The Baseball Itch

Lately, I have been telling Lezlie how I can't wait until baseball season starts. Face it, you can only watch so much American Idol before you go nuts. And, since my parents were in town for the weekend and had yet to go to the new Busch Stadium, we decided to go downtown and tour the stadium.

Of course, they first show you all of the fancy all-inclusive areas in which you get "free" soda, beer, food, etc. However, they kinda glaze over the idea that one ticket can cost $100-300. But, I think we all agreed that it would be nice to someday sit in those green seats and get pampered. In the end, they guided us onto the field and into the dugout. So, it was definitely worth Mom and Dad's $10:)

At the end of the weekend, we decided to let Minnie and Papa steal Maya for a couple days. Jocelyn and Olivia were on spring break and heading to Cole Camp so we thought Maya should join in on the fun.

Let me tell you, it feels a little weird being at home without Maya. We were kinda lost. Not surprisingly, our house managed to stay clean for a couple days. And, I think Vinnie enjoyed a little peace and quiet. On Monday, Lezlie was craving Hooters wings and since we had the chance, we went. It's funny, the last time we were there was the night before Maya was born. Lezlie was WAY past pregnant and we wanted to try the whole spicy food remedy to speed up the process. I guess it worked. This time, however, Lezlie did not have a baby. Sorry Grandma and Grandpa--maybe next time.

Well, we've had Maya back since Tuesday night but it seems like we haven't. Over the past couple weeks, she has been wanting to go to bed a lot earlier--most of the time before 8. So we really only get to see Maya for a couple hours a day. And, half of that is spent feeding her. Thank goodness it is the weekend. We'll finally have the chance to spend some quality time together.

Check One Off of My List

Have you ever felt you had so many things to do that you just decided to do nothing? Well, that is how I have felt lately. Clean the house, finish basement bedroom, trim trees, rake leaves, clean house, update blog, go to class, reorganize closet, etc. The other day I decided to write my own to-do list because that seems to be the only way I'll get something done. Well, it was pretty depressing. But, things seem to be slowing down at work so maybe I'll take some time off and get some of these done. Does that make sense? Use vacation hours to stay home and work? Oh my, I'm turning into my parents:)

Well, I did manage to get some yard work done this weekend. And, since it pretty nice outside Lezlie brought Maya out. Boy, does she love to explore. It sucks because we have the worst back yard for a toddler, being that it is at a 20-30 degree incline. So, you have to walk with her every step of the way. But, she is getting more sure of herself every day.She has slowly been becoming more independent but now she has reached the stage of pushing away, specifically when you try to hold her hand. But, today she was much better as I only grabbed her hand to help her over the many obstacles.

March is always the month of birthdays. Two weeks ago was Willa's birthday party. I am still amazed at her little personality around groups of people. I, myself, was quite an introverted person growing up. So, I guess she gets that from her mother. Of course, she rather enjoyed watching Jackie's dog Angelina run around. But, I'm guessing Angelina didn't feel the same way about her.
Last weekend was Jocelyn and Olivia's birthday party. Here, she had 6 bigger kids to chase and keep her eye on. I felt so sorry for her because she wanted to play so much with them. But, I soon learned she was satisfied just being around them all. I guess she just wanted to hang with the cool kids.I've had several comments about Maya's dance routine. I have more videos but need to get them off of the camcorder. I'll post one when I get a chance. Hopefully, it won't be long.

The Logic of a Toddler

Let me try and explain the logic of a toddler.

[Toddler enters room]

Are there any interesting things/people in this room? If not, go to next room. If there is, first go to people who have food. If they do not immediately offer the food, grunt and gesture for food. If they still don't give up the food, cry until they give up the goods. Once all food has been consumed, take a drink of milk from sippy cup and fling the cup across the room and gasp as you watch the milk spray everywhere.

Next, is there a dog in the room? If no, go on. If yes, run up to the dog, slap him on the nose and say "Hi!!" while waving with both hands.

Pee in pants.

Look for interesting things in the room. If none, go to next room. If yes, go on.

If there is anything within reach that I know I'm not supposed to have, grab it and run like the wind until mommy/daddy catches me.

Find next interesting thing in room. Can I climb/stand on it? If yes, do it. Once (not if) I fall off of it, cry until mommy coddles me.

If standing is not an option, can I fit inside of it? If yes, climb inside. Once I'm done playing inside of it, if I cannot get out, let my frustrations show until daddy pulls me out. If standing or climbing inside is not an option, sit down with it and play.

Poop in pants.

Beg for more food. Once successful, if dog is present, hold food out in front of it and then run when he tries to get it. Continue to run circles while laughing at dog when he can't reach food. Once (not if) dog snatches food, go back to mommy and daddy for more treats. Do this until satisfied.

Rub eyes, nose, and ears until mommy and daddy give me my binkie. Walk around room like zombie. Pull a couple books off shelf and bring to mommy and/or daddy. Let them read a few pages of book then jump off lap. Walk around room like zombie. Pull a couple more books off shelf and bring to mommy and/or daddy. Let them read a few pages of book and then jump off again. Repeat process until mommy/daddy put death grip on body preventing me from jumping off lap. Cry. Cry some more. Cry again. Give up and let mommy/daddy read Goodnight Moon to me once again. Fall asleep.

Coming soon...The Logic of a Teenage Girl.

The Boss

This weekend, I was feeling brave so I decided to go out and get a paper Sunday morning. I say this because Maya's favorite pastime is ripping up paper. But, she was a good girl and just grabbed a book, got onto the couch, and began to read with me. What a cutie she is.

Her latest thing is to tell us to do something. If she sees us go fill up Vinnie's dish with food, she stands next to his water and points/grunts. This indicates that is where we are supposed to put it. She can't stand when we don't have the baby-gate up on the bottom of the stairs. Sorry, we just sometimes forget, but good thing we got a little helper on our hands. We also hung some pictures this weekend (that had been sitting on our floor for a year) and every chance she got, she would grab the level, stud finder, and hammer and insist that I use it. Again, it's pointing and grunting--no real words.

Speaking of the speech thing, Maya had her 15-18 month checkup two weeks ago. We told Dr. Rosenbloom that we were worried about the lack of speech. She said that if she doesn't have 5-6 words in the next couple months, maybe we can get some tests done. We know she can hear and comprehend our instructions. A game that we play when we want her to occupy something else (in other words, get out of our hair for a bit), we ask her to go find a ball, baby, block, or book. She quickly runs off to find the item. For quite awhile, she has also been able to show us where her head, nose, ears, tummy, and toes are. So, we know she understands, but just needs to learn how to get the syllables out.

Lezlie does believe that her motor skills are more advanced than others her age. She can kick and throw balls around the room. She can also run very well. And of course, there is the professional dance routine:) Again, we're not worried, just concerned but if any of you have any ideas, let us know.

This weekend, Lezlie and I are going for a small getaway to Springfield for a couple days. So, Maya finally gets to spend some time with the Grandparents. I'm sure they will spoil her but I guess that is what grandparents are for. Anyway, if you haven't seen Maya for awhile, stop on by the grandparents house. I'm sure she'll love any attention you can give her.