Toddler to Pre-K

Dear Friends and Family,

An interesting thing happened while we were on vacation.

P went from toddler to pre-K. I know she's only two and a half, but in the span of a week the talking exploded, she figured out shoes, she leaned out, she told us she was hungry and thirsty, and just so many other things.

When I look at her pictures from a year ago, I see a toddler. When I look at her pictures from the trip, I see a pre-K kid. We're done with the baby years and now I have a sneaking suspicion we're done with the toddler years as well.

What's it like traveling with a two year old? Well, it went remarkably well. The trick, I think, is avoiding the red eyes. They don't sleep well, you don't sleep at all, and everyone's off schedule for a day trying to adjust.

Instead, we took a day flight to Europe that left mid-morning and landed mid-evening. I know, that means we lose a day in transit, but think about it this way...

Everyone gets up and does last minute trip prep. You go to the airport and get on a plane. You spend a long time on the plane. You get your bags, you go to the hotel, you check in, you eat dinner, you go to sleep. Doesn't sound bad, does it?

In comparison. Everyone gets up, spends a full day doing their day routine. You go to the airport and get on a plane. You eat a late dinner. You spend a long time on the plane when everyone should be sleeping, but no one is really sleeping. You get your bags, you go to the hotel, you check in, you should leave for the day because it's morning in Europe, but instead you go to sleep (effectively losing the day you gained by going on the night flight) and when you wake up, you're officially jet lagged because you're still on home time, not on local time.

See my point?

It was never an issue for Mr. mouse and me. We don't get jet lag. But, we didn't want to make that assumption for P. She was off one night (the second night of our trip) when we put her in a pack and play, she woke in the middle of the night and needed care before falling back asleep.

On the way back, we did the same thing almost. We got on a plane mid-morning. We came home. We stayed outside the whole day to avoid falling asleep. We went to sleep earlier than normal, but within the bounds of reasonable. And, we've been on local time since.


Cheers!
mouse

10.05.11: Apple Picking

Dear Friends and Family,

We had a most wonderful weekend.

Saturday was the usual routine. I took P to the bakery and then to breakfast and then to a local grocery store then to the library and then home. I think she enjoys the Saturday morning routine - going out with me every other week while Mr. mouse spends time getting the house cleaned.

Sunday, we finally got out of the house by lunch time and headed out to the apple orchards. P had a great time. We weren't sure how she'd do with it because she doesn't like new experiences. But, she loved the wagon ride, she fed apples to her friend Monkey, she tried to pick up every apple off the ground to take home, she ran, she laughed, she smiled for the camera, she fed me apples, she picked apples off of the trees, she went on the wagon a second time, she ran among the pumpkins. It was a most wonderful trip. I love when P spills over with unbridled happiness.

And, now, it's Wednesday. If you're wondering what's going on and why I've been sporadic, it's because I'm working on a Rubik's cube.

I want to sleep. I want to leave on time. I need to weigh my fruit and measure my milk. And, I've got a bunch of things on my mind - a college recommendation I'm writing, my business plan, a business I'm thinking about investing in, a trip we're taking this month, a trip we're taking next month, and Halloween. Yes, my one brain cell is building up a queue here.


Cheers!
mouse

Ctrl-Alt-Del, Shut Down

Dear Friends and Family,

P's been on a bender since Saturday and needs a reboot.

Ever since we had haircut, we've been bombarding her with new people and adult activities and modified hours and girlfriend just wants to play a little bit.

Today, I think I'll let P have her equivalent of a perfect evening.

• We'll stay for group time at school
• We'll stop at Panda Restaurant for some noodles and chicken
• We'll have three songs when we get home
• We'll play security and read books with Surprise
• We'll have milk and stories in bouncy chair
• We'll have stories in bed

Hopefully, that'll make up for all of stuff we put her through the past couple of days.


Cheers!
mouse

09.21.11: Weekend?

Dear Friends and Family,

The weekend? It's Wednesday and I'm writing about the weekend? That's not a good sign.

Okay. Weekend.

Highlight of our Saturday? a trip to the bookstore

Sunday? a last minute purchase of School House Rock tickets

The rest of the weekend? Saturday was a typical start with a trip to the bakery, followed by breakfast, a trip to the library and a trip to the park.

Saturday night, we took P to the bookstore and she fell in love with the train set. And, she didn't want to leave. And, she saw another mother cave and spend an additional 30 minutes with her son at the store letting him play with the train.

I wasn't going to set a precedent. I picked her up and gave her a couple of seconds to calm down. Then, I gave her two options. Option A: we can leave now. Option B: we can put down the train, go over to the benches, read some books, see which books we like, and buy the books we like - three books. She thought about it for a moment and picked the latter option. I put her down. She put down the train. We walked away. I was bursting with pride!

Sunday, we went to see School House Rock. P has been watching some of the old videos. She's allowed up to three a day for nine minutes of screen time. Yes, we meter screen time by the minute. She's been learning the preamble, conjunctions, adverbs, nouns and the legislative process - although if you ask her, she'll say preamble, freight train song, lolly, grandma song and Mr. Bill. The show was a huge success. P loved it. She wants to go back, but it was a one-time showing. Sigh.

And, last but not least, a "friend" had a post on Facebook that I read about. Her 18 month son finished his nap, took off his pants, took off his diaper and the proceeded to pee onto the floor. Her thoughts? Time for toilet training. Mine? Definitely time for training - parent training and toddler training come to mind.


Cheers!
mouse

D-O-L-L Spells Doll

Dear Friends and Family,

We have three toy rules in the house...

1. no battery operated toys
2. no licensed characters
3. nothing gender specific

So, you might be wondering why we gave P an early Christmas gift last night, specifically, a battery operated licensed doll - a true triumvirate of breaking all three rules in one fell swoop. It's like salted caramel, fatty, sweet and salty all at once, but that's another blog post altogether.

Well. It came down to this. She likes playing with dolls at school. While we enjoy Lego and other toys at home it seemed silly to deny her any dolls at home just because they're dolls. Back to the first two rules. Yes, it can sing if you put in batteries, which surprisingly we did not. And, yes, it's licensed, but she doesn't know the brand because it's not a US brand. I had to let Dora and Elmo into the house to a degree - they're on her diapers. And, her friends at school taught her Mickey Mouse.

She was giddy when I gave her the doll. She wrapped her in a blanket and played with her all night. She gave her a pretend bath and she took her upstairs to read books. Hopefully, she doesn't play with the doll to the exclusion of all of her other toys. We'll have some plush friends with hurt feelings if she does.

This will stymie any guilt at vetoing any dolls she does get for Christmas. I hate to be that parent, but I almost wish I could put out a list of idea generators for the grandparents. I hate that they spend money on stuff that I then prefer for P not to have. My parents fare better than Mr. mouse's since my sister keeps them in check. I'm staring around the living room to see if I can figure out what they got her, but I'm drawing a blank. Mr. mouse's folks got P a purple dollhouse. Time for that puppy to go back down into the basement, I think. Done.

Oh, and if you're wondering what our deprived child got for non-battery operated, non-licensed, non-gender-specific birthday... well, she got several puzzles, several board games, a large yellow ball, a duck puppet, a zoo set and lots of books. It is possible, it just takes a little more imagination.


Cheers!
mouse

09.12.11: More Time at Home

Dear Friends and Family,

Asked what we did this weekend, and I couldn't remember. It must be the concussion.

Even with my foursquare crutch, I needed help from Mr. mouse. Saturday, we went for bagels in the morning. Then, we took turns showering before heading out for a walk. We took P to the library and then a neighborhood market where she fell in love with the shopping cart and then to the park. We blew bubbles, kicked a ball, and ran in the playground. Then, we came home for lunch and afternoon nap.

Dinner? We tried a new pizza joint and then walked over for ice cream.

Sunday... We took our sweet time getting out of the house. Then, more bagels followed by art fair followed by macaroons at the bakery. P fell asleep at the art fair, so we had the afternoon to clean and then we capped off the evening with a supermarket run.

And, delight of delights, our kitchen island is clear again. Now, to regain the rest of the kitchen... We'll see, my to do list is beginning to grow again. It always seems like I get ahead only to fall behind. One day I will figure this out.

Oh, and football started. So, while I don't watch any games, I do watch my fantasy football stats. Looks like Ravens DST and Drew Brees will pull me through in one piece this week. Unlike other leagues, our league eliminates the lowest team each week. Then, the remaining team pick apart the spoils. It's quite vicious.

And, I have a hypothesis going. There's the theory of outliers and a magical 10,000 hour point beyond which your expertise grows non-linearly. Well, I think it applies to much of child development. And, because P has such a long commute and such helicopter parents and such good teachers at school, I think she's hitting that 10,000 hour point in verbal development and that's why we're seeing such an explosion in her verbal skills.

Well, we all hit that point sometime in our life. With her, by hitting it earlier, it gives her a chance to "move on" to other things. My job? Keeping the white lab coats away and keeping Mr. mouse from filling her head with uselessness.


Cheers!
mouse

Four Day Work Week

Dear Friends and Family,

I like short work weeks. It's already Thursday!

Our toddler is quickly becoming a pre-K. P's feet had a growth spurt. And, she's looking taller as well. A lot of her clothes from last year fit from a width perspective, but some are simply too short. Mr. mouse tried to convince her that one piece was a "cropped hoodie," but she simply said, "I don't like cropped hoodie. P want sweater."

Then there's the more amazing growth spurt. She's beginning to recognize sounds like words that begin with or have the letter S in them. She's got two or three sight words down. And, she can get the concept of reading a sentence, like last night when I wrote P sleeps on cot on Mr. mouse's white board and she pointed to words as she recited the sentence.

She's got a good handle on her puzzle which is marked for ages four plus. And, she's got a good handle on her mix and match cards - you flip 20 cards face down and flip them over two at a time matching them. And, her memory is oddly good. She remembers that our friend has two guitars - a red one and a green one - even if she only saw the guitars for a couple of moments. And, she remembers that Mr. mouse has sushi pieces on a grey cabinet even if it's been over a month since she was there.

Like I keep telling Mr. mouse, my job is to keep the freaks in the white coats away.


Cheers!
mouse

09.06.11: Quiet Weekend

Dear Friends and Family,

Long weekend. No travel. No major plans. Not a bad idea.

Saturday, P and I did our usual routine while the house was being cleaned. We went for breakfast, P ordered her usual ham, pancakes, syrup and dip. Then, we bought bread. And, last but definitely not least, we went to the library to return some books and get some new ones.

Then, we came home and ate lunch and played until it was time to get ready for our play date. Mr. mouse walked P until she fell asleep. Then, he loaded her in the car and I drove while he showered. Yes, it's that complicated sometimes.

We drove to the edge of the earth to go to an amusement park/petting zoo/arcade/paintball/water park coming soon/go kart coming soon place that is clearly trying to define its reason for being. No surprise, P hated all of the animals. She was interested in all of the rides, but only enjoyed the ones she could ride with Mr. mouse. But, in the end, she was glad she went. We went for dinner afterwards and then hit the grocery store for milk.

Sunday? We went to the park and surreptitiously fed the ducks and not so surreptitiously blew bubbles. Mr. mouse snapped some pictures. We ate some plate lunch. Nap in car and in crib.

And, Monday? Brunch with Auntie Janet!

The highlight of the weekend? Mr. mouse built P a simple Lego plane. While he was playing with her, I built a simple security station with a belt, two benches and the TSA agent played by P's bus driver. Next came a gate. And, that was the weekend. The Lego people went through security and went to the gate and got on the plane all weekend long. P even let a giraffe through security, once.



Cheers!
mouse

Toddler Discipline

Dear Friends and Family,

I know sometimes Mr. mouse and I take helicoptering parenting to new levels. This is one of the reasons why we're probably only going to have one child. I can't see us upping the ante and doing this twice.

I try not to be too proud of P, knowing that there will be times, when I least expect it, that she'll let me down. I don't complain too loudly if she gets bitten in school, knowing that at some point she, too, may bite a classmate.

But, Monday, I got clocked on the head by one of her classmates. Bad enough that I'm going to see a doctor today. Headaches, sleepiness, nausea, dizziness - seems like a doctor's visit was in order.

I told my colleagues at work that P would at most do something like twice. Twice? Well, the first time we would say something like we don't throw things at people. Then, we'd monitor. If P were to hypothetically throw a second object at a person, it would be a non-stop 24/7 barrage of why we don't throw things at people. As in...

"I see my flag. American flag. My country flag." "In America, we raise our children to be polite. It's not polite to throw our toys." "Last light." "That's right, we're almost home. When we get home, we'll play with our toys. We'll play nicely. It's not nice to throw our toys." "P like brown ice cream." "Ice cream is for good little girls. Good little girls don't throw their toys."

And on and on until we thought the message had sunk in. She's a smart one, but more importantly we're determined ones.

I'm not sure if some kids are feistier than others. I'm not sure if it's a gender thing. I'm not sure if it's a parenting thing or if P gets special treatment in school. I don't know. I just know we wouldn't have much tolerance for it in the mouse house.

We did have a throwing incident at home once when she was much younger. She was learning to throw a ball and we were giving her smiles and words of encouragement and having a fun evening. Well, she picked up a ball-shaped toy and threw that next and we had to explain that not all round toys were balls. It hasn't happened again since so we didn't have to test our discipline theory.

Here's to hoping that we won't have to.


Cheers!
mouse

08.15.11: Smorgasbord Weekend

Dear Friends and Family,

Highlights and lowlights. The weekend had them all.

Mr. mouse's best friend flew out to see a concert with Mr. mouse sparing me the need to go to the concert and sparing us the expense of an extra ticket and baby sitting money. P and I got to spend the evening at home reading books in bed.

On the flip side, we discovered a new leak in the house. This one, we think is caused by a leaky pipe. We closed off the main and the leak went away. We have a plumber coming in today to diagnose. In the meanwhile, we're bringing to bear a lot of lessons we learned travelling overseas on how to conserve water.

P's weekend was a huge success. She got to go through airport security twice. And, she got to play at the indoor park avoiding the crowds on Saturday and the rain on Sunday. She got to go to the supermarket. She had chocolate for dessert on Saturday night. She avoided her haircut (until Tuesday) and had pasta for dinner, not once, but twice. If she could have gotten on the plane with her uncle, she would have gotten everything she wanted this past weekend.

Added bonus for me, because we've spent a good piece of the month entertaining instead of travelling, the credit card bill came in lower than typical increasing my happiness. We'll continue the eat out watch and see if we can continue on this happy trend.


Cheers!
mouse

08.01.11: Things We Take for Granted

Dear Friends and Family,

Our neighbors are in town. Yay! May the food begin.

Saturday, we got the house cleaned. Then, we played at home, out of the heat, until the neighbors came over. The daughter and I stayed at home while Mr. mouse and the dad went to the airport for pick up duty.

P did the cutest thing when she got up from her nap. Instead of crying or calling out for Mr. mouse or me, she called out, "Mommy, Daddy, I'm awake!"

Dinner? Barbecue followed by ice cream.

Sunday, we went to the farmer's market. Then, had brunch followed by deck time. It was brutally hot so we huddled under the umbrella. P got a couple of dips in the pool and got to enjoy a popsicle stick for a snack. P called, "Daddy, P have pink shoes on in bed!" when she woke up from her nap.

Dinner? Tacos followed by frozen yogurt.

The highlight of the weekend? When the generator powering our house was finally removed. Yes, starting Friday night it was on-again, off-again power. There's nothing more irritating. Well, I guess off-again, off-again power would be more irritating. But, still, it was nice to have the generator gone.

And, P discovered directions on Sunday, as in, No Mommy, restaurant all over there, and, No Mommy, our home all over there - in response to when I turned the "wrong" way when pushing the stroller.


Cheers!
mouse

Note to Self: She's Only Two

Dear Friends and Family,

The one thing I can't stand doing with P? Going shopping.

Now keep in mind, I barely can stand shopping in the first place. I'm an in and out as soon as the deed is done kind of shopping person. And, P makes that impossible. She runs around the store like a crazy person and I can't make a half-witted decision to save my life.

Mr. mouse doesn't make it any better. He loves shopping. So, he shops and leaves it to me to run around the store like a crazy person following P. And, since he loves to shop, he then lingers. And, I boil. And, since he loves to shop, he indulges her running. And, I boil over.

That was last night. I was pretty peeved. Then we got home, she was sleeping and I was watching her. And, I remembered, she's only two. And, one day I'll wish she was two again. At the end of a school day, she comes running when I go to pick her up. I get a gleeful, "Mommy!" followed by a giant hug and kiss. And, I guess that trade-off is worth it.

I just need to convince her that running in the store is a bad idea. And, I need to find a way to convince Mr. mouse to give me the space to work with her.


Cheers!
mouse

Oh, The Places You'll Go

Dear Friends and Family,

I'm not sure. Sometimes I'm convinced I'll do grand things, soar to high heights. But, sometimes I wonder if life isn't better with less ambition. What if my grand goal was simpler? To simply enjoy life, have enough to make ends meet, to be okay with being. Perhaps it's not a bad path.

Speaking of the Dr. Seuss book, P loved it for about three days - asking for it non-stop at home and on the road. Then, one afternoon, I was reading it to her, and we got to the page where the main character hits a lurch, her balloon gets stuck on a tree and the other balloons fly off without her. And, P got really sad. She shed a tear and asked for a hug and didn't want to continue reading the book. Since then, it's been relegated. I don't even see it in her book pile anymore.

She's growing up so quickly. I think this is the last year we get to enjoy of toddler-hood. I think by the time she's three, we'll be well into pre-K land. There's a piece of me that wishes we could press the rewind button and do the last two years all over again. But, there's a piece of me that's okay cherishing the memories and moving on to new adventures with P.

Oh, the places we'll go.


Cheers!
mouse

07.11.11: Terrible Twos

Dear Friends and Family,

This weekend was a weekend of battles. We had our good moments and our not-so-good moments.

Moments we wish we could bottle and replay? swings at the park, breakfast at P's favorite breakfast stop, smiles at the baseball game, pizza for breakfast, blowing bubbles on the deck, typing on the computer and playing with P's puzzles

Moments we wish we never had to go through the first time? diaper changing battles, holding hands when walking battles, being carried when crossing the street battles, getting dressed battles and getting buckled/unbuckled into the car sear battles

Well, we had a fabulous meltdown Sunday evening. And, after rolling on the floor crying for several minutes, P got her act together and was a model toddler afterwards. We'll see how today goes.


Cheers!
mouse

P's and Q's

Dear Friends and Family,

Nothing like trying to instill manners in a toddler.

P will say "please" when prompted. She'll say "thank you" spontaneously.

But, when it's expeditious, "move" and "get out" are completely acceptable words in her vocabulary. We're trying to get her to say "excuse me" instead, but she'll only do it if prompted. And, when she says it, it sounds just like "move" or "get out" in tone. In P's mind, it's just a new set of words to accomplish the same task.


Cheers!
mouse

06.15.11: Rain, Rain, Go Away

Dear Friends and Family,

What an awful spring we've had. And, it's lining up to be more of the same this week. More cold. More rain. More clouds. Sigh.

Well, at least we were able to get away for the weekend and enjoy seeing our friends in Montreal.

I think P was eager to get home. Two weekends away seem tough on her. And, we didn't bring swim gear for the pool. And, the race activities were at nap time so she slept marginally. And, the kids were younger so she had to share her toys. And, it was pouring rain on Sunday. All in all, it was a tough weekend for her.

But, last night we had fun.

On the way home, she told me froggy had a wet diaper and needed a new Elmo diaper with a little bit of cream. Another cute moment was when we were playing. She noticed a couple of drops of water on the floor and said, "Hang on a sec." She went to the bathroom, grabbed a couple of squares of toilet paper, came out, wiped up the water, and threw out the tissue before resuming play.

Our little girl is growing up.


Cheers!
mouse

06.06.11: P's First Dentist Visit

Dear Friends and Family,

We were in Detroit over the weekend visiting friends and oddly enough going to see the dentist. I know. It sounds odd. But, it makes total sense if you think about it from a slightly different perspective.

Mr. mouse and I both have friends in Detroit. We would, with our crazy schedule, love to see those friends regularly, but inevitably, life takes over and the months slip by. But, with a dentist there, we guarantee ourselves two visits a year. See? In our crazy world, this makes perfect sense.

The dentist was a bust. P didn't mind the chair. She loved the glasses. But, she had no intention of actually opening her mouth. Still, when asked, she said she had fun at the dentist office.

The rest of the weekend was a ball for her with one exception I'll get to later. She napped. She played in the pool. She played in the park. She went to the supermarket where they have carts shaped like cars. She ate ice cream. She ate cookies. She played Legos with friends. Excellent times for a two year old.

The exception? We went to a friend's house for dinner Saturday night. And, P was afraid of their dog. And, by afraid, I mean terrified. Wait, that doesn't capture it. TERRIFIED. ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIED. ALMOST VOMITING SCARED. HEART RACING, MOANING NO MOMMY, NO MOMMY, NO DADDY, NO DADDY, TERRIFIED. And, Mr. mouse took the tack of she'll be fine, she'll remember it fondly and get used to it. And, so did his friends, our dinner hosts. Well, I had words for him later that evening. And, our other friends were in violent agreement the next day when we saw them for lunch... they got to witness the whole thing in action since they were over for dinner as well.

And, now, I've decided Mr. mouse is lacking in the judgement department on this one. Or, maybe a kinder way to put it, we just violently disagree on a proper approach. But, I don't care. I'm vetoing subjecting her to that kind of cruelty going forward.


Cheers!
mouse

05.31.11: Official Summer Kick-Off

Dear Friends and Family,

I know summer doesn't officially begin until June 22, but something about Memorial Day makes it feel like the start of summer. Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell Mother Nature. And, Friday afternoon was a dismal, windy, cold affair. And, Saturday was a dreary, cold affair. And, Sunday was a rainy, cold affair.

But, then, Monday, the clouds dispersed and it was 90 degrees by 8:30 in the morning.

Saturday, P and I went to the park for a quick run through of the usual activities (swing, froggy, slide) and then went for breakfast at the usual spot for P's usual breakfast (ham, dip, pancakes, syrup) before heading back through the park for a quick run through of the usual activities (see above) and then home to see Mr. mouse.

Then, because neither Mr. mouse nor I wanted to do battle with P over her nap, we loaded her into the car and let her sleep while we ran errands.

Saturday night was spent playing a new game. P would tell me to lie down. Then, she'd tuck a padded portfolio "pillow" under my head, put a suit carrier "blanket" on me, put a toy bar ring on top of that, kiss me, tell me I love you and good night, then rub my chest and say, "Mommy sleeping." And, seconds later, "Mommy, awake." followed by good morning and a removal of the pillow and blanket. Repeat.

Sunday, we headed out to the aquarium. Because the pie line was so long, P fell asleep en route, and we hung out in the car while she napped. P was frightened while we were there, but spoke fondly of all the things she saw once we got home. Her favorite? A wall of fake starfish posted on the wall - each starfish thanking a particular donor to the exhibit. It POURED Sunday and I was dreading the worst when we got home. But, knock on wood, no visible water in the house. Yeah for mouse!

Monday, we went out for brunch and then I took P to the park while Mr. mouse worked on a presentation. We kicked the ball around for ten minutes and then played on the swing for another five before heading home. We let P play inside until nap time. And, while she slept her pool water warmed. It was so nice to have her nap at home so we could do stuff while she slept. The evening was spent cavorting upstairs in the pool.


Cheers!
mouse

The Body Doth Protest

Dear Friends and Family,

After all of the hectic stuff of the last four to six weeks, my body finally told me that it was done. Last night, after aches, chills, headache, body ache, and other signs of illness, I fell asleep. This morning, I woke to a low grade fever and a realization that a couple more hours sleep would make the difference between misery and life.

Last night, P sang happy birthday, the alphabet song, twinkle twinkle little star and a couple of songs I didn't recognize. She managed a full sentence, "shoe full sand really" and pointed out, "passing by giant fish without a doubt."

Today, I've got catch up at work and a possible two year old check-up tonight.


Cheers!
mouse

05.16.11: Deep Breath

Dear Friends and Family,

Well. My one day break didn't quite materialize the way I thought it would because Mr. mouse TOTALLY lamed out on me. As in, oh, I have a happy hour but I'll be able to meet you at the train station for the drive home followed by a phone call oh I missed the train I'll meet you en route followed by no phone call until sometime when I got home with no real info besides sorry it's 7 o'clock I'll be home soon followed by 4 million phone calls from me to him at 8:30 to make sure I don't need to be calling hospitals followed by a blow up on the phone followed by no Mr. mouse when I went to sleep at 11 followed by claims the next morning that he was home by 10:45/11:00 o'clock.

Right. Behavior like this is what keeps private investigators in business.

Friday, why oh why is it always a semi-fiasco when my parents are in town? Oh right. It's because nothing ever works right. Their flight was delayed. They hung out at the airport because they never got Mr. mouse's text that he was home. The traffic was a disaster. Well, it all worked out in the end and we met up for dinner before heading home.

Saturday, party, success, minus P's lack of interest in sharing her toys.

Sunday, I napped when P napped. Good move, mouse.

And, now, it's Monday again and I'm hoping for a slow retreat to normal. Maybe. We'll see. Oh, and a desperate need to reschedule my dentist appointment for a tooth that is bothering me.

But, to end on a high note, Thursday, P did do some memorable things on the car ride home. She told me she had a wet diaper which isn't uncommon, but then she pointed to the side roads and said something like "back there, change diaper" because we usually turn down to a side street to change her diaper.

Then, at the last light before home she said "last light." I used to point out last light for the longest time, but hadn't pointed it out in months so I was a little stunned when she pointed it out. She also declares "passing park" now when we drive past the park.

Our little two year old.


Cheers!
mouse