Look at me keeping up with this blog. We messed around at home today. Soph had a little cold. We had some delightful grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch. We made a Target run. Soph needed a newer warmer coat. We found a purple one. The arms are way too long, but maybe it will still fit next year. We came home and put away the groceried and headed back out. It was almost time for Gymboree, but I had to stop and get gas, and Sophie must have her pre-Gyboree McDonalds french fry run.
I got Jonah this little shirt with marshmellows that had little happy faces on them jumping into a cup of hot chocolate, it was pretty cute. We saw them tonight at Gymboree, so I gave it to him there. Little Maren was also there. Looking cute as usual, but especially cute tonight with her pink kitty outfit on. We came home and had a snack and milk for Soph. She helped me unload the dishwasher and start some laundry. We are having a big day tomorrow at the Childrens Museum, They are having countdown to noon, for the kids to celebrate the new year!

Today we mostly hung around the house. Mom and Pap came over to watch Soph while I went to the gym. We were supposed to go out to eat. Not sure what happened there, but I was glad for some alone time. Earlier, we made Cinnamon Strusel. Sophie likes to help me make stuff. I think just so she can lick the spatula. She says monkey now. I a not sure where she picked that up at. She calls her sippie cup a cuppie. That is pretty funny when she says it in her little voice. Mommie cuppie? goes to fridge and points to milk. After my workout, I wanted to go to Dicks to find some Notre Dame shirts, which I did. I like the long sleeve T to work out/lounge in. I found an IU one too. They were super cheap on sale, which is surprising. We stopped by Marsh to grab a couple of things, then came home watched Parks and Recreation. Soph went to bed, I ate a chicken sammie. Tomorrow Amy is coming over so I can go with her to get supplies for her friends baby shower. We are going to attempt to make a diaper cake.

Dear asshole guy at Target,

Just because you say you need to "separate" your 40 item order into 4 orders with 10 items each, does not make it okay for you to be in the 10 items or less line. Your stupid giggle and gee whiz look does not make it okay either. I am pretty sure he got the idea. I am great at under my breath smart ass remarks. Also, I know it is just Target, but make an effort and change out from you p.j's. Moron.

Effervescently,

Eternally impatient

So Burned Out Betsy over at Diary of a Disgruntled Social Worker posted this on her blog and I found myself reading it and nodding my head the whole time.


You know you're a social worker if....

1. You think $40,000 a year is 'really making it'.

2. You don't know what it's like to work with men.

3. You know all the latest lingo for drugs, where to get them, and how much they cost.

4. You’ve started a sentence with 'So what I hear you saying is...'

5. You’ve had 2 or more jobs at one time just to pay the bills.

6. You tell people what you do and they say 'that's so noble'

7. You have had to explain to people that not all social workers take away kids.

8. You use the words 'validate,' 'appropriate' and 'intervention' daily.

9. You spend more than half your day documenting and doing paperwork.

10. You think nothing of discussing child abuse over dinner.

11. People have said to you 'I don't know how you do what you do'.

12. You’ve never been on a business trip or had an expense account.

13. You know a lot of other social workers who have left the profession for another.

14. You’re very familiar with the concept of entitlement.

15. Staying at a job for 2 years is 'a long time'.

16. Your phone number is unlisted for good reason.

17. Your professional newsletters always have articles about raising salaries...but you still haven't seen it.

18. You’re very familiar with the term 'budget cut'.

19. You can't imagine working at a bank or crunching numbers all day.

20. You’ve had clients who liked you just a little too much.

21. Having lunch is a luxury many days.

22. You’ve been cursed at or threatened...and it doesn't bother you.

23. Your job orientation has included self defense.

24. You have the best stories at any cocktail party.

25. Your parents don't know half of the stuff that you've dealt with at your job.

26. You know all the excuses clients use for a failed a drug test by heart.

A book that I wish really existed. I would have purchased several copies, for gifts.


Today sucked. It just did. But later, it did not. Me and Soph packed up to go to open gym at Gymboree. It was super fun! Then we stopped by Target. Soph is such an impulse shopper. I went in for milk, bread, yogurt and stuff like that. Misses, however, came out with a new toothbrush that has a little happy face on it, some Baked Lays, and a bottle of water. Yes, these were things from different aisles that were witness to a breakdown. She gets bored in certain aisles. She did see her little friend Melanie from Gymboree there. Soph waved at her. I brought soph in covered up in ther lambikin balnket because it was so cold. As I was unwrapping the both of us at the carts, they were chatting with us doing the same. They are nice.

When we got home, we had some chicken lunch meat sammies and chips. I got a bag of Target doritos. I thought they were the cheese ones, nope the nasty Ranch flavor. I ate some anyway. I needed some crunch. Soph loves baked Lays. She likes to eat one, then crumble and toss one. It is funny, but not. She gets this little look on her face, and I know that a launch is about to happen. After that, she had a bath. I did too seeing as she does not like baths and wants to hold onto me hanging over the side of the tub screaming while I am trying to soap and shampoo her. I thought about delaying her bath till tomorrow, but she was standing nekkid in the bathroom waiting for me to dump her toys in, and she peed on the floor, and cried, it was sad. A little naked toddler standing in a puddle of piss. Awesome. So I shoved a towel over that, cause I knew if I didnt, when she got out she would slip on it and we would be back to the beginning. It was a stressful bath, but I used the force, and some yoga breath and got it done. She forgot all about that trauma soon. We played in the living room and read until bedtime.

Gymboree fun with daddy

Christmas Eve

Soph and I went down to Grandpa Dykes house for lunch/birthday celebration. She was shy at first, but then in no time was running around his house. I am pretty sure this stressed them out. But oh well, she is little and is interested by new things, especially new breakable very small things. I vow this year that I will not apologise for a toddlers actions any longer. I guess if someone knows there is a child coming over, and they don't put up things that are not to be touched, then expect them to be touched. Ok, so anyways we had a good time. Soph received a cart and some Pooh books from grandpa. We went to my grandma and grandpa's after that around 5 or so.

I have so many things I want to share. However, I am too tired. I will save you the many reasons. So I have decided that maybe tomorrow, or the day after that, I will write one big blog o' the week. Cause alot of awesomeness has been bestowed upon our stoop. I only typed this so my loyal followers would check back!


ok , early the next morning. I thought I'd give a nod to safety in the home.

When Sophie started to be mobile, I thought it would be a good time to install child safety implements.

door/drawer latches
outlet covers
keeping doors closed to bathrooms/computer room
baby gate
minute by minute visual sweep for potential choking hazzards laying about

anyways..so this morning Daisy was barking for her morning chow. I opened the baby gate and prepared her food and water.

Let me just explain the purpose of this baby gate. It prevents entrance to the most dangerous and nasty part of the house. Behind it is the laundry room, shelves with cleaners, mops brooms, the trash can and the kitty box room and food and water for the cats. Sophie likes to watch out the window as I feed Daisy saying gogie! gogie, yes with a g, not a d.
I turned around to come back in and she is standing right behind me in just her diaper and T.

First thought, what the hell, I forgot to latch the gate!
no, second, what the hell, she figured out how to open AND close AND lock the gate back houdini, no...
what does she do? She gives herself up. She goes back out the same way she got in, crawling through the cat door in the gate. I was just standing there watching this all take place (like 20 seconds) holding the plastic food/water pitchers, seeeing my toddler sqeeze and twist through this opening beckoning me to come with her. Mommie, mommie, and leads me to the tree she just removed another three ornaments. So much for that.

Cookies

Today was cookie making day. We had a very busy day. We started off at LePeep with grandma for lunch. It was pretty tasty. Soph figured out how to open the little jelly containers and was scooping it out with a spoon and eating it. After lunch we stopped by my sisters to pick up Soph's booster seat that my dad got for her. She loves it! We went on the usual circuit of Target, Babies R Us and Bookstore and then home. Soph sat in her little seat in the kitchen and supervised the cookie makeing. She kept saying cook, cook, which means cookie. After each batch I let her have some batter on a spatula to eat. I made alot of cookies. Alot.

I would like to add: Just because I mention something I buy, does not mean I have extra cash. It means I have a Amazon gift card from last Chrismas that I forgot I had.

Today I got up early to prepare for our day. Which consisted of getting out the door by 9 so I could go work out. It was a trying morning. Sophie likes to run from me now when it is time to put on shoes and coat, or diaper changes, or anything in general I want her to do, She is an independent child. So once we finally got out the door, I was tired. I droped her off at the child care there at the gym. She cried the whole time, but when I went to get her she was fine and wanted to stay and play. She just needed to be reassured that this place was ok! So we stayed and played for awhile. She found a little girl to run around with. I was actilg silly trying to make Soph sure that ths is a fun place to be, so 3 other kids gathered round to see what I was up to. That poor sitter they had there had her hands full. So at least I kept 4 of them busy for half an hour. We went back home in time for lunch. She went to take a nap after that. We got our copy of Your Baby can Read! today. So I will start that. The first video they watch every day for 2 months, then on to the second. There are five total. I got it brand new on the internet for super cheap instead of buying it from the actual website where they charde $200. Right. I got it for a cool $28 ,and it got here in 3 days! Even if it is stupid, it will be another video to have in throught the day in the background. I have to mix it up since I can quote entire episodes from her Dvd's now.

Monday

Today we went over to the Carmel Library to drop off some books. Soph had Gymboree open gym tonight. She chose to spend most of her time there in the lobby or "helping" Miss Eileen in the office. We spent most of the day before that running errands, going to he grocery store and Target.

Winter Wonderland

So let's see. What have we been doing? Friday My dad came over to help me out. I have had the worst luck ever! We had a winter storm and it blew a large tree piece on my house, then after Gymboree class last night,my ture went flat. So he came over to fix things. One new tire and one branch removed! Go EKD!!!
He hung around until Sophs Gymboree Winter Wonderland party at 6. Sophie had a fabulous time as usual. She played and laughed and popped the bubbles. She decorated a snoman for us to take home made out of paper plated. They gave out juice and a cookie, which she enjoyed. She sat next to her little friend Melanie. Her mom said she was at another table till she saw her over here and she picked up and sat next to Soph the whole time. They chatted alot. It was pretty cute.

Needs break

Hello. I need a break. I need sleep. My back/neck hurts so bad I feel like puking. I would like to go to the store by myself. I would like to take a nap. I want real food. Please help.

Today we went Christmas tree shopping. We weren't sure if we wanted to go with real or fake this year, only because of small hands plucking ornaments off the tree. I was going to just get a little Charlie Brown tree, but Target was too high, and Home Depot didn't have any trees at all! They did have real ones, so we put it on the top of the car, I swear we looked like the Griswolds. After Home Depot we went over to Five Guys and had some dinner. Sophie discovered ketchup a few days ago, so she decided that she needed to dip each bite before eating. It was petty cute, she did a good job. After that we went home and put the tree up. Sophie bept saying Boo, because when we went into a store around Halloween, she saw the Halloween decorations all lit up and I told her it was for Halloween, Boooo, So now she says boo, and all decoration that light up. She helped decorate the tree.

Today during the day we did absolutely nothing. Just watched Sesame Street, Big big world and Dragon Tales. Then had lunch and naps. I did my domestic duties while toot was napping. We decided to go to Gymboree on Thursday nights now, which is much better than Saturday mornings. The atmosphere seemed more relaxed. Sophie had a blast. All the kids there were pretty nice. She actually participated and paid attention to all the class activities. Probably since it is not as chaotic as Saturdays are. She even did the parachute and popping bubbles part. I was pretty pleased. We lie Miss Melissa the teacher there, she is so nice. I stayed after for like a half hour just chatting with her whilst Soph ate her Nutrigrain bar in the lobby. I was having her help me pick out a few things for Soph for Christmas. They are having a sale there, and I got a ball, a puzzle and a color pad for 15.00. I basically got one thing free. So that was nice. When we came home, Soph had a bath, since she got hold of a peppermint while I was looking at Gymboree, she was dismantling the diaper bag and found it, and dripped pink baby drool all over her new white shirt. Luckilly it came out in the wash, which I did right when we got home.

Cyber Monday? Black Friday? Who really gives a shit. Not me. Cyber Monday Meh!

I must be out of touch. Anyways, Sophie is so funny. I was working on the dishes, and Soph had finally ran off to entertain herself, so I could actually load the dishwasher in like 3 minutes as opposed to 20 minutes with repeated removal of Soph from the top of the door she stands on when it is open to help. So behind me somewhere I kept hearing Mmmmmm Yummy, Mmmmmmm Yummy, I thought she was just repeating what I was saying while making cookies earlier. So I saw her out of the corner of my eye while I was putting in the soap and well, there she was, standing in the middle of the kitchen, in the middle of yogurt drippings, everywhere, on her and the floor, spooning it in saying, mmmmm yummy with each messy bite.

It took me a minute, but every morning and for snack we share a cup of yogurt. Well for snack, she didn't finish it and I forgot to get it from the coffee table, I immediately realized this as I was pleading for her to stand perfectly still while I made a move for the paper towels. It was pretty funny after the fact, just seeing her stand there all messy grinning saying yummieeeee.

We also went to Gymboree open gym today. She had a pretty good time. There are alot of weirdo parents out there though. They act like it is a big deal if their kids act like kids. Foe example, sophie had a ball and some little jerk came an took it from her...well she didn't care, she was on to the next thing. This mom of his was like, oh whatever his name was...you have to SHARE. I was just thinking, right, he can't even comprehend that he has a mile long string of snot hanging from his nose, let alone remorse for taking the ball Sophie had just taken from some other kid a minute earlier. I guess some people think it reflects poorly on their parenting skills if their toddler acts like a toddler instead of a dead eyed little robot. We ran into one of those control moms at the Childrens museum, I am sure that girl had to wait to hear her mom say ok now little so and so Breathe in, now out. Now blink. Some people just wear me out.

Yes I am venting now. Most of these thoughts are usually just in my head, but it is good to purge.

Sophie really likes books. We read about eleven or so of them tonight. There is this one that is kind of generic, but at the end it plays twinkle twinkle little star. It stopped working, but she knows what it is supposed to do. She kept grabbing my hand and putting it on the sparkle star. I think it just played itself out. She also has figured out zippers. I keep her color pencils in a makeup pouch. She opens it up by herself, but what is funny, is when she is done, she gathers up all the pencils, puts them back and zips it back up, which is a little harder for her, but she does it. It is just cute watching her figure things out, because she will always look up and smile at me like See what I did!

Today me and Soph made a trial run batch of cookies for the cookie exchange coming up. Yes, I am that OCD. They are strawberry cream cheese cookies. I am not sure if that is really what they are called,but those were the main ingredients, well besides flour. I pulled up one of our dining room chairs so she could see. Otherwise, she wants me to hold her everytime I make something. So she is standing on her chair, knocking stuff I need off the counter and had a vise grip on the measuring spoons that I needed. I had it on PBS all day because I don't have cable and that was the only channel that did not have stupid football on it. So we watched Rich Steves Europe Christmas, which really was interesting. There was alot of singing and music, so Soph got down and watched that. She just got up on the couch with her little sippy cup of milk and was watching so intently. I think he was in Germany at that point.
I am pretty sure these cookies are going to be good, since I ate about 5 of them...just to make sure. Sophie threw hers on the floor, but then again, she throws alot of things on the floor. After that ws a dinner of hotdogs and cheese, a family favorite. We watched some show about the guy who found the Titanic. Sophie fell asleep on the couch and I am catching up on this and picking up the house.

Gymboree was interesting this morning. There is this weird little boy, he likes to hug and drool, not in a cute way. So he came up to Soph and gave her a unsolicited hug, which knocked her down. So I was getting this kid off her, while she was crying, and he freakin hit me. His parents are worthless. He has probation in his future I am sure. Anyways, after Gymboree we went over to the always tasty Dunkin' Donuts in Carmel on our way home. I had yeast with chocolate frosting, Soph had chocolate cake glazed. She was delighted. I thought this amount of sugar would keep her up, but she fell asleep just as we got to Michigan Rd. When we got home she took a short nap and we ate dinner. We decided to go on a Target run. I had to get some staple items, and a couple things to make cookies with.
I picked up a Christmas present for toot whilst I was there. It is a Fisher Price Little People Farm. I like Little People, maybe I will get the Schoolhouse one next. Once we got home it was just the usual coloring, bath, stories, bed. I stayed up late working on trying to make christmas cards at shutterfly. I could not get it to work right. My sister went in and messed with it a little and fixed it for me. Next time, I will just have her do it, it seems easier that way.

David got home late last night from work to be in town for Thanksgiving Day. We went to my sisters house. I made some owl cookies, which no one ate, and some awesome turkey decorations from scrapbooking stuff, which no one cared about. I however will place mine on a delightfully decorated page illustrating the days events.
Sophie really enjoyed herself there. She likes walking around, getting into stuff, chit chatting, playing with Jonah's trains and his car.
The food was tasty. My favorite part was the buckeye ball treats, and the napkins. David had to leave early after dinner to go back to Owensboro to work on Friday.
So I felt kind of stupid just hanging around there so we left too. Sophie went to sleep as soon as we got home, and woke up long enough for a sip of milk then slept off and on the rest of the night in various rooms. It was a fun day.

Today me and Soph just messed around the house in preparation of daddy coming home tonight. We also started our cookie dough to make owl cookies for Thanksgiving dinner treats. We are going to my sister's house tomorrow to have dinner. It will be super fun! Sophie always likes going over to Aunt Melissa's house. We decided to get out of the house ealy afternoon because i was running out of things for Sophie to do. She was not willing to entertain herself either. I decided to take her to the early open play gym at Gymboree. They offer two times on Wednesdays. We usually go to the one at 6:00 because that is when Jonah goes, but she was getting antsy. Of course once we got there she was everywhere. Wendy, one of the owners always says as we are checking in, there is the little energizer girl, she goes and goes! What an impression she makes on people! After Gymboree I needed to stop by Hobby Lobby to get a few things. I am making turkey cards for everyone tomorrow. I needed to get some more buttons for the eyes. I also needed to get some festive recipe cards for Sara's Cookie exchange on Dec. 6th. Luckilly, Sophie let me look around, normally I have to run in and go for exactly what I need. David wasn't due to be home till about 9 or so. I started rollong out my cookie dough. Sophie wanted to watch, so I had to pull up one of our dining room chairs so she could see everything. She was very interested in it all. I hope the cookies turn out ok. I tested one and they were so delicate, I could hardly ice them. I stuck them in the feezer, o hopefully it was just because they hadn't set up yet. Who knows. Sophie went to sleep at around 8 so I had time to finish my turkey cards. Just as I was geting them done David got home, so it worked out perfectly.

Everything she sees,
She says she wants.
Everything she wants,
I see she gets.

That's my daughter in the water,
Everything she owns I bought her.
Everything she owns.
That's my daughter in the water,
Everything she knows I taught her.
Everything she knows.

Everything I say,
she takes to heart.
Everything she takes,
she takes apart.

That's my daughter in the water
Every time she fell, I caught her.
Every time she fell.
That's my daughter in the water,
I lost every time I fought her.
I lost every time.

Every time she blinks,
she strikes somebody blind.
Everything she thinks,
Blows her tiny mind.

That's my daughter in the water,
Who'd have ever thought her?
Who'd have ever thought?
That's my daughter in the water,
I lost every time I fought her
Yea, I lost every time.

This weekend started out with Gymboree on Saturday morning. Uncle andy and Jonah were there. Sophie sure does like her some Gymboree. I think she likes people watching mostly. She spent most of the time running around as she usually does handing other kids and their parents balls and different little props they have there. She likes to push around the bins that they keep the bouncy balls in. After that, Aunt Melissa said that they were going to the Childrens Museum and we met them down there. We had so much fun. Sophie loved running around checking out everything. Her and Jonah were playing in the toddler area. Well, I think mostly it was that they were just in the same areas at the same time. It is always cute seeing them together. Two little people doing stuff! I like watching Sophie figure out things, like how to climb up something there or just going in and out of the play houses. It is funny what interests her. She carried around a pretend scoop of ice cream and a dish from the play ice cream house for awhile. There is also a little baby doll and lawn mower she goes for. I thought the tain part was pretty neat. It is one of the things I remember seeing when I went there as a child. It is awesome now. It has a train track suspended from the ceiling that Jonah thought was awesome. There was a Chiuly glass exhibit there, where the kids could take plastic replicas as his blown glass pieces and put them in different sculptures.
Soph enjoyed carrying those around and handing them out too.
It was such a great day! It was awesome spending time with Aunt Melissa, Uncle Andy, JB and Maren and Jane.

When we got home, Sophie crashed out for a pwer nap and I went to the grocery store.
We had spaghetti for dinner. Then I made some bread that my sister had given me the recipe for. I had never made bread before, but I guess since I am good at following a recipe, it all worked out. It was sooo good. It wasnt done in time for dinner, so we had a piece as a snack later w butter and honey. It is a new family favorite!

I am not posting anything for Sunday, because we didn't do anything except hang out at home. I was under the weather so it was a lazy day.

This morning we met my dad for breakfast at LePeep. After that we went to the Books 4 Kids store and previewed a Gymboree music class. It was ok. Sophie was a little unsure about it. There was only one little girl there. So we played with drums and different musical instruments to the beat of different types of music. Sophie was teething so we went home so she could lay down. Well she was just very unhappy, so my dad had to come back with some pain medicine for her because I couldnt leave to get to the store because she was so upset. My dad was up visiting my sister, so luckilly he was still close by. After a while she was feeling better so we ran some errands. My sister said that Mom and Pap were meeting hem at Red Robin for dinner, so we joined them for that. Sophie didn't eat much, just a few fries, and a little chocolate shake. Mr. Red Robin came by the table and both Jonah and Sophie (after someconvincing) gave him some high fives) I was a fun dinner. I always like getting together with my family.