Memorial Weekend

In the states we had a 3 day weekend. Yay. We did a little bit of running around, but mostly we ate, hang out with friends and slept/studied.

Peanut has been in misery these last couple of days. She is cutting her molars. She is waking up even more than normal, drooling like a rabid dog, and cranky cranky cranky. It has been all about momma these last couple of days. I would like to say that I love it, but really, it is giving me a backache. Since she is becoming more verbal she can tell me what she wants like "milk" or "hugs". Generally, I would be more appreciative, but I have been cranky with little sleep and a sore back. Thank God, it is a long weekend so I could at least get some naps in.

Peanut has also been acting up at school. I suspect it has to do with the teething. She bit 3 times in one day, twice on the same kid. She has also started biting me again. Since she is older, I have little tolerance for it. I take her immediately to her bed and end the nursing session.

Friday evening Mr. T. and I took peanut to the pool. I thought she had fun last year, but this year, it was like she was in Disneyland. She ran around clapping, stopping every now and then to squat down and splash in the water for a second. She would stand up as fast as she squatted, squeal with delight, and run to another section of the pool. There is a giant mushroom that water cascades over and down causing a waterfall. She would run through the waterfall and play with it from inside the water canopy. Then it was off to the fountain that was almost as tall as her. She would put her hands and sometimes her face in that. I imagine it is pretty amazing to see something that looks solid, but changes shape like that. She loved it. We had to drag her out of the water because her teeth were chattering.

Sunday afternoon we had a couple of friends over to visit with some friends (and new baby) that were in town for the weekend. It was also fun to see our friend's new baby boy. He was so cute and sweet that I wanted to take him home. Too bad you have to be pregnant and have a new born to have a another kid. If it wasn't for that, I would be signing up already.

It was fun to see the kid's interacting with one another. Peanut and Quinn were involved in a game of "ball". Quinn was hiding it from Peanut, and Peanut tried to swipe it out of her hands.

They look so serious in the photos, but they really did seem to be having a good time.

All Better

I have been grumpy lately. I have had a lot going on with school, work and other obligations. Peanut has been going 90 to nothing, has a cold and possibley, could be cutting a molar. She has been up at least 3 times every night this week. One night I only got 4 hours of sleep. It has been rough. I have been stressed.

Mr. T. was kind enough to let me sleep in a bit this morning. He got peanut up, gave her breakfast, and changed her diaper. When I woke up, she was ready to nurse. After we were done, we were cuddling on the bed. She tapped my chest and mumbled something. I strained to make out what she was saying. She said it again but clearer this time. "mommy good gool." Mommy Good Girl. She was saying I was a good girl. It makes tears well up in my eyes to even think about hearing her say that.

I think I am going to have the best day that I have had in a while.

Heart = Broke

It started raining this afternoon. Mr. T. was on his bike at work, and I knew he would need a ride home. A quick call confirmed my suspicion. I already had peanut in the car, but in order to get the bike home I needed to switch vehicles.

That was fine.

I needed to change a diaper and turn off the chicken that was already in the oven. Plus, I needed to drop the dog off at the house.

I pulled peanut out of the car first. Running around to the back, I popped the hatch to let the dog out as well. I pulled the purse/sippy cup/leash/camera/glasses/baby out of the car looking for fingers before I slammed the hatch shut.

They weren't there when I slammed it shut. Instantly they were there though, her little fingers were closed up in the trunk. We both looked at her fingers for a moment. She started to wail. I kinda forgot what to do while the first wave of panic over took me. I opened the hatch and swept her into my arms apologizing the whole time. "I am so sorry baby. I am so sorry. Mommy didn't see your fingers there. Are you okay?"

I think she was more shocked than anything. Her crying lasted until we made it the freezer to get a popsicle out where it gave way to excitement about getting such a fun treat so close to dinner. I knew holding the popsicle would put some coldness on her hand. I knew it would make it all better.

She ain't the only one that is busy

We had a pretty busy week. I can't really think of anything we did, but we were pretty busy doing it.

Friday morning we did Bike To Work. I was a little nervous about biking that far (10 miles) with Peanut, but she was a real champ. Bike To Work Day in Little Rock is a pretty big thing. It is a large organized ride with a police escort. I didn't go straight to work after the ride. Instead I drove home in our car that I had parked the night before, took peanut to daycare, then went on to work. I really used more gas than I would on a normal day, but hey, at least we in the spirit of things. The ride went so well, that I think I am going to do Tour de Rock with her.

Saturday morning Peanut and I raced the Paws on the Pavement. I did pretty well, and actually gave really close to setting a PR. It is a flat fun course, but we did have to make a couple of stops to pick up various items that were tossed out of the stroller. Speaking of, at the farmer's market, Baby was tossed out of the stroller and lost. Luckily, I bought another one that we have been using in rotation. I caught flak from Mr. T. for buying duplicate, but.... I was right.

Peanut's language skills continue to improve. She is stringing two word sentences together pretty regularly. If she wants to go outside she will say "go au-side". The word most used this week is mine. When she wants something she will point to it and say "MINE". I capitalized it because it come across as slightly rude. I tell her the name of the item and tell her please, because it really gets under my skin to hear here scream MINE. She has also started asking for hugs. "ugs". Too sweet. and sit which sounds like "shit".

Since my friend's child has started singing, we have started singing more with peanut. She loves it. She tries to mimic twinkle twinkle little star by say "uh uh uh uh uh book". She isn't quite right with the words, but at least she is getting the tune down. The ABC song goes like this "baby baby baby baby" or "uh oh eh i d".

Peanut is continuing to be pretty rowdy and assert herself. We had a couple of break downs this week because she wanted to go outside, and I want to cook dinner. I know, I know, I am a crappy mom. Always wanting her to be healthy and eat. We had to have a couple of talks about how it was okay to stay inside sometimes. She also continues to give the daycare workers grief.
She wasn't really feeling well last week, so hopefully this week, it will be a bit better. She has had a slight sinus infection that we are treating. At least it isn't an ear infection.

Death to Baby

Baby really catches it sometimes.

Peanut dragged this trashcan into the dining room to empty it out. Do you see Baby?

Here she is.

And this is a shot of her snatching it out of the can and running away. She is way too quick for my little camera.

Wonder why I haven't started trying for another kid? I am a little afraid of what would happen to him/her.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my mom.

I had an epiphany the other night driving back to our camp site. I was smoothing Peanut's hair and kissing her head while she slept. I was thinking about how lucky I was to be there getting to love on my sweet little girl. It felt so good. Then I thought about my mom sitting right next me watching me but pretending not to. She doesn't get to do that to her little girl (because I am not so little anymore), but I can tell from the way she rubbed my back and kissed my shoulder that she wanted to.

Thanks for letting me grow up, mom, and for giving me the support I need to be the best mom I can to my daughter. I love you.

AND...

No Mother's Day tribute would be complete without mentioning my Mother in-law. Somehow I managed to marry into an amazing family headed by a wonderful woman. People joke about their in-laws being pushy and annoying, but I would love to live near mine. She raised a little boy who is a great husband and baby daddy.

Thanks, Nina. I really appreciate and love you.

Beach Vacation

It was nice and great. I can't say I am happy to be home because I feel like there was still more we could have done.

We started at Corpus Christy. I knew that it was a great spot to windsurf so I figured it would be windy. If it was just windy it would have been fine, but it was windy and there was about a 2 foot pile of seaweed on the beach. We played in the water one day, but it was really just too murky to see the portuegese man of wars that were washing up. I was worried for my baby girl.

We did go to Laguna Madre, the land side of the island, and played there. It was much clearer and nicer, but there were jellyfish there too. I got stung twice. Once while playing with Peanut and another time while walking my windsurfing board back to the beach.

After two nights in the wind, no one was having a good time. We packed it up and headed into town to check into a hotel. We watched cable and slept on beds in the air conditioning. Who could complain?

We spent one evening in Galveston. There the beaches were clear, but the water was still murky. We had a nice time playing in the ocean and stolling around their downtown. I could have spent another day there walking through the historic district and looking at the different buildings. I am willing to bet I go to Galveston for work sometime in the future. I already have a mental list of things I plan on doing.

Peanut was a champ in the car. Even on our grueling 7 or 10 hour car rides up and down the coast, she barely complained. She kept asking for books and milk and nuts and baby. I gave her what I could to keep her satisified. I kept handing her books to "read". She "read" stories about doggies and babies and kitties for hours and hours. I guess that shows that she can concentrate. She seems so busy all the time, that I was a little worried she didn't have the ability.

I think a light has turned on in her. She is really starting to understand and communicate better. She said all kinds of new words during the week like help, okay, fish, nuts, snack (nack) and others I am sure I am missing.

I am convinced that the beach is the perfect spot for a toddler. She can run amuk and play in the water but not harm herself or others. She loved putting shells in her bucket and sifting through the sand to find little bits of shells and rocks. She ran up and down the beach just chattering away and saying hi to the dogs. "Hi, doggy. Hi, doggy. Hi, doggy.", even when there wasn't a dog in sight.

Camping was a little stressful, but it was made much easier by my parents being there. I don't think we would have enjoyed ourselves as much had we not had the extra 2 sets of hands. Peanut kept darting into the road or climbing into the car. She did enjoy the tent and playing in there, but that would only last for about 5 minutes before she was off running down the street trying to talk to the other campers dogs. "Hi, doggy"

Peanut also showed us a lot of her creativity. She was feeding her baby and putting her to sleep. She was giving her baby hugs and kisses and sharing food with her. I wonder if she is emulating me. I tell her she is a good mommy to her baby and how proud I am that she is so good at sharing. Sometimes she seems like she is off in her own little world either putting baby to sleep or putting her in her (Peanut's) high chair and giving her snacks.

As we were leaving Galveston, Peanut told us "Night Night." I thought she was putting her baby to bed, but when I turned around...

Here we are ..... off we go

Peanut and I went to my 20 year old friend's house. (okay, she isn't 20 years old, I have known her for 20 years). I had to do a talk to some 9th grade girls about how being a civil engineer rocked. She lives in the town I was speaking in. Peanut and I went up the day before and stayed the night. We wanted to visit and avoid getting up earlier than usual.

Lisa, my friend, has 3 boys, but she is the girlest girl I know. She is all about fairies and fairy tales. She dreams Celtic dreams of going to Ireland or Scotland. She is all girl with not a girl to throw that energy into. I brought peanut's purses and girly dresses so she could dress her. She loved it.

We had a blast. While I worked, she watched peanut along with her 1 and 3 year old. Can you beleive she actually loaded all three of them into the car and took them to an indoor playground! I couldn't. She is braver than me.

Peanut faired well and made a very positive impression. She held her own against those two boyish boys. She did it all with the grace and charm that I envy about her. She also made a special play friend.

It was great to see my friend. I am the godmother to her first born. He is 10 now. I feel awkward and distracted when I talk to him. It unsettles me because he is still the amazing kid he was so long ago, but at this point in my life all I can think about is my 1 year old daughter. I feel guilty because I also feel attached to him like no one in this world does. Not even his mother. My attachment is something of a distant interest. It is hard to switch gears from baby poops to science projects. I admire my friend for doing such a wonderful job.

Saturday we are off and I CAN'T WAIT.