A Little Tweaking

Adelie has learned how to blow her nose.  She does it well.  It's a very useful skill.  But she doesn't seem to understand that a Kleenex is generally part of the equation.  If she's throwing a face-down-on-the-floor fit, she'll blow her nose on the carpet.  If I'm holding her, she'll use my shirt.  And if nothing is available, she'll just use her hand.  It's a good skill, but it could use a little tweaking.

Old Age

I don't worry about getting older.  The fact that my 37th birthday is quickly approaching doesn't phase me.  I may argue with my husband when he says that 37 is late 30's and not mid-30's.  (I still think it's mid.)  Would I prefer to have less gray hair?  Sure.  (Although I don't really blame that on age.  I blame that on my dad.  :))  Would I be okay with my 20 year old skin?  Body?  Abs?  You bet!  I realize how the years have passed when kids I used to baby-sit for have their own kids.  When some of the first children I saw in therapy are graduating from high school.  When kids who were born in 1998 are driving.  But all things considered, I don't feel old.

Well, until I went to the doctor this morning and got diagnosed with SHINGLES.  You know, that disease that you associate with those individuals over 65.  The one that you are likely to get if you live to be over 85.  Yup.  That's the one I've got.

Last week, I started having some low back pain and some tingling/numbness/itching to go along with it.  I attributed it to running while pushing the girls in the double stroller.  But it didn't go away, it didn't really feel like musculo-skeletal pain, and then I noticed what I thought was a bug bite in the midst of the problem region.  I started wondering if I got some weird spider bite or Lyme disease or some other random bug toxin coursing through my body causing my pain, so I went to my doctor to ease my mind.  But shingles???  Was not expecting that.

I still feel energetic.  Youthful.  Fun.  I don't think 37 is old.  In my mind, I still feel like I'm in my 20's.  But apparently my body thinks I'm 65.

Life with Adelie

This morning after church, I was upstairs changing the sheets for laundry day while Zach was starting lunch in the kitchen with the girls.  Adelie was playing with letter magnets on the refrigerator while Staley was standing on her big (2-step, ladder-type) step-stool at the kitchen counter helping Zach mix the pancake batter.  Staley needed to use the bathroom, so she climbed down and headed into the bathroom.  She called for Zach to help her get onto the potty.  By the time Zach returned to the kitchen (30-40 seconds later), Adelie had abandoned her magnets, climbed up Staley's step-stool, and was standing on the top step of the stepstool, a measuring cup in each hand, playing in the pancake batter.

And that, my friends, is life with Adelie.

Who Is She?

At 13 months, my Adelie is...

A climber

(The first time she did this, she was halfway up the ladder before I realized what she was doing.  There is nothing that she won't try to climb.  She has no fear.)

A walker

(She is a steady, sturdy, all-the-time walker now.)

A pretender

(She loves to sweep, feed her baby dolls, put on necklaces, and 'talk' on the phone.)

A wild one

(She loves to climb, empty shelves, eat things she finds on the ground, wrap things around her neck, walk quickly away from me when we are outside, play on the steps, and generally engage in activities that make me nervous...and then scream about being removed from these activities.)

Happy

(Unless she is being removed from one of the above-mentioned activities, she is one happy little girl.)

Sweet

(Adelie loves to give hugs, share her toys, and blow kisses.  And she always has a smile for everyone.)

Funny

(Adelie loves to make us laugh.  She will fall over, put random things on her head, growl, spit, and tackle her sister.  If anything she does makes us laugh, she'll do it over and over and over again.  I sense a class clown in our future.)

Easy

(Yes, she's active and into everything.  That's not always easy.  But she is a great eater, a good sleeper, and easily entertained.  She likes to go on outings, and is generally happy to hang out in her stroller or a shopping cart.  She likes being around people, happily staying in the church nursery or with her baby-sitter.  Active, yes.  But also easy.)

She is Adelie.  My adventurous, wild, happy, funny, sweet, active, adorable little toddler.  She fills my life with joy...and a few extra gray hairs.

Question of the Day

Which would you rather have me post?

A cute, sweet picture like this of my delightful little girl?

Or a blog about this sweet face all splotchy and red from melting down when I inadvertently put her hair into a high ponytail braid instead of a low ponytail braid?

Because, unfortunately, both were a part of our day.

Cinderella

One of the things that I find most fun about the girls getting older is there are more and more activities that they can do.  A few weeks ago, I took Staley to see the Cinderella ballet.  (The last time Zach came with me to a ballet, he commented that it was 2 hours of his life that he'll never get back.  Needless to say, he stayed home with Adelie.)  My mom was a ballerina when she was younger (and has taught Staley a few ballet moves), so she joined us for a fun girl's outing.

Since it was a special Staley day, she got to choose where we ate.  However, since her choice was (of course) McDonald's, we instead went through the drive-through, got her a Happy Meal, and then were THOSE people who take a McDonald's Happy Meal into another restaurant.

At lunch with Grammie

Staley enjoyed the ballet.  For a performance with no talking and no singing, Staley followed the story pretty well.  When Cinderella would leave the stage, Staley would always ask where she had gone or when she'd be back.  She asked lots of questions about what different characters were doing or why they were acting a certain way or where they had gone.  And for a performance with no talking and no singing and some unnecessarily L-O-N-G dance sequences (even I was getting a little antsy with a few of the scenes), Staley attended to the performance really well.

Waiting for the show to begin

However, the highlight for Staley was getting to meet the dancers after the play.  She met the fairy godmother, the stepsisters, and the stepmother.  But the kicker?  She got to meet Cinderella AND sit in the pumpkin carriage.  Winner, winner!!

Holding the fairy godmother's wand

Posing with the stepmother

Beautiful and graceful?  Yes.  Evil?  Not so much.

Chilling with Cinderella in the pumpkin carriage

I love enjoying my little girls being little.  But as they grow, I look forward to more of these special days and the memories of the fun activities that we can share.

My Mind's Picture

Sometimes I don't have my camera with me.  (Not often.  But sometimes.)  And so I have to take a visual snapshot of moments that make me smile.

During my run this morning, Staley wanted to get out of the double stroller and run with me.  So as I'm running and pushing Adelie in the stroller, Staley is running slightly in front of me along the paved path through the woods.  She's wearing a big, floofy tutu with a sparkly flower bow in her hair.  She's holding 3 wilty dandelions in each hand.  She has good running form, pumping her arms back and forth as she is moving along quickly with long strides that make her look so grown up to me.  And she's looking down as she runs, weaving back and forth across the path.  As she's running, she tells me, "I have to look at my feet when I'm running to see how fast I'm going."

Watching my little girl, all gussied up as if she's going to a party, pumping her arms back and forth while keeping a tight grip on her dandelions as she races along the path was one of those moments where I wish I had a camera.  But since I didn't, I took a mental picture...and I'm recording it here.