd stop, sit up and sign "more". So I'd say, "you want more kitty?"  See where I'm going with this? I'm wondering if sign language is back firing on me?  Or maybe we need to expand the words we're teaching her to include "play." "Do you want to play with the kitty?" I guess both words work in this situation. Maybe not too much of stretch.

So I screwed up yesterday's blog post and wrote down the wrong times on this supposed nap routine were in now. I have a mush brain. Well, kind of I do. Most of the time, I can really keep it together. Anyway, it's been corrected (on the previous post) but I thought I'd jot it down here for future reference:

-Up at 6:00am
-Nap between 8:00am  - 9:20am or so
-Nap between 11:00am - 12:20pm or so
-Nap around 2:30 til about 3:00 or so
-Nap around 5:00pm til about 5:30pm or so
-Start bedtime process at 6:30pm
-Asleep by 7:00pm

Now lets just see if this really sticks. Like I've already predicted, it'll stay in place for 2 weeks or less and then we'll have something else on our plate.  Well and really, it's already slighty off because today she got up at 6:30am and we had music class at 11:00am.  Whatever for a schedule around here. Why do I even blog about it?? It was nice to think we had one for a minute:)

One tid bit of info that I just learned about yesterday. There is another kid's consignment sale coming up - and it's next week! There are either always 1,000 consigment sales for kids (that I never paid attention too because I was sans kid) or because the economy is so terrible, they are popping up like mad. Tight budgets go much further at a consignment sale or shop, that's for sure.  I got wind of this one from my friend Wendy. And the cool part - I get to go to the early bird special!  I helped the sale organizer by writing a press release about the event and then created her a local media list in an attempt to help her promote it. So with that, here's my own plug for the sale - go to The Upscale WeeSale in Rock Hill next week. 45,000 items for sale from 600 consigners. It sounds insanely huge. Lots of deals to be had! Details here or you can see pics from last year's event on their Facebook page.

As I previously mentioned, the never-ending quest for Eloise to get the kitty continues. I captured it today...

At this point, the relationship is a little one-sided. (btw - I must note that the cat and the baby are the exact same weight. scary, huh?)

Eloise, do you want "more" kitty? (she was doing it here - hard to capture on camera.)

Last thing to mention, I read somewhere that by this age her eye color is what it is. So with that, we have a hazel eyed girl. The combo of colors in those hazel eyes are blue and brown. And in true hazel fashion, they change color based on what she has on.

Have a great weekend!