Ouch

Let me just start by saying that today ended up MUCH better than it started out.

Chris had to travel up north today, which means that he got up SUPER early. Normally that is not a problem, but this morning it seemed to throw the rest of the morning into a slight tailspin.

It all started with Kona being obnoxious and whining for breakfast around 6am (an hour early). So in order to not wake the toddler, I got up to take her downstairs.

Somehow (I'm still not sure how) I totally biffed the steps and fell down the entire flight of stairs to the main floor.  Thankfully the stairs are carpeted, but the landing was hard wood.  I (miraculously) was fine- I'll no doubt have some soreness and bruises tomorrow, but it could have been much worse.  I have been freaked out of falling down those stairs since I was pregnant, and even more freaked out once I started carrying Callie up and down them.  This morning it was just me.  Thank goodness.

After feeding Kona and a quick shower, the toddler was awake.  At 6:15am (45 minutes early).  Yelling out "Mommy! Mommy!"

Sigh.  No leisurely getting ready time for this girl.

I managed to get the both of us ready and out the door in time to drop her off with G-pa.

The day started looking up after work.  We met Kylie and Calvin at MOA for some walking, dinner, and lego playing. Then Cal and I had a fun time, just the two of us, riding some rides at Nick Universe.

Legos

Blues Clues ride

Horsey! Horsey!

Swiper's Car

Now I'm listening to the crazy toddler (who is supposed to be sleeping) over the monitor.  She is starting to work the system.  I can just imagine her thinking, BABBLE BABBLE BABBLE! If I talk long enough, Mommy and Daddy will come see me! BABBLE BABBLE BABBLE!

So we need to figure out how to switch up the system so she can no longer work it.

Wish us luck.

Weekend Wrap-Up

It was a really long week last week, so I was very much looking forward to a fun, chill weekend.  It was just that.

Friday
We met friends for dinner (where I ordered a margarita that I was thinking about all day long) and watched the T-Wolves game.

Saturday: Sewing Day!
Cathleen and I have been working on making p.j. pants for ourselves for awhile now...and we finally finished them yesterday.  Thankfully we had G-ma's help (and G-pa on toddler duty), and got to make a little pair of matching pants for Callie too.  It was a blast!

Callie also showed off her reading skills by reading to G-ma and Shorty.



Later, Chris and I got to go out to dinner (a new fancy place in our neighborhood) while Dan and Anna babysat.  It was weird to eat a meal without worrying about entertaining a crazy toddler.  And kind of great.  Callie decided to use the hour that we were gone to poop, so Dan and Anna got the joy of dealing with that.  Auntie Yoda- you're really due for one now! :)

Sunday
We decided to do a family baking project- Blueberry Muffins!  And by baking, I actually mean putting together some sort of baking MIX.  We're not that fancy, though I'm told actual muffin baking isn't that difficult (right, Boom?).  Anyway, we got the stuff and got to work:

Mix and Stir

Add the blueberries

Get the muffin cups ready

Watch them bake

Yum!

I'll let her tell you about it...well.  She sort of talks about it.  Mostly she is just focused on eating it.  She also mentions chicken and I have no idea where that came from.



This afternoon we went to the condo and hung out with Boom and Bops.

Then my dad and I went to the T-Wolves game and saw them come close to beating the Lakers.  Thanks Dad!

Oh man...I feel like I need another day off.  While doing a good job of having fun and relaxing, I didn't so much do a good job of actually getting stuff done around the house. 

Oh well.

iMonster

Our 2-year-old is better at using the iPhone and iPad than I am, probably.

You'd be amazed.  She will walk up to Chris' phone or the iPad (if we forget to hide it), unlock the screen, scroll around until she finds You Tube or Netflix, and start up Dora or Mickey Mouse or Frosty the Snowman videos.

We've kind of created a little bit of a monster though.  A genius little iMonster who loves apple products. 

So we have had to start enforcing some ground rules.  If she asks (and it has to be nicely) to see the iPad or iPhone, we usually are able to get away with setting the kitchen timer for 10 minutes or so before actually letting her at the electronic of choice.  In the mean time, she is FORCED to play with her gazillion toys.  Poor baby.

When she hears the timer go off, she knows it is time. And off she goes, getting herself into Frosty or Dora or Mickey with a few touches of the magic screen.

Then, in order to avoid a major yelling-screaming-dramatic-freak-out-session when we say time is up, she has to be the one to push the circle button and turn it off.  It's all about structure and consistency when it comes to toddlers, right?

Even though she's our little iMonster, she is still happy playing the "old fashioned way" most of the time...non-electronic toys and all!

Weekend Wrap-Up: The 25 Month Old Edition

It is the 22nd. A certain toddler is now 25 months old!

We had a fun weekend. We also continue to get used to this terrible 2-year-old phase.  It comes with SO. MUCH. DRAMA.

Friday
Speaking of drama, this sums up my Friday morning.

Sometimes you just gotta laugh and take a picture.

I had already planned to drop Callie of at my mom's a little before nap time so I could have some "me" time.  She was, of course, just fine for my mom.  I got coffee, a pedicure, and some new clothes.  It was a lovely few hours for everyone involved.

Friday night we went to a carnival that Mari's boyfriend Josh recommended we go to.  It was great.  Callie got to dance a little bit, play a "snowball" game, and make a penguin bookmark.

Saturday
We headed to the condo on Saturday morning.  We went on a little outing to the Guthrie, so Cal could run around and be the well-cultured toddler that she is.

Endless bridge with Bops...brrr!

Hanging in the Guthrie

 That night we went to G-ma and G-pa's house and did lots of playing and reading...and even some tapping.

Playing with Lami

Reading with G-ma

Reading with G-Pa

Bandana hats with Daddy and Kona

Sunday
We had a SUPER fun outing this morning to the Como Zoo and Conservatory.  We got there shortly after it opened, so it seemed like we had the place to ourselves at first.  Callie had an awesome time seeing all the toys for the animals.  Did you think I was going to say animals?  Nope, she was way more excited about things like the balls in the penguin exhibit.  Or the toys in the monkey exhibits.

Daddy talking smack to the monkey

Hello Seal!

Big Polar Bear

The Zoo in the Winter

Callie and the Red Poinsettas

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at home.  We had a successful potty chair experience!  Nothing spells motivation for a toddler like Mickey Mouse on the ipad (while on the pot) and a sucker (reward for pee in the pot!).

Look Mommy.  I peed in the potty!

 Auntie Cat came over for dinner, so they had fun being silly together.

And the evening ended with the most gigantic blowout we've had in a long time.  (Back story: Toddler hadn't pooped for like 4 days.  So today I had the *genius* idea to put baby food prunes in the freezer and call it ice cream.  Toddler loved it.  3-4 hours later...success.) 

Tired

I haven't been home much (2 nights of conferences) to have enough material to blog this week...and now I'm tired.  And cold.  I know we have been super spoiled this winter, but dang.  It is cold out there.

Anyway, here are couple cute pictures of Callie with my principal's daughter, taken tonight when Chris and Cal stopped by to see me at work.

That's all I got. Hopefully my blogging writer's block will end with the long work week. I have another 3-day-weekend, so I'll be back to spending time with my muse.

Weekend Wrap-Up: The "How Do You Ask Nicely?" Edition

We are in the phase of I WANT WHAT I WANT AND I WANT IT RIGHT NOW!

It is fun.

So, we spent the weekend hearing a lot of "JUICE! JUICE! JUICE!" or "FROSTY SNOWMAN!" or "BOOK! BOOK! BOOK!" and we did a lot of "How do you ask nicely?"

Other weekend highlights:

Thursday
We had a fun birthday dinner for Grandma.  Callie enjoyed not being in her high chair most of the time.  She went on a lot of walks around the restaurant with multiple people at this table.

 

Friday
My first experience with a public toddler melt down.  We went to dinner with Dave, Cherilyn and Sydney and had a lovely time.

Then raisins were dumped on the floor.  Then a certain toddler didn't want to be in her high chair any more.  Than a certain toddler wanted to eat a raisin off the gross floor.  Then a certain Mean Mom said "No" and took it away.  Then a certain toddler screamed "Birds! Birds!" and FREAKED OUT.  (Backstory: Over the summer if we were eating outside and something fell on the ground, we'd say "It's okay, the birds will eat it."  It has stuck for anything that falls inside as well.)  And the freak out continued. Fun times.

Saturday
We laid pretty low.  Did some choo choo riding at southdale...and some playing at home.

Flying with Mr. Bear and Uncle Dan

Sunday
I wanted to try something new this morning.  So we went to Midtown Global Market, and it was so fun!  Lots of beautiful goods to see and food to eat from all over the world. And we also ran into Callie's pal George, who lives next door to G-ma and G-pa.

After a (short) nap, we stopped by G-ma and G-pa's house.  They found Chris' old Curious George toy!  We love Curious George!

The best part of of this weekend?  It isn't quite over yet!  Yay for Mondays off!

Multi-tasking

The question busy mothers struggle with all the time (at least, I do) is how to get it all in.  The mothering.  The work.  The laundry.  The exercise.  You get the picture.

I think I do a pretty good job with the mothering and the work.

Today I came up with a solution for the laundry and the exercise.

Step 1: Do a GIGANTIC load of toddler laundry (probably because you haven't done it for at least a month)

Step 2: Realize that you don't want to go outside for a run (too cold) or do a workout video (takes too long).  Realize (BRILLIANTLY) that you could bring the laundry up to toddler's room (2 floors up), a few at a time, and get exercise AND laundry put away AT THE SAME TIME.

Step 3: Go for it: Run those stairs, still wearing pajamas.

Step 4: Halfway through (while SERIOUSLY sweating) change into a running skirt. 

Step 5: (15 minutes later) Bring up the last few shirts and laundry basket.

Step 6: Bask in the glow of just burning approximately 221 calories, grab a Powerade Zero and look at your handiwork.

Try and ignore the fact that vacuuming will be in your future.

That, my friends, is what I call multi-tasking.