Saturday, February 11, 2006
Our day so far
We're snowbound! OK, not really, Daddy's at work. It's been snowing since we woke up and now that it's afternoon the snow is really flying. Daddy came home for lunch and Emma made sure he took her outside for a bit. At the time this picture was taken we had about four inches. They're calling for 4-8" total. I think they may have it right this time.

Written at 4:51 PM by Highlandgal.
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We're going to Europe!
To my great relief I'm finally able to say the flights are booked. It was looking pretty dire recently as the air fares were quite expensive. Thankfully, Noni found a good deal this morning and we were all over it. We'll be saving roughly $700 compared to the rest of the fares we've found. The only hitch is that we'll now need to leave on a Thursday instead of Saturday. But for $700 I'm willing to make it work. Sadly that means two more days away from Emma too. So, our nine day vacation just became an eleven day trip. Now that I have a way there I can't wait for April!

UPDATED: We'll be staying with my brother's family in Heidelburg, Germany and seeing that area of Germany. We'll make a day trip to France for lunch. Over Easter weekend we're going to Ireland.
Written at 4:47 PM by Highlandgal.
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Damn, those growth spurts can be craaaaazy!
Written at 4:45 PM by Highlandgal.
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I forgot to mention...
Yesterday when I was cooking supper Emma came around the corner from the laundry room. I noticed she was eating something. Yikes! "What do you have?" I tried to stick my finger in her mouth, but with a full set of chompers awaiting, those days are over. So I agonized over what she could have swallowed. She turned around and headed back again. I followed her and she went straight to the source. Thank goodness she was only eating cat food. I'm pretty sure I never figured I'd find myself happy that my kid was eating cat food.
Written at 4:40 PM by Highlandgal.
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Friday, February 10, 2006
Found Art Sculpture
Or...two boxes of Pop Tarts with a box of Zesta crackers on top.

Written at 8:17 PM by Highlandgal.
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Good day at the babysitters
Mary said she played with little Caleb (almost 3) all day. They had the best time. When it was time for him to go home he tried to convince his mommy that he wanted Emma to come to his house and play with his toys. So maybe it's not all parallel play at this point?
Written at 8:15 PM by Highlandgal.
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Friday Night Videos
Visiting the store after work. She's got the run of the place, literally.



Written at 8:11 PM by Highlandgal.
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Paging the Ministry of Silly Walks
We have a young intern for you! Now that she's mastered the walking and running, she's moving on to more creative walks. We have the stutter step, the tip-toe walk and the sashay, with her little butt swinging side to side.
Written at 8:09 PM by Highlandgal.
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Emma's first photo album
I put it together for her last night, finally. I used my new photo printer. Tonight I'll do labels with everyone's names. Photos include Emma, Mommy, Daddy, Popi, Noni, Grandma G, Aunt T and cousins, Uncle B. and Aunt K., the other cousins, Jake, Beaker and Kiki. So which pictures do you think excite her most? #1. Kiki (cat) #2. The dogs. #3. She paused a while on Popi.

Written at 8:02 PM by Highlandgal.
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Thursday, February 09, 2006
Visiting Miss Angelika
At the library this afternoon after work. It's become our Thursday habit. She's always so thrilled to see Emma. Today Angelika presented me with a gift. Wool socks that she knitted herself. Back last winter she wore a pair of wildly colored ones that I raved over. I asked her recently why she hadn't worn them since then. She said unfortunately the colors bled a bit. Then today she surprised me with socks of my own. She said she chose the colors so I could wear them with jeans. She had confidence the colors would be OK on this pair ;) I can't tell you how thrilled I am to have hand-knitted socks made especially for me!

Written at 8:31 PM by Highlandgal.
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Today's Outfit
The Dora sweatshirt was a Noni find and the pants came from a Target clearance sale. Size 18 month for $3.44. Yeah baby!

Written at 8:25 PM by Highlandgal.
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Nakey time tonight
It was much better. Instead of streaking from the living room, through the kitchen and to the bathroom, we let her get nakey and run around the living room for a while. The dogs were behind the baby gate so no danger. She carried around her wet diaper (folded up, thanks) and chattered up a storm. She is so invigorated when she's naked, and happy as a clam. The only worrisome thing is that she'd stop and squat occasionally. I kept waiting for her to pee on the floor. But no, she'd get up and take off, chattering away. Until the fateful moment when she squatted down and dropped a log. Thank goodness it was a nice firm one.
Written at 8:20 PM by Highlandgal.
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Under the high chair
Doesn't everyone have this picture in their collection?

Written at 8:15 PM by Highlandgal.
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Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Nerd Score
Stole this one from Jeanne, who stole it from Erin:

I am nerdier than 27% of all people. Are you nerdier? Click here to find out!


After actually taking the test I'm going to have to re-evaluate my impression of you, Erin. :p
Written at 9:16 PM by Highlandgal.
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Bad report today...
...from the babysitter. When I went to pick Emma up she was back in the bedroom. Mary called her twice and she didn't respond. When I called her she came running. I grabbed up her stuff and Mary said "Bye Emma" in voice that sounded like she was relieved to see her go. Uh oh. Mommy radar activated. "So how did she do today?" Well she was biting and pulling hair. I asked Mary "When she does this do you get on her?" Well...She didn't elaborate. So I told Mary that I never get the chance to see Emma interacting with other children so if she's misbehaving then Mary should do what she needs to to stop her. Emma may be threatening her own most-favored-baby status.
Written at 8:19 PM by Highlandgal.
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Reader Rabbit
She just loves lift-flap-books and this Little People book provides an excess of riches.

Written at 8:15 PM by Highlandgal.
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The Elmo Effect
Sometimes it's eerie. But it doesn't last long enough to really creep us out. Thirty seconds if we're lucky.

Written at 8:12 PM by Highlandgal.
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Worst bath time ever
The dog ruined nakey baby time. Lately when she's been doing her streak from the living room to the bathroom the dogs have been taking an interest. They jump up and chase after her. Or run over her. Tonight the brown dog knocked her down in the kitchen and she busted her bottom lip on the support to the high chair. She cried, and cried, and cried. All the way through her bath. Daddy declared it the worst bath ever.
Written at 8:09 PM by Highlandgal.
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Just a snapshot...
of an odd pose.

Written at 8:06 PM by Highlandgal.
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Spoils of her latest raid...
For as long as Emma has been mobile we've been fighting over her access to the end table at my end of the couch. She's not allowed to get to it so, of course, it's all she wants. Now she's discovered that Daddy's end of the couch has forbidden goodies too. She managed to snag one this time.

Written at 8:01 PM by Highlandgal.
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Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Crayons (again)
In all honesty she is starting to color correctly...on her books. sigh.

Written at 10:02 PM by Highlandgal.
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Speak softly and carry a big stick
Or something like that. She's armed and dangerous. Trust me.



Written at 9:59 PM by Highlandgal.
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Let me try something out of the ordinary...
...out of the ordinary and immediately you see news of the perils. Ordinarily I'm anti-drug. I try to tough out many conditions before resorting to drugs. My most commonly used drugs are Tylenol Allergy/Sinus (now Complete) and Tylenol. I'm paranoid to use prescription drugs because I fear addiction. Although I will say the Darvocet after the C-section was a godsend.

Anyway...I've been having difficulty falling asleep on Sunday nights. My mind races and won't let go and I'll lay there and toss and turn for hours. Then I wake up and begin the new week with a sleep deficit from which I never seem to recover. Once, many years ago, I broke down and bought a box of Sominex. I remember that it actually worked pretty well for me. So Saturday when I went to Target I couldn't find Sominex but I found Tylenol's Simply Sleep. Basically Diphenhydromine. Sunday night I took it. And fell asleep very quickly.

So today what do I see in the news?
Record Sales of Sleeping Pills Are Causing Worries

Great. Now I'm part of a big national problem. Yippee. It figures. The article is mostly addressed to the prescription sleep aids such as Ambien and Lunesta, but I'm sure much of what it says a applies to non-prescription too. This guy sounds like me:

Steven Wells, a lawyer in Buffalo, said he started using Ambien last year because his racing mind kept him awake at night.

He ended up with side effects like amnesia an sleepwalking.
But then this also sounded like me Monday morning.

In clinical trials, the most common side effect of the drugs, however, is that people wake up feeling sleepy the next day.

I did not want to wake up for anything. I wanted to sleep about five more hours. I was so low on energy, but I didn't know whether to blame it on the drugs or hunger.

I imagine I'll continue to use "Simply Sleep" on Sunday night until I feel like it's either doing me more harm than good, or I think I can manage without it.
Written at 10:36 AM by Highlandgal.
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Monday, February 06, 2006
Sanctioned cat torture
Better the claw marks in him than in me.

Written at 8:14 PM by Highlandgal.
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Roughhousing
Laid out by The Mama!
Excuse the ratty couch. That can be blamed directly on the stupid brown dog who is always trying to climb up on the couch in the most sneaky fashion he can manage.

Written at 8:09 PM by Highlandgal.
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Sunday, February 05, 2006
Cookie Monster says...
"C is for Cookie, that's good enough for me...yum, yum, yum, yum, yum." Emma finally has the strength to push that button. So she pushes it, CM says his bit, then I follow it up with my own "yum, yum, yum, yum ,yum." Emma thinks this is hilarious! So she keeps pushing, and pushing, and pushing, and pushing..." We had fun.

Written at 8:16 PM by Highlandgal.
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It figures...
You could not pay this child a million M & M's to color on actual paper...

Written at 8:14 PM by Highlandgal.
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My hair
This is the current object of fascination for Emma. Beyond the malicious hair-pulling. She wants to put stuff in it. Rub stuff in it. Stroke it with whatever's handy. She'll walk up to me on the couch and push my face away so my hair is toward her. Then she'll run a stick through my hair, drive her Matchbox car in my hair, stroke it with various pens, or whatever is handy. I feel so objectified.
Written at 8:08 PM by Highlandgal.
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Flying High
Some playtime with Daddy.

Written at 8:05 PM by Highlandgal.
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Sooooo bored today
I did four loads of laundry, fed my child and played with her. That's it. It's 23 degrees out so no fun walks, nothing. We watched a SpongeBob marathon and now we are actually watching a Drake and Josh movie. Yes, we're THAT bored. I guess we have supper to look forward to. Sigh.
Written at 5:05 PM by Highlandgal.
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