The big girl bed saga begins

A few weeks ago, I got a fantastic deal on a used toddler bed, including an extra mattress to throw on the floor beneath the bed for Elizabeth to use as a step and to save her from bonking her head if she rolls out. We've had it in our garage since then, and Elizabeth has shown great interest in it, always wanting to sit on it whenever she sees it. This morning, we decided to bite the bullet, take down the crib, put up the big girl bed in Elizabeth's room, cross our fingers, and see what happened.

At first, Scarlet was the only one interested in the bed:



Then, Elizabeth decided she wanted to be on the bed - mainly so she could torture play with the cat:



She soon realized the bed was a lot of fun, and spent most of the day throwing her toys on and off of it and using the extra mattress as a mini jungle gym.



David and I even took turns demonstrating to her how wonderful the new bed was going to be for sleeping. (Of course, he wasn't smart enough to hide the camera before his turn...hee, hee!)



Then, came the moment of truth - naptime. I'd like to tell you it all went smoothly, but that might be an exaggeration, if not an out-and-out lie. I tried to put her down once, and she quickly crawled off and went to the door and howled loud enough and long enough that we gave up for the timebeing. Then, the next time we tried, she was absolutely exhausted, so she ended up sleeping in the new bed. Hooray!



Unfortunately, that was short-lived. Her normal 1-1/2 hour nap only lasted for 30 minutes. Then, tonight, she was so exhausted, she again went right to sleep. However, she was back up again about 45 minutes later, again screaming at the door. David is now in with her putting her back down. Wish us luck for the rest of the night....we're definitely going to need it!

Going tubing

As you probably guessed based on the lack of posts, September's been a very busy month for me. I mean, I must be bad if Erin has updated her blog more recently than I have!

This month, I had to take 3 separate overnight work trips. Fortunately, they were only for 2 nights each, and David got to go with me on one night to Cincinnati - our very first night away from Elizabeth together. We took full advantage of it, including a romantic dinner at a rooftop restaurant. And, Elizabeth and Gran got to spend some quality time together. Thanks, Mom!

Elizabeth had her appointment with the ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) specialist this morning. Before we went, we suspected she had another ear infection, and we were right! That made 4 ear infections in 3 months. The doctor was especially concerned because of my history with horrible ear problems, as well as the fact that we haven't been able to clear up the ear infections in the summer, and the winter months are coming up, which is usually when ear infections get the worst. So, he scheduled her for tubes on October 13.

The doctor also said he's convinced Elizabeth is not walking yet because of all of her ear problems. He thinks her balance/hearing have been off for some time and it will dramatically improve with the tubes. So, there's a chance she'll still make the 18-month "normal" cut-off for walking once the tubes are in. That's a relief! I can't wait for her to walk, just so I can stop getting all the stupid comments from people about it. I have actually had strangers come up to me and make "helpful" suggestions - like saying I should make sure I let Elizabeth use my hands to walk on, so she'll learn, or asking if I carry her everywhere. You mean you have to let them practice walking before they can learn to walk? I wish I had thought of that! (mutter, mutter .... morons .... mutter, mutter)

And, since no good blog entry is complete without pictures, at least in the minds of this blog's readers, here's a picture of Elizabeth showing Jonathan how she can spell (or at least start to spell) the word "xylophone":



Plus, a picture of Elizabeth in her cute new Baby Legs (aka leg warmers) - which are an awesome invention to replace baby tights:



Next, a picture of Elizabeth actually pushing herself (albeit backwards) on her car:



Check out how much she's grown since her birthday (May 6). Her feet can actually touch the ground now!



And, I found this picture on the camera too. I think David taught her to read the newspaper while I was gone!



Whew! Tag, Erin, you're it! :)

Ready for church

I didn't consciously pick out the same color for me and Elizabeth to wear to church this morning, but it made for a good picture!

Stopping to smell the flowers

Today was an absolutely beautiful day in the Bluegrass - sunny, clear, and not too hot. And, it coincided with a Saturday on which we actually did not have any plans. The stars, moons, and planets were definitely in alignment!

David put on his old clothes and proceeded to do yardwork for most of the day - he spread dirt, layed sod, mowed grass, and cut ivy. Elizabeth and I packed up the stroller and headed to the park. David said he enjoyed working in the yard, but I'd say I got the better end of that deal, don't you think?

Here's a picture of Elizabeth lounging in her stroller.



As you can see, she had her sippy cup and puffs within arm's reach. She definitely travels in style!

She had a lot of fun playing in the sandbox and on the slide.







Notice how her face got dirtier as the morning went on. She still hasn't quite learned that sand doesn't taste as good as she thinks it looks.

Later in the day, after a long walk with Mommy and Daddy, Elizabeth even took time to stop and smell the flowers:





That's something we all need to learn to do on a regular basis!

Jonathan didn't completely miss out on fun today either. While he wasn't impressed with the yardwork he was asked to do in the morning, the birthday party he went to this afternoon seemed to make up for it!

Happy Birthday Jonathan!

Tomorrow (September 9) is Jonathan's 13th birthday. We will officially have a teenager in the house. He's having a sleepover tonight with a couple of friends from school and church. We got him his traditional cake - an all ice-cream cake from Baskin Robbins, which he and his friends proceeded to cover with gel icing, as is his birthday tradition.



Then, the cake almost melted as Jonathan had fun playing with his trick candles.



Finally, we all enjoyed eating it and turning our tongue, lips, and teeth different colors!



Now, the boys are locked in the basement playing video games, and David and I are about ready for bed!

My mini-me

Here's a comparison between a picture of me at 15 months (left) and a picture of Elizabeth this past weekend at around the same age.




I thought they looked pretty similar, but David confirmed it when he came home last night. I'd left the picture of me out on the table and he looked at it and asked, "Where did you take that? She looks really cute." He seriously thought it was Elizabeth!

Missing Daddy

We were supposed to take a road trip to Mississippi this weekend to help BB move, with a slight detour in Alabama to drop Jonathan off at his mom's. However, Elizabeth came down with one of her classic colds at the end of last week, which we knew was destined to become an ear infection. Sure enough, Friday afternoon, the doctor confirmed that she did have another ear infection, so she's back on antibiotics with the resultant toxic poo (fun, fun).

So, David and Jonathan went on, while Elizabeth and I stayed at home. We figured a 9-hour drive in a car with a 15-month-old was bad enough, much less a 15-month-old with an ear infection!

This has been the longest Elizabeth has ever been away from her Daddy, and she misses him terribly. The first night he was gone, she found one of his hats and carried it to the baby gate in front of the door, then stood there yelling, "Da da! Da da!", like she was trying to tell him he forgot his hat, so he should come back to get it.



Plus, whenever she sees a picture of David, she says "Da da", then makes the sign for "where?". Like he must be lost, so we should try to find him. She is definitely a little daddy's girl!

To compensate, I gave in yesterday and let her try the lollipop the cashier at Kroger slipped to her. She forgot all about Daddy after that! :)



Of course, as you can see, I mistakenly dressed her in Robyn's "Peace, Love and Lollipops" shirt the day before this picture was taken, otherwise it would have been perfect!

We've also decided that, if a child's career is based on some of their earlier interests, Elizabeth is either going to be a truck driver or a maid. She absolutely loves big trucks. And, here she is with her new vacuum cleaner, her current favorite toy:



Now if we could only figure out how to make it really work, so she could help with the household chores!