Magic Thumb

Two days ago I came home from work to find the Phebis doing this:

At first I was unsure of how I felt about it. I mean, the Boogie had a binky and I'll be honest, I thought it was kinda cute. Plus, it was up to me whether she had it or not. If it got dirty I could keep it away from her. When it came time to break the binky habit we weaned her off of it and then just took it away. The downside was that it took many months before she was old enough and coordinated enough to find it in the dark at night and put it in her own mouth.

I can't take a thumb away. I sucked my fingers till I was five or six (I think) and I can remember trying to stop. I'm trying to think ahead, you know. But you can't lose a thumb ... and it can't fall out of a car seat or stroller onto the ground ... or fall out of the crib and get kicked underneath in the middle of the night ... and you don't have to worry about having a spare in the diaper bag ... AND ...

... twice yesterday I laid the Phebis in her crib and she looked at her mobile for a while, got sleepy, turned on her side, stuck her thumb in her mouth, and went to sleep. Just like that! Last night she was awake for a bit after we went to bed but instead of her fussing and me shoving the binky in her mouth multiple times, she kicked around in her crib and sucked on her thumb until she went to sleep. Then she slept all night. I'm not kidding, people. She didn't wake me up even one time. I woke up at six and when I checked on her she was sucking her thumb and dozing! I had to wake her up to feed her! The thumb is magic, I tell you. MAGIC.

So. I'm thinking this thumb business is not so bad after all. Maybe in a few months we can wean from thumb to binky? That might just be the best of both worlds.

A Day At The Zoo

You know how sometimes you get an idea and it seems really great ... and then turns out NOT to be so great? That was my day yesterday.

Monday was really beautiful with moderate temperatures and low humidity. When I woke up yesterday morning it seemed that it was going to be another lovely day. I didn't have to work. MIL and FIL were going to be away most of the day. So I decided that I could maybe, probably, most likely handle going to the zoo by myself with the girls. We have a year-long pass and have only been able to use it a couple of times so far. What other perfect way to spend a lovely day than walking around outside looking at exotic animals?

So, I packed some snacks and water bottles and stocked the diaper bag with diapers and wipes.

I put the Phebis in her carseat and hauled it and all our other stuff outside. I put her in the shade and told the Boogie to stay close while I unloaded the single stroller and a pack'n'play from my trunk, then maneuvered the (huge, heavy) double-stroller into my trunk. Turns out that it won't fit unless the wheels come off. Made sure I had the Snuggli baby carrier in case the Phebis decided she didn't like to ride in the stroller.

Okay, that's done.

Drove to Wawa to get gas. The Phebis fussed in the back because she was hot. Finally got on the road at 11:45 ... forty-five minutes later than I'd planned. Oh well. No big deal. We had all day! What's the hurry?

Drove to My Man's work to get the zoo pass and the GPS.

Drove to the zoo. Or, as the Boogie calls it, the "azoo." Parking lots were packed so I had to park a little further away than I'd hoped. Sat in the car with the a/c running and fed the baby. Then left both girls in the car with the air on while I maneuvered the (huge, heavy) double stroller out of the trunk, figured out how to open it up, loaded it with our stuff. Put both girls in it. Flipped the infant seat over and covered the Boogie's car seat with a towel so the sun wouldn't shine directly on them making them unbearably hot. Turned the car off, locked it, walked to the zoo.

By then it was 1:00. I wanted to leave at 3:00 to avoid traffic. Before I unbuckled the Boogie I told her, "It is one o'clock right now. We have to leave at three o'clock. You may get out of the stroller but you must stay right by me." She was perfect the whole time; she never whined or complained and she held onto the stroller unless I told her she could run ahead or go look at something.

We started walking. The Phebis started to cry. Binky was no good, she wanted out. Of course I forgot the Snuggli in the car so I carried her in one arm and pushed the (huge, heavy) stroller with one hand. I figured I would avoid any buildings and therefore any doors but forgot that the big cats exhibit had a couple of buildings you have to walk through. Thankfully there was always someone nice to open the doors for me.

We walked around for about an hour. It was pretty warm. Finally the Boogie was hungry so we found some shade and ate our sandwiches. The Phebis cried whenever I tried to put her down. I changed her diaper and when we started walking again she conked out and I was finally able to put back in the stroller. Whew, that child is heavy.

I kept giving the Boogie time warnings so she would have plenty of time to prepare herself for when we left. The last thing we did was sit in the shade and watch the big channel six news balloon go all the way up and come all the way down. We both needed to use the bathroom before we left -- how in the world was I going to get the (huge, heavy) stroller into a stall? I found a handicapped bathroom and a nice lady held the door for me.

The Boogie got back into the (huge, heavy) stroller and we walked back to the car. I started it and turned on the a/c and put both girls in while I loaded everything up. I got in and closed the doors and fed the baby. It was so hot even with the air on. Buckled both girls into their seats. The Phebis cried because she was hot. I turned on the GPS to get us home. We left at 3:45, forty-five minutes later than I'd planned.

I missed my turn onto the freeway and the GPS lady began "recalculating route." She sure said that a bunch of times over the next fifteen minutes while I tried to get to where I needed to be. Every time GPS lady would say "turn left" or "turn right" the Boogie would repeat it from the back seat: "Turn left, Honey!" I finally got on the freeway headed in the right direction. There was some traffic but not too bad.

The girls fell asleep. After a while I stopped to get myself some lemonade since we'd finished off the water I packed. I think the lemonade was diet. Gross. But it was cold and wet.

I made it home. Ahh ...

It was a day of a lot of fuss and bother for a couple of warm hours at the zoo. I would do it differently the next time that I go by myself: take the single stroller and the Snuggli and let the Boogie walk; plan ahead and go first thing in the morning before it gets too warm; pack more water. I think next time the grandparents might go, though, so that will make it a lot easier for me!

The Boogie had fun, though! And that was the important thing. I enjoyed our time together. She sure is a sweet and fun little girl.

"Hey Honey, Guess What?"

A few months ago MIL took the Boogie and me to a concert that SIL3 was singing in. It was at the college where SIL3 attended. The Boogie had been there a few other times with her Auntie. Ever since then on an almost daily basis we have had this conversation (often multiple times a day; and she has it with other people, too, using their names) with variations:

Boogie: "Hey Honey, guess what?"
Me: "What?"
B: "I'm gonna go to Auntie's school tomorrow!"

After my sister came to visit:
B: "Hey Honey, guess what?"
M: "What?"
B: "I'm gonna go to Auntie's school tomorrow, and Auntie Vee too!"
This was said with the exact same voice inflection every single time and lasted the longest of any of the variations, probably several weeks. 

Then there was this one:
B: "Hey Honey, guess what?"
M: "What?"
B: "I'm gonna go to my school tomorrow. I'm gonna ride on the big, old, large bus to my school. The big, old, large school bus. It's yellow." (For some reason the adjective "old" is used to describe many, many things. I don't know what she thinks it means, but she obviously thinks it's something good.)
M: "Oh, well, when you're five years old you will start school and we're going to have it at our house. You're going to go to our home school and I will be your teacher!"
B: "You will be my teacher?"
M: "Yep!"
B: "And Daddy too?"
M: "Sure, and Daddy too."
B: "Oh. When I'm five?"
M: "Yes, when you're five."
B: "Oh. A home school?"
M: "Yep, a home school, right in our house."

And a few days later:
B: "Hey Honey, guess what?"
M: "What?"
B: "I'm gonna go to my school tomorrow. Not a home school. Just a school. And I'm gonna ride on the big, old, large school bus to my school." We heard that one several times.

A week or so ago it went like this:
B: "Hey Honey, guess what?"
M: "What?"
B: "I'm gonna go to my school tomorrow. It's way far away."
M: "Oh, really?"
B: "Yayuh. It's way over dere, by the bafroom."

We went to the library where she met a little girl and promptly informed her that she would be going to her school tomorrow. The little girl responded with, "I'm going to go to kindergarten." The Boogie was intrigued. On our way home from the library the variation was as follows:
B: "Hey Honey, guess what?"
M: "What?"
B: "I'm gonna go to my school tomorrow! I'm gonna go to pembergarden!"

That is the latest one. I wonder what she'll come up with next?

Little Things

God has promised to provide us with everything with have need of; however, He often provides us with the little things we don't need but rather want.

I wanted a crib mobile for the Phebis. SIL1 has one that I borrowed for the Boogie when she was very small. This time I wanted to use a gift card I had received to purchase one. My specifications were:
1. Brightly colored
2. Plays music
3. Battery-operated instead of wind-up
4. Under $30

I started searching online and soon found that I could easily find a mobile that met the first three requirements but definitely not the fourth. Yesterday on a whim we drove to Babies R Us. I thought I would check out their clearance aisles and see if I could find a mobile there.

We spent quite a bit of time looking through all the crib bedding sets with matching mobiles but nothing was quite what I wanted. Then we made our way to the mobile aisle and those were more like what I was looking for but were quite a bit more than I wanted to spend. One in particular kept catching my eye.

There was only one and I couldn't find a price for it on the shelf. Based on the other ones I figured it was probably comparatively high but finally I picked it up and asked My Man to find a price scanner. When he came back he raised his eyebrows and said, "Do you really want to know how much?" Then he dropped it into the cart and said, "Twenty bucks."

I couldn't believe it! I was thrilled! We came home and put it all together (of course we forgot to buy batteries to My Man had to make a Walmart run) and it is fantastic. It even has a remote so that we can turn it on or off from across the room so the Phebis can't see us. I looked it up on Amazon.com and they have it on sale for $54.95 down from $69.99! And we got it for twenty bucks! I guess it was the last one they had and they were clearancing it out. The Phebis is entranced by it and the Boogie is constantly turning it on and off.

God is so good to us!

Wordless Wednesday

Check-Up Time!

I took both girls to the pediatrician yesterday. The Boogie was overdue for her 3-year-old check-up, and the Phebis needed to have her 2-month. As we were getting ready to leave the sky was very dark and FIL said he would pull my car around front in case it started raining. Sure enough, as soon as he walked out the door the clouds parted and it began to POUR. I don't think they were raindrops, actually. I think there were some spigots turned on up there. He helped me get both girls into the car and by the time we were all in everyone was pretty soaked. (So much for washing and drying my hair right before we left.) I had to drive around the block in order to head in the right direction and as soon as I came around the last corner the downpour slowed by about half! Figures.

Considering the Boogie's latest obsession with doctors and hospitals and being hurt, you can imagine how tickled she was to be going to see the doctor for a check-up. We talked multiple times about how the doctor would listen to her heart and look in her ears and at her eyes. The Phebis had her check-up first and got her first round of shots. The Boogie's eyes got very big and she covered her ears as the baby wailed. Then the doctor said, "Okay now it's your turn!" and the Boogie looked very alarmed. We had to reassure her several times that she did not have to get any shots!

Both girls look great and these are their stats.

Boogie:
3 years and 3 months old
30 pounds
36 inches (3 feet) tall
She is in the 25th percentile for height and weight, right in keeping with where she has always been.

Phebis:
10 weeks
13 lbs 11 oz.
24.5 inches
She is in the 97th percentile for height and weight. What a big girl!

Summertime

Summertime

and the livin' is easy

Fish are jumpin'

and the cotton is high

Oh, your daddy's rich

and your ma is good-lookin'

So hush, little baby,

don't you cry.

*DuBose Heyward

Life has been good at 52. We've been here three weeks already! It has gone by very quickly.

The Boogie loves being here. In the morning she goes in search of her grandparents. One morning she woke me up asking if she could go find Pop-pop. I said she could, not thinking that he might not be in the house. He was in fact outside watering before the day warmed up too much and she just opened up the back door and went outside looking for him. Praise the Lord he was out there! There is now a door-knob cover on the door so she cannot escape again.

She has been able to play in the wading pool several times a week and loves it. Finally she seems to have gotten over her apprehension of water on her face and will fearlessly dump a bucketful of water over her head. 

The Boogie's latest fascination is with doctors and hospitals and being hurt. Several weeks ago she saw a picture of a little boy who had broken his leg. She saw pictures of him in the hospital before his cast was put on as well as afterward with the cast. She has become obsessed! She tells us all the time that she is hurt; usually it is her leg or foot but sometimes it will be her arm. Always she has to go to the hospital. The other day some cousins were over and she followed them around asking to play doctor (she was, of course, the patient.) Last week FIL took a spill off of a ladder and sprained his ankle pretty badly -- you can imagine how tickled the Boogie was to see her Pop-pop wearing an ace bandage on his foot! She was delighted when I found a bandage to wrap her leg in.

She still says funny things every day. Tonight in the car she was telling us about getting a burrito from "Talker Bell." I think that is a combination of Taco Bell and Tinker Bell. They are easily confused, right? Meanwhile if she sees a picture of Tinker Bell she calls her Twinkle Bell. 

Whenever we leave anywhere she asks, "Where we go next?" Tonight when we said we were going home she moaned and groaned, "Nooooo, I don't wanna go hooooome." So her daddy asked her where she wanted us to drop her off. She thought for a minute. "I wanna go to Wawa." When asked why she said, "Bycuz I need to get some ... [long pause] coffee."

Last weekend we went to a wedding. Of course the Boogie wanted to know where we were going, so I told her that we were going to see our friends Mr. N and Miss A get married. "Where's Married?" the Boogie asked. 

"No, Married is not a person," I tried to explain (how DO you explain marriage to a 3-year-old? It is quite the abstract concept to their minds.) "Daddy and I are married. Mom-mom and Pop-pop are married. Aunt and Uncle are married," etc. 

"Ohhhh," she nodded knowingly. "And me and H-man are married?"

I gave up and told her that she was going to see Miss A in a princess dress. That was distracting for a few minutes but then she asked again where Married was ... and continued to ask for the next couple of days. Oh well. 

It was a really lovely wedding and so exciting to see God's hand in bringing the bride and groom together!

The Phebis is growing and growing. I weighed myself alone and holding her to get a rough idea of her weight -- fourteen pounds! Goodness. Both girls have check-ups on Monday so I will post the real stats then. The Phebis has gotten a bit more control of her hands this week and manages to get them into her mouth more consistently. The last several days she has been awake more during the day and has been very happy and content. I can't help but wonder if it's because she can finally suck on those elusive fingers she has been wanting so badly. It will be interesting to see if she is a binky-lover or a thumb/finger sucker. She is starting to notice things around her. There is a musical toy in her crib that she will stare and coo at for a long time. She loves her big sister and lights up when she hears the Boogie talking or singing. She loves face time, as her Mom-mom says, and will smile and gurgle and coo back at us when we talk to her.

I went back to work on July 5. I worked two days last week which was nice, and then my regular three days this week plus this morning. So far it seems to be working out fine. Thankfully the Phebis will take a bottle. I'm sure it would make for some miserable afternoons around here if she refused to!

Our friends the R family moved away. We were sad to see them go but we know they will have a wonderful time at their new duty station in Germany. We're excited to see pictures and hear about their adventures in Europe.

The other night we went with my office to a Riversharks game in Camden. My boss takes us every year! It's really fun. Last year the Boogie was very afraid of the mascot so the Doctor bought her a little stuffed one and she loves it. This year she got to pick out a couple more toys so now her Shark has a friend.

And now ... picture overload. Here are some that SIL1 took at the wedding. I love these of the Boogie and the Phebis.

And this is a picture that I found while packing; it is me with my mom. Not very good quality because it is a photograph of a photograph behind glass, but you get the idea. I think the Phebis looks a LOT like I did!

 Often I just have my phone instead of my camera nearby so these are not great quality.

At 52

Ahhhh, here we are at last. The packing is over, the moving is over, our stuff is in storage, and we are established at 52. We've been here a week and thanks to MIL I have been able to catch up on some much-needed sleep. The first two nights were horrible with the Phebis -- I don't know if I inadvertently consumed some caffeine, or too much sugar, or what the deal was, but I pulled a couple of back-to-back all-nighters with that child. I seriously do not remember having nights like that with the Boogie. But her Mom-mom saved my sanity by keeping her awake for a couple of evenings in a row which in turn caused her to sleep several hours at night. I'm hoping and praying that this trend continues and that we can get into a good routine. I have been able to sleep in every morning as well because as soon as the Boogie wakes up she makes a beeline for her grandparents who snuggle with her and make her breakfast and entertain her. I'm telling you, it has been nice for this mama!

SIL1 and SIL3 helped us clean our apartment which was a HUGE blessing. MIL kept the baby for a few hours each day so I could work uninterrupted. We turned in our apartment keys on Wednesday. It was so strange to see the apartment empty. It was a good place for us to live and we liked it just fine -- it was the neighbors that made us desperate to leave! Oh well ... I guess you never know what kind of neighbors you will get.

The closing on our house has been postponed yet again. The oil tank was leaking so there has to be soil cleanup and that is what we are waiting on.

I go back to work on Monday. It was a nice long maternity leave and I'm grateful to work at a place where my employer allows it and my coworkers cover for me. Living at 52 will hopefully make the transition a little easier as MIL is going to keep both girls for us.

I know I've been slack in posting pictures of the girls. I have a couple of good ones but they are on the other computer so I'll have to post them next time. The Phebis is growing like a weed. I foolishly allowed the bin of next-size-up clothes to go to storage, thinking there was no way she would outgrow in just a few weeks what I had packed to bring to 52. One week later I cannot even snap her onesies and had to buy some! She is just getting cuter and rounder.

I need to get back in the habit of writing down what the Boogie says because she cracks me up all the time. She has begun stating the obvious in the form of a question, like this:
We pull into the church parking lot. The Boogie asks, "Are we here at church?"
I ask her, "Well, are we?"
"Yes, we are!" she says.
"Then why did you ask?"
"Bycuz we're here," she tells me.

She has started telling us knock-knock jokes that are not even remotely funny. In fact she fills them with made-up words then laughs hysterically. I tried to teach her some new ones but unfortunately only one stuck:
"Knock-knock!"
"Who's there?"
"Flip!"
"Flip who?"
"Flip-flop! Hahahahaha!"
It gets pretty old after a while.

This morning she asked me, "Do burritos live in trees?"
"Do they?" I asked her back.
"No," she chuckled, "they live in Taco Bell!"
 Well, of course they do.