Dancing Machine

If you know me really well, then you know that I absolutely love to dance. Not sure why but I think it is a lot of fun. I am pretty sure we have a dancer on our hands. Paige and I have been dancing since she was born but I seriously don't know where she gets all of these moves. I think this particular video is to Tejano music. We always change the music up on her to see what moves she will come up with next (80's hair bands, salsa, Christmas music, Radio Disney-she loves it all). I am sure there will be more dancing videos to come. I think I need to get this girl in dance class.

The Mommy Growl

One of the things that I do when I get frustrated is growl. I don't know if I would ever notice that I do this except Todd points it out to me all of the time. It is probably one of the things that I do that annoys him the most. Well, that and sighing - he hates all the sighing that do. Like I said, I don't usually realize that I am doing it. The point of all of this is today Paige dropped her fruit cup that she got from Chick-Fil-A. As soon as it happened, she growled in frustration exactly like I do. If I was judging her, I would have given it a 10. Todd and I both burst out laughing. I imagine he is freaking out a little. Really, can there be two Abbie's in our house??? Have I mentioned that she is also a neat freak like me? Well, of course I secretly love that.

On another note, I told Paige one day to tell Todd that he was a redneck. She did and I don't think Todd was that pleased. However, now it is a running joke in our house since Paige asks him almost every day if he is a redneck. To get me back, Todd taught Paige to say that I am crazy and do the circle motion around her ears. She thinks all of this is a lot of fun. We are awful!

Happy Birthday Jesus

One of the things we have decided to do every year for Christmas is bake a birthday cake for Jesus. Paige helped bake the cake and decorate it. She really enjoyed doing it. Here are some pics of the big event.

Merry Christmas!

Well, this is a little belated since it is actually the day after Christmas. I have so many pictures to post and hope to do that this weekend. We had a very relaxing Christmas holiday. My parents drove in from Perryton on Christmas Eve. Almost as soon as they walked in the door from their 10+ hour car trip, Paige got to open her presents from them. My Mom (Yaya) is such a sucker when it comes to opening gifts. After we had dinner, the adults opened their gifts. We all had a great Christmas. It is a tradition in our family to wear new pajamas on Christmas Day so everyone got new pajamas. We stayed in our jammies all day and gorged ourselves with food. It was a fabulous, lazy day!

Then the fun begins. After we put Paige to bed, we had to assemble the gifts from Santa. Little did I know that I purchased two of the most difficult toys to put together. My Mom, Todd and I stayed up until 2:00 a.m. putting together a beauty salon vanity and a mini-trampoline for Paige's playroom. Yes, I do read reviews but I failed to really pay attention to the assembly drama involved in these.

I bought so many stocking stuffers that I had to fill two stockings for Paige. This really isn't a problem since she actually has 3 stockings. This was the first Christmas that she really understood the concept of Santa or opening gifts so it was really fun. She says "Wow" to everything she opens. It is so sweet. We also made a birthday cake for Jesus and Paige decorated it. She loved doing that. I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas!!

Happy Thanksgiving

We managed to make it an entire week healthy with no major meltdowns. I dare say it is a miracle. Paige went to school 5 days in a row. I don't think she has done that since the hurricane. Having her back on schedule has definitely helped alleviate some of the dramatizations she acts out. Right now she is really into fake crying to get her way. I keep telling her that she needs to work on her act because she has a tough audience.

A couple of funny "paige-isms":
1. She has been talking about "chicken legs" for weeks. I have been so confused because we haven't ever given her a drumstick to eat so I didn't know why she was talking about chicken legs. Imagine my surprise when we were driving up to Chick-fil-a and Paige was yelling "chicken leg". What an idiot I am. I can't believe I didn't pick up on that especially since that is the only chicken I can get her to eat.
2. Tonight when I was giving her a bath she was looking at her shadow and waving at it. She said "see my shadow, mommy?" Then she bent over and says "see my bottom, I'm shakin' it."(yes, she was actually shaking it). Of course Todd and I were laughing hysterically which encouraged Paige to do it over and over again. Kids are so funny. I wonder what I laughed at before she was part of our lives??

We are heading to Perryton on Wednesday. It is a much needed break for all of us. Yes, I am even looking forward to it in spite of the very long car ride. Paige and I are flying back on Monday while Todd hunts up there for the rest of the week. I want to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving. I have so much to be thankful for - God has blessed me with a beautiful family, fabulous friends and I have even found a "career" that I enjoy. What more could a girl want?

I feel my temperature risin'

Well, Paige was running a fever again on Sunday evening. I took her to the doctor on Monday to have her checked out. I figured at the very least we would find out how her ears are doing. Well, the good news is that her ears look pretty good. She has some fluid in one but the doctor seemed pleased with them. The bad news is that she tested positive for strep throat. She has been handling it quite well. She won't eat much and has discovered how much she loves chocolate milk. She thinks plain milk tastes yucky! I will be surprised if she will drink regular milk again but you never know with her. She is no longer contagious so we are going to try to go to work/school tomorrow. As far as being sick is concerned, we have had a difficult 6 weeks. I hope that we stay well for a while since we are right at the beginning of cold and flu season. Also, it is impossible to get Paige her flu shot if she is sick all of the time. Hope everyone else is staying well!!

Let's go to the movies

One of Paige's favorite movies is Madagascar. I decided it would be a great idea to take Paige to see Madagascar 2 at the movie theater. We went this morning at 9:00. This is an awesome time to take small children to the movies. To my surprise, children ages 2 and under are free. We bought Paige the kid's snack pack which includes popcorn, M&M minis and a drink. I believe that is definitely a breakfast of champions. As we were watching the previews, Paige says to us, "Madagascar isn't on!" We assured her that it would be on soon. She ended up sitting on my lap. After about an hour she was ready to go. The movie was really cute and we are looking forward to seeing the ending on DVD. I guess we aren't quite ready for going to the movies but it was still a fun thing for us to do as a family.

Play date with Halle Marie Frey

Paige and I visited the Frey Family on Saturday morning. As usual, Paige was pretty skeptical of Halle. I am not sure why because Halle was a complete angel. She was trying so hard to engage Paige and Paige was not cooperating. We had a really good time and we enjoyed seeing everyone. We wish they still lived next door. When it was time to leave, Paige and Halle gave each other a sweet hug goodbye. I think if we get these two sweet girls together more often they will become the best of friends.

Little Miss Manners

They have mentioned to me at Paige's school that Paige has really good manners. Of course I am a proud Mom and I have consistently reminded Paige to always say please, thank you, etc. The other day when she was sitting on the potty, Todd was standing in the doorway. I had been running around the house trying to get a few things done. I decided it was finally bath time so I ducked under Todd's arm and went into the bathroom to join Paige. She looked at me and said, "Excuse me Todd". I guess I needed a reminder to use my manners. Two year olds are such remarkable people!!

On a potty note, Paige went poopy in the potty the other day!! Of course I was making an idiot out of myself congratulating her. Todd came in and did the same thing. I even ended up giving her a chocolate kiss for such an accomplishment. That girl couldn't have cared less. She was pretty much like "what's the big deal?"

Big Girl Bed

Paige is officially in a big girl bed. We made the big change on Sunday night. Though it has been a fairly easy transition, doing this on the same weekend as Daylight Savings may not have been the most practical idea. She absolutely loves it and it makes such a good trampoline - every Mom's dream!!! She is getting so big. Now if I can just focus on the potty training....

Trick or Treat

We literally didn't know what Paige was going to dress up as for Halloween until Thursday night. With the help of my friends who let us borrow some boots and a hat (Thanks Deachi & Anna!), we were able to pull off a cowgirl. Paige and I went to her school on Friday for a costume parade, pumpkin painting and cookie decorating. We had so much fun. Unfortunately, I got sick and couldn't take Paige trick or treating. Todd took Paige to the Powell's house and Paige got to do some trick or treating with Emily, Cody & Jack. Todd said she had a blast. I can't believe that I missed it!

Kids Say the Darndest Things

A couple of funnies from Paige....
1. She rubbed Todd's Mom's legs and said to her, "Memaw - you have whiskers?? Hilarious! I am surprised she has never said this to me before.
2. We have been watching the movie "Cars" a lot lately. Today, on our drive home, Paige was making car noises. I asked her if she was a race car like Lightning McQueen. She told me, "No Mommy, I'm not a race car. I'm a girl, O.K?"

5 Little Monkeys

Well, Friday I took Paige to the doctor for a follow-up appt. for her ears and to get her flu shot. Unfortunately, she was really congested on Thursday so I was not surprised when they told me she was too sick for a flu shot. However, I was not happy when they told me that she still had a lot of gunk in her ears and put her on another antibiotic. I feel like it is January 2007 all over again. We are going to see our ENT tomorrow to see what he has to say about all of this.

On Saturday, we celebrated Calyn Payne's birthday at Pump It Up! All of the kids had so much fun. It is one of our favorite places. Calyn was adorable and could hardly wait for everyone to sing "Happy Birthday" to her. That evening we went to the Hernandez house to watch the UFC fights. Paige and Jace had a blast taking a bath and playing. Paige introduced Jace to "Madagascar" which she informed me today is her favorite movie. Kelly and I were laughing at her because she says a lot of the lines before the characters do and she acted out parts of the movie. I wish I could have captured how cute those two kids were when we were asking them to pose for pictures. Paige kissed Jace and put her arm around him. You better watch out Todd - we've got a big flirt on our hands. Don't know where she got that!

Today, she was singing "five little monkeys jumping on the bed". When she got to the "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" part, she put her hand on her hip and shook her finger at me. She was very stern and serious. It was hilarious.

Two-Year-Olds!

We had a very relaxing weekend in OKC visiting Todd's Dad and Stepmom (Grandpa & Grandma). They are both doing very well and it was so good to see them. My parents also drove up to visit since Perryton is only 4 hours from OKC. It was a nice family reunion.

Paige is always saying funny things. She is talking so much and already asking WHY about everything. I don't know what kind of answers I will be able to come up with when she is 3. Today, we were driving home from work and she asked me to turn the button. Let's assume she was talking about the volume button on the radio. I turned it and she told me, "No Mama, turn it to the right." We have talked about right and left but I really don't know how she knows these things. Then, tonight when I was tucking her into bed she wanted me to pat her. The teachers do this at school during naptime. As I was patting her, I told her to close her eyes and she told me "no Mama, I'm just blinking".

I don't know how many of you watch the show Jon & Kate plus 8 but my Mom thinks that Paige acts like Maddy. She does have those types of meltdowns. It is absolutely incredible. She throws things and walks to the corner, crosses her arms and sticks out her lip. Who knew that my own dramatic tendencies would turn on me in this way?? She has also mastered stalling techniques. We were sitting on the potty forever and I finally told her that we needed to put the book away and take a bath. She decided this was a perfect moment to talk to Mommy in a not very nice way. I reprimanded her and she continued to do it. I asked her if she was trying to get in trouble. As I put her in the bathtub, she curled up her legs and screamed "I'm in trouble. I have to sit in my room. I'm in trouble." That silly girl - willing to do anything to get out of a bath.

I know that all of my funny stories usually involve Paige misbehaving. She is very sweet and polite most of the time. She is going to be a cowgirl for Halloween but I have been wondering if they make the good/evil - angel/devil costume in a 2T. I can't think of anything more fitting.

Horsin' Around

When we went to the Wheatheart Celebration in Perryton, Paige got to ride a pony and absolutely loved it. When Amber (Sissy) was here, we went to Ryan & Nathan Bradford's house for Amber to take pictures of their family and sweet, little Rylynn. We had a fabulous day and Paige got to ride one of their horses named Tequila. She loved it and Amber was able to get a great photograph of it. We had so much fun with the Bradford Family! We need to do it again soon.

Pictures - finally!

My sister who is becoming a very fabulous photographer took some pictures of Paige and our family in September. I absolutely love the picture of Paige by herself. As Amber sends me more pics, I will try to add them. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Double Trouble

Well, the weekend and the week have been really long. We were supposed to travel to Dallas this weekend for Caden Stubblefield's birthday party but Friday evening Paige started running a fever. She had a runny nose all week so why not add a fever. Saturday morning her eye was draining as well as one of her ears. This is the first time we have had any problems with her ears since March 2007. Of course her tubes have fallen out now. The weekend was pretty rough as she would only sleep about 3 hours at a time and usually not in her bed. I took her to the doctor on Monday and she has an ear infection in both ears. They gave her an antibiotic and decongestant and I am happy to report that she went back to school today. She seems to be feeling much better. Of course now I have some type of virus but feeling much better today. Hope everyone is doing well.

Hiccups & Cupcakes

On the way home from work the other day, Paige was pretending that she had the hiccups. It was very cute as she was literally saying the word "hiccup". After doing this for quite some time, she finally stopped. She let out a big sigh. In the rear view mirror, I could see her put her hands on her face and stick her bottom lip out. I asked her what was that matter. She told me, "I miss my hiccups."

Paige was playing with a cup in the bathtub. She filled it with water and put a hot pink washcloth on top to cover it. She told me that she was making a cupcake. I asked her if I could have a bite. She said, "yes, but it's kinda wet". Too cute!

Potty Training

Before bath time the night of the hurricane, I put Paige in big girl panties. Well, she ended up having an accident and pee-pee was everywhere. I could hear her yelling, "that's disgusting". It was so hard not to laugh. She had never said the word disgusting before. Todd is always giving me a hard time about saying things are disgusting so I guess there is no question where she learned it. Of course I explained to her that it wasn't a big deal, we just need to go in the potty. Since things have been a little chaotic around here we haven't talked about sitting on the potty much lately. I have come to the very obvious conclusion that she just isn't ready. She didn't walk until she was 17 months old - why did I think this would be easier???

Ike, Ike Baby

Yes, I know it has been quite some time since I have updated this. I have several little posts to add. We survived Hurricane Ike. We actually only lost power for 22 hours and we didn't have any damage. Todd's Mom and Carl live in Crystal Beach. They were down there during the duration of the storm. We were sending text messages back and forth. We got the last text message from them on Saturday morning at 2:30 a.m. that there was lots of water at the door but not in the house yet. Their house is on pylons 16 feet in the air. We really didn't think they were going to make it. Around 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, Todd received a phone call from them. They were in Texas City. We were so relieved!!! The National Guard rescued them and their 5 dogs via helicopter. You can actually see the video of Todd's Mom being rescued on youtube - just type in Crystal Beach hoist rescue. Todd picked them up and they have been safely with us ever since. It has been an adjustment getting everyone situated and comfortable at our house. The dogs are just started to relax and get used to their new environment. Karen and Carl have been down to Crystal Beach and have been able to salvage some of their belongings. Now, they are just waiting on insurance adjusters and things like that. Todd's Mom has been very helpful around the house and I am getting more spoiled than I was before! Paige is having a great time getting to know her Memaw and Poppa Carl and playing with the dogs.

Things have been great

Well, I know I haven't updated in quite some time. What can I say, I've been lazy. However, I do jot down all of the things that I need to add. Paige has been really great lately. Either we have gotten past her super-independent streak or I have just become more consistent and she knows the rules. HA! I am sure I just jinxed myself. We have been having a lot of fun. Here are a few of the funny things she has been saying:

Everyday on the way home from work we pass a really tall radio tower. I haven't paid that much attention to it but one day Paige says "we can't climb that Mama, it is too tall." Of course I agreed with her and told her that it would be dangerous to climb so high. Now she tries to remember the word 'dangerous' which is adorable.

We have a Cinderella and an Ariel Barbie that you can play with in the bath tub. Paige has been playing with them and having conversations with them. One night, she asked Cinderella if she needed to poop. She lifted Cinderella's skirt to check her diaper and said, " you poop?" After a thorough inspection, Paige came to the conclusion that Cinderella didn't have any "stinkies". Not sure where she got this term but it was funny. She proceeded to wipe Cinderella's bottom and change her diaper. Hopefully, all this bathroom talk means we are closer to being a little more interested in potty training. On that note, let me give her a shout out because she did go pee-pee on the potty at school last week. I am thinking that if she picks it up there we will be able to make more progress at home. I had her in big girl panties today and set the timer to remind me to take her every 20-30 minutes. I was putting laundry away and noticed a big puddle on the floor. You guessed it - she went pee-pee and it didn't seem to bother her one bit. I was certain that the mess would freak her out. Will keep you posted as we progress.

Paige is still doing really well at school. They love her there and always comment on how she follows all of the rules. Let's just say I think she is definitely the teacher's pet. On several occasions when I have picked her up from school, she has informed me that we don't the computer and we don't touch the phone. I can just picture bossy, little Paige telling the other kids that. She definitely needs a sibling. The teacher's pet, rule-follower thing is just another way that she acts like me.

Last night, I was reading Paige a book about rain. I asked her "what do we use to protect us from the rain?" I felt like this was an advanced question and wasn't expecting much of an answer especially since there wasn't even a picture of an umbrella. Paige looked at me and replied, "we go inside". Todd and I laughed hysterically - I never thought she would come up with that one.

Other than that we've just been playing and watching our two favorite movies, Finding Nemo and Madagascar.

Time Out

As I am writing this I know that I am probably jinxing myself, but Paige has been a complete angel the past couple of days. She was really good in Perryton and it has carried over through the week. It has been awesome! I am not saying that she never gets in trouble. When we are putting Paige in time out she is starting to tell us that she is "sooo sorry" so we won't make her sit there. It is so funny. Unfortunately for Paige, it doesn't work.

She has also really been into singing lately. I promise to post it if we actually get a video of her singing. She loves to sing that leap frog song - "the A says aah, the A says aah, every letter makes a sound the A says aah. When Paige sings it "makes a sound" is one word. It is adorable. Tonight when I was reading The Little Mermaid to her, she pointed to the picture of Sebastian and said, "under the sea, under the sea." I was really surprised since we haven't seen the movie in a long time but very proud. Amber and I loved watching The Little Mermaid and we love all of the songs. It looks like Paige loves it also.

Wheatheart Celebration

We went to Perryton this weekend so that we could attend the Wheatheart Celebration. Wheat is one of the big crops that is farmed in Perryton so I assume that is where they got the name. My Mom thought that it would be a great venue for her to show off her beautiful grand-daughter. My sister came for the big event also so it was a family reunion. We are always very happy to see her!

Saturday we went to the parade. Amber and I were in the parade several times growing up so it was nice to be a spectator. Amber is a professional photographer so she was hard at work capturing the event. If you haven't been to a small town parade, here is a description of the Perryton parade:

-police cars/ambulances/firetrucks (sirens blaring)
-high school marching band followed by flatbed trailer with Varsity Football team
-tractors and other farm equipment
-old cars
-clown, kids on their bicycles
-horses

There were some kids dancing and a couple of actual "floats" which is rare. The parade always ends with the cars that are going to be in the demolition derby. Yes, we have a very white-trash demolition derby. Paige had fun at the parade and even ran out and got the candy they were throwing.

After the parade, we went to the Museum for some hamburgers and homemade ice cream. Most of the games were for bigger kids. Paige decided that she wanted to ride on the ponies. I was really surprised that she was willing to do it since she is apprehensive about the carousel at the mall. She absolutely loved it! We had so much fun. I am sure the Wheatheart Celebration will be an annual trip for us.

Flight to Amarillo

This Thursday Paige and I flew to Amarillo so that we could visit Perryton. Paige and I have flown together one other time but she was only 5 months old. As I was preparing myself for this flight, I had much less anxiety than when she was a baby. However, you can never predict how a 2-year-old will act so I would be lying if I said that wasn't in the back of my mind. Our flight was scheduled to leave at 8:35 a.m. so we arrived at the airport at 7:00. The airport was pretty dead and we managed to get through security without any problems. Imagine my surprise when I found out that our flight was cancelled due to the weather. The next flight was scheduled for 11:05. I figured it might be interesting to entertain Paige for 3 hours and then get on an airplane. We found a table and got out the portable dvd player. We started watching "Finding Nemo" (our favorite movie) and about 20 minutes into the movie the dvd player died. I think that it got turned on in my bag and had been running for hours. Unfortunately, I packed the charger in the bag that we checked. Even though we had all of these obstacles, Paige was really good. I bought a gogo kids travelmate that turns Paige's carseat into a stroller. It was a little $$$ but well worth it. She happily let me push her around the airport for 2 hours and I purchased any food/toy that I could to entertain her. Our flight went really well. It didn't bother her ears and she didn't even notice the turbulence. She was a little restless by the end of the flight (thank goodness we were only going to Amarillo) but she was very well behaved. My Dad (Poppa) picked us up at the airport and Paige fell asleep as soon as we got on the highway to Perryton. We came back to Houston today (Sunday) and this trip was a piece of cake.

What happened to Sleeping Beauty?

Well, we have had a bit of a rough week at our house. Paige has gotten up in the middle of the night crying 5 out of 6 nights this week. It has been really exhausting for me. Todd tried to get up with her one night but she only wanted Mommy. I don't know why she is waking up but she is pretty inconsolable. Eventually she calms down. I don't know if she is uncomfortable in her toddler bed, having nightmares or what else it could be. She has always been a really good sleeper so this is a bit frustrating. Hopefully, this will pass soon.

I had two more teachers tell me how happy she is at school and what a joy she is to have. I think that is about 6 different adults that have commented on Paige's fabulous demeanor at school. That makes me super happy. I guess the only person she is feisty with or tests is me. I think that is probably true about most kids, or maybe I should just feel like the chosen one. She tested me a lot this week and when you add that to the sleeping issue, I have not been much fun to be around. There is no doubt in my mind that Todd will definitely agree with that! However, last night Paige and I had a great night together. We enjoyed playing together and neither of us threw any tantrums.

Snip Its

Today is my Friday off so I took Paige to The Woodlands mall to get her hair cut. She got her hair trimmed in April and it was getting pretty raggedy so I figured a trim would help. She didn't really like getting her hair cut last time but I was hoping she would remember how neat the place was. She threw a huge fit when we were putting her in the chair. She refused all of the fun stuff that the woman offered her. We decided that I would sit Paige on my lap and just do the best we could. After a lot of tears, Paige decided that maybe she really was interested in that lollipop that was offered. I gave it to her and she was happy the rest of the time.

Of course it is a must to ride the carousel at the mall, especially since Snip Its is right next to it. We rode it twice. The first time I put her on a horse that goes up and down. She was really scared but ended up loving it. The second time I told her to pick what she wanted to ride. Guess what my thrill-seeking, adventurous daughter picked....a bench. When I told my Mom and sister this story, they thought it was so funny and they both said "she acts just like you." I think I am even starting to feel sorry for Todd!

Vagina Monologues

Well, we went pee pee on the potty again and Paige was a little more excited this time. However, she isn't excited enough to really start potty training. Now she is really interested in where this pee pee comes from. We were sitting on the potty and she was feeling around down there and kept trying to move her buddha belly so she could see it. I told her that her vagina is down there. After that, she kept saying "gina, gina". She got down from the potty, tilted her head and looked down at me or I should say she looked down at mine and she asked, " you have gina?" I know that this is just the beginning. It was all so sweet and innocent - too bad we all grow out of that.

She was so sweet the other night at bed time. She was chasing me with the "tickle bug" (that is how we tickle around here), and then she gave me kisses on my cheeks and eyes. Impossible to resist!

No, Never!

This has been a good weekend. Paige has been in a great mood and it has been pretty relaxing. We went to a birthday party for one of Paige's friends yesterday. Ms. Jellybean the clown was there doing face painting and balloon animals. Paige refused to have her face or hand painted but she did get a really cute puppy balloon animal. We also got to see Dixie and Don - they watched Paige at their house before Paige started her new school. It was great to see them!

After the party we went to Chik-fil-a as that seems to be our favorite family "restaurant". We traded in Paige's toy for some ice cream. Todd was trying to get Paige to give him a bite and she told him, "No, Never, Never. I will eat it by myself." Of course we are trying to work on sharing but Todd and I just started laughing. We don't like sharing our ice cream either.

I almost forgot to mention that Paige actually went pee pee in the potty. Before you get all excited, let me explain. We sit on the potty before bath time everyday unless we are having a really bad day. In an effort to get Paige to sit up there long enough for anything to happen, we have been reading books and singing songs. I was reading her a book and I heard that "tinkle" sound. It is so funny to me that this sound could make me so excited. I made a huge deal about it and Todd came in and did the same. Paige seemed somewhat pleased with herself. However, when I finally stopped cheering she just looked at me and told me that I needed to finish the story we were reading.

Scared

Well, we think Paige had another nightmare last night. She had one a few weeks ago about snakes and apparently she thought she could see them crawling everywhere. She wouldn’t let us put her down anywhere. We had to hold her.

Last night she was crying around 1:30. I went in there and she told me she was scared and she pointed to the ties on her bumper. One of them was totally freaking her out. I stuffed it down so she couldn’t see it. Then, she was upset about the untied drawstring on my pants. I tied it and explained to her that it was just to tie Mommy’s pants. She is really a Daddy’s Girl right now so she wanted Todd. I took her to our bed and got her the milk she requested. I don’t know about the rest of you Mom’s out there but when Paige wakes up in the middle of the night, I will pretty much do anything to get Paige to go back to sleep as quickly as possible. She is too smart to just let us rock her back to sleep any longer. However, we are doing our best not to allow her to sleep in our bed even though it is very tempting at times.

Is it possible to be happy and sad at the same time? That is totally how I felt last night. Sad that Paige wanted nothing to do with me as only her Daddy could console her and happy that they went to the couch and I could go back to bed. They ended up falling asleep on the couch together and Todd woke up and put her back in her bed. Hopefully, she won’t have any more nightmares!

Crystal Beach

We went to Todd’s Mom’s (Mamaw) house this weekend in Crystal Beach. We took Paige to the beach and she had a great time. She played in the sand, played with seaweed and threw seashells into the water. We put her Dora life jacket on so she could go in the water. She told us that she was wearing her life jacket to “be safe”. I think I may have mentioned that to her when we were watching an episode where Dora & Boots have to wear life jackets. She was skeptical about going into the water very far but once she got out there she seemed to enjoy it. Then, she got irritated because Todd was holding her and she thinks she can swim on her own. She kept trying to swim on her tummy with her face in the water and ended up with a mouthful of that lovely, Galveston saltwater.

After nap time, Paige got to ride in the paddle boat with Todd. She seemed to really enjoy that for a while. She kept telling Todd that he needed to go “this way”, which of course wasn’t the way he intended to go. She does this to me every day when we are at intersections during our commute to and from The Woodlands. In fact, I believe tears were shed this morning because I didn’t go the way she wanted me to. The paddle boat ride was cut short because she was tired of wearing the life jacket. Poppa Carl finally made it home from work so we got to spend some time with him. Todd showed Paige some frogs and he picked one up and put it in the grass. Paige was not too happy about this and told all of us “don’t touch the frogs!” I have no idea why she thought it was a bad idea to touch the frogs but I must admit I don’t want to touch them either!

Creature of Habit

Our sweet angel really likes and expects things to be a certain way. I know that they are really talking about potty training at school. So we have been talking about it a lot at home. She is almost out of "Mickey Mouse" diapers at school and officially in "Dora" pull-ups at home. Let's just say that on more than one occassion a fit has been thrown because she wants to wear her Mickey Mouse diaper. Since they change her diaper at school in the bathroom by the potty, I decided to try that at home. We tried to sit on the potty before we changed our pull-up but it wasn't long before she absolutely refused to sit on the potty and demanded I immediately help her put another Dora pull-up on. When my parents were here for the 4th of July, my Mom bought Paige tons of "big girl" panties. We have Disney Princesses, Minnie Mouse, Dora and Curious George. Paige picked out the Princess Belle panties to wear but decided that wasn't right and that she should wear a Mickey Mouse diaper. I guess that she just isn't ready and I am really going to have to rely on her school to help me with this since she spends so much time there. I have also learned that panties make excellent bracelets - that is how Paige prefers to wear them.

Don't get me wrong she is so sweet and really good most of the time but she can be super feisty! We have been spending a fair amount of time in time-out. The main reason is because we are just not talking very nice to Mommy. So, I put Paige in time-out during one of these meltdowns. While she is sitting there, I can hear her say "I spit", over and over again. I was dying to see what was going on but waited until her time was up. Sure enough my baby girl was leaning over the side of the chair spitting on the floor. I got her a napkin and told her to clean it up and she proceeded to hit the napkin out of my hand. Needless to say, she got to sit in timeout again. After the second time, she willingly cleaned it up.

She is still really enjoying school and she doesn't wear her backpack anymore. In hindsight that major transition only took her a month - that's not so bad! :)

"We can't have this!"

We went to the doctor on Friday and to my surprise it was not chicken pox. The doctor gave us some antibiotic ointment and we were on our way. Let me tell you they get you in and out in a hurry when they think you have the chicken pox.

It is difficult to describe how particular and observant Paige is. I think this story may explain her a little better. Our electricity went out yesterday about the time that Paige was waking up from her nap. I heard her talking so I went in there. The first thing she said to me was, "You broke it." I had no idea what she was talking about. Finally, she managed to explain to me that the green light on the camera for our video monitor (it looks similar to the light on a smoke detector and the camera is near the ceiling in her room) was not working. Of course it wasn't working since we didn't have any electricity, I just couldn't believe that she noticed it immediately after she woke up. As she was explaining her annoyance with the situation, she told me - "We can't have this!". Not sure where she learned that but thought it was funny.

I discovered that Paige doesn't understand the word "name". We have been talking about names a lot and I have been telling her that our names are Todd and Abbie. She yells for Todd all of the time since she hears me saying that quite frequently. Todd gets Paige dressed in the morning while I finish getting ready for work. This morning she asked him, "Where's Abbie?" When she finally saw me she said, "Oh hi Abbie."

I think she likes it!

Well, I was dreading Tuesday when Paige and I finally went back to work and school. We had been out since Wednesday. Of course, her normal morning teacher was out sick. I thought for sure she was going to be upset. She walked right into her classroom like a big girl. On Wednesday, she was literally skipping up to the building to go to school. I can't explain how relieved I feel that she finally likes it. We get a daily report and they checked the following boxes describing how her day was: happy, curious, outgoing, social and cooperative. What more could a Mom ask for!

We received an email from her school yesterday stating that a boy in her class has a confirmed case of the chicken pox. You can imagine that I wasn't surprised when the school called me today to tell me that Paige had some curious spots on her legs. So far they have had 3 cases in the classroom and they have all been really mild. Hopefully, that will be the case for us. I guess that means we are pretty much on lock down all weekend.

4th of July

We had a wonderful holiday weekend. This is the first year that we took Paige to see the fireworks display in Tomball. I usually have to work on July 5 so we haven't been able to stay up late in the past. When she first saw the fireworks she clapped and yelled "bravo, bravo, take a bow." We think she learned how to "take a bow" watching Barney and it really is one of the cutest things ever. Of course she will never do it on cue. My parents and Todd's Mom came into town so she got to spend some time with Yaya & Poppa and Mamaw.

We also finally converted her crib into a toddler bed on Thursday. She was really excited about the change. Last night we did our bedtime routine and I told her it was time for bed and she marched into her room and crawled into bed and fell asleep. She hasn't figured out that she can just get out of bed at any time. I am sure it will only be a matter of time before I wake up to little eyes staring at me.

Tonight when we were putting our jammies on I asked Paige for a kiss and she refused. I pretended to cry (this kid is totally going to need therapy) and she told me "Don't worry Mama!" I started laughing hysterically. Needless to say it was much later before I got that kiss. I figure I better get as many as I can before she is way too cool to kiss her Mom.

Paige didn't cry this morning!

Well, Paige started a new school, TWYLA, on June 3. For those of you who don't know Paige very well, she doesn't care much for change. So I knew this transition was going to be rough. I have been telling her how fun school is and how nice her teachers are. Ms. Natalie is the teacher that is there in the morning. Usually when Paige sees her she immediately starts crying. This morning Paige noticed Natalie in the parking lot and started saying "Ms. Natalie, Ms. Natalie. Paige wanted me to carry her but I suggested that she walk. She seemed fine with that. When we got to her class, she walked right over to Ms. Natalie. I didn't know if I should just sneak out or give her a hug and tell her good-bye. I opted for the latter as I can't get too many hugs. She was pretty much like "see you later Mom". This is a very big day for us.

Also, she hasn't been wearing her backpack to school but I still take it and hang it on the hook. When I log in to view her online (which can be very addicting), she usually has it on by mid-morning and wears it all day long - even for nap time. I will keep you posted on our progress and hopefully I will post some pictures soon.

FYI...I just logged in to view Paige and she does in fact have her backpack on.