And a Forty of Milk, While You're At It.

The Papoose has been baffling us with some of her word usage lately. We noticed she'd started occasionally saying what sounded like "cat-o" instead of just "cat." But only sometimes. Other times, she said "cat" just like you'd expect.

The Husband thought maybe she was trying to say, "Cat! Meow" because we often tell her animal names immediately followed by the sound they make: "Look, a duck. Quack, quack!"

Today, she's been saying not only "cat-o" but also "dog-o," "binky-o," and "cookie-o."

I have two theories. First, I call her "kiddo" a lot. Maybe she thinks -o is a suffix denoting affection or familiarity? Okay, that's the linguist nerd in me.

My other theory is much more likely. I'm pretty sure she's saying "yo." Like, "Mama, hook a baby up with some cookie, yo!"

Yeah, that's gotta be it.

FOXNews.com - Ohio Man Charged With DUI After Crashing Motorized Bar Stool - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

FOXNews.com - Ohio Man Charged With DUI After Crashing Motorized Bar Stool - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News

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Gives a whole new meaning to "drinking and driving"...

These Boots Are Made for Walkin'

Picking up where Scarlet left off almost exactly one year ago, I am in need of a new pair of boots. Rain boots. Boots for when I'm working out in the garden or playing in the yard with the Papoose, and the ground is wet, and it's too cold for my Crocs (which just so happen to also be the same ones Scarlet has...great minds, and all that). And I think Ouiser has some orange Hunter boots.

I was almost drawn in by the idea of getting the Papoose and myself some matching boots. I mean, seriously, can you imagine the cuteness? I'm not the type who would dress us alike to just be out and about, but just matching boots for the garden...? Come on, what, are you made of stone?

But then I realized that she would quickly grow out of them and I would be stuck, likely for years, with these:

Which are cute. But just not me.

So, in search of some that are more me, I find that I'm torn between several. So, a la Scarlet, let's put it to a vote: Which boots should I get?






And, lest you think I've forgotten the Papoose, I've got a bid out for these on eBay:

Gobamas

As I ruthlessly rip the dandelions out of my yard and get my indoor seedlings started in their Jiffy pots, I might be a little late to this party, but it warms my liberal democratic heart to read that the Obamas are planting a victory garden. Could I love this man more? No, he's not perfect, by any stretch...who is? But I sense a sincerity and honest drive to do the right thing that I've felt from very few politicians in my life.

Okay, I'm done with the doe eyes.

FAIL.

Major Saturday morning fail. FAIL!!!

We've been looking forward to the Farmer Jason concert for months now. We even promised the Ouisers that we'd pick up his new DVD for them, as they are out of town this weekend. The Husband woke me up at 8:15 this morning and we hustled to get out of the house by 8:40. The Papoose dutifully fell asleep in the car on the way to the concert in Nashville. The directions from the venue's website were spot on and we found it without difficulty. Plenty of places to park. Arrived at 20 minutes to showtime; plenty of time to buy tickets, find a good spot, acclimate a freshly-awakened Papoose to the crazed toddlers that make up Farmer Jason's groupies.

She was still asleep when we parked, so I sat in the car while the Husband went up to the box office.

"They sold out two weeks ago."

What?!?!? Fail. Major fail.

Thank goodness she's too young to be disappointed. Heck, she's too young to wake up when you turn off the car. She stayed asleep all the way back to Dickson.

I assuaged my guilt by buying her not one, but two big, plastic balls at Walmart.

"A Plague on Both Your Potties!"

I have potentially big news. News that is going to drive Ouiser and Toddler Tamer into cahoots to plot my untimely demise. Or possibly just to sneak pixi stix into my daughter's bedtime milk or shave four-letter words into my dog or something equally devious.

The Papoose peed in the potty.

Well, technically, on the edge of the potty. And it was only a few drops. But still.

SQUEEEE!!!

I just ordered her a potty from Amazon last week. She's been showing a few possible-readiness signs lately: sometimes going to a corner to do her business, once running to the toilet after she peed on the floor during naked time and I spontaneously suggested she tell me the next time she needed to go potty. It just seemed like it couldn't hurt to have one sitting around the house so she could consider the idea. I also ordered a couple of books on potty training. One for me and one for her. Those haven't arrived yet.

But the potty itself arrived yesterday and I unpacked it today while Ouiser and her daughter, S (who is not yet potty trained, but is definitely on her way), were over to play. S helped me show the new potty to the Papoose, who promptly sat on it. But we were playing, so I didn't pursue anything. It sat in the living room while we continued with our day.

After dinner tonight, we were playing in the living room again. She sat on the potty so I took her pants and diaper off and offered some suggestions about what she might do. She sat there and I offered her books. She wiggled around a lot, acting a little uncomfortable. It might still be too big for her, even though I ordered the one that everyone else complained was too small in reviews. She's only 16 months-old, so I figured smaller was better. Anyway, next thing I knew, she'd gotten up and sat in my lap and I felt a small wetness on her bottom. I looked at the potty and there was just the smallest smattering of liquid to be found. Could have been a lucky coincidence and may never happen again for two years. Or more.

Or I could be the luckiest SOB ever!!!

But I'm not counting chickens. And I don't even know how to proceed. I haven't read the damn book yet. I don't even have the damn book yet. I didn't even tell her what a great thing she'd done because I didn't realize what she had done at first and then I was in such shock: Did she have her sippy cup nearby? Was it drool? Dog drool? But I'm pretty confident it was what it was meant to be. So I guess I'll offer her some potty time after every meal until I get that book and figure out how to capitalize on this.

Keep your fingers crossed for me because Ouiser and TT will be throwing all kinds of voodoo and Unforgivable Curses my way.

First 30

I was updating the Papoose's baby book last night (all her canines have broken through!) and started listing all the words she has now. She's a wordy girl. Usually that word is "no," with a close second favorite of "go." Right hand to god, I heard her say "no" in her sleep the other night.

1. no
2. go (or Go away)
3. mum-mum (food)
4. drink
5. yeah
6. down (or Get down)
7. again (translates as "read this")
8. bless you
9. thank you
10. binky
11. brush teeth
12. night night
13. bathtime
14. towel
15. dog
16. cat
17. moo
18. meow
19. shoes
20. coat
21. cookie
22. goyurt (yogurt)
23. nana (banana)
24. mama
25. dada
26. Chewy
27. all done
28. kak kak (quack quack)
29. hi
30. bye bye

I think that's it. That's actually more than I remembered last night. I kind of couldn't believe there were so many when I started counting because 99% of what she says is "no" and "go." She likes to cut to the chase.

Addendum: How did I forget #31?!? "Uh-oh" is totally up there in the top three favorite words of the Papoosekin.

Who Knew?

So, I'm trying this new-fangled thing--it's not a fad diet, I swear--where I go to bed in time to get at least seven hours of sleep, and, also, you have to exercise a few times per week. I've only been doing it for a few days now, but it's really working already! I only had one cup of coffee today and it never even occurred to me to sleep during the Papoose's nap. It's after 7 and I've picked up the house and helped the Husband put the Papoose to bed. And my brain is functioning at a level that allows it to string words together to form, you know, a thought.

Science is crazy, I tell ya.

Love Me Some Dooce

I'm sorry, this is long, but it's the funniest thing I've read in a long time.

Catching Up

I woke up today and it was March. And all of a sudden it's been two weeks since my last post, which was a bs post. The one before that consisted of more pictures than words. My last real post seems to have been in January. I don't know what is up with me. It's been months since I've really committed to my blog. I was talking to Ouiser about it the other day, when she threatened to start verbally berating me on her blog, and I think it's a lack of organization. I have a pile of papers on my desk that's half as tall as I am. I have no cleaning schedule yet. I'm trying to figure out how to feed my non-vegan husband while I'm trying to eat as many vegan meals as I can. I've not been successfully devoting time to my creative outlets. This is me trying to do better by myself.

So let me catch you up. Don't bother looking for a theme here. These are totally random snapshots of our recent life.

This is another sneak peak of the Papoose's kitchen, being hand-crafted by the Husband. This thing will be an heirloom by the time he's done with it, I swear. The dark circles are burners; the hole is for the sink.
The Papoose very much enjoys the part of my new semi-vegan diet that includes fruit smoothies every morning. This is my cup. I just drink out of the cup I blend it in with my immersion blender. It's a wee bit big for the wee one, though...


We had our first trip to the zoo! The Papoose and S had lots of fun. S was way more into the animals than the Papoose, though the Papoose did appreciate the giraffes, one of her faves.
First meal at Pei Wei. I thought about giving her chopsticks, but she had other plans.

For those of you who know him, is this the face of the Husband or what?
Going through the Papoose's old baby clothes. Unbelievable how tiny they were!
Though, clearly, she thinks she should be even bigger at this point. You're not stealing my shoes yet, kiddo!
As her aunt quipped, you don't get much more organic than this! (The Husband spreading corn gluten on the backyard.)
If you look closely, you can still see a piece of corn gluten on her lip...