Happy Halloween!

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween! 

I had a fabulous day!  I went to school wearing my Halloween Hello Kitty shirt from my Great Aunt Jenny.  It was short sleeved and it was a little cold, but mom let me wear it anyway (it's WARM in my school!)  Mom picked me up a little early and we went home to get my costume, pumpkin, put out a bowl of candy, and pick up daddy.  We went to Ken, Marie, Belle and Cole's house and they had a pizza waiting for us so we could eat dinner before trick or treating.  Unlike my usual good eating self, I didn't eat very much (I haven't been eating much the last week or so...)  We had one last potty break and got dressed in our costumes. 

Arabelle was a T-Rex and daddy and I were Curious George and The Man with the Yellow Hat.  Marie even bundled baby Cole up and put his carseat in the stroller.  He was a champ and slept the entire time!  What a cutie! 

Aren't we cute???






We headed out through Ken and Marie's neighborhood.  It was my first time trick or treating other than at Boo at the Zoo (last year I still couldn't have dairy, so I hadn't really had any candy at that point).  Mom thought I might be shy, but I got the hang of it pretty quickly.  Belle did a great job showing me what to do.  We rang the doorbell (or knocked), said trick or treat and then said thank you.  And my pumpkin got filled with TREATS!!!  When the pumpkin got too heavy for me, I dumped all the goodies into a bag that mom was carrying and we went back for more.  We made it almost the whole way around the neighborhood before my legs hurt and Belle had to go to the bathroom, so we picked three last houses and went home.  One of the houses gave us glow in the dark bracelets which were a huge hit.  I even slept with my bracelet, but was pretty concerned this morning that it wasn't still glowing...

We got back to Ken and Marie's and got out of our costumes.  I really wanted a treat, so mom let me  have a Peanut Butter pumpkin (much to dad's chagrin - he thought those were for him, ha ha).  She said I could have ONE more when we got home, so we had to pack up and get home so we could sort through my pumpkin and bag!  Dad showed me how to sort through my candy. 

Sheer happiness on my face :)


I don't know where to start!


Can I have this one, mom?


Sorting my candy by color (note the backwards PJ's which I put on by myself).


After sharing with mom and dad (they took everything with nuts, gum and anything else that could be a choking hazard), I got to pick one last treat before brushing my teeth.  Yummy!!!


I did a great job brushing the sugar bugs off of my teeth and mom and I read one book before bed.  I was a little upset when mom put me in bed (this happens every night).  I talked to myself for about a half hour - I was pretending to be Snoopy from It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.  Mom could hear me on the monitor saying World War I Flying Ace!  RAT A TAT TAT! RAT A TAT TAT!  Mom and dad both got a good laugh out of that. 

Of course I wanted a treat as soon as I woke up this morning - mom told me I could have one after breakfast, but I found a granola bar in my pumpkin and mom said I could have that.  Then I wanted a bowl of cereal, so I had that too.  OK, maybe I'm eating good breakfasts lately, I just haven't been eating dinner AT ALL.  After I finished my cereal, I asked mom for some pretzels, so she gave me those too.  I don't usually eat all this junk food, but she was glad I was asking for pretzels and not chocolate :) 



Completely unrelated to Halloween, mom broke her toe on my bed last Monday!  She was putting me to bed and stubbed her toe on the foot of my bed so hard that she fell down.  She asked me to go get daddy and ask for a bag of ice, so I did.  Her foot swelled up and turned pretty purple.  She ended up getting it x-rayed on Wednesday - sure enough - fractured toe.  Since she just went to an urgent care place, they told her to go to her orthopedist (which we know well, unfortunately).  She went to the orthopedist today and yes it is broken, but looks like it should heal pretty well.  They gave her a boot to make walking (to and from the Metro) a little easier, but there's not much else they can do.  She should be able to wear normal shoes again in a few weeks, but definitely won't be able to run for at least another month or so.  She's really bummed because she was signed up for a cool race - the Hot Chocolate 15K the first week of December.  That's clearly not going to happen now, so she's trying to talk daddy into running it (it's already paid for, after all)!  Now she's just hoping she can stay in reasonable shape and not lose all fitness so she can train for the Disney Half in February.  Follow up with the ortho in a few weeks to make sure it's healing ok, so fingers crossed! 

Mom has a lot of catching up to do on her pictures, but when she finishes, I'll post some more updates from the past few months. 

Hope all is well!

Busy Weekend!

Wow - I think we all need another day to unwind from the past weekend!

On Saturday, mom got up early and went for a run at the Soccerplex before my soccer practice.  She didn't get out as early as she intended, so she didn't finish her run until my practice was almost over.  I did a great job at red lighting my ball.  I got to kick lots of goals and am really enjoying playing soccer with my new friends.

When we left soccer, mom took me to Rockville to the running store to pick up my race packet for my first race.  Dad went home and went for a bike ride.  He's training for a triathlon, so has started biking and swimming more.

For once, the packet pick up was for me!  That's right - I got to run a 0.25 mile kids fun run!  My very first race and I got my own number (59) and goody bag.  After packet pick up, mom took me out to lunch for a special treat (I *love* eating in restaurants).  We went to Noodles and Company, one of my favorites :)  After her 7 mile run, mom really enjoyed a big bowl of pasta!  We even got to stop at Starbucks (or as I say, Starbox) on our way back to the car - mom got a Pumpkin Spice Latte and I got my yummy strawberry drink.

We went home, took a shower and got ready to pick Joe and Ruthie up for the soccer game!  It was the last DC United home game - they weren't in playoff contention anymore, but we wanted to support the team.  It was a gorgeous day for a tailgate.  I got lots of yummy food (read cookies) and even got to ride my bike around the parking lot.  I even got to toss some bean bags and kept myself quite entertained even though I was the only kid in our group.

At one point, dad looked up and told mom that Chris Pontius was there - my FAVORITE player!  Mom looked around and said "which one."  Dad laughed and said "the one wearing the Pontius jersey...".  So we grabbed the camera and walked over to talk to him.  He was SO nice.  He kept offering to hold me so mom could get a picture, but I would NOT go to him.  Mom was finally able to get a few pictures of me giving Pontius a pound it and finally one with me, dad and Pontius.  I was a happy camper!!!





I was a champ during the game too.  I was pretty tired (I hadn't napped all day), so mom carried me in the Ergo in to the game.  I've outgrown all of my DC United gear, so mom walked me up to the team store.  It was insanely crowded and I actually fell asleep on mom's back while we waited in line.  I got a new sweatshirt and we found a cute onesie and hat for Baby Cole who was born yesterday!

Mom and I stopped and got some hot chocolate on our way back to our seats.  I think I'm the only kid alive who wouldn't even take a sip of the hot chocolate!  Not even one.  At some point, I had to go potty, so we went out to the concourse and stopped to get a pretzel for a snack.  We got back to our seats and I kept cheering and singing - I had so much fun!  I got to sit on mom's shoulders for a while and I really enjoyed being so tall! 

Unfortunately, DC United did not win, but I still had fun and was so well behaved.  We walked back tot he car and I was TIRED.  Of course the GW Parkway entrance was closed, so it took us extra long to get home.  I ended up falling asleep in the car and thankfully mom was able to just carry me to my room and I fell back asleep.  We didn't get a chance to change my clothes, though, so I still had my daytime underwear on.  I'm pleased to say that I woke up dry this morning (as I have for the past few months), but mom was a little worried last night not having the back up of my "nighttime" underwear (i.e. cloth training pants).  Hooray!

Mom woke up before me this morning, but when I woke up, we ate a good breakfast and got ready for my race!  My wave was supposed to start at 10:15 (there was also a mile and half mile race before mine).  Each wave had two heats - the first without parents, the second with.  Mom and dad knew that they were going to run with me and they let me pick who was going to run with me once we got there.  Daddy helped me pin my race bib on my sweatshirt and I told mommy I wanted her to run with me.  We watched the half milers run and then daddy went to find a good spot to take pictures and mom and I lined up and stretched a little.  A few more minutes and we were OFF!



Starting Line:
 

I might be in this group somewhere :)


I had a death grip on mom's hand! 


Doing well more than half way through:


Crossing the finish line!


Check out my post-race granola bar and ribbon!


We stopped for lunch on the way home and then got ready to go to the zoo!  We got tickets to Boo at the Zoo at the National Zoo - basically safe trick or treating on the zoo grounds. 

On our way, we stopped to see Marie, Ken, Belle and Baby Cole!  He was born yesterday morning and is very, very cute!  I was good and kept my germs away from him.  Arabelle was so nice and shared her ponies and dolls with me!  I'm so excited to have a new friend to play with (well, maybe when he gets a little bigger). 

We drove to the zoo and it was crazy trying to get in to the parking lot.  Thank goodness we bought a parking pass, so it wasn't too bad once we got in.  Daddy and I got our costumes on, we loaded up my stroller and hiked across the parking lot.  Once we were there, they gave me a goody bag and we started Trick or Treating.  The first place we stopped had juice boxes - how cool!  I got lots of other treats (including some for mom and dad).  I even got a banana - how fitting for a monkey???  My favorite, though, was a lollipop that lit up - it looked funny in my mouth!

Like our costumes???  These were daddy's idea and we got LOTS of comments - kids (and adults) kept saying "Hey look - it's the man with the yellow hat!"  Dad says next year it's mom's turn :)







Till later - hope everyone is well!  

Fun Party!

Mom will post photos as soon as she has time to edit them, but we had SO much fun at my party on Saturday!  The forecast was for rain, so mom and dad ended up moving things inside to set up.  Better safe than sorry!  Dad stayed up all night on Friday to smoke two pork shoulders and a beer can chicken in the smoker (for Uncle Jay who wasn't there, boo...).  Mom made cupcakes in ice cream cones and got some cute ice cream bowls for my friends and I to have ice cream in.

My friends and I got to run around and play for a while.  It was so much fun to get out all the toys and not have to clean it up right away!  A lot of my family was able to come:  Aunt Terry and Uncle Mike, Aunt Laurie, Grammy and Grampy Clements, Grandma and Grandpa Coble, Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Coble, and my Great-Great Aunt Faye!  I'm sorry I didn't get more time to spend with them, but there were so many friends here!  We all had some snacks and then mom let me blow out candles on my cupcake :)  I loved eating it and got chocolate frosting all over my face.  Mom even let me have some ice cream afterwards - with chocolate syrup and sprinkles!

After we had cake and ice cream, daddy got the pork out of the smoker (a little backwards to have cake and THEN dinner, don't you think?) The BBQ was YUMMY!  Then daddy played soccer outside with us for a while with my new goal!  Then mom and dad tried to get me to open some presents, but I had such little interest.  How strange is that?  A three year old who didn't want to open presents?  I finally opened the present from Arabelle - she got me *three* princess dolls!  Belle, Rapunzel and Sleeping Beauty (she had told me earlier that she got me Sleeping Beauty, ha ha). After that, I wanted nothing to do with the whole table full of presents!  I started to get fussy, so I said goodnight and went up to bed.  I got to sleep in mommy and daddy's bed so Aunt Terry and Uncle Mike could have my bed!  I was so excited to sleep in their room :)  I got to watch an episode of Diego in mom and dad's room (a real treat for me!) and then I went to sleep.  Dad said when he came to bed later that night, I was asleep on his pillow and when he moved me over, I yelled at him and said "But daddy, now I don't have a spot!"  Then I rolled over and poked mommy and told her that daddy took my spot.  We managed to all fall asleep no problem, though.

I woke up around 7 on Sunday, so mom and I came downstairs.  It was mommy's birthday and I remembered and sang Happy Birthday to her (totally unprompted!!!)  That totally made her day :)  The house was surprisingly clean (THANK you Terry, Laurie and Grammy!)  I had breakfast and we played quietly until other people got up.  When a few other people got up, mom went to Panera to get us all some bagels.  Yum!  I played with the Belle doll, but still wouldn't open any other presents.  So strange!

Grammy and Grampy left a little before noon to head back to their bay house so they could be there when Uncle Jeff got there (he was visiting Beanie in Fredericksburg, so came to the bay overnight to visit).  Laurie left shortly thereafter and finally Terry and Michael followed.  We left at lunch / nap time so I could nap in the car.  Worked out well and mom and I *both* got to nap almost the whole way there!  Uncle Jeff was there when we got there - I haven't seen him in a long time, but I gave him a big hug :)  I got settled in and finally opened a few new presents!  I got a really, really cute leopard vest from Aunt Laurie, Uncle Dan, and my cousins Courtney and Kaylee.  But once I opened it, I didn't want to try it on.  Again, so strange!  After being bribed with some crackers, I opened my gift from Jeff, Lee Ann, Jennifer and Beanie - two awesome shirts, a matching pair of pants and the cutest hat EVER!  Mom managed to at least get some photos with the hat on :)  I also opened my present from Aunt Terry - an awesome I Spy Snoopy Halloween book - I was *really* good at it!  I've kept it in the car since we got back, so I have it to look at every time I get in the car. 

It was raining, so we couldn't really go outside, but I at least got to see the bay out of the window and got to see a few boats go by.  Grammy got a lot of toys out for me to play with and I had a blast - a kitchen with some play food and a Fisher Price town!  It was so much fun.  We had a yummy dinner - pasta and meatballs!  And then grammy had a cake for mommy's birthday!  We all sang to her and I helped her blow the candles out.  I played for a little bit, then mom put me to bed on my cot.  It took a long time for me to fall asleep and I woke up crying a few times.  Mom ended up moving me to the bed until she came to bed, then moved me back to the cot.  I woke up pretty early again the next morning and of course woke everyone up much earlier than they wanted to be up :(  I had some oatmeal for breakfast and we played for a bit.

It had stopped raining, so I got to go out and play on the deck for a while.  I even got to go for a walk with Grammy, Grampy and Aunt Terry.  After lunch, we packed up the car and headed home.  Daddy had asked about his old wooden sleds, so we found those in the garage and packed them in the car!  Daddy was really happy to have them and I think Grammy was happy to be rid of them.  Dad says he'll fix them up so I can ride on them this winter!

Mom and I napped the whole way home again.  Mom and dad had some work to do when we got home, then mom went to do her long run for the week.  Dad had gone out earlier that day at Grammy's house - he's a champ and did 10 miles!  Mom only made it 8.75, which is her longest run since last October!  It'll have to do - the Army 10 Miler is next weekend, so hopefully they'll be ok with it!

Tuesday morning, mom took me for my 3 year well check up.  My development is "perfect" as my doctor says.  Mom and dad filled out my pre-visit developmental questionnaire - they're getting a lot more difficult to answer because some of the questions are SO specific, so we worked on that a little on Monday night.  Mom laughed at one of the questions - it asked if I spoke in 3-4 word sentences and asked for an example.  Ha!  Mom couldn't even come up with a good example since a lot of my sentences are well over 10 words and my language is pretty clear.  Mom's only concern was my sleep and the fact that it takes an hour to two EVERY night to fall asleep and then I wake up at least once EVERY night, but am usually not quite awake, yet very distressed.  The doctor told mom to cut my nap out and that should improve the nighttime sleep.  She said it sounded like I was having night terrors from not getting enough "good" sleep.  Fingers crossed!  My teachers kept me up today by putting my cot near the computer.  Mom's going to send a fun new book for me to look at tomorrow.  Bedtime tonight was still pretty rough, but it only took me a half hour to settle down.  I already woke up twice, but daddy got me to calm down the first time and I settled myself the second time.

I'm 30.8 lbs and 37 inches tall - 25-50% for weight, 50-75% for height.  Mom was super happy with my weight - I can stay rear facing in my carseat until 35 lbs, so that will probably get me close to the expiration of my carseat next December :) The doctor reminded her to keep me in a 5 point harness which clearly isn't a problem with a rear facing seat.  Mom and I both got our flu shots on our way out (well, I got the mist, but mom had to get the shot because she has a history of asthma).  When we got to school, the first thing I told my teacher was "I got the flu mist in my nose!"  Ha ha.  Hope it keeps us healthy this winter!

Pictures to follow when mom finds the time to get through them all!

Hugs to all! 

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

That's right - I'm THREE years old today!!!  Mom woke me up by singing Happy Birthday this morning - I was so happy!  Daddy even had to be at an early meeting, so I got to see daddy before we left for school too.  Mom and dad let me open one of my presents this morning - it was a pack of PIGGY PAINT!  Completely non-toxic nailpolish so mom can paint my toes :)  I keep telling her I love the color on her toes, so now mine can be pink too! 

We had a fun morning and got to play a bit before we left for school.  I ate my breakfast, drank my milk, got dressed, brushed my hair and teeth and we packed up for school.  Because it was my birthday, we got to take a treat to share with my friends.  I told mom I wanted ice cream, so we took Vanilla ice cream - my favorite!  I wore a cute dress and the necklace that Ruthie gave me at Marie's baby shower on Saturday.  I got lots of compliments and got a kick out of showing people how old I was by holding up my fingers.  Touching my pinkie and thumb to hold up three fingers was kind of tricky, so I figured out that it's easier to touch my pointer to my thumb and that still shows three! 

Birthday girl at breakfast:



Mom picked me up a little early so we could spend some time together.  I told her on the way home that I wanted to check to see if the red Mustang was in the driveway because if it was, that meant that daddy was home :)  Sure enough, when we pulled into the driveway, daddy was walking back from the mailbox, so I knew he was home!  Mom got me out of the car and I ran to meet daddy at the door.  There were a TON of packages on the front porch!  You'd think it was someone's birthday or something...  several were for me and a few were for mommy. 

I got a package from Grandma and Grandpa Coble - THREE new books that I'm very excited to read.  We got to read one of them at bedtime, but didn't have time for the other two.  Tomorrow, maybe!  The other one for me was from my Great Grandma Jean!  I was a little shy opening the presents, but you can see how much I loved them!

Awesome PJ's that say "I Love my Mom and Dad!" 



And my favorite, a quilt that Great Grandma made for me that has Eeyore on it!!!  I took it to bed with me tonight and I really love it.  I'm so lucky to know THREE of my great grandparents!!! 



While mom and dad got changed to go out to dinner, they let me open the rest of the presents from them!  Mom didn't have her camera for the first two - a new fleece coat that has my initial on it!  I love it and wore it to open the rest of my gifts :)  Next was something called Tangoes!  It's kind of like a puzzle where I have to put blocks on the paper to make the shapes.  May be a bit beyond my age, but mom thinks I can at least try it! 

The next gift was a US Map puzzle!  I love puzzles and mom and dad put up a big map on the wall before we went to Seattle so I could tell where people live.  It really helps when daddy's traveling and I can also pretty much point to places on the map where my friends live, like Seattle, Portland, and Raleigh.  Mom keeps meaning to print out pictures of people and put them on the map so I know where everyone is - one of these days when things aren't so hectic! 



This is a play sushi set!  How cool is that???  I have all the "regular" foods like apples and a ton of veggies for my kitchen, but now I can make sushi too :) 



Last, but certainly not least, my new Nook!  It's like mommy's iPod, but bigger, and all mine (though daddy might want to use it from time to time)!  I got to use Starfall on it and now I can navigate my own letters all by myself.  How cool!  I can even play Angry Birds on it :)  



After we opened everything, we headed out to dinner.  We decided to go to Dogfish - mom and dad really like it there and I love the mac and cheese :)  I had a great dinner and got a brownie sundae when I was done!  Dad says I ate a whole pound of brownie - no wonder I had a hard time going to bed tonight! 



Yum!  I got into my PJ's pretty well, but stalled big time when it came to going to sleep.  I've already done my nightly cry (happens at least once a night and I'm not usually fully awake, but can't get back to sleep until mom or dad actually wake me up).  I guess I just wanted to experience more of my birthday! 

Can't wait for my party on Saturday to celebrate with even more of my friends and family!!!  

Hugs to all and Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Bye Bye Irene!

Just a quick update to let everyone know that we've survived an earthquake AND a hurricane in the same week.  Hurricane Irene turned out to be not a big deal around us.  It did rain and get pretty windy, but there was no damage.  Our power flickered - once while I was awake and several times after I went to bed, but it never stayed out for long.  A few tree branches down, but the worst part was the lack of sleep. 

My school was closed on Friday for a Professional Development day, so mom took a vacation day.  We were going to do something fun (like go to the zoo or a museum), but the weather wasn't looking great and we had to go to the grocery store.  What better time to do that than at 10am on a day when most people are at work???  That was a brilliant plan.  No one there and the stores weren't out of everything yet.  We weren't really worried about the storm, just had no food in the house!  Mom and I got the shopping done, then went home to put it all away and eat lunch.  After my nap, we went to the mall and to the toystore so we could get out of daddy's way while he was working.  I was SO good all day.  Mom spoiled me a little at the toystore and I got lots of fun new things (she said it was in case we lost power and had to keep ourselves occupied for a few days).  It's a toss up for my favorites - it's either my new guitar or my hula hoop!  Lesson learned for future natural disasters - Toys R Us is a GREAT place to go for batteries or water if all other stores are sold out :)





Saturday we didn't go anywhere and didn't do much other than play :)  Mom and I made a brisket in the slow cooker early in the morning in hopes that it would be able to cook the whole way through before our power went off.  It made the house smell yummy all day!  We spent some time playing my guitar, we colored some pictures, I got to play with mommy's iPod, and we read a ton of books.  When I took my nap, mom went downstairs to run.  She was pretty tired when she was done, but was glad that she got a run in.  When I woke up, mom started taking my bed apart!

That's right - I'm moving into the bigger room upstairs!  Mom and dad converted my bed to a full size bed a few months ago and my bed literally took up my entire room.  No joke.  There was so little room to move around, let alone play.  And it was IMPOSSIBLE to make my bed or change the sheets (and with a mostly potty trained toddler, sheet changing happens often).  So when Grandpa asked if we wanted their trundle bed, we said YES and decided to move my room to the bigger room in the front of the house and turn my old room into the guest room with the day bed.  Mom got the bed moved Saturday afternoon, but left the rest of the furniture for Sunday.  It's hard to move two pretty full rooms worth of furniture!

The brisket cooked just fine and was finished about 10 minutes before the power went out the first time :)  Perfect timing!  Mom already had food on the table and ready to go.  Luckily, the power went out for about a minute, but came back on.  That was seriously the worst of the storm and it was hardly even raining at the time.  I ate a pretty good dinner and LOVED the maple carrots mom made.  I even got to eat some of the milk and honey ice cream that daddy made as a treat for dessert!  Yum!  

I didn't have too much of a problem going to bed in my new room Saturday night.  I couldn't take a bath because of the storm, so we just brushed teeth and read books.  I stalled as usual, but fell asleep before too long.  I woke up *really* scared around 2am, though.  I was crying and yelling for mom to come help me.  Apparently, the power went out and came back on and when it came back on, it turned on one of the lights in my new room!  That must have woken me up because when mom came in, the lights were on (kind of scared her!) and I was still in bed, but scared.  She decided to just sleep with me in my bed until the storm passed, especially since I was in a new setting.  I ended up talking to her for the next 3+ hours.  She would roll over to get comfortable and I'd ask her what she was doing.  And then I'd tell her that there was a storm.  Then I told her that I loved her (made mom's heart melt).  This went on from 2 until 5:15.  I literally did not stop talking.  And my final words to mom:  "Mom, you can go back to your own room now."  She said ok, picked up her pillow and we all went back to sleep.

Fast forward 2 hours.  Mom woke to me opening her bedroom door and standing next to her!  I've been in a bed for a year and a half and I've never once gotten out of bed.  This really freaked mom out!  I climbed into bed with her, gave her a hug and said good morning.  I told her I was ready to wake up, but she said she wasn't ready yet.  Too bad.  I gave daddy a hug too, but mom and I ended up going downstairs to get some breakfast.  I ate a TON today!  I had a banana, Kashi cereal bar, AND a bowl of oatmeal!  Then mom made some eggs for herself and I had some of those too.  When dad woke up, we went shopping for a new refrigerator.  I got a bit cranky, but we stopped for lunch on the way home and that cheered me up.  I didn't eat much of my lunch, but finished most of mom's.  Isn't that how it always goes?  Mom keeps saying she can't wait for the day that she can get through an entire meal without having to get up to get *one* more thing or without having to take a bathroom break!

I got to nap in mom and dad's room when we got home so mom could move the rest of the furniture.  She was mostly done by the time I got up - I didn't call for her on the monitor - I just got up and walked out in the hallway, so she asked me to go down and see dad.  Guess mom and dad need to make sure the gate at the top of the stairs is closed at night!

I went down and found dad and we looked at some of my new books.  And guess what???  I actually read a few words by sounding them out!!!!  Mom bought me some books for beginning readers and I sat with daddy and sounded out a few of the words and actually read what they were.  Mom and dad were so proud of me and we all gave high fives and hugs.  I read "Dot," "Mat," and "Sam."  How cool is that???

Mom pretty much finished moving the furniture, then came down and we painted for a bit.  I had a blast, but made a mess.  I had leftovers for dinner and ate really well.  After playing for a little more, we went upstairs and had a good bath.  After the mess we made today and not taking a bath yesterday, we really needed it!  There's room in my new room for my bed AND my glider, so mom and I got to read three books in my glider.  It was nice to have that back.  I went to bed just fine, but continued to talk for a long time.  I cried a few times and mom had to come help me.  I'm finally sleeping now and mom's hoping for a decent night - she has to go to work early tomorrow, so daddy's going to take me to school.

Didn't expect this to get so long, but wanted to let everyone know we're ok.  Hope you all are too!  It's been a while since I've posted photos, so here are a few from the past few weeks.

I *love* my great-grandma's Chicken Corn Soup!



Kitty loves my bed!



Raspberry Picking with mom and dad.



I used to hate when mom would try to put a ponytail in my hair, but I ask for piggy tails now.



Me and my best bud, Belle!



Daddy and I deep in conversation.



Terrible photo, but my first Wii game!



I picked out orange hair rubberbands to match the orange stripes in my dress :)



Hard at work with my hula hoop.



Hope you all survived Irene as well! Hugs to all!

Earthquake (again!)

Can you believe that I'm not even 3, live on the east coast and have now experienced TWO earthquakes??? This afternoon, part way through nap time (though we were up from a fire drill anyway), my classroom started wiggling!  I told mom it sounded like thunder, but she told me it was an earthquake!  Here's how the conversation went:

Me:  Mommy, my classroom wiggled today when the thunder came.
Mommy:  That wasn't thunder, Sydney, it was an EARTHQUAKE!
Me:  What's an earthquake?
Mommy:  It makes the earth move and wiggle.
Me:  Oh - just like the elephants make the ground wiggle.

Lots of laughter ensued :)

Anyway, it appears to be a 5.8 magnitude quake centered about 100 miles southwest of DC, near Richmond.  Mommy felt it at work - her desk is right next to a big window and she thought it was the construction on the building behind her that was making the rumbling noise.  Then everything started to shake and pictures fell off the wall, so it was clear it wasn't the construction.  It seemed like it lasted a long time - certainly longer than the last quake we had.  Mom's first instinct was to call my school.  She talked to the director and she sounded shaken, but said the kids were all safe and outside with the teachers.  Mom asked her to call back if I needed to be picked up.

Fast forward a few minutes and mom's building was evacuated (along with every other building in DC).  You can imagine the chaos!  Cell service didn't work, so mom couldn't get in touch with school or anyone else for that matter.  Nor could people get in touch with her.  Mom usually takes a train to work, but her colleague was kind enough to drive her back to the Metro to pick up her car.  It took nearly THREE hours to get 22 miles - fun times.  This is the same colleague who drove mommy to my school when I had to get stitches in my forehead.  Needless to say, mom owes her a good lunch or two!

Daddy was out of town, trying to fly back in to DC this afternoon.  Thankfully mom was finally able to get in touch with Ms. Laurie, my infant teacher from the school before the last one, whom I ADORE.  Laurie's son is also in my school, so her husband went to pick up Zachary and she went to pick me up (so I could use Zachary's carseat in her car).  Mom had to talk to the director since mom had neglected to turn in new emergency contact forms since I switched schools :(  To say that mom had some major mommy guilt is putting it mildly.  Needless to say, the forms are now filled out. 

Thankfully it all worked out. Ms. Laurie picked me up and I was eating dinner when mom got to her house.  I got to play with Zachary for a while and mom and Laurie got to catch up.  By the time we got home, daddy was home.  I ate a little squash soup (one of my favorites) while mom and dad ate dinner.  We skipped my bath, mom read me 2 books, then I was OUT cold.  Probably because I didn't get a nap today - first time ever that I haven't even mumbled to myself at all.  I think I was literally asleep before mom got out of my room.  Hope that continues the rest of the night!

Anyway, long story short, we're all ok and I don't think there's any damage to the house :)

http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=2898&from=rss_home

Peanut Butter!

Enough said :)  For part of dad's birthday present, mom told him he could give me my first taste of peanut butter (which he's been DYING to do).  Yum.  Good news, no reaction!  Not that mom or dad thought there would be since I tested "not positive" for the major food allergens a few months ago, but my doctor still said to wait until I turned 3.



Nothing like a cold glass of milk to wash the PB down!



I had such a great weekend last weekend!  Grandma and Grandpa came on Saturday to bring Razmatazz back and to babysit me while mom and dad went to the Manchester United - Barcelona game.  Daddy got to go to a Man U fan club event on Thursday night(thanks to an awesome co-worker of mom's who got him "on the list.")  He got my jersey signed by Gary Neville, Andy Cole and Paddy Crerand.  How cool???



Grandma and Grandpa got to our house a little before naptime on Saturday, so we played for a while, I ate a soy nut butter and jelly sandwich (this was before daddy gave me the peanut butter), then I asked grandma to read me a book before nap.  I nap pretty well (most days) even if I don't go to bed too well.  It did take me a good 45 minutes to fall asleep, but at least I wasn't whining, just talking and singing to myself.  Mom and dad left while I was sleeping to go to the soccer game.  It was at Fed Ex field in Landover.  They picked up Ken and Marie and stopped to meet Mike and Natale on the way.  They said they had fun tailgating and at the game.  Man U beat Barcelona 2 - 1.  There were over 81,000 tickets sold - that's a LOT for a soccer game!  Mom got me a Man U soccer ball as a souvenir :)  Traffic was awful when the game was over, so mom and dad hung out in the parking lot until it cleared out a little.  It was almost midnight by the time they got home.  Grandma was sleeping and Grandpa was waiting for them to get home.

Here are a few other random photos from the past few weeks.  

Messy girl!  Unfortunately you can see the scar on my forehead a little more now even though mom doesn't let me see the light of day without being slathered in sunscreen!  



Here's my new soccer ball :)



Needless to say, I had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa.  We did so much - we swung in the hammock, blew bubbles, rode my bike up and down the street, painted some pictures, cooked and ate dinner, had some ice cream for dessert, played some games, phew - I think I wore them out!  I had a really great time and hope they did too.  I woke up a few times before mom and dad got home and cried a few times even after they got home.  Mom came to say goodnight when she got home and I climbed into her lap and fell right back to sleep.

I woke up at 5:45 on Sunday and yelled for mom.  She grabbed the monitor and took it into bed with her (it's usually across the room) and was able to talk to me over the monitor and convinced me to go back to sleep :)  She woke up holding the monitor at 7:45 when I yelled for her again!  We both got a few additional good hours of sleep for once! 

I spent a good morning playing with Grandma and Grandpa.  Mom made me an omelet for breakfast - I ate most of it, then ate some of the frittata that she made a little while later.  Both were yummy and I got my fair share of protein for the morning!  Mom also got the first delivery of the "farm box."  Everything looked yummy!!!  She got most of the things she ordered, but a few were missing, namely the milk, boo :(  But we got some awesome produce:  kale, zucchini, PURPLE peppers, red peppers, onions, crazy looking tomatoes, sweet potatoes, fingerling potatoes, mangoes, nectarines, apples, red plums, a cantaloupe, eggplant and probably a bunch more that I'm forgetting.  Mom did order some elk summer sausage, grass fed ground beef, apple butter and mango chutney as well.  Yum!  She also surprised dad and I with some ice cream :)  Vanilla for me and cookie dough for daddy.  Daddy convinced me that his ice cream is best (though mom is still trying to remind me that vanilla is really the best).

Mom and I gave daddy his birthday present a little early on Sunday (his actual birthday was on Tuesday).  Mom got him the ice cream attachment for our Kitchen Aid mixer!  They've been talking about getting it for a while, but just never did.  So mom finally bought it for him.  We washed it right away and dad dug up some recipes.  He made some milk and honey ice cream - mom tells me it was delicious, but I haven't tasted it yet.  Mom made dinner for dad - short ribs and zucchini (from the farm box) and potato pancakes!  They took a long time to cook, but it was all so yummy.  I ate a *really* good dinner, so mom and dad let me have some of my vanilla ice cream as a treat.  Daddy's real birthday was on Tuesday - we ended up getting take out from Outback since we all got home a little late, but we had a nice dinner and I gave dad my presents - I gave him two books that were on his wishlist. We didn't have time to make his cake, but we'll have to do that soon.

Daddy was traveling later in the week and was supposed to get home this evening - he was in Indiana.  Mom told me this and here's the conversation we had several times this week:

Me:  Where's Daddy?
Mommy:  Where do you think?
Me:  In Diana. 

Mom laughed every time and I can't figure out why!!  Mom and I had a pretty fun week, though.  We got lots of play time.  Saturday morning, mom took me and my stroller to the Soccerplex for a run.  She forgot how hilly it was and ended up getting lost on what she thought was a 3.5 mile loop.  She must have taken a wrong turn and ended up having to back track the same way we went, so we ended up "running" a little more than 4 miles.  It was pretty slow (finished in about 50 minutes), but we did have to stop to walk a bit - it's hard work pushing me (29 lbs) in my stroller (26 lbs) especially with the hills!  Mom told me we could stop at the playground on the way back, but it started to rain *just* as we got there :(  So we ended up going back to the car and went to Whole Foods to get salads for lunch.  We ate a good lunch, then both took naps. 

When I got up, we had a playdate and dinner at my friend Sam's house - we had SO much fun.  Sam and I went to my last school together and he also just moved to my new school :)  I'm so glad we can still play together.  He's in a different class right now, but hopefully will be moving in to mine soon.  I had so much fun playing with all of his toys - I get bored with my toys sometimes, but new things are so much fun! 

Hope everyone is doing well.  Till later!