Travel plans

An update on our known travel/busy weekends for folks trying to plan a visit...

April:
Paper grading and MBA exams for Steph
Easter weekend
2 weekends free if booked in advance

May:
Crazy work month for both Ryan and Steph
Mother's Day
DELTA IDEA grant presentation Steph May 13
Steph's birthday May 14
2 weekends free if booked in advance

June:
Orlando conference for Steph (most likely) - first week
Paper grading for Steph
Father's Day
Ryan's birthday June 23
Adelaide's birthday June 26
Very busy month for us

July:
International course in England for Steph, July 14-18
MBA classes for Steph
2 weekends free if booked in advance

August:
MBA classes for Steph
Anniversary trip to beach Aug 14/15ish
Cousin Tamara's wedding in Pgh last weekend
2 weekends free if booked in advance

Maybe I need to install a reservation system application... :-) The general message is that we would love love love to have friends and family visit, and we will do whatever we can to make the visit work. Just let us know as far in advance as possible.

This is...

Adelaide has taken to creating full sentences out of anything by beginning with "This is..." In fact, she fell asleep tonight literally listing anything she could think of. "This is... fishie. This is... cow. Mooo. This is... doggie. Wuff wuff. This is..." The best, though, was "This is... a hug ."

Grandma flew in to hang out while daddy is out of town (after two horrible days of airline trauma), and Grandma bought her a little froggy for her fish tank. She named the froggie Matt after our contractor who did the remodeling.

Today we went to the lake. The last time we were there was with the Frank family, and Carter rode his bike. Sure enough, there is a little boy on a bike and Ade insists, "Carter!" I couldn't believe she remembered where we were and the last time we had gone.

Her speech has taken off even more. She is putting longer and longer sentences together. Today she managed to say the whole word "Ratatouille" over... and over... and over again. :-)

Oh, and one adorable thing before I forget it. At night when I read to her, I lick my finger absentmindedly to turn the page on occasion. Ade notices and also licks her finger anytime I do it. So adorable.

We can't wait for Daddy to come home, who is in his own airline trauma right now. She saved him a piece of waffle Friday morning, and it is getting pretty crusty by now. Hee.

Mommy guilt

I plan to curl up with my new book, "It Sucked and Then I Cried" by Heather Armstong, of Dooce.com. Bless the women who have started telling the truth, even the ugly side, of becoming a mother.

Before I dive into a glass of wine and my reading, just a quick post about my own mommy guilt...

Adelaide, when you are older and read this, I am sure you will not remember what I am talking about in the least. But, still, I want to tell you that when I leave for "school" at night, I miss you SO MUCH. It is great for you to play with Daddy and have him put you nunny, but I still wish I was there every night with you. And when I have to leave to go on business trips, again I miss you SO MUCH.

Maybe one day when you are older and you have kids of your own, you will understand. Daddies have been missing bedtimes, and traveling on business for as long we walked upright. They miss their babies. But, they aren't mommies. They don't have visceral, hormonal reactions to leaving their flock. As society has changed, and mommies carry many of the same responsibilities as daddies, and the reverse, we shoulder our responsibilities differently.

I know logically that you are just fine and happy two minutes later when you cry when I leave, but I carry that image of your sad little face with me all night while I am in class. And, even when you wave Bye to me cheerily, I want to run back and tell you I will stay and play.

This summer I will be away in England for almost a whole week. And if I am away, I might as well enjoy myself. But, how can I, when I just feel so badly leaving you?

I wish I could be with you every second of every day of your life. That is my selfish mommy wish. But, I know in my head rather than my heart, that we both need to be independent sometimes.

Obbiddit and AddyDoIt

Adelaide loves to talk, talk, talk. And issue commands. "Open it" often sounds like "Obbitdit!" She also likes to tell us, "Addy Do It!" She is very independent.

Lately she loves Kung Fu Panda, and she screams No repeatedly at Tai Lung, the bad guy. She also says, "Panda good." In fact, today she was boycotting her nap and I could hear her talking to herself in her crib about the panda.

At night when she is falling asleep, we sit in the rocker and talk about her day. She likes to go over all of the fun things she did, and sometimes she reaches back in her memory to other fun days. One of her favorites is to talk about the pet store and all of the animals we see there, including the "Sssssss! Snake. Big. Yellow."

This weekend we went to Nolan's birthday party, where she played tball for the first time. Last night she made me sing Happy Birthday over and over to her while she fell asleep. Today we went to the new park in Falls River and she was very upset by the sand getting in her shoes (remember the OCD post?).

On our way to school and on our way home, she puts her hand to her mouth and yells, "Horseys!" If no horses are out in the fields, she will say they are sleeping and tells them, "Wake up!"

Another cute thing that is so tied to our current digital age - Ade was iChatting with my mom, and she tried to hand her some small animals from a little play farm through the screen. So I would pretend to give them to my mom, and then grandma would clutch her hands closed like she had it in her grip. Then she would hand it back, and I would produce the small animal again as if it had been handed off. Adelaide was amazed.

Another milestone is that Adelaide is drinking out of regular cups almost all the time now.

Today is a day of a bunch of random tidbits in this post. Uncle Dylan is here visiting now, so I am getting a few minutes in my office with the door shut to do the bills. And this post ;-)

#2 in the potty

Adelaide is getting better and better at pee-pee in the potty, and goes at least once or twice a week on the potty now at home. Today she told me she was pooping, put down her toy, said bye to it, and the walked to the bathroom. By the time we got there, some poop had already made it into the diaper. She sat on the potty and made the rest of the poop. When she was done, she told me the poop in the potty was a cookie. I chose to interpret that to mean she wanted a cookie for her good behavior. In any case, cookie or poopie, whatever it was, we flushed it down and were very proud.

Earlier in the day we went to the outlets where Adelaide was so well behaved. We tried the stroller for one store, and then quickly decided she has outgrown the stroller entirely. Unless she is being wheeled past nonstop entertainment, say at the zoo, she wanted out and on her own.

Here is a style Adelaide chose for herself once home. She was helping me clean out my closet (please do not judge my closet, as I was in the middle of cleaning it as I said) and she put on the new Elmo hat and gloves that Aunt Jenna bought her, no pants, and Dora Crocs. I think her fashion sense is so beyond me that I can't even recognize the genius ways she puts her pieces together.

"Mommy Stupid?"

Censorship has officially begun. Ryan and I often have conversations while Adelaide is eating, playing, paying attention to anything else. The other day Ryan randomly was in the kitchen talking about something I'd not done, and casually said something like, "Mommy is stupid, she forgot to..." Ade turned to me and said, "Stupid," trying the word on. Then, "Mommy stupid." I tried not to react, and calmly corrected, "No, honey, Mommy SMART."

Also, as I mentioned, the weather went from snow on a Monday to shorts by Friday. Adelaide had gotten used to bundling up to go outside. So, on Saturday when we went for Mexican food, in her shorts and Crocs, she also felt she needed to put her gloves and hat on. I had to bribe her to leave them in the car. I wish I had snagged a picture of that mixed up attire!

"My bubbles!"

I have been on a quest to find a bubble blower that works - one that doesn't require Adelaide to have to blow through a small wand, which she hasn't yet mastered. I have purchased and returned several battery operated gizmo's. Finally yesterday I bought one that seemed to work, albeit unreliably, and Adelaide and Anna (the Burckarts came over for lunch) really enjoyed catching the bubbles. Check out the YouTube video of them:

So, last weekend we got more snow, and Adelaide used her shovel to dig as if she was in a sandbox. Clearly, she couldn't reconcile the snow here in the South in March. This weekend it is 80 degrees and we are in shorts. What can I say?

Adelaide is growing up so fast. She is talking LIKE CRAZY now. She can say virtually any words, and she is putting sentences together. She sometimes says phrases like they have punctuation between each word. "Get. New. Diapie." It is like you can *hear* her thinking of each next word. 

She is mommy's helper even more now as well. She helps feed the cat and dogs, vacuums, and regularly helps me do laundry. She peed in the potty again today on her pottyseat for the first time. We have a little pink potty in her room that she has used before. 

Ryana nd I both are adoring this age so much. I know I say that every few months, but it is always true. Things are so much more relaxed now. Adelaide can take directions, and we don't have to keep our eyes on her at every second. She isn't clinging to my person. She is her own person. She cracks us up all the time. On the weekends, she comes down into bed with us in the morning and we watch Sesame Street. That is so sweet, that morning time. 

I am enjoying sitting outside, sipping suntea, and smelling the fresh cut grass while Ade naps. ;-) I will leave you with this ADORABLE picture of Adelaide holding hands with her friend Nolan at their mutual friend Harmoni's birthday party: