Things to remember to do this summer

This is a "list in progress" of things that I want to remember to do this summer!!

Derby Days
Farm Tots
Swim at the pool
Walk on the Kirkland Waterfront
Go to Concerts in the park
Go to Redmond Town Center on Wednesday nights
Torchlight Parade
Run the Redmond Town Center 5k

Cleanliness is next to...

If there's one surefire way to experience "no fail fun" it's to give Bailey a stool or a chair and let her stand in front of the sink and "wash hands" for an hour or two. She plays in the water, "spatulates", drinks a little water, splashes - in fact, I don't believe that any washing actually happens, but that's ok - she has a BLAST!!

Bailey-isms

I thought I'd try to recall a number of her favorite "Words" and phrases. I plan to keep better lists as they really are very cute (and, I'm not even slightly biased).

"I darfed"

"I kickee de ball"

"Cash" She is saying "Catch" and has a ball in her hand at this time. The frightening thing is that Catch doesn't always follow the ball throw - frequently the ball has already been launched. Even more frequently, it's been launched at your head.

"Daddeeee....are you?" (when she's looking for someone to come get her out of her crib. She will often run through the list of people she knows if I haven't gotten to her quick enough - all the way down to her cousin Johnny [perhaps her favorite person in the world]. Um, yeah, I'm sure that he'll be super helpful in getting her out)

coot baby (cute baby)

Mommy: Bailey, look who it is...
Bailey: It's a baby Jesus (when looking at Baby Maisy)

Bailey calling for Johnny's cat (named Don), "Donner" This was just after Christmas, so I think she was thinking of one of Santa's reindeer. She still calls for him from our house - apparently he has great hearing.

Foofoo (this was what she called Goofy until just after Christmas)
Mimmie (Minnie Mouse)
A-icky Mouse (Mickey Mouse)
Goo-noh (Pluto, Mickey's dog)

When we went to Disneyland in December we had booked the trip through Disney, and as part of the package they arrange for one of the characters (or a group of the characters) to call the child. We chose Minne, Mickey and Goofy. After they called and she hung up, she looked at us and said, "A Donald". As if to say, "Um - where was Donald - too selfish to show up for the call?" After that, she'd talk a TON about seeing Donald at DisneyWorld. Ironically - the only time that she saw him, she was asleep. We took the picture anyway.
"I take a baff" (I take a bath - typically she's already naked and in the tub at this point, just waiting for us to add the water).

"Tiggah Pooh Wide" This refers to the Winnie the Pooh ride at both DisneyWorld and DisneyLand. If she could ride it over and over again she would be utterly delighted and life would be even more satisfying.

"I tek a pooh" What she is really saying is, "I want to watch My Friends Tigger & Pooh". It always sounds as if she's referring to bodily functions.

Update - Darf!

For anyone who's wondering how Bailey is feeling after her eventful night, she seems to have made a full recovery. So, when I'd asked her how her tummy felt she said, "I darfed!" You sure did, Princess! It's been jammie day for her - she's wearing her special bear jammies and stops a little more frequently for snuggles. I think that has more to do with interrupted sleep and being tired than with "darfing".

Melmo!!

Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me? Well, last night it was Elmo, or as Bailey calls him - Melmo! We took Bailey to Sesame Street Live last night and had a blast! You can tell that Bailey's a child of the DVR age because as soon as it was over she was asking for "Melmo angain" (her version of "Elmo again") in the same way that she asks to see Monsters, Inc (DVRd) and Tiggah Pooh (My Friends Tigger and Pooh - also DVRd) again. She especially seemed to enjoy Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Ernie and Grover. Here are some pictures - oh, and pay close attention to that picture of her sitting eating a hot dog (well, the hot dog is in Adam's hand). That hot dog - called a Dome Dog by the Tacoma Dome - will forever more be referred to as the barf dog which is what happened at 3am. I may regret teaching her the word barf, but in my defense, to my 3am brain, it was easier to teach than vomit. Try these two phrases and then see if you agree. When Bailey gives you a questioning look say, "you vomited" or "you barfed". Well see? "You barfed" just rolls out so much more easily - it's all of those soft consonants!! After a bath and some relax time (watching Oobi, thank God Noggin begins at 3am here) she seemed to be doing much better - she's still sleeping, so we'll see.

What is heaven like?

I'm sure that many of us have pondered this question. We envision golden roads, brilliant mansions, sunny days without a great deal of hair-frizzying humidity. I'd like to offer what, I'm certain, heaven looks like to my toddler...MUD!! Lots and lots and lots of mud puddles that you can jump in and (ugh) eat. Now, if that mud was chocolate I'd probably agree - however, it's not. It's just mud. Farming season is coming up and we'll start going to Farm Tots again - I think that the rainy days will be her favorite!!

Not for the squeamish

For over 2 years (2.5, to be exact) I've had this raw video from Bailey's birth - the actual birth - the c-section - and haven't had much gumption to sit and edit it. I watched when she was a year old and was amazed by the video. Kristi (my sister) was in the OR with Adam and I and did all of the taping. Yes, it gets a little jumpy at times, but if you'd been up for 2 days and had adrenaline from an event like this you'd be jumpy all of the time - trust me! Finally, this week, I imported the video and went to the task of editing. I'm sure that I could edit down even more, and probably will, but for now I'm happy with it. There are moments where you see some blood, but no guts. It definitely isn't for anyone who's nervous watching Trauma - Life in the ER, bit it's really fairly tame. If you're interested in watching what a real c-section looks like, or how Bailey was born, you can find the video HERE. Note that it is about 9 minutes long - you may want to click on the link and then get a cup of coffee while it loads. If you're on dial up, you may want to click on the link and then go on vacation for a week while it loads (he he).

Tagged!

What I was doing 10 years ago
Let's see - May of 1998. Living in Olympia. I was working in the school district with Christina and the computers and I was working in the theater. I was probably in the middle of a couple of shows at the time.
Five things on my list to do for today
Host playgroup. Shower (this is actually not an easy one since having my foot surgery). Work. Play with Bailey and Adam. Go to Elmo at the Tacoma Dome.
Things I would do if I were a billionaire
Build a new home on some property. Travel. Fund a charity. Retire.
Three of my bad habits
Chewing my fingernails (yup, mom, I still do it). Trading sleep for work. Saying yes when I should say no and then becoming over committed (I'm really concentrating on this one right now).
Five places I have lived
Olympia, WA. Davis, CA. Eilat, Israel (Happy 60th birthday Israel), Seattle, WA. Redmond, WA.
Five jobs I have had
Music Director, Educational Assistant, Service Manager, Support Agent, Instructional Designer.

If anyone who reads this has their own blog then, "Tag - you're it". If I'm the only one reading this then mission accomplished!

More of Disney!

Well, in case you didn't know it, we went to DisneyWorld just a couple of weeks ago and came back with a lot of pictures. I've finally had time to post these pictures in one big link, but thought I'd share a couple here as well.

Bailey tickles King Louie

To see a HUGE group of pics, click HERE and HERE and don't stop at the first page for either link - there are over 500 pictures between the two links. That should hold y'all for about a week!!

Mike Wizowski!

So - how do you pose with a Mike Wizowski character? Very carefully! As mentioned earlier, this is Bailey's favorite movie. She went running up to see the characters at Disney's Hollywood Studios, but then couldn't figure out how to hug the big ball with the long arms - it was interesting to watch her navigate that hug!
This looks like she's hugging a big sleep sack!

How do I hug this?

Is he going to knock me over?

This looks like a safe place to stand - I hope that arm doesn't drop on my head!

I think that I can hug this!