wacky week continues

So, today's theme for wacky week was "Rainbow Day" in which kids wore as many colors as possible. In the Slacker house, this is also known as "Let E pick her own clothes out" day. She definitely has her daddy's (lack of) fashion tendencies. Since it's still pretty warm this week, the girls took the opportunity to get one more wearing in of their Lilly dresses, and lord knows they are pretty darn colorful.

It also had rained here last night and was slightly overcast this morning. This coupled with Rainbow Day presented E with the perfect opportunity to wear her new rainboots and raincoat that Grandmom bought her to school (and also wear crazy colored socks on underneath). Poor thing has been itching to have an opportunity to wear this stuff for weeks...but we're in the midst of a drought.

Anyway, I took a picture of the girls before they headed off to school. I'm picking them up before lunch and my friend Heidi and her girls, Madelyn and Ellie are coming over. Then, Grandmom comes in town this afternoon. Should be a good day, indeed!

she's nothing if not inventive

When we moved into our current house, E was 11 months old. So, theoretically, we had to babyproof to a level that should be suitable for A. But, kids are like Cabbage Patch dolls and no two are alike. Things that escaped E's wonder and amazement have thoroughly captured A's, including the fireplace screen, electrical outlets and whatever is in cabinets.

The previous owners had latches on the cabinets when we moved in, but since E didn't care, we didn't bother to replace them when a couple of them broke. Until A got mobile. Give her 5 minutes in the kitchen and every piece of tupperware was pulled out as would the pots and pans (loudly). So we finally replaced the latches a few weeks ago.

Since then, A has not been happy. First, I found her hanging on the cabinet knob trying to open it. And then, tonight, A opened the cabinet as far as she could within the length of the latch, shoved her tiny little hand through the opening and pulled out a pot top.

The look of glee on her face as she banged it on the ground was just priceless.

oh noooooooooo!

It started out innocently enough. I started to love wine. Then, occasionally while watching the news, I'd start talking back to the TV. Next, one of the girls would have something on her face, I'd lick my finger and wipe it off. Then, when E became potty trained, I started ensconcing public toilets in layers upon layers of toilet paper prior to her using them so that she wouldn't come in contact with the seat. But the final straw was this morning as I frantically ran around cleaning my house in anticipation of the cleaning lady coming.

I'm becoming my mother!

I'm just joking...since becoming a mother, I've looked back on how my parents raised me with a sort of amazement that they did it with what seemed to be such ease and grace. I would love to be half the mother she was to me. And if you know or have heard stories about my mom, you know that she's much cooler than I ever will be.

But still, if I start telling really boring stories about Baton Rouge or getting in political arguments with anyone and everyone, you'll know the transformation of me into my mother will be complete.

when your life is a song...

We sing a lot here in the Slacker house. Not well, mind you...but there's a lot of singing going on. So, it's always funny how song lyrics slip into our everyday conversations.

Like tonight, E, A and I were playing with the fake food. I was "cooking" up some dinner, A was chewing on a corn cob, and A was making me a picnic. She was putting food into a basket, and when it was full she handed it to me.

"Here's your Easter joy, Mommy!" she said.

happy birthday, sweet baby a!

Today is A's birthday. And, in typical neglected second-child fashion, she is celebrating by getting shots and sent off to daycare...what fun! Tonight, we'll probably head to our favorite haunts -- Foster's Grille and Pickle Bob's for dinner and ice cream, and then home again to open the rest of her presents.

Honestly, I don't think there is anything more amazing that the changes that a baby goes through in the first year of life...and A is no exception. Here's a little snapshot of what A was like on September 25th, 2006 compared to today.

A: Way Back Then...

• Weight: 9 pounds 6 ounces (and no drugs for Mommy!)
  
• Length: 21 3/4 inches
  
• Hair: Short, straight and black
  
• Eyes: Dark gray, not open for too long of stretches
  
• Health: Not good. Spent first week in NICU with lung infection.
  
• Diet: IV fluids, then breastmilk
  
• Skills: None
  
• Likes: None
  

A: Today...

• Weight: 24 pounds even
  
• Length: 32 inches
  
• Hair: Crazy, light brown and curls
  
• Eyes: Big, beautiful blue eyes
  
• Health: Perfect!
  
• Diet: Anything and everything! Particular favorites include bananas, yogurt, pasta, and Pickle Bob's ice cream
  
• Skills: Impersonating Frankenstein (aka, walking); talking ("Uh oh!", "Mama", "Dada"); climbing the stairs; pulling sister's hair; playing musical instruments (cowbell and maracas are favorites)
  
• Likes: Laughing, music, peek-a-boo, chase, knocking over towers of legos and stacked cups
  

pictures!

As promised, here are some recent picture of the girls. Sunday, we celebrated A's birthday with presents and cake. (In case you were wondering, the boo boo on her nose is from a run-in with the pavement while honing her walking skills last week.)

Playing with A's present

Unsure about this cake thing

This stuff's not half bad

MMMMMMM...Cake!

Proud Big Sister

This week is "Wacky Week" at school, and today was Pajama Day. I'm not sure if we'll particpate in the other days of this week, but I jumped at the opportunity to cut out the extraneous step of getting the girls dressed this morning. E was pretty excited about Pajama Day, as she likes to wear her pajamas on a regular basis. In fact, she had me bring a spare pair of pajamas, in case she had an accident in the ones she wore.

Sitting on her new chair

Psyched it's not her uniform

is that a lizard in your pocket...

Yesterday, E and I went to Target to pick up a few things. One of those "things" ended up being a package of Dora puffy stickers. As we were headed through the store, E was checking out the stickers.

"It's erectile!" she said rather loudly.
"Uh...what?" I asked.
"It's erectile!" she answered.

I looked down and she was pointing at an Isa the Iguana sticker.

"OH!" I said "You're right! Isa is a reptile!"

what weekends were made for...

This weekend was absolutely fantastic in the Slacker house. No work and all play. Lots of football, good food, and time spent with family and friends.

Date night on Friday was fantastic. We went to the Rail Stop in The Plains...a town about 15 miles west of it. It was a very quaint little place and the food was fantastic....especially my salad (warm spinach with sauteed mushrooms, smoked bacon, goat cheese & balsamic vinaigrette). After dinner, we came back home and had some more wine and chatted with my mom.

On Saturday, we woke up, dressed the girls in their finest UVA garb (courtesy of my friend Liz) and headed down to "the Orange Birginya" (what E calls Charlottesville) for the UVA/Georgia Tech game. We were a little behind schedule, so we weren't able to get to some of the tailgates that we had wanted to. But we did get to see my friends Jenn and Brian who were up from Texas, which was good. The girls were absolute troopers. It was blazing hot, and they really were well behaved. A did conk out for most of the third quarter and with about 7 minutes to go in the game, E wanted to leave. But, they both had a great time and we would definitely take them again.

Today, we woke up and made blueberry waffles for breakfast. Then, John took A to the Teets to grocery shop and I took E to get her haircut and to Target. We played in the afternoon and had a small celebration for A's birthday. My mom came back over and we cooked out, gave her presents and had cake. She was a little unsure about the cake thing until she had a taste and then she went whole hog. We got pictures, and I'll try to post them soon.

All in all...it was just a great weekend. I'm sad to see it come to an end.

a year ago today...

I was pregnant. And bitter. Today was A's due date. And after being told week upon week that I could go any minute...there I was, still pregnant. And huge. This picture was taken in August, about a month before I was due.
Today is also E and A's friend Maura's 3rd birthday. Maura and E are beach buddies -- they've spent every New Year's together in Ocean City along with their friend Isabel, and they've been to the Outer Banks twice together. Happy birthday, Maura!

Maura and E at the Outer Banks, May 2006

Maura, Maggie, E, Chloe and Isabel, New Year's Day 2006

Maura and E at the Outer Banks, August 2005

Maura, E, and Isabel, New Year's Day 2005

the babysitter's club

Pop-pop is in Colorado this week enjoying a hiking trip with some high school friends leaving Nonna at home to hold down the fort. So, Nonna has graciously offered to watch the girls while John and I have a date-night tonight. We're headed out to The Plains for dinner at The Rail Stop. I'm excited.

Now, if you are familiar with the wedding and football habits of the Slacker family, you know that John and I travel sans E and A quite a bit. You also know that the girls go to "school", my euphemism for day care (this is a family trait...my mom would call the kennel where we would board our dog, Guinness, "camp"). So, what you might find surprising is that A has never been babysat by someone other than a relative, and E has only been watched by a non-relative once. (I'm not counting the couple of times we put E to bed and left her with a babysitter while she was sleeping.) Thanks family! You're the best!

The couple that holds the honor for the only non-relative to watch E are Bettie and David, and they watched her overnight while John and I went to his company Christmas party. Bettie had just moved to Dallas at the time, so we flew her up using frequent flier miles. The outing was very much a success, we returned in the morning to a happy, well rested E. But there were two minor problems: (1) they couldn't figure out the high chair, so the girl had to eat in a reclined position and (2) her diaper was on backwards. But, all's well that ends well...and if we could rope them into watching the kids again we'd do it in a heartbeat.

We keep saying that we need to find some teenager in the neighborhood -- although I think the sticker shock of the what they charge as opposed to our current babysitters (thanks again, family!) would be quite great! What IS the going rate these days?

e's new fashion obsession

So the other day I stopped in Target after a dentist appointment. I was going to get some new sippy cups for A and some shampoo for me. Easy peasy...so off I went without a cart or a basket.

Well, 20 minutes later I arrived at the checkout counter with the sippy cups and shampoo...as well as some night cream (and bonus body lotion), the economy package of tissues, four pairs of tights for the girls, a new spare outfit for A (leggings and a T) and one of these dresses for each of the girls.I thought these dresses were so cute and very Fall-like (it's been cool here, so I've got Fall on the mind). Apparently, E thought likewise. As soon as I showed it to her, she stripped down and put it on. This morning, she wanted to wear it to school. When I told her she had to wear her uniform, she wanted to put it in her Dora backpack to bring to school. When I got home from work today, she was already home and in the dress. She's been saying she wants to wear it on Friday when she doesn't have to wear her uniform...but it's supposed to be in the 80s. Guess I'll have to hide it before then.

little miss fickle

As we approach A's first birthday, we are starting to transition her over to whole milk. John and I determined that she was ready for this change in diet by looking in the cabinet, realizing we were almost out of formula, and figured buying a $5 gallon of organic whole milk was a lot more palatable than the $30 can of formula. Anyhoo...I decided to try to time the switch to formula along with a switch to the sippy cup. So yesterday I loaded up her lunchbox with two different sippy cups full of milk and sent her off to school.

When I got to school to pick her up, it turns out that A had other plans. She had flat out refused to drink anything all day until the teachers broke out the "emergency bottle" and put the milk in that. She then proceeded to drink both cups full of milk.

Her fickleness in what she drank from reminded me of when she first started at school. While she was eating some finger foods, but I packed her lunchbox with baby food figuring that it would be easier for all involved. However, one of the teachers pulled me aside after a week or so.

"We're having a lot of trouble feeding A," she told me.
"Oh, really?" I asked. "What's going on?"
"Well," the teacher continued. "She wants finger food. Cooper is eating things like Mac-n-cheese. When we try to give A a bite of her food, she pushes it away and starts pointing at Cooper's food."

The thought of my daughter saying in her best grunt and point "None of that pureed crap! Give me REAL FOOD!" cracked me up. But, it's pretty typical of A...she knows what she wants and lets you know what it is (and what it isn't).

Come to think of it...maybe I should find out what kind of sippy cup Cooper is using.

short end of the stick

So last night after dinner, John had to run up to the tire place to fix his tire (there was a nail in it). We decided to take the divide and conquer approach with the kids -- he took E with him and they went to "Cold Stuff" (as E likes to call it) while they waited, and I kept A with me for some playing and bed time. I certainly thought I had gotten the better deal in this exchange -- I could put A to bed, finish getting ready for tomorrow and even sit down and relax while John would be entertaining a sugar-hyped 3 year old that had the potential to be more Dr. Jekyll than Mr. Hyde when it came to waiting in the tire store.

However, as with many of my estimations in this variety, I was wrong.

It started off pleasant enough...we played chase and peekaboo. We shook the maracas and tambourine. We had some bottle. Then it was bedtime. I put her in her pajamas and she finished guzzling the bottle. We brushed her teeth and came back to her room. So far so good. Then A started crawling and making a beeline for E's room. I gave chase, swooped her up and carried back to her room with her facing out like in a baby bjorn. Apparently this performed the equivalent of the Heimlich maneuver on A, because she started spitting up all over her, me and her room.

Instinctively, I thrust my hand under her mouth and tried to catch some of it -- why is it that when your kid spits anything out of their mouth, you try to catch it? I mean unless it's money or diamonds it'll do fine on the floor -- but of course caught 1/30th of what came out. So I quickly changed ino my jammies, stripped A into her diaper, threw her in the crib and set off on trying to clean the whole mess up. A did not take kindly to being put in her crib prematurely and started screaming bloody murder so I took her out of the crib and went to grab jammies for her.

Since it's been pretty cool at night, I wanted her to wear long sleeves and pants. But the one that she was wearing were her only clean pair that still fit in this batch of clothes. So I had to run to E's room to grab a pair of her 2T PJs. During this time, A knocked over the lamp in her room, causing her to start crying because of the loud noise/utter darkness. So I run back in, turn on another light, throw the PJs on, get depressed because my sweet little baby can wear in 2T (they were big, but still!) and try to continue with the "bedtime routine" which has now gone to hell in a handbasket. By the time I get her settled and on her way to dreamland, I hear an ice cream covered E pounding up the stairs yelling "Mommy, I want FOUR stories tonight!"

So much for my relaxing evening.

hail to the redskins...

My 'Skins played a little Monday Night Football last night, where they beat the Philadelphia Eagles 20 - 12. While it certainly wasn't a pretty win and was way too close at the end, I love that I have some bragging rights when we go to NYC with the Philly crew in a few weeks.

that would be cool...

Every night before bed, E and I talk about her day and what's up for the next day. Last night I was giving E "the plan" for tomorrow. She asked me if I was going to work at home or go to my classroom (aka office).

"Where's your classroom?" she asked me.
"Ashburn," I told her.
"Where's Daddy's?"
"Herndon."
"Where's Grandmom's?"
"Shawnee, Ohio."
"Granddad's?"
"Ashland."
"Where's Kiki's?"
"Chicago."
"Uncle Steve's?"
"Chicago."
"We're going to visit Kiki and Uncle Steve." she said.
"Really?" I asked her. "Who's going to go?"
"You and me and Daddy and Baby A. We're going to get on a plane and Kiki will pick us up," she replied. "Or...Kiki and Uncle Steve could come visit me. That would be cool, too! Actually, that would be much better."

C'mon, Kiki and Uncle Steve...E wants you to visit!

weekend update

In honor of not having to work non-stop through the weekend, I actually took the weekend off from my computer. This was surprisingly less difficult than I had imagined (though I did peek at my e-mail on Saturday afternoon). I spent a lot of time playing with the girls, which was nice. Suprisingly, drop-off today was no worse than a usual Monday...sometimes when we have a lot of fun on the weekends, they are especially tear-y on Monday.

Saturday was John's birthday, and while we couldn't procure a victory against Florida for his beloved Vols....we could at least make the viewing a little more pleasant. For his birthday the girls and I got him a new TV for our family room. It's a bigger, flat screen thingamagig -- this is one aspect of technology that I defer to John on. But it sure is pretty, and we no longer have a need for the massive TV currently taking up 1/2 of my "formal" living room. Woo hoo!

E had lots of fun playing this weekend. She helped me make queso dip for the games on Saturday. Granted this involved emptying some cans into a bowl and the occasional stir, but she had to put on her apron and get a new spoon for each stirring session. She also went with me to the new Harris Teeter on Sunday. It was Sample-rama there for E -- she had free ice cream as we walked in, a sugar cookie at the door, and then samples of (and I'm not exagerrating) turkey, cheese, german chocolate cake, more cheese, bread and butter and then a big gulp of my coffee.

A is a walking machine these days. I would say she's about 50/50 walking to crawling now. She is also a big climber...she makes a beeline for the stairs whenever she gets a chance and is trying to figure out how to get herself up on the couch. We started the process of transitioning her over to whole milk (my baby is almost one!), with mixed results. She likes milk, but was not enraptured with the sippy cup it came in. She walked over to the kitchen island, where one of her earlier bottles was and started pointing and crying. Her other big thing is shaking her head no. When you tell her, "No thank you, A" as she's about to climb the stairs/pull her sister's hair/play with the electrical outlet/whatever mischevious thing she's about to do, she smiles, starts shaking her head and continues with whatever it is you are trying to get her to not do. Oh well, understanding is half the battle, right?

All in all, a good weekend indeed!

e's no picasso

A and E's Uncle Dave's birthday is next week, so last night John broke out the crayons and paper for E to make a birthday card. When I dropped her off at school yesterday, they were working on drawing lines and circles, so I told E,

"Maybe you should draw some lines and circles."
E happily obliged.
"Ooooo! I have an idea," I told E. "What about drawing a birthday cake?"
"Mommy, I can't draw a cake. I just learned how to draw circles and lines." she told me.

No wonder whenever you ask her what she's drawing, her answer is always "A rainbow." It is only made up of colored lines.

a first in the slacker house

Last night, I was finishing up with work when John went to give the girls a bath. I'm usually off-the-clock between 5:30 and 8:15 regardless of how busy I am so I can spend time with the girls and help put them to bed....but last night I just wanted to get the site launched. All of the sudden I hear John yelling.

"Alright girls, out of the tub! Uh...Katie...I'm gonna need some help up here."

Yep. A had pooped in the tub. Luckily both girls were swiftly removed and the offending items made it down the drain easy-peasy. But I had to laugh because in the three years that we've had kids, that was the first time that someone has pooped in the tub. Even as newborns, neither girl ever did. Hopefully, last night was the last time it ever happens as well.

5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 ... Launch!

My project at work has finally launched. Hopefully things will finally settle down now.

she's a player

So A has really started to play with others more. When I picked her up at school today, her teacher mentioned that she and her boyfriend Cooper were racing today across the room. A was a bit of a cheat...they would both start out walking and then A would switch to crawling to win.

Tonight after bath was another rousing game of peek-a-boo while I was getting her dressed. She was covering her face with her towel while I said "Where's A?" So, cute.

This then evolved into Peek-a-boo, Mama edition. After I read her a story and sang her the bedtime song I always sing, she was fidgeting around to get comfortable while I rocked her. Suddenly, she sat up and shoved her Taggie in my face.

"Where's Mommy?" I asked...and she pulled down the blanket and laughed. We did that again and again (and again and again) for another 5 minutes before she finally put her head on my shoulder to start the rocking again. So cute.