Distraction

I'm dreading tomorrow. Chris is staying home with the baby while I attend some medical-ish appointments. It's gonna be an all-day affair. Yuck. Anyways, to get my mind off it, I thought I'd post a little video from dinner tonight. It's hard to tell what's going on, so let me fill ya in: She's farting...and then when she's not farting or laughing, she's trying real hard to push one out. Dad didn't find it anywhere near as amusing as Mom :)

Vids for the fam

Baby was in a good mood this evening, so out came the video camera. Of course Daddy gets the good mood...Mommy didn't take baby anywhere this morning/early afternoon because baby was in such a foul state. Go figure!

Anyways, this first one is of her "singing" with Mommy...

This next one is of her playing her sleeping game with Daddy...

And then this last one is her doing a little walking with her big ball (a.k.a. mom's never-used exercise ball :)...

I don't really know what's on the agenda for me and baby tomorrow...except that I get the night to myself...nothing fun, just running errands...but I'm totally looking forward to it! What's silly is that I'm most looking forward to listening to my radio stations...seems like all I ever listen to anymore are songs about the ABCs and farm animals :)

Inside voice

My child is loud! No longer can we take her places and expect her to sit quietly. Here she was at dinner tonight...this is also how she was at the tax office, the grocery store, the mall...

We had an uneventful weekend, I guess. Chris was gone most of Saturday, so baby and I were without a car. Luckily the weather wasn't all that bad, so we played at the park for a little bit. Raina was still in her mood by the time daddy got home...it must have been obvious that it was getting to me 'cause he took her out to the park for quite a long time while I got dinner ready in the nice peace and quiet. It was fantastic while it lasted :)

We've been having the second baby talk. I thought I was pretty sure that I wanted to start trying for #2 this summer, but I've started to have second thoughts. I definitely want a second...it's just that I want to do it at the "best" time for Raina. The more we talked about it, though, the more I realized that there probably is no such thing as a best time for her. If any moms out there have any advice on the subject, I'd love to hear it.

I'm not much in the chit-chat mood tonight...got too much on the brain, I think.

I need to procure a pensieve...

Holy crap, a blog entry

I'm actually FORCING myself to do this. That's so unlike me. I just haven't been in the mood, but I'm hoping I'll feel a little less weight on my shoulders once I get it done. So....

First of all, my trip to Florida. As you may remember, the hubby was in Orlando for a work conference. I joined him on a Thursday evening and we both stayed until the next Monday morning. I guess I should start with my plane trip there. OMG. Hands down the worst flight I've ever been on. By the time I left Pittsburgh, I was officially sick and had been for a couple days...nothing serious, just a head cold, congestion, sore throat, etc. While on the plane, my nose was really stuffed up and wouldn't clear. As the plane started to descend about 20-30 minutes before landing, I got a horrible case of airplane ear. The pain was so intense that I was actually crying and even almost called for help...the only reason I didn't was because I knew there would be nothing they could do. By the time I got off the plane, there was fluid coming out of my ear, my nose was bleeding, my hearing was severely screwed up, and everything was spinning. No fun! By the time I got to Chris' hotel, I felt a little better, though my hearing remained messed up for practically the entire time in FL. My cold was at its worst while in Orlando, but luckily I was able to spend lots of time in bed. Chris had to work all day Friday and Saturday and then until close to noon Sunday, so this was me for most of that time:

A box of tissues, a new book, and Showtime....and THE MOST COMFORTABLE PILLOWS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD. Seriously, people! I'm so kicking myself for not stuffing one in my suitcase. They're made by Encompass and are close to $50 (yes, I looked them up). I might have to get one. Really, tummy sleepers have the most pillow issues, I think. Anyways, that's what my Friday and Saturday mostly consisted of, and it was fabulous. Go figure that I packed a gazillion workout clothes, thinking I would be in the gym and on the jogging path. I had no idea my cold was gonna kick my butt as hard as it did. Another high point of my trip: My new sandals. If you know me well, you know that I hate spending money on shoes. Well, I sucked it up and bought a good brand of sandals. Of course I didn't know they were a good brand...I had to be told (though the price tag told me enough). Anyways, I'm SOOOO glad I bought them. Talk about comfy! Like walking on clouds. Now if only they could make my toes look normal...


As for Disney stuff, one of those nights Chris and I went to Epcot, and then we spent most of Sunday at the Magic Kingdom. We didn't take many pics, but here are a few. If I didn't tell you we were at Disney, you wouldn't know!

Chris spinning in the tea cup.

We're actually standing in front of the Disney castle. Hard angle one-handed!


In the water taxi on the way to Epcot.


Our only pic taken by someone else, a nice stranger in China.


Our hotel, the Dolphin resort (stock photo).

It was my first time to Disney. Chris has been there several times, both as a little kid and older. I think to go for the first time as an adult and to go without kids is probably not the best way to go. I enjoyed it, don't get me wrong...but I didn't think it was as great as what I'm probably "supposed" to think. As far as amusement parks go, I've enjoyed Hershey Park more. However, I can see Disney as being a really fun place to experience with kids, and I look forward to taking Raina when she's older. I'm definitely not a fan of the "rides" that just basically summarize stories/movies/fairy tales. Ug, BORING! My favorite amusement in Disney ended up being the Monster's Inc. comedy show. Go figure! I have to admit to being surprised by how freakin' expensive everything was, too. Geesh! Chris and I both thought the food was kinda bad, too, even at our hotel. It sucks to pay $30 for a bad sandwich, ya know?!?

So anyways, how horrible is it that the favorite part of my Disney vacation was sleeping in the hotel???

We returned Monday morning to relieve Gramma of her 4-day babysitting adventure. We were hardly gone at all, yet Raina seemed to have changed SO MUCH when we got home. It was crazy! That first hour we were back, she just seemed to have gotten so much older. I told Chris that I felt like we left a baby and came home to a toddler. However, that feeling faded later that day...must've just been the shock of having been away. Raina did learn a new word while we were away, though: Clo Clo, which is what we call my kitty Chloe. Gramma had her hands full while we were gone, but she did a great job...we came home to find a very happy baby :) I have to admit to feeling greatly validated, though. Gramma wrote on facebook that Raina was quite a character and that she understood why I needed some R&R. YES! THANK YOU! Sweet validation!!!

That seems a perfect introduction to what my last few days have been like. Raina has been in one hell of a mood. Tantrums, tantrums, tantrums. Crying, screaming, hissy fit tantrums. Not just in the morning or after her naps, but all day. I think I deserve a medal for being as pleasant as I have been. I've been making such a concerted effort to be super cheery around her, but since Sunday I've gotten maybe 2-3 hours of sleep each night. I'm feeling very close to a breaking point and am just doing my best to hold on until Saturday night when I can take some sleeping pills. Crappy mood aside, I am really starting to see my little girl's personality and what I see scares me. Oh my, that sounds horrible, doesn't it?!? I don't mean it in a bad way...just in that Chris and I will have our hands full. I believe she's going to be a mega type A gal. She's so impatient and demanding and opinionated. I know all kids are at this age to some degree, but Raina just "IS" these things as opposed to "is" these things, if that makes any sense. Type A's are in the genes, though, so at least she comes by it honestly!

On a different baby note, she's walking a little more each day, but by no means is it her preferred method of locomotion. Baby steps. Her vocabulary, both signing and verbal, is increasing. So I have something to refer to on the cold day in hell when I finally do her baby book, here's a list of the signs she uses: bath, book, help, duck, water, ball (which she also uses for meatball), swing, airplane, monkey (which also means sleep due to the fact that she has a monkey lullaby thingie in her crib), moon, kitty, daddy, boy, girl, bubbles, car, love, more, please, music, hat, frog, and toothbrush. I'm still "Va-Va"...I have no idea why. Banana is still "bah-bee," and penguin is still "pah-pee." I doubt anyone else would understand her, but I know when she says Elmo, kitty, doggie, orange, towel, juice, cheese, yes, blocks, ball, owl, tiger, and zoo. She's got "uh-oh" down and says "ding-ding-ding" when she's hungry ('cause Daddy would sing "dinner bell, dinner bell, ding ding ding" when dinner was ready). She makes the sounds of an elephant, monkey, and kitty, and she can identify her nose, eyes, ears, hair, teeth, belly, elbow, knees, feet, toes, hands, and thumbs. She is currently obsessed with balls. "Ball" was the first thing she signed to me this morning when I went into her room to get her up (Note to self: Teach her the sign for "good morning!"). She's got almost all her teeth, but her hair still isn't growing. Grrrrr! She's good with a spoon and is now attempting forks. I think that's it for baby stuff. Here are the obligatory pics:

Taken today between tantrums.

Taken today between tantrums.

Taken today between tantrums.

Recuperating from a tantrum.

Did I mention she's been having tantrums?

As for me, I'm all over the place. First of all, I severely twisted my ankle last week. I thought it was getting better, but then I guess I overdid it yesterday (we went to the zoo) and now it's swollen and sore again. I haven't been to the gym in weeks. Last month was my first month on Serafem, and I think it worked. I certainly didn't have anywhere near the mood symptoms that I was having before...no rage...but then again, I was sick and in Florida, so who knows. I look forward to seeing how it works this month. Like I mentioned before, I'm having a heck of a time with sleep. Last night was the most I've gotten since last week, and even then we're only talking about 3ish hours. I've been having hot flashes, sweating to the point of being drenched and having to change clothes in the middle of the night, and I've also been peeing every 2 hours on the dot almost. TMI, I know. Who knows. I'm too tired to really care! I hope it's just hormonal and thus coming to an end within the next couple days. I have really great sandals, though :)

There's more to write about, but it's late. At the rate I'm going, I'll finish it all in a couple months!

Go figure!

Go figure that the day Raina starts to walk is the day that I take a tumble on the playground and do a serious twisting number on my ankle. I was holding Raina at the time I fell, but I managed to twist my body so that my one side took the impact and not her...it's amazing how time slows down in situations like that. Anyways, what's normally a 5-minute walk from the park to home turned into a little over 30 minutes, and I've been crawling ever since. What a day!

And so it begins...

This has to be super quick...I plan to update on my vay-kay later, probably this weekend...but I have to post this now, especially since Daddy will be gone all day and night and won't be able to see it himself :(

At 16+ months, it was beginning to seem as though these first steps would never happen :)

So long, Suckers!

Yah yah yah, it's been a while since I've posted. Give this temporary single mom a break! Daddy comes home for good on Monday, so I hope to get back into the swing of things after that. As for me, I'm off to join him in Orlando for a few days. I leave tomorrow evening and we both fly back early Monday morning. While I'm there, Chris will be in training all day Friday and Saturday and then has to work until noon on Sunday, so we really won't have much time for Disney, but we're going to try to get some in. I'm excited...I've never been to Disney...but I'm also very much looking forward to the quality me time. I'll be going down with a cold, so I'll be slightly impaired, but I'm not going to let it slow me down too much. Gramma is driving down from Erie to babysit, so Raina will be in good hands.

I'll leave with a couple vids (if you can't see them, that means you're in facebook...gotta go to my blog).

This one is for Gramma to study before she comes down...and this is only a sampling of her signing vocabulary :)

This one shows the type A-ness of my baby...

See ya next week :)