Playing catch-up...ketchup...catsup?

There are many things to talk about since my last blog entry (*cough* 4 months ago *cough* *cough*).

1. Ran my first 5k on April 16th. It was drizzling, in the upper 30s and miserable outside, but I did it. Then my kid did the fun run. As you can see, she was pretty excited about her ribbon.

2. My daughter turned 3 on April 19th. I have a preschool aged kid. hold me.


The cake I made. I think I'll stick to frosting next time.

3. ShankRabbit and I went to Las Vegas in May for our first real vacation since 2006. It was relaxing, fun, and holyhell HOT (not that I'm complaining. Spend October - April in Wisconsin and you too would be willing to sit on the surface of the sun if it meant warmth).

4. June was a blur and I can't remember what happened during that month. I know I was training for my first triathlon and really starting to freak out about it.

5. July went by even faster than June, but at least I can recall this one:

5a. We had a 4th of July gathering at our house. Our city's fireworks can be seen from our backyard, so we didn't have to go far for the show. Thanks to a wonderful brother-in-law with noise cancelling headphones, my kid enjoyed the fireworks without having to shove fingers in her ears. *Note to self: purchase a pair of those headphones for the kid before she stabs her brain with her fingernails*

5b. My first ever triathlon was on the 10th. It was tough (fought through hip pain throughout the entire run portion) but I had an absolute blast! I accomplished all three of my goals - 1) don't die, 2) finish in under 3 hours and 3) don't be DFL (dead f-in last).

Smiling through the pain.

5c. We had our first family vacation in Eagle River, WI (ShankRabbit's parents, brothers, and respective families). If it wasn't for the mid to low 60 degree temperatures, I think it would have been perfect.

You can't tell, but the kid is sound asleep. For real.

5d. Fresh from our northwoods trip, we spent the next weekend camping. Not much to report other than it was crazy hot and ShankRabbit got heat exhaustion. Fun times.

Went to the county fair after camping all weekend. Believe it or not, the kid is having fun on her first Ferris Wheel ride.

I think that gets us caught up to the present. My 29th birthday was this past Friday. I got exactly what I wanted - spending time with the ones I love. Oh, and a pinata*.

I have been at parties where there has been one, but never one of my own. Now I can cross that off the list. Next up...aerial fabric acrobatics! Just kidding...maybe.

There are exciting things to come - another race (an adventure 3-miler with ShankRabbit), more birthdays, and possibly a giveaway or two on this here blog. I'll keep you posted.

_____________
* - Please picture a tilde over the n. I don't know how to do it in Blogger and my failed attempt led me to automatically post an unfinished blog post. Just in case my high school Spanish teacher is reading this...yes Sra. S, I know how to properly spell that word. Carry on.

Why you mock me blank page?!

I walk around almost every day with a blog topic in my head. It gets written and edited in my head before it hits the page. The moment I sit down in front of a blank screen, it disappears. All I am left with is a vague idea of what it might have been about. Family? Shoes? A family of shoes? So I will give you "Things Currently Occupying my Noodle." And maybe, just maybe, I will get my brain back to blogging:

1. Garden, version 2 - Due to crappy soil in our garden area, I decided on raised beds this year. Our garden wasn't terrible, but it took a lot more work than I was willing (and able, especially after surgery) to put in. This year, we will also have smaller sections and more vertical structures (but more produce).

2. Crafts - I swear I am in the middle of a craft crapstorm. I have 5,476,392 things I would like to do...and I have started about half of them already. I thought about detailing them, but then I realized it would exhaust me just to write them out. I have learned that any project without a set finish date will likely not get completed.

3. Vacation - we haven't been on vacation since 2006 (excludes anything in the midwest). I have been wanting to go somewhere - anywhere - other than our neighboring states. Preferably some place warm. With or without the kid.
Finally, I got ShankRabbit on board with the idea. We will have a small getaway (without the child) sometime soon and another one toward the end of the year with the kid (at a place with a kingdom of magic...).

I am about as shocked as I can physically be. Yay for vacation!

* * *

My brain has officially checked out, so here are some random pictures for you to enjoy (sorry to anyone on Twitter who has already seen these):


Gluten free thin mints. Yes, they can be done (om nom nom nom...)


Jacques, our new dishwasher. I love him so much.


A non-deviled egg. Part of an elaborate "welcome" gag played on a friend's boyfriend. He hates deviled eggs. So I made some out of meringue, yellow cupcake frosting, and red sugar. Heh heh...


My kid. My almost 3 year old.

My cup runneth over.

Of sickness and the power of Christmas

The one time I pledge to do a daily posting commitment like #reverb10 and our household comes down with the stomach plague*. I will be back to my regularly scheduled reverb-ness, once I get this past weekend/week out of my system.

Don't worry, none of the gory TMI details about the plague will be shared. I'm just going to tell you how pathetic we were all weekend.

Peanut kicked off the happy fun sickness party! for us on Friday night (on our way to visit a family I haven't seen in 3+ yrs...uh, yeah, trip was instantly cancelled), ShankRabbit was stricken by Saturday night (the night of the big snowstorm. Needless to say no snow got cleared), and by Sunday night I thought I should join in! Oh joy! By Monday we were all dehydrated, delusional, and downright diseased.

Around 4am on Monday morning, I was trying to grab a few moments of rest with Peanut on the couch. She was proped up on a couple pillows, looking just as tired as I sure felt (and probably looked, too). She insisted I turn on the Christmas tree and sing her Christmas songs** while she tried to sleep.

I wanted to cry for two different reasons:
1) This was the first night of the plague for me (and by far the worst) and I was running on no sleep 2) Peanut wanted me to comfort her by singing. She usually says "mama...no!" when I sing to her. Ok, so maybe I get all vaudeville with it most of the time, but it is common knowledge that she'd rather have her dada sing. And with his voice, I don't blame her.

As I quietly sang every Christmas song I could think of and petted her hair, my daughter - looking angelic in the glow of the tree - drifted off to sleep. *sob*

- -

We were worried we'd have to take her to urgent care that day because she was becoming seriously dehydrated...but after a regimen of 2 sips of watered down juice every 10 minutes, she kept it all down and started to perk up.

* * * * *

Last night was the first real meal we all had. We had been eating small bits of plain rice, toast, and the like when we could handle it, but we ate CHICKEN SOUP last night. Such a colorful and flavorful meal after so many days of blahness. Ah, food heaven.

So, now that we are almost healthy, I will get back to that #reverb10 thing I was working on. And maybe get some humor back into my life, too. That'd be nice.

___________________
* Every time we get a major sickness in our house, I hear "yeah, it's just that nasty bug going around." Is this just a canned answer or are people seriously all sick at the same time? Do these bugs travel like frickin' Santa Claus? I swear someone on the East Coast can have the exact same symptoms as we do in the Midwest. How is that possible?!

** Funny moment - after a particular awful "spilling" (a.k.a. vomiting, to Peanut) episode, she looks at me and starts singing "simply having a wonderful Christmas time!" If it wasn't so sad, I probably would been on the floor laughing.

WAT?!

Let's say you are listening to music in your house and your favorite song comes on. Are you one to turn the song WAY up and sing/dance/become-a-rockstar-in-your-head? I'm so with you...minus the music blasting.

Just like every little quirk in my life, this one stems from childhood. I'll spare you from the emotionally scarring back story and just say really loud music irritates me. It makes me slightly edgy and uncomfortable. If there are other noises in addition to the loud music, I go into a panic. Something must be quieted A.S.A.P!
My ears are pretty sensitive as it is...loud music makes it 1,000 times worse.

Side note: Live concerts don't count. Except for that one small bar venue in Chicago where I saw Murder by Death with some friends. My ears were stuffy and ringing for days after that...worst feeling ever!

My husband loves his music loud - in the car, in the house (in a box, with a fox...). He enjoys rocking out, but knows that if I'm in the vicinity, I will more than likely turn it down to conversation-level. This frustrates him a bit, but he's gotten used to it (I think).
The only other person I have to work on is Peanut. If we're in the car and she hears a song she loves, she says, "Mama...button!" Which in her language means, "turn up the volume, lady...it's time to ROCK!"
Most of the time I'll do it, because I can control just how loud it gets. At home is a different story since she knows how to do it herself.

In this situation I have two choices:
1) Let her turn it up to her volume and just grin and bear it (or hide in another room of the house until she's done enjoying the song)
2) Fight with her over the volume and be subjected to the ear-piercing screeches she can produce.

((sigh))

She's only 2. I am fearing her teenage years.

More random

1. Our van succumbed to a faulty ignition coil...again (there are 6 on this vehicle. This was #3 to replace). For the first time it broke down in the state of Wisconsin, so we were able to send it to our favorite mechanic. He fixed it all up nice and purty and it's back in our hands.
(I'll skip over the part where ShankRabbit had to walk 2.5 miles to the nearest car rental place in dress shoes. Yeah...that's more his story to tell)

2. My brother-in-law and his wife are on a lovely vacation in Mexico right now. Aside from being super jealous, we get to watch their two bundles of snuggly doggy love while they are gone.
2b. I still can't believe dogs crap this much
2c. I do not care for 5:30am wake up calls
2d. No soft paper product is safe in this house
2e. But they are soft and cuddly...so it's ok

3. My kid has phased through several favorite movies. We were on a constant "Tinkerbell" kick for a while. Now we've moved on to "Toy Story." Every time I watch it I think back to the days when my cousin (who is a day away from coming home) was obsessed with it. His mom and I even made a birthday cake with Buzz Lightyear on it...complete with army men accents.

4. I'm hoping to report back soon on the status of our garden. We've spent the last several weeks trying to make seeds grow in our house for transplanting, but they are in a sorry state. I'm hoping we have more luck with seeds planted outside...which will happen by the weekend I'm guessing.

Several bits of crazy...er, random.

1. I am working on Craft Hope Project 7 (educational bean bags for schools in Liberia). I am having serious issues with odd numbers of bean bags. I can't make 9 or 11 bean bags...it has to be EVEN! So off I go to find suitable additions for the shape collection.

2. Today is my kid's 2nd day of dance class. I had to go out and buy a larger size leotard because the size 2-3 was way too small (what can I say? I gots a big kid). More fun stories to come about this class.

3. The day of my great uncle's funeral, I was talking with some of my relatives about being pulled over. They were telling me how they got out of tickets in the past (interesting what some people will do).

A few days later, I was pulled over and told the honest-to-jebus truth about why our plates our expired. I got a warning (and a firm reminder to get our car fixed and plates renewed). See?...telling the truth pays off too.

4. Remember about a year ago I shared with you the results of my medical mystery? Well, after a follow-up ultrasound it looks as though nothing has reduced in size (it's "persistent," as the nurse said). Now I'm scheduled to speak to my doctor next Wednesday about possible surgery. Ugh.

5. Ah ha! CRESCENT! And a 12th shape has been found. Happy dance!

6. My kid, my baby, my Peanut turned 2 on Monday. *tear*

7. I really really want to put our various vegetable seeds in the ground, but we still have some time to wait. Stupid frost times.

8. What purpose do slugs serve? I have found a couple in the soil of our future vegetable garden. Ew. I can handle earth worms...just not slugs.

Friday Laundry Adventures

Ah, Fridays. My newly dubbed Laundry Day. Some of you may think this is depressing, but I enjoy doing laundry. Even more so when I can take a couple hours out of my morning and get all the loads done at the laundromat.

(side note: we did our budget for April and looked at the monthly cost of taking our laundry to the laundromat. My goodness, it's a lot of money! It doesn't seem like much at the time, but it really adds up!)

Fortunately, I found a laundromat that's nearby, in good working order, and barely has any patrons on Friday mornings. I'm selfish antisocial cool like that.

The first time we showed up, the laundry attendant came over to us with a small basket full of toys. Peanut's eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and she said quietly under her breath, "wow."

These toys aren't anything special. A lot of them seem to be happy meal toys from various establishments, but by Peanut's reaction you'd think I just gave her the keys to a toy store.

Now that we've been going to this laundromat on a regular basis, she has developed her "favorites" from the toy bin. Let's look at the cast of characters (pardon the photos, but these were taken with my phone under the wonderful fluorescent lighting):



By far, one of Peanut's favorite toys. This toy car has taken many a journey across plastic chairs, washers, and occasionally off-roads on the buttons of the soda machine.


Another car. Not as big and impressive as the first, but this little guy can CRUISE! Often seen on adventures with the one pictured below.


This is the creepiest choice, but she loves it all the same. I get what it is supposed to be [Padme in a royal cruiser (I think? Forgive me if I botched my Star Wars vehicle labeling)], but it's a bobblehead. In a space ship with wheels. No matter...Peanut uses this as her "Super Why!" vehicle.
"Super readers...to the RESCUE!"



And no adventure would be complete without a ragtag group of heroes! I give you...
Angry Man!
Condescending Military Guy! (*pat* *pat* "that's OK Spidey...you tried your best")
and....
Spider Man!

And where does this group hang out in between daring adventures?


On the bible, of course.

When the last item is folded and we are ready to go, Peanut and I put the toys back in the bin and return them to the attendant. Once handed off, I am given this face in protest:


"Mama...I don't wanna GO!"

Though today was different. I think she has figured out we will come back next week (at least until we have a washer of our own).

A short post

What we did this morning:



What do you think the dirt smudge on her shirt means?

A. She's having fun playing "gardener" and asking for more water for her "wah can"
B. She tasted the fruits of her labor...even if it was only the dirt she was digging in
C. Water + dirt = fun mess
D. All the above

* * * * *
The kid is awake from her nap. Time to go play outside some more!

Census. Cultural Background. Panic.

I love filling out forms. I don't know why, but any time I have the opportunity to fill one out, I jump at the chance (4 patient information forms, front and back, in a doctor's office? OK!). So imagine my glee when we received our 2010 census form.

I was disappointed when I looked over the form. I thought there would be more to fill out than name, address, age and race of each person in my household...but that was it.

That wasn't going to kill my buzz though. I still had a form to fill out!

As I happily filled in information and made neat little X's in the appropriate boxes, I screeched to a halt when I reached the "race" portion in my section.



Such a simple question, not so simple an answer...at least for me.

I have a very mixed background, but the main ones are Sicilian (at least 25%, if not more), African American (25%) and Native American (not sure exactly how much - I'm pretty sure it's not 25%, but could be close).

Now I know when they say "Caucasian," this could describe Sicilian...so I was covered there. But do I make an X in the box next to African-American? And if I fill in the box next to American Indian (is that even a PC term?) they ask you to name your "enrolled or principal tribe." Uh...I'm not official with a card or anything, I just know it's in my background. Do I put an X next to "other" and make up some craaaazy new name for my mixed heritage, like Cablinasian (except, you know, with my races...so it'd be like Cablinducilian...or something)?

((sigh))

So, after much deliberation, I put an X next to Caucasian and an X next to African American.

Alright...moving on. Next up: Peanut.

...

Geez oh Pete! What do I put for HER?!

(Another tense deliberation)

I left her portion with just an X next to Caucasian.

* * * * *

I'm sure I will leave some census person confused when they read:

Head of household: Caucasian
Spouse: Caucasian and African American
Biological child: Caucasian


Yep. That's us.

You want more...what?

Waaay back in the day (OK, like 1.5 years ago), we were trying to find healthy, tasty, baby-friendly finger food options for Peanut. We were avoiding products with gluten until her first birthday, so the choices were rather limited. We happened upon something called Veggie Booty.

Observe:

photo courtesy of amazon.com.

It's perfect - gluten-free and full of veggies like spinach, kale, broccoli, and carrots. The texture is just like a cheesy poof, but better.
The veggie flavor is not too common around these parts (the cheese ones are made with "Wisconsin aged cheddar," so of course that's the one you find everywhere), but we've found a few places that always carry them.

Peanut LOVES them...and has ever since that first bag entered our household. Given any snack option in our house (no longer restricted to gluten-free), she will always choose these. We've tried the other flavors, but the family favorite is Veggie (even ShankRabbit gobbles these up).

[back to the point of this post]

Peanut is at an age where she verbally truncates her requests. For example, if she wants string cheese, she'll just ask for cheese (and is very clear with her displeasure if you pull the wrong cheese out of the fridge). If she wants a banana, she'll ask for a nana. Basically, asking for whatever the last word (or portion of the word) that comes out of your mouth.

Do you see where I'm going with this?

So, Veggie Booty...

"More booty?"

Uh...

At times, it sounds like she says "more buoy?" but she is working very hard on perfecting her pronunciation. 99% of the time her t's are crystal clear. I've tried changing the name to "veggie puffs" or "veggie nummies," but no such luck.

Someday soon I'm sure we'll be in a large, public place and she'll announce "more booty?" And in true toddler fashion, if it's not provided in .005 seconds, she'll repeat her request louder and clearer, "MORE BOOOOOTY?"


And what will my response be? "You mean, 'more booty, please.'"

House thoughts (not the TV show)

We will be closing on our first home in about 60 hours. We will be moving into said house in about 118 hours.*

.whoa.

* * * * *

ShankRabbit and I spent this past weekend packing, sorting, organizing, packing, laughing, packing. This state of "half-moving" that we are living in has made for one emotionally-fragile Peanut and mama. Throw in some serious teething and you've got a barrel of fun.

Not really.

Our daughter has made it known that in this time of boxed-up chaos, any teeny tiny change in her routine will send her into meltdown mode.
(see: Bedtime routine. ShankRabbit skipped over the short game of tag they play every night and went straight to story time. The world ended.)

* * * * *

I've had my issues with this house we are currently renting, (you can get an idea here) but I'm sure going to miss it. Every time I feel the least bit emotional about moving (this is the only home our daughter has ever known WAAAAHHHH...) I think of all the positives of the new place (um, hello FINISHED BASEMENT!).

So far, it's working.

* * * * *

Confession time: 95% of our bathroom items are packed up. This includes replacement cartridges for my razor (and the scary Cheapo Razors of Death. I'll tell you all about that another time). The one that is currently on my razor has seen better days. I'd probably get a closer shave with a spork.

Thank goodness it's winter. No one** has to be subjected to my hirsute chicken legs.

* * * * *

And with those pleasant thoughts, I bid you good night.

___________
* - please don't hold me to those numbers. My math is not the greatest.
** - aside from my poor husband.

It's starts early

I have a more meaningful post in the works about my experience the last 3 months, but it still needs some tweaking (a.k.a. I got a little long winded). Instead, I want to share a couple of funny tidbits from ShankRabbit during this time.

#1. This was one of his Facebook status messages:
There's so much of me that I see in her. Yet she thinks she can get away with using my tricks. I don't think so, sweetcheeks. Now go eat your toast or I'll throw you in the snow.

#2. An excerpt from an IM chat we were having. I really don't know how to set this up other than saying she's my kid - through and through.
-----
ShankRabbit:
I sit down with Peanut this morning in front of the open fridge
and I pull out the juice pitcher and the milk.
"Peanut... which one would you like... milk or juice?"
....
....
(.... = baby decisions)
"ju"
Okay...
As i'm putting the milk back, "no no no no..... mill"
um... okay... "you want milk?"
"OKAY!"
as i'm putting the juice back, "no no no no.... ju"
Grrr
"so you want juice?.. not milk? just juice?"
....
"ju. OKAY!"
So I'm putting the milk back and she smiles at me... "no no no .... mill"
So i said to her, "look... keep this up and I'm mixing them... then who will be smiling? huh? daddy will, that's who."
She looks at me with her frowny face... "no. mill."
and she let me put the juice back and pour her milk.
The end

I'm baaaaack!

I'm finally shaking the lazy dust off from the holidays. My last day at work was the 28th and I was as lazy as I could be* until this past Monday. ShankRabbit threw a curve ball at me on Friday when he got such a bad headache that he spent all day and night Friday and most of Saturday holed up in our room with the shades drawn and the door shut.
He rarely gets headaches - and never had a migraine before - so I am ordering him to the doctor (under the guise of him needing a physical anyway. If it was an appointment just for this headache he would never go).

* * * * *

It's official - we will be (hopefully**) buying our first home in a couple months. I've been looking at houses online for months now, but this is the real deal. You know, with loan people and real estate agents and such.

So...wish us luck!

* * * * *

I'm sure it comes as no surprise that Peanut is continuing to grow like a weed - both physically and developmentally. My favorite at the moment: she grabs my hand and says " 'mon...go walk?" [translation: C'mon. Let's go for a walk] and leads me to whatever she wants at the moment. 90% of the time it's for a cookie or cracker. Ah, she's so my child.

* * * * *

We're supposed to get 6-10 inches of snow on Thursday. I don't have much money to offer, but I'd be willing to make some awesome baked goods for anyone that would like to shovel / snow blow our driveway for me (ShankRabbit will not be here to do it). Any takers?

* * * * *

Time for coffee, y'all. I'm not making any promises, but I'm hoping my blog posts become a regular thing again. Wouldn't that be nice?
____________________
* - I'm the mom of a toddler. "Lazy" doesn't have the same definition as it did when I was single.
** - I'm sure things will go as planned, but I don't like to assume...lest Fate punches me in the face.

Dust is a good thing, right?

It comes as no surprise to me that my last post was almost a month ago. The last month has been crazy, lovely, stressful, fun, emotionally trying, tiresome...you know, the usual.

Happenings in our household:

• Lots and lots of sickness for everyone
• Work. Work. And more work.
• Trying to handle the ever-changing mood of Peanut - teeth, major routine change, and missing daddy and mommy create chaos of the unfun variety.
• Doubting decisions one minute, then fulling embracing them the next.
  

I'm hoping to have some Halloween photos posted soon, but the child is having a dance party right now. I never pass up a dance party.

Fall

There is just something so distracting about fall. Once the air starts getting cooler, I think "oh crap winter is almost here!" and I try to spend as much time outside as I can. This chick was not meant for cold weather (but I suck it up because I don't like the creepy-crawlies you guys got in the south. Give me wind chills and snow any day over a bug bigger than a quarter).

And that is why I haven't been around much. Well, that and booking our lives full of weddings, birthdays, garage sales and other commitments. August and September were a blur.

* * * * *
I will be starting work soon.* I am equal parts excited and frantic right now. I feel like there's so much to do before then. Same crazy feeling I get with the onset of fall, except with more sleepless nights and tension headaches.

In an effort to remain in one piece, I'm exercising my organizational skills. I have collected a bunch of slow cooker recipes** so we won't become regular customers of our local restaurants.
Hmm...that comment may lead one to think that I do all the cooking around here. I really don't - ShankRabbit takes on 95% of the cooking duties (voluntarily, mind you. He loves to do it). So really this recipe preparation is to ensure I don't have to cook after getting home from work. And that I can soak up as much Peanut time as I can before she heads to bed less than 2 hours later. Really, it's something I should have been doing eons ago.

* * * * *
My child is fun. Have I mentioned that before? Yes, there are wonderful moments with a baby and yadda yadda yadda...but now she's such a blast! She may have her dramatic moments of life not being fair (hey, if I can't play hopscotch with the DVDs, neither can you!)...but she's so much fun to be around. We have dance parties and color and cuddle and chase each other around the house. And when all is said and done and she's been tucked in for the night, not more than a couple hours goes by where I find I miss her.

How can you not miss this face?


Note: Give the child food and she'll let you do whatever to her hair.


This was taken at our garage sale last weekend. It's the beginning of October and we've already had to break out the winter coats. ShankRabbit, however, was running around in a cordoroy blazer and/or just his t-shirt. And I'm the one that's been getting sick. Grr...



She understands the concept of smiling for pictures. Here she is saying "cheese!"...or in her words "Theeeeeese!" As you can see she's starting to develop her mom's signature "hooknose" smile - hopefully she doesn't actually have a hooknose later in life. It's not pretty.

_____________________

* I just got word that A (the lady whose maternity leave I'm covering) went into labor early yesterday morning (30+ days early. Yikes!). I really should be starting work NOW, but since I can't leave the child at home, I have to wait until her official first day of daycare. Could you imagine the absolute brain-chaos I'd be experiencing if I had to start right now?

** I sufficiently scoured the CrockPot Lady's archives for yumminess and I could use a few more ideas. Have any recipes to share?

Ridin' the waves...

I'm usually one who embraces change. However, this time around the change that is happening is huge and throws my head into an angry sea of mixed emotions. And when my brain is swimming, I need to talk...or blog.

After taking the first 3 months of Peanut's life just to be with her, I returned to the work force part-time. Once Christmas hit (and with that, our awesome childcare) we decided I should be the stay-at-home parent.

Now, after nearly a year of 24/7 mom time, I will be working outside of the home again - full time (ok, so it's not 100% definite yet, but it's pretty close). If it weren't for the specific opportunity I've been presented, I wouldn't have given it a thought...so don't think this is something we HAVE to do.

Peanut is a toddler now. She is growing increasingly independent, she loves being social and would benefit from a group setting. Also, ShankRabbit will be dropping her off and picking her up from daycare each day, so she will get a lot more one-on-one time with daddy, which is awesome.

There are just so many positives to this new situation that the "other stuff" seems so insignificant...but they are still there. I won't even list them because I don't want to dwell.

((sigh))

I just have to come to grips with letting my "baby" go...letting her grow and develop into the lovely child she is quickly becoming. Just yesterday she learned how to carefully dip her french fry in ketchup and take a bite (after a few rounds of just licking the ketchup off, she figured it out). We visited a potential daycare facility this afternoon and she was there only 5 minutes before she wanted nothing to do with us and ran off to play with the toys and other kids.

It's hard for me, but I think when all is said and done I'll be more happy than sad.

* * * * *

In other big news, our best friends (one of which was Peanut's nanny for a while) are moving 6 hours away in a couple weeks. My thoughts? LALALALALALALALA...I CAN'T HEAR YOU! Yeah, I'm taking the adult approach to this other big change...

Random stuff

I'm all hopped up on productivity, so I thought I'd write a blog post (no, my BFF is not instructing me to write a post...nope, not at all)

First, I'd like to tell you all about the beautiful start to my morning. In half-consciousness, I hear a BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP (annoying yet? Because it sure was annoying the heck out of me). First thought - am I dreaming? No. Second thought - phone alarm? I certainly didn't set one and it was just after 7am - too early for ShankRabbit to wake up. Third thought - Smoke/Carbon Monoxide detector? Ohholyjebus, I'M AWAKE I'M AWAKE! Turns out, that wasn't the source. There's nothing like a little jolt of adrenaline to get your butt out of bed.

After about an ETERNITY (morning speak for 2 minutes or so), the beeping stopped. Followed shortly thereafter by the sweet, dulcet tones of a jackhammer.
(I later figured out that the beeping must have been the reversing sound of their work truck.)

This was all forgiven when I spied the guy manning the jackhammer do Michael Jackson-like moves trying to evade a bee. Quite comical.

After dropping the dear husband off at work, I took the long way to get on the highway. I wait at the light for it to turn green. I proceed into the intersection, ready to make a left hand turn, and I am greeted with the sounds of screeching tires and smoke to my left. Apparently, Mr. Pays-no-attention-to-the-road was about to speed right on through the red light...right into my van (well, technically, he would clipped the back end of a different car first, then me). I was very proud that the only thing to come out of my mouth was a very loud "OH CRAP!" I tend to go for more, uh...colorful words in the car.

Although my morning is not something I'd like to recreate, I'm more awake now that if I drank a whole pot of coffee. Let's give it up for adrenaline!

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Joshua Radin just came up on my Pandora station. I'm happy-dancing in my seat right now.

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I took Peanut to the Westown farmer's market yesterday. In addition to chasing pigeons and stopping to watch a juggler perform, she got a chance to bust-a-move to some live music. It was a lot more fun of a farmer's market than I'm used to - though my usual stop has more of a selection.
If it wasn't for the sticky heat and evil eyes from other mommys (apparently I was sitting a little too close to this mommy-groupmember's unmanned stroller. Hey lady, if you're going whisper and shoot glares for getting too close to your purse, then here's a thought: put it over your freaking shoulder and not hanging off the handle of your stroller! Didn't anyone ever tell you that if you make that face too much it might stay that way? Perpetually angry gofer is not a good look on you), we would have stayed longer.

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Big, big changes around the corner. Lots of stuff to think about that I'm sure I'll share with you all soon.

It's all about perspective

Our 15 month checkup for Peanut was rather uneventful. Yeah, she got a few shots at the end, but nothing her binky and a sticker couldn't soothe.
(and for those interested in her percentile range, it goes as follows - weight: 75%, height: 80%, head circumference: 95-97%...all still trending the same as it did when she was 2 months old. We gots a big kid!)

As I was sitting with the doctor discussing her current milestones, Peanut ran around the exam room, chatting away. She stopped me at one point and asked, "how many words does she know?! I think I've heard at least half a dozen!" I said, "I guess we've never really counted them before...uh [trying to think quickly] 15-20, maybe? Who knows." She responded with "wow, we expect about 3-5 words at this point. So, I don't think I need to tell you that she's doing really well. She's at a 2 year old level with her vocabulary."

Now, I am not saying this to rub it in anyone's face. I had to share this because...well, before this appointment we were a little concerned about her vocabulary. Not enough to send up red flags, but we thought she should be farther along. We had no idea where a 15 month old was supposed to "be" as we don't read those milestone charts you are bombarded with when you have a kid. We know if there was anything to be concerned about, the pediatrician would be quick to let us know.

Once this was brought to my attention, I started thinking about our daily interactions. And it hit me - she really does talk a lot (with and without purpose. She still babbles like the crazy cat lady on the Simpsons, but uses words all the time). A few examples:

While running around the house, "Da Daaaa! Weh are yoooou?"
When asked what she would like for lunch, "Hmmm...(goes to fridge and waits for you to open it up) - hot dog!"
Upon hearing a crying baby down the hall in the doctor's office: "Awww, baby..."
My personal favorite: When she wants up, she'll say "up!" When she wants down, she'll say, "up down!"

We have full conversations. She tells me what she wants and doesn't want. She understands what we tell her and will respond accordingly.

When you live it everyday, you just don't notice...

I get it...I'm not a young'un anymore

I went out last night. Normally, not something I would consider notable...except when I go out in Chicago. At 9:30pm. And lose track of time. And have to drive home afterward.

I'm exhausted, but surprisingly alert. I hope to have a big freakin' nap post up later detailing the events of last night.

Oh, in addition to my obvious sleep deprivation, Peanut has a doctor's appointment today and will receive her 15 month shots (shot? Shots? I'm not sure how many. All I know is that MMR is on the list. Fun times). For the first time in her life, daddy won't be there to hold her down hold her hand while she gets her shots. That part will be played by the understudy - me.

And here we go...

Random Wednesday

The past few weeks have been...life.
I don't know how else to describe them other that. There have been ups (how can you not enjoy a perfect sunny day?), there have been downs...but that's life. You know?

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I woke up this morning to the wonderful sounds of Peanut who, upon seeing me round the corner, took out her binky just long enough to sign for "food." A whole banana, a piece of toast, and half a bowl of cereal (adult-size...as this was originally my breakfast) later, she was finally full. A mere 2 hours later, she wanted a snack. Hmm...can we say growth spurt?

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I wrote up a post about someone I was not very happy with...but in the end, decided not to publish it (I'm certainly glad I got it out...even if no one will read it). Since I don't want to leave you wondering who is ruffling my feathers (it's not an easy feat), I will share this little bit with my readers...
My father's side of the family INVENTED manipulation and guilt trips. I can hear one comin' a mile away. So, if your intention is to have me emotionally check-out with you and doubt your words/actions, then by all means...send one my way. I'll point to center field and knock it out of the park every time.

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I had very painful deja-vu this morning. I was just sitting on our couch, sipping my coffee, watching Sesame Street with Peanut when I shifted my position ever-so-slightly - resulting in throwing out my neck/back. Again. Same time of day, same situation, same debilitating pain.

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To all the people getting ready for BlogHer: I wish everyone good weather and safe travels.