Pop-Pop Giggles

Just before the final race-to-the-finish of moving, Pop-Pop and Grammie came down to visit us in Houston. They came over Easter weekend. We had plenty of fun and they assisted us with some outdoor-type cleaning as well. The cars were washed...a little early, since we didn't sell them until the first week of May, but at least the insides were super clean. Grammie and I cleaned up some outdoor play things that had been lent to us by some friends. Note to all: we miss everyone!

That afternoon, once all cleaning had been accomplished and Miss Thing had taken her nap (and I had successfully not let anyone know I was pregnant, cause boy howdy did I feel awful by that point), Miss Thing and her Pop-Pop had some fun.

Why is my child naked? I have not a clue. I believe it is just because she wanted to be and therefore: naked. Anyway, the following is a fabulous video of the two of them playing:



As you can see, it doesn't take much to get her going!

T-Minus Ten and Counting.

So.

The movers come on Monday and Tuesday to pack everything up and send it off to its respective locations.

We fly on Saturday, May 8th. We wanted to fly on the 7th, but since we had to wait until, oh, Tuesday, to make the reservations, there were no seats on those flights. As is, we are booked in three aisle seats, one in front of the other. Someone is going to have a grand time sitting next to Miss Thing.

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Had Miss Thing's two year appointment a little early. She is now suddenly in the 80th percentile for height. No wonder the clothes are just barely still fitting.

Oh, and she's been getting the hiccups the last couple of days, and usually this means she is growing. If so, she will have to go naked in Russia. The locals will just love us.

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I've been looking for underpants. I know. You really wanted to know that. I've been to Victoria's Secret...three times, JCPenney, Macy's and Target. Let's all guess where I found the best-fitting pair? And by best-fitting I mean covers my tush without sending me back to middle school and the land of wedgies. That's right, people: Target. 13 pair for about $13. Let's hope they don't fall apart in the wash.

Oh, wait. That is what the $5/pair Victoria's Secret ones do lately. So even if they do, I've still saved.

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I wasn't ever the recipient (or giver, for that matter) of wedgies in middle-school. Was that mostly a boy thing?

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Miss Thing has some hair. Shocking, I know. Not long enough for anything except the non-use of baby brushes. They just don't work any more. Therefore, we have been using a comb.

She says: "Cone."

Tonight after her bath (in the kitchen sink because as long as she fits in it, I am using it. Gotta save the back, people.) I was cutting her finger- and toe-nails, an activity she looks forward to about as much as I look forward to the dentist, and I had the "cone" on the bed with us. She distracted herself from the awfulness with it: "Ice-cream cone...Where did it go?...I get it!...I've got you, ice-cream cone!"

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This post is brought to you by the letters M and N. One day we'll learn the difference.

Aaaaannnnndddd.....More Shopping!

So I went to my class this morning...for the first time in two weeks. I am a slacker and it showed.

Then we all got ready and headed out to shop for Rocket Man's weather gear for Russia. Oh, and I had to return half of Miss Thing's because she grew and some things just aren't going to fit when we get there. Thankfully they had the clothing in the next size up, so we could get her rain suit and things in the right size.

I think RM can finally see how overwhelming the shopping can be for this move...since he basically turned to me when we got there and said "So what did you buy here?" Um, yeah. I didn't have that kinda help; we were just wandering.

Anyway, he was able to get his rain gear, a pair of boots, socks and a fleece. Then we headed to a ski place and he purchased the warmest coat ever. Apparently he was in danger of sweating in it at the store, so that is pretty warm.

Jason's Deli was our lunch and then home we went so that Miss Thing and I could take a nap. The night-time sleeping, at least for me, hasn't been the greatest lately.

We slept for three hours.

THREE.

I, for one, should never get to sleep tonight.

We're headed to a neighborhood dinner at a tex-mex restaurant in a few minutes; everyone is getting together to say SEE YA! to us. And by everyone I mean whoever is able to show up. It should be good.

Have I mentioned that Rocket Man has been out of town more since January 1st than he has been at home? And that the trend continues up until we leave?

Awesome!

And I Quote...

Pa-Jim...sugars

Pfessor! (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, anyone?)

EL-LE-LANT! (While Guga was napping)

I get it!

Wead, Pa-Jim, wead.

Me: What would you like to eat for dinner?
Miss Thing: Lunch!

We've been teaching her that we have to stop the car when the light is red. Usually she demands that we GO! This morning I came to a stop sign and had to wait for some traffic to pass.
Miss Thing: The light is wed.

They were playing music at lunch today. She decided to join in:
Tequila!

While at the rodeo, we went into the petting zoo. There was a rather large goat that was mostly black with a couple of white spots here and there.
Miss Thing (to the goat): Cow! Meoooooooooooo!

Also at the rodeo, there were camel rides. We stopped to show her the camel.
Miss Thing: Horse! Neeeeeeeeeeh!

Normal for Some Folks...

 

...is strange to me.

 

[just in case you couldn't read that] 

YEAH!

Guga and Papa Jim are here.

They arrived this morning via airplane.

I spent the morning...

washing sheets

getting milk and cheerios

turning on MICKEY!!!!!

cleaning the kitchen

hiding all of the stuff we've purchased

feeding the girl-child

and myself

drying the sheets

calling the computer guy to get our printer online

making the bed

checking the flight status

and driving to the airport.

On our way there I asked her who she would see. She responded with "Daddy!!!" I told her that yes, she would finally see her Daddy today, but HELLO, who is coming to give her hugs and kisses (we've only talked about this a bazillion times so far today)...and she thought.

And she thought some more.

Then she declared "Guga!"

And "Pa-Jim!"

I mentioned that they would be coming in on an airplane and she said "YEAH!!"

When we got close to the airport we started seeing HUGE cargo planes taking off, which she LOVED and I hoped wouldn't fall on me cause HOLY SMOKES are they huge when they've just taken off and happen to be RIGHT OVER your car.

Then we spent a couple of minutes whining/complaining/begging for more airplanes.

FINALLY, we saw some more.

"AIR-PAAAAAAAAANE!!!!!"

"THERE IS IIIIIIISSSSSS!!!!"

"IT'S PRETTYYYYYYYYYYY!"

So yeah, that last one was strange, but to each her own, right?

Penguin Giggles

Let me set this one up for you.

The penguin is saying "Just smile and wave , boys." and "Progress report!". Papa Jim and Guga are her audience by way of web cam. That's Papa Jim you hear laughing and talking to her.

The crazy giggles? I have no idea. Apparently that penguin is TOO FUNNY.

Happy Day to Me

I began my day by attempting to breathe.

I have a cold, and it is a doozy on the sinuses.

Once I was sure that I would indeed be able to breathe for the day, I went to the gym to do a Body Attack class. Yay for exercise!

I then came home and we all got ready to go to the zoo. This included changing Miss Thing out of her pajamas and into some proper clothing. Just before I put on her shoes and socks I leaned over her and asked her if she knew what day it was.

She looked at me like I was crazy.

Then I told her that it is Mama's birthday.

She responded with a song.

It was awesome, unasked for, and the best birthday present from a little one. Here is a re-enactment:

Excellent, yes? Especially the "and many more" section.

The zoo was excellent, full of Miss Thing running throughout the place. Pei Wei was nice for lunch. The afternoon was relaxing and I spoke with some family.

Then we had dinner.

It was best summed up by Rocket Man:

"One day we'll laugh about that dinner."

I'll just leave it at that.

Dancin'

We had Mexican food tonight.

Margaritas were involved.

The dancing was a side-effect...

Bombs Away

The sleepy-time Olympic training continues.

Today we had a short nap-time training run.

I am fairly certain that the event was ski jump.

Why?

Let me tell you!

Books read: check
Sound machine turned on: check
Dog, Lamb, Bear and Penguin accounted for: check
Blanket placed on top: check

I love you is said and out the door I go; off to sleepy town she goes.

Not so much.

Nope, I spend the next thirty minutes listening to a cacophony of communication, all emanating from, you guessed it, my child.

She talked to her animals in a high voice, a whiny voice, a demanding voice, a quiet voice, a shouting voice, a sing-song voice, and the list goes on.

I guess Olympic training is hard on the coaches, too.

It's amazing that they don't lose their voices.

As for me, I can only wish...

All of a sudden these voices change dramatically and turn into a real-deal the world is ending crying/whining/get in here quick voice.

I hear her call "Lamb!"

Except that the way she pronounces it, it is more like lame with a b on the end...and very dramatic:

"Laaaaaaaaaaammmeeeb!"

My, oh my what just happened?

Apparently in his quest for gold, Lamb has gone wildly off-course. He has jumped ship, or crib as it were, and is out of his coach's reach.

She is distraught.

I decide to rescue her and hopefully get a nap into the mix. I go in, save Lamb and take Miss Thing over to the rocker to read yet one more book. Then I put her back into her bed (amongst pleadings for "Out there") and listen to the muted crying. At least she knows that the crying won't change things.

It is so difficult to accept defeat.

Safety First

In an attempt to go with the theme for the month, I shall tell you a story that ties into yesterday's post.

Miss Thing has a Handy Manny toolbox. It talks and sings the Hop Up, Jump In song. While singing, the front row of tools moves up and down a la carousel.

Both of the screwdrivers, Turner and his pal Felipe, are located in the front row. I'll let you guess which is the flat-head.

This afternoon Miss Thing placed Turner into his slot and told him to "Buckle Up!" before pressing the button that makes them dance.

They're hammering in those safety protocols at a young age...

Snippets

I woke up to Miss Thing and Rocket Man climbing on the bed this morning.

At 10 am.

Whoa.

I woke up at 6:30 and again at 8:30 and then subito, it was 10am.

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If you ask Miss Thing to show you her muscles, she will hold both arms up, clench her fists and squish her face up in concentration. It is awesome. Must post photo or video soon.

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Rocket Man did a lot of work this weekend. Friday evening he finished submitting our taxes. Then we cleaned/organized our closets on Saturday (which included taking a very old, large, heavy television to Good Will). That evening he started cleaning the house and we finished together this morning.

Once he had worked out and so forth this afternoon he was complaining about being super sore. Oh, how his legs aches. Oh, how his back aches. He then says to me "Must have been all that work I did..." He meant: "...that you didn't do." Yes, he said it like that. On purpose. To get a rise out of me.

I reminded him that I gave birth.

Running on Fumes: +1; Rocket Man: -3,239,872,387

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Two minutes later he declared "Those shoes just do NOT like to be in the closet!"

He was referring to my sneakers.

Smarty Pants.

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As part of his workout, Rocket Man took Cooper for a run. When he returned, he removed Cooper's collar and left it on the rug in the entry.

Of course Miss Thing found it; it has shiny metal things that clink together.

She walked proudly into our bedroom with the collar around her neck. She admired the collar and the tags hanging from it.

She then took the belt buckle part of it into her hands and attempted to close it while exclaiming "Buckle up!"

It's Magic!

Scene: our car; in the drive-through at Dairy Queen.
Why: Oreo Blizzard, Duh.

Rocket Man: Do you have any cash?

Me: No...oh, wait, yes. In my wallet.

[rummage around in the diaper bag for my wallet, find it (score!) and open it to take out some cash to find a five dollar bill]

RM: Where'd you get THAT?!?! (ALL INCREDULOUSLY LIKE)

Me: Um, at that place, you know...the BANK? (ALL DUH LIKE)

RM: (laughs) Oh, there.

Me: No, I MADE it!!!! It's Magic!!!!

RM: Miss Thing, your mother is a counterfeiter; we're all going to jail.

Me: No way, not if it's magic!!

End Scene.

What say you, internets? If it is indeed magic (which automatically says it is untraceable, etc.), then are we going to jail?

Goodnight, Moon

"Mooooooooonnnnnnn!"

If we are in the car after it is dark out and the moon is up, Perpetual Motion cries out for the moon until she catches a glimpse of it through the car window.

Watch out if for some reason, like, I dunno - we are DRIVING somewhere and have to TURN - and therefore she can no longer spot her shiny friend.

Then there is much sadness and wailing for the moon.

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A friend came over to play with us today and Miss Thing did sooooooo much better than previous play-date events. She only took things a couple of times, and gave them back if I asked her to.

She also cried when they left because she was already missing them.

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For the first time EVER (aside from a few newborn moments), Rocket Man put the child to bed. She did her usual whine a bit about anything she can think of to delay bedtime routine, which doesn't ever work for her, so I am not sure why she keeps doing it...but aside from that, it was smooth bed-time-ing.

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We are supposed to clean out closets this weekend. That may sound like a strange thing to you all, but we tend to, um, store things in our closets. This storage is most likely to occur when we really don't need or want the items any longer. Therefore, cleaning out aka tossing a bunch of stuff, will greatly assist us in moving right along the we're moving to Russia track.

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Today it was about 60 degrees outside, though very overcast and somewhat chilly with the breeze. Yes, I am aware that most of my relatives have some choice words for me after that revelation. My point? We shall soon be the "It's sooooo cold...." winners because where we're headed the SUMMER months are what we experienced today.

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At least I can wear pants all year long. I hate shorts. They are awful. Skirts are okay, but pants? Awesome.

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I wonder how I'll feel about snow-pants. Looking and feeling like the Good-Year Blimp can't possibly be all it's cracked up to be. Actually, I've never heard of it being cracked up to be anything, so...who came up with that phrase anyway?!?

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Still no Doggy home. Poor Cooper. Flop, flop, flop.

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Goodnight, Moon.

POW!

• I love Cooper's floppy ears.  Flop, flop, flop, flop.  Every step gets a flop.  The faster he walks, the faster they flop.  It is the best.
• Three pairs of my shoes are upstairs in the living room.  Three.  Why?  No, really, please tell me.
• Miss Thing was fussy today.  With a loud, capital Yyyyyyyyyy.  It started when she got out of bed at 7:30 and never really stopped.  Perhaps there are some teeth moving around in there.
• Apparently she actually woke up by 6:45.  So.  Perhaps the fussy was a combination of "Get me out of here!" and "I'm hungry!".  Did I know?  Nope.  Rocket Man didn't tell me what time he first heard her until we were eating dinner.
• I'm tired, so tired.
• The search for new doggy-parents is still on.  We have one couple who aren't sure and that is about it.  There are some nice people from a Lakeland Rescue looking into things for us, so let's all hope we get some options there.
• Rocket Man gave Miss Thing a Minnie Mouse for Valentine's Day.  She complements her Mickey Mouse well.
• I don't know why in the Clubhouse show she is wearing all pink but in...um...real life?...she is wearing all red.
• Miss Thing doesn't care.
• Cooper brought his shoe to me and is playing the "I'm not looking at my shoe.  Shoe?  What shoe?  Did someone say shoe?  Oh, did you want to play with my shoe?" game.
• I wore an ankle brace to BodyAttack on Monday.  It helped immensely.  My ankle/tendons/whatevers were sore for a day and a half, but nowhere near as sore as they have been previously.
• Whatevers - I'm a real wordsmith.
• There's a woman in my BodyPump class who gets REALLY upset if anyone sets up their equipment/stuff in front of her.  And yet she ALWAYS sets herself up in the VERY BACK of the room.  This makes NO SENSE to me.
• NO, REALLY.
• Sometimes Miss Thing likes to stand REALLY close to the TV while watching Mickey or Manny.  Sometimes, like today, I let her.  This makes me a Bad Mom.
• Sometimes, like today, I don't care.
• Apparently men whose names begin with M are all the toddler rage.
• Of course, today, everything made my toddler rage.
• Not in a good way.
• Right now, she is practicing for the Olympics.
• In her bed.
• As much as she practices, she better win gold.

Sad Times Ahead

It will be sad to leave our neighborhood friends here in the next month or so.

It will be sad that we will not have good HOT Mexican food (Tex-Mex, really).

It will be most sad that we have to leave our dog, our Chompy-Lones here in the states while we embark on our next adventure.

It just isn't fair to take him where we will have trouble exercising him and where our housing will be smaller, and the list goes on.

We have one person interested in him at this point, but it is just a maybe.

Hopefully we can find a home for him, because he is a good boy and has brought so much joy to our lives.

I think the giving away falls to me because Rocket Man has already told me that he does not think that he will be able to be there when the final hand-off occurs. Since Miss Thing won't understand it, perhaps she should not be there either.

I don't know.

It is just sad.

We Have Lift-off!

We made a visit to the passport agency in Houston today. It was slightly involved...mostly because we like to stress each other out for things like this - you know, just to make it fun.

Miss Thing's passport photo was "too far away", so we had to get that taken again. Then we had to wait for an eternity to a 20-month-old for them to call our number a-la-DMV.

All in all the process was fairly painless, somewhat expensive, easier than I thought it would be and to top it all off Miss Thing and I should receive our new and renewed passports within a week if not sooner.

Yup.

That's what I call expedited.

Russia, here we come!

Happy Vvvveeeeeee Day; Take Two

I am sure you are all waiting with bated breath to find out what Rocket Man and I gave each other for Valentine's Day.

It was a joint gift.

A clue, if you will:

BrrRRRZRZrzrzZRZZZrzrzrzrzzZZRRZRZRZRZRZRZZZzzzz

"OOooohhhhhh."


BrrRRRZRZrzrzZRZZZrzrzrzrzzZZRRZRZRZRZRZRZZZzzzz

"Oh, wow."


BrrRRRZRZrzrzZRZZZrzrzrzrzzZZRRZRZRZRZRZRZZZzzzz

"Oh, man does that feel good."


BrrRRRZRZrzrzZRZZZrzrzrzrzzZZRRZRZRZRZRZRZZZzzzz

"This thing really works!"


BrrRRRZRZrzrzZRZZZrzrzrzrzzZZRRZRZRZRZRZRZZZzzzz

"Ahhhhhhhh."

...

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Electric toothbrushes, people.

'Cause that's how we roll.

Happy Love Day

There's this song I sing with Miss Thing. It is to the tune of the Oscar Meyer Bologna song. For those of you who know her name, here is how it goes:

My [first name] has a first name;
it's [spell her first name here].

My [first name] has a second name;
it's [spell her middle name here].

I snuggle with her every day,
and if you ask me why I'll say:

'Cause [first name] [middle name] is the best
with whom to S-N-U-G-G-L-E.

Lately she has taken to singing WITH me. As in, we both sing at the same time. While this may seem normal for all of you, it is a recent development here. She knows this song and will request it from time to time.

This morning, Rocket Man woke up with her and let me sleep a little bit. That is, until he attempted to go to the bathroom and thought that he could shut the door for some privacy. Miss Thing quickly pointed out his mistake and managed to wake me up in the process.

I tried to get back to sleep, unsuccessfully, and when I came out she was watching (who else?) Mickey Mouse. Watching him is apparently quite involved, so she didn't see me when I first woke up. She was on the floor and I came over to sit on the sofa. When she did see me, she got all excited and immediately climbed up to sit with me.

By with me I mean on me, of course.

Then? She did the cutest thing ever.

She leaned over and rested her head on me and said "Snuggle!"

So we sang.

Together.

Happy Valentine's Day, Mama.

V is for Vicious

Grammie and Pop-Pop sent Miss Thing a valentine gift.

It is...well...you can decide for yourself.

She enjoys it, but to the point that letting her play with it means that when she is done (read: we tell her she is done) she cries and carries on as if the world has ended. It is quite a lot to deal with.

The dog sees it as an imminent threat. We are all about to die, he just knows it. He attacks, although he isn't sure which end requires his attention, so he alternates between the two. That is quite a lot to deal with as well.

Needless to say, it spends a lot of time "hanging out" somewhere in the depths of our closet.

And it looks so innocent....