Reading again

Last night I finished When Generations Collide. There was a lot of useful information in this book. A lot of scary things too. Stories of younger generations calling their "Tradionalist" and "Boomer" bosses "Dude". I know that I technically fit into Generation X, but I hope that I don't share all of their characteristics.

Now I'm reading a book for work called Fish. Very quick read, and interesting. Sort of covers a lot of the same things in books I've already read, but It's highly acclaimed, so I'm giving it a shot. Next, books on management. I hope to become a more effective supervisor.

I'm a Word Nerd!

Stephanie says

"In all my life I never thought I'd see a huge cucumber sitting next to a module."

Thankfully the Farmer's Market and one of our new products were able to come together to make this experience possible!

Sorting shapes

Munchkin just gets smarter and smarter every day. I know that all moms say that, but it's true. Last night she and I played with a shape sorter that was mine as a child. Tupperware still sells them. I love the thing and remember playing with it a lot. Up to last night, munchkin mostly used it as a rattle. But last night we started pulling the shapes out and putting them in the right holes.

She was so impatient. It was almost more than she could handle to wait for me to turn the toy so that she had access to the hole matching the shape she had in her hand. And forget trying to get her to put the shape in the right way. She was so impatient that she often literally tried to push a square peg through a round hole. (Or an oval peg through a star-shaped hole.)

Tonight we tried again. She was more than willing to pick up a shape, show it to me, let me turn the toy so the matching hole was on the top, and then she would work to put the shape in on her own. If it was a simple shape without too many corners, she would often get it in unassisted. Shapes like the star and the cross were more difficult, but she accepted my help. She's even figuring out how to get the shapes out once she's gotten them in.

One day! I can't believe the change in one day. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised. Perhaps this is typical behavior for 18-month-olds. I just know that I am so impressed and proud of her.

Inspirational

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass. It's about learning to dance in the rain."

Mom being "wild"

There's been a lot of talk on my blog lately about rain. As long as I can remember, I've always loved the rain. After my last entry about it, my mom commented that she remembered me dancing in the rain. A couple of days after that we had another storm roll through late at night. Here's what my mom had to say the next day:

I was reading in bed last night when the thunder began in the distance.When it got closer and pretty loud, I felt compelled to get out of bed and was "wild" enough to go out onto the front porch in my nightgown to watch and see; listen and smell to the storm. My new porch is great for such an activity. I could sit in my sort-of-rocking chair with my feet up and just enjoy the evening. The humidity was pretty much absent. The rest of the neighborhood was quiet. A few houses had a light or two but it was after 11PM. It was wonderful to sit there and feel like nobody could see me (which didn't really matter) but invisible is pretty cool! I sat and watched and listened, counted after the lightening while waiting for the thunder. (For some reason that seems backwards to me, but I got it right last night.) Here's a new one for your memory book - when I came back to bed, your dad was still asleep but sort of came to enough to ask if anything was the matter. I told him I'd been out listening and he said "oh, thunder, I love thunder, I wish I'd been there. Zzzzzzz" Normally, I'm the one who doesn't make lots of sense, but he was really getting some good sleep.

What a great description. It was too good to pass up posting it here. I imagine myself doing the same thing, years from now. Thanks for the wonderful images, Mom.

Blue foods

Anyone that knows me reasonably well knows that I don't eat blue foods that don't occur that color in nature. I know. It's silly. But think about it. How many foods are really blue in nature? I come up with three. Blueberries, blue corn, and blue potatoes.

My neurosis was affirmed while watching Sesame Street with the munchkin. The whole episode was about healthy foods and eating. There was a cartoon of a little kid singing about how he eats the colors of the rainbow. Here are the lyrics:

I eat the colors of the rainbow... Veggies and fruit that help me grow
Red...red...some of my favorite foods are:

Apples, cherries, strawberries and tomato
Orange...orange...some of my favorite foods are:

Carrots, oranges, peach and sweet potato
Yellow...yellow corn and lemon Pineapple and banana...
Green...green spinach and broccoli Lettuce, peas, and kiwi...
Blue...blue...The only food I eat that's blue is Blueberries!
I eat the colors of the rainbow...
"Hey! What about us?"
Purple. eggplant, plums and grapes...
So every day--I eat the colors of the rainbow...

http://pbskids.org/sesame/songs/hhs_songpage_ietcotr.html

You can hear the song if you go to that site. So I'm ahead of the game. I eat three blue foods and this kid only eats one!

Munchkin Drama

It's been a hectic weekend for us. Munchkin woke up at 7 Saturday morning. She had a glass of juice while sitting in the chair with me. By 8, hubby was up. Munchkin walked into the kitchen by her highchair and proceeded to puke...all over the place. I didn't think too much of it as she'd started coughing right before that. I figured she had a catch in her throat and in the midst of trying to catch her breath, she threw up.

So she had breakfast and hung around some more. She even ate some of a bologna sandwich I was having. Then she went down for a nap. When she got up, she seemed fine. Although she had taken a 4 hour nap (a bit unusual for her to sleep that long) and was refusing food. All of a sudden, while sitting in the livingroom, she threw up again. I called the emergency room since she was now refusing fluids as well. While I was on the phone with them, she threw up again - this time on me. So, despite what the nurse told me, hubby and I decided to take her in.

Here begins the drama. She doesn't care for men she doesn't know. My brother is almost too much for her. She did not like the male EMT that came in AT ALL. Big tears, lots of crying, screaming, and making detailing her condition difficult. Once he got his information and left, the doctor came in. Another man. He had to listen to her heart and take her temp. This was not OK. He tried to listen to my heart first to show that it wouldn't hurt. She pushed the stethescope away from me. She was not having it. Then he had to take her temp. From this exam he decided that he needed to take blood. Oh goodness. Major wailing and gnashing of teeth. I thought the worst of it was over. But no, then she had to have two suppositories. OK, so she's already screaming and terrified and looking at me wondering why I won't save her, and you want to put those two things WHERE? God bless Louise Coull for being such a trooper!

Within 20 minutes of the suppositories she was a new child. She was finally able to keep fluids down. We were dispatched to Wal-Mart with a prescription and a cranky child. We filled the prescription, did some shopping and came home. The medication for the nausea makes her very sleepy. Somehow this did not stop her from being up from 3-5:30 this morning. Ah, the joys of motherhood. :)

I always thought I was more like Dad

My mom is one of my dearest friends. Accordingly, I was shocked today. While mentioning that a friend of mine would be joining our book group, she responded with this:

One of life’s greatest pleasures is getting lost in a book and not even being aware of what is going on around you. It used to drive my mother crazy when she wanted my help with her daily life which included 2 small children 15 months apart plus Marise who was 4 when Julie was born. Lots of laundry, diapers to fold, ironing to do (yes, people really used to do that weekly) and she would want my help and I’d be “reading again”. She always said it as if it was a bad thing. I now find that funny because she was more than likely wishing I’d help with the work so she might snag a little time to read herself.

I kept waiting for the punchline. You know, something like, "It used to drive my mother crazy when she wanted my help... and I'd be 'reading again'". I expected to read, "just like you used to." But she didn't say that. I think that I must be cut from her cloth after all. We used to joke that because Tim and I looked so much like my dad's side of the family and both had blue eyes that, if we didn't know better, we'd wonder if she was our mother. But it turns out I'm more like her than I ever knew. I only hope that when I'm her age I have as many people who love me as love her. You're a wonderful woman, Mom. I love you.

Well Wahoo!

I'm famous. In my book at least. I've garnered a mention on someone else's blog! Christianne, you rock. Who knew we had this much in common. And you're going to join the book group. That rocks.

Well, my morning sucks. Homicide is illegal. I know this. But after what I went through with a co-worker this morning, I think it might just be justifiable. But I'll leave that story. Anyone who wants to know can ask me. The afternoon was pretty tame. Free ice cream for those of us who are presenters for Corporate Training. MMMM. SDSU ice cream. You can't beat it.

Munchkin is chilling on the floor watching Sesame Street. She's so funny. She'll say hello and bye bye to anyone on TV. It's like they're personal friends. And don't ask me why, but hubby decided to watch bull riding with her the other day. She asked what that was on the screen. (no, I can't type it because it's unintelligable to anyone who doesn't spend plenty of time with her) and hubby told her it was a cow. From then on, anytime one came on the screen, she would point and say "tow". That's pronounced like "ow". The concept of "c" is a bit beyond her yet.

And God bless my mom. She taught munchkin to hold her hands above her head and say "TA DA!" Except it only has one syllable. "DA!" too cute!

I was called a Designing Women freak

I do like the show. If you read this, you know that. I watch it because I have memories of watching it with my mother. A recent show dealt with the topic of women being vulnerable. The ladies were taking self defense classes. Julia had this to say:

You know, I think that women are just about ready to say, "We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it anymore. If you come up to us with a gun or a knife, you better be prepared to use it right then and there because we are not going anywhere with you. And we are not going to be dug up, raped and mutilated, months later on some rural road. We are going to be prepared to stand and fight - with dignity - in the parking lot and the shopping centers and the driveways of America. But buddy, you better be prepared to do the same because even at the very least, one of us is going to be walking funny."

Now you tell me that's not empowering! I love Julia and her rants. I love that she takes a stand on a topic that she's passionate about it. Sure, she goes overboard some of the time, but she has passion.

Mary Jo is a little less out there than Julia, but she's still feisty. Here are her thoughts:

I want a movie where some woman stands up and beats the tar out of Frankenstein or Jason, or Freddie Krueger or whatever and does it before her friends get killed. I want a movie where a woman with a gun knows how to use it and doesn't let some man wrench it out of her wimpy little wrist. I want a movie where the hero is Charlene, not Charles Bronson.

Again, passionate commitment to a topic that is meaningful. All the women out there that are taken advantage of, abused, attacked, and hurt - it's time. We can stand up and fight. Learn some self-defense techniques. Learn where pressure points are and how to use them to your advantage. Be prepared when walking to your vehicle. Don't let anyone take advantage of you. We're all smarter than that. Let's be together on this.

AMMENDMENT: Hubby says that if someone is trying to steal your purse, you should give it to them. Don't fight them. He's right. I was talking about if someone was trying to abduct you. Oh yeah, don't forget to scream as loudly as you can!

Rainy days and Mondays

Well, the Carpenters had it half right. Mondays do always get me down. But I love rainy days.

There's a good, steady rain happening outside right now. I love that noise. I wish I could curl up in bed and listen to that noise. Turn all the lights off, and just listen to the rain hitting the house. It's one of the most soothing noises I know.

A good thunderstorm is always welcome too. That moment of anticipation between when you see the lightning flash until the thunder's crash follows - there's just nothing like it. I remember as a child taking pillows and blankets out on the front porch and watching storms like that. Often I would take a book and enjoy the sounds and smells that come from such a storm.

And I remember grabbing and umbrella, rolling up the legs of my pants, and splashing around in puddles until I was soaked. I've always loved the rain. It's one of my favorite things about summer and spring.

Thankfully I've got the perfect porch for watching storms like this. When she gets a little older, I'll be taking munchkin out there to initiate her into the club. I hope she enjoys it as much as I do.

Petrified Cheerios and other accessories

Mothers of toddlers will relate to this post. I find Cheerios in the strangest of places. Tonight I came across one in the crease where the arm of the chair meets the end table. Looked like it might have been there a while, but I can't be sure. I'm not sure if this location is more of an indictment of my housekeeping skills or an accolade to my daughter's enterprising hide and seek skills. I get this image of her hiding Cheerios and wondering if mommy will ever find them.

Yes, I have found them in many wonderful places. The obvious ones are the car, the floor (all over the house - even in rooms where she isn't allowed), the bottom of the diaper bag, and my purse. But, I have found one in my bra when undressing for the day. I think I must have been really tired that day not to notice that little circle of starch being melded in there.

I am convinced that someday, when our civilization is long gone, archeologists will come along and find bunches and bunches of Cheerios. I wonder what their explanation will be.

Busy day

Full day at work. I sort of feel like a train wreck. I'm pretty sure I'm getting sick and I'm just fighting it as hard as I can to keep on my feet.

The kitchen smells amazing right now. I'm cooking onions, garlic, and mushrooms for spaghetti. Later on I will add stewed tomatoes and sauce along with ground beef. The munchkin is busy walking around the house terrorizing everything she can get her hands on. She likes being in the kitchen with me while I'm cooking. This is a mixed blessing as she is wonderful company, but also likes to pull my shorts off and is directly in the line of fire should I drop something.

Found out today that we will be hiring the person I recruited for our department. This is very good news. If she works out, it's a real feather in my cap because I'll have found her, recruited her, hired her, and trained her. Plus, it means there's help on the way. Even if I can only push crap jobs onto her for the first few weeks, that leaves me more time to get to the really difficult stuff.

Had my Cookie Lee party yesterday. Got a whole bunch of orders today at work. Turns out that people want the stuff, they just weren't able to make it to the party. So that's nice. Should turn into a nice amount of free jewelry for me. I was wishing I had some bookings come off my party because that means $25 worth of free jewelry at their shows. Having Amy and Anja here was so nice. I was almost glad that not very many people made it because it really gave me a good opportunity to catch up with them. And the house is nice and clean now. I got some things done that really needed to be done.

I have to work tonight. I'm taking off early tomorrow and Wednesday for doctor's appointments, so I have to make up the hours somehow or take PTO. I want to keep all my PTO for a rainy day, so work at night it is.

The blessed weekend!

Ah, the weekend has arrived. And I, for one, am grateful. The weekend started off in grand style with the purchase of two pizzas from Papa Murphy's. I got a gourmet vegetarian for myself and the munchkin and a Supreme type pizza for the hubby. Munchkin and I managed to polish off 6 of the 8 pieces in one sitting. She loved it. Yep, I'm officially a pig. So we both went to bed stuffed. I was awakened in the middle of the night by a crying child. Evidently the veggies and garlic sauce sat better in my stomach than in hers. 3:30 in the morning is not my favorite time.

Today has been better. We all got a nap a while back. Right now the hubby is still napping and I'm on munchkin duty. Tonight we are planning on doing something with the family. What that is, we're not sure yet. Then tomorrow I am having a Cookie Lee jewelry party. Should be a busy weekend.

Big BIG day!

I went to pick the munchkin up from daycare today. She was not wearing her pants. When I asked what happened, Sherrie told me that munchkin had been walking out of her pants.

"Walking out of her pants? Has she been doing a lot of walking today?"

Evidently she had been walking all day! She goes from the living room all the way to the playroom all by herself! And she doesn't even cry when she falls down. I'm so proud.

Plus, now she can shake her head yes. She doesn't just have to say no anymore. Every day she gets smarter. You should see her bee bop in the back seat to her music. That's a kick in the pants!

Another day, another dollar

Or several. Dollars, that is. Another full day at work. Things are going well. I feel like I'm doing OK handling stuff that needs to get done while my boss is on maternity leave. It's a juggling act.

Dinner at Mom and Dad's last night was lots of fun. REALLY good food. Seasoned pork chops from Hy-Vee, pineapple casserole (don't "YUCK" until you try it), homemade bread, mashed potatoes and a peanut butter chocolate dessert. Very very good.

Finished The Nanny Diaries last night. It was a good book but I was so very angry at the parents for a multitude of reasons. I've started Metro Girl by Janet Evanovich. It's good so far. It was recommended by a friend. I still like her Stephanie Plum character the best.

Oh yeah, for those of you who don't live around here, there was a murder in Brookings. Really. You can check it out at either of our local news websites http://www.keloland.com/ or http://www.ksfy.com/. And, yes, I know both of the 19-year-olds being held as suspects. Pretty crazy.

Napping

In my previous post I mentioned the possibility of getting a nap. Boy did we! The munchkin is teething big time and is crabby because of it. We had an early lunch around 11 and then I put her down for her nap. As usual, she went down beautifully. Then the hubby and I laid down as well. I had set an alarm for 3 as we are going to my parent's house for dinner tonight. I wanted to make sure that we all had plenty of time to get ready. I never thought I'd actually need the alarm.

Yes, that's right. The munchkin took a four hour nap. Can you believe that? That means mom and dad got 3 hours of uninterrupted afternoon quality napping time! I'm in 7th heaven!

We'll be leaving in about an hour for Nana and Papa's. Mom was teasing the hubby last night about the possible menu. "Berry pie, cheesy taters, fried bananas, and grilled cheese sandwiches." Hubby claims that everything my family cooks includes cheese. Plus, he doesn't like berries or bananas. I think the menu sounds pretty good. I don't know what we're really having, but I love that I'm not cooking!

A teary goodbye

I finished The Time Traveler's Wife last night. Katie, you are in so much trouble for suggesting this one! I LOVED IT! Every page was wonderful. I can't say enough good things about it. To use the most over-used review saying, I laughed, I cried. I haven't had a book move me this way in a long time. This author is amazing. She's writing a new novel and I can't wait for it to come out. It's a must read!

Then I promptly started my reading for work. 62 pages of Made To Stick. I haven't read all 62 yet, but it seems pretty good. And the idea of making "stickable" ideas seems like it could apply to so many things.

But now I'm reading The Nanny Diaries for pleasure. Since I couldn't sleep last night, I'm over halfway done with the book. It really is very good. I just checked it out at the library yesterday. It's getting into kind of a depressing part, so I'm not sure how it's going to go. I guess I'll just keep reading.

After the munchkin went to bed last night I had a couple of beers and took a nice, hot bath. Then, I gave myself a pedicure. Had there been chocolate involved I think the evening would have been perfect. I admit I have a blazing headache this morning, but I think that's more from lack of sleep than alcohol. I'm pretty sure it was 1 before I was asleep. And the munchkin was up at 6:30. But perhaps I can get a nap. MMMMMMMMM....nap.

My girl is smart!

I know, I know. I'm just like all the other mothers out there. My child is brilliant, beautiful, and charming. But would you really consider me to be worth my salt as a mother if I didn't say that?

The point of all this is the fact that she continues to blow me away every day with the stuff that she learns. I can't believe what she is able to pick up on.

I'm sure I've mentioned that her favorite word is ball. She recognizes them in real life, on TV, and in books. But she really threw me for a loop the other day.

I was just hanging out and playing with her. I was wearing a T-shirt I have that is very comfy. So we're playing, and all of a sudden, she reaches out and pats the front of my shirt and says, "Ball." At first I was very confused and wondered what exactly she thought was a ball. Turns out, my shirt had a picture of a soccer ball on the front. Go figure. My child knew that it was a ball and correctly identified it. I was amazed. She learns so much every day. I'm in big trouble with this one. She's going to be so smart.

When I was a child

I don't have any idea why it popped into my head today, but I got to thinking about it. I did a quick search and found out that the show was called Once Upon A Time. The whole premise was that a librarian was being held hostage and forced to read stories to a witch. As I think back on it, I seem to remember a very jerky opening montage featuring the librarian, Marian, running away from the witch. The show was a hoot because there was this machine that Marian would feed elements of the story into and produce a book. I always wished I had that machine. Then I could have a story about whatever I wanted. Yep, it turns out that me being a word nerd goes way back to when I was little. Here's the theme song as one person remembers it.

Once upon a time a witch loved stories galore
And greedy as she was she wanted more and more
The witch saw that the librarian had stories of all kinds
She said, "I'll capture you...all your stories will be mine!"
Then took place a curious chase through meadow, tree, and flower
Until at last they ended up right at the witch's tower
Now poor Marian the Librarian
A prisoner she'll stay
Until the witch is happy
And lets Marian go away

Ah. Fond memories of sitting on the floor in my teacher's classroom watching that show.

Dessert is GOOD

Got a phone call from my mom this afternoon. She asked me to stop by tonight because she had bought me a small present. So, after I got home from work, Chloe and I took a walk over to Mom and Dad's. As my grandmother would have said, we went outside and blew the stink off of us. It was a nice walk.

Anyway, my mom and dad bought me two rolls of all chocolate Necco wafers. I love Necco wafers, but the chocolate ones are the BEST! Can't wait to dig in!

The Helix

Timex produced a watch called The Helix a while back. Now, a lot of you know that I write manuals for a living. I came across this manual on a list serve that I am part of. If you want to read the whole thing, you can go to http://btb.timex.com/instructions/Helix.pdf. But, for those of you not interested in sarcastic Tech Writer humor, here are a few samples:

If you have this manual, then you've bought one of the following HELIX™ watches: the ABT, DM, or WRKS (if you look at the back of your watch, you'll see that we're being honest with you).

It enhances our already amazing ELECTROLUMINESCENT TECHNOLOGY. Do not fear it.

As luck would have it, when you turn the crown forward (clockwise) the time moves forward, and when you turn the crown backward (counterclockwise) the time moves backward. Turn the crown quickly and time will appear to fly.

Find something to time. A marathon, the walk to the toilet, or how long it takes you to read this inane gibberish.

And these are just a few samples. There are a whole bunch of references that are just plain silly. Things that wouldn't translate to people with different education levels, let alone into a different language. I am torn about this. I find the manual to be humorous and a nod to the desired market. However, as a Tech Writer, I find this type of documentation to be highly unprofessional. And had I bought the watch, I don't know what I would think.

And to top it all off, on the list of warnings, right there, in bold print: Do not eat watch. No kidding. There's even a picture. I don't know. Am I just old?

Perfect Moments

Right now the hubby has the munchkin and they're sitting in his chair watching Sesame Street. There's a turkey cooking in the oven (lovingly put there by the hubby), there's potatoes on the stove working on boiling. I've had a busy but fulfilling day at work. It's rare that a series of events comes together in just such a manner. I relish these times.

Today was hectic. Day 3 of maternity leave. Meetings, phone calls, emails, all of which my boss does all the time, but it's new to me. I left my desk at 4:00. I didn't get a lunch and so I was leaving early. I didn't leave the building until 4:20. Caught up with someone I needed to catch. Now, go figure, I added three things to my "To Do" list and a meeting to my schedule on Friday. All in 20 minutes.

Other than that, it was pretty much the same as usual. I love what I do.

For any loyal readers out there, I apologize for the lapse in posts. Turns out my hubby's been playing with 7 chicks on the side. No, not really. He's gotten hooked on this game called Chicktionary. I'm all for it. He enjoys it and it keeps his mind active. However, it does make it a bit more difficult for me to get to the computer. So if you're on the look out for my posts, get in touch with the man and tell him to leave his "chicks" alone! :)

Moon Fish

Big fan of Iron Chef America. Big fan. But tonight there was one on featuring the secret ingredient of Moon fish or Opah. I found I couldn't watch it. Take one look at this bugger and you'll figure out why! I just couldn't take those eyes looking back at me. And then, they used the fin for its "connective tissue and gelatine". It was just more than I could take. I'm hoping that they'll move to showing them cooking the fish, and not so much of the eyes and such. This is why I buy my meat in the store and don't want to know where it comes from!

Whispers

Munchkin likes to stand at the end of the ottoman by my chair. She stands there with her back to me, watching TV. And her relaxed posture almost beckons me to move and hug her. I am reminded of all the people who have told me that they grow up too quickly. And she is. So I move to hug her more and more often.

When I do, I slide my arm around her little belly. And in a world where everything seems so unstable, where what you love best could be gone in the blink of an eye, the roundness of that little belly is so reassuring. She's warm, and sweet, and wonderfully chubby. And when I whisper in her ear that I love her, she whispers back. To anyone listening it's just gibberish.

But to me, she's telling me that she loves me too.

She's Come Undone

I finished She's Come Undone well before book group. This month should be an interesting session as the book could be very controversial!

Now I'm reading The Time Traveler's Wife. Oh my gosh it is so good. Katie, you're in big trouble for suggesting this one. I'll probably have it finished before book group THIS month. And this is the book for next month. But it's just so interesting. I find myself having a hard time putting it down. The book talks about puzzle pieces coming in to fit. I think the whole book is like that. I keep waiting for the pieces to fall into place.

So exciting!

Our munchkin is officially walking. I would say that 6-8 steps is the max so far, but she's so excited about it. All this happened last night. We decided to give it another shot and all of a sudden she just took right off! All I can say is that it's about time! She's plenty old enough and has had the skills for a long time. She's just so darn proud of herself for doing it too.

All this leaves me to wonder what my child will be like as she grows. She's already so strong and independent. Just last night she was playing with the hubby and she sort of bent her fingers back and jammed them. She got this little, hurt look on her face, shook it off, and kept on going. I anticipate some rough teenage years. But, I guess what goes around, comes around. I didn't make life so easy on my parents during those years. As mom would say, "Payback's a b****."

Morning Rituals

The cutest thing happened yesterday morning. As usual, the munchkin was sitting with the hubby on the arm of his chair watching Sesame Street or some such show before we left for work/daycare. As always, I got myself ready to go and went to pick her up so we could leave. I asked if she wanted to go see Sherrie. She shook her head no. I said that she had to go. Hubby handed her to me and we leaned over to give him our kisses. As we were pulling away, she squealed in displeasure, threw herself forward towards hubby, and managed to pull herself out of my arms by grabbing his shirt. She would not sit still until she was once again situated on the arm of the chair with his arm around her. It was the cutest thing. We both loved it. It was just too bad that I actually had to take her away. Luckily, she was willing to go the second time around.

Stew

I was asked by the hubby to make stew this week. No biggie. Brown some meat, throw some veggies in the crock pot. Leave it to cook all day and you've got a fragrant, delicious meal. But the fun of stew was yet to come for us.

First of all, the munchkin LOVED it. Every time she would sign "more" I would feed her another bite. I felt good about giving her this kind of food. All the veggies, you can't go wrong. And every time I would give her a bite I said, "STEW!" Pretty soon, she was repeating "STEW". She looks so proud of herself when she does it too! It's the most adorable thing. I find her repeating more and more things.

For example, we were riding home from daycare yesterday, listening to Laurie Berkner. We were listening to the Buzz Buzz song. After all of the buzz buzzes, this sound came from the back seat. It was her trying to imitate the word buzz. Too cute. Now we really have to be careful what we say!