Never Stops. 12-24-14

At Aunt D’s during our Christmas visit, she did laps around the kitchen/den singing. Laps and laps. No naps. I thought I was clear today at the grocery when she got in the little car made onto the front of the shopping cart and wanted to be buckled in. We didn’t even make it through the produce section. She was all over the place somewhere between produce and health food. She had long shed her little vest that matched my sweater at the Chinese restaurant, and she was marching/stomping through the aisles of the grocery in blue princess dress, purple microfiber boots, and black minky jacket. And singing. Singing as loud as she could without yelling. She can really project. And singing about: everything. Narrating her entire trip through the grocery. At one point: “Signs. There’s lots of signs. Signs everywhere.” The next minute: “Mommy said to stop. Stop, stop, stop.” And she was stomping those big purple boots to keep the beat. She is like an extravert version of me on super steroids. 

The whole time, I just tried to keep my eyes focused straight ahead, not making eye contact as I followed behind the ring leader. However, out of the corner of my eye, I could see people cracking up and nodding their heads. Some admired her boots; some complimented her princess dress; some just commented on her cuteness. Meanwhile, I’m thinking, ‘When do I intervene?’ ‘Is this healthy for her to be encouraged to be so… theatrical?’ ‘What will become of her; she's 2 years old and already so--out there?’ ‘Do I nip it in the bud?’ She’s fearless and full of energy. I am carefully picking my battles.  

Merry Christmas. 12-25-2014

Wherever you find yourself today, Merry Christmas!

She still will not sit on Santa's lap, and 

it was no easy task to get her to sit for the photo, even in my lap.

Next year, I will dress like I want to get my photo taken, then I won't have to be in the photo.

Magic Potty: the Scoop on the ****. 12-18-14

When Boop was finally able to have a bowel movement in the potty, it was a time of great celebration. Tiny baby diapers and the fascination with every bodily function are long, long gone by the age of 2. It actually goes downhill pretty quickly with the introduction of meat and the like. So, when your little one can do the deed without the need for lots of clean-up, it’s quite a relief, and it resulted in a fabulous, fabulous prize for one Princess Boop: her own little Mickey Mouse clubhouse (sung in choppy staccato). It made quite an impression, and there were no further thoughts of pull-ups. Thank heavens.

And so it is with Magic Potty. Once potty trained, another threat emerges—holding it in for too long. This can increase the likelihood of UTI’s, with all the relatedness of the innards, expansions of some pipes, causing blockages of other pipes and such. Somehow, though, when I ask Boop to sit on her little frog potty, it just happens, and the threat of a UTI dissipates. And this would be terrific it were just a magic potty for Boop.

However, we have made a discovery, confirmed through a battery of my highly scientific tests. The 1^st time Boop’s little friend, Princess Merida, visited, we thought it was a mere fluke. Princess Merida’s mom marveled that Magic Potty worked so well, as Princess Merida had been having a little trouble in that area. The 2^nd visit, we knew that Magic Potty had mystical powers when the royal throne again functioned so fantastically. Now, it seems that even the mere thought of Magic Potty can induce its numinous effect. Returning home after a recent trip, H posted a note that Princess Merida was having a little trouble. I asked if Princess Merida needed Magic Potty. H laughed and said she was just thinking about Magic Potty, and that she had considered calling me. In this case, simply invoking the spirit of the Magic Potty achieved the desired effect. So, it didn’t require a trip to my house, which Princess Boop and Princess Merida would probably be disappointed to learn and would probably result in the loss of the long-distance supernatural powers of the Magic Potty. We must keep these secrets of Magic Potty closely guarded, to be unlocked only after Magic Potty is outgrown and said princesses are able to read.

2 out of 2 princess agree in the powers of Magic Potty

Reservations. 11-24-14

I’m already hearing Boop, “A pwincess! Mommy, it’s a pwincess!” Disney World will be crazy. She will immediately know Ariel and Cinderella. She may have trouble with Belle. I goofed on her Disney baby doll. She’s been calling it Belle; it’s actually Aurora, as I didn’t realize that was Sleeping Beauty’s name. When I realized my mistake, I tried to fix the situation, but the ship had sailed. These are very important things, you know. It’s all about the Princess. We just watched Mulan last weekend. However, there are no meet-n-greets for Mulan that I saw in the Magic Kingdom. Just the white princesses. Hm. 

Every morning, she would wake up and think this was the day she would see Aunt D and Mickey Mouse. It was hard to see her disappointment when she learned she would be going to daycare. We wound up making chains for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Disney World. It is making life MUCH easier, and she is enjoying taking the links off each day. However, she is still upset that she has to go to daycare each day.

Boop’s Christmas List. 11-15-14

Conversation last night:

Me: What do you want for Christmas?

Boop: Presents!

Me: What kind of presents?

Boop: Pink! Pink Presents! <pause> And Purple Presents!

Me: What kind of presents? What do you want inside the present?

Boop: Uhhhh… Bendy! I want bendy!

Me: What’s bendy?

Boop: Bendy! <in other words, just messing with you, Mommy.>

Me: A dolly? A pink and purple dolly?

Boop: Yeah, a pink dolly and a purple dolly.

Conversation this morning:

Me: Have you thought any more about what you want for Christmas?

Boop: Uh, Things! I want Things!

Me: Bendies?

Boop: Yeah, bendies.

Me: What are bendies?

Boop: <laughing> I want a happy face.

<In other words, surprise me, but it better be good.>

Boop’s Lexicon: A Brief Compendium. 11-4-14

1. “It’s birthday cake.” = It’s very fancy.

2. “I wanna watch Ping Pong.” = I want to watch Peppa Pig. That was a really hard one to figure out!

3. “I want Scoopy Bunny.” = I want you to sing ‘Little Bunny Foo Foo.’ Another hard one to figure out.

4. “I wanna see the Lil’Boy; I don’t wanna see the Lil’Boy.” = I’m afraid of the inflatable football player, but he’s standing in the way of something I want to do—like maybe go to the park.

5. “You a slunky!” = Something really bad. Something you don’t want to be called. I got this in response to me asking her if she was being lazy. We think it means something like slob and flunky, but she doesn’t know what a flunky is. I like this term a lot and can think of a lot of people who are slunkies.

6. “I want Skype.” = I want to watch YouTube kiddie videos on the computer we use to call Gammy on Skype.

Be funny!

Hence, “I wanna watch 4 Little Monkeys on Skype.” = I want to watch the 5 Little Monkeys video on YouTube on the computer we use to call Gammy on Skype.

7. “Be funny.” = Smile

8. “You be funny!” = This can go either way, depending on her mood. It can either mean, ‘That’s great; you’re laughing.’ Or usually it means, ‘Hey, stop laughing at me!’ and is usually followed by her giving me down the road, “You don’t do dat! You <something garbled and incomprehensible—maybe you a slunky>!”

9. “That’s my favorite.” = I mildly like this, and I want to do this/have this. It reeks of sarcasm, but I don’t know when the understanding of sarcasm develops in a child. I’m guess not before age 3.

10. “I wanna watch ganga/slunkalunk.” = I want to watch what is on Nick Jr., instead of Hogan’s Heroes. 

Do Me a Flavor, Open the Door, and Let Us In. 10-31-14

Sick baby today. No trick-or-treating tonight, but we did some trick-or-treating a few different times this week already. Our area trick-or-treating was actually earlier in the week. Glad that we were around to see the neighbors across the street. Poor baby had a runny nose and took a minute in the house to get warmed up. Mom and my cousin left this morning to go back home. So thankful that my cousin was able to get some things working for me! (including managing the trick-or-treaters while we were out walking)! It was nice for him to visit because I don’t get to see much of the family unless I go there.

Hey, Little Devil, I'm going to make an angel out of you??

It’s been a heck of a month. I’ve had about 3 grants go out—well one is almost out—this month. This is in the context of having multiple computer problems, due in part to some nasty malware, and in addition to planning for an event at work—not that my planning really mattered, though. Who knew Boop was such a bowler?? She insisted on carrying her ball from the ball return to the lane, and I braced myself for her dropping it on her toe, which fortunately never happened. If I only had a tenth of her energy. It reminded me of when I was a tot. My dad would take me on the lane at the end of their games and let me roll the ball granny style down the lane. Now they have automatic bumpers, a little ramp for the balls, and they even had bowling shoes in 9T.

I think I also made 3 trips back to see the family this month. Well, 2 trips to see the family (reunions and such); one to see Paul McCartney. Sigh. He was in good form and seemed to be feeling good, thankfully. A little late to let us in, it was a bit chilly, and we were hoping that nothing was amiss after his last cancellation. Night and day comparison of Sir Paul vs. the old geezers in my section; they acted like they were one step from the grave (except the senior in front of me who was sending a boring, random text, which is actually worse). I stood up and danced by myself; I dared anyone to say otherwise! It’s a rock concert. So strange to hear all of those songs played by the man himself. Lack of sleep and so much driving had me dissociating a bit. Of course, on my trip back home from the concert, I got a bad flat tire that couldn’t be patched and had to have a couple of new tires. “I wonder to myself: Will life ever be sane again?” I’m not sure that it ever was. And I’m not discouraged from trying to attend another concert—just would rather it be closer by.

Roots and Wings. 9-24-14

Little known fact about me: my mother picked out clothes for my dad and me each day until I was well into my teenage years. And when I did, she was not thrilled about my choices. She would be disappointed to learn that I have, on occasion, allowed Boop to wear her pajamas from the previous night to school! And Boop picks out socks and shoes that don’t match her outfit! I encourage Boop to make a lot of her own decisions, which may encourage some of the sass I get from her when things don’t go her way. However, I want her to know how to manage these things for herself. My instinct is try to do everything for her, but I have a little mental mantra, “Roots and Wings.”

Boop on her Hog (purchase from moi). Happy travels to her fellow cyclists!
This happens to be an outfit from her Gammy. Daycare loves those white tops ;)

My mother has given up hope on the way I look. Our taste is very different. And now every time my mother sees Boop, she has a load of clothes for her. During her last visit, she brought 2 big bags full of clothes. This after I was upset the previous visit that she brought more stuff for Boop plus 8-10 shopping bags full of Boop’s old clothes for the consignment sale—more than was humanly possible for me to sell. I guess it didn’t work out for her to sell them back home. It’s a positive step that she is starting to take things to Goodwill. 

I just got my check from the consignment sale and am putting it toward our trip to see Mickey and Minnie. Boop and I also took 3+ garbage bags full of stuff to the Goodwill. Purging brings such a sense of relief! However, I’m still reeling from the discovery of a lovely pink dress with layers of tulle that I found on clearance at Zappo’s last year; it looked like something out of a Bolshoi version of Swan Lake. I found it crammed in the closet last weekend, only to find yesterday that it no longer fit her. Never worn. Boop was so upset that it didn’t fit. I was upset, too, because I don’t buy her that many clothes, especially not new ones. So, I’m digging out the other couple of dresses that I have bought for her to be sure that she gets a chance to wear them. Boop is almost able to completely dress herself, and it won’t be long until she’s picking out all of her own clothes to wear. 

Time for Bed. 9-21-14

Boop slept in her bed again last night. Lasted until 4:30am when she spontaneously started a discussion about the 'little boy'. She fell asleep at 8pm while I was finishing laundry downstairs. Of course, she had no nap, which was a lot of fun yesterday. Fingers crossed for a nap today, which rarely happens on the weekends.

Boop reading a bedtime story:

The Little Boy Scare Me. 9-15-14

Boop has been very vocal about a new emotion that she can label: scared! This thing and that thing “scare me.” The thing that scares her most, and that has put a kink in walking back and forth to daycare (a mixed blessing), is an inflatable football player in our neighbor’s yard. They inflate him on game days, and he has a rather mean grimace on his face. Granted, they had one at daycare that never seemed to bother her before, but that was last year. And, she’s just now started talking about being scared. I’ve taken her over to the deflated football player in the neighbor’s yard while holding her, but she is still pretty upset and won’t look at him. She talks about ‘the little boy’ a lot at home. In one of her streams of talking, she was saying something about the little boy, and she lifted her leg up in the air. “Like this. On one foot. Like this, Mommy.” Mom started cracking up, but I didn’t see anything unusual. Mom thinks she was trying to show me the football player lining up on the field. She talks non-stop; so it’s sometimes a bit hard to follow her train of thought.

Mom gave me money this weekend to get another inexpensive modem to use for Skype-ing with Boop. This will be my 4th wireless modem since I’ve lived here, I think, and probably since I’ve had Boop. Hopefully, it will arrive soon and last longer than 6 months! Along with my home system, I’m having issues with my 2^nd work computer this year. My last one crapped out in the middle of a heavy grant submission time earlier in the spring. Granted the PC was older, but it was particularly poor timing. And now, I’m in the middle of another heavy grant submission time and having trouble again. The work PC I have now is pretty much top of the line, a Dell XPS. It started about 2 weeks ago, making a never-ending amount of spaces in my documents; then another day, it was tons of A’s; and then when the IT person came last week, it was going crazy with the Tab key, apparently. We’ve tried a new keyboard and mouse. This morning, my keyboard was not working at all. Hopefully, Dell will be able to get me back on track. Is there some message I should be getting here? 

Mouse Army: Unite! 9-10-14

Boop loves Minnie and Mickey Mouse, but she still can't keep them straight. Sometimes it's hard to wrap my head around the fact that Minnie and Mickey Mouse are supposed to be mice. I definitely prefer the former to the latter. We did however, have an encounter with the latter recently.

We were on our way to C's birthday party. I work with C's mother, and C goes to daycare with Boop. Everybody is connected in some way in a small town. Everybody. This was our 3rd birthday in the matter of a few weeks. So, Boop had just gotten her new silver shoes, and I had not yet removed the squeaker. We had to stop at the office to pick up some papers, and so Boop and I were squeak-squeaking along when out scurried 2 small mice from the hinterlands of the flowerbeds. One of them came up to run along beside my little Pied Piper. With that, my footsteps became more like stomps, which thankfully discouraged little Mickey away. Minnie had stopped her dash towards us. Boop was not quite sure what was going on but was unphased. Thankfully, she didn't try to reach down and grab one. 

The Pied Piper

Bumblebee. 9-9-14

Please excuse my mess of clothes in the background. I seem to have a glut of Boop's old clothes these days.

Picnic Near the Potty. 8-14

For a few weeks, she wanted to set up camp in the bathroom floor. We had to spread out the blanket, place all of her dolls on it ("Boop's got 3 Doras!"), and I had to sit on the floor. Fortunately, this time, she had left enough room for us to sit, leaving some of her toys behind.

See-n-Say. 8-24-14

She's already old enough to realize what a bad singer I am and tells me "No sing, Momma! It's Boop's. No sing, Momma." This morning, I was going to go up and help her down the stairs: "No, Momma. No come. Boop coming. Boop's. No, Momma." She's like me on steroids at this age. 

She's also quite the joker and loves laughing at herself. One of her favorite things to do these days is try to talk while I'm trying to talk to someone else, mocking me with a few of my words, gibberish, and in my tone. It's just enough to make me totally incomprehensible. Actually, I don't like that so much.

Goldilocks. 8-17-14

I found her first brown hair today...

Taking Stock at 2.5 Years. 7-22-14

Gammy came in for the weekend, and we took Boop out to eat for her half birthday. Then, we went to Wally World to get her a couple of Dora's. I was hoping to entice her to bathe by getting another doll for the tub. She still despises getting her hair washed, as she doesn't like water in her eyes.

Boop still needs some work on perfecting the selfie.
Wait, did I actually use the word selfie? <cringe>

Later, Mom was talking to me in the car, "You were smart, but I think Boop's even smarter than you were." I laughed and said, "I know." Just trying to stay a step ahead. 

I thought I would make a note of some of our interesting conversations of late. 

• When transitioning to her new class, Boop’s teacher told me that Boop was having trouble drawing things that represented other things. That explains why, every time she draws something, she points to it and asks me, “What Boop make?” That must be what they are always asking her. I laughed and said, “Well, I’ve seen her doing it.” The previous weekend, Boop told me to look on the wall where she had scribbled in crayon <cringe>. She proudly informed me. “It’s sailboat, Momma! It’s sailboat!” A deep breath and an explanation that we had to draw on paper and not on the walls. Fortunately, a magic eraser took care of her artwork.

• Our conversation when looking at her Dora and the Unicorn book--

B: “There’s a candle!” (Her word for camel.)

M: “Honey, that’s a unicorn.”

B: “It’s cupcake on its head.”

M: “No, Honey, it’s a horn.”

B: “It’s cupcake.”

I was not going to argue with her so I just said nothing. She then went on:

B: “That’s Misslissa.” (Her name for one of her teachers and our friend. “Boop’s got 2 Misslissas!”)

M: “Oh, it is. Okay.”

• Her favorite word now is Ganga or less commonly ga-ga. It’s a word she’s created to mean something she doesn’t know the word for/can’t remember the word, or more commonly when she’s telling a joke. It really cracks her up. I got her a few days ago. She didn’t want to get dressed for daycare. When I asked her what she wanted to wear, she told me “Ganga,” trying to be funny and put me off. I pulled out a random dress from the drawer and said, “Here it is, your Ganga; let’s put it on.” She was a little surprised but then seemed pretty happy with it. She later pointed to the flowers and butterfly on her dress and informed me that they were Ganga.

• One of the teachers thought it was funny that Boop always refers to herself in the 3^rd person. I thought about it, and I think I know why. I always refer to myself in the 3^rd person, “Mommy needs ….” I think she knows my name by now. It’s going to be hard to switch to 1^st person around her after making a habit of 3rd person for so long.

Children and Restaurants. 6-27-14

I never got around to sending this, but it needs to be said--

Dear Cheddar’s and any other restaurant so challenged:

I had a very frustrating experience at Cheddar’s the other day. I hear lots of non-parents talking about how they hate to dine with children around. Well, the truth is: the restaurant is a part of the problem. We had 5 adults and 1 toddler at the table, and we spent about $80 on a meal. It was just as terrible an experience for me as it was for the people around us. This is particularly bad because we were celebrating an accomplishment for our student, and I wanted my toddler to meet a friend for the 1^st time. Here are some tips (many of which should go without saying):

1. If you don’t want a child in the way of people entering and leaving the kitchen, don’t seat a child there. It’s not like there weren’t tons of other tables, too. And it’s not as if we were being punished by being seated by the kitchen (Boop ran into one of her daycare friends there, seated in a more remote location). It’s hard for a toddler to set still through a long meal (more on that later). Please don’t set a child by the kitchen if you don’t want them blocking the kitchen! Pretty rude: a waitress complained about us being in the way of people entering and leaving the kitchen. She’s potty training. She wants to see your fish tank. She’s having to wait on food. Take some responsibility!

2. Don’t serve a toddler a 16 ounce cup of milk—even if you have one of those plastic lids. SIXTEEN ounces. After making the mistake at another restaurant, I knew to request an extra cup. Most places have enough sense to bring one out when I ask. Our waiter looked at me like I had 2 heads when I asked for one. I had to request it from our waiter THREE times. I should have just poured the milk in the center of the floor myself.

3.  And napkins. DO bring napkins. Yes, yes, I know about the ozone layer and widespread deforestation. And those paper dinner napkins cost a mint. But can’t we make some accommodations? I mean, you just brought us a SIXTEEN ounce cup of milk. And baby wipes can only do so much. Some waiters and waitresses have enough sense to bring them out when they see a toddler coming. Most waiters will bring them out the first time I ask. Again, this waiter took THREE requests. The 3rd time is not the charm. Even adults ask for more than 1 napkin. I asked for extra napkins in my wild and care-free pre-mommy days.

4. I take time to plan before we go out. I want the meal to go as smoothly as possible. I look up your menu on the Internet and plan our meal in advance. I make sure there is macaroni and cheese. Otherwise, I pack her dinner. I depend on that macaroni and cheese. It’s the only food that she will eat no matter how it is prepared. Don’t run out of macaroni and cheese (or other such menu item), or at least have sense enough to substitute something similar. Seriously, you’re out of macaroni and cheese?!? And it’s only 7pm? There’s a Super Walmart and a Giant Eagle less than a block away. Heck, you can find a cow and wheat less than a mile away. GET MY DAUGHTER SOME MAC and CHEESE!! Or even easier. You know that penne pasta with veggies and alfredo sauce? How about making just penne and alfredo?

5. DO make sure your waiters know the menu items. We can’t have macaroni and cheese. I see yogurt on the menu. My daughter likes yogurt. We’ll try it. I ask about the apples; he said that they are chopped up in it. I comment 'she’ll just eat around it.' Impossible. I ask about the cinnamon; I’m hesitant. “Oh, there’s just a little bit.” They bring the cup out, and basically, it’s a Waldorf salad, substituting yogurt for mayonnaise, with tons of cinnamon and golden raisins. One look and I knew it was a no go. I couldn’t eat it either: lactose intolerant.  I explained this was not what we were told. He brought out French Fries. She doesn’t like white potatoes but will sometimes eat fries. Not tonight. My friend gave her a few bites of grilled cheese. We wound up ordering that.

6. Don’t assign us a waiter/waitress without kids, and apparently without a lick of sense. ‘Nuff said.

7. DO bring the kid some food! It seemed like every time I came back from a walk, my friends were getting another course of food. Boop had nothing. Seriously, do they have to wait through the appetizer course and the soup course to get their non-existent macaroni and cheese? Waiters and waitresses who have a clue offer to bring food out to toddlers early. And by the way, restaurants make things so awkward when bringing out multiple courses. There's always someone who doesn't have a soup or salad course. It is the most awkward thing to try to eat when others aren't, and well, it's poor etiquette. Why don't servers ask if they want things brought as a separate course, but I digress. That probably will never change. However, if you had fed us, and she had started acting up, we could have just left. Instead, it was 2 hours before she got something she could eat.

8. Don't keep large potted plants (or other potential accidents) along the sides of the banquets. Cheddar's: your insurance company called; they're dropping your coverage. Seriously though, little ones like to stand in the seats. The thought of her pushing one of those planters off gave me some stress. What's worse? An adult losing their balance and knocking these things off and smashing a toe, or perish the thought, a tyke. Ditch the lawsuit-waiting-to-happen.

9. Speaking of seats, why have rickety booster seats? They rock around in the banquets and don't do very well in the chairs, either. Another accident waiting to happen. I can understand why she wouldn't want to sit in them after hitting her jaw. But, at least they appeared clean. Better than a certain Denny's could claim. I will say that the booster seats at Cracker Barrel are quite nice. They actually strap to the chairs. Learn something from your neighbors. If you want little ones to stay in their seats, provide a decent place for them to sit.
10. Do keep the fish tank. Boop has been talking about it for a few days. It was a nice distraction, even though it was on the other side of the room. Just don't expect little ones to not want to see it when they are sitting in their seats. And again, don't sit them by the kitchen so they block certain waitresses when the little ones have to go see the fishes again. Some restaurants even have pricey crayons and paper to occupy kids. Sure, it’s annoying when we parents have to pick crayons a million times when it becomes a game, but we’re actually pretty grateful about those crayon-dropping games. It means our child is relatively quiet and sitting in her seat.

True, my daughter is no angel. However, some places have a knack of bringing out the worst in her. And even the best child will have a meltdown now and then. Some relatively easy steps could avert crisis or make it less distracting to fellow restaurant goers.

Sincerely,

Boop's Momma

Firecrackies! 7-6-14

Hope you had a wonderful July 4th!

Taking Stock at 29 Months. 6-17-14

Here's what's happening at 29 months:

• I'm so impaired that I had to count out 29 months on my fingers. 
• This is our big news...

I made my camera worse instead of better, but you get the idea.

Chatting with the Birds. 6-15-14

Catching up with photos from back in January. Boop likes going back through videos, and she was excited to see photos from the beach. The talking birds scared Boop a bit. Not so much that she didn't want to see him, just enough that we had to carry her.

Returning Home, Part II. 6-11-14

The day before I was due to come back to the house, I got a call from my friend. She wouldn’t be able to bring me back to my house for a few days because she had a family emergency. With that, I decided to just try another way to get back home. Flying home was out—our tiny, hometown airport would mean more time and money for the ticket. Plus, I would have Winnie, making it hard to manage dog and baby through the various stopping points and further adding to the price. Renting a one-way car from my aunts would be an option, but it would be half the price to rent one at the state line. So, Mom accompanied us the 2 hours to get the rental. When I got the car, I began shifting boxes and bags and car seat from Mom’s car to the rental as Mom tried to distract Winnie and Boop. I was really nervous about driving with Boop mid-day, especially for 3 more hours.

I'mma Livin' Inna Box! I'mma Livin' Inna Cardboard Box!

Thankfully, the trip was smooth. I didn’t have to stop to get gas, and Boop ate and slept for the rest of the trip. Uneventful. As soon as I pulled into the driveway, though, I realized I had a problem: I left my keys in my Mom’s car. I had left a spare key at the office, but driving over there, I confirmed my worst suspicions: my spare key was to my old lock. With that, I had to break into my house with the help of my neighbor and just need to fix the window now. Mom mailed me my keys, and I got some good exercise walking back and forth to daycare and work for a couple days.

BTW, very classy work. Whoever you are who called in a code infraction for one of my neighbors, resulted in an official notice for me. Which was probably what you intended, anyway. 20 days to repair my gutters. Yep, and I’ve only been trying to get them done for a few months. Fortunately, the inspector was nice enough. She said that I could just take the gutters down if I wanted to. 

"Elbow #1" 6-9-14

My Budding Young Photographer

This is Boop's first photo of me. I'm clearly dressed to the nines in my house cleaning clothes; I guess she was going for me in my natural state. Although at first glance, you might think this is her "Up the Nose" period, she was clearly going for my elbow, as she's a little obsessed with elbows these days. She proudly proclaimed "ELBOW!" when she reviewed the photo.
Even looking at this post, she was inspired to grab my arm and announce, "That's Mommy's elbow!" 

Try, Try Again. 6-5-14

Another belated birthday greeting, from Miss Boop... Goodness gracious! 

Spring Cleaning. 6-4-14

It’s still officially spring. I have a couple of weeks left. I’m trying to get caught up from all of the months of office work. My house is showing the wear. The winter was rough. I thought a metal roof would be such a good investment, but it sure has done a number to my gutters. So, I need to figure out what to do.

Boop likes to help me clean. That’s great in spirit. However, as you would expect with a toddler, she has a way of creating new jobs for me to do. For example, she had the spray bottle of vinegar to clean the stainless steel fridge. She actually did a decent job for the one or two areas for the first few squirts, but I would look away and look back to find huge streaks and the fridge and paper towels dripping with vinegar. The kitchen reeked of it for a few days. Could be worse. But honestly, the best thing about the activity is that it keeps Boop occupied. Could be worse. Much, much worse. I’ve gotten distracted by doing something so many times when suddenly my Mommy Alarm goes off, and I look around to see what she’s gotten into. Apparently, a toddler daddy in South Korea was not so lucky. He presented his passport to leave a foreign country, only to find that his child had drawn in ink all over the passport photo page, making it useless. I’d say Boop hiding my credit cards (she LOVES credit cards) and keys rank pretty high up there. I just pulled out the couch to find a treasure trove—Winnie had hid our socks there, and Boop had hid credit cards, business cards, award cards—all those little cards just perfect for toddler-sized hands.

I am always watching those hoarding shows for inspiration, hoping that Boop and I don’t end up that way. And in my cleaning, I came across this. But I’m hearing that Neil is not going to tour for a long, long time. So, these will be few and far between, unfortunately. 

Crazy Trip Home. 6-1-14

I made a trip home for the holiday with the worst luck. The trip didn’t get off to a good start. I thought I had everything sorted before I left—but alas, no. When a friend came to pick me up, I kept hearing water running. It was on the wrong side of the house from everything that I thought it could be. I even had a couple of rattling pipes. So, my friend, who was nice enough to drive us home, advised I turn off the main line water; so she had to wait while I ran in to do it. Then, an hour into the trip, I started looking. Wiggles DVDs: check. DVD player: check. Plug the DVD player in the cigarette lighter… Oh no. I forgot the cord. We saw a Target, got turned around and finally got in there. I ran in. No, I really don’t want to buy a $70 DVD player when we already have 4. The guy at Target told me Radioshack was 2 doors down; so we went in there. Mind you, Boop has no shoes, and I’m carrying 38 lb. baby and DVD player in a mad dash through Target and mall. Fortunately, they were able to test the cords in the DVD player because it took us some time to figure out the right one, even though several seemed to fit. Feeling exhausted, yet? That was just the first hour of the trip. Fortunately, my friend is a very patient person.

All I’ve heard the past couple of weeks from Boop was Uncle B this and Uncle B that. So when we finally made it, I had one very happy little girl who got to see Aunt D and Uncle B—and one very happy Winnie who quickly established her spot on Uncle B’s lap. I got to hang out with a friend from college—hadn’t seen her little ones since they were babies who are in middle school now. And see my middle school friend, her husband, and one of my 2^nd mothers, and have some very good fried chicken, for a change. Boop was ‘on’ at the dinner house—talking and singing, but she had conked out when I went to see my friend from college. That at least gave us a bit of time to talk.  

Too Late? 5-21-14

Mom's birthday was a few weeks ago. And Boop just missed it. We took Mom to breakfast for her birthday, but Boop didn't really understand. The next week, when we were talking to Mom, Boop wished her a Happy Birthday. Boop loves looking at the video of her birthday, where we all were singing to her. And so a few weeks after her Grandma's birthday, she learned this:

Oh well, maybe it will be in time for someone else's birthday :)

More Easter. 5-18-14

I'm just a little behind...

Coloring Easter Eggs

Taking Stock at 30 Months. 5-16-14

Here’s what’s happening at 30 Months:
·         Boop is an avid YouTube watcher. She loves to watch the kiddie music clips, and it’s hard to keep it in check. Fortunately, she doesn’t watch anything at daycare, but when she gets home, she starts asking. We still read lots of books. And I wish I had more energy to get her out and about. She loves to sing and is able to get more and more of the words. Hopefully, I’ll make better use of the pool pass this year. Boop is still a live wire, but she’s a bit more manageable.
·         I’m not really sure if Boop had a UTI after all. Nothing showed up on culture at 24 hrs. I sent a message to her new nephrologist, but I still haven’t heard back after a week. It’s the same support staff as her last nephrologist. Honestly, they need to get it together. I would love to take her back to the place out of state, but my insurance won’t really cover it. I need to take a bit more time to check out the state insurance exchange. I think she could get better coverage for what I’m paying now, but my annual window to change ended while I was in full tilt grant-writing mode. Fortunately, my previous elections rolled over to this year; so I didn’t lose everything.
·         Poor Winnie. That’s all I can say. It’s been a week on antibiotics, and I’m still waking to her accidents. I got up at 3am, and there was already one waiting for me in the carpet. I stared at it for a couple of hours and finally got up the gumption to clean it. I need to figure out how to use the little carpet cleaner I bought last year.  
·         I still feel overwhelmed by stuff. I try so hard to keep up with it. I sent Mom home with 2 huge boxes of stuff that she got for Boop but that Boop didn’t use/had outgrown. That’s roughly equivalent to the amount of stuff she’s gotten Boop in the past month—I’m just trying to break even, at this point. Notice the piles and boxes of stuff to get rid of in the video below.
·         It’s good that we seem to be emerging from the snow. It’s been a cold, snowy winter. Of course, it’s rained for the better part of the week, but it looks like things may be a bit drier today. Maybe I’ll try walking to work today. 

Easter Morning

Nightmares. 5-14-14

Boop is sleeping better these days, but Winnie is waking up a lot with her UTI. Nearly a week on antibiotics, and Winnie still doesn't seem to be much better. The first thing this morning, I stepped in one of her accidents. Yargh. Along with the lack of sleep from the disturbances in the night, there's also the interruption of my dreams--making me more likely to remember them. Night before last, I had a couple of bad ones. One of the recurring themes in nightmares is me walking alone on a very dark street. At least, in the most recent one, I didn't have Boop with me, too, and I wasn't passing a cemetery. However, I had an even scarier one. 

The dream starts with me not really fully comprehending what I'm seeing. A man murdering a woman and trying to replace a lightbulb that was damaged in the struggle. His name was Rev--maybe the TV was on with the commercial about those Rev sandwiches? Anyway. So, this house was full of my family, and the weather was bad (we were having storms outside). Rev came to the get-together, and it all clicked in my mind. I was trying to sort out what to do. I pulled my mom aside and told her about the murder. She said, "Okay," and went on about her business. Rev knew that I knew at this point and was now wanting to kill me. I knew I needed help. I stopped my mother again, and I once again told her about the murder. She replied, "You should tell someone." I picked up the telephone and tried to call 911, but the phone wasn't working properly. The next thing I knew, everyone was gone, and I could sense Rev was there watching me. I'm trying to figure out where everyone went and what to do about Rev. That's when I hear Winnie's feet thumping on the floor and the pitter patter of her paws. Part of this may have been inspired by the hijacking on Walker, Texas Ranger. Either Walker needs to suddenly appear in my dream to save the day, or I'll be leaving TVLand off for a few hours in the afternoon. The latter seems like the best solution... Just relieved Boop wasn't at risk in these events!  

Too Much Sense to Admit It. 5-10-14

At that point, I was exhausted and ready to go home, but the camel that we saw earlier was still out in the parking lot. After determining that, yes, Boop was okay to go see it, we headed across the parking lot. Very docile and sweet. After seeing me do it, Boop gave the camel a quick pat and then seemed uninterested, and we headed back across the parking lot to the car. Just as I was about to open the door, she was hysterical, “Candle! Candle!” I’m trying to assess if she’s just tired (Yes) and wants to avoid getting in her car seat (Yes) or if she really wants to see the camel (Yes). After all, I figure, how often will Boop get to see a camel in her lifetime? By the way, do my pants still look like I just peed in them? Yes. So I carry her back across the parking lot, and she visits a little more. And again, she was not a happy camper to go home and was very upset about leaving the ‘candle.’ Heck, I would have taken the camel home with me if I could’ve.  I checked a YouTube video about caring for a camel when we got home. Alas, our soil in the US has inadequate selenium, and so camels require a cocktail of vitamins and minerals. It needs to be pretty warm, too. No camels in our immediate future.

So, now “candle” will occasionally mix in the conversation, but we have more frequent reminders of helicopters, which Boop often hears, living so close to the hospital. On our way to the grocery last weekend, I noticed the medical helicopter sitting up on the pad; I slipped Boop up the 3 flights of stairs to see it, which did not seem to interest her at the time but which is now a frequent request on YouTube. I am the Mommy of strange and incidental experiences. Do I admit that I have a friend who was even worse when she was younger? If she saw somewhere she wanted to go, she just tried it. Pretty church? No one there? Door unlocked? She was in it. Never disturbed anything, just checked it out.  Apparently, this is a thing now; I forget what they call it—urban exploring?  Whatever it is, she was doing it 20 years ago. Blah.

Pee-Pee, Part II. 5-9-14

So, I waited a bit and realized that it would be unlikely for her to go again before bed. I called the pediatrician’s office back to speak with the NP. I explained that it would be hard to get her to go again and at what point should we consider catheterizing her. She said they wouldn’t catheterize, that I would have to take her to the hospital. I was flabbergasted, but I tried not to sound that way. She was nice but acted like I was asking for something outside of common practice. I just changed to this pediatrician late last year. I’m thinking to myself that the doctor knew my child had a reflux problem and knew she was going off antibiotics: why didn’t he tell me that they didn’t catheterize? Of course, there are risks of contamination with catheterizing, too, but sometimes you have to do it. And the frequency of reflux in children may be 1-2%, which means out of every 100 children he sees, a couple of them probably have it. You need to check more than that 1-2% to pick up 1-2%.

I was lost at that point. I didn’t want to take her to the ER, but then I figured I would call Urgent Care to see if they catheterize. YES! And she explained the hope would be to get her to go in the bag. Mine, too! With that, I packed up some books, put Boop in some slippers, left her pants at home, and we headed out. They had a slightly different bag, which made more sense for a little girl, and started bringing the juice. I gave her some water, which she spilled all down my pants. Finally, success with the bag! And yes, just as I had found earlier, positive for UTI, unfortunately. So, we are waiting on the cultures to come back. Then, we’ll follow up to see what the next step is. Another urinalysis, I’m sure. 

Here We Go Again. 5-8-14

Speaking of May the 4th, there's a disturbance in The Force, I suppose. 

I felt bad that I didn't get to spend as much time visiting with my grad school roomie as I would have liked. I had this image of us going out and doing something fun, but instead, I spent half the time ailing and half the time trying to get things sorted with one of my grants. There's also this little issue of being a mom and a daughter, and Gammy was too exhausted to manage Boop on her own for the evening. We opted for an evening out of Burmese. Then, we spent the morning at the Penn St. Market in Philadelphia. It was good to see her again, but I wish it could have been under better circumstances. That reminds me, I'm suppose to be scheduling a doctor's appointment. However, that will have to wait a bit longer. 

We've had a crazy week--beyond just the grant writing and challenges with teaching and students. Winnie has another UTI. Vet appointment today. And after a week of trying to get Boop sorted out with cranberry and pear juice (which worked great at home, but not so much at daycare), I finally relented and took her to the walk-in clinic at her pediatrician. We saw the nurse practitioner who helped me put a bag on her (they're clearly made for little boys) and sent her home. She hadn't soiled her diaper all day, and this was about 3pm. Finally, after pushing liquids, she finally went about 4:30, which of course did not go in the bag. I was able to find a drop in the bag to test with a home test kit, and it was positive for a UTI. So, I called the pediatrician's office. They're only advice was to try again <groan>. 

Speaking of a disturbance in The Force, I hear Boop is awake via the baby monitor... "Winnie! Winnie! <mumble, mumble, mumble> Winnie! Winnie!"

FABULOUS!

Yep, She's Mine. 5-6-14

Boop loves to sing and completely out of tune. It's terrific. She sings with such enthusiasm, belting out 'Twinkle, twinkle little star' at the sight of a star in a book. We get a lot of 'Hoss cross buns, hoss cross buns, one a penny, any Winnie, hoss cross buns!' and 'Farmer unda deyw.' However, I'm either rubbing off on her, or it's in the genes. The other day, we were getting ready for dinner, and she wanted some marshmallows. Nope, not until after dinner, I explain. BUT, I almost relented when she belted out a new one, 'Hoss cross marshmallows.' Okay, very bad but very me. This tells me: (1) she's been listening to me and is aware that I change the words, (2) she understands that she can change the words--and does, and (3) my work here is not done: she still has more to learn.

Here's one from last month before she got a few of the words nailed down:

Unfortunately, I've been in hardcore grant-writing mode. Gotta make a livin'! However, it's hard to believe that I have to work this hard at it. I started down this path and invested so much time into my education, and the rules got totally changed on me. I guess many people feel this way about the economy. Anyway, this is something I'm going to try to integrate into my class next year. I think I like this better than the Truth campaign:

A little commercial

Wii Gettin' Fit. 4-17-14

Away, Part II. 4-12-14

It's hard to reconstruct the trip after so long, but I'll give it a shot. If I don't do it now, it will never get done! And please forgive grammar and the like, I don't have time to edit. 

So, we got in and had a nice visit with my cousins at the restaurant. Honestly, we were so tired. Did I mention about the part about the guy at the bar? Anyway, so there was a guy at the bar. That's not the end of the story. "This little girl walks into a bar and says..." Boop had lots of pent up energy that had to go before she could settle in for the evening. She jogged up and down the row of tables. Up and down, up and down. She got to the bar, and the seniors sitting at the bar looked up and commented on her hair. One of the guys, who had a bit more to drink said, "She looks like that girl with the hair in the movies; what's her name?" "Um, Shirley Temple?" I responded. He wasn't satisfied until someone else at the bar said it, too. There's my Shirley Temple story, sort of.

We stopped at the grocery on the way home for supplies and then headed on to my cousin's condo. They pretty much gave us free reign of the condo, while they stayed in a friend's condo. Boop loved their balcony, looking over at the lake, but she got a little caught up with the threshold. Our timing was a bit off for my cousin as he always plays a golf tournament in their area every year, and he usually wins ;) <seriously, he does do very well; I only wink because it would embarrass him a bit>. I held my breath for Hurricane Boop that she not destroy the place. I'm just hoping she didn't stain their upholstery--this cute white, flip-flop fabric. Hopefully, they have received their package by now.

Taking Stock at 25 Months (and a week). 2-27-14

Here’s what’s happening at 25 months:

• Mercy sakes. Boop and the boys. I got updated by her teachers last week. They informed me that Boop has a boyfriend. Apparently, N kissed her 3 times over the course of the day. He’s a younger man. So, there you go. She’ll be dating before me.
• A few days later when I went to pick her up, her teacher asked, “Are those the shoes Boop came to daycare in?” I said yes, somewhat apprehensively. They seemed relieved. Apparently, she and E had decided to exchange shoes, but they did such a good job, the shoes didn’t look like they had been changed. They just happened to think that Boop usually wore purple tennis shoes. E is younger; so I suspect Boop instigated. As I was walking out, I looked down and saw suns on her sock. We turned back around. They had also exchanged socks, too, apparently. How on earth they managed that, I don’t know.
• My grants got in, but not without much drama. More on that later. Many long hours, only to start up again in a few weeks. I’m pretty exhausted but relieved that it’s over.
• Winnie seems like she’s seeing a little better. She’s recovering from another UTI and is full of energy, playing with her toys, running around.

Tempachew. 3-26-14

I'm so far behind. So far behind.

I was up half the night getting ready for the consignment sale. Wow, so many "i"s to dot and "t"s to cross for this one. Hopefully, I have cleared all of the hurdles. Coughing and difficulty breathing made it pointless to try to sleep any way. Boop was so kind as to share her ailment, but I don't think she's had it as bad as me. My voice totally left me sometime yesterday evening, and I'm trying to rest my throat so I can do another smoking cessation lab tomorrow. On top of all of the craziness, we got a couple of inches of snow this morning. Wait, didn't we just have spring last week?

So, I'm trying to get us all sorted and out the door in time for Boop to get breakfast at daycare. Boop looked up at me and said, "Mommy take tempachew." I was trying to make sure I had everything. I grabbed her bag, thinking maybe that's what she said. "Mommy take tempachew." I looked at her as she seemed pretty intent. "I don't understand," I whispered as loud as I could. "Mommy take tempachew." "Oh! You want Mommy to take her temperature. Yes, that's right. Mommy's sick, but I'll take care of it. Don't worry." She then pointed to my coat: "Mommy zip it." "Okay, Mommy will zip her coat up. That's good Boop." She can be a bitter pill at moments, but it's times like these that put it all in perspective.

And so, I'm sitting, hoping the codeine cough syrup will kick in so I can get some sleep. Getting out of the car at the urgent care this morning, I was thinking: how can people keep smoking if they can't breathe any better than me? There was something on the radio talking about emphysema being like trying to breathe through a straw. Stop smoking.