Wordless Wednesday- Accessorizing

Filed Under Twenty-One Months, Wordless Wednesday | 5 Comments

She chose her own style today.

Happy Timey-nine!

Filed Under Holidays, Twenty-One Months | 3 Comments

Some things I want to remember…

-Bailey says “Timey-nine” instead of Valentine.
-She loves Barney, Baby Bop, and “B.G”
-Her favorite food is a Big Bird Bar (Earth’s Best Organic Fruit Bars) but she slurs it together and calls it a “Bee Barn” now.
-She loves to remind people about their manners. She says “Please… Nice… Manners!”
Her favorite phrase is “Look at that” said in a really high pitched voice

And just for fun, some pictures from a Valentine party earlier this week:

Bailey gave out Dora and Diego valentines with lollipops this year. She loves lollipops only pronounces it like “le-poop!”

Transportation Museum

Filed Under Outings, Twenty-One Months | 2 Comments

We went to the local transportation museum last week with some friends. Honest review? Meh. I think it would have been really fun if we could play outside and explore, but there was still snow on the ground. We went to the Creation Station playtime. It was exactly that- playtime. Which is fine, I am not one of those moms who wants my kid in classes CLASSES CLASSES all the time. But- at $7.50 per person, I expect more than free play in a room with toys.

We were lucky- we got free admission because our friend Eileen had passes. Normally, it is $6 per person to get into the museum, then the Creation Station is an extra $1.50 per child. So it can be a pricey event. What we got out of it was fine for being free, but I don’t think that I would pay to do it. Unless I was really bored and desperate. We just live in a place with so many great options for kids, though. Despite the fact that I wasn’t thrilled with the whole thing, I really did have a good time visiting with my friends. When Bailey wasn’t whining about snacks. I got some cute pictures from the morning. She is becoming obsessed with accessories, hence the firefighter hat. She wouldn’t take it off.

She is such a junkie for accessories- she likes hats, glasses, jewelry, next thing i know she is going to be asking for Orient watches.

Animal ABC’s and other brain things

Filed Under Learning, Talking, Twenty-One Months | 2 Comments

On Tuesday, I got Bailey this Barney Animal ABC’s video from the library. On Wednesday, I caught her saying, “A B C D F G H I Six, six, six, A B six…” She can say bits and pieces of the rest of the alphabet too. She skips “E” every time, and she just likes to interject “Six” whenever possible.

She also counts, “One, two, three, six, six, six” or “Seven, eight, nine, six.” Apparently she doesn’t know what comes between three and seven because she always skips that part or just starts at seven. She can also count up to three objects (like if you ask her how many bears are on a page of her book) by pointing to them and counting.

She knows the letter B and can tell you what letter it is, or point to it in a group of letters. However, she will tell you that it is the “Barney letter” and not that it’s for Bailey. Most of these things, she has honestly learned from those stupid Barney videos that she loves. I mean, I kind of work on the stuff with her if it comes up while we are playing. But she just really picks up things after seeing them once or twice on video. We are trying to be really careful what she sees because of how fast she catches on and remembers!

She knows lots of different animals now- more uncommon ones like flamingo, koala, seal, zebra, dolphin, hippo, owl and she enjoys learning what sound they make. Her pig noise is pretty darn funny.

She makes up her own words. Like the other day, I was getting her undressed for her bath. I asked her what we were doing. I expected her to say something like “bath” or “off clothes” but she said “Naking!” I was like, what??? She said, “Naking! Naked Beelay!” So I guess she just verbed naked. At the park today, she picked up a stick and started scratching it against the landscaping rocks. She said, “Drawring. PREtend.” I love to see her figure out more ways to communicate as her language skills grow.

Oh and one more thing, she knows ALL her colors now. I have finally determined through a few different games and tricks that she really does know them. She can name or point to red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, white, and black.

If you are wondering where I am…

Filed Under Avon, Twenty-One Months, eBay | Leave a Comment

I am in eBay hell. Why did I decide to have two hundred listings at one time? Bad move on my part. So most of my free time is spent printing shipping labels lately.

Also I had an Avon meeting on Wednesday night for people who are Unit Leaders. They have some really good promotions going on right now for recruiting new Avon reps. If you (or someone you know) could use a few hundred dollars a month, talk to me. It is only $10 for your startup kit, and you are not required to keep an inventory. There aren’t even minimum order sizes that you have to turn in! So it is the perfect thing to do for extra money because you can work on it as much or as little as you want.

And I could never end a post without a picture or two. This is Bailey on her new jungle gym, a.k.a. our kitchen table. I don’t know why the picture is blurry… I am still figuring out my camera settings so we’ll just blame it on that.

Here she was tilting her bread and pretending it was a slide for the peas. They said, “Wheeeee!” as they went down the slide. I love to see her becoming more creative and doing more pretending. It was pretty amusing to watch but once I got the video camera out, she stopped, of course.

Loungin’

Filed Under Friends, Frugal, Playdates, Shopping, Twenty-One Months | 5 Comments

My child is absolutely gorgeous, no matter what she is doing. Yes, I am her mother, and I am allowed to say that. But it leads me to think I need pictures of everything she does. Including when she is just lounging on the couch. But she has such kissy cheeks. And those Abby Cadabby ponytail sprouts? They rock my world.

And as far as what I have been doing… I have had a productive weekend/beginning of the week. I got to spend some good quality time with my friend Faith on Friday night. On Saturday I worked on my eBay listings (I am selling a bunch of stuff for my friend Jen and also trying to clear out some space in my office). We worked on straightening up the house. And the really cool, rock your socks off thing that I did: I FILED OUR TAXES. Yup, they are done. And have also been approved already. Thank you for giving us all our money back, IR$. I wish you hadn’t borrowed it to begin with.

Saturday night, Jonathon and I went out to dinner and to see a play. So unlike us, right? But it was fun for something different. It was really just good to do anything alone with him. Since my mom has had pneumonia the free babysitting thing has become nonexistent. She was finally feeling well enough to watch her for an evening. We picked Bailey up at about 11 and brought her back home to our house, where she fell right back asleep. She’s good like that.

On Sunday night, I did grocery shopping. I printed a list from allrecipes.com (if you know me IRL you have heard me obsessing over that site). I chose five recipes I am going to make and you can just check them, and it forms a grocery list. Then I added other things we need. I got two weeks worth of grocery shopping done and I was three dollars UNDER budget! Now the only thing I can buy for two weeks is produce, so let’s hope nothing comes up. I am working hard at budgeting, though. I am ridiculous with groceries because I am a horrible, wandering shopper. I create meals as I shop, I forget things, etc etc. That is something I really want to improve now that I am cooking more.

We had a playdate at our house today. Kaitlynn and Ella came over. Bailey was so excited, she was talking about it all morning before they got here! I made brownies for the occasion and we all ate lunch together. It was nice getting to talk to the moms and just hang out. Bailey and Kaitlynn had about 8,000 scuffles over toys. I can tell they are getting closer to 2. But it was a good morning. I got a few cute pictures of Bailey but unfortunately none with her friends. I was playing with the settings on my new camera too much.

Snow Day

Filed Under Daddy, Firsts, Twenty-One Months | 3 Comments

Sunday was Bailey’s first chance to play in the snow. Well, last year Jonathon sat her outside in the snow in a pair of cotton pants and she (understandably) was pretty ticked off. Then she played with a snowball but she was mad because it was so cold. Remember this?

So Sunday, we just had a little bit of snow. It hadn’t gotten bad out yet, and Jonathon asked Bailey if she wanted to play in the snow. Well, I caught him about to take her outside in fleece pajamas and a pair of crocs. He’s a good dad, but you know how dads just don’t think like moms? Perfect example. So I got her a little more bundled- fleece pants with Babylegs underneath because we don’t have a snow suit. Two shirts, coat, hat, mittens. Shoes that actually cover her feet. Then we went outside.

Jonathon was up on the deck trying to add water or chemicals to the hot tub.

Come on, daddy! Come play with me! (She says, “Come on, pease! Wahr you, daddy?”)

Bailey and Daddy had fun playing in the snow. Which really was just a lot of running around…

And falling down…

We had lots of fun in the snow. We only stayed outside for about ten minutes because I didn’t want her to start coughing again. She also went outside for a few minutes on Monday. Today, she has not been out. I think the snow is too deep for her to actually have fun in. She would have trouble walking, and it takes so long to get all bundled up for just two minutes outside.

I hate snow, I really do

Filed Under Play, Sick, Sleep, Twenty-One Months | 1 Comment

Seriously, I hate being stuck at home because of snow. But I also hate driving in snow/ice. I don’t know which is worse. So I am sitting here being grouchy about it. Jonathon is going to be home from work tomorrow so at least I will have company. I need to sit and list some things on eBay too so hopefully he will give me some free time.

In the meantime, I will share some pictures of my child. She’s currently obsessed with playing in the bathroom. I wish she would use that obsession to learn how to go potty, but that’s not the case. Just playing, playing, playing.

Oh and a little follow up on B’s cough- it got really bad on Saturday night and I brought her in to sleep with us. She was coughing in her sleep but it was keeping me awake, so I thought it might help if she could sleep with her head propped up against me. She did much better and it was kind of nice and snuggly to have her in bed with us. She even put her arm around my neck for a while. Apparently she also kicked Jonathon a lot because somehow she ended up with her feet by his face. I asked if we could have her sleep with us again the next night. He said that she could sleep in bed with me but that he would sleep downstairs. So, she is back in her own bed. We didn’t go to church on Sunday morning. I was so worn out from a long day Saturday and then being up off and on with her during the night.

My friend Jen (who is a chiropractor) adjusted us both on Sunday night. Bailey has coughed ONCE since then. Could it be possible that getting adjusted is like the new miracle drug? We have been Benadryl free, coughing free since then.

Crummy Day

Filed Under Complaining, Twenty-One Months | 3 Comments

Today has been a bummer. I spent this morning working at church (okay, I got to enjoy the company of my friend Casey, but still not a thrilling Saturday morning). I left early for a dentist appt, only to find out the dentist DOESN”T TAKE MY INSURANCE despite the fact that they are listed on my insurance website and assured me they did when I made the appointment. So now I have to find another new dentist and wait a month or two to get worked in. It’s just for a cleaning, but still. Oh and did I mention one of our cars needs to be fixed? We think it’s just the radiator hose leaking but we need to get it into the shop. Nobody would look at it today because it’s a Saturday. AND I wanted to take Bailey to see Elmo Live today but didn’t because I had already committed to those other things. So I have been bumming about that. I wish I had just taken her.

Also she might lose a lung at any moment the way she is coughing. Minimal clear snot, no other symptoms. Completely dry cough. I am chalking it up to allergies again because of the recent warmer weather. But we will see, if it gets worse it’s back to the doctor’s office to spend another copay being told she’s JUST FINE. And I am tired. She coughs all night in her sleep. She sleeps, I don’t. But I just rocked her to sleep for nap. She was so tired that she actually let me. It was awesome.

Magic House Expansion

Filed Under Outings, St. Louis, Twenty-One Months | 3 Comments

On Wednesday, we went to the Magic House with some friends. They have recently expanded and it is over twice the size now. It’s amazing and we could spend days there without doing everything. Well, if we move at Bailey’s speed, that is.

These first shots are in the Little Bit of Magic area where we have always played before.

These next few are from the “Once Upon a Time” area. It’s a new area based on fairytales. There are about fifteen different stories represented and each story had its own play area. I should have just walked around and taken pictures!

This is at the Beauty and the Beast story. There was also a big dining table with lots of pretend food and platters and stuff to play with.

This was some story about a fruit or a worm… I forget what but it wasn’t familiar. Bailey liked the tunnel.

The pumpkin from Cinderella

We got to see a little bit more of the new stuff but Bailey was having kind of a crabby day so we headed home. Where she continued to be crabby. Today was better, with the exception of the hour after her nap when she cried almost constantly.

21-Month-isms

Filed Under Talking, Twenty-One Months | 4 Comments

While I am thinking of it, a few recent things:

-Bailey loves to wander around the house yelling, “Daaaaaaaddy! Wahr You?” (Where are you?”) I think she hears me say that a lot when he is pretending he can’t hear me. When she finds him she says, “There you-wah!” or “Hee you-wah!”

-Still no luck with the potty but she now tells me that the potty is for poop and the Ernie poops in his diaper.

-She still does not dress or undress herself. Honestly, I am NOT encouraging it at all. We don’t practice. I don’t want to deal with a kid who takes her clothes off every day at nap time. Alison used to do that and it was annoying.

-Yesterday she squeezed my b00b and said, “Babies drink.”

-Bailey loves to sleep with blankets and lovies. She kind of likes one particular lovey, Pinky. However she’ll really just take whoever happens to be there at the moment. She’s not very loyal, I guess. She also likes to pull her blanket over her head to go to sleep. I have to check on her and move it after she falls asleep.

-Several times now, Bailey has tooted and then said, “Burp!” I guess she thinks her bottom is burping

-She loves to try on my jewelry and say that she’s beautiful. She also loves to try and put on my makeup. I found her the other day with a giant clown mouth of lipstick again. I put eyeshadow and powder on her when she wants to. And we go in public like that. I don’t care.

-Her favorite food is a “Big Bird Barn” (she means BAR, not barn) which is an Earth’s Best nutri-grain type bar with Big Bird on the wrapper. She will ask for them ten times a day. We have told her it’s a special treat.

-She loves going to class. Early childhood class, class at church, anything. She talks about her friends and singing songs. Today she got moved up to the 2-year-old class for Tuesday mornings at church. She had fun and got to go for a walk holding onto the rope. I hope she doesn’t drive her teachers nuts since she is the youngest in the class.

-She eats one food at a time, just like me. I swear I did not teach her that.

-Her favorite song is Jingle Bells. It took us a while to figure out why she kept saying “Jingle Bangle.” She likes us to sing to her and she tries to join in. She also does motions to some songs like Wheels on the Bus and Father Abraham.

-Bailey likes to put trash in the trashcan. I kind of have a personal assistant when I am trying to get stuff cleaned up in my office. She also loves to throw away her diaper in the morning (she wears a disposable at night).

-She feeds her baby doll soup with a play fork. Yum. She loves that doll but refuses to rock it. Must stem from her long-standing hatred of rocking. She didn’t like it after about two months old.

-She loves to check the mail with me. She asks, “Mails?” and then I give her junk mail to open and tell her it’s a letter for her.