Lula Belle. 11-14-15

I had already started ripping things out; I couldn't resist!
I did remember to stop and take a few quick photos before I got too far.

Boop's favorite spot

Bursting at the Seams. 4-6-15

Here is a photo of Boop at Great Aunt D's on Easter, in her white dress while it lasted... Not a very good shot.

 
Easter Hunt #1 with Gammy and Aunt D at Aunt D's

Easter Hunt #2 John McEnroe at Great Aunt D's

Hope you had a happy Easter. Notice, I didn't say 'hoppy' Easter. That's because I didn't want your Easter to be full of bad Easter puns, just simply egg-straodinary. Okay, just one. 

Princesses, Part II. 1-23-15

We just happened to catch Snow White and Aurora on a fluke.

Boop's Favorite Princess, Tiana

Boop was so excited, she had to take a break from Tiana to run around and then come back.

Some Princess Wannabees.

Cinderella's Lovely Stepmother

Me: "She looks a little terrified."

Her: "As she should."

And at the end: "Return to the humans who own you."

 Cinderella, revisited.

 We liked Prince Charming.

Pete's Silly Sideshow? 1-21-15

She finally met Daisy! 

But she was very nervous about Goofy--or The Great Goofini.

(Pete isn't there.)

Princesses. 1-16-15

We saw princesses. We saw princesses.

We saw lots and lots of princesses.

We were late to see Belle, 
but a staff person was nice enough to give us a Fast Pass.

I have to say that was one of the few nice staff members we encountered.

Overall, the staff was not as nice as I would have expected, especially since my Mom had mobility issues and was on a scooter. 
In fact, I think they treated us worse because of it.

Riding Horses. 1-15-15

So nice, we had to do it twice.

Cinderella and Rapunzel. 1-14-15

These were a bit blurry. 
I forgot to bring Boop an autograph book. They gave her a Birthday card at Chef Mickey's; so we just went with that. It actually worked out pretty well--except that the back was slick and poor Piglet got ink all over his paw from Eyore's signature. 
Gammy was on camera duty, and I was on video camera. 

Who's Your Friend? 1-13-15

She would not.let.go of Chip, and it became a little awkward, yes. Funny though. She's nearly 3; so it qualifies as pretty cute. 

Even Dale is cracking up.

Dale takes his turn.

One more squeeze for Chip.

Applecore! 3:00

I’m Just a Woman. 1-3-15

• Over Thanksgiving, we were in the parking lot of the grocery store, and Boop was a little agitated. I told her, “Well, we just need to pick up a few more things for cookie baking day, Chickadee.” She was incredulous: “I’m NOT a chickadee!” “Well, what do you want me to call you, then?” I asked. “I, I’m just a woman,” she explained. I had to laugh at that one, which didn’t help matters. She was grumpy and trudged through the entire store.
• At Christmas, the planets aligned, I had no strains or challenges to my voice, Mom was able to hear me for the first time in several months—devices were present and functioning, and a Fisher Price Little People baby Jesus lay in a manger under our Christmas tree. It was a heady time, indeed.
• At Walmart last week, Boop was walking ahead, and her jeggins were losing their hold. I called to her, “Hon, you think you better pull up your pants?” She ignored me. I looked to my left, and there was a guy in camo pulling up his pants. Okay, so that must be the worst pick-up line ever, but at least someone listened to me.
• Boop’s hit single is ‘Shiny Day.’ I have no idea where she heard this song, but I think it’s one that she’s made up. Fortunately, unlike many grindingly annoying pop songs that are played over and over, her song changes every time she sings it, based on whatever she’s doing.

  

  Check out the hair.

·     

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.

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. 

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. 

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.  

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.

Away. 1-17-14

We took a sort-of vacation. Mom and I found a cheap flight; so we went for it. Boop was under 2 so she got to fly free as a “Lap Child”. Sounds very tragic, like a latchkey kid or a forlorn child wondering around aimlessly and alone in the Laplands. Mom drove up to my house, and we went to a nearby airport the next morning. Of course, I forgot to get cash, and there weren’t any restaurants near the muni airport. We wound up scrounging lunch at the snack bar with what little change we found. The flight was pretty uneventful, until the last 20 minutes of the descent. Then, Boop was hysterical that we had to turn off the Wiggles, and it only got worse from there. Then, as we were about to leave the plane, Mom couldn’t find her phone; so I went back to our seats and found it. This was just the beginning of our phone mishaps.

I got the cheapest possible rental car on the Internet a few days before we left, and we were Jonesing for an upgrade at the check-in desk, even if it was a few more dollars. I checked in. No offer. So we headed out to get our matchbox car. The fellow outside said that they had plenty of mini-vans if we wanted one. I was wavering, not wanting to drive something that big and having the extra cost of gas. Then, he said the magic words: “Some of them have DVD players.” SOLD. I hate for Boop to watch so much TV, but the car seat is so hard on her, and I knew we had a long trip.

My cousin was nice enough to email us directions before we left, but she used a different mapping program than I do, and we weren’t exactly sure where we were or where we were going. When we got the car, it took us a little while to find the road. Then, we didn’t have any cash for the tolls. So we had to get off and find a cash machine. Mom realized that she lost her phone again, and we*turned*the*mini-van*UP*SIDE*DOWN and finally found it.

So glad we got money because it felt like we had to pay a toll every 15 minutes. So, getting turned around, losing the phone, stopping for tolls, and fighting the rain, it took us forever to get in. It was so late by the time we saw my great uncle J and cousins. And I wasn’t in the best mood after driving for over 4 hours to get there. We got to see more family than we had initially planned. Luckily, we had a nice visit, and I had some nice sushi and sashimi after eating junk food all day. Boop made it a bit tricky to visit as she had lots of energy after being cooped up in cars and planes all day. 

2, 3, 4, Tell the People What She Wore. 11-3-13

I’m a bit drained after a day work trip away, while her grandma had a little one-on-one time with Boop. Bless her heart, Mom tried to save munchkin from herself, but there was a bit of collateral damage that I was trying to set aright upon my return. A friend also needed some information for some research he was doing, and I’m trying to pull that together <ahem>. Mom’s departure today reminded me a bit of the 1^st time she had to take Winnie to the groomer. Let’s just say it was fraught with anxiety and tears. The groomer finally just had to tell my mom to leave. And so it was today. After her 10^th vacillation back and forth between the den and the door, and Boop getting increasingly upset, I convinced her that she just needed to go. Boop had already quit crying by the time Mom made it to her car.

And so I’m trying to prepare myself for the coming week, many dealings with people (students) who want feedback, like my friend's research. Sometimes people say things that I don't expect. One reaction is to want to tell them what's wrong with what they are saying. My second reaction is confusion: how did they reach their conclusion? Did they really think this through? My third reaction is to search my own experience and admit that I’ve probably done this, too, and probably still do. Maybe they get this better than me. And my fourth reaction is to wonder if they are putting in enough effort (and creating more challenges for me)? I can only try to keep plugging away. At the end of the day, I’m just trying to hold on to a little bit of sanity and keep a roof over our head. Boop seems to be doing okay, so far, and she does get to spend a little time with family. It’s hard to be away, though.

These are some photos of Boop's Last Swim of the Summer a few weeks ago.

The water was COLD, but Boop loved it. 

I had tried to heat the water with pots from the stove to no avail.

"So we have to say good-bye to the summer!"

Burnin'. #3 6-20-13

I just scarfed down a Potbelly sandwich. I didn't realize that it had been about 7 hours since lunch. A little less than an hour to kill before boarding; so I have been pretty successful in wasting an entire afternoon. What I needed the most was a nap, but there really hasn't been a place to rest. And my mouth is still on fire. The trick is to see how many barbecue chips and how much of the sandwich with peppers you can eat without taking a drink. Yep, that bored.

My world was almost turned on my head today. It hit me about halfway through the meeting this morning that there was a Potbelly at the airport. And so I figured I would eat something at a nearby restaurant for lunch and have a sandwich for dinner. Of course, as I'm walking to find lunch, I saw a Potbelly, and it upset my apple cart. But I had already planned to have it for dinner! The thought occurred to me to eat it twice... I figured I would opt for Thai for lunch. Best to have all of the crazy spicy food I can before I need to worry about the baby. She is a good sport and will try some mildly spicy things, but when the spice hits her, she is flailing her arms and rubbing her tongue in distress. I never give her anything that spicy, and it's not really consistent about what she will and won't eat. No pepperoni, yes beans and rice, no sausage, yes Kenyan goat stew, no sambosa, yes hummus. The glories of having a toddler. 

So much for the screen door!
Well, she had ripped a few months ago, but she ripped it even further. 

Growin' Like a Weed. #2 of 6-20-13

Have I used this title before? Have I heard this line before? Uh, yep. Relatives would see me at the holidays that I hadn't seen in a while. They'd give me a look over and then pronounce that I was 'growin' like a weed'. They were as equally likely to mean that I was growing out as much as growing up. Fortunately, neither is as true for me now, for the moment. However, Miss Boop has outpaced me in growth rate when I was her age. It's hard to believe she's 17 months old. I was talking to Mom, telling her that 'you won't believe how she's grown!' She said, "I know, I was just there last week!" "No Mom, I mean since you last saw her." She said, "Yes, I know she's gotten big." Hm. It didn't really sink in.

So what does she say when she arrives? "My goodness, I can't believe how big you've gotten! You've grown an inch since I was here last week!" She then informs me that 'she's really grown!' Yes, I was trying to tell her that on the phone. I guess you can't believe it unless you see it. Boop was already at the 85-90th %ile, but I don't know what her rate is like now. She's bigger than the boys in her class, and they're older. Mom was quick to tell me that she had outgrown her shoes. Well, I guess I'll have to figure something out, find some shoes somewhere. Maybe head back out for a few minutes to see what I can find. I've still got time to kill here in fabulous Gaithersburg.

Boop with her babysitters, showing something to Aunt D