Some Catching Up... Or Catching Things...

This past week I've been sick.  Arg.  I feel like I've been sick more this year than I have been in ages.  I wasn't even sick this much when I was teaching elementary art.  I'm talking kids wiping their noses then touching you, or putting something in their mouth and handing it to you, or worse, sneezing right in your face when you're talking to them.  It must be another fantastic perk of being a mom.  Awesome.

Anyway, it was struggle enough to pretend I was having a blast pulling MiniM.E. around in the laundry basket for hours on end while I was really ready to curl up in a ball and die.  Luckily, I pushed through it and am still alive.  I don't think MiniM.E. suffered too much.  Except for maybe the few hours that I totally curled up on the couch in a blanket and watched her watch the "tee" (TV).  Don't judge, it was Baby Songs, a totally ghetto DVD made from a 30 year old VHS tape that actually teaches things and is so slow moving that I don't have to worry about it affecting her attention span.  AND for the record, I can now take a shower without piercing screams echoing in the background.

Fortunately, aside from a hacking cough (which I am praying is not waking up my napping baby), I am better.

UNfortunately, while sick I not only neglected writing blog posts, I also neglected everything else I usually do around the house AND the baby shower I am co-planning and putting on THIS WEEKEND.  So this post will have to be short and sweet.  Starting now.  The beginning was totally procrastination.  But now, I really have to go do stuff.  Unless MiniM.E. wakes up.  Which she might.  If I sit here and keep writing and checking e-mail and shopping for Christmas presents long enough.  Then I won't have to do any of those things.  I'll have to play with a baby...

So, to recap the last week or so, MiniM.E. is super cute, as always

Walking everywhere

Loves to swing

especially the big kid swing

Is learning to help out and clean up

Is finding more and more things we need to baby proof

Is mastering new skills like jumping (almost)

And the magna doodle

Went in her first bounce house

Sat at the park at the grown up table

Likes to play in the dirt

Is having a blast in the big tub

Loves pretending to take naps

And still isn't a very good napper.  Though she definitely is cute when she's sleeping.

Aaannndd... She's up!  Mission avoid housework and baby shower planning: Accomplished.

A Toddler

It's official.  We have a toddler.  3 weeks shy of her first birthday and she's off and running.  Literally.

Not only have we been busy (excuses, excuses) but now I have a little person to chase after (seriously, I set her down in a parking lot today... fortunately a non-busy park parking lot... and she just walked away).  So I'm working on some posts about a few of the things we've been up to, but this just couldn't wait.

Catching...

Here's a catch up post for you... because apparently at our house, we're really good at catching things.  As in bugs.  The sick kind, not the crawling kind.

MiniM.E. was sick for a week or so, had a few days of feeling good, and then got sick again.  Then Bob got sick.  Then I got sick.  And we're all still a bit under the weather.

And if I thought it was hard to find time to make blog posts with a healthy baby, it is infinitely harder with a sick baby.  Especially when she's up a million times a night.  And I'm not feeling good either.

So even though we're both still a little under the weather, I finally feel like I can stay awake during one of her naps and write a post longer than three sentences.


Exciting news!  Someone took her first steps!! We're on our way to walking!

In other, less exciting news, we've been spending most of our days outside.  I think I have a budding gardener on my hands.  (Or at least a budding mulch-eater).

We've been to the park to feed the ducks a few times

We celebrated MiniM.E.'s 11-month birthday by buying her a musical walking toy.

Of course, the best part is the box it came in.

The second best part is playing with it sitting down.

She also likes to crawl behind it.

We haven't really gotten to the walking part yet...

We also took her in the wagon to the playground near our house.  It's a pretty awesome playground.  Unfortunately it's sort of geared more towards big kids, but we played for a while and MiniM.E. seemed to have a good time.

Yesterday we went up to Lake George for the Jazz on the Lake jazz festival.  We were all still a little under the weather, but fortunately it was pretty relaxing.

Molly's favorite part of the day was petting a couple great danes we ran into.

The other thing she really like to play with were the trees.

Between the dogs, the trees, the jazz and not feeling so great, we must have really worn her out because she fell asleep in the car on the way home and slept until this morning!