After a night of me not sleeping at all (but Kate did… now there’s a plot twist) and then Kate waking up early I did my usual: curled up on the couch and turned on Elmo. I kept the remote near at hand, since I have to keep hitting play next, pulled up my blanket and curled up on my side. Kate immediately climbs up on the couch with her puppy and sits with her back leaning up against my chest. She leans her head against mine, so my lips are pressed to her cheek. We stayed that way for a while. I fell asleep a few times, woken by her asking for another episode.

She hops down a few times – once two retrieve the dropped puppy and climb back up, the next to run over to the highchair and ask to eat. I brought over her little strap-on booster seat, set it on the floor and gave her a cut-up peanut butter and jam sandwich that was left over from yesterday. I kept trying to open one eye to peek at her and make sure she wasn’t doing something terrible with the PB&J but she was just quietly and slowly munching on it. She had found her sippy cup of water. She was all set.

Next time she roused me she wanted out of the seat and climbed back up with me. So there we stayed, cuddled together, warm memories drifting in about how I used to sleep with her in my arms all the time. It was such a perfect moment.

::

Yesterday we went out for dinner to our favorite hibachi restaurant. Eating out is certainly a bit tricky now that Kate is a toddler and doesn’t want to ever sit still. The last time we attempted to eat out it was spur of the moment. We were all hungry and when told it would be a 30-minute wait just to be seated we left, knowing Kate wouldn’t handle the wait – which in and of itself caused a complete meltdown the entire trip home. It’s a touchy thing, this timing – the kid has to be hungry enough to be occupied by the food while you eat your dinner, but at the same time that makes them hungry enough to freak the hell out if there is any delay.

So yesterday we timed it well and went for hibachi, which has the added benefit of being something to watch while eating and getting more hot food every few minutes which plays in nicely. Kate did take several trips to check out the fish aquarium before the food started, but then was good and ready for her meal. She was excellent. She dug into the rice and noodles, was trying to stuff whole shrimp in her mouth (ummm… no) and devoured the cooked veggies including carrots and “trees” (broccoli). She talked (loudly) in excited gibberish the entire time, as if wanting to share just how delighted she was with our outing. At the end of the meal there was surprisingly little food under her chair, too – apparently it was so good she ensured that every bite went directly in her mouth.

Funniest moment though was when the chef arrived at our table. Kate stared at him wide-eyed and I wasn’t sure how she was going to react. Then she pointed at me, told the chef very loudly, “Mama!” and patted my arm a few times just to make it clear that I was indeed her mama. She again repeated this halfway through our meal when the lady sitting next to me started talking to me about Kate. “Mama,” Kate told her proudly while patting me. “Mama.

I really love it when outings go well like that – they definitely don’t always. I was so proud of my little munchkin.

I’m starting to get really excited about having another little one in our house. I watch Kate when she’s around other kids and she just shrieks with joy and runs and laughs. She adores babies. Today she kept touching her cousin on the cheek and patting him – then later running up and down the hall giggling with them. Obviously Ember won’t be playing with Kate for quite a while, but I think she’ll enjoy being a little helper, taking care of a little baby. Kate didn’t even object to me carrying her cousins around for a while today, though she did climb up to share my lap with one of them. There was a time when she would have a major melt down if I held another baby, but it seems she’s chilled out a great deal.

Also I’m excited to see who Ember is, to get to know her. Right now she’s still such an unknown, and every time I think about holding a baby girl I can only picture Kate. So who is this child in my belly? What kind of personality will she have? Will she look a lot like Kate?

And of course I’m starting to get really mushy over the whole baby thing. I’ve been talking with friends a lot about babywearing and sharing newborn pictures and it just has me feeling all sappy. I’m going to get to cuddle a tiny little baby again – and not just someone’s baby, my baby! To nurse her, cosleep with her, listen to her little coos and gurgles and watch as she finds her hands and learns to smile. There are so many good things about the first year!

Weirdly I’m not stressed at all about being ready for a baby. I remember when I was pregnant with Devin and Kate, I felt this enormous pressure to make sure the room was done and the clothes were all counted and laid out and everything had to be just so. This time I feel so relaxed about it. We have all the big stuff – the car seat, the cosleeper, the swing. We have the bins of girl clothes. We have baby blankets galore. I guess I just realized last time how little you really do need for them. Newborns, in a lot of ways, are really easy. I plan on wearing Ember and still taking Kate to playgroups and gymnastics and the mall. It’ll get challenging at times, but I’ll adjust, like I did – and keep doing – with Kate.

I’m working on Kate’s scrapbook a lot right now, trying to get it up to date, and I keep thinking, wow, soon there will be two scrapbooks to do!

Being sick with a toddler to take care of is just about as much fun as you would think it is. Possibly less. I am lucky that Kate is being so nice and cuddly with me instead of yelling at my inability to do much, but I still really wish I could just spend all day in bed doing nothing but laying there feeling miserable. Instead I lay on the couch feeling miserable and playing Elmo over and over for Kate. (Maybe that’s why she’s being so sweet!) Kate today was alternating playing with toys and sitting curled up with me watching TV while I dozed in and out. She even gave me some kisses on the forehead.

Tuesday afternoon I started feeling some slight stomach pain where I wasn’t sure if I’d walked too much that day or what. It just got worse from there. I was up all night sitting on the toilet and puking into Kate’s potty (well at least it does serve on purpose). I must have picked up a stomach bug… I’ve heard others mention one going around. What is it with me being pregnant and getting stomach bugs? Must be because my stomach is already so damn sensitive and queasy, any little thing sends it into a tailspin.

It’s now thursday evening and my stomach muscles actually hurt. I feel much better, but food is still not settling well so I’m sticking with jello and gatorade and soup. I’m rather starving, and once or twice my stomach tricked me into eating something… bad idea. So I’m taking it easy.

Miracle of miracles Kate is NOT sick, I’m not sure how she didn’t get anything. I’ve been eying Denis suspiciously, wondering if he’s going to get it.

Oh, poor Kate. She mostly had a good day playing with her best friend (we were babysitting him all day today). The morning was great. She went down for her nap without an issue for Denis. When she woke up, however…. it was land of the melt down.

Part of it may have to do with Den being home after 5 days away. She was really excited to see him this morning, kicking her feet happily as she gave him a big hug and saying, “Daddy! Daddy!” But minutes later she was asking, “Mama? Mama??” Almost like she had gotten so used to me being there 24/7 that she didn’t want me to leave the room. Unfortunately I had to go to class, so she stayed with daddy. He put her down for her nap – like I said, without an issue.

I was in the middle of something when she woke up, so Den went to get her. And maybe that was just overload for her, thinking I was gone or something. Even after I finished my little project and picked her up she continued sobbing inconsolably. She wasn’t clinging to me or anything – I tried cuddling with her on the recliner and she slid off my lap, pulled on my hand, and burst into a fresh round of tears. We gave her motrin and slowly she calmed down. I had to run to the post office before it closed so I took her with me to prevent another meltdown… which didn’t really work, considering that she was having a mini tantrum at the post office because she did not want to stand in line. Yes, today I was that mother standing in line among all the older folk, holding on to my toddler who is pulling, pulling, then sagging to the ground and kicking her feet. And I just smiled (albeit a little forced) and repeated, “It’s okay baby, we just have to stand in line, just a little longer.”

Miraculously about an hour after she woke up (so an hour after she got the motrin) she was suddenly fine. Ate lunch, ran around with her friend, laughed and played and had fun. So… teeth? Woke up on the wrong side of her crib? Just one of those days? No idea.

Then at bedtime she was really tired quite early, but I got her all changed and we gave her kisses and put her in her crib. She talked for a while in there, which is becoming normal for her. Then… crying. I got her out and discovered a massive poop. Well that’s one way to screw up bedtime! Minutes after getting that all fixed she ran down the hall, slipped, and all I heard was THUMP and loud wailing. I found her laying on her back and assumed she’d landed on the back of her head, but she has a large red mark on her forehead so I’m not really sure what she did. Poor thing, though. It’s horrible when they hurt themselves, I scoop her up and rock her and talk to her and wish I could just wrap a bubble around her to take it away.

Thankfully she calmed down fairly quickly, ate a snack (err, dumped a snack on the floor) and we watched Elmo before trying for bedtime again (this time without any issues or delays!). But man… what a day of opposites!

So yesterday was one of those pregnancy-induced meltdown moments. I was making a longer trip to visit some friends that we don’t see too often. Den usually drives, and even then it’s been a couple years since we went to their house. I had an address, but when my google navigation said “You are at your destination” and I, err, wasn’t, well, that’s when it started going hinky. I was pretty certain I was on the right road though, so I just kept driving, following the house numbers up until I got to the number I had written down. It didn’t exist. I called my SIL, but she wasn’t home to look it up for me. I saw a house that looked vaguely familiar so I pulled in, relieved. Took Kate out of the truck. Grabbed my stuff. Took about 10 steps towards the house… and then stopped. Looked at it again. No…. that is definitely NOT the right house. Back to the truck, strapped Kate back in… and she freaked out crying. we’d been in the car for 45 minutes already, and she was fine until I took her out and then put her back in. Bad mistake.

So that’s about when I started crying and called my husband. I’m stressed out, I can’t find the stupid house, and Kate is wailing in the back seat. And really I knew there was no need for freaking out, I just had to get their number from Den and call, no big deal, but it was like something in my poor little brain broke and I just wanted to start sobbing. So bizarre.

Den called his friend, who went to the end of the driveway so I could find it. 5 minutes later I’m there. Took me a little bit to get Kate calmed down, though.

The rest of the day went great. Kate was really too busy to eat much of the food, but she really had a good time playing with their 6 year old. She thought he was pretty cool with the balloon throwing and trucks and games and stuff. Plus they have a bird (in a large glass enclosure) and fish, both of which utterly mesmerized her. She was funny and charming and didn’t want to leave!

::

Between going to that friend’s yesterday and going to a playgroup and Walmart today we have found enough to keep ourselves occupied. She has been a very silly goof the last couple days, apparently trying to make me forget about how naughty she can be climbing things. Well it’s working. I can’t not laugh when she’s walking around the living room staring at the ceiling and then collapsing on my leg giggling. A friend gave her a bunch of plastic play food so today’s favorite words were “GAPE!” (grape) “BaNAna!” and “Bro-kee!” (broccoli). She especially is in love with the grape bunches and sat in her chair watching TV with them and carried them around all day. It’s funny seeing how excited she is about what seems like such a simple thing. But that seems to be the way of it – the fancy toys hold her attention only so long. The simple block shape sorter, shopping cart and megabloks have seen daily use for months. And of course the books. Always the books.

She has really started shouting “MAMA!” to get my attention now, which is still cute and not yet annoying. Especially since when I look at her and say, “Yes baby?” she makes her big silly grin and laughs, which makes me just want to go straight over and tickle her. (And often I do.) She’s also started repeating “Yuv yoo” which is about the sweetest thing ever.

::

The pets, on the other hand, have made the last few days extremely frustrating. The dogs have decided that barking is their only means of entertainment outdoors, so when I let them out to do their business 2 minutes later all I hear is raucous barking from the fenceline and I have to go back downstairs to cuss them out and put them back in the basement. (Something about snow… I swear they do this every time it snows.) One night the dog was sick throwing up and I had to clean puke out of his crate twice, that was super fun. Then the cat kept throwing up his dinner on the carpet (always the carpet, not the linoleum… that would be too easy).

Yesterday one of the cats got out the front door, and I just stood there waiting for a few minutes. It’s below freezing out, there’s snow and ice on the ground, and it’s a very fat, spoiled indoor cat. A minute later he came scrambling up the front steps and back into the house. He spent a good 15 minutes licking his paws. I keep telling him he doesn’t want to go out there, he keeps trying.

Then today the propane was delivered at 8:30am – which, if you know anything about me, you know is before my wake-up time. The propane truck I can ignore; the dogs barking 4 feet away from my ear at said propane truck I cannot. So then after I let the dogs out for their morning pee break one of them wouldn’t come back inside. He always comes when Den calls him, but with me he shoots me a look and walks the opposite direction. So fine, I left him outside while we went to the playgroup for an hour. I came home to find him in the FRONT yard, waiting for me. Propane delivery guy didn’t shut the goddamn gate again. I’d blame the snow, but they never EVER latch the gate (yes, we are getting pissed). Thankfully the dog was all excited to see me and ran straight in the front door and I didn’t have to go chasing him around the neighborhood.

Fun times, fun times. Now Den’s flight is majorly delayed and he doesn’t expect to get home until 2am. I’m willing to bet the dogs will start barking when he arrives, waking me and possibly Kate up as well. Yep. Should be fun…

Holy cow toddlers are tiring when you are the only one on duty all the time. Den is away on a short business trip right now and the evenings are just so hard! I’m used to handing her off for at least a little bit – not literally, but at least knowing that someone else is in the room watching her so I can actually do the dishes or make dinner or whatever it is I need to do. Today I was chopping onions and garlic while running into the living room every ten seconds to see what the heck she was doing now. (This climbing phase is kind of scary!) I tried occupying her in the kitchen with me, but that failed. I’m trying to avoid turning on the TV every time I need to do something, but man. It’s hard.

The food/water thing really is driving me crazy right now. I am so confused. She asks for food then refuses to eat it. But then asks for food. And refuses to eat that. And asks for cheerios, but I am not giving her cheerios if she won’t eat anything else. Last time I ate chili on a salad I gave her chili in a bowl. She did not want her chili in a bowl, she wanted my chili on a salad. Okay, fine. I fed her from my bowl (or at least faked it really well). She ate it happily. So this time I was smart! I made chili on a salad for her, too. I gave it to her. “No.” Ummm. Okay. I offer her a bite of mine. “No.” Errr. What? I finally convinced her to eat a bite of mine. Then she proceeded to pick the lettuce off of every forkful I offered her. Not to discard it – to eat it. She ate JUST the lettuce. She absolutely refused to eat the beans or meat. What the heck??? What kid does that?!

She won’t eat any fruit right now. Strawberries, pears, peaches, oranges – all previous favorites, all refused at first sight. I even mixed yogurt with pear chunks as a “new food” – which she took a bite of. Then she made a horrified face and refused to open her mouth again. Oh, I take that back, she will eat apple… but only with peanut butter, the way I eat it. Plain apple slices like she used to eat like crazy are dropped to the floor.

The dumping of water continues. I can only give her water or milk while I’m standing there, and the very second she is done drinking and makes a move to dump the cup or make a mess with the sippy I take it away from her. I have cleaned up a LOT of water and milk in the last three days.

::

Today it snowed pretty hard so we stayed in all day. That’s a long day for both of us, I usually try to at the very least run an errand or something to get us out. But we found some ways to keep busy. I brought in a tub of snow for her to dig in with her shovel. I love snow; it’s fully edible and doesn’t stain anything. I just have to mop up water when she’s done. So she had fun with that for a while. I brought up an old toy from the basement (which sadly did not hold her interest for very long, damn). We read books. She stuck stickers in her art pad (she apparently loves stickers now that she’s figured out the trick to them!). She took a long bath and played in the water. She also took a very nice 2 hour nap, which I appreciated. So really it wasn’t a bad day! I didn’t have the energy to actually bundle us both up to go outside, but I did that yesterday in the inch we had already. She enjoyed that until the big dog knocked her down in the snow, then she changed her mind.

Why does it always snow when Den is away? I remember when he went on a week long trip the December I was pregnant with Kate. “It won’t snow,” he said, rolling his eyes at me. It snowed. This time he left off the eye roll. It still snowed. I guess he’s just not allowed to go away December through February anymore. We do live in Massachusetts, after all. (Not that these storms are really a big deal. I still get highly amused by how efficient everything is. Snow falls, plows come through an hour later, everyone snowblows their driveway, people continue on their business.)

I apparently just don’t grow quiet babies in utero. It’s funny to me because I thought Devin was so active, but I think both the girls outrank him in terms of activity and force. Ember’s movement is becoming quite regular and predictable already. Every morning when I wake up it takes me a while to move, and as I’m stretching and trying to convince myself to get out of my nice warm bed she always kicks me at least a few times. It’s a nice little “good morning!” During the day I’ll feel a few kicks here and there, but it’s in the evening after I eat dinner that she really has fun. If I’m on my feet here and there then she’ll stay quiet until I put Kate to bed and sit down. But at some point every evening when I finally rest she turns on the party dance. Thump. Thump. Thump. My belly visibly jumps now. And her kicks are almost always on my right side. Once in a while I’ll feel big kicks on my far right side at the same time as I feel little pokes on my lower left, which must be hands. I figure she must be transverse at this point… I know Devin was at this stage, and Kate possibly was too (but I forget).

I had an appointment today with the midwives, and as usual it was very smooth and uneventful, other than Kate trying to climb everything in the exam room. My blood pressure measured a little high because Kate would not sit still and was wiggling and kicking her way off my lap as the machine measured it, so I wrote that one off. Surprisingly my weight was only 138, which according to them puts me at about a 13lb gain total (lower than I expected). Kate sat on my legs as I layed on the exam table while the midwife used the doppler and we heard the heart beating away in there – Kate looked rather perplexed by the oddity of the whole thing! (Still such an awesome sound – even though I felt her moving just a little bit prior.)

She did mention that the letter of recommendations from the high-risk doctor (written right after Devin died) mentioned growth ultrasounds, though it was up to me. I actually wasn’t keen on the idea of monthly ultrasounds, both because they give me serious anxiety and the risk of seeing something random that makes me worry more. But at the same time it really is nice to know for sure that baby’s growing on track. So we’ve scheduled an ultrasound for around the end of my first trimester, and another one around the time when we lost Devin (35/36 weeks). Hopefully that’s all I’ll need and everything will be fine, but if anything is concerning then obviously I’d be monitored more closely.

The more I realize how grown-up Kate is the more I look forward to having a newborn again! I was looking through Kate’s old pictures and it was really tugging at my heartstrings, so sweet and cuddly! I’m still a little nervous about having another little one, about Kate not being my only focus of attention, but that’s pretty normal worries for people having another kid.

I do think Kate will be great, though. Kate loves babies. Her little friend (7 months old) was visiting the other day and Kate crouched down in front of the car seat to talk to her in toddler-speak, rock the carseat, and then try to give her a paci and a toy. It was so adorable! I’m starting to really picture her being the big sister, helping out and being a little mother hen. I really think Ember is going to adore having a big sister like her!

So here’s me at 22 weeks. Hopefully I don’t look too exhausted.

Holy smokes Kate is exhausting lately! Ever since discovering running and climbing she just never wants to sit still.

She’s started using furniture as step-stools to reach things. She’s very quick at moving a chair across the room and using it to climb. She started climbing into her highchair when she’s hungry, which doesn’t sound bad in and of itself except for the fact that I have always left the tray on the highchair. So she climbs onto the tray, turns around, then into her chair feet-first. Well one day we were cooking dinner and heard a crash and THUMP and wail. We turn around to find Kate and the tray on the floor! It’s not made to hold a toddler. So we have to take the tray off and keep it elsewhere, but she’s still trying to climb into the highchair all the time.

I ended up bringing our strap-on booster seat into the house the other day and she found it, dragged it into the living room, and sat in it asking for cheerios. I figured maybe it would be safer to have a booster at the table than the tall highchair – at least she can climb up into the booster safely on her own. So that’s what I’ve been using the last two days. And I’ve realized that it just creates new problems. She’s obsessed with climbing on and off the booster. So she gets there, grabs the tray off the table, snaps the tray on (?!), asks for food. That part is fine, I don’t mind that. I give her some food. She eats two bites, then says, “No,” and tosses the rest on the floor. I grimace and take off the tray. She worms down while I set to cleaning up the food. Then the moment her feet touch the ground she’s climbing back into the chair and trying to put the tray on again. If I ignore her she’ll start yelling “stuck!” because she can’t get the tray off herself.

Some meals, like breakfast and dinner, she’s fine sitting in the chair for a while, strapped in with food. She still will dump food on the floor and bang her sippy cup upside down to make a mess that way, but she’s okay sitting and eating when she’s hungry. But the rest of the day? Lunch and snacks? Forget it. I’ve started giving her a cup of crackers or cheerios and letting her sit in her chair watching Sesame Street. Of course then I turn around 5 minutes later to find cheerios all over my carpet because she won’t just sit still to eat them, she has to climb all over her little chair in the living room.

The sippy cup thing, by the way, is getting really annoying. She’s known for a long time how to get the water/milk out by banging it, but now she’s chewed the spouts enough that liquid comes out faster and she does it every single damn time I give her a sippy cup. And when I say, “Katherine! No! Messy!” she gives me a big stinkin’ grin. I take the sippy away if she continues doing it, but she still needs to drink during the day. So apparently I need to watch her like a hawk every time.

Because of the food issues and especially the sippy cup issues I’ve had to change her like three times a day because she ends up smearing food on herself or dripping milk all down her front. First of all it is freezing cold so I can’t just let her walk around soaking wet. And secondly, gross. She also has a great fondness for running her hands through her hair while eating. I swear, everyone talks about having to change newborns 3 or 4 times a day and we never had to – she didn’t spit up and never had blowouts. Now however it’s a whole new game.

I am exhausted! When is it bedtime?

In lieu of blacking out my blog – considering that wouldn’t really accomplish much, not many people would notice – I’m just going to post some links for info.

This really is a major issue. SOPA started out as a good(ish?) idea and a lot of major internet companies supported it. But as happens with government the bill was changed and re-written to a point where what it is now would affect almost everything on the internet. Especially blogs and other interactive communities. It hands the power of censorship to companies – they can decide what violates their copyright and gives them the right under law to submit requests to hosting providers to shut down sites – and the hosting provider must comply within 5 days. The bill also includes DNS blocking, which is the same censorship method used in countries like China. That’s some scary shit there.

Wikipedia (who is blacked out today): https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/SOPA/Blackoutpage Click on the “Learn More” for info and enter your zip for your reps info to contact them.

SOPA Infographic: http://americancensorship.org/infographic.html

A post about how these bills would affect you: http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/design/how-sopa-pipa-can-affect-you/

The Day The LOLcats Died (video): http://icanhascheezburger.com/2012/01/18/funny-pictures-videos-the-day-the-lolcats-died-pipa-sopa/

Courtesy of the Oatmeal:

I really urge everyone to do more than think about it, please call your reps today. This bill really cannot pass.

Well Kate has decided that the middle of the night is unpleasant for sleeping. She wakes up crying, doesn’t go back to sleep, and wants out of her crib to watch TV for hours. I step foot in her room and she wants nothing to do with cuddles or hugs or… well, actually she wants nothing to do with me. I am just her jail-breaker and the one who controls the remote. The good news is that after a couple of hours of me either on the computer or sacked out on the couch (depending how exhausted I am) she starts to droop, I put her in her crib, and we both sleep until morning…. actually she’s been sleeping in until 10 or later, which screws up any plans I had for the day of course. I figure I could lay in her room while she screams for hours, but this seems more expedient at getting me back to sleep. She did this last time she was teething, too. And as soon as those teeth came back in she was back to sleeping normally. The only question is how long this will take. Assuming this IS teeth… I am never quite sure until they actually come through and it’s over. Maybe she’s just messing with me.

She hasn’t been up for cuddling much at all this week. I ask for a hug or a kiss and am just as likely to get a head-shake and “No” as a hug or kiss. I pull her onto my lap (like I usually do) and she immediately squirms off. The only time I actually get her to sit peacefully on my lap is when I am reading her books. I really like reading her books. I sneak in kisses. I also sneak in cuddles when we play the mommy-gonna-get-you tickle game.

The “No” thing has definitely progressed. I mentioned that she was using it conversationally, contemplatively, as if she’s considered my request and respectfully declines at this moment. It was (is) quite cute, really. But this week she seems to have made a mental leap, like she now realizes she can use this tool to assert independent thought. She is now a person with a strong opinion and the capability of expressing it in words.
“Elmo!” “Not right now, we’re going to watch mommy’s show.” “No! No! Elmo!”
“Let’s put your jacket on.” “No!” “We have to put your jacket on, put your arm in,” “Nooooo!”
“Eat!” “Okay, here’s your lunch.” “…. No. Done. Down.”

It is definitely more tiring. I joke at times (like when I’m getting her to identify letters and numbers) that Kate is a monkey, performing on command. I’m starting to question exactly who the monkey is.

I find it’s a hard line to figure out… what things to just let go and what things to enforce. It’s pretty clear that if I made an argument every time she said no to me it would be a very, very long, stressful day for both of us. Most things I figure don’t really matter. If she doesn’t want to put her jacket on right that second I’ll wait a minute, mention the car, and try again. The TV is a bad habit that I am not thrilled about, but I know we’re both bored as hell in the house. I try to get out once a day with her to some kind of playgroup or activity or just walking the mall, but this week with her really messed up sleep we’ve managed to miss everything. But there’s a point when I can’t take any more Elmo or Super Why, I turn it off and we find other things to do: drawing, chase-and-hide, blocks, piano. I am finding however that with the exception of the chase games she generally doesn’t want my participation, she just wants me to sit there next to her and watch her. That gets very boring. Apparently we need some new ideas… and to make it out of the house in time for the fun stuff. My house is a whole lot of boring right now.