I Had it Comin'

I should have seen the signs. The terrible twos are in FULL EFFECT around these parts. B has been dishing up a bunch of this crazy:

I try my best to deflect, redirect, and distract--but I can only do so much. The other day as I was getting her dressed, she began flailing around like a wild banshee. I had to throw her in the crib half naked. This is what I got from her. The flailing arm! The look of desperation! The nakedness! The climbing of the rails! I should have known what her next move was.

It was flinging herself out of the crib onto the floor full force this morning. She bit her lip, and hurt her left arm. I packed up my angry pirate, and headed over to the ER for x-rays. When the doc wiggled her arm and asked if it hurt, she declared "Don't ask me that!! I don't want to talk about it!!" He checked his chart to make sure she was only 2. Welcome to my world, doc!

The good news is that it's not broken, just bruised and swollen. And, to make lemonade out of lemons, she would yell "ahoy!" as we walked past patients, causing all sorts of delight.

I suspect it was all a ploy to get out of THIS business

This pottytraining biz is THE WORST THING EVER. I took away all her diapers, so I'm a little stuck. She's watched Potty Power (kill me now) so many times now she knows she's not a baby, and she's definitely over diapers. However, she lacks the skills to actually deliver on the pot. I suppose my plan b is to use Pullups more than I intended, and ramp up my laundry. I would let it go completely, but she HAS to be ready for preschool in the fall--though her salty talking scallywag ways might get us kicked out long before her potty habits.

Utah

I had so much fun with Hayley that I followed her back to Utah. 

Whee! Price, Utah--here we come.

Hayley gets the barfs, so I steered clear of her on purpose. She ended up sitting right across the aisle from me anyway. Here is her seatmate. They chatted the entire flight thinking that no one could hear them. They were wrong.

 Ya look like you're a loud talker, Jim!

First stop--Cafe Rio!

Somebody got hungry on the flight. Nom nom.

After unpacking and getting B ready for bed, I realized that the bag with all of the pacifiers was missing. Tat seized on this moment like the Dog (toddler?) Whisperer, and encouraged me to use the trip to wean her off of them. I crossed my fingers, and sent her to bed.

We woke up to this--tear free! She's off them for good. Thanks, Cesar. Your encouragement did it.

We gussied up, and hit the dino museum. It was all B talked about for a week.She loves a good dino.

We hit up the hottest restaurant in town, and ate our gyros like they were going out of style. The greek is totally on a streak.

 

 Alas, our time in Price came to an end, and I found out the mid-size car I had reserved was a minivan. To quote Samantha Baker--there has to be a more dignified mode of transportation.

We landed in Ogden, just in time to be meet up with Lancer who was in Utah for work. B jumped right in, reading stories with Grandma, and getting dragged around by the cousins in a gigantic bucket. She had SO much fun with her cousins! She still talks about them every day.

We bundled up, and headed up the canyon to visit the elk. It was cold. Very, very cold. But B liked the ride, and the sleigh was fun.

 

I needed a hat--I improvised.

The elk

There was a huge snowstorm, so we got to introduce B to snow for the first time. We  ran down to Kid to Kid, and outfitted her with the necessary gear. At first, she was leery, but she eventually decided it was fun.

We also played some domino rally...

...and celebrated Lance's birthday.

I gave him this beauty. He's had his eye on it for years!

We had a very fun, relaxing time. I feel like I came back well rested and ready to face March. So long, fry sauce. You will be missed!

The Bird is the Word

Our favorite Price transplant came back for a visit. We've missed her so, but know that the allure of Price proves far too lucrative. She's gone for good. Thankfully, she comes back to visit and live the good California life.

The good life

We dined at Xahn, and then slowly rolled our way up to SF.

We checked into our hotel, and immediately commenced the partying. Shenanigans included smuggling in two blowup mattresses, stealing a rollaway, and registering a noise complaint. I'm sure the guard was expecting underage hoodrats, and was likely surprised by 6 moms--two of whom were knocked up. It's not our fault they have paper thin walls.

They weren't sad to see us go

After a poor night's sleep full of giggles, rejuvenations, and backup plans (Team Ceece!) we strolled on up the street to Sears Fine Food.

 

On the way back down to the South Bay, we stopped into the Creamery in PA, and Heather proves, once again, that her best photos feature ice cream and chocolate.

 Ya look like this joke has gotten old.

 We saw this in the parking lot, and laughed so hard. Ol' Harry Potter Ashby was amused.

We stopped off and got pedis. It was magical. They put your feet in little baggies filled with paraffin wax.

I was home for a grand total of 45 minutes before turning back around and hitting up Gamba Karaoke. Man, I love that place. It's a home away from home. There were *no* photos of me. So weird. I would just love to post ones of me looking like....that.

Here are the lyrics of Gangham Style. Nice.

I knew you were trouble when you walked in (OH!!). Thanks for taking us along for the ride. Come back soon, Birdy Bird. We miss you and your antics. Now scram!

Catching Up

Time is flying by. January was a complete bust, February brought some fun, and so far, March has had some fun happening as well. Here's my photo dump catch-up.

 B has learned the value of sugar and candy, and will almost immediately stop all antics and shenanigans if promised a treat. Win-win.

B and Kai Kai TRASHED her room in under 2 minutes flat. The best part? Premeditation in the form of locking the door. When I used a butter knife to bust in, this is what I saw. Um, yeah.

 We hit up SF

Tacolicious! This is my fave Mexican joint in the city. They recently opened one up in PA, and it doesn't disappoint. It's not Tex-Mex (Heather!) so if you don't like your tacos on the fusion-y side, skip this place. The con queso is to die for.

B continues to rock new and interesting outfits. I love it.

She also likes to park herself on top of the rock our front. Apparently, this is a great little nook.

She's obsessed with mail--sending, writing, receiving. I bought a cute little stand at Goodwill I'm going to turn into a post office for her.

I re-organized the party shed. Things had been dire out back since December. I couldn't bring myself to put the Christmas decorations away, but a quick trip to Utah renewed my vim and vigor. I came home and whipped this thing into shape!

We've had lots of playdates at the park with Colin. The weather has been fabulous.

 Sulky--he didn't want the fun to end

When I tell B to smile, this is what I get. Apparently, a byproduct of Sarah Gray. Nice.

Still loving our gym class with Colin. Still rocking the parking cone on the head.

Ashley gave us this stupid monkey, and it lives the good life.  B sings it to sleep every night, and pats it on the head, saying "night, beautiful." His name is Monkey Max.

More park fun...

...until it's time to go. She crumples to the ground in a sad heap when it's time to leave. She loves having fun, and being in the mix.

Still loving school!

Goofing off with Mama

 .

Running with an older crowd. I'm leveraging her love of older kids to try and help with the potty.

Logging in time at Safari Run in Sunnyvale--it's a new indoor gym for kids

Riding her bike. Still can't pedal, but that's what the handle is for.

Holding hands with Kai Kai

And scaling rocks together. There's nothing you can't accomplish with the love of a bestie.

That's us! Hope your March is going well!