done.
After a fun and yummy soup party at the Raths, we went to Nana & Grampa's for trick-or-treats. She went up and down and up the block and then told us she thought we should go back to Nana's. I'm appreciating that she knows her limits and isn't completely driven by the candy monster. I'm also enjoying that she is happy to share her loot. (whether she knows she's doing it or not).
We decided to get the most we could out of this weekend Halloween and headed out to the MN Zoo for their Halloween goings on.
When we got there, Relia didn't want to put on her costume "Because it isn't Halloween." How could we argue with that logic? I sent FP & Relia on ahead while I strollered Felix, thinking she might see the other kids in their costumes and change her mind. Sure enough she did. We had the two cutest elephants in the entire zoo.
Ever see and elephant chasing a tiger?
Once we got to the playground, Relia took her part seriously (and made it easy for me to keep track of her). She made a loud elephant noise every 30 seconds or so.
Stop me if you've heard this one. An elephant, a princess and a kangaroo are all in a rowboat...
An elephant's faithful 100%
Preschool friends have brought us the joy of:
Relia: mom, smell my foot!
Me, cautiously obliging: mmm, smells pretty good
Relia: Trick or treat!
I'm trying to convince her that adding the "smell my feet" line won't get her candy.
Grumpy little witch
The results:
Relia told me she wanted her pumpkin to have square eyes and a big smile like hers
No visual yet, but I can feel that first jaggedy sharp tooth is poking its way through on the bottom. No wonder all he wanted to do last week was snuggle all night.
Before I made the big discovery, I tried feeding Felix a little cereal.
Let's just say both my kids are not big fns of rice cereal.
Hoooooraaaay!
The one thing I cling to when I am sick, is how good it will feel to be healthy again
All four of my MEA weekend days spent sick. Not fair (oh my hairbrush)
But my family is back and we've had a pretty nice weekend overall.
I became overwhelmed by the project I need to do, so, with Relia's help, I tackled a project I wanted to do- Making some space for Felix in the playroom (Relia's office). I took down the tent -Relia told me I'd have to do that because she didn't know how -and set up the futon mattress as a comfy pre-mobile baby play area.
Then we tried on glasses
and here's one more photo of my happy baby
Last year, my employer decided that because a contract hadn't been negotiated, they didn't have to continue with our old one, as they have done in the past when negotiations went long past the deadline (Contract expired July 2009)
Or at least, they could pick & choose what they did want to honor (everything except paying us) -we weren't provided that luxury. Yesterday an arbitrator said "no way" to that policy, and that they needed to give us our "steps & lanes" for last year and this year. Even more importantly, they should have paid us what we were promised for the work we did under our pay for performance plan in 2009.
I'm not sure if this means they WILL pay us, or if it's just a moral victory... but at least someone has officially said their cost saving ideas are not cool.
I dropped FP & Relia and PopPop off at the airport Moday afternoon. I wanted to park instead of just dropping them off, because I didn't want to have to rush to say goodbye to Relia. I have never been away from her for this long. They got checked in, we hugged and kissed and Felix and I walked to our car.
Then, I had no idea what to do. I went home, but felt like I didn't know what to do with just me and my baby. So we just hung around. I did a little picking up, but Felix didn't want to let me put him down.
After a nap, and a little bit of food for both of us, we started to figure out what to do with each other. Sitting up on the floor...reaching for toys...falling on our faces...laying on our backs babbling. It's been fun.
But I'm still fighting my cold and it makes this time not as much fun or productive as I'd hoped. Looking forward to taking it easy tomorrow.
Copy And Steal Everything
I was Googling for the right way to check a car seat at the airport and came across this "Traveling Toddler Car Seat Travel Accessory". On Saturday afternoon, it was too late to order for the trip, even with my Amazon Prime membership. But that turned out to be a blessing...
I took a trip to the fabric store, spent $5 on nylon webbing and D-rings, borrowed my mom's sewing machine (mine doesn't do heavy fabrics well), and whipped up this:
Voila! car seat/stroller/luggage all in one. I wheeled her a time or two around the house, so it seems to work. What will they think of (that I can steal) next?
I remember going here when I was probably 10 or 11, and it was pretty cool then, but WOW it is a whole different place now! I don't think the pictures do it justice. It is a crazy maze of cargo nets and slides. You could lose a kid for a week in here. (and it is only a mile from Grandma D's house)
Fortunately, the grownups can go in and tail their kids -as long as there is a one to one kid/adult ratio. If not, say good bye and make sure you have a chain of shackles, so when it's time to go you can round them up.
Over the course of half an hour, she went from "Mom! I don't know how to get down" to being 2 stories above me in a matter of seconds.
FP and I tag teamed it. I've always said that if I played the way she did, I too would be skinny, full of energy, and constantly demanding snacks. A few days a week here and I'd be there. We spent about two hours climbing and sliding and then Relia was reluctantly ready to go.
Relia and I are sporting new 'dos
It seems all of the downstairs mirrors are in rough shape.
Relia got her hands on the tape dispenser I left out after wrapping Nana's birthday present, and used it to build a boat. I'm kinda impressed with her ingenuity and taping skills.
Loading the marbles
They held a flu shot clinic at my school this afternoon, so I took Relia. It was a little chaotic there, and luckily, I could just take her to my office to play with math manipulatives while I filled out the paperwork. Then we waited in line for about 20 minutes for our shots. Well, Relia was under the impression that we were waiting for MY shot, but I figure, why stress her out.
I haven't felt nervous about a shot in a long time, but all the other times, I've waited in a waiting room for my turn to go. This was in one of the school lunchrooms and we got to watch all of the screaming children as they sat at lunch tables and got their shots. Relia was curious but not really concerned about the distressed children. She was busy being obsessed with getting up on the stage at the front of the room. But the whole situation stressed me out.
When it was our turn, Relia watched me get my shot. As the nurse put the needle in, Relia made a big worried face and started shaking a little. I told her it didn't even hurt, and that it was her turn now. She fought a little, but it was over quickly. Then she got to get up on the stage and have a granola bar. She was protective of her arm until the band-aid came of in the bathtub. Then she announced that the water had made it all better!
When photos get taken on our point & shoot camera, it takes a long time for them to come off:
Sept 2
single rainbow.
all the way.
so intense.
Things I want to accomplish in the next 3 years.
things I want to
1. Replace bathroom floor
2. Replace kitchen counters
3. Paint the piano
4. Paint the kids' chairs
5. Paint kitchen table
6. Finish upstairs hall painting
7. Finish upstairs trim
8. Reside garage
9. Put up clothesline pole
10. Learn to use make up
11. Learn to straighten my hair
12. Sell shelf
13. Sell sewing machine
14. Sell camera
15. Clean out computer
16. Get rid of old computer
17. Hang frames in Foyer
18. Permanently evict squirrels
19. Fix clapboard siding on East side
20. Applique on t shirts
21. Make a hooked rug
22. Make a podcast for work
23. Scrape & paint pealing on the outside
24. Get savings beyond basic goal
25. Plan (& take) a week+ VACATION
26. Get baby #3
27. Go back to the classroom
28. Get & maintain a professional wardrobe
29. Get the ducts cleaned
30. Try a new restaurant once a month
31. Finish Tech license
32. Join MCTM/NCTM
33. Get new editing software
34. Finish/redo bathroom baseboards
35. Get Relia in a movement class
36. Find Relia's Kindergarten
37. Divide master bedroom
38. Install basement bathroom/improve laundry area
39. Put in a rain garden
40. Fix front chain link fence
41. Get repeater for credenza
42. Find diningroom table
43. Go to the library at least once a month
44. Get a garden in the backyard
45. find plants to graffittiproof the garage
46. Fix light in basement
47. Fix lights in bathroom
48. Install fan in bath
49. Fix ducts in 3rd floor cavity
50. Insulate 3rd floor cavity
Put bathroom in the basement
Replace upstairs bathroom floor
Change garage doors to make both stalls usable
Clean out basement
Pare down furniture
Make faux top for piano
Paint piano
Use the library every 2 weeks
Make laundry area usable
make holding area for basement stairs
Make shelves for basement
Read "What's Math Got to Do With it?"
Lose 30 lbs (10 lbs down by counting calories & BFing so far)
I have a cold. I knew it was only a matter of time, since everyone at work is sick and one can only sanitize so many times in a day.
Relia had her first week of preschool this week (well, 3 days)and she seems to like it. She is going to the same daycare, so it wasn't a huge deal to start back up again, but I'm already hearing new songs -The ones I can never remember when the moment is right to try a new song- The Farmer in the Dell, Head, Shoulders, Knees & Toes, etc.
I was impressed that FP knew you were supposed to take a photo on the first day of Preschool:
This is her "preschool dress" how it got that label, I can't recall, but darn if she wasn't going to wear it to preschool.
Watching some of Relia's old videos, we realized that by Felix's age, we had Relia sitting up for short periods. Hmmm. I am less anxious to hit milestones this time around, but I can't keep him a baby forever (can I?)
So we tried it today, and it went over quite well.
Yesterday we decided to hit the MN Zoo before the snow flies next week. They were having their harvest festival out at the farm area.
Guess how long they have had a farm at the zoo? Hormel wanted to celebrate.
We thought maybe Donna would like some SPAM planters for her porch next spring:
Felix is 5 months old- where does the time go? He is interacting with us all the time. Prefers to be held if there is someone available, but will play in his exersaucer, or the jumper for quite a while. He reaches for and manipulates objects. He tries to get his rasser in his mouth, but can't quite do it. (edit: About an hour after this post, he managed to find a rasser and get it in his mouth. I guess he just needed to know what the goal was) Loves stand and bounce. Watches his sister all the the time. I don't think he babbles as much as Relia did, but he loves to be talked to. He watches intently when we eat and sucks on his lips. Cereal may not be far off for this guy. Oh, and according to our scale, he is 19.5 lbs! Only 2 and half more pounds and we'll have to figure out a new car seat situation!
This mornings' photo shoot involved a bunch of coaxed smiles, but was a lot of fun.
Felix is determined to become a master croco-flutist by the age of one.
