9 months!!! Seriously...

The Ladybug is now 9 months old. And for her 9 month old birthday present she gets...a double ear infection!!! She looks real sick, huh? Go ahead...feel sorry for her. She still only has 2 teeth - 2 teeth that she has worked very hard on. She is still incredibly happy and still loves her veggies, her brother and Maxx (much to his dismay). She's fast too!! She has started standing on her own without holding onto anything so I know it is just a matter of time before she is off and running. I could go on and on about her special talents and her cuteness but I don't want to bore my audience. We are all having so much fun with our Ladybug.

Now, let's talk about this one. Below is the Doodlebug on his first day of preschool this year. Cute, huh? Let me tell you something about this cuteness. I'm done trying to force him to eat things he doesn't want to eat. Here's why. There is this Chinese restaurant that we go to and he will eat the mess out of the chicken the the fried rice. So, we went to PF Chang's today for lunch. I got him some chicken fried rice off of the kids menu - yes, PFC's has a kids menu now. So the first bite of the chicken he says, rather quickly, "Hey, that's pretty good." Well, the second piece I forced upon him must have been poisoned or something because he started gagging on it and then proceeded to puke on me and himself and the floor. WTF???? It's chicken!!!! By the time I finished cleaning ourselves up my food was cold so I didn't get to finish it. Like I said, I'm done forcing the issue. He'll eat when he is hungry.

Anyone else watching the Arkansas game? Could there be any more penalties? Jeez. Put the flag in your pocket, ref. Let the boys play!

4 year old words???

Doodlebug: Mommy, a herbivore is a dinosaur that eats grass.

Me: (puzzled) Yes baby, you're right.

Doodlebug: A carnivore is a dinosaur that eats meat.

Me: (even more puzzled) Right again.

And then he asks me if I know what a paleontologist is. Yes. Yes I do. Because I'm 35 and I'm an adult and I'm a mother and I'm a teacher and I'm supposed to know what a paleontologist is. But YOU. You're friggin' four years old. Paleontologist is not a four year old word!!!!

(Sigh) He's going to be sent to the office every day when he starts kindergarten. Lord help me.

AND, tonight we ran into the grocery store and when we went to check out he told me to put my groceries on the conveyer belt. Jeez....

Babysitting Update

We left around 8:00 and were home by midnight. Throughout those 4 hours we got no phone calls. We got no text messages. We walked into a very quiet house. The dinosaur hot wheels tracks were all across the living room - so a good time must have been had. The Doodlebug was asleep in his bed. The Ladybug was asleep on Cee Cee - she apparently wasn't a fan of her bed that night. The babysitters were not comatose. Everything went great. I think they'll be back. I'm sure it would be easy for me to find a trustworthy teenager to babysit but I sure do like it when I can leave my bugs with family.

The Babysitting Chronicles

Tonight, Chad and I, along with Sarah and Jason, are going to see Chuck's band. My brother (Cee Cee) and sister-in-law (Lee Lee) are coming over to babysit. Everything will be fine. The bugs love them and they all have a lot of fun together.

Now, let's rewind to December of 2005 and I'll tell you about the first time Cee Cee and Lee Lee tried to babysit the Doodlebug. The Doodlebug was 9 months old and we were going to dinner for Chuck's birthday. We were going to a restaurant far, far away. About halfway there we got a phone call from Cee Cee telling us that the Doodlebug had not stopped crying since we left. He had called my mom and she gave him suggestions - none of which worked. So then I gave him some suggestions and told him I'd call him when we got to the restaurant to see if he was any better. Well, we pulled into the parking lot at the restaurant when my phone rang again. The Doodlebug was at the crying stage where you are pretty sure he is no longer breathing. Without a doubt, Cee Cee and Lee Lee are freaking out at this point. So we went into the restaurant. "Happy Birthday, Chuck. We can't stay." We rushed home to rescue the babysitters. When we walked in, the house was silent. The Doodlebug had cried himself to sleep. Cee Cee was sitting in the rocking chair in his room staring at the floor, semi-comatose. Lee Lee was on the floor, back against the wall, knees to her chest staring at the floor, also semi-comatose. Chad and I had to giggle at them. They were so traumatized. It was a VERY LONG time before the ever agreed to babysit again. Hopefully tonight will not scar them like the first time did.