To the fire station we went!

Elliana and I go on a lot of adventures. Last week we ventured to the local fire station for a fire house tour and talk with the local firemen.

I was a little concerned she would be too young to appreciate the experience and understand the tour. I doubt that she did understand most of it or why the firemen had to put on so many layers of clothes. But, Elliana absolutely LOVED the tour. We saw the sleeping quarters, the fire pole (and even witnessed a demonstration in which Elliana kept asking for more), the kitchen and of course the big trucks.


The generous firemen allowed the kids to "drive" the truck and climb in and out of the monstrous vehicles. As we walked away she kept talking about the trucks, the pole, her new fire hat and the pumpkin cookies we gave to the firemen (still working on the generosity discussion as she couldn't understand why we didn't have the cookies anymore). Overall, I would say our morning a success. My munchkin loved it all and gave me a couple of great pictures too.

Out of the mouth of babes

Sometimes life passes too fast. Just yesterday it seems like Elliana was pronouncing "oh doh" when something went amiss and now she clearly pronounces "oh no!" with the appropriate enthusiasm as she explains why she is saying oh no. And so, before time passes and she moves on to new cute things...I thought I would take a few moments to capture a few of my favorite of Elliana's recent sayings.

"Moon Broke." - used to describe the half moon she noticed last week. "Daddy fix it." came shortly after out of her sweet innocent mouth. And, when she saw the full moon this week...."MOON FIX!" she shouted with excitement. "No moon broke. Daddy fix it!" and then...a few seconds later, she claimed credit for fixing the moon. :)

"woowy (Woody) buzz wipes pwease." to request that I use the Toy Story wipes recently purchased. On a side note, those wipes were worth every penny as she now lays perfectly still during diaper changes as she is enamored with those Disney characters.

"No Mommy touch nose!" Used daily as I wipe her face after meal time. I rarely touch her nose, but with those pesky teeth still coming through she has an occasional runny nose and HATES when I wipe it.

"Daddy paper toiwee" When she sees toilet paper in a package, she points it out and reminds me that we once took Daddy some toilet paper. And now, it is forever Daddy's paper.

"Mommy Daddy wuv you." Self explanatory and my favorite!!

"Papa throw babies! Papa bad." What happens when Papa tosses a baby to Grandma in front of Elliana. No worries though, Papa got put in time out. And yes, this was more than a week ago and Elliana randomly announces that "Papa throw babies!!" and she adds the throwing motion to boot.

"Ma's house. Pianwo." Completely surprised me when she crawled onto her toddler piano and announced that Grandma had a piano at her house. Huh, didn't think she had noticed.

"Woowy Buzz Show Puhlease!" repeated numerous times a day as she requests her favorite movie. And when I turn her down daily, "No woowy buzz show now." 5 minutes later..."Woowy, Buzz show now?"

And so...this list is not complete, but it is a handful of my daughter's personality and budding language skills.

Giraffes and Pirates, Oh my!

We have been attending baby story time at our local library since Elliana was about six weeks old. It quickly became my salvation as a new mother. A reason to get out of the house at least once a week that didn't involve a doctor appointment for Elliana or myself. A reason to shower, blow dry my hair and possibly even shave my legs. Those 45 minutes of structured reading, singing and playing helped me to discover the identity of myself as a mother and no longer as a career woman.

I rediscovered the joy in rhyming, rocking and reading. I learned new words in sign language to add to my limited vocabulary and received the encouragement to keep signing. And shortly thereafter, my daughter started signing back to me. :)

It's hard to tell who has grown more over the past year and half of story time. My daughter or myself. Elliana, obviously grew far more physically than I did. She morphed from this cradled infant, to fully sitting up, crawling, and then a walking and talking child. She went from being attached to me, clinging for comfort and familiarity to dancing around the room and randomly sitting on the laps of others (primarily our librarian and friend, Denise). She went from being surprised when we pulled into the library to practically begging to go each time we drove past the now familiar building.

Elliana's physical growth is truly incredible, although I think we both grew more than the growth described above. Together, we learned songs that can instantly bring smiles to both of our faces. We learned the joys of plastic eggs filled with rice and the delightful noise they make, which we will forever call "shaky eggs." We've learned to utilize the library and the free resources and classes they have to offer. We've made friends with other moms and kids and look forward to their faces each week. We joined a MOMS club through the friendships we made, which has provided hours of fun and an abundance of opportunities.

I've grown into a more confident and fun mom. A mom who no longer checks out every child-rearing book the library has to offer, but instead books on playing and laughing. A mom who WANTS to read the same book 42 times a day (assuming I've had enough coffee) because it can bring a smile to my daughter's face. A mom who makes our trips to the library an essential part of our week because it is something that we both look forward to.

This week we participated in our second baby story time Halloween party (which I like to think was extended to 23 months of age, specifically for Elliana). As with last year, I had a blast. Watching my little pirate run around as if she owned the library (and she probably thinks she does as it is home away from home). Watching her play and borrow Savannah's horse as galloped around the room. It is a long way from the barely walking giraffe I brought to the Halloween party with me last year. I can only imagine the growth we both have in store for us in the year ahead.

A Perfectly "Ducky" Day

Last week, we celebrated Nana's birthday by going downtown and riding the "ducks." I could go into details about the silly songs we sang, the laughter we all had and the way the boat just glided into the Ohio River and reemerged as a bus. But, rather than typing a bunch of details, I will allow these pictures to literally tell the story.

Just a bonus

Sometimes, the best plans don't work out as planned. When my husband left for a few days of hiking, I began planning our days with activities and plans to help pass the time and give us things to look forward to in his absence.

Our plan for today was beautiful. Mommy wakes up first and enjoys a little yoga and a cup of coffee while Elliana is still sleeping. Enjoy a play-date with friends, go out to eat with MOMS club, take a nap and then go to a matinee feature with Grandma of Elliana's favorite movie...TOY STORY! Afterwards, we would grab dinner at Chick-Fil-A enjoying their "Family Night out" specials as Mommy enjoys the fact that I cooked no meals today.

Well, I should know by now that things don't always go as planned. When I set my alarm clock last night for 6:30 this morning (to give plenty of time for yoga and Mommy time), I didn't realize that again I was going to suffer from insomnia without my husband asleep by my side. I didn't realize I was going to be up past midnight cleaning the house top to bottom, for the second possibly third day in a row.

When the alarm clock went off this morning after less than five hours of sleep, I hit snooze. 9 minutes later, I hit it again. And, 9 minutes later the button was hit again. After all, Elliana has been sleeping in until at least 8 or 8:30 so I would still have plenty of time to get some "me" time before she woke up. I woke up at 7:30 to the sounds of a very awake toddler saying "Mommy, UP!" No yoga. No coffee. I was on duty again. I don't mind though...I like my job.

Our play-date ran late. Our lunch always runs long, as my daughter is perhaps the slowest eater on the planet. We rushed home from lunch to squeeze in a nap before Grandma arrives at 2 to attend the movie. I laid Elliana down at 12:45. Still PLENTY of time for her to get at least an hour nap, possibly an hour and a half. Elliana had other plans. She laid in her bed talking, singing and playing. Did the play-date and lunch not wear her out as much as it did me?! At 1:25, I went back upstairs as she obviously was not going to sleep. A bundle of energy greeted me.

"Mommy, PLAY!"

"No Bed."

"Play pleeease"

All valid requests and ones I would normally give into. I lovingly explained that I want to play, but she had to sleep first. We had fun things planned, but not if she doesn't sleep. "Sweep...first" was repeated in her tiny baby voice. After a few minutes of cuddle time, I explained I was laying her back down and she had to sleep. And...much to my surprise...she did. My little angel laid down and went to sleep.

Although things don't always go as planned, I will always remain grateful that my job as a Mommy allows me the freedom to go with the unexpected and enjoy each moment of it. Days that actually follow my plan is just a bonus.