Land of the Free & Home of the Litigious

Posted on July 9, 2010 by Elise

We had a relaxing, if not terribly interesting 4th of July. After going to church in the morning, it was nap time for me and Alethea while Peter watched the Twins game. Then we played in the yard for a while, had dinner and Alethea went to bed. We decided not to keep her up for fireworks, since she was likely to be scared of them anyway. Later, Peter and I tried to have a fire in the backyard, but we gave up after the mosquitoes drove us inside. Like I said, relaxing, though not that interesting.

I did get a kick out of seeing Alethea dressed up in her 4th of July outfit though:

Alethea had fun taking off the outfit and running around in her Splash and Play mat:

And Peter and I both cracked up over the mat’s warning label:

“No Diving”… Is that really necessary on a toy that has 1 inch of water at its deepest point? Apparently someone in the Fisher Price legal department thought so.

A Couple Random Thoughts

Posted on July 7, 2010 by Elise

I think Alethea is board with hanging out with me. This morning when she came downstairs, she ran all over the house calling “Da-yee?” (Daddy) Then at breakfast she kept pointing at the front door saying “Ma-ma-ma?” (Grandma)

Sorry kid. It’s just us today.

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They say that babies babble using sounds from their own language. Therefore the babble of a French baby sounds French and different from the Spanish babble of the Spanish child.

I don’t think it’s true though.

I’m pretty sure that most of the time Alethea babbles in Japanese.

If I Had Facebook…

Posted on July 5, 2010 by Elise

These are the things I would officially ‘like’ right now:

Miracle Gro Miracid (for Acid Loving Plants)
Why? Because with two applications over three weeks time my Azaleas went from looking like they were on death’s door to being full and green and gorgeous!

Mustard Lime Salad Dressing
Why? Even though it sounds like a weird flavor combination, Peter and I have been eating salads non stop since I got this fantastic recipe from my Grandmother Ruth. It’s yummy!

Mederma Stretch Marks Therapy Lotion
Why? Because it works!

Front Porches with Rocking Chairs
Why? Simply put, there is no finer way to spend a lazy summer hour in the afternoon than rocking away with your baby girl.

Breyer’s Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups Ice Cream
Why? Real Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup chunks in peanut butter ice cream with a fudge swirl… need I say more?

New Rides

Posted on July 2, 2010 by Elise

Both Alethea and Peter got new wheels recently:

Both cars were previously owned. Both were purchased off of Craigslist. And both have new drivers who are excited to be behind the wheel.

The irony of it all though is that Alethea’s car was over 100 times cheaper than Peter’s AND it will retain its resale value better.

Sometimes being an adult really bites.

Mederma Stretch Marks Therapy 4 Week Review

Posted on July 1, 2010 by Elise

I promised a 4 week update on my Mederma Stretch Marks Therapy experiment and it has now been 5 weeks, so even though it’s a bit late, here’s what’s up:

Pros:
Just one pro I was really looking for… results! And I am happy to report that I’ve got them! I actually started to see results after just two weeks. My stretch marks have improved drastically in color (they are much lighter than they were). They have also smoothed out a bit, although the change in texture isn’t as noticeable as the change in color. But I’ve still got 7 more weeks before I hit the 12 week “full results” mark, so hopefully there is more change coming.

Cons:
1) I stand by what I said in my first review about it being expensive, but you can save yourself a couple bucks if you buy it on amazon.com. Or if you’re bolder than I am, go the the drug store and open the box before you buy it. There is a coupon inside.

2) The information inside the box says that a tube is only supposed to last 4 weeks, so they expect you to buy 3 tubes to complete your treatment. I’m on week 5 and there still seems to be quite a bit in my tube, but just know that they don’t intend for you to make it all the way through treatment with one purchase.

3) In my first review I told you how bad it smells, and it does, but I think at least I figured out why. The second ingredient (after water) is onion bulb extract. Perhaps perfumey fragrance is better than smelling like an onion… maybe…

I’ll write another review at 12 weeks or when my tube of lotion runs out, whichever comes first. Stay tuned.

Fourteen Month Update

Posted on June 28, 2010 by Elise

Yesterday was Alethea’s fourteen month birthday. Happy birthday, Baby!

Alethea finally got her last two front bottom teeth, which brings her tooth count up to 12. It looks like her 4 canines are getting ready to come in as well and I’m hoping that they do it quickly so that we can have a break from teething for a while. I’m also hoping that if Alethea has a period of not teething, maybe we can also have a period of not chewing everything she gets her hands on, but I’m only vaguely hopeful.

Despite Alethea frequently parroting words she hears Peter and I say, she hasn’t added greatly to her working vocabulary this month. However, two new words that she does use pretty consistently are ‘grandpa’ and ‘night-night’. She especially likes the later and has even communicated to Peter or I that she wants to go to bed by coming up and saying ‘nigh-nigh’ (it doesn’t have t’s when she says it).

This months favorite activities included reading books (on her own, she doesn’t like to have other people read to her at this point), playing with her Fisher Price Little People farm and animals, and taking everything out of the kitchen cupboards and drawers.

One change I’ve noticed in her socially is that she now wants to constantly be wherever I am, even though she used to prefer running around the house by herself. It doesn’t seem to be so much that she needs more attention, but rather that she feels the need to keep tabs on what I’m doing at all times. It’s like she’s afraid she’ll miss out on something exciting.

Other than those things, I think she’s about the same as she was last month, no ground breaking developments to report. We continue to enjoy our happy independent girl and can’t wait to see what happens next.

Happy Father’s Day!

Posted on June 20, 2010 by Elise

Several months ago I was at Target by myself late one Tuesday night. As I unloaded my groceries on the register belt the teenage checkout girl asked, “How old is your baby?”

I guess she noticed all the baby food, diapers, wipes and formula I was buying. After I answered her question, the checkout girl had another, “Where is your baby tonight?”

“Oh,” I replied, “She’s at home with her Dad. He’s putting her to bed.”

The girl’s eyes got kind of wide and she said in an awed, sort of breathless voice, “Does he do diapers too?”

Happy Father’s Day to the love of my life and the best Daddy a little girl could ask for…

And yes folks, he does do diapers too!

Police Report Highlights

Posted on June 14, 2010 by Elise

There haven’t been that many good police reports in our local newspaper lately, but here are the the few highlights:

First off, we have a new winner (or should I say serious loser) in the blood alcohol content category. And the DWI prize goes to a 29 year old man whose BAC was .388 Yikes!

Next is “A red men’s bicycle was reported stolen April 4 on the XXX block of XXth Avenue N.E. The seat from the bike was stolen the previous week.”

One really has to wonder whether the seat thieves came back to finish the job, or whether this guy just has really bad luck.

And finally “A plastic, bronze fairy fountain was reported stolen from a backyard on May 23rd.”

Shockingly the report doesn’t mention any outraged neighbors calling for the fountain’s immediate return…

Birthday Party Pictures…

Posted on June 9, 2010 by Elise

I know it’s been a while since I posted pics of Alethea. Confession time: I haven’t been taking many pictures lately. I do however have Alethea’s birthday party photos and even though it was over a month ago, I thought some of you out there in bloggy land might enjoy them anyway.

Happy Birthday Alethea!

Opening Presents was Fun!

Alethea wasn't the only one interested in the Alphabet Pal

The xylophone was also a big hit

Apparently it tasted good too

Alethea liked her table and chairs from Mommy & Daddy

Alethea liked her table and chairs from Mommy and Daddy...

But she liked eating the wrapping paper best of all

But she thought eating wrapping paper was the best thing of all!

Alethea didn't like it when I blew out her candle

Alethea was mad when I blew out her candle...

Alethea sure enjoyed her ice cream cake!

But she sure enjoyed her ice cream cake!

I’m a Bad Person

Posted on June 4, 2010 by Elise

This is a picture of Alethea’s new toy.

Well, new/used toy rather. We found it at a garage sale today. Alethea located it among the toys for sale and promptly laid claim to it. It didn’t make any noise, so I asked the lady running the sale if there was anything wrong with it.

“Oh it works,” she said. “I just took the batteries out and told my girls it was broken because I couldn’t stand all the noise any more.”

I took her word for it and bought it for Alethea.

As we walked down the driveway with our purchase in tow, a little girl, maybe about three years old, came running out of the house and frantically asked in a bewildered tone, “Mommy, why are those people taking my toy?!”

I felt like such a criminal. I kind of wanted to turn around and say, “Don’t blame me little girl. Your mommy doesn’t like this toy.” But of course I didn’t. I slunk to the car as fast as I could and drove off.

That poor little girl has probably been scarred for life. And all over a Disney Princess riding toy.