Saturday, October 29, 2005
The Return Trip
We left the Trunk or Treat shortly after 7:30 p.m. That would get us home right around 9:00 p.m. I would like to say that Emma cried and complained the whole way home but that would be an exaggeration. She finally fell asleep about 10 minutes from home. So I got to listen to alternating whining, crying and hollering for roughly 1:15 to 1:20 minutes. I really tried to have a good attitude about it. I stopped the car twice and found her paci and gave it to her. She would pause crying for about 30 seconds or so every once in a while. I'd think "Great! maybe she's done and will fall asleep now." Nope. As soon as I was within range I called home and gave M. instructions to have her room ready, have a bottle ready and have her medicine droppers ready to go. There would be no bath tonight and this child was going straight to bed. And that's how it worked. She wasn't happy at being awakened to come in the house, but the bottle made everything better. Thank God we've still got that.
Emma meets Elmo
Kinda. It was pretty cold tonight and we took a break in the church so Emma could stretch her legs and warm her little fingers. Her next big goal seems to be to climb into her stroller herself. She was working on that when she heard something that she had to investigate...

Kitty Nirvana
Here Emma is trying to play with the neighbor kitten. She is making this weird noise which I think represents excitement. I'm not quite sure.

More about that neighbor kitten
While Dad was working on the car the kitten was hanging about. It obviously was the curious variety of cat. Here it is inspecting the car...



Much later I had completely forgotten the cat. Emma had gone down for a nap and Popi was finishing up the brake work. He had me sitting in the car testing the brakes, pumping them. At a quiet moment I hear a noise behind me and look around to find that the cat had found the fresh baked loaf of bread Emma's babysitter had given to me for my birthday. It had munched through the plastic bag and was happily consuming the top of the loaf. I screamed when I discovered what was going on. Damn, that was a good loaf too. Eh, it was still a cool little cat.
Trunk or Treat
We went over the mountains to visit Noni and Popi today. We went shopping, Popi installed new rear brake pads on my car, and then we went to a Trunk or Treat at their church. For those who are wondering, at the trunk or treat people park their cars, open their trunks and decorate them, and then hand out candy from the back of the vehicle. People line up to file past all the cars. It's a great way for kids to bag a lot of candy safely. Noni and Popi took their motorcycle and decorated it. Noni can add what she wants in the comments ;)

While Popi was working on the car the neighbor kitten was hanging out with us. Emma was beside herself because this cat let her get close.


Popi made a spider out of pumpkins, pretty cool huh?


For those of you who were on my back about not getting a costume for Emma, here ya go. Take one birthday coat from great-grandma, pin on two cardboard ears cut from a photo envelope and voila! Leopard cub ;) And she looks just as thrilled as I imagined.


Here is Noni & Popi's set up. I didn't really capture it very well, but you get the idea.
I finally got them
Today at Target I found the Not-Robeez in Emma's size. I'll stop bitching now. I want to offer a sincere thank you to those of you that offered to buy them and mail them to me. I know you did it out of the kindness of your hearts and it had nothing to do with shutting me up ;)
Friday, October 28, 2005
Halloween Carnival
It's held at the elementary school. They offer dinner, games and costume contests. We went so that Emma could take in the scenery. She loves to be in crowds and this would be lots of kids, which she loves the most.

First we went to the store, Emma had bananas on her list:


While we were eating, another October baby stopped by to say Hi. Emma wanted to cuddle her.


Hey, are you guys ready to do something else?


Here's a clear view of her Halloween outfit for today:


I'm so tired, let's hit it:
Thursday, October 27, 2005
Chair training
Here she's training for the mount and dismount on her new chair. Honestly, I think she was goofing off because a few seconds later she climbed right on it pretty as you please.

Today's outfit
A little purple number sporting an embroidered Minnie Mouse



This is just about peak
It was so beautiful this morning it almost hurt my eyes. This is the hillside in the morning sun:

Oh Allie...
Quote from Allison in the comments regarding the malawi chair:

I thought about getting Avery one of those the other day on my shopping spree with grandma, but I didn't. I could just see her climbing on top of it and killing herself. She has turned into quite the little daredevil lately. Today she turned over a laundry basket, climbed on top of it, and stood up. I about had a heartattack.

Was this what you were picturing?

Ear infection, both ears
My baby has a common childhood illness. Which beats having an extraordinary one. I guess the runny nose and mild cold led to the infections. So that explains the lethargy and fever. I'm glad I took her in. She'll be on amoxicillin for a while. We postponed her second flu shot scheduled for the 8th and she'll have a follow-up on the ears Dec. 1.

Dr. says by Saturday she should be behaving like her old self again. This is her first ear infection so I should be grateful that she made it this far without one. Thank you all for your well wishes for Baby Emma.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Abusing the English Language
Listening to sports commentators is enough to choke thinking people. Some of the crap that comes out of their mouths is just jaw dropping. Do they even listen to what comes out of their own mouths? Tonight's gem during the World Series coverage...referring to the Astros who are three games down already..."Hopes springs eternal for at least another night."

Hello? Do you need a dictionary to look up the word eternal? Think people, think!
I can't take it anymore...
I've made an appointment for Emma at the medical center tomorrow morning. She is just so listless and not herself. She's content to lay on me and stare at the window for half an hour. She'll sit in my lap and watch Elmo. She's obviously not well.

The runny nose isn't as bad as it's been since the 13th, but she's running a low grade fever every day now. Given just those things I could chalk it up to teething. But the listlessness is freaking me out. I don't want to find out something is wrong with her and then have them tell me...if you'd just brought her in sooner...So tomorrow the doc will have a look.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Princess Buttercup on her new throne
Yes, the malawi chair has taken up residence in our living room. She wasn't inspired by it, but then she's pretty indifferent to everything today, poor baby. I hope she feels better soon.

Monday's Cold Weather Outfit
No animals were harmed in the manufacture of this luxurious garment.



This set was a gift from Emma's Great-Grandmother.
All My Weather
I've changed the title of the Foliage Report. The foliage reporting has turned out to be futile. Maybe we'll get a sunny day before it's all gone. You never know.


Bonus Video - Emma's Song
We weren't aiming to take video tonight because frankly Emma feels like shit. How do I know this? She's listless. This is not our little dynamo. She will actually sit in our laps and cuddle for a long, long time. Something is definitely wrong. Even in this video you can see that she's a little dopey from being so tired. Anyway, this is Emma's song that she sang to us during dinner...

Finally heard back from Blogger support
Eight days after emailing them. You may have noticed that the navbar is back to normal. I did nothing to fix it, just as I did nothing to screw it up. But I was so upset by how bad it looked I was looking for alternatives to either this template or Blogger.
Rude incident foist upon me today
I was working at my desk and a customer/client was standing outside my office and wanted who-knows-what? As soon as I lay down my pen I will ALWAYS come and do what I can to help. But no, as soon as we made eye contact she crooked her little finger and waggled it to beckon me. My brain immediately flashed "YOU INSOLENT LITTLE TROLLOP, DON'T YOU DARE WAGGLE YOUR FINGER AT ME!" How incredibly rude. I wanted to sit tight so badly.

I mean, that hasn't happened to me in decades, which is testament to me that it is actually rude. Isn't it? Based on my visceral reaction it was rude. Just don't know if I've missed a memo or something.

I guess it could go without saying I was polite without being particularly warm. I suppose she didn't know any better.
Monday, October 24, 2005
More haiku just for you
Freezing my ass off
Winter coming 'round the bend
Wake me up in May.
Oh by the way...
The throne is here. It arrived today. It's in the shop being Scotchguarded so we hope to have pictures to share tomorrow. It won't be long now...(like you're on the edge of your seat!)
Today's outfit...
...is a hand-me-down from another local Emma who is exactly one year older than our Emma. It's finally chilly enough for her to wear this one.

Monday foliage report
Here's your photo for today. Would you like to guess what the white stuff in front of the camera is?



Now?


How about now?


Actually it sleeted on and off all day. Now it is snowing. Yippee.
Teething update
Emma is working on three molars simultaneously. The bottom one has broken through the farthest. The top two molars are just sharp edges poking through the gums now. She's been coping pretty well, but she does know the Baby Orajel when she sees it. She gets pretty excited to see it coming.
The cabinet raider...
Is responsible for the destruction of my 1 1/2 quart and my 2 quart corning ware dishes. They are NOT indestructible.
Ha! You should be able to comment now...
An ingenious little beta tester came up with a fix. Comment away!
Please forgive...
the Haloscan comments aren't working. No explanation from Haloscan so far. If you have a great comment please remember it and come back ;) I hate to miss anything.
A small wish...
I wish I could have $5 for every time someone sends an email and describes the attachment they're sending. And then sends a second email where they actually remember to attach the attachment. I think it would pay for Christmas.
Sunday, October 23, 2005
Your family keeps you humble
It's an old maxim. Why is it true? I can tell you why...because 90% of the indignities you suffer in your lifetime will be at the hands of your family, the ones who love you most. So with that in mind Uncle B. thought he'd give you an early start...



FYI, in case you're wondering where the hat came from...

Sunday morning foliage
This time you get to see it in the morning sun: