B: Three is the new tantrum

I finally did it...I accepted that the era of the blog boom is mostly dead...likely replaced by this facebook thing people keep talking about, so I finally went through and cleaned out my list of favorites. I always find dead blogs kind of sad. I know ours was (or continues to be)!

Anyways, I did it. No more will I carry around a long list of blogs dead for more than a year.

On another front, why do they always talk about the terrible twos? It must be because it sounds good...it sure as hell doesn't get any better after two! One of the things that I wasn't prepared for was the "silliness". It is like she is holding a contest to see how much time she can possibly waste being silly. I know it sounds wrong, but this is actually waaaaay more frustrating than the tantrums. If she hits her sister, she gets a time-out and tantrum or no, the rule is clear. With the silliness, there is no rule that it shouldn't take 25 minutes to pick out a pair of socks, but that is what happens. You don't want to get mad about a little girl being silly, but it can absolutely test every last ounce of patience you have just trying to get a pair of socks on.

seems logical (if you forget about 6)

So the Little One started asking about some Spanish words the other day. (Yay for Handy Manny!) We were counting to 10 when I realized I couldn't remember what came after cinco, and I paused to think about it... "I don't remember what comes next - do you know?"

The Little One looked up at me and with complete seriousness and said "seven-os"?

halloween

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In mid-October I decided that I needed to sew a costume for the Little One for Halloween. She had received some sparkly red Mary Janes for her birthday a couple weeks earlier, so Dorothy (of Wizard of Oz fame) seemed like the logical choice. And with my newfound sewing skills, I could totally whip up a little blue checkered apron dress in no time, right? Right.

HA! The problem with being a new sewer is that I’m pretty fearless. And even with gathering and rick-rack and collars and cuffs and bias and zippers I was pretty sure that the cuteness of it all would make up for it. And really, it couldn’t take that long, because it’s so small, right? Right.

Turned out to be a LOT more work than I expected. Many a nights were spent up late cutting and pressing and sewing and cursing. But in the end, it was totally all worth it. Learned a lot and it turned out ridiculously cute. And she even wore the shoes. (For a few minutes.) But the next two-year-old costume I make will be a ghost.

I think she liked it too.

trente

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I spent the last two nights of my 20s playing with dollhouses and going to bed by 9:30pm. Sigh.

In other news, the little one's birthday picnic was a resounding success. There were 4 two-year-old girls there, all eating cupcakes and playing on the slides and falling off the picnic tables. Ahhh, good times. We didn't even get any major breakdowns until around 12:30, when the simultaneous sugar crashes started.

I was a little concerned, as on her birthday we gave her a little slice of cake and ice cream, and she ate it so dainty-like with a fork and thought it was so delicious that it all actually got in her mouth, rather than all over her face. Where's the fun in that? Luckliy she got in the spirit during the picnic and once she saw the other girls digging into the cupcakes with their hands, she was alll over it. Or more appropriately, it was all over her... Cupcake photos will follow shortly.

deux

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Two! Our little one is two! Today! Holy crap! Just two years ago she was just a sleeping and eating baby "lump" and now she's all over the place. It's really amazing to watch her grow into a little person.

Happy Birthday Little One! We love you!!!

just call me martha

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I've been bit. And not by our new friend from last week (I think she may have moved). No, I've been bit by this: It's the Husqvarna Viking 730 (sounds powerful, eh?), more sewing machine than I'll ever need. It was mom's, and since dad never used it, and my sister can't even sew on a button, it was handed down to me. The last time I used a sewing machine I think I was 7 and my grandma helped me make a little stuffed toy. I'd been wanting to figure out the whole sewing thing but never really got around to it. Until now. I couldn't really let this beautiful piece of machinery go to waste, could I? So a couple weeks ago I started. And a couple days later (with a little help from Vogue Sewing and plenty of cursing), out came this:

Cute, no? Hard to belive I actually pulled it off, especially considering that up until a few weeks ago I didn't even know what a flounce was... But now, check out my flounce!
I just love the cute red stitching, if I do say so myself. It's a little big yet for the little one, but we put it on her for a birthday party and it was a hit. Couldn't really get a picture of her in it though, as most of the pictures of her these days tend to look like this:

Ah well. Such is the life of a 22-month old.

up up and away

My flight leaves in 30 minutes and I'm sitting at the airport already missing them. Already wondering if she misses me (or if she even notices I'm gone), and hoping that B won't lose it while I'm gone. 3 days seemed like a lot less before the little one came along...

Well there's no turning back now. Good luck!

Babies, chum!

"Everybody was a baby once, Arthur. Oh, sure, maybe not today, or even yesterday. But once. Babies, chum: tiny, dimpled, fleshy mirrors of our us-ness, that we parents hurl into the future, like leathery footballs of hope. And you've got to get a good spiral on that baby, or evil will make an interception. "

The little one is picking up words like crazy - a new one pops up every couple days. Yesterday she started saying "dude." I think that one is going on the calendar.

She's also climbing like crazy, and she's got mad skills and is completely fearless. Today she made it up and into her highchair while I blinked. We need to somehow harness that energy... (HA! harness... I crack me up.)

In other news, it's really nice to have the animals back. I really didn't miss the constant shedding, but they're turing out to be worth it. The little one loves them more then they'd prefer, and much of our day now consists of looking for doggie and kitty.

she loves lasagna

I think my daughter is has little bit of OCD. Sometimes at dinner she has to take everything out of her plate and then put it back in - like five times - before she eats it.

And her favorite new word today - money. Oh dear.

In other news, if any of you are in the greater Puget Sound area, go check out the best new bike shop in the Pacific Northwest!!! uBDRO Cycle and Mountain Supply. Go! Now! And tell all your friends. And give the owners big giant hugs for me.