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Monday, October 31, 2011

Friday, October 28, 2011

Oh, the holidays

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I'm kind of freaking out. About the holidays, of course. I love Christmas; don't get me wrong. Even though I made a promise to myself that I'd focus more on the "real reason for the season", Christmas gifts still have to be bought, right?

I think the anxiety started when I realized how close to Christmas we are. David said something a week or two ago that sent shivers down my spine: "We only have 8 weeks left in our semester."

Say what?? When you look at it that way, you may be able to understand my anxiety. And, I'm prone to anxiety anyway. Plus, I'm not a good shopper. When you mix the fibro and my chemical sensitivities to scents and new clothes, you get a shopper who can only be in a store for about an hour at a time.

Last year was so easy. We took theme pictures from each month of Audrey's first year of life, and that was everyone's gift. It was the best.

Of course, I also have to figure in Audrey's birthday in December...and her party. Although I know intellectually that it won't be that bad, since my mom and mother-in-law do most of the food work (at least they did last year), I can't help stressing.

I think we finally decided on a theme, though. Mickey Mouse, although I'd been thinking Minnie all this time. I finally realized I was pushing Minnie because it was more girly. We got a catalog of birthday supplies in the mail, and I actually went through it with Audrey. She displayed a clear preference for Mickey. Her real favorite is Donald (mine, too!), but they don't have anything that focused on him. Bummer.

It's not like we'll even be buying many decorations, just a few accent pieces. I figure there's no reason for spending money on MM plates, cups, etc., when she won't even care about those things. So, we'll just get some solid colors for those, hopefully from the Dollar Tree. All I know is we're going to have lots of balloons. Audrey loves them.

And if I've completely stressed out anyone about the holidays, I humbly apologize. I just want this to be a great Christmas for Audrey, since she's really aware of everything this year. We looked at trees the other day, and she kept saying, "So pretty!" Adorable.

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Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Punkins

A couple of weeks ago, we visited our local "pumpkin patch". One of the churches around here sponsors it, and they have a pretty large assortment of pumpkins. I've been wanting to go to a real pumpkin patch, with a corn maze and hay rides, but I just don't have the stamina right now.

We had just as much fun at this one, though. Last year, Audrey was seriously afraid of the pumpkins. Of course, she was only 10 months old at the time, and she was scared of lots of things.

This time, though, she went from pumpkin to pumpkin, checking out as many as she could. She especially liked the white pumpkins and the ones with warts, as I call them.

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We finally picked out three, in varying sizes, and she plays with the tiniest one at home.

Here are some of the good pics we got that day.

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Yes, she wanted one of the biggest ones!

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We also did some pumpkin carving with Gracie and Katie, and it was lots of fun. Especially for me, since I didn't do any of the dirty work:) Katie decided to carve a heart on hers, and it turned out really well.

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Gracie did a cross, and I was very impressed with her. She had a good-sized pumpkin, and she insisted on cleaning it out and carving it by herself. It took her a looong time, but she did it!

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And then David worked diligently on his/ours. It looks great, too.

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He also carved Audrey's initials into a smaller pumpkin, which was cool.

Since we're still having some hot days around here (imagine that), we mixed up a potion of vinegar, lemon juice, and water to brush over the carved areas of the pumpkin. We'll see how that works. Alas, the smaller pumpkin is already looking a little pooped, but the bigger one seems to be okay. Fingers crossed that it makes it to Halloween!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

I think I mentioned that I'm reading The Happiest Toddler on the Block. Well, one of the techniques of dealing with a toddler who's having a tantrum is to reflect his/her feelings back to them. This is supposed to let the child know that you appreciate and understand their feelings.

It goes something like this:

(Child is crying because you've taken something away from her...say, a steak knife:)

Parent: Mad! Mad! Mad! You're mad because I took away the steak knife. But noooo, you can't have it. It's dangerous. But we can play with your kitchen."

It sounds weird, and it feels even stranger to actually do it. Usually, if I'm alone with Audrey, it works, though. She'll stare at me in wonder that I know why she's upset. With David around, however, it doesn't work as well. I'm not sure why.

But here's what happened after we got back from my doctor today. Audrey melted down because she wanted to go outside and admire our Halloween flag. I needed her to get inside and take a nap.

Me: Mad! Mad! Mad! You're mad because I won't let you play outside! But nooo, you need a nap! Let's go find Bear-Bear!

Audrey: (Even more screaming)

Then later, when she was perfectly composed, she said, "Mad. Mad because.....(unintelligible words)." Over and over and over again. So it turned into a tug-of-war.

Audrey: Mad because....blah blah blah
Me: I'm mad because you won't nap.
Audrey: (more of the same)
Me: I'm mad because I can't understand what you're saying.

All the while, we are definitely not mad and are just having a conversation. Strange? I think so.

However, she was an angel at my two doctor's appointments today. The doctors and nurses were chatting about it while I was waiting for a blood test.

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But when we get home? The little devil comes out. She's now been up for almost 6 hours without a nap. I can hear her in there trying to turn the doorknob and get out.

Thank God for the weekend. I need some reinforcements.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Blah

I don't really feel like writing anything. Audrey's been sick since Saturday, I have something, too, and I'm tired from detox, allergies, sickness, etc. So I'll just post a pic of Audrey. It's come to my attention that all the latest pics have been of her in a towel.

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See? She actually does wear clothes!