Biker Babe, Take 2

I honestly never thought I'd be saying this, but this morning, as usual, my daughter took her pants off.  And she looked adorable.  We have a little rider toy that Little Miss daredevil likes to take around the apartment (and the hallways if we'll let her).  

First, a sassy kiss as she revs up:

 Then, a huge smile:

Look, ma! No hands!  What's that ahead?  Ahh!

Luckily, no baby was hurt in the making of these photos.  She also practiced her balancing skills. She tried driving from up high.

She pondered life.

It was a full morning.

PreDinner Entertainment

Since hubs no longer has to fight traffic to get to work, he eased off his 7-4 schedule and returned to an 8-5.  He often walks to work, so he doesn't walk back in our door until approximately 5:30, which is very close to dinnertime.  I strongly preferred the 7-4 because that meant he got home in time to play with Little Miss while I got busy in the kitchen.  His later arrivals have 'encouraged' me to find new ways to entertain Little Miss while I try to cook.  The other night I introduced her to pipe cleaners.  She looked at them for a bit and thought they were pretty, but she wasn't sure what to do with them.  That is when I gave a silent blessing to the creators of Pinterest because I remembered a pin from ages ago involving pipe cleaners and a colander.  I pulled out the colander and showed her how she could feel the pipe cleaners through the holes on the side.  She thought that was the bee's knees.

After she fed some through she was so proud of herself.

From this last photo you can tell that other activities to amuse herself include: unsnapping her shirt, eating granola bars, and not wiping her nose :)  It was really nice to discover an independent play activity for her to engage in while I was busy.  Unfortunately, once I pulled out the camera work time stopped.  I struggle with wanting to capture a moment and spoiling it.

A Miracle Happened While I Cooked Lunch

Hubs was napping this morning when I needed to begin cooking lunch.  I was making a full meal and needed some uninterrupted time in the kitchen. Since our time yesterday with stickers was so successful, I wondered if Little Miss would be content to work on them herself while I cooked.  Because I wouldn't be available to peel the backings off our Valentine stickers, I gave her my entire supply of stickers and gave her free reign.  I simply asked that she keep the stickers on the paper.  Thank goodness Little Miss obliged.

Here she is with a sticker sheet she chose:

What are you looking at, Mommy?

 She can peel the stickers off this type of sticker sheet and put them on the paper.

While the stickers began to spill out of the bag on the floor, there were miraculously no stickers on the table, the floor, or other miscellaneous furniture.  That will probably never happen again.  Ever. And lunch was delicious.

Fun with Valentine's Stickers

Sometimes after nap we deal with a fussy period of time before Little Miss regains her bearings.  Usually snack will calm her, but yesterday it just didn't do the trick.  Luckily, I bought lots of fun Valentine's stickers in a moment of weakness at Target this week and I actually remembered to use them.  Little Miss Sourpuss almost immediately transformed into Little Miss Focus as she worked with them for a half hour.  

She selected the stickers.

I removed the backing and let her determine the placement and stick them down herself.

She experimented with some layering and using different angles.  She even remembered to pat them down in place so that they would stay (you can tell she was patting them by the way her hand is blurred).

Today I was able to cut her work into some Valentines.

Was it fun? Yes.  Did we have enough paper? No. Hopefully I'll get my act together and order more paper so more friends and family can get cards.  I know that it's almost a month away, but buying some peace and calm with such a fun project was worth storing the Valentines for a while.

A Typical Night at Home

A typical night after dinner consists of:
1. Hubs washing the dishes and cleaning up.
2.  Little Miss selecting some books to read ad nauseam.
3.  Little Miss being partially or fully undressed- she often declares the apartment too hot by taking off her clothes and then putting them in the laundry basket- except for the socks, those always get thrown wherever.
4.  Huckleberry sitting way too close for comfort and trying to get in on the action.

I love my family and I love that Little Miss loves cuddling up with me and spending time together.  I wouldn't have it any other way and I'll really miss this someday.

And the Animal Hat Obsession Lives On

Last year I bought Little Miss several hats.  Even though they were the right size for her based on the tag, they were all too huge for her head.  I would put a hat on, put her in the car seat, drive to our destination, and discover her sitting miraculously content with the hat over her eyes.  They were all so big that I didn't have to buy any new hats this year because they actually fit.  I must admit, they're just as adorable this year as they were last.

THEN: (Nov 2013, bunny)

THEN: (Nov 2013, bear)

NOW: (Jan 2015, lamb)

I hope these never go out of style.  I love little kids in animal hats forever.

A Big Thank You

Tater Tot's cousins recently sent thank you notes for their Christmas gifts.  Little Miss adores them.  One has a picture of a lion on it and the other one has a zebra.  At breakfast I kept hearing her make these animal sounds and I finally realized she did it in response to the pictures.  The cards spent quite a while at the breakfast table and gave us all quite a bit of entertainment until a spilled smoothie sent them packing. On a related note, what does a zebra actually sound like?  Little Miss kept neighing like a horse and I just let her because I wasn't sure what else to tell her.

Time in Memphis

Little Miss and I recently headed back to Memphis for a few days so hubs could get some work done.  We stayed with Mamaw and Papaw where they had a closet full of toys and their little dog for Little Miss to play with.  She was in heaven.  We also got to spend a lot of time with the cousins.  We went to a really cool library where they had the opportunity to look at a big fish tank.

Little Miss and I found a playground in Mamaw and Papaw's neighborhood.  She loved the swing and slide, but also walking around a little pond and stopping at benches.

Perhaps the highlight of the trip, other than spending time with family, was the playground we went to on the last day.  It had huge slides, a bunch of netting for climbing and a huge sand pit.  I can't wait to go back this summer when there's water added into the mix.  Here's her biggest cousin on the top of one of the huge slides.

It was a fun trip, but really quick.  We're already looking forward to our next trip out.

If You Take a Toddler to the Grocery Store...

If a child wakes up from nap and doesn't get her tummy full immediately, when you leave the house you get the stink eye.

Then, when she's in the cart, she'll demand all the good snacks ride with her.

Luckily, she'll stop for some free entertainment and play with the balloons.

The enjoyment from that will last just long enough to let you pay, get home, and start round 2 of snack.

TGIF- The Biker Babe Edition

On New Year's I was feeling sick so Daddy offered to take Little Miss out for a while.  They wound up at the mall where they played in a play area and he let her check out this sweet ride.  He actually turned it on so she could ride on it as well.  Daddies are so indulgent.

Happy New Year! (2015)

Our new year was completely uneventful.  I didn't get my act together to get Little Miss to any 'Happy Noon Year' celebrations, which was okay because I wasn't feeling great anyway.  I did think that I would take a family photo right before bedtime on New Year's Eve and again when we woke up on New Year's Day to see if there was any difference.  Here's the last photo of 2014 that we took together.

I consider it both a miracle and ending the year on a high note that all three of us were looking at the camera and smiling simultaneously.  I really must do something about the camera quality, however.  As he was putting Little Miss to bed, hubs fell asleep himself and I didn't bother to wake him up.  I went to sleep at a completely reasonable hour myself, the holiday totally ignored.  Once New Year's Day came around, hubs volunteered to take Little Miss out to play so I could sleep in, so all thoughts of a New Year's picture got thrown out the window.  Next year we plan to be back in our old neighborhood and they do a little neighborhood celebration so I'm hoping that we (or at least one of us) can make it to that.  I hope that you rang in the new year in a manner that made you happy.  Here's to a great 2015!

Oily Baby

I am a huge fan of essential oils.  I know that there's a lot of controversy about them, but all I can say is that I've nipped several illnesses in the bud and can help with allergies and stress by using the right oils.  Recently, I became a distributor for one of the companies so that I could have access to a discount when ordering.  I'm not the only fan of oils in the house.  When the welcome kit arrived Little Miss promptly took out all the oils.

She immediately took off her socks and practiced putting some on her feet, which is the safest place to apply them on small children. 

It amazes me how well she picks up on what we do.  I hope she continues to enjoy them and sees the benefit for many years to come.

iBaby

We try so hard to limit screen time for Little Miss, but in today's day and age, it's a futile endeavor.  Little Miss Technology loves to look at the phone, even when it's locked and her only company is Siri.  She also loves to cuddle with puppy.

Poor puppy doesn't seem at all amused.  Maybe it would be better if she ever gave him a turn.