May 2006

 

May 2, 2006

 

Lauren is really into “this little piggy” lately. She’s also very ticklish under her chin. That’s good stuff.

 

May 18, 2006

 

A lot has gone on in the last few weeks. We’ve been gearing up for our trip to Sanibel Island at the end of the month, still painting and working on the house, calling animal control about gators, socializing and work. All of that has kept us really busy.

 

We have painted the kitchen now with just a few touch ups needed. The master bathroom is next. Anyone care to enlighten me about why the previous owners of this home did most of their DIY stuff in a manner that is less than perfect, but they managed to hang their wallpaper borders with the un-releasable glue? It took me almost two days to get the wallpaper border out of the kitchen. The bathroom has a border too and now I’m not so interested in getting that job done.

 

I joined a mothers group last month and the girls and I have been going to playgroups every Monday. Tuesdays and Thursdays are Katherine’s school days. Wednesday and Friday are our free days.

 

Katherine started at Creative Times Academy on the 9^th. It is a daycare center but they prep for school. Since Katherine missed the school enrollment age by one day, she can’t actually start state operated preschool until the day before her 5^th birthday. She will most likely be bored out of her mind at that point. So we still need to figure out if we are going to homeschool or not. No decision has been made yet. She’s really enjoying the playground and the teachers said she’s very poised, polite and smart.

 

Katherine also called me the first name ever. She was mad at me for making her take a nap and later that afternoon she said “I called you stinking mommy”. We had a discussion about name calling and then daddy talked to her about respect. I know it’s pretty normal but I wasn’t really prepared for it.

 

One of Katherine’s goals lately has been to eat enough to grow taller so she can ride the Rhino Rally ride at Busch Gardens. She was just a smidgen too short last time and the attendant wouldn’t let her on. She was bummed. We went to Busch Gardens on Mothers Day afternoon and she made it! 39” tall (Shhhh…don’t tell her but I think her new strawberry shortcake shoes may have had something to do with it) She got a red bracelet saying she was 39” tall and we rode the ride twice. Boy was she happy.

 

Most everyone who reads this has received the email about the gator in our back yard. For those who don’t know, there has been a big gator, big meaning 10-13 feet long according to the trapper) in the pond out back. I called the nuisance gator line on Monday after hearing about the 3 deaths by gators lately. The trapper was coming out Tuesday night. Tuesday afternoon, the babysitter took her daughter and Lauren for a walk in the stroller. The neighbors waved her back in. The gator was on the sidewalk just around the corner three doors down. (YIKES!). It’s mating season so the gators are acting kind of crazy right now and this one in particular has exhibited signs of aggression lately. So a neighbor called the sheriffs, I called the trapper and the Fed Ex guy drove his truck into these peoples yards to chase the gator back into the water. The Tampa Tribune heard the call on their scanner and they showed up too. It was a party in my back yard. They set up bait and then the gator left. Haven’t’ seen him since Tuesday night. I’m guessing he went to another pond nearby but I’m keeping my eyes peeled when I check the mail. Made me a tad bit jumpy. Death by gator sounds so unappealing to me.

 

On to Lauren. She had her 15 month appointment a bit late. Her 16 month stats are:

Still only 5 teeth but the 4th top one is coming in now. It's right there.

Saying a ton of words-Mostly “NO!” but also body parts, animals, animal sounds etc.

Understanding lots of stuff & follows direction (when it suits her)

Runs

Tries to jump

 

Height 32.25 inches 75-90%

Weight: 20.44 10%

Head Circumference: 17.32 in 5%

 

So she's smart, tall, skinny and has an itty bitty little head.

 

The only thing he told me to keep an eye out for is her "W" sitting. It's when she sits on the floor with her knees forward and her feet out behind.

It looks terribly uncomfortable to me but it’s her modus operandi. The ped said that it can lead to orthopedic problems later so I need to just correct her when I see it.