One And A Half Years

Today Elle turned one and a half.  She is getting so big, so smart, so verbal, so silly, the list could go on.  It has been the best 18 months of my life.  Motherhood is the most stressful, frustrating, but amazing, worthwhile thing.  Yesterday I was considering shipping Elle via FedEx to my sister-in-law in Texas, today she & I cuddled on the couch while dinner was in the oven.  Here is a list of some of my one and a half year olds favorite things:

• flashlights
• throwing things in the trash can
• “swimm’n” in the bathtub
• trying to learn  how to jump
• playing in a pretend tent with Daddy
• running
• coloring
• making monkey sounds…and listening to Daddy’s monkey sounds (it funny how good you get at making animal sounds when you become a parent)
• tickling Mommy & Daddy
• singing (see yesterday’s post)

I can’t wait to see what she is like 18 months from now, it all seems to happen so fast.

Soloist

Here is a video of Elle performing a solo for our family on Friday night. Singing has become one of her new favorite pastimes, if only we knew what she’s saying.

Just Another Day…

It has been one of those days…one of those days when everything ends up being 4 times more difficult than expected. One of those days that make you want to head to bed and give up. I had dreams of today being a catch up day. Catch up on blogs, catch up on laundry, just get things done and get organized before my work week starts.

Elle & I had several errands to run this morning. As we are pulling out of the driveway the garage door decided to come of the track (it has done that several times lately). My daughter proceeded to be a huge crab the entire time we were out. Apparently she wanted crackers, and pretzels (all I had with us) would not be sufficient. She did not drop the “no pretzel” issue for an hour (she said “no pretzel” over and over). At the grocery store she refused to bend her legs so I could sit her in the front of the cart, she screamed very loudly as I bent her legs for her. Grrr. Rigby came in and got her muddy paws all over the kitchen floor I had just mopped.

I think I will spend some time reading Love and Logic tonight.

This just in: I posted this blog about 30 minutes ago. In that time, Elle has tripped over the dogs water bowl & cover herself & my twice mopped kitchen floor with gross dog water. As I was making dinner (Mexican Lasagna) a can of green chili’s squirted ALL over my shirt (took a picture of myself, but will spare you all the horrible picture). At that point I literally laughed out loud. Remember that book Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day?

Mission: Find Tree

Here a few pictures from our weekend:

Heading in to pick out a Christmas tree.

Elle & I while Joe is checking out…me not wearing any makeup…don’t laugh.

Playing outside while Joe gets the tree off the Jeep.

Finally! The tree is up and decorated!

Handbooks

Yesterday afternoon, I got a phone call from Elle’s babysitter (Miss Pat).  Elle was running a 102 fever.  I rushed right over, and found Elle laying on Miss Pat’s couch.  Immediately, I knew that she was not feeling well.  Normally Elle lays for no more than 2.3 seconds at a time.  Joe & I got Elle home and down for a nap.  She woke up an hour later and her fever had broken.  About bedtime we noticed it was coming back, at 7:30 it was 100.  I went in her room to check on her at 9:30 & she woke up.  She was burning up, 104!!  YIKES.  I’m not prepared to handle real sickness.  I realize that I am 27 and have been a mother for 18 months, but in my mind I am still 16 years old (does that ever go away?).  We have an amazing pediatrician, when you have a new baby, he gives you a handbook (like 200 pages) that he and the other docs in his office wrote (we once saw Jim Edmonds in the office with his kids…Joe had no doubt that we had selected a good ped. after that).  It is so nice.  I flipped open the book and saw exactly what I needed to do.  Tylenol & if the fever get to 105, we go to the ER.  What would I do without handbooks??? I would never learn how to use my phone at work or figure out how to make a lasagna.  Could someone please write a handbook on how to break my horrible addiction to Mountain Dew?  We are out of milk, I need to go to the grocery store…but it is the night before Thanksgiving.  It’s not going to be pretty…maybe I’ll get a Mountain Dew to help get me through.