Monthly Archives: October 2008
Another Cara visit.
We were lucky enough to have another visit from Cara and Kieran while Big B studied for “the test.”
Since Saturday looked like a washout, we planned on taking the tikes to a local indoor play space, otherwise known to babies as “crack.”
The lovely employees at the place made an error in the schedule (even though we confirmed twice that week via phone that there was indeed a 2 hour open play slot), so by the time we go there, only 30 minutes of “open play” remained. But, they used their time wisely, and I got over my bitterness with the snafu. Kinda. Not really.
Let me tell you this. She is on fire when she is let loose in these padded wonderlands of germs, plastic balls and foam mats.
Filed under bean
Guess what?
Chicken butt.
Thanks to a visit from a big boy named Kieran, Lolo figured out what stairs are really for. (The baby gates are ordered.)
She went all the way up the stairs by herself with only my hand behind her to ensure she wouldn’t bust her head falling backwards.
Filed under Uncategorized
She’s unstoppable
We tried out another playgroup today over lunch and someone we know had a little bit of a good time. It’s amazing what a few hours with someone else’s toys can do for the spirit.
Filed under bean
What do you do when you can’t call in sick?
It finally hit. I got sick last weekend (whilst Matt was away in West Virginia) and then Lolo got sick, too. Wanh, wanh, wanh …
It’s a ridiculous proposition to take care of a baby alone while you are sick. It’s not like I can use the boob tube to entertain her with Nick Jr. either. She wants active play, active play Mama. Oy.
So, I had to turn to drugs.
Once again, those silly commercials marketed to moms finally make sense. You know the one I’m talking about … The mom gets sick and the whole house falls apart. The dog is eating the laundry, the baby is climbing on the TV and the dad doesn’t have any dinner to eat. But, as soon as “mom” takes the magical, advertised medicine, she’s back on her feet so her family can get back to normal.
So, I visited my local CVS for some meds so that I could get back to normal. Who knew that I would have to sign my life away to get anything with real active ingredients? I shopped for the medicine card displaying the product that I wished to purchase since they can’t keep the powerful stuff out in the open lest someone steal it for recreational purposes. I checked out with my cards and they brought me the cold medicine that is kept under lock and key behind the counter. But before I could swipe my debit card and make my sniffly exit, I had to show my driver’s license, the cashier had to scan in my license barcode and I had to sign a waiver submitted by the state! Holy legalities. I couldn’t read the waiver because my eyes were watering profusely from the hay fever I get with colds.
Now the state will know every time I get a cold and that I only buy tissues with lotion because my nostrils are too sensitive for regular Kleenex. So invasive.
Gnawed
Since when do squirrels slaughter pumpkins?
The neighborhood squirrels completely demolished my poor pumpkin. And, I'm not alone in my sorrows. The whole block is filled with pumpkins showing their open wounds.
Filed under life
Crafty
Incredibly uneven and amateur, but kitchen curtains nonetheless.
It was harder than I thought to make these simple curtains with a lining and keep everything straight and even. This was a test to see how foolish my idea to make curtains for the entire house would be.
Part of me says just go for it and part of me says, “Just go to IKEA and load up the cart.”
As I ironed the curtain fabric next to the sewing machine I unearthed from the rubble of unpacked goods, I realized the situation I found myself in. Sewing, ironing, baking apples for Lolo, and prepping the sunroom for the paint I was about to apply … Who am I? Crafty McHomemaker that’s who.
Filed under life
Snubbed
This is a good one.
I met a cool mom in the town next to ours outside of the local Starbucks as I was feeding Lolo her dinner in the shade. She came up and introduced herself and said she felt compelled to say hi since we were both feeding our kids outside. I thought, “How nice is this woman?”
I had actually just decided the day before that I was no longer going to throw my phone number and e-mail out to any and every woman that passed by with a kid. My desperation to meet someone was getting stale, and I needed to rein it in a little.
But, low and behold, just when I pulled back, someone else reached out.
So, she told me that she and a bunch of other “Next Town Over” moms got together every Friday for a playgroup with wine. She said it was a crazy mix of both shy and eccentric moms who were stay-at-home and working parents.
I met my new friend at her apartment and we walked over together. I was a little nervous as it sounded like a big group. But, I thought, “Hey, at least I have met one new mom. If the rest are purely entertainment, then so be it.”
We made it to the playgroup and had a great time. Lolo had a blast with the kids as there were 10 of them running around wild and hopped up on starchy puffs. I started planning in my mental datebook that from now on every Friday afternoon would be booked with my new found playgroup. I shopped in my head for what kinds of snacks I would prepare for my guests when the group rotated to my house. I thought I was in.
The next Friday was a bust because one of the women was having everyone over for her daughter’s first birthday party in lieu of the playgroup. The Friday after that I was in VA. So, when I got back, I called my new friend to hang out and she started telling me that the other moms were quizzing her on her “new friend.” They seemed a little miffed that she had strayed outside the circle. From the tone she was mimicking, it didn’t sound like they were blown over by me and Lolo either. And, the email announcing the next Friday playgroup specifically said “NEXT TOWN OVER MOMS” playgroup.
So, I said, “Looks like we’re not being invited into the playgroup …” She replied, “I don’t think so.”
Oh well. So weird. I feel like I blew an audition, but I didn’t even know that it was an audition.
It’s not like these chics had on Tod’s driving loafers next to my flip flops. Just when you think you’re out of the third grade, the clubhouse door gets slammed in your face.
Filed under life
Scratch that
24 hours after posting that she still wasn’t interested in crawling across a room, Lolo decided that it was time to explore all the dangerous things that make up a house. I spent a lot of my time in VA chasing or corralling the bean. It’s exhausting to say the least. We even had a visit to a doctor in the neighborhood after she fell and hit her eye pretty badly. This was of course as we were trying to scoot out the door for the long drive home. But, she checked out okay and didn’t develop what we thought would be the inevitable black eye.
In any case, we’re back and ready to share some pictures.
Mama and Lolo visited the Aquarium and checked out all the local fish.
And, we had a lovely time hanging out with our pal, Grace. Notice how Lolo has no problems invading Grace’s personal space and refuses to pick up on Grace’s cues that she’s had enough face time.
stinkerbean 
