Bubbles :)

Such Cheap Entertainment!!

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Saturday So Far

Charlotte spent the night last night, so early this morning Mary and I took her to the neighbor's beautiful backyard to take pictures.

We were up anyway, and we decided to get out before the weather and the child became unpleasant as the day wore on. . . .

It was a nice outing, but unfortunately did not produce nice photos.

This is mostly what I got:

When I asked (begged) her to please look at GiGi and the camera, she just said,

"No, thank you."

When we gave up and walked back over to our house, we heard a raucous noise that I thought was some outlaw bird on our roof or something. Turns out, it was this:

A squirrel was 'stuck' on the brick wall above the garage. He moved around, up and down, but acted skittish and slow and scared. He was up there for hours.

Just a few minutes ago, he fell down! Smack, on the concrete, but then scampered towards us and to our front door. He wanted in the house, then ran up over the door, across the front on the house, and fell again!! Flipped over and over down to the ground - but at least this time it was onto dirt. Right back up the wall, and this time he made it to the roof and took off.

So, we will say that he or she is just fine, and will probably be stealing leaves from our hibiscus plant by early afternoon.

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Grandmother's Rights

I went to Walmart the other day with Jessica and Charlotte.

Charlotte wanted a Little Mermaid baseball cap. Jessica wanted her to want a plain pink one.

I indulged Charlotte; Jessica whined all the way to the cash register, even though she'd thrown the plain one into the shopping cart during her grown-up tantrum. Happy toddler, griping "adult".

Jessica kept asking "Why????"

I just tried to explain that as the grandmother I get to occasionally buy the tacky, trendy, garish things that a toddler wants. I don't have to be practical and matchy and tasteful.

Just one of my perks.

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To The Zoo!

We took Charlotte to the zoo today, and Charlotte took her baby.

As much as she loved the bears and fish and birds and giraffes and penguins and sheep and cows, she was just as happy about rocking chairs, wooden cut-outs, flowers, and SIGNS.

But the freedom to be her own goofy MattBabb's-daughter-self,

and to walk by herself,

was the best part of her day.

And this is what we all wanted to do when we got home.

She just beat us to it.

*** For more exciting zoo pics, including actual animals : )

visit Mary's and Jessica's blogs. ***

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Mud is Just Fun Spelled Backwards

These pictures are not for the faint-of-heart, or for, should I say, wimps.

They would make hubby / Grandpa have chest pains, and they will likely cause some mild alarm to Susan. Fortunately, Grandpa wasn't home, (and doesn't do blogs), and Susan will reserve judgement until all the facts are in. . . Jessica will certainly file a formal complaint.

We didn't intend for Charlotte to go outside into the muddy, neglected backyard. I was out there tending to the ficus trees, and she insisted that Mary bring her out there. (Being outside is her VERY Favorite thing in the World).

Of course, Mary got distracted, Charlotte headed right for the freshest, wettest mud, and well, once she had dirt on her shoes and the bottom of her pants, she might as well stay and play, right?

Her shoes and socks were caked with mud, her shirt hem had splotches of dirt, but the muddiness was best represented on her pale blue pants. And, boy, did she scream when we were ready to go inside and be clean again: boring!! She soon calmed down with some Veggie Tales and Cheddar Bunnies, then just went about her business of taking care of her baby doll.

Spray 'n Wash !!!

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Back to the Beginning

I don't feel like I got very much done yesterday; Mondays always feel like "wasted" days for me. The kids had Spanish, I did an obligatory load of laundry, went to Kroger . . . not that much.

Today we had Charlotte, AND Mary had an orthodontist appointment, AND I had to take her to deliver Avon, AND we took Charlotte to the park, AND I had to go to Target, AND we had to meet Susan and Jessica because Mary is spending the night with them, AND I did the obligatory load of laundry.

But in the afternoon, the BIGGIE: Hubby and son actually drug our sticky, dusty ficus trees (my very first post describes them) outside to the backyard deck. It is supposed to storm tonight and/or tomorrow, and I am soooooo hoping that they will be permanently cleaned off. And, if not permanently, then at least for a few months. The atrium looks very different and empty without the trees, but it is giving me a chance to really clean the "sticky" up without them in the way, and constantly producing more messes. I've been wiping and mopping and re-organizing, and plan to get so much more done tomorrow.

I took a break for American Idol and some hot tea. A little blogging, and good night!

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Secrets

This is Charlotte at the top of our hill / front yard, just before she took off at high speed toward the curb / street. (Let's go ahead and say that her access to concrete was blocked; Grandma photographer wasn't the only one watching her).  

This is NOT where she made it halfway down, legs like windmills, before she fell head first and slid part of the way down.  This is NOT where she looked surprised and confused that the Hill did that to her, and it's not where she just brushed the grass off her hands and started windmilling again.

This is her resting . . . and honestly, no prompting, but sssshhhhhhhing as if she agrees with my running commentary that her mom and dad would have a heart attack if they saw her.

And anyway, all's well that ends well, right?  Yeah!!

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Cleaning for Charlotte

I don't even know why.  Charlotte is going to be here tomorrow, so I've been picking up, doing extra vacuuming, and mopping.  Thing is, I don't go to this 'trouble' for adult visitors. . . people who might actually notice and care about disorder and germs.  

She's not a crawling baby, and she's never been too bad about putting things in her mouth.  And in her opinion, the more dog toys left scattered around, the better.

But for some reason, I want things cleaner when she's gonna be here, and I've gotta go now so I can fold laundry.  I hope somehow, some day she appreciates this.  

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Jessica Thinks

That I don't know how to bundle a baby.

Today, we had the much discussed snow that was predicted on Saturday night - when it was going to be about 75 degrees the next day.  Gorgeous day Sunday;  people in shorts, t-shirts, and flip flops.  We all thought it was quite appropriate that the Memphis weathermen would be predicting snow on Tuesday.  Everybody's sick anyway, why not?

Of course we (that includes SuSu) wanted Charlotte to go out and experience the very rare snowstorm;  but Jessica called and was alarmed, adamant, anxious, and very much against the idea.  TOO COLD, she said.  

Come oooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnn.  This isn't my first day on the job.  

Mary and I had her dressed in her own clothes and shoes, then added:  plastic bags and socks over her feet, a sweatshirt over her body, purple gloves on her tiny hands, a scarf-hat with a hat over that, and another scarf/muffler.   More importantly - I guess Jessica will have to experience this first hand - the greater amount of time and trouble you go to to prepare a child for an activity directly correlates to the infinitesimal amount of time they will spend engaged in that activity.  We were outside for approximately one and one-half minutes. . . . 

In fairness, Charlotte would have 'engaged' for a lot longer, but any time her feet are on the ground in a wide open space there is going to be frantic chasing going on; Mary and I hadn't bundled ourselves up enough for that game. 

Look closely and you MIGHT see the SNOW; don't just concentrate on the VERY WARM baby:

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21st Century Babies...

...love the electronics. Charlotte has long been infatuated with remotes, cell phones, and computers.

She would LOVE for her Uncle Brandon to buy her an Apple laptop - that is her VERY favorite thing. She likes the tiny mouse, but likes the specific Apple features as well. She will scroll the mouse over the icons, and if she isn't 'lucky' on her own, she'll lean into the computer and say "cheeeeeese", and wait for us to open Photo Booth. She can then be entertained for the longest time watching herself on the screen.

She's also a gamer; and let me recommend these: for mouse play, there's nothing better than jacksonpollock. Just go crazy with the mouse, and left-click to change colors. (Print the masterpiece, and there's somebody's Christmas present. . .)

For 'banging' on the keyboard , our favorite is here, but there are a ton more at babygamer.

But she's not addicted... if she can't get any computer time, or Grandpa takes away the remotes, she's just as happy finding a secret spot to empty a box of tissues!

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Baby Day

For at least a month, Charlotte's visits have been photographically undocumented. She showed up with scratches or tiny bruises or a perpetually runny nose. And if that wasn't the case, she would have a really bad hair day - I'm not kidding - a toddler only, but already. . .

Today would have been a go for an entire camera card of cuteness, except that she entered the house on turbo speed and never stopped. I hope I lost a few pounds chasing her with a camera.

Can I call you back after I finish my cookie?

Yo Gabba Gabba, MUNO on a stick.

Tried the outdoors, but the sun was too bright.

It wasn't a total waste of time, because wait til Mom gets a gander of the multiple stains from this plop on the wet, muddy grass!

A LEFTY for sure!! Lucky girl; taking after me and Mary!

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