Playtime

No time to post these days, we're having too much fun!

Last week Mr. Sloth and I took Demand to the toddler park after dinner. The playground there is just her size so we don't have to help her do anything, she can just play on her own. Except for the swing of course, and that girl is a sucker for the swing.

Demand is also about to start toddler gymnastics in a week or so. We went to an open house and then a trial class first. Demand was completely freaked out at first, but we expected that. At the end I was dragging her out of the place. During that class she got to play with a parachute, catch bubbles, walk on a balance beam and hang on an uneven bar. Actually, other toddlers hung on the bar, Demand could touch the ground. That brings me to our next point. We find ourselves often revealing Demand's age upfront with strangers or new people because since she's so tall people guess her as a 3yrs+ (one guy even guessed 5 yrs old....what??) So if you think she's 3yrs or older she's acts really immature so we like to just let people know upfront that she's only two and newly two at that. It seems to help. After we reveal her age everyone seems to say... "She's really tall!". Yes, we know, we buy her pants.

Lastly on our whirlwind of fun we took Demand to the State Fair on Sunday the last time she was there she was only two months old and slept most of the time. We braved going on a cool gorgeous Sunday afternoon. I put my patient cap on before we left the house knowing we wouldn't be getting there quickly by any means after fighting traffic, and battling for a parking place. We had fun although I didn't really eat what I wanted to, I was looking for the perfect food and waited too long. Demand rode her first Carousel which she seemed to enjoy overall. At first she didnt' want to get on the horsie,but then found it enjoyable but asked for Daddy briefly. (Some days I think neither of them trust my judgment and there are times when she asks for Dadda as if to ask "Does Dad know you're doing this to me?") When they said "Here we go" Demand tried to jump off the thing but quickly enjoyed the up and down flow of things. As it slowed down I said, "All done" and she promptly leaped into my arm and said "Bye horsie". She was so excited to tell Mr. Sloth that she talked about it the whole walk back to him even though he couldn't hear a word of it.

The pictures below are from the park.




Demand insisted I ride the horse next to her.




Demand right before cracking her forehead on the very hard sea horse.






Demand is saying cheese in the picture. (Mr. Sloth did not consent to this picture)

Saturdays Off

Ok, I just posted new pictures below but I have to answer Niki's question from weeks ago. She wanted to know how we worked our Saturday mornings off. If it doesn't interest you, just skip down to the next post for pictures.

Every Saturday one of us gets the morning off. We alternate weeks. Basically you have until noon to do whatever you want to do...without Demand. You can sleep in, head out, whatever. Saturday is my day off so I might send them out of the house and just have the house to myself. Two weeks ago I just hung around the house and then got my haircut. Last week Mr. Sloth had the car and the house to himself. I think he read and caught up with sports and then ran to the brewing store to pick up supplies while Demand and I headed to the Farmer's Market with our friends. If it's your morning off you decide if you want the car or even the house to yourself.

We've been doing this for four months or so now and love it. It makes things more bearable. Before I would want time off on Saturdays and so would Mr. Sloth. I didn't think it was fair to make him watch her just because he wasn't working, but I didn't think I should have to work 6 days and him only 5. I actually got the idea from a book where the mom takes Saturday mornings off. I thought it only fair to have us alternate. It has really reduced the times I've heard Mr. Sloth complain about not having time for some project or reading, etc.

Anyway, that's what we do and we're loving it so far.

Long Awaited Photos

If anyone actually checks this anymore, here are some pictures from the last few weeks. Let's just blame the small child growing inside of me for the delay of posts, OK? Now that I'm in my second trimester I'm hoping I'll start having more energy and therefore be able to post more.

They are mostly pictures of Demand but there are a few others, including pictures of her playroom that I never posted. I think you can make the pictures bigger by clicking on them.



The cake from my finale class (of this course). I need a few month off before doing this again.



Flower lights in her playroom. By the way, 95% of everything in the room is from IKEA. If your wondering, assume it's from IKEA.



Toy storage




Sitting area of playroom.




The creative wall in Demand's playroom. Dress up mirrors, chalkboard with room to hang artwork above and below hanging containers for chalk and eraser, and flower lights. You can also see part of her activity rug in the middle of the room.



Demand's table and chairs in her playroom.




Demand drawing with washable markers on the front storm door. Something we often do on rainy days.





Demand painting the sidewalk with water on a hot day.





Demand and her friend (born three days apart) playing in a sandbox at the Zoo. This pictures is significant because Demand was previously afraid of sand.



Demand napping in her big girl bed. Sorry about the poor quality but it was obviously dim lighting in her room.




The Sloths on our 5th Wedding Anniversary. Demand and Mr. Sloth look much better than I do in this picture.



Thanks for checking in on us!! Wish you were here to have fun with us.

Catching Up

I'm sure I owe you some pictures, but one thing at a time. While Mr. Sloth and Demand are napping I'll fill you on our weekend.

Yep, Demand is napping. The first three days in her big girl bed she didn't nap at all, although bedtime was fantastic. She was so exhausted she fell asleep in about three minutes and was probably too exhausted to try and get out of bed. Yesterday was Mr. Sloth's morning off so by the time he came home I was ready for a break. I headed in for a nap and he put Demand down for nap. They did the usual read books with milk and then put her in her bed, but he laid on the floor in the room. He only had to put her back in her bed once before she fell asleep. Today I did the same but I had to put her back in twice. So this big girl bed is working out pretty well, and she's really proud of herself. Plus, since she can't open doors yet she can get out her bed and just play with toys in her room in the mornings until we feel like getting out of bed. None of us have complained about this system yet.

Friday, Obscure babysat for the second Friday in a row which was nice. Mr. Sloth and I made dinner over at Mr. and Mrs. Tiger's home. Mrs. Tiger did most of the cooking while I complained about my swollen hot feet. In case I havent' mentioned Mrs. Tiger and I went in together and every week from May-October (I think) we get a box of organic locally grown produce to split so we thought it would be fun to make a dinner every Friday with our new produce since a lot of veggies we'd never had before. (Kohlrabi, garlic scapes, torpedo onions...) Tiger made paninis with her most fabulous panini press. They had turkey, pesto, arugala, fontina and probably some other goodness on there. She also made a potato salad since we received some potatoes this week. I made zucchini French fries that I'd seen on "Every Day Italian". My word those were amazing. Mr. Sloth even loved them and he doesn't eat from the squash family. I'll have to make those next week as well, I'm sure Demand would love them. They are basically zucchini cut in the long strips like french fries then battered with egg and panko bread crumbs ( big flaky Japanese stlye bread crumbs) and then deep fried. They were so delicious.

Saturday, as I mentioned was Mr. Sloth's morning off. I felt bad in the beginning because Demand woke up at 3am and for some reason, I don't know if it's pregnancy or what, but getting up in the middle of the night makes me angry and nonsensical these day. Apparently I came back in the room and yelled at Mr. Sloth and spoke of platforms. It was then he knew it was his turn with Demand.

We were both exhausted in the morning. Mr. Sloth slept in a bit and then headed to a coffee shop to read while Demand and I did the Saturday morning thing. I hadn't 'hung around the house' in a while so I thought it was worth a shot. I took my time getting ready and then did some much needed cleaning. Later after all of us had napped pretty well we headed out to what we call the upscale mall. It was glorious. Just what this poor soul needed. Material hope. There's nothing like holding a fantastic $300 saute pan in your hands and saying "I will own you" to lift your spirits. Demand swiped my coffee-less coffee drink (aka milkshake) and got to play at two toy stores so she had a great time. And by the way, anyone who goes into Pottery Barn Kids and doesn't want to own everything is completely lacking in taste. I love that store. They had the most adorable play food made from felt. They even had a Chinese take out box with food and a Farmer's Market bag complete with produce. Soooo cute!

We picked up a rotisserie chicken for dinner which turned out to bed our best decision of the day. When we got home I quickly steamed some of our organic broccoli and tossed with butter and Parmesan while Demand and Mr. Sloth dug into the juicy bird. It was so yummy!! I think we have enough meat left over for tonight and we definitely have the veggies, I have green beans galore, beets, varieties of lettuce, you name it.

Today we went to Mass where I was hot and nauseous (rare for me) and realized I was wearing two different colored boots right before Mass started. I was ready to leave from the get-go. Demand was pretty good though considering she was a cranky pants right up until we walked in the Church doors. After Mass we all headed home for some quick cleaning and cooking before Mr. Sloth's parents and Aunt came over for brunch.

And that's where we are now. I had a little coffee at brunch so I'm not interested in sleeping, but I may crank out some brownies in a little bit. The kitchen is just too clean to not cook in.

Lord, Have Mercy!

**Note** This post is long. You might need some coffee.

I know, I know. My posts are few and far between these days but I do have a teeny bit of an excuse. And by teeny I mean the grape size baby growing inside me. With Demand I had exhaustion ONCE. ONE DAY. With "Valentine" it's 5-6 times a week. And this isn't "I'm a little sleepy" This is "I just took a fist full of sleeping pills with a glass of red wine" sleepy.

Last Saturday it hit me in the middle of Mr. Sloth and Obscure's birthday brunch and I had to take a nap. At 11am!! Some days I just have to sleep on the couch while Demand runs the place. Usually she just watches cartoons but the other day my "spidy-sense" kicked in and I knew she was no longer downstairs. I dashed upstairs only to meet her halfway. Later, Mr. Sloth said, "Huh. That must have been when she came up and tried to wake me."

I've just had nothing to give for weeks now. The house is just below par at best, but Mr. Sloth is making quite a nice housewife and mother these days.

Yesterday was a big day. We turned Demand's crib into a big girl bed. It was a step we had been dreading since we loved the luxury of having a caged bird but she made an escape attempt the night before and we decided it was time. Her crib is a "lifetime" crib. Which means it changed from a crib to a toddler bed, to a day bed (for small people) and later to a head/foot board of a full bed. We bought it with the intention that it would follow her as she grew up and we'd just buy a new crib with the next baby.


I didn't have time to convert the bed before nap time so we just put her mattress on the floor and hoped for the best fully expecting her to just get up and play. But we put one of the gates in the doorway just in case. I headed to bed for a much needed nap myself and although I had the monitor on I closed the door thinking "Mr. Sloth is here if something goes wrong." (are you following the foreshadowing?)

Forty minutes later I decided to check on her. I presumed she was sleeping since the monitor was quiet. I was wrong. She was sitting in the playroom playing with one of her new birthday toys. OK. I thought, Mr. Sloth must have let her out since the gate is out of the doorway. Then I noticed that the bathroom door was open and started to get suspicious. Before I solved the mystery my trusty senses told me that Demand needed a diaper change which she quickly agreed to. (I should have been suspicious about that as well.) I put her on the changing pad only to find that she had indeed "done some work down there" but was in fact missing her diaper. I repeatedly called down to Mr. Sloth but didn't get a response. I started Demands bathwater and dashed downstairs to retrieve Mr. Sloth. I didn't find him but I did find her diaper. So after some Nancy Drew Work we came to the conclusion that Mr. Sloth received his much desired computer and ran back to the office. He didn't tell me because he didn't want to wake me. Meanwhile I think he is home and Demand is breaking out of her cell. She must have gotten the gate open and headed downstairs where she removed her poopy diaper. (Note that her hands never touched the contents and the only mess I found was where she sat on the carpet) After removing her soiled diaper she sat on her potty chair (which didn't take a CSI detective to figure out.) I was actually really proud of her for that.After finding no parent or responsible guardian around she headed upstairs to play like any normal two year old would. This all took place in ten minutes.

Scary, huh? With the bathroom door open should have taken a bath herself or decided to cook something in the kitchen. *sigh* Tell me there are no Guardian Angels!!

After that ordeal I pressed on with my day as scheduled. I bought a bed rail from Ikea. (Great deal. $10 and it fit perfectly) It took all of ten minutes to convert the bed. Well, correction, if I didn't have pregnancy brain it would have taken ten minutes, it took me a half an hour, and keep in mind I had a toddler "helping" me as well.

Demand thought it was fantastic. As soon as I put the mattress in she started gathering all the toys and books she wanted in her bed. She was so exhausted at bedtime that she climbed in with dirty clothes, diaper and feet completely willingly. I convinced her some new attire and a wipe down might make her slumber more pleasant. After books and some milk I put her in bed...where she stayed and fell asleep. She must have read for a bit but fell asleep without getting out once. AND she woke up at 6:30am fell back asleep and when we in at 7:30am she was still in crib asleep again.

How fantastic is that??? Tonight she didn't want to go to bed but made not attempts to get out of her bed and fell asleep within minutes. I'm enjoying it while I can.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

(If you don't get it, read Demand's t-shirt again)

Party! Party!Party!

Now that I have a little energy and an entertained Demand I can tell you a little bit about her big birthday weekend. Friday evening my parents got into town and Demand's entertainment began. She was of course fawned over, played with, and adored for the next three days. Two hours before my parents arrived we finished Demand's playroom. She was pretty excited and had no idea she'd soon have toys to fill the new room.

Saturday morning my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew came over and we all headed to the Children's Museum. Tickets usually cost $8 which would have been $64 for all of us to go, but I spent two days camped out on the internet attempting to get six free passes from the library. It was a success and we only had to spend $16 (actually my parents spent $16). Everyone had a blast. Even though the Sloths had been there a few times the rest of my family had never seen the likes so it was a fun time. Afterwards we all headed to our favorite Italian place down the street. It's not fast food, but not really sit down either, a great time though. We weren't expecting it to be so busy though, even for lunchtime. My poor parents had to stand in line for over twenty minutes because they wanted pasta. (The rest of us had pizza with little wait)

After lunch the kiddos headed home for a much needed nap. Demand fell asleep pretty quickly and my nephew (two months older than Demand slept on the pull out couch in the playroom. "Grandma" volunteered to babysit both little ones while the rest of us headed to "the mall". I had gotten my dad a gift certificate to a flight simulator last Christmas and he could only use it at this mall.

We got home to find that Demand slept almost the entire time which would have been about three plus hours. I'd say that my mom got off easy but apparently Demand had a present for my mother when she woke up and lets just say it wasn't a toaster.

Saturday evening my sister-in-law and I took the kids swimming. Correction. She took her son swimming while I tried to coax Demand into the water. I have to say I was a bit put off because since she wouldn't get in the water I couldn't swim, and I love to swim.

Sunday the wiser of us went to Mass while the others got ready for the day. :0

It was "Game Day". After Mass Demand went down for a nap as planned and stayed that way until twenty minutes into her party. The rest of us cleaned and set up for the party. The party was fun but went by too fast. Demand loved all her gifts and has been using them to fill the void of all the attention she has now lost. She loved her train, in fact I regret letting her open it so early in the gifts, because she was done with gifts after that.

It's taken us two days to physically recover, but my house still hasn't recovered. And we have friends coming to town tomorrow. Here we go again!!

Enjoy the pictures!

Helen's 2nd Birthday Party