Wordless Wednesday: Pooh Bear

Wordless Wednesday: Eskimo Girl

Wordless Wednesday: Traffic Woes

Wordless Wednesday: A Love Blossoming

101 Days to Christmas

::GULP::

Are YOU ready for the craze of the holiday season?

The Little Miss is counting down...she knows "First it's Halloween, then my birthday, then Cousin K's birthday, and then Christmas!!"

No More Secrets

Oh Hi!

I haven't fallen off the face of the earth...life became a little chaotic for most of August. My Mom fell while visiting us and broke the humerus in her right arm (and scraped her head) just four days prior to her scheduled return. I became her nurse for three plus weeks until we could get her returned home (we traveled with her as she was so limited with arm mobility). We're back now and trying to catch up with work and life.

The Little Miss was a bit out of sorts during this time. I had so little time with her spending much of my day helping my Mom with everyday tasks she could no longer do. The Little Miss' language is exploding and she's such a sensitive little person and SO observant. For days after my Mom's fall she'd pretend play she fell and "Bumped my head and broked my arm. I need to go to the doctor." She would find something to wrap around her arm then locate a pillow to prop her arm up to rest. She also quickly learned to "fill me in" (and anyone within earshot) on all the happenings while I was busy with Grandma.

For example:

• "Daddy's not happy with me cause I'm not listening."
• "Daddy is a little frustrated."

• "We played puzzles and Legos and had a picnic on the floor and I spilled my water but Daddy wasn't mad."
• To her dance teacher: "Grandma broked her arm and bonked her head and Mommy has to wash her hair."

• "Friend-Friend (our greyhound) peed on the floor! Doggies don't pee on the carpet. Doggies poop and pee outside. Maybe I can go poop outside. Maybe"

• To her Aunt: "Mommy's stressed out."

Needless to say, we can no longer have any secrets in this house. She's a sponge...even if we think she's not listening. If we say anything in front of The Little Miss, we need to be prepared for it to be repeated. Good or bad.

Wordless Wednesday: Masterpiece

Wordless Wednesday: Rusty

Wordless Wednesday: Somewhere Over the Rainbow

A little catch-up

Wow. As much as I hope to be completely on top of this blog it. just. doesn't. happen. There are a few things to catch up on:

Speech Therapy: The Little Miss is currently on a "service coordination" plan. This means she's improved so much that she no longer needs bi-weekly play therapy. This worked out well as her therapist is on maternity leave and she's to be tested in another week to see if she needs/qualifies for continued therapies with the school district. Her vocabulary is pretty huge at this point. The biggest issue we have is proper enunciation. Essentially, if we make her slow down and we demonstrate proper, exaggerated enunciation, she'll speak the word perfectly.  I'm wavering on the pre-school idea. While I really do wish to have her in that type of setting, I'm not sure I'm ready for her to be there at age 2 1/2 for four days a week.

Potty Training: Well, she mastered this long ago. The end of May had us traveling to Missouri for my niece's graduation from high school. The Little Miss had been doing extremely well. She rarely peed in her pull-up and was wearing underwear more and more at night (from the time she woke from her nap until bath time).  The week prior to our trip she decided she was DONE with the pull-ups. We had planned to really work on potty training when we got back but she decided for us. She wanted her underwear on and she wanted it on from the time she woke until she went to bed at night. I was fully prepared for our trip, putting her in pull-ups on the flights and she never once needed them. She went on the plane (that's fun, let me tell ya!) multiple times and even held it once when she had to go and we were mid descent and couldn't get out of our seats. This continued the entire time we were in Missouri and she's been going strong since. We still put a pull-up on at night, not wanting to risk a solid-night's sleep for accidents, but she's been completely dry for weeks now at night.

When did she turn into such a little girl!?

Gymnast or Dancer?: We received some really sad news that our local The Little Gym is closing it's doors for good the first week of August. The Little Miss LOVES her classes there and has been talking, non-stop, about taking the dance/tumble combo class when she turns 3 with her teacher, Mrs. C. Very few dance studios allow toddlers under 3 to take classes. There are two studios in town we're looking at, but we're also trying to decide if we want to abandon gymnastics all together or do some sort of combo class (which is difficult to find). She really seems to want to go for dance. In fact, we discussed the fact that if she took dance I couldn't be in the class with her. She smiled and said "I a big girl Mommy! You watch me!" She may change her mindset when the time comes but, for now, she seems to be okay with the fact I'd have to watch from the lobby and not be in the class with her. We don't want her to have so many activities she doesn't have time to just be a kid but we'd like to expose her to activities and give her a chance to socialize outside of her comfort zone of home. Decisions, decisions.

The Rings. A perpetual favorite!

Ta-Da!

So, life here continues its usual amount of crazy. We had one of The Little Miss' older cousins out for two weeks and soon, Grandma will be out for a few weeks. In between our travels and company we had landscapers performing a total make-over of the backyard. We now have GRASS! A complete novelty here in the desert and something we're really enjoying. I make no guarantees with the blog. I'm currently trying to focus on quality time with The Little Miss than just quantity of time. I admit to work preoccupying my time and, in turn, I'm distracted by email or the latest assignment that needs to be finished. In doing so I may be with The Little Miss physically, but I'm not fully being with her.