Bedtime Excuses!

Do you remember those days, long ago, when you came up with every excuse in the book in hopes that your parents would delay bedtime an extra five minutes? I thought those days were a long way off, but since Charlotte speaks more words than your average 16 month old (I tried counting a few weeks ago and hit 50 words before I quit, and she learns new ones almost daily), I should have known easy bedtimes would draw to a close sooner rather than later.

Last night, after going through the normal routine peacefully, I cut off the light to rock her for a moment before laying her down, and Charlotte started to whine, crying for another book, then for mewk (milk), then for MOOgee (movie) then for Kik-kie/KK (Aunt Christy, who was over), and finally, for DadDEE (Daddy). Each time I said, "No, sweetheart, it is bedtime," her protest cries grew more insistent. Finally, I handed her off for Fred to put down and she cried herself to sleep.

I hate resorting to tears when she normally goes to bed effortlessly (or with a little extra snuggle) and hope this pattern doesn't continue. We're all sick here (yes AGAIN!), and she hasn't been napping more than an hour a day, so I'm fairly certain she's just overtired and can't handle bedtime. If she doesn't nap well today, I'm pulling for an earlier bedtime tonight.

But really, how can you be upset with this face?

Christmas

Santa Comes Early!

Santa called us up and told us that he's going to be so busy over the next few days, and since we aren't going to be at our house Christmas morning, he wanted to set up Charlotte's gift as soon as possible.

Charlotte likes to lift the blinds (if they are closed) and look out the back window. Now, a run to the back door and pleading "ow-tees" and "pweases" follow every peak into the back yard. Easy enough if we are up and going for the day, but not so good when Charlotte just finished breakfast in her PJs.

BUT, she LOVES her playset, so we are thrilled. I only wish we had room to install it inside. I always wondered about people who turned their entire dining room into a playroom, but now I understand. Unfortunately, we have no dining room in our 1241 sqft house :-P. Maybe by the end of next year.

Here are some photos for your enjoyment!

Climbing Up!

Down the slide!

Through the tunnel.

Oh, this is easy!

Notice all the leaves! A little more than a week ago I pulled a GREEN leaf off of one of the trees to color over on paper. Last week they all turned bright yellow, and with the windy cold front that came through this weekend, the same tree now stands naked! See, we do get FALL colors here, just in time for Christmas :-). Charlotte and Daddy had a blast raking piles and then breaking them apart. Good times. I'm not sure if I'll have time to post again before Christmas, so Merry Christmas to all!

Christmas

Getting started with my Christmas shopping two weeks into December has really taken a toll on my efficiency; I have had to hit at least 2-3 stores to find every item (so far) on my list this year! I can't say what I drove around town looking for, but rest assured, it's not on any "hot" Christmas gift lists. Spending all of my shopping time in a car made it hard to get into good swing of things this year.

But, something happened today that made me SO EXCITED about Christmas; I found the outdoor play set that I want to buy Charlotte. With all of the things that kept us from starting Christmas planning with everyone else the day after Thanksgiving, I am lucky that I found it at all! I had visions of me, driving around town like a mad woman, looking for this 8-in-1 climber. Just on a whim, I checked Craigslist (I know, USED presents are a no-no, but does that really apply to piece of play equipment?), as I have occasionally for the last few weeks, looking for a good deal. Generally, I see an ad for something (but NEVER this climber) I want that was placed the day before, and an email to the seller generates no response. Imagine my surprise when today, I saw this climber posted only 15 minutes before I checked the page. When the woman called me back half an hour later, she mentioned that I had responded first, so I get first dibs. I feel like such a winner! Now I get the backyard toy I want at a price I love without the extra hassels!

Finding something that I know Charlotte will love really put me into the Christmas spirit. I feel like I get to relive the youthful excitement surrounding Christmas all over again as I watch through her eyes.

Warm Fuzzies

So yesterday, walking through the hall at work, a woman that I don't see very often (she's generally not around the Houston office) told me she had a story to tell me. As we were headed in opposite directions, she promises to catch me a little later. In my head I'm thinking about the last project I worked on with her and what may have happened that she needed to tell me about.

About an hour later she finds me in my cubicle and proceeds to tell me this story, not realizing I'd not only heard it already from a different perspective as well as partially witnessed it.

This is what happened a few weeks ago:

Charlotte comes with me to work more often than not, although I leave her with Beta if I intend to be in the office for more than an hour or so (usually once a week or so). A few weeks ago I had to take her up there with me for a little while to look over some proofs with my manager. Some of the other ladies up there will always eagerly play with her for a few minutes, so they were keeping her amply entertained just outside the door. I hear another woman walk over and hear her say, "Who's little girl is this? She's precious." They respond, "This is Elizabeth's little girl."

Later, one of the ladies tells me that a woman they didn't know walked past where they were playing and Charlotte took off chasing her down the hall. When the lady heard Charlotte racing up behind her, she turned around and squatted down as Charlotte ran into her arms and gave her a big hug. My coworker seemed surprised that Charlotte would give such a big hug to someone she didn't know.

Jump forward to yesterday, and the coworker who flagged me down recounted the same event. My career-driven coworker's version, however, included her amazement and awe at little Charlotte's big loving hug. She marveled at how amazing it must be to have that to come home to. She told me how she'd never wanted children before, but after that day with Charlotte, she has realized that she might actually want to have a child of her own.

The story brought tears to my eyes. I don't know if this woman will ever have children, but am non the less amazed at the profound effect my sweet little girl unknowingly has on those around her.

Zoo!

Today we went to the ZOO! But as we were running behind (grabbing last minute jackets because the weather went from warm to cold in MINUTES!), I did not stop to look for the (little) camera. I wish I'd grabbed the big one anyway, because we had such a good time! We only said hello to a few of the big cats before retreating to the tropical bird house and the aquarium/small mammal building.

I did grab this camera-phone photo of Charlotte running through the tunnel through one of the fish exhibits. She is JUST the right height to stand up and walk instead of having to crawl through it.


I think we'll have to remember that those are fun places to visit, even when it seems the weather should keep us from getting out!

Isle of Man

Ok, this is kinda random, but every now and then I visit a map that shows the location of our blog visitors. I have a general idea about most of our visitors - friends, family, friends of friends and family, but more than once I've noticed a visitor from the Isle of Man in the UK. Amazingly enough, my Christian Family roots trace back to the Isle of Man, although be it centuries ago.

Every time I see the marker pop up on my map I think, "Oh look, must be a long lost relative of mine."

So, whoever you are, Hello! from your crazy American cousin. :-)

Snow, In Houston!

Okay, so this pic is from our trip to Colorado Springs in March, but fun all the same, right? We got just enough to lay a white dusting over everything. Unfortunately, my high tech auto focus could not handle the snowflakes! It was really coming down! I got a couple of pics that I'll add later. Also unfortunately, Miss Charlotte managed to spike a fever of 102 again yesterday, so she did not get to play in it.

I hope that everyone who saw the snow enjoyed it!

New Lesson on Poop

While giving your young daughter antibiotics, do NOT let her run around with only a diaper on. That is just begging for a mess to clean up.

Fun times.

Waving to Jesus

So, being the terrible mother I am, I took my poor wheezing kid to Mass yesterday to celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. We slipped into the side chapel (near the cry room) and found a seat on the aisle. Charlotte immediately looked up and pointed at a nearby statue of St. Joseph holding the child Jesus saying, "Jess-us, Jess-us."

I whispered, "yes, that is Baby Jesus."

Then my darling daughter then did the most precious thing ever and waved at the statue. My sweet girl, waving at Baby Jesus. It makes me smile now, just to think of it.

Of course, I could not convince her to keep quiet in a church full of adults on their lunch breaks, so we eventually slipped into the cry room, but it was nice while it lasted, anyway!

Bronchiolitis

So, we have a repeat of the same illness Charlotte endured last fall, Bronchiolitis. At least this time I know better than to go rushing off to the ER.

Miss Monkey began coughing a little at the end of last week, and woke up from her nap on Saturday (yes, JUST before Fred's big 3-0 party) with a fever. Yesterday morning her head felt cool and she appeared to be breathing a little more clearly. Hurray! My enthusiasm was short lived as she woke up from her morning nap coughing (after sleeping for a whole 30 minutes) and wheezing. When her breathing didn't get better, we ran over to see the doctor. Not only does the Bug have Bronchiolitis, she also an ear infection. Fortunately, we still have our nebulizer from last time and did not need to sit around to take care of all of that paperwork. Unfortunately, she doesn't sit still through the 5 minute process as 12 week-old Charlotte did. A "Moo-gee" (movie), however, seems to help keep her still.

Charlotte enduring breathing treatments at 12 weeks old:

On the plus side, Charlotte was good throughout the whole thing and generated comments from the doctor about how smart she is for 15 months (well, duh!). The CVS store manager thought she was cute and gave her a free "Baby Bottle Pop" to suck on while we waited for her meds.

At least I'm back in the blogging world again! I've missed it. I don't know if I can ever get caught up, and hope I haven't lost my faithful readers!

Helping Mommy and Beta

Fred here. Elizabeth, the fantastic wife that I married, has been busy all week preparing for my 30th birthday party. She hasn't had time to blog so she asked me to post some recent pictures of Charlotte. So here they are:

Mommy, are these the calendars you need to mail for work?

Hi Mr. Polar Bear! My, what a big nose you have!

MIA

Yes, I know. I will post again soon.

Hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving!