Rainy Days

It's been raining for two days straight. Rain, I might add, that we are in desperate need of. We love to eat fruits and veggies, so Lord, please give them plenty of rain! The rain, mixed with Emma's nap schedule and the price of gas, has kept us inside. Have no fear-- there has been constant play going on. Chloe's still hooked on Peter Pan, so yesterday Emma and I got to be pirates in Captain Hook's gang. Walking the plank proved to be a challenge for Emma, but she gives a mean arrghh!




And Chloe was giving some props to Lou and Louise from the Safety Patrol, by wearing her helmet in the house. She sure didn't want to get a safety violation!

Fun Fridays!

Today's Fun Friday post is about something that both pleases me greatly and makes me a little sad. INDEPENDENT PLAY!!!! I love that Chloe has such a great imagination and can play by herself for hours, but I hate that the more she does it means the more grown-up she's becoming. I'm guessing soon she'll have her door shut with a DO NOT DISTURB sign on it--just kidding-- NOT in this house! She's going to get hugs from me everyday whether she likes it or not! :-) This isn't really all that new for Chloe, she's been doing it since she could walk and talk. But she did regress a little in this when Emma arrived, and wanted us to play with her more than before. Something we understood and tried very hard to fit in our schedules. Well, she's pretty much over it now and will disappear for lengths of time leaving me to have to call upstairs to her and get verbal confirmation that she is in fact still breathing with all of her limbs intact. Her independence does have its downsides. For instance, I tend to stay out of the playroom because seeing the mess usually shocks me and makes me feel like I need to clean it right away. Lucky for me, I'm usually able to fight that feeling and Micky and Chloe will tackle that room together on Saturdays.
Yesterday, Chloe stayed in the playroom for a good part of the day and when Micky went up there last night to work out he found this:
(click on image to view larger)




We've had discussions with her about not putting stickers on furniture, but she assumes anything in the playroom is fair game. That's understandable. This piece of furniture is one that I miss greatly. It's the matching coffee table to our end tables and foyer table downstairs. Obviously we bought this stone death trap with crazy sharp corners before we had children, and it sat in the middle of our rug in the great room. Ever since Chloe could crawl it has been stuck up against the wall in the playroom-- in a spot very unlikely for children to run into it. But apparently in a great spot for placing Dora stickers!

Faith, Trust, and Pixie Dust

Peter Pan was in my house today... and yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that, and the day-- you get the picture. A week ago Monday, Chloe found the movie Hook at my parents house. You know, the one with Robin Williams as Peter Pan and Dustin Hoffman as Captain Hook. Well, she just HAD to borrow that movie and watch it on a loop for 3 days, until finally Micky and I had had enough. In Hook, Captain Hook uses the word hate way too much for our taste, and the overall mood of the movie is just not something we really like her watching-- especially around the clock for days in a row. Mind you she was very quick to say (every time she heard the word) that "It's not nice to hate people. Captain Hook is talking mean again mom." But even knowing that she knows it's wrong still doesn't make me all that happy about it. So, we were able to wean her off of Hook with minimal withdrawal symptoms. Just when she was clean of the pixie dust drug, guess what Grammy brought her?!?













Yep, another Peter Pan movie! But this is one we actually endorse, and other than the fact that I'm sooooo tired of Tink and Peter, it's actually a pretty good flick. I'm not quite sure how long Peter will be visiting with us, but I do know he's being well fed while he's here. Chloe needed refills on all of her snacks today (ice cream, crackers, blueberries, juice, cheese, etc.) because she was having to share them with Peter.

We're heading to Disney World in a few weeks, and besides being pumped that she and "my Nina" are having lunch with the princesses-- she's looking to score some pixie dust while she's there. She's "positive" that they sell it there. Micky and I asked her what she needed it for and here's the answer she gave us in the car the other night,

C: "Well, if I get some pixie dust I can fly up to kitty cat heaven and save Mookie from all the bad kitties." (Mookie was my parents cat that died about 6 months ago and Chloe still mentions him about once a week)

me: "Baby I'm pretty sure all the kitties in Heaven are nice."

C: "No mom, not all of them. And I promised Mookie I would keep him safe."

It was at this time that Micky informed me he had already had this conversation with her at bath time a few nights before and that he had made the same argument as I had and got shot down. We've tried to reassure her that Mookie is happy and playing in Heaven and that she doesn't need to worry. Her response to all of this is,

"He'll feel better when he sees me flying up there to see him."

I can't explain the kind of sweetness she says that with. Makes me want to squeeze her so tight and hold on forever.
I know one thing, if we see Tinkerbell at Disney, whoever's in that costume better watch out-- they just might get tackled by a couple of 4 year-olds looking for some pixie dust!

I think I can, I think I can, I think...

She clearly has the form down, but is having a little trouble with direction! She can crawl-or scoot-backwards great, it's just going forward she has a little trouble with. Chloe is coaching her up great, and every time she rocks back and forth I can't help but think of The Little Engine That Could-- and have a hard time resisting the urge to pump my fist in the air and say, "choo choo!" We're pretty sure she's about to take off any second now...

Fun Fridays!

Today's Fun Friday post is about one of Emma's favorite toys, the Rock-a-Stack from Fisher Price. She loves taking the rings on and off, but mostly she loves chewing on them. I remember this being one of Chloe's favorite toys too. It's a classic toy, and I'm pretty sure it-or something just like it- was around when I was a baby too. This week her teething has been STRONG-- as evidenced by the minimal sleep she's been getting! So this week her favorite thing has been to take all of the rings off and then gnaw as hard as she can on the yellow part. It must have worked because she now has 2 teeth (front center bottom) to show for all her work!

On the other side

As many of you know, Chloe recently had surgery to have her tonsils removed. They had been swollen since February with no good reason why-- and the child had to sleep in an almost seated position so she could breathe. Her snoring rivaled Clyde's! Let me start by saying she did absolutely wonderful. She was so big and made us very proud. I think the worst part for her was the week before her surgery when she had to have blood work drawn. Her vein blew as soon as they stuck her and if you've never seen that or had it happen I promise it can be very painful-- but she took it like a champ and let them finish what they had to do. I on the other hand was ready to grab the needle and do it myself. Micky was very proud of me for restraining myself! (You'll often hear that nurses make the worst patients. Well, that may be true, but being a nurse who has a child in the hospital tops that! Cardiology was my specialty, so when it comes to peds or OB I try to sit back and listen-- and most of the time not even tell them I'm a nurse. I find they tend to explain things a little better when they think I know absolutely nothing about it. Works for me.)
One thing they stressed in nursing school (it's actually common sense) was that no procedure is minor when it's happening to your loved one. That is so true! I know how "minor" a tonsillectomy is supposed to be, but when it was Chloe we were talking about it became very serious to me. That's my baby they're going to put to sleep and my baby who will be hurting for weeks after and not understand why. So, I'm sorry if I got offended if someone told me it was no big deal. I know they were just trying to comfort me and help me not worry-- but me being the crazy I am, that comfort didn't come until I got to hold her in the recovery room. I don't know if I've ever hugged her so tight.
Well, she slept most of that day, and when she woke up that afternoon she was telling everyone that she hurt her foot and that's why she had to stay at the hospital and that they were putting water in her toe. (she was asleep when they put the IV in!)










We spent one night in the hospital and when we came home she did great! Clyde has regained his role as #1 snorer in the house! So far the only downside from the surgery is that she still thinks Popsicle's make an excellent breakfast! Hard to argue with that! Here's some pics from the big day! (click on pics to see larger)

Sounds that fill my soul!

For about a month now we've been cracking up watching Emma crack up at Chloe. Sometimes Chloe just has to walk in the room and she'll give a hearty laugh. Emma's always given her biggest smiles to Chloe, and it looks like she'll be getting her best laughs too! It makes my heart leap each time!
Tonight Chloe was entertaining Emma by jumping off of the couch and spinning around. A couple things before you watch this, 1. Sorry for the poor camera work-- kinda hard juggling 20lbs on one side and trying to aim a camera on the other! Oh--and there's nothing wrong with Emma's face-- some of her slobber got on the lens when she reached for the camera (don't worry I wipe it off after a few seconds!) 2. You should be impressed that she can laugh like this AND keep her finger in her mouth at the same time (we saw the top of tooth #1 poking through today--YEAH!!!!). Hope you enjoy!

Fun Fridays!

Today's Fun Friday post is about something that is a lifesaver around here... PLAY DATES!!! Chloe doesn't have school the entire month of August, and everyday she wakes up asking, "What are we doing today mom?" I can only get away with saying, "nothing" so many times before her head starts spinning and strange sounds come out of her! So this month more than any other, we will be utilizing every play date chance we get. "My" Nina is going out of town next week so we've had to prepare for that this week with 2 play dates! Chloe is stocking up on her Nina time so she can make it a whole week without seeing her. It's actually quite cute. She told me the other night that Nina would be gone for 100 nights. I explained that it would only be for 7. Her response was, "Seven? That's even worse! She'll get so big before I see her again." (She's definitely been hearing too many people say how much Emma's grown since they saw her last!) I've reassured her that the week will be over before she knows it and that she and Nina will still remember each other. She continues to look at me as if I were crazy-- but she's been doing that a lot lately. Maybe it's got something to do with my new crazy haircut. Who knows?!?

Fun Fridays!

Ok, so I'm a day late with this one. But today's Fun Friday post is about the iPod Touch. Micky gave me one for Christmas, and it has been enjoyed by me, him, and Chloe! Here she is checking out an episode of Hong Kong Phooey.





Micky downloaded a couple of those for her and she loves them. We even took it with us to the hospital for her overnight stay and she was so happy to have it and get to watch her shows! The only problem with the iTouch is that we only have one of them in our house. Now that 3 of us want to use it I'm considering setting up a timeshare (with me obviously getting the most time!). We've enjoyed it so much that we're considering changing our cell service when our contract ends in November so we can get some iPhones. I'm sure Sprint would just hate to lose our 500 minute plan!