Who is this kid?

Today we have a busy sort of errand-ish day, but it is specifically scheduled around taking someone to the airport this afternoon. So all morning I'm trying to figure out just how to play this...do I keep Olivia up and then let her nap for 40 minutes in the car and just let that be enough? Do I try to force her down for an early nap and then we can leave in time to do errands before doing the airport run AFTER she's had an adequate nap? Do we go out for errands first and then nap and then do the airport run?

I decided to play it by ear (let's face it...I ALWAYS do that). When she was grumpy around 10:00 a.m., I sat her down next to me on the couch and put on one of her favorite shows. Five minutes later I looked over and she was asleep.

WHAT?!? My child has NEVER done this. It was incredibly convenient because she can get a super nap in before we need to leave for errands, but WHAT IS UP WITH MY KID?

The fever that started on Saturday has finally subsided. The doctor seemed to think it was just a virus. But now she has this bumpy red rash all over her back and belly and face...kind of like hives. If I had hives, I would take Benadryl. But what do you do for a toddler? Call the doctor? Wait a day or two? Assume it is the end of the reaction to the viral thing? Maybe this is why she keeps sleeping so much...I don't know. Aauugghhh!

Missed the mark on that one...

One set of grandparents got an adding machine...one of those with the tape that types up what you are adding...from a friend who bought it at a yardsale with Olivia in mind. "Because she likes buttons so much." Nice thought, but didn't quite pan out as we'd expected. I left her alone with it for ten minutes today and came in the room to find her with a black-and-red tape hanging over her neck and red and black marks all over her hands, shirt and neck. So the ink tape got promptly thrown away, and I have a feeling that the adding machine will be shoved in a closet until I can forget about the ink debacle.

We had the hardest time getting the DSL to work tonight...even called customer support. The phone repair guy was at our house today trying to figure out the problem with our phone line, which hadn't been working. So we just thought we'd check...sure enough, he'd forgotten to plug the DSL cord back into the jack on the outside of the house. Way to waste our time, buddy.

Enough for tonight.

Two weeks in review

Olivia is still feverish and has been fussing a lot and acting all out of sorts, so we are headed to the doctor after her nap. I know it's probably just some viral thing and there's probably not a darn thing we can do about it, but three consecutive days of fever makes me want to at least try.

As you've figured out by now, I have my computer back. YAY! Well, not the same computer...it's a new computer with all of my old documents loaded onto it. I'm really looking forward to learning the new software and such, but I'm most excited that our bad hard drive didn't eat all of my beloved files before our computer-genius friend was able to transfer them. By the way, did you know that putting a bad hard drive in the freezer can make it easier to retrieve old files before the hard drive completely dies? I never knew that, but it's true.

Since new computers come with USB keyboards, Olivia inherited our old keyboard. Now, maybe she'll leave my computer alone...yeah, right.

"Play with 'puters, Mommy?"

In the past two weeks of computerless existence, I have become friends with my DVR and the millions of movie channels that we are receiving for free for a promotional period of time. Since those channels will disappear soon, I thought I might as well get some use out of them. I have found that there's not a lot on those channels that's worth paying for, and I don't have time to watch most of the movies that ARE on even if I record them.

We recorded "Bee Movie" for Olivia, and she is addicted to it. Every single time we turn the TV on, she requests the "honeybees?". It's like how she requests her silly songs CDs every time we are in the car. I am no longer allowed to listen to talk radio unless she is sleeping in the backseat, and apparently I can't watch anything but bees unless she is napping. I don't know what is so captivating, but she will sit still in one spot and be locked in on that movie. Nothing else holds her attention so completely. It's a teeny bit scary.

I also recorded a few movies that I've been meaning to watch. "Mamma Mia" was one of those, and I must say that I was EXTREMELY disappointed. Perhaps it was ruined by the fact that I saw the show on stage before seeing it on screen, but I think it's more than that. The stage production was like a really fun Abba revival concert with some silly story thrown in to entertain you between numbers. The movie was like a really badly acted story with some Abba songs thrown in to distract you from how much you HATED the rest of the movie. I actually liked some of the songs. Others were distracting. Pierce Brosnan forcing out a melody and trying to act it out as well? Ick. Also, who decided that capri-length denim overalls were a good look for Meryl Streep? They just made her look ridiculous...even more ridiculous than acting out Abba songs while trying to make them seem remotely related to the story made her look.

I had so much fun at the theater production. I guess this is just one example of where a musical doesn't translate well to screen. But I must say I did love the encore numbers (loved them on stage too, but for different reasons). I enjoyed watching seasoned actors make fools of themselves with awful retro costumes and bad dancing. They MUST have all been drunk for that shoot, because I cannot imagine any other reason that they would have allowed themselves to look that silly.

Moving on...

I also became reacquainted with my library over the past two weeks. It was my only internet source, which was my primary reason for visiting. But I also read some good books. My favorite was The Lacemakers of Glenmara. GREAT book. It was captivating and so well written that I could imagine myself in that tiny, forgotten Irish village. I think it would make a great movie. If you haven't read it, I would highly recommend it.

We also spent some time doing this:


And this:

Ate lots of this:


Saw some of these:

Drank a bunch of these.
And now you are updated.

Weird Weekend

The cousins didn't come for the reunion this weekend because of fevers, and Olivia ended up spending the whole weekend with a fever too. How they ALL got fevers at the same time even though they all live more than four hours apart is beyond me.

Our reunion visit was cut short when we realized that Olivia had a fever and it was high. She has been playing well and eating fine, but she's been running a fever for two days. We'll wait until tomorrow and see if she still has it before deciding whether or not to call the doctor.

It's when she's sick that I feel most like a Mom. The whole protective gene seems to kick in then, and I baby her a bit and pay closer attention to her cues and possible needs. Maybe it's also the fact that she's a bit more likely to want to snuggle close or be near Mommy. That always makes me feel important.

But I'd still like her to be well again...and soon. Fevers scare me a little.

Back to business...soon

I was just browsing through my pictures, and we did a LOT of stuff during the past two weeks that we've been computerless. It's going to take awhile to catch up my photo blog. I'm still trying to figure out where my recovered files from our old bad hard drive are, and I'm a little too obsessed with finding those to worry about too much blogging for the moment.

We have a busy weekend ahead. There is a family reunion, which means that Olivia's little cousins will be in town. Looking forward to an exhausting weekend full of sun, swimming, and noise. More next week, after I've had a chance to relocate all of my important documents.

The photo is from our Tuesday playdate at the spray park, when one family came with their puppy. Olivia wasn't sure what to think about "doggie kisses".

Yay!

We JUST got onto the internet for the first time with our new computer, and of course the first thing we HAD to do is inform the faithful followers of this blog. We're still doing other set-up on this thing, so this is all I'll say for now, but expect me to be posting regularly again.

YAY computer!

I think I may lose my mind.

I dropped Olivia off with Grandma and Grandpa this morning and bought myself a little library time so I could post. We've been without a computer now for eight days, and it feels like a million. I had no idea how dependent I was.

The good news is that we have ordered a new computer, and our computer expert friend is going to salvage our documents from our old and broken hard drive. The bad news is that this takes time. I'm expecting it to take another two weeks. It could be sooner, but I have to gear myself up for two more computerless weeks just in case it takes that long.

Many times a day, I think...I should blog about this. And I can't. Worse than that, I can't keep up with all of YOUR blogs. And did you all know that you are my community? When we are at home for several days in a row, you all keep me sane by letting me into your lives and making me feel like I've had some adult interaction.

Now this makes me realize that it must be really tough for Olivia when we are home for several days without any outings planned. She, after all, doesn't have the option to escape to the internet and discuss the finer points of Mommy-rearing, which is her daily occupation.

But seriously, do you ever think about how fortunate we are to be able to share our successes/frustrations/joys/experiences on a daily basis in this medium? I never realized how much I use this space just to keep track of how life is going, and how therapeutic it is to do that. I also never realized how therapeutic it is to read about your lives and realize I'm not the only one out there who goes through this stuff. I think I may know some of you better than I know some of my local friends. Perhaps that is because we can't finish a sentence without getting interrupted by an army of toddlers during our outings...

Now, onto other blogable things...

It has been really nice to have a verbally advanced toddler. Starting around her first birthday, she was able to tell us what she wanted most of the time by using one-word requests. She quickly advanced to full sentences. And it's really nice to hear her say, "I want some more milk, please." That is preferable to the pointing and grunting and confusion that comes with a preverbal child.

The downside, however, is that she picks up everything. Yesterday, there was a deer wandering through our backyard, and I opened the window to scare him off. (They eat my daylillies...deer are the enemy in our neighborhood.) I yelled at him..."Hey!" To which Olivia immediately responded in her yelling tone..."GET BACK HERE....NOW!" I wonder where she has heard that before...

Worse yet...Olivia was hanging out with Grandma the other day when she went tearing down the hall. My Mom went after her and caught her coming out of their room holding a bottle of lotion or something. When Olivia saw Grandma and knew she was caught, she said, "Dang it!" and tossed the lotion on the ground.

Yeah, gotta watch what you say.

So, it looks like weekends are my best shot for getting some computer time for awhile. I hope you all miss me a little...