C is for Cabin Fever

C is for Cabin Fever.


Mini Me has been struck with the near fatally annoying Cabin Fever. Although there is still over a foot of snow on the ground, Mini Me is done with winter and insisting that there needs to be more "fun". To Mini Me, virtually the only thing that constitutes fun these days is climbing or animals.


Since all the local playgrounds are still covered in aforementioned 12+ inches of snow despite the abnormally warm temperatures of the weekend, our only other option was animals. Where to find animals indoors? The New England Aquarium, of course.


OK, Mini Me did specifically ask to see camels and elephants, but see...they don't live at the aquarium. So, Mini Me, I promise that once the snow melts I will take you to every zoo in New England so that you can see all of the camels and elephants that live in a 200 mile radius. How's that?


But, the aquarium was full of fun, nonetheless. Mini Me was a little baffled by the properties of glass. While pressing her face against the enclosure for the harbor seals, one swam right up to her. Mini Me jumped back so fast, you'd think he was coming at her for a diaper change.


In the middle of the aquarium, and I dare say, the best part of the place, is the Giant Ocean Tank (You can actually see live video from the tank by clicking on the link...it's pretty cool). In the middle of the building stands this round tank, with walkways that spiral all the way around until you get to the very top. Mini me could stand at one of the windows all day long and watch the fish, sharks, turtles and rays swim past. In all fairness, every time a shark swam past, she did ask for a hug and clung to us until the shark had skulked away. She also thought the Rays were flying in the water and stood there flapping her wings in imitation.


Overall, it was a fun day. We didn't really see any of the other exhibits, the seals and Giant Ocean Tank were about it. The penguins weren't as much of a hit as the last time we were there, and she really had minimal interested in the other smaller fish tanks. Although, she did push another little girl out of the way, while shouting "share" because the other girl was trying to look though the same several foot wide (read: plenty of space for 3 children) window. She went to story time in the Curious George Discovery Corner and had a cookie in the cafe. And, yes, she's still asking about the camels.......


On the way out, Mini Me did enjoy meeting "Sharkie":



Some more pictures from the aquarium:

T is for Tico's Treehouse!

T is for Tico's Treehouse!

While Mini Me was having some quiet time in her room today, I started one of the projects for Mini Me's Dora & Friends Adventure Party!

Now, I have to say that I'm sort of pleased with the way this turned out. It's not exactly how I was envisioning it, and there were many many changes to the plan as it was unfolding. My first attempt looked more like a palm tree....

But, for a person who barely has bone fragments of creativity in her body, I think it will do.

Ready? Drum roll, please!

S is for summer!

S is for summer!

Today is a balmy 43 degrees. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the snow is melting! Just in time for 2-4 more inches of it tomorrow.

Today, as we got out of the car, Mini Me stepped onto some very slushy ice. As is cracked beneath her feet, she exclaimed, "uh oh!" I had to reassure her that everything was as it should be.

I said that it was warm out and the snow was melting. She looked up at me and said-I kid you not- "summer?"

Yes, Mini Me. Snow melts when its time for summer, or in this case, just a little tease of what awaits us. But, we'll get that application to Harvard filled out ASAP because apparently, at not even 2 years old, Mini Me is successfully learning her seasons. She's a genius, right?

Hey, its my blog! I'll brag about my kid if I want to!

O is for One Cookie

O is for One Cookie.

In an effort to combat the cold winter boredom that has infiltrated our house, Mini Me and I baked cookies yesterday. Granted, she mainly ran around the kitchen while I made cookies, but she said the word cookie enough times that I will count that as participation in the activity, thank you very much.

Today, the few cookies that have survived past the 24 hour mark, were sitting there taunting Mini Me after lunch. When she finished her mac-n-cheese, she said in her sweetest, most endearing voice, "please, cookie". I granted her request with the understanding that we would have one, and only one cookie. "OK" she said....

Mini me is notorious for eating e.x.t.r.e.m.e.l.y. s.l.o.w.l.y. So, in the time it took her to take about 2 bites of her cookie, mommy had already finished hers and was looking longingly at the others in the container. So, while I thought Mini Me wasn't looking, I reached in to grab one.

She must have noticed that I had a cookie, then didn't have a cookie, then suddenly had a cookie again, because my little Count, held up one finger, shook her head and said, repeatedly, "one cookie, one cookie"

BUSTED!

What was I to do? I said, "look, Thomas!" and pointed to the other room and stuffed the cookie in my mouth like any self respecting person would do! I had already touched the cookie...couldn't put it back, right? And, couldn't waste it. Too bad my jeans are already straining from the extra holiday pounds I gained. Oh, well. Some people make New Year's Resolutions...I'm making a Valentine's Day one...

C is for Camera

C is for Camera.


Mini Me got a camera for Christmas and has been busy taking pictures....of herself. Let's not blame it on narcissism just yet. Let's go with poor camera design. Here is a sampling of the "clicks" she has taken all by herself. Enjoy her chin!

She actually took a few really good ones. Sadly, they are better than half of the ones I take, because at least in hers, she is looking at the camera!

M is for Monkey See, Monkey Do

M is for Monkey See, Monkey Do

Let's compare images, shall we?

First, let's look at the furry and lovable Curious George:




Next, let's look at the less furry, but still lovable Mini Me:




Like any good mom, AFTER I took the picture I went and got Mini Me down from the counter.

T is for Technical Difficulties

T is for Technical Difficulties.

I am not part of the "ultra-tech-savvy" crowd. I have a cell phone, a blog and a Facebook account. I don't want (or need) an i-phone, i-pod or any other device to keep me connected to everything at every moment of the day.

I use a computer on a daily basis and used to consider myself fairly proficient. That is, until we got a new computer a couple of weeks ago. Sad to say, our old computer was several years old, which may account for why I was so knowledgeable about the versions of the programs I was using. In tech age, they were ancient. Now that I have all the latest versions of these programs, I feel totally lost. The screens are different, the tabs are different, the menus are different. I just want to change the margins, damn it!

So, you may be wondering where this little rant is stemming from. Please refer to the previous post regarding my plan to create Mini Me's birthday invitations. The plan was successful in that I designed them without too much trouble. The problem, however, is printing them.

I have tried more ways to print these damn invitations than I can even remember. First, I had to figure out how to take me 5"x7" design and shrink it to 4"x6". Then, the margins became an issue. And, really I don't even want to talk about it. It makes my head hurt thinking of all of the different things I tried.

So, I ended up printing the invitations on photo paper, cutting them out and then pasting them to the card stock. Not exactly what I was going for...but, it will have to do.

Don't even get me started on trying to print the envelopes....because I gave up.

Oh, yeah. And, since I had originally planned on 5"x7" cards, I got the matching envelopes. So, when you get your invitation which is noticeably smaller than the envelope, just blame it on my technical difficulties.

P is for planning

P is for planning.

Now that Christmas is over, and the tree and decorations have come down, it is time for the next major event for our little family. Mini Me turns 2 next month!!! It seems like just yesterday that I was planning her first birthday, and now here we are a year later already.

Over the summer when Mini Me was completely in love with Elmo and the gang, I had the idea that we would do a Sesame Street theme for her party. I had all sorts of great ideas. Well, now here we are ready to have a party, and while we still watch SS on a daily basis, Dora The Explorer has, at least temporarily, become more exciting. So, I have started from scratch and am now planning a Dora party.

I am almost done making the invitations (yes, I am creating them myself and have worked very hard on them, so if you think they look like crap, just be nice and pretend they are awesome, k?) and hope to have them in the mail at the end of the week. And, yes, I know that (almost) everyone knows when the party is, but whatever.

Oh, and Mini Me's reaction to the tree disappearing during her nap? "Tree? Tree? Where is?" while looking frantically around the living room. Almost heartbreaking enough to leave the tree up all year. But, I might need a divorce lawyer if I did that. We all know how much Daddy loves Christmas!

G is for Gross

G is for Gross.

As I may have mentioned in yesterdays post, Mini Me is sick. Runny nose and all that grossness. Apparently, I say "gross" too much. Here's why:

Every time Reagan sneezes or otherwise has snot running down her face, she says, "gross, gross" pointing to her nose and proceeds to find something to wipe her nose with.

Now, if I could just teach her NOT to wipe her nose on her blanket or my pants, we'd be all set.

B is for Bronchitis

B is for Bronchitis.

As everyone is aware, I recieved the Mother of the Year award in December for not taking Mini Me to the doctor, despite having a runny nose for almost 2 months. When she finally had a fever, I did take her and she was diagnosed with a sinus infection and recieved antibiotics which she was on when we visited for Christmas. She seemed better almost overnight and we were optimistic that she was on the road to recovery.

That was until Saturday morning, 48 hours after her last dose of the antibiotics when she woke up coughing. On Sunday, her cheeks were red again, and on Monday, the dreaded runny nose returned. So, a quick phone call to the nurses at the pediatricians office and we were headed back for our first visit of the new year. Awesome.

So, I recount the entire story for the covering physician (yes, it so happens that Mini Me's regular pediatrician has been on vacation the whole time and we got to see whatever doctor was available. In all fairness, they are all good and I love the staff and have always been able to get same day appointments, so I don't want to sound like I'm complaining. I'm not, really.)

The doctor tells me that she's not sure about the original diagnosis, but that she thinks Mini Me's current illness is a combination of several things. For starters, Mini Me has her last set of molars coming in (umm, yeah. That would explain why EVERYTHING has been going in her mouth the last few weeks. Bad timing with all the small parts that came with Christmas presents that we've put away until this phase passes again). She also now has bronchitis and as for the cheeks...who knows. So, anyway, Mini Me is now on yet another round of antibiotics and didn't get to go to school today.

I think we'll just hibernate the rest of the winter.