Best New Song

We ate at Del Pueblo again tonight.

We might be addicted.

The wait staff always gives us funny looks when we tell them to make it "as hot as you can." I think they make it as hot as they think we can take it...'cause we all know there are hotter peppers than that. Rocket Man about did himself in with his second fajita...and stopped putting peppers of any kind on them from that point forward. I, on the other hand, loaded them up every time. Apparently my face got rather red a couple of times this evening, and I know I got a little sweaty...I mean I glowed, people...but man, was it good!

Miss Thing had chicken tenders with fries...and AVOCADO! If only you could all hear how she says it. We ask for sliced avocado, then she asks a bazillion times about it while they slice it, and when the man sets it down in front of her she gets all wide-eyed and shouts:
AVOCADOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It is awesome.

Towards the end of our dinner the karaoke machine is set up and the resident musician begins to perform. Miss Thing LOVES that part. She dances in her seat, asks for more, tells us to listen and in general has a grand old time.

Tonight the last song we heard was Tequila, which I cannot hear without thinking of Pee Wee Herman. The best part? Miss Thing started to shout "Tequila!" along with the song.

We might be in trouble.

Wait a second...we have a girl-child...of course we are in trouble!

Best New Show

That WE watch.

That was my disclaimer, people.

We've been watching Better Off Ted since it began. It took a while for them to get into the swing of things, as it can with a new anything, but these days we really enjoy it.

Basically, it is good because of the impossibility of it all. The Veridian Dynamics commercials are one of my favorite parts of the show, as well as any part that includes Lem and Phil.

Lem and Phil are two scientists who are also best friends. And they are an entity. You cannot take them apart; they simply would not be. Where they are involved, hilarity and impossibilities ensue.

This past week's show was worthy of a chuckle from any college aged male...or any male who has ever been in college and had friends/roommates with whom to be up to no good.

It was worthy of a laugh from my brother and brother-in-law, who I tend to think set the limits, rules and regulations for that kind of funny.

Anyway. If you're not watching it, then this post probably means very little to you. I suggest you begin watching it.

If you do watch it, perhaps you have some insight on the funny that you would like to share. If so, please do so in the comments!

I'm out!

Best Everything-ing

I am tired.

There are a few reasons.

For starters, Rocket Man has been out of town.  Not only that, but he found out in the afternoon the day before he was supposed to be gone.  So no prep-time.

And I don't mean physically preparing things, I mean mentally.  If I have some prior notification, I can mentally prepare myself for the single everything-ing (which is what they should call single parenting...cause you are not just being the parent by yourself; you are being everything by yourself).

Also, I didn't drink coffee yesterday or today.

No, I'm not pregnant or trying to become so, so stop that train of thought right there.

Honestly, I don't drink that much of it anymore and washing that dern coffeepot every single day without end amen was getting to me.

It was nice to not wash it these past two days.

I do think that the half a cup I've been having on a regular basis gives me just enough of a kick that I don't have the tireds all day.  YES, THE TIREDS.

Because I am tired, so I can make up words.

SO THERE.

My child misses and asks for her Daddy all day long.

That is a tad bit tiring too.

That is all.

Best One or the Other

I've noticed some improvement the past two days in my classes at the Y. My ability in the bodypump class is directly related to the fact that I've figured out what weight I can successfully lift for each segment.

Really I just had to take the shoulder weight down some...mostly because I have wimpy ones.

Now that I know the weight that is appropriate, I can almost get the whole way through every segment without any stopping or wimping out. Overall, I complete each one, but not without feeling like my muscles are about to rip themselves off of my body and retreat in defiance.

So, you know, improvement.

As for bodyattack, there I am able to go more all-out with the cardio sections. I am also waaaaay better at the push-up track. As in now I actually do them the whole way through...or at least until my shoulder won't let me do them anymore.

I would be better at that class if not for the wimpy ankle syndrome it seems to invoke in its participants. For reals. I talked with a few classmates today and while I'm the only one who was bringing it up, I am not the only one with ankle wimpiness problems. Apparently a lot of us have experienced the achy pain around our ankles and it has caused a few of us to have trouble walking on the days following the class.

At least I am not alone.

Solidarity: keeps you going.


On another note, my dog just ate a chess square. A big one. For those of you who are unaware, chess squares are food, not broken pieces of a game board. The ingredients include a box of confectioner's sugar. A BOX. And I repeat: my dog just ate a big piece.

I figure that any moment now he's either going to run laps around the house like a crazy possessed thing or he'll just keel over dead from the rush.

One.

Or the other.

Best I'm Gonna Miss That Moment

For today, anyway...

Miss Thing and I were on our own for the night-time routine this evening since Rocket Man was tied up with work. We had dinner and got her pajamas on and then went upstairs to call Guga and Papa Jim on the web-cam. They weren't home, which was kinda sad for Miss Thing as she kept asking about them. We finally called their house and I let her leave a message...as only a 20-month-old (granted, with lots of words/phrases) can do.

Lately Rocket Man has been reading a bunch of books with Perpetual Motion just before she goes to bed. Therefore I was a little concerned about how she would feel about the fact that she couldn't talk to Guga and Papa Jim nor was she going to see Daddy at all this evening. I did the usual "We're not getting those toys out because we are getting ready to go to bed." routine and eventually she came over to sit with me. Then she wanted to play.

Occasionally we all play a game where I sit on the floor, leaning against the sofa with my feet on the floor and my knees bent up in front of me. PM will come over, push my knees apart and then "get me", which means she giggles and falls onto me. This turns into "Daddy is going to get you!", where she runs to Rocket Man, then runs back to me, and throws herself on me while I protect her from the tickles her Dad is trying to give her.

The anticipation, it almost kills her.

'Tis good fun, this game.

Tonight she wanted to play it.

I told her that Daddy was at work. She told me he was at work. Then she pretended to call for him: "Daddy!"

Then she flung herself onto me, hid her face, and started saying all of the things that I usually say:

"He's going to get you!"
"Here he comes!"
"Watch out!"

It was so terribly cute to listen to her say all of those things.

I played along by stomping my feet (this is how Rocket Man sloooowly comes over to get her), and she started trying to make my feet stomp. This was extra entertaining because she didn't really understand that she needed to pick my legs/feet up in order to stomp them...so she basically ended up just smacking my knees and shouting "stomp!" over and over.

I asked her to show me how she could stomp and it looked exactly like when she dances.

Inneresting.

The game was fun, though not nearly as much so as when Rocket Man is here to play along. It was way more snuggly, though. Without him here to rile her up for real, she was just really cuddly with me while she said all of the phrases.

I recently read a post...somewhere...where a Mom of three or more kids was talking about how she got through the toddler years. Her kids were really close in age and therefore the toddler years of one would be book-ended with more toddler years and infant years...which made for some rather difficult and exasperating times.

She said that in order to not lose her cool or do something outside of the behavior she wanted to exhibit as the Mom, she would always tell herself that one day she'd miss this. This being whatever was going on at the moment.

It is a good thing to tell yourself whenever things are hectic and you think your head is going to explode from the [insert whatever crazy things/monotonous things can happen with teeny people]. I mean, if you are feeding your kid and wishing that they could do it themselves 'cause boy are you tired of it, before you get frustrated or annoyed it helps you to realize that they're going to learn and then you'll be wishing that they let you feed them.

Toddler-hood isn't all peaches for anyone; there is a fine line between needing Mom and Dad and wanting to be independent. I know that wobbly line is crossed...and uncrossed...throughout a child's life and well into adult-hood, but I think that the physical needs, as in I need you to help me feed myself type, are greatest when kids are teeny like mine is right now.

Since I read her post, I've been telling myself that one day I'll miss [this]. She'll learn to do something that I've been waiting forever for her to learn, and while I'll be proud and happy that I no longer have to assist, at the same time I imagine she'll decide she doesn't want to snuggle with me anymore before bed. Or something like that.

Our playtime tonight? One day I'm gonna miss it.

At the rate kids grow and change, that day will be tomorrow.

Best Counting

Does this really need any embellishments?

I think not.

You've gotta give her credit for figuring out how to make this game last forever.

Best Playoff-Watching

We had some friends over tonight to watch the playoff games. I think we were all into the games somewhat, but I at least was into having them over to socialize. "They" are Mister B, Minna, Miss A and CT. CT is Perpetual Motion's age, which makes things interesting.

Whenever the two of them get together, which is at least once a week to play, things go like this: Perpetual Motion asks all day for CT. I tell her he is at school or napping or whatever. Once he is home, she begs to go see him. We go outside and they see one another through the driveway gate. CT yells for us and waves, etc. Perpetual Motion gets all excited and can barely contain herself as we cross the street.

They then spend their entire time together acting like cavemen: grunting and taking and yelling and fussing at one another or us over every item/animal in sight.

It is quite the time.

Tonight, things began in a similar fashion. Eventually though, they were sharing and playing together. They played cars together, worked puzzles together, and played in the kitchen together:

 

They even played the piano together.

Oh, yes.

THAT one was too cute.

See?

We had a spread of food: veggie tray, hummus and crackers, chips and excellent pico, potato casserole, yummy beans, brisket and ribs from Goode's and chess squares for dessert.

We are now all waddling.

The price you pay....

OH. And I made sangria.

Mmmmm.....

Mister B was very popular this evening. At one point he was the lucky holder of a frog (Rrrrriiiiibbbbbiiiitttt!), a dragon (Roar!), Cooper (the real dog), and Dog-Dog.

Pop. U. Lar.

Miss Perpetual Motion decided he was good for a laugh and proceeded to chuck Dog-Dog at him and giggle and carry on. She was so tired that she had to go in shifts, as seen here:

Too much fun, indeed.

Eventually everyone helped clean up the toys (THANKS!!!!) and CT and Miss A went home to bed while we got Perpetual Motion ready over here. Amazingly, she went down with nary a peep.

All I can say is good times!

Best Hiccups

Senorita Clementina has the hiccups.
She's been getting them a lot lately...
Which means she is growing.

I know, I know, that could be an old wives' tale.
Could be, but for her 'tis not.
Every time she has a growth spurt, she hiccups.

It would drive me insane, but Miss Thing?
Apparently it doesn't bother her one bit.

Guga sent us some warm pajamas recently.
You know, when we had the freak cold snap.

At first the only part that fit was the torso.
Oh, yes, the arms were rolled thrice...
...and the legs? A pool around her ankles...
...if they would even stay "on" her feet.

Tonight? Only a week or two later?
No rolling of the sleeves.  Not even once.
The feet stay in place with minimal pooling.

Perhaps I should check if her shoes still fit.
Since last time I waited 'til she told me "ouchie"...
...and she was wearing a half-size too small.

In other news, she counts, with consistency.
To ten or to thirteen, as she is so inclined.
Then it's off to seventeen through nineteen.
Apparently fourteen through sixteen are exiled.

In other, other news, she sings.
Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is a favorite.
As is, we just learned tonight, the Alphabet Song.
A through P are hit or miss, save the H and P.
Q through Z are absolutely known in order
As is the ending, but good luck understanding it.

I think that about covers it for this evening.
More tomorrow.

Best Culprit

Here at Casa Crazy Pants (that would be Cooper's name - the dog...the real live one...for those of you who are unaware) we are all a little sick.

Miss Thing had her second N1H1 flu shot last Friday morning, and she has had a runny nose ever since.  I don't really think that the issue came from the flu shot, since she was developing a little something prior to the shot, but I do think it has assisted its...staying power.

Being the Mama, I got sneezed on and slobbered on, etc.  As Rocket Man put it, she used me as a human tissue for a day or two.  And so now I am sick-ish.

I say ish because I have had drainage and a sore throat for a few days.  I don't feel horrible, but I don't feel great.  I have now reached that lovely point in a cold where your sinuses take turns being completely stopped up and your ears rotate between which one will pop and which one will not pop after you blow your nose.

Good times.

Not that I am blowing my nose all that much either, since this mostly appears to be back in the recesses of my head...perhaps it will shake loose all of those memories that somehow escape me.

I attribute my lack of serious cold symptoms to the fact that I was a teacher for about five years.  This means that for the first year or so I was sick ALL THE TIME.  And when you're a music teacher who needs to sing all day long, having colds that deliver sore throats is not much fun.  So my guess is that my immune system still has a few of those antibodies floating around.

Rocket Man, on the other hand, does not have such antibodies.  What he does have is the crazy ability to go through an illness with super-hero speed.

You know, like a rocket.


See what I did there?

Ha.

What this means is that an illness that lasts a week for the normal person might last three days for him.  This can be good and bad.  It is mostly good, since his recovery time is super-speedy.  Unfortunately this also means that there is never a gentle easing into anything, not even a cold.  Nope, it just wallops him and he goes from completely healthy to absolutely sick in less than a full work-day.

He came home like that this evening and is now out purchasing various cold remedies.

Yeah, we never have them in the house.

On our way to dinner he declared Miss Thing to be the culprit.  She does make us sick from time to time, and he gets the worst of it, or so it seems.

It sure is a good thing that she's so cute, or we might throw her out with the used tissues...

...
...
...
...

Nah, what fun would that be?

Best ???

I don't even know what to call this post. If anyone has any ideas after reading it, please let me know.

As anyone who's been checking in this month is well aware, I have been going to the gym. I have been doing a few classes, one called BodyPump, one called BodyAttack, and a yoga class. They are all good for different reasons.

My body usually starts to react to exercise and the like after a few weeks. As in five or so if I am just running. Once I start to show improvement (and I mean visually looking better...as in hey, that flubby area is looking less flubby), I get excited.

Don't we all?

When I add in weights and the like, as I have done this go 'round, I show small improvement even sooner. As in by today. And I've been at it for three weeks. I mean, it isn't noticeable to the average person, but I notice it and I would expect my husband to notice it.

Can anyone see where this post is going?

Credit is given where it is due: he has informed me that I look better here and there...where here and there are parts of my body. To anyone who's headed towards a gutter, STEER CLEAR!

Moving along.

On that credit front, it should be mentioned that I like (and quite possibly need?) for someone, usually Rocket Man, to tell me when they notice improvement. No, I am not fishing for compliments from you people.

ANYWAY.

Let's recap: I've been working out. My body is showing small improvements. Rocket Man has acknowledged those improvements. I like the acknowledgments.

Which brings us to today. Today, my friends (though you may hate me after I tell you this), it was 70-some degrees F here in Houston. There wasn't really much humidity, the sky was clear and it was nice.

This drives me crazy because HELLO, IT IS JANUARY. IT SHOULD BE WINTER. GET WITH THE PROGRAM, HOUSTON!

Since we had late-spring-like temps, I had to go searching for appropriate clothing. This meant that for the first time in quite a few weeks (months?) I wore a short-sleeved shirt.

Oh, NOW we all see where this is headed.

On Thursdays of late, we tend to meet up at Pump It Up to play with the child and then we go from there to dinner. When we arrived at the restaurant, I asked Rocket Man if my arms looked any different.

As in, for real, do they?

Wanna know what he did?

He laughed out loud.

Then he told me that he's going to start calling me Bazookas.

Best Maestro

Here she is, Miss Thing, performing for all of you.

Please ignore the brown paint on her nose; teddy bears were discussed, paraded, eaten and become today at school.

Please take note of her trusty side-kick, Dog-Dog, assisting with the performance.

Best Worst Neighbor Dog

Okay, so back when my computer first got all infected and crappy and just made me feel ick - you know, the straw that broke the camel's back and all of that, I went from being close to going to bed at 10pm to not even heading to bed until midnight.

Yeah, I looked for answers for my computer for a while.  And yes, I am not intelligent when it comes to the virus, etc. on computers, so I found nothing except confirmation that I could not take care of it myself.

ANYWAY.

That night, I desperately needed to get to sleep quickly, what with the computer thing and Rocket Man being out of town, etc.  And what happens?  THE NEIGHBOR'S DOG.

There is a tiny dog that lives behind us.

He barks ALL NIGHT.

Two at a time, spaced a couple of seconds apart.

Literally ALL NIGHT.

It took me forever to fall asleep, and then any time that I woke up a bit from rolling over or wahtnot, I would lie there awake for a while because of the BARKING.

WHAT does he bark at?!?!?!

I HAVE NO CLUE!!!!

WHY is he left out all night to bark??!?!?!?

DITTO!!!!!

All in all, a very irritating situation!

Best Hands Behing the Back

I have no idea if the teachers at Miss Thing's MDO have the kids walk through the halls with their hands behind their backs or what, but these days PM sticks her little hands just on the back of her hips, hunches over a bit, and walks around the house.  She is especially prone to doing this if I've asked her to look for something or to go get something.  I know I didn't teach it to her, so thanks to whomever for the cuteness!

Best Saturday Activity

For the past two weekends I've been attending a yoga class.  I've never done yoga and I am not flexible at all, which makes the class more difficult.  Overall, though, it works your muscles in a different way, but just as much as other exercises and at the same time things get stretched...which means that they don't hurt as much afterwards.

Since my arms and shoulders are so tight that I get really bad headaches, I am thinking that I will really enjoy the yoga once I am a little better at it.

Regardless I am going to stick with it to see how my body reacts.

Best New Developments

I thought I'd make a list of some of the new things Miss Perpetual Motion is doing...

- She wakes up happy.  No crying.  Instead, when one of us enters her room she dances in her bed and asks to come out to the living room.

- Also, she doesn't insist on having ALL of her animals and blankets with her when she gets up.

- She sings Twinkle Twinkle Little Star....or at least tries to.

- She loves school buses.  Also, "Big Truck" (goes HONK).

- All of her animals go "night-night"

- No whining for Mama all day every day as of late.

- She LIKES school and the Y.

That is all I can think of for the moment.  I know that there are many more, but that's what I've got for now!

Best Friendship Development

A friend of ours recently had a baby.  She is tiny and smooshy and adorable like babies tend to be.  She arrived into a family with two older brothers who are very excited to finally see her.

The middle child, E, used to have some reservations about Perpetual Motion.  You see, E had all sorts of fabulous toys, and whenever he would bring them to a community event, PM would want to play with them.  And by play, I mean look at, touch, hold, carry around, and any other version you can possibly think of.

Due to this very predictable event, E started leaving things at home.  He would even tell his Mom that he left them at home.  You know, so that they were safe and whatnot.

Recently, his Mom convinced him that it was okay to bring his things, but that if he brought them, he had to share.  This meant that he would show up at, say, the playground, and immediately let PM see the item.  Just to get it over and done with.

Yesterday we went to the playground where we met the baby for the first time.  The kids were all playing on their own for a while and then, oh then, E started playing with Perpetual Motion.  Like, to the extent that she was even a little put-off by it.  Mostly because he rrreeeaaaallllyyy wanted to play with her and help her, etc.  At one point he was pushing her in the swing and she was so not sure about THAT.

He was having a GREAT time, though.

The best part of yesterday was that E brought a little Woody doll (you know, Toy Story?) along to the playground and not only did he show it to Miss Thing, but he let her hold the doll and keep the doll until it was time to leave.

I'd say he is going to be a super big brother.

Best Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Character

According to Miss Perpetual Motion is the Professor.  Oh, how she loves him.  Whenever he comes on, she shies away for about two seconds with a flirty grin on her face, and then she shouts out "Fessor!" and starts bouncing.

Her love for him transfers over to the Silly Cellphone she received for Christmas.  If other characters call, she is interested for a bit, but nothing makes her "talk" more than if the Professor calls.

Much "Hello!"-ing and "Bye!"-ing occurs...they must hang up with each other a minimum of seven times when they talk, but the conversations go on and on.

She thinks he is the best, of that I am certain.

Best Slow Movie

Our Netflix participation has been going well.  Aside from Christmas holiday, we've been watching our one movie a week.  Unfortunately, over the weekend we watched Enemy of the State.  Or, we tried to watch it.  It was an okay move, but really slow.  Because everyone knows about John Dillinger's shenanigans, I guess they figured they needed to focus on the characters themselves and what was driving them.  Basically, we didn't finish it.  It was a tad predictable.

At least we learned our lesson after the Transformers Two...we sat through the whole 2.5 hours of that thing, and it was a complete waste of time.

I have no idea what is next on our list; I hope it is better, whatever it is.

Best Worst January 12 of 12 EVER

So, my computers? They are infected. As in one doesn't even start up properly AT ALL and the other has some crazy wallpaper telling me that it is infected.

Great.

Since I know NOTHING about these things, I will be taking my computer to get it "fixed" today.

Which means that I won't be posting a 12 of 12 for the day. This makes me sad since it is the last year that Chad is managing it.

I guess that the best I can do is to tell you to head over to his site later today and tomorrow to see what everyone did today.

For me? Just picture me really ticked off and standing in lines at computer places...oh, and staring blankly at the person who tells me what they need to do...

Best Crafty Completions

I guess that I shouldn't necessarily call these my best, aonly because I hope that I will make more and better items this year.  I also expect that I will be making more hats, and I imagine that they will get better each time I make them as well - you know, that whole experience thing...

Regardless, these six items were made this month.  Once I finished the dress for Miss Thing, I began making some hats for my cousin's daughters.  She's got four of them.  They are the sweetest and cutest little people.  The two youngest are twins, so they get the fuzzy hats that have two pom-poms and are blue, pink, purple and yellow.  The older girls get the round bright hats with one pom-pom.

I figured that if the youngest had pom-poms, then the older girls would want one as well.

The bear that you see is made from the left-over yarn.  Miss Perpetual Motion has a "Teddy Bear Day" at her school later this month, and I am hoping that she will want to take this one.   As he is new, and therefore not a favorite as of yet, we shall see.

Oh, the tiny hat was the first one I made and since it is so small I think I will give it to a friend who just had a baby.  Hopefully it will keep the little one warm in these cooler temps.

I have no idea what I will make next; any suggestions?

Best Pretend

Jeepers Creepers it took me forever to get this thing to load onto YouTube tonight...and it is still saying that the video is being processed, so the quality isn't great just yet. Hopefully if it looks bad on your computer now, it will improve by tomorrow morning! Your volume will need to be up to hear her.

Miss Perpetual Motion has been playing pretend lately. Her favorite thing to pretend is going Night-Night with Dog-Dog.

Why is it that things have two names...the same word...when you are dealing with infants/toddlers?

Anyway.

Here she is, pretending with me. If you hold out until the end, you'll get to hear/see her "Cheese" for photos.

Best Night Out

We spent some time with our neighbors today.  They have a little one in their house as well, and we got together so the kiddos could play.  It was an interesting experience for Miss Thing, sine she was really not sure about the fact that someone her size was playing with her toys.  I guess it is good that for the most part she didn't try to take them back or anything...but she did get upset a couple of times when he wasn't doing things the way she thought he should be.

After some snacks and animal time (they have a cat and a dog...one who LIKES little kids), we all decided that we wanted Mexican for dinner.

Now, Rocket Man and I found an excellent Mexican restaurant before we moved over to Spain; it is called Ruthie's Mexicana and it has the spiciest fajitas that we've ever eaten.  Like, your lips are on fire it is so hot.  Also, their tortillas and chips, etc. are excellent.

We have eaten there three times since we returned from Spain, and either our spicy-hot tolerance has increased (too much Little Buddha?) or they aren't cooking them with as much heat.  Regardless, we've been looking for some spicy food.

Our neighbors suggested Del Pueblo and man was it good.  The kids ate a lot of avocado and some cheese enchilada and rice and we had some very spicy and excellent fajitas.

Along with the company, it made for the Best Night Out we've had in quite some time.

Best Helpful Moment

Today was rather busy here at Clementina headquarters.  We were supposed to take Cooper the Crazy and Completely Fuzzy Dog to the groomers this morning for a much-needed haircut (in case you couldn't tell from his title), but the groomer called me to let me know that her pipes had frozen and she had no water, so it was all a no-go.

The joys of living in Houston.

We headed over to a friend's house at 10 to talk about starting a babysitting co-op.  Don't freak out, anyone, it is seriously the most casual version you could imagine.  Honestly, it is exactly what we do now, which is email everyone to see who can help us if a situation were to arise...only now we know who is willing and/or interested in helping or trading help.  As one friend put it, it just makes it easier for us to ask for help instead of, say, taking your way too young child to the dentist with you and forcing the entire practice to take turns holding the screaming baby.

I may have some experience in that.

We came home for a later than usual lunch and nap, which means Miss PM didn't sleep as long as usual.  No biggie, since she got enough methinks.  Then I decided to haul her off to the YMCA again.  I wanted to see what it was like when the child-watch opened back up at 4pm.

Empty.

The child-watch, anyway.  Miss Perpetual Motion and I were the first to make use of the service this afternoon, and PM so impressed me by having no tears when we arrived or when I left her in there with the nice ladies.  She will call them that, too, which is super fun.  I even asked her (like an idiot, since she could have said "Noooooo.") if she was ready to play, and with the most unconvincing and apprehensive look on her face she said "Yes."

Progress indeed.

There are no classes until 6pm in the evenings, so I just ran on the treadmill...which I usually don't enjoy, but since it is freezing outside (literally for once), that wasn't an option.  Plus, with the treadmill, the little man inside the machine tells me when to speed up, slow down, etc. which is kinda nice.

We came home and I jumped in the shower.  Miss Thing plays with a variety of toys in our bedroom/bathroom whenever I have to clean up.  Right now her velcro veggies and duplo blocks are among the toys in there.  She pulled apart all of her vegetables and put them together again.  She also found the single tiny Duplo man and held him, hugged him, kissed him, and rocked him before telling him she loves him and night night.

That was pretty cute.

Once I was all ready, I told her we had to clean up.  This is where we get to our Best Helpful Moment.  Things were going splendidly; she was helping me put veggies in their bag and duplos in their tub.  We finished with the veggies first, so I zipped up the bag and took them into the bedroom to their storage basket.  Meanwhile, PM finished collecting all of the blocks.  She then attempted to pick up the tub and bring it into the bedroom...except that she didn't even get completely into the picking up part before they were all loudly crashing to the tile floor.  The lid has not been mastered to say the least.  Nor the recognition of a need for one...

Apparently she really enjoys picking up the blocks, because she immediately began to do so and we finished it off the second time with a lid.

Hey, at least she is into helping...for now anyway...

Best Workout Imagery

I have now completed two classes at the YMCA. The first was BODYPUMP and the second was BODYATTACK. I enjoyed them both and will definitely start attending them regularly. I know that I will attend the attack class on Monday and Wednesday mornings, but I still need to decide which days I will go to the pump class. I still want to run a couple of days a week at the least, if for no other reason than it will be an off day from the gym and far more relaxing for my body than the classes.

The attack class appears to be a brand new thing (at least at my Y), so the classes are taught by two people. They each have to memorize the routines, which for this class is a tough thing to do. There are eleven sets in the class.

Eleven.

Eleven carazy sets.

We did not do the lower body, upper body, power or plyometric sets (the last of which the teachers implied is way hard) in our intro class. We did complete the mixed impact, the running, the interval, the agility, the aerobic sets. We also completed all of the warm-up and some of the cool-down.

It was way fun. I looked like an idiot during some of it, since I've never done the whole choreographed thing or cheerleader thing or aerobics thing before, but it was a real workout and I was breathing hard and sweating at the end of it. We had breaks and didn't do the hardest sets, and since the plyometric will be next to impossible and we have to add in a bunch of body-pump-type sets that work your muscles, we should all be completely worn out next time. So basically if I ever manage to do the whole class on the highest impact level, I will be surprised!

I did the sets we completed on Wednesday all on high-impact, but barely - at the end my ankles and the ligaments/tendons/muscles that help me do all the jumping and whatnot on my toes were ready to give out.

Perhaps I should invest in some ankle braces.

The body-pump class was very good as well, and really did weight-lifting type things, but using mostly your own body weight plus just a little on the bar. I had a very bubbly teacher who had some great explanations for our positions, which brings us to the best of the day.

The Best Workout Imagery that I've heard (Please remember that I've only been to two exercise classes. Ever.) was that when we are doing our squats, it should be just like when we sit (read: hover) in a port-a-potty to pee: if you don't do it right, you'll get pee all down your leg.

Oh, yeah, she went there.

It is a good thing that all of the participants are female...especially since she also spent a lot of time telling us where the bar should hit our bodies in relation to the location of our boobs and bra straps.

Best Method for Snaggin' a Man

Apparently we are having as close to a real winter here in Houston as we can get. It all began in December when we had snow.

Yes, snow.

It began innocently enough, but soon it was coming down pretty heavily:

Miss Perpetual Motion and I spent much of the morning indoors watching it fall:

"What do you see, Perpetual Motion?"

"Snnnnnnnoooooooooooow!"

Due to the fact that we had been enjoying the book Frosty the Snowman, Miss Thing only says the words snow and snowman in a high-pitched and long, drawn-out voice.
Yes, it is too cute.

After some of the white stuff had accumulated, we donned our wimpy winter weather gear and headed out to inspect.

Thank you, PM, for pointing out the snow.  I never would have found it without you.

She wasn't too thrilled with touching the snow; nor was she happy when her hands began to hurt.  Yes, we have mittens, but will she wear them?  Of course not!  How silly!

"Snnnnnnnnnoooooooooooooooow!"

Inspecting her Winter Wonderland.

Now the weather people are calling for a hard freeze. At one point it was snow and then a hard freeze, but I do believe the snow is not on the forecast any longer. Due to the fact that nothing in these here parts was built to standards that allow for freezing of any kind, I just spent some time covering the plants that cannot withstand the temperatures and insulating our pipes.

Good times.

Now on to other things, like PM's Best Method for Snaggin' a Man.

Today she had a great day at school. She was really worried on the way there, but we talked about who would be there and what she would get to do and how I would come back after everything to get her. Once we pulled into the parking lot she was fine and when I set her down at the door to her classroom, she stomp/marched her way in, holding her Dog-Dog like she was going to chuck him at someone.

That's it, you know.

Chucking Dog-Dog at people...usually men.

When I returned this afternoon, I noticed that her classmate's Dad had already arrived. By the time I got to the classroom door, PM had already deposited Dog-Dog at his feet, and by deposited I mean she threw him, or practically body-slammed him. Not only that, but when she received no attention, she walked away and was on her way back, pointing out her "Dog-Dog!" to him when I walked in.

This 'method' is her way to entice men. She spent our entire Christmas holiday doing just that with Grand-Dad. The poor man couldn't get a hug or anything simple like that. Nope, she would see him, go get Dog-Dog, and follow Grand-Dad around, chucking the animal at him so that he would pick it up and come back after her.

It worked splendidly; she always got her man.

Best No You Haven't Mentioned That Moment

The girls of casa crazytown (that is where we currently reside, in case you were wondering) had a very busy day today. We began with a short episode of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse complete with a giant and the Professor, both of whom are Miss Thing's favorites...especially the Professor. Then breakfast was had and clothes were donned so that we could head out.

Our first excursion of the day was to the YMCA. I joined last month and made no use of the place due to illness followed by illness followed by illness followed by travel and ending with recovery from the travel. Excellent use of finances, was that.

Today we arrived at the Y and I placed her in the child care, with much "Maaaamaaaaa"-ing and tears, while I quickly escaped the apparently sound-proofed child care room and headed over to participate in my first BODYPUMP class. I apologize for the all-caps treatment, but apparently that's how the BP people want it.

I am sure that tomorrow I will not be able to move most of my body, so pumped it shall be, but the class was fun and a nice change from running all of the time. I plan to go tomorrow and check out what I believe is called BODYATTACK. I am sure you can figure out what company created it. It is supposed to be more aerobic and less pump-y. Hopefully I'll enjoy it as well and then I can make real use of my membership.

Also, hopefully I will be able to make use of my limbs within a few days.

When I was done with my class, which I was expecting to be yanked from at any moment due to the my-mother-is-leaving-me crying fit I left when we first arrived, I returned to the child-watch area to find Little Miss playing just fine on her own. I handed her Dog-Dog to her just before I left her originally, and by the time I came to pick her up he had been left on the floor while she played.

Poor Dog-Dog.

Anyway, it looks like she had an okay time, so hopefully this means we can repeat this process many times over.

I tell you all about our day because of some very enlightening information Rocket Man (finally) decided to impart. Miss Thing has been having a hard time at school since the Thanksgiving week we had off. I have had to go and get her a couple of times before naps are had. Granted, there was some illness in there and we all know that can have a lot to do with it, but also? She seems to be slightly attached to me.

I don't mean to complain, and I am sure that one day I'll miss it (Really? I'm not so sure...), but the incessant crying/whining "Mama" that emits from her mouth is extremely tiring.

Today's behavior makes me very glad that we do things like Mothers Day Out and the YMCA child watch just in case she takes after her father in this particular area. Why would I worry about that exactly?

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you our best No, You Haven't Mentioned That moment:

Rocket Man got sick every day for about four months when he first went to school.

Oh, yeah.

Then he tells me that he is pretty sure that he soon realized that if he got sick, the school would call his Mom to come and get him.

I would really rather not go down that path, people.

Best Boo!

Today was a tough day for many; we all had to get back into the swing of things. People went back to work, kids went back to school, and for us? We had to deal with the fact that Perpetual Motion didn't get to see her Daddy all day long.

It is very difficult when you are a little one.

At one point during the morning, she was saying everyone's name she knew. This included the Aunts and Uncles as well as the grandparents and great-grandparents. Randomly she would state their names and occasionally a name would be accompanied by a very purposeful nod of the head.

Our outing for the day was a trip to find a couple of long-sleeve outfits since she has just in the last few days outgrown some. Unfortunately, we live in Houston, land of the warm and humid, and although it was cold for our averages today (and supposedly remaining that way and colder for the week), there were no long-sleeved anythings to be found.

I searched through three stores worth of clothing and only managed to find two outfits. I also managed a pair of long-sleeved pajamas, but even those aren't fleece, which is what we are wearing right now. It seems whenever I shop that the clothes I like are available in every size except hers...as if everyone in the surrounding area has a little girl that big and bought up all of the clothes already.

There were bathing suits and thin, little clothes out.

It is only January 4th.

Anyway - here are some photos of what I found:

 

 

 

 

 

Any of you who know her are well aware that she has a penguin with which she sleeps and she absolutely loves elephants.  They are her favorite at the zoo and it is the best animal sound that her Daddy makes.  As she is working on her Fs/PHs, the name comes out "Elelant", but we'll get there.

And now for our best of the day: Best Boo!  Also, the first video I've ever posted. We bought ourselves a mini recorder (like the flip, but a different brand) for Christmas. I hooked it up today and apparently we already have about thirty videos recorded.

We are in so much trouble.

Anyway, here she is playing Peek-A-Boo with her rocking chair. You can hear me very well as I am holding the camera, but in order to hear her, I suggest turning your volume up very high. Enjoy!

Best New Activity

Miss Perpetual Motion has figured out her best new activity. It involves one of her favorite new Christmas toys: Lego Duplo. She was rather obsessed with them the last time we had photographs made; she spent more of her time with the "Blocks!" than in the studio attempting to pose.

Due to this obsession, I decided to purchase some as a Christmas present. They are not cheap, my friends, so a large set I did not get. I decided on a medium sized package of them, and apparently I chose one just big enough:

Oh, yes.  She asks very politely for you to open the bucket. Then she unceremoniously dumps the blocks onto the ground. And then? Oh, my, the fun. She grabs onto the sides and very carefully places one foot inside and then the other foot. Occasionally she falls over while attempting to get her feet in, and then she has to start over.

Usually she manages to get both of her feet in the bucket, and then she balances her behind on the back edge for just a bit before she kaplunks into the bucket completely. The experience is oh so much better if she has her Dog-Dog with her.

But of course.

Also fabulous is the fact that she now knows how to say "Cheese" for the camera.

Good times.

Best Good Fast Food

And Best Too-Big Dress:



Maybe one day it will fit, Mama.

 

Hey, what is this thing?

I know! A ball!

 

And, THROW!

So it is too big.  To be fair, however, the pattern is for a size 2T.  As in not even an 18-24 month.  And since she is only 19 months old, and a small one at that, I think that it is just fine.  Better for her to grow into it than to be already out of it.

Our best fast food of the day is Jason's Deli.  It is one of our favorite quick places to eat.  We went there tonight, in fact.  Miss Thing had a hot dog sans bun, strawberries, apple, baked potato and some of the beef off of my sandwich.  She also ate two crackers and had milk.  Her belly was protruding just a bit afterward.  Good grief MaGee.

That is all; carry on.

Best Funny of the Day

Here's a little something I began on the 29th and finished up this evening:

I have yet to try it on the child, so I don't know if I'll go back and add some optional sleeve-age or not...nor do I have any idea if it will fit her.

We shall see.

Now on the to what was our best funny of the day.

I was perusing the internets when Perpetual Motion decided to join me on the sofa. After much harumphing to get herself up onto the seat, she cuddled up with me to see what was on the screen.

We came to some information about the new stamps for 2010, and when she saw the Mother Teresa stamp, she pointed at her, smiled up at me and very proudly declared "Grand-Dad".

It had to be someone from her world, after all...

She also informed me that Sandra Bullock is her aunt, R-Shelly.

I am fairly certain both were meant as compliments.