The Spirit of Giving

I found that, in this time of giving and generosity, it would be quite appropriate that Lauren would decide to learn the phrase "I want that!". Fortunately, the objects of her desire are things we already own, but I fear the next trip to Toys R Us. I can see it now: Walking down the aisle, we come across a fully articulated baby doll with actual pooping, peeing, burping, and crying action all for the low, low price of $79. My little angel looks at me with her soft blue eyes, bats her eye lashes a few times, gives me a cute smile, points, and says "I want that!". I ask you, dear reader, how am I supposed to say no after that?!?! God forbid we ever run across a pony for sale.

Seen at the cafeteria

You know you're cafeteria may be lowering its standards when you see the following offering:

Chicken Vegetarian Calzone

I'd like to know how they pulled that one off.

Failure to Communicate

It's not often that Debbie and I run into a communication failure as big as the one we had last night. I thought I had made my intentions perfectly clear. She gave no indication of having a problem with my intended actions. However, when the deed was done, the reaction showed a clear misunderstanding.

With our impending trip to Detroit, we are always conscious of trying to finish all perishable items like milk. This particular week saw us run out of skim milk on Sunday. So, I picked up a half gallon to go through the week. In our household, a half gallon does not last 4 days, but I had a plan. We had almost a full gallon of Lauren's 2% milk and there was no way she was going to make a dent in that cache before our departure. So, I figured that once the half gallon of skim was cut in half, I would add 2% milk to it to return it to a full gallon. Sure, it would be 1% milk, but that's still better than drinking 2% straight.
Last night, the half gallon reached the half way point (I will not conjecture as to whether the half gallon was half full or half empty). It reached this point because I was pouring myself a glass of milk. Before I started, I told Debbie I was going to combine the milk after I poured my glass. I think the problem was I forgot to mention the "after I poured my glass" part. She assumed I was going to make the 1% concoction in my own glass. After pouring my glass, I proceeded to grab the 2% and fill the half gallon jug back to the top. During this time, Debbie's attention was focused on Christmas cards. So, when I finished the milk, I was taken aback by her question:

D: "So, how did it taste?"
Me: "How did what taste?"
D: "The milk!"
Me: "I guess it tasted like milk."
D: "Wasn't that the 1% combo?"

This is when the claxons went off in my head. I heard a little voice scream "Run!!! Get out of the house now!!!". I just looked at my beautiful, wonderful, pregnant, very hormonal wife and said "Um ... Honey .. sweetie ..." and I reached in to the refrigerator and showed her the now full half gallon jug.

You think cartoons exaggerate in these situations. I mean, how often does one's eyes come out of one's head?

The audible gasp confirmed my suspicion to get the hell out, but my legs were frozen by the fact that her eyes had jumped out of her head and were hovering around the half-gallon jug, studying it from all angles. When her eyes began to glow red and her hair stood straight up, bursting into flames, I realized my time for egress had passed. Now was the time for curling up into a ball and praying she doesn't leave many bruises.

Fortunately, the bruises were indeed few and Debbie even tried some of the home made 1% milk. The phrase "It's wierd, but not as bad as straight 2%" meant I was able to sleep inside that night. Good thing too, morning brought a frost and I don't think I would have been allowed a blanket.

My Shiny New Friend

Where does the time go. I can't believe how busy I've been lately. The only minor caveat to that is the thing taking up most of my time is a new little toy I like to call my Xbox 360. Yes folks, I was able to convince Debbie that the one item our humble abode was in most need of was a brand new shiny gaming console.
One thing Debbie understands is how hard I look around for deals. Well, this one was too good to pass up. Microcenter has a deal til the end of the month whereby you too can pick up and Xbox 360 Premium Bundle (Retail $499) for $299. Of course, to get this deal you have to walk into the store hopping on 1 foot while patting your head and rubbing your belly, but it is a great deal nonetheless. So, for the past 2 nights, I have stayed up to ungodly hours to revel in my new shiny friend.
Since we are cost-conscious, I only have 2 games. I've borrowed Burnout Revenge from a friend and then, with a 15% off deal, I bought Gears of War. There are several accessories I still want to pick up, but the deals aren't hot right now, so I'm holding off.
So, if you try to contact me and Debbie says I'm unavailable, I am either on the toilet, or playing my Xbox. Just an FYI.

I'm not ready for this

Read any parenting book and they will warn you not to overwhelm the child with too many new things. I thought this was because the child would rebel after all the change. Turns out I was wrong. As you all know, we moved Lauren to a toddler bed this past week. This transition has gone smoother than my wildest imagination could ever fathom. Even with the babysitter on Thursday, Lauren had no problems staying in the bed until morning.
Tonight brought something for which I was totally unprepared. We went shopping and thus ate dinner at a restaurant. We went to Noodles & Company because we both wanted something light and quick and it fits the bill pretty well. When Debbie started to put Lauren in the high chair, Lauren gave a fit. Knowing this is not really Lauren's M.O., Debbie came up with a reason for the fuss. Lauren decided she had no interest in using the high chair any more and wanted the booster seat. This meant Lauren was now at two major routine changes in the course of 5 days. Here's the rub: She has adjusted, once again, beautifully. I, however, was caught totally unprepared for this second change and am feeling a little overwhlemed. I can't believe she's big enough to use a booster seat at a restaurant! When the hell did this happen?
Here's what is really getting to me though. Lauren is itching to do potty training too. I have no idea how long we can hold off starting this one, but that would be three major routine changes in about 1 month. I'm convinced Lauren would have no problem starting potty training tomorrow. Daddy is a completely different story.

Little girl is growing up

Lauren slept in the toddler bed like she slept in the crib. There were no mumblings or rumblings all night. To make sure Lauren behaved herself after waking up, I made sure to be up before hand. Once up, Lauren was very good. She babbled a bit and played with her stuffed animals. Around the time I heard a a drawer being opened, I figured it was time to check what the little rugrat was up to. Walking in, I found Lauren had pulled out a pair of pajamas to replace the ones she was already wearing. Other than that though, she did great!
Bedtime tonight went even better. I spent less than 20 minutes in her bedroom with no problems. One extra hug was all that was needed to calm her. I just cannot believe how well this is going. At some point, we're going to run into problems with this new bed. For now, I'm just enjoying this smooth sailing!!

My God, what have we done?

I'm scared ... really really scared!!! Tonight, Debbie and I decided it was time. Lauren has been sleeping in cots at daycare for some time now and we need to move her out of the crib soon. We've had a toddler bed for a few months and tonight was the night for Lauren to use it. I didn't really know what to expect. I figured it might be exciting at first, but my hunch was we would have to move her back to the crib for the next few nights. If that happened, we still felt it good to expose her to the toddler bed so she could get used to the idea of not sleeping in the crib. About all I can say now is the transition went better than I could have possibly hoped for.
When we pulled the bed out of the back bedroom, Lauren was very intrigued. She had seen it before and we told her it was a bed, but without a mattress, I don't think it was all that interesting to her. After I moved her mattress from the crib to the bed, Lauren took to it like a fish to water. She got this huge smile and jumped right onto the bed. Thus began our first lesson of sleeping in a bed: Do not jump up and down on the bed. After we finished our bed time routine of story, milk, and brushing of the teeth, it was time to see how well she would use this new contraption. Knowing her propensity for an "active" bed time, I stayed in the room to keep an eye on her. I then gave her the second rule of sleeping in a bed: If you get out of bed, you sleep in the crib. This seemed to work for about 20 minutes. She didn't stay still (sitting up, talking to me, playing with her stuffed animals), but she stayed on the bed. Then it happened, she hoped off the bed and started walking around the room. As I approached her, she ran back to the bed and laid down again. I began clearing things off so I could move the mattress back to the crib (we only have the one), which caused her to fuss.
I don't know if I wussed out here or sent mixed signals. She seemed to understand what I was doing and she didn't like it. She knew what she did to cause it and expressed remorse for it. My gut said to give the bed one more try. I placed everything back on the bed, she climbed in, covered up, and seemed to stay still. After another 10 minutes, I felt good enough to leave the room. I explained to her she was not to get out of the bed, but when morning came, she could call for me and I would get her. At this point I kissed her for the 30th time that night and left the room. I kept the door open only slightly just to see if she would stay. And I stood by that door for another 15 minutes (actually, I was standing in our bedroom watching TV, but I could see the door). I am still shocked at this, but she stayed in her bed. She talked for a little bit and let out those little cries she makes when falling asleep, but she did not leave her bed.
Now, we wait til morning. I've installed a chain on her door so she cannot open it on her own. Despite her tiny hands, Lauren is very good at opening doors and we felt this was the only way to keep her in her bedroom. All I have to do now is wake up at an ungodly hour tomorrow to make sure I am up before her. Prior to this, I would spend about 10-20 minutes in bed after she woke me up while she talked and did her little crib thing. For the next few weeks, I need to make sure I'm up before her to see what she will do during this time. I'll let you know how it goes.