How ya Like My fancy Schamncy New Blog?

Isn't it awesome ? One of my friends from my mothers board did it , I can not take one bit of credit.

And to celebrate the fancy schmnacy-ness of my new blog look, here's my fancy schmancy little girl

A Nice Day

We went with my mothers group to the Suffolk County Farm . Actually, I'm not so sure thats the name of the farm, but thats what I've been calling it. It was really cute.
As I tried to leave, I asked Maddie if she was ready.
"No," she told me :" Mommy, you go. Go in the car. I see you later"

I was prepared to get dirty- not that we'd be milking cows or anything, but it poured yesterday and I was ready for mud, puddles and cow poo. I tried to put shorts on Madeline, but for the third day in a row, she asked to wear a pretty dress. OK. Who am I to fight with a 2.5 year old ?
We got a chance to feed some of the animals. Madeline was less than enthusiastic about doing it herself.

She made me do it and then said " that tickooled" when the goat ( or donkey or whatever else we saw today) took the carrot out of my hand. She was alos not excited about petting a chicken. "No way , Lady... pet your own chicken"
Next up was a tractor pull to see some more animals. The tour guide told us that farmers say " yee haw " when they see other farmers. I thought cowboys said 'yee haw', but once again, What do I know? Maddie loved saying yee haw, and as a matter of fact was saying it in her sleep just a few minutes ago.
After the tractor pull we went to the playground to have a picnic lunch. They had a ... drumroll... a wooden train to play on- and play she did. She even refused food (!!!) choosing instead to sit in the caboose. These girls were funny. Once they realized Maddie will repeat whatever you say, they tried to get her to say' bad words( like doody and fart). They'd turn around to see if I was close by. I had to tell them to keep it clean. Madeline loved them- I believe in this picture she is enthusiastically pointing out where the ceiling is located.My cute, sweaty girl. It was a bazillion degrees on that farm. You can imagine how it smelled.

More things I don't want to forget

The other day , at the pool, Maddy fell while trying to get out. She scraped her knee and let everyone within a 50 mile radius know about it. Man, she's got some lungs ! We took her to the first aid station, ,cleaned up and got a band aid. We went back to the pool. Maddie looks down at her band aid and says:
' Come on Bandaid, lets go swimming "
and then
"Look at the frinklers, band aid" ( frinklers=sprinklers )

Preschool already?

Yup, I've started to look at preschools for my munchkin. Preschool, you say ? But wasn't she just born like 5 minutes ago? Yeah, thats how I feel too.

She is 2 1/2, and I'm beginning to feel as if a structured environment would be wonderful for her right now. I'm trying to decide which type of school would be best for her. And by 'best' I don't mean which preschool will ensure her admission into Harvard- I'm just looking for one that doesn't make her scream when I drop her off. And doesn't drain our wallet.

Greg has already expressed apprehension at 'leaving her there' and has asked me more than once if I plan on staying with her. Um, kind of defeats the point. If possible, she'd re-attach the umbilical cord. She is all about Mommy mommy mommy. She needs to be around other kids with out me, you know ?



I wonder if Greg would be so protective if we had a boy. Just a thought.



Some of the schools have openings for this Fall, but no way. She, and truthfully, I wouldn't be ready. So I'm shooting for January or even Fall of '09. In the meantime, I am enrolling her in some Separation programs this fall. The parents stay with the kids for a set amount of time( 10mins, 1/2 hour, depending on the child and school) and then they leave( really we just go in the next room). I am even dreading that. So we'll see how it all goes.



In the meantime, here is my airborne girl playing 'Froggy Pond'

So I Don't Forget 2.0

We were just watching Sesame Street and Elmo was talking about families. So , I explained to Madeline that Mommy , Daddy and Maddie area family. So she says
m: Mommy Maddie and Daddy are fam-a-dee ?
me: yes
Maddie: Fam-a-dee kiss
And she gave me a kiss.
So cute

Late Night

I never understood schedules before I had a baby. I assumed that the baby would sleep whenever and wherever. I may have expressed that opinion once or twice- I'm sure to parents who snickered as they thought 'just wait...". I was a whereever whenever person as well. I had a husband who worked unconventional hours like myself. I had two jobs or one job and school for about 4 years straight. I didn't want to be on anyones schedule. I did things when I could and lived life day by day.

As fate would have it, I give birth to a child that THRIVES on a schedule. If one thing is out of place, she'll let you know about it. When she sleeps at night, if her door is even a crack open, she will wake up. She becomes a little confused if you don't do Bath, Bottle, Book, Bed every night at 7pm. She'll lay down in her crib, I put her monkey blanket on, I lay on the floor, she takes her monkey blanket off , I put it back on and say ' Good night, Sweetie Pie, see you tomorrow" Every. Night. If one thing is out of order, or missing, she becomes frazzled.

So I know my girl is like this, and because of it, and because she is such a good sleeper, I do NOT mess with naptime or bedtime. OK, sometimes I mess with naptime , but I can count on one hand the times I mess with bedtime. Last night was one of them.

She took a really long nap ( and skipped lunch altogether) and didn't wake up until about 5pm. Considering her bedtime is 7, I thought she could stay up a little later. Sheesh, I know better than that, but I figure," she's older, one night is not a big deal, blah blah blah" We took her to the a local carnival. She wanted to go on rides, but when we actually put her on them, she freaked. Not a fan.

Then we sat down and had a snack

which as you can see she was very excited about...
She got a balloon from a clown

And then did some running. I love the tongue sticking out of her mouth.

So by now its 7pm, her usuall bedtime, but since she woke up so late, we figured we'd stop by Greg's freinds house. They just got a new beagle puppy. When we get there, he's having a little party, and whats in the backyard- besides a puppy, another gril Madeline's age and people oohing and ahing over her ? A bouncy house ! So we let her go in...long story , well, long, I don't seem to have made it any shorter, she didn't end up going to bed until 9pm. And thats just what time she went into her crib. She actually didn't fall alseep until about 10pm... and got up at her usual 6am( actually it was 5:40 something, i round it up to 6am to make myself feel a little better about it) . She has been cranky the WHOLE day... and difficult to get to sleep. Lesson to me... stick to the schedule. She did have a blast though, and keeps talking about Daisy the puppy and the bouncy castle.

Oh and now I totally want a puppy.

Maddie at the 'Cool'

She's a little hard to read, you know. You can't really tell if she's having fun.