Cousin Weezie

Weeze has a new baby cousin! One of my best friends, R, had her baby yesterday. R called me , and I was so happy to hear mommy and baby are doing well. I am sooo thrilled for her (and admittedly a wee bit jealous, lol!)

I cannot wait to meet baby Elise, and I love the idea of of Weezie and Elise playing together one day.

Congrats, G's!

Creating memories at the farm

Ruh-roh, don't tell mommy

Saturdays are daddy-daughter day. It gives J a chance to bond with Weezie and me a respite from being bossed around and generally abused (and I'm not talking about work).

Earlier, I called J to see what they were up to since they had been gone a few hours.

"Oh, nothing. We just left the Urgent Care Center."

WHAT!!!!?????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was on the verge of freaking out, but I stayed calm enough for him to explain. Deep breath...deep breath...must resist the urge to yell, "what did you let happen to my baby??!!!"....deep breath...

They had been in the grocery store parking lot in the car when Weezie suddenly whispered, "uh oh. rock in baby nose". J pulled over and saw that she was holding a small pebble in her hand. He looked, and sure enough, she had a rock lodged up her nose. Way up.

J took her to a nearby urgent care office and decided (grrr) that he'd spare me the panic (chicken!). They were placed in a room, and while waiting for the doctor, J started making balloons out of latex gloves for Weeze.

Well, the powder on the gloves made her sneeze and...you guessed it... she sneezed it out.

So all's well that end's well. J brought back the pebble for me to see. Definitely going in the baby book. Thanks for the Mother's Day gift, baby :)

You will be greatly missed...

Bit the bullet

In reference to my post from last summer: http://fear-and-trembling.blogspot.com/2006/06/away-from-little-fingers.html

Still the same problem, different apartment. Boy, I'm ready for our house to be completed. Well, make that, I'm ready to actually start a house that we will actually move into, and then actually move into it, actually.

Frustrated while cleaning today, I decided to look at the bookshelves again. They had raised the prices of the individual bookshelves since last summer (boo hiss!), but they still had a little byline "buy one tall and one short for $398". I added two to my cart and saw that the total did not reflect the discount pricing. I clicked on their online chat support, and they said that that pricing was supposed to have been removed, but that they would honor it. Woohoo! Better yet, they were running a promotion for free shipping (normally $60 for the two shelves). I'm very pleased with DWR and will shop there more often if I ever win the lottery, lol

Is this wrong?

As we were putting our shoes back on in gymnastics class, Weezie noticed that one of the other little girls had flower Jibbitz on her Crocs. As typical of Weeze (and probably any other 2-year old), she cried out "I want that!".

A few days later, J and I were at the store, and we saw a display of Jibbitz at the checkout. They didn't have any flowers left, so we got the next best things. I have to admit, even if there had been flowers, we probably still would have picked out the lizard and the skull-and-crossbones. They're just more Weezie to us.

I was a wee bit worried that she wouldn't like them, but after we put them on her shoes, she delightedly looked at her feet and said, in her best pirate voice, "Arggh!".

That's my girl :)

It's awfully hot in here

As I write this, I'm sitting on the floor of my walk-in closet. Why? Because it's 10:30 PM, and we have attempted for the third time to put Weezie to bed. She's screaming like a banshee, and I can't bear it. It's my inability to listen to her shrieking that's gotten us in this mess, because I inevitably go in, take her out, and let her play. I'm trying to break the cycle, hence the self-imposed exile.

She used to go to bed at 8 PM on the dot with usually no protest, but for the last several months she's been pushing and pushing to stay up later. She's learned that shrieking will result in extra playtime. While I can ignore it when she throws tantrums during the day, for some reason the bedtime screaming really kills me. I hate to admit it, but it bothers me not so much in a "my poor baby" kind of way, but more of a "please, someone poke me in the head with a sharp stick because it would be less grating" sort of way.

It's times like this where I feel like an utter failure as a mother. It was easier when she was younger. Granted, I still doubted myself often, but I could hang on to the fact that I was at least doing some things "right" like breastfeeding, feeding her home-made organic fruits and veggies, keeping her on a regular schedule... Now that she's two, she's suddenly become so much more stubborn. I can't get her to eat anything healthy, she watches TV regularly, and she often stays up until 10 o'clock or later. I feel like I'm completely letting her down by not being a good enough mother. Sigh.

My little Mynah Bird

Weeze is quite the Chatty Cathy now, and she's picking up words and phrases left and right. This isn't necessarily a good thing, as I learned when I was putting her hair in pigtails. I accidentally snagged her hair, and she looked up at me with her sweet little face and said, "Daaamn...It." Err, don't know where she got that one from.

Lately she's been saying, "aww, man!" quite frequently when she drops something or if something doesn't go her way. I'd been feeling guilty about that one - I didn't recall saying that, but she only has to hear a word/phrase once to pick it up. I was watching Dora the Explorer (oh, I remember the days when I didn't even know who that was!), and one of the characters exclaimed, "aww man!". I excitedly told J, "Yay! She didn't learn it from me! She learned it from TV!!!!"

I'm a great mom, aren't I ;-)

Bliss

Weezie woke up crying about an hour into her nap this afternoon. I went into her room, and she was standing in her crib calling out, "mommy, momma". Awwww... I scooped her up, and she rested her head on my shoulder. She seemed still tired so I snuggled with her on the couch. As I lay there with her, it struck me how incredibly lucky I am. How many moms get to do this? Granted, it's not always like this (sometimes I joke I'm going back to work because it's easier), but I know that I should be counting my blessings. We ended up napping together for another hour. It doesn't get much better than that!

Help, there's a bird on my head!

Halloween was a blast despite Weezie's initial very physical protestations against wearing her costume. Like any good mother, I wrestled her to the ground and wrangled the outfit onto her. Just a few tears and scratches later (oh, and Weezie cried, too), voila - my perfect little peacock!

We went to my SIL's house so Weeze could go trick-or-treating with her cousins. She adores her cousins, and it's hilarious watching them play. It's as if she doesn't realize they're older than her (and sizeably larger seeing that their parents are 6' and 6'5", respectively). They live in a much more kid friendly neighborhood than we do (read: no crackhouses to avoid, bums that Weeze might trip over). She had also organized a hayride to take the children from house to house - each home is on a several acre lots, so it's a lot of walking for short little legs.

I was a bit apprehensive about how Weezie would do, but she had a wonderful time. She wasn't frightened by all the costumed kids and she quickly got the hang of trick-or-treating (at first she was taking candy out of her basket and putting it into others' - J quickly corrected that, lol). Every time the hayride stopped, she'd pop up, grab her basket, and yell "all right!". She hung with the big kids all night, too.

I can't wait until next year, and I'm thinking I have one more year before I hear "I want to be a princess!". Hmmm, shark, peacock, what embarrassing costume can I put her in next???

Enron, Wal-Mart, and Fisher-Price

If you're a parent of a child under 5, then I won't have to explain. Several months ago, Fisher Price started sending out teasers about the 10th anniversary Tickle Me Elmo. Except they didn't call him that - they just put ads with a shadowy image with "TMX Elmo" across the body. "What will TMX Elmo do? Find out September 19th!"

Weezie loves Elmo, so in August I considered pre-ordering the TMX Elmo (retail price $39.99) to make sure I had one for Christmas. Even though I didn't have a child at the time, I remember the huge demand for the Tickle Me Elmo when they came out 10 years ago. J said I was being silly, so I decided not to pre-order.

Well, when they were released Sept. 19, they sold out of the stores immediately, and people started selling them on ebay for $200-$300. I consoled myself with the fact that Weeze is too young to not know that she's "the only kid that doesn't have one" and that daddy ruined Christmas, but when she started squealing with delight when she saw a commercial for TMX Elmo, my heart broke! I know, I know, I'm being suckered in just like "they" planned!

So last week, my girlfriend showed me a flyer from Wal-Mart - TMX Elmo's advertised for 34.98 beginning October 1. She said they also had signs all over the stores - TMX Elmo's coming October 1! My girlfriend spoke to a lady in the toy department, and she said they'd be putting them out at 7AM today with a limit of 2 per person.

Now I hate Wal-Mart and avoid going there. For my baby, however, I'm willing to trek to Wal-Mart at 6 in the morning. When we arrive, we find out that they had put them out at midnight! And get this - they had only 5 for the whole store! If we had gotten there at midnight, we probably wouldn't have gotten one anyway. They said that Wal-Marts all over town were getting just a few, and some didn't even get any.

I'm not really mad about not getting Elmo - was just taking a chance that we'd get one, but I think it's terrible that they would advertise so much about having them when in reality they only had a few for each store, and some stores didn't even get any!

So, I'm boycotting Wal-Mart. Predatory pricing didn't move me. Unfair treatment of workers? Eh, not my problem. But playing on a momma's need to get her baby the "It" toy of the year? I'm never stepping foot in Wal-Mart again!

Yes, I realize Fisher-Price is playing games with us well. My guess is that they're purposely only releasing limited quantities and will flood the market right before Christmas. Unfortunately, Fisher-Price is a little more difficult to boycott when you have a 2-year old.

More like her father every day...

Look at what I caught Weezie doing:

Setting a good example for my daughter

One of my major pet peeves is people who drive Suburbans/Tahoes/Escalades/Yukons and don't park them properly. I drive an SUV, so I don't have anything against them, but it drives me batty when I'm trying to find a parking spot and some big-ass car is double-parked. I will be the first to admit that I'm a terrible driver, but I make a concerted effort to park so that there is plenty of room on either side of my car. I complain so much about it that my girlfriend gave me a booklet fake parking tickets to give to people. You fill in the time/date/car model, and it's preprinted with:

You are an inconsiderate person. This is not a real ticket, but it should be. Because of your rude and lame attempt at parking you have taken enough room for an army and a circus. You have received this ticket in hopes that you will learn to think of others before parking in the future. You probably change lanes without using a turn signal too. I hope your engine blows up during rush hour on your birthday.

I couldn't open my door tonight at dinner because of a bad parker, so I gave out my first violation. It's terrible and juvenile, but it made me laugh, and that's all that matters :) My only regret is that I didn't stick around long enough to see the car owner's reaction when they found the ticket under their wiper.

Pump it, louder!

Not sure what this says about my parenting skills. I guess I should be glad she wasn't singing "My Lumps".

Vy Trump, part 2

We closed on the house, woohoo! I'm chronicling my adventures in a separate blog.

Baby Einstein

We went to the bookstore last night, and I bought some picture flashcards for Weezie. I picked out a few cards to work with her this morning, and she immediately learned "apple". It's so neat to see the difference in her cognitive abilities in just a short period of time. A few months ago, she probably would have repeated "apple", but not really learned the word as she did this morning. If I put several cards down and ask her to pick out the apple, she'll pick the right one and say "apple". She already knows banana, so I tested her by asking her to pick out the banana, and she guessed correctly!

On non-baby news, I was reading O (Oprah's mag) and found out about free workouts on ExerciseTV - it's a free video on demand channel offered by some cable providers like Time Warner. Who knew?!

It's like having access to a free library of workout videos since you can turn on demand, pause, etc. Weez and I did a short 10-minute pilates workout together this morning. She likes to copy my moves when I exercise (her squat imitation is hilarious!), and she loves to climb on me when I do floor work. Not good for my form, but it's fun :)

Vy Trump

On Saturday, one of my girlfriends and I drove to see the house I'm remodeling. I'm armed with a notebook and a digital camera so that I can start taking notes. We don't close until the end of the month, but the owners have given us copies of the keys so that we can start getting contractor bids. After driving down the street a few times and not seeing the house, I sheepishly call J.

"Um, what's the address of the house again?"

Once I get on the right street, I quickly find the house and we hop out. And I realize I forgot to bring the keys. So much for getting off on a good start.

In any case, it was good to get another look at the outside of the house and bounce ideas off my friend. I tell her about the crazy lady who lives next door - she had stopped J and said, "you know the house is haunted, right? It's filled with ectoplasm." Hmmm, yeah...

While we were chatting, a little old lady walked over from across the street. Ella has lived in the neighborhood for over 60 years, and she's known both respective owners of the home. Of course, I had to mention the neighbor saying the house was haunted. "Eh? Ecto what?" Not that I really thought the house was haunted, but Ella confirmed that no had died in the home and that yes, the neighbor was crazy. Side note: when I mentioned this to J, he told me I should never ask if someone died in a house since once I know, I'd have to disclose it when selling. Ah, so much to learn!

Calgon take me away

For my birthday last year, J gave me a gift certificate for a day at Fiori. Since my birthday is coming up again in a few weeks, I finally booked an appointment before the certificate expired.

OMG, why have I not gone there sooner? I'm not really a spa person (i.e., I like them, but I don't go very often), but this was definitely the nicest spa to which I've been. I'm really picky about...uh...hygiene, and I usually find some fault. Usually something minor like the towels not being quite plush enough for the amount of money I was paying. OK, that's not really a hygiene thing, but one of my typical "Gawd, you're so picky" complaints. I never actually complain because I realize it's no big deal - only J knows me enough to perceive that split-second flash of my nose wrinkling.

The owner is a business acquaintance of J's, and he built the building from the ground up. Even though it's a new building, it manages to exude an "old-world" Mediterranean feel. It even has a grotto with hot tub/pool! This is impressive since basements are unheard of in Houston. I can't say enough of the experience - everyone was helpful and sweet without being fake/overbearing. In between sessions, you could lounge in the "quiet room" or use the pool, hot tubs, or steam rooms. I had a wonderful massage, facial, manicure, and pedicure. It was incredibly relaxing, although every once in a while I would start, panicking, "Where's Weez?!" before I'd remember she was with J for the day. Of course I've had days away from Weez before, but never just a day of just quiet tranquility.

Some friends and I are going to the Arizona Biltmore in November for a spa weekend. I was excited about going before, but I'm looking forward to it even more now that I've had such a wonderful spa experience. It figures that I'd now become a spa junkie once I became jobless, LOL.

Mas palabras

Weeze learned two more phrases in Vietnamese while on vacation with my parents:

• hut roy - hết rồi (all gone - shakes her hands while saying this)
  
• wang rack - quẳng thùng rác (throw trash in the trash can. If you tell her "quẳng thùng rác", she'll repeat it, walk to the garbage can, and then throw whatever she has in her hand away.)
  

My little bilingual baby!

Moms gone wild

About once a month, some friends of mine and I go out for a girl's night out. Since three of are moms, it's usually pretty low key. Our usual haunt is the bar at La Griglia, although last time we ended up at JR's, a local gay bar. Since Weezie goes to bed at 8, it works out well since I leave after she's gone to bed and I'm usually back by the time she wakes up (I always sleepover at A's after we go out).

Last night we didn't end up getting to La Griglia until 10:30 and the restaurant bar closes at midnight. I managed to drink three grey-goose tonics and two Kamikazie's that were sent over to the table before we left. I didn't feel too tipsy last night, but this morning I felt like crud. I don't know what's worse, the headache, or knowing that I had about 900 calories worth of drinks, LOL.

In any case, I still had a lot of fun. While I love being Weezie's mom and wouldn't trade it for the world, it's nice to be out once in while with just other adults.