Time-out story

Well, this morning Mark was home and we decided to try experimenting with the time-out corner for Nora (we've been using a pack-and-play in our bedroom, but we'd like to take it down).  We figured that it wouldn't hurt to give it a try, and if she's still too little to get the idea, we can wait a while to try again.  It seemed to go pretty well this morning.

So this afternoon, Mark was gone and I told Nora to follow me into her room so I could change her diaper.  She resisted and I asked her again to come.  This time she didn't answer but I had heard her feet pitter-pattering outside her door.  I went out to find her and enforce.  Here's how I found the darling girl.  So I told her she had two choices.  She could cooperate with a diaper change or she could stay in the corner.  She stayed for a while, then came in and (mostly) cooperated.

Outside fun

This afternoon, Mark had some baseboard projects he really wanted to work on, but they're things which require Nora to be elsewhere.  So Nora and I braved the heat index of 110 and put on swim suits for some backyard sprinkler fun.  We ended up playing out there for an hour and a half, which let Mark make serious headway on his projects.  Nora had so much fun!  We played in the sprinkler, played on the slide, did the sandbox, picked a few veggies, and took a bunch of pictures.  Enjoy!

Sprinkler:  First she was shy of it, then we caught water in the bucket, then we started drinking from the sprinkler and running through it.

Garden:  Nora "helped" me pick some cucumbers (and then she hid some of them in the grass).  Also, here's a picture of my biggest watermelon.  And then here's my Roma tomato plant.  I got it for free in early July, when it was "too late" to plant them, so I figured I had nothing to lose by trying them.  I found a couple little green tomatoes on there today, so it looks like it'll pay off, if even just a little bit.  :) 

Berry patch:  I had just about given up on the berry patch, because we planted so late and the rabbits were so bad.  They ate the blackberry bush almost all the way down, but it looks like it'll pull through after all!  And the strawberries finally came up, and they're going crazy!  You can see the tiny green berries in the close-up.

General playing:  Just some fun pictures of Nora.  Trying to eat a rock (I took this while simultaneously saying "NO!" and grabbing her arm), picking flowers to give me, and just looking super adorable. 

Pictures and stories from this week

Well, with a sick child I've just posted a couple of very short things this week, which I realize might lead one to believe that the week has been a crash-and-burn disaster.  This has not been the case, though it has been a challenging week.

Earlier this week, Nora developed a keen interest in the process of getting dressed and undressed.  Here is a picture of her accomplishment the other morning: getting her PJ top halfway off.  Notice the satisfaction on that sweet little face.  And then a picture of her slightly misguided attempt to put on a shirt over her pants.  Note the subtle confusion on that sweet little face.  Also, here's a picture of her working hard on the problem of doorknobs with her shirt halfway off.

My garden has been pretty steady, producing about 20-30 cucumbers, about a pint of cherry tomatoes, and about 10 yellow squashes/zucchini per week.  I'm having some watermelon difficulty, though.  I can't find the seed packet that I planted, so I don't know how big they're supposed to get.  So I went ahead and picked the biggest one when I thought it could be ripe.  Cut it open......turns out it's not even close to ripe yet.

All week, Nora has been a book feind.  She can't get enough.  She wants to read all the time.  Her two favorite books right now are Llama Llama Red Pajama and McElligot's Pool.  Luckily, those are two of my favorites too!  :)  When she's not reading or asking me to read to her, one of her favorite activities is taking all her books off the shelf and piling them in various places.  So far, she's made huge piles in the dead center of the living room, on my lap when I was sitting on the floor reading to her, on my back when I was laying on my stomach on the floor reading to her, and on the couch, as you can see here.  The second picture here is "Mama, I want to read THIS one now!"

Incidentally, I am super pumped that she's in such a book phase right now.  Of course, it's always wonderful, and I hope she always loves books, but I just made a huge order of Usborne books after I hosted a book party last week.  The order will come soon, and I'm SO excited to share them with her!  If you're not familiar with Usborne, they are awesome books.  When they come, I'll take pictures and post about them, and then you'll want to order some too.  At that point, I'll put you in touch with Holly and you can order super sweet books AND help my lovely sister-in-law get started out as a new consultant!

On Tuesday, I had my monthly massage (I treated myself to a birthday-upgrade from half an hour to an hour), so Mark and Nora got some Daddy-daughter time.  Here's how they were when I left (awwww), and when I came back (that's her pointing to me as I parked my car).

Last night, we had a night of little sleep in the Bland household.  I couldn't fall asleep until 2:00, at which time Nora promptly woke up crying really hard.  We took turns going in to help her, and this went on for quite some time.  Mark's theory was that she had a nightmare.  Poor thing.  Anyway, the result was that I didn't end up sleeping until about 4:00, and then fitfully.  So today I am in a world of hurt, from my abdominal/back/hip pain, to a pounding headache, to an upset tummy.

SO, today is all about finding activities for Nora that are fun for her and interactive, but don't require much movement on my part.  We started with a big ol' bubble bath this morning.  We usually don't put bubbles in her baths, so it was special for her.  And I just sat on a stool next to the tub, supervising, talking to her, and taking pictures.  She put this blue bucket on her head all by herself.  And she was eating handfuls of bubbles, which landed her this awesome bubble beard.  She was fascinated by the bubbles on her hands.  I'm not usually one to post a lot of bath pictures, but these were too much fun.

This afternoon, Nora had her first PlayDoh experience.  The appeal for her is obvious.  I mean, blaze orange PlayDoh.  Come on.  Classic.  The appeal for me is that it's something she can have a blast with in her booster seat while I sit and supervise and talk to her.  She is methodical and goal-oriented.  When presented with a jar of PlayDoh (after coming to terms with the rule of "not in your mouth"), she carefully ripped the PlaDoh into lots of small pieces.  When she finished that, she put each piece back in the jar, practicing putting the lid on and taking it off.  Every tiny crumb had to go in the jar, and then she put the lid on.  When she accomplished this goal, she did it all over again.  After it was all back in the jar, she took it out bit by bit and squished it all into the cup holder on her booster seat tray.  Back in the jar.  Back in the cup holder.  Back in the jar.  She was very careful to get every last bit to the destination before switching directions again.  When she got it all in the jar, she would announce, "Doh-doh!"  This activity was a success.  It occupied her completely for a half an hour before her afternoon nap, and then again after she got up (she walked back and forth between her chair and where I put the PlayDoh, saying "Moe?  Doh-doh?" until I set her up to play again).