Two-year molars!

And other trips to h*ll! We have reached the end of the teething and it is a nightmare. Fevers from 99 to 102 at any time of day or night. EFP is in such pain she ASKS for "meds Mommy, please!" I mean have you ever heard of a two-year old ASKING for meds? Of course - mine also asks for shrimp now - so I have come to expect that from her. We needed no fireworks for the 4th - we had our own. EFP is miserable... and so I have been a virtual prisoner on my little mini-break. Oh well, the down time is good for us, we are usually so busy that any excuse to relax is welcome. She did go swimming for a bit tonight and we did make one trip to Targette - for the dollhouse bookcase (SALE!) and I have finally organized the toybee section of the LR and now her books, little peeps and all the playduh stuff is organized and easy to reach. Whoopee!! EFP can now count to 20 in English, 10 in Spanish & ASL, and 5 in Mandarin. Is my baby the BOMB or what?


It has also become abundantly clear we will be waiting a very long time for EFP's sibling. I am not upset - I knew going in that the wait would be long, I am just worried that by the time we get a referral we would have become sort of out of love with the idea of adding another child and that is when the panic sets in. I mean we are still sort of working on making our life work with one child - I can't imagine how adding another is going to be, especially when we won't know for a few years even what gender the child would be. Apparently at a recent meeting with our agency the CCAA confirmed that a 2.5 to 3 year wait for those of us currently in process has been deemed probable. I went into this thinking that would be fine - one day care bill at a time and all.. now, back aching from aforementioned organizing, baby holding, comforting and other miscellaneous motherings that I just wonder if I will still want another in 3 years. My agency released a new waiting child list - and there are some adorable babies - any of whom I would be so lucky to parent - but the day care dilemma and not having enough time saved to be able to travel and then stay home for even a little while loom as huge problems. Will the idea of starting all over again in 3 years have lost some of its allure after so long? ACH! (like Bill the Cat). I don't know, I guess we will see. Oh - and FINALLY after ONLY 10 months.. we are a licensed foster family! yea us.

There is only one cute baby in the universe

and every mother has that baby. - Chinese proverb

Except of course that I really do. It has been an typical week I am still recovering from my illness and yesterday the Empress decided to puke on me (AFTER I got dressed for work) not once, not twice, but three freakin times!! And yes - there was just enough time between that I got cleaned and redressed three times before I realized she was actually sick and there would be no work or daycare. Turns out she has a mild ear infection and the crabbiness was due to the fever. GREAT! Then tonight I came home and my kissy face baby - planted kisses all over my face! I would say this is what it is really all about. She is feeling better - though her "ear ouches" which believe it or not is how I figured out she actually had an ear infection - she TOLD me!! Is this kid the smartest most adorable kid or what?

More Birthday Weekend Pics

Weird new obsession with babuschkas!


EFP discovers it is fun to ride around chaos!

Playing inside a big house at the party place!

Happy Birthday EFP & DTC!!!!!!

EFP Claps to the birthday song - sung in her honor!

Cupcakes are a big hit!

YUM! Frosting!

If you look closely you will see that EFP is munching on Calamari - no joke this kid can eat!!

Happy Birthday in Italian - La Dulce Vita!

Sorry this is a little late - the hoopla has taken over and we are so busy trying to figure out how to celebrate TWO such momentous occasions - we were late in posting!

So - without further ado - pics from the Imperial Birthday Celebration - parts I and II. First a little party at daycare and then a family celebration at EFP's favorite bite out - Carraba's. We were also celebrating the Official Launching of Baby Project 2! We are DTC 3/23 with our dear friends again and we should hear something any 2 or 3 years now... seriously the wait is incredibly long! Which is ok with us... so don't expect any updates or more news.. there will be none - until there is!

The birthday went fine - we also attended the party of EFP's good friend and she had a blast. But I digress - let the pics speak for themselves.. enjoy and yes Sissy I am sorry I made you wait!!!

Terrible Twos Indeed!

Now, we know. Sure we thought we had dodged a bullet for all the past 7 months, EFP has been the happiest sweetest baby ever. But now she is almost 19 months old and while I would say that 90% of the time she is still that – occasionally we get a glimpse or as today – a full frontal of what the Terrible Twos really mean! I think this has been building for a couple of weeks now, since the last time she woke up kind of cranky and out of sorts. This morning she was fine till after her nap. She woke from her nap in a ripping mood. She literally did not want any part of wearing pants today. No pumpkins were picked! For whatever reason – she has decided that diaper changes are the equivalent of murder (or at least she screams like bloody murder!) and so she will resist with every fiber of her being – kicking and twisting something a little exorcist-ish on the floor, ottoman, changing table, bed – wherever! I now dread having to change her diaper in a public facility – both for the stares and the safety factor. Those flip-down changing stations are sort of not that stable. Then at dinner (which usually reverses her moodiness) the tacos I made were unacceptable so she threw her spoon at me. GREAT!

Twice today she did corner duty for pitching her sippy cup (full!) at one or the other of the two resident kitties (so far this is the only punishable offense) and I discovered that the so-called naughty step wasn’t working because a. she plays peek-a-boo from the step through the rails and b. she climbs up the staircase which is a recipe for disaster! So I have taken to putting her in the one corner in the hallway. Well – imagine my surprise when she seemed to know EXACTLY what to do!!!!! So now one more difficult conversation with the child-care center. Somehow - someone has put her in the corner already and not told me about it. TERRIFIC! The highlight of the evening had to be when she freaked out completely as the last few drops of water from her evening bath drained away and she was sitting in an empty tub. This is the same tub as yesterday.. the water always drains out and she usually is very happy to be wrapped up in a few giant fluffy towels and carried into her room to be massaged with lotion and then slipped into her pjs etc. NOT this time! No – she freaked out all (wrinkly and blue-lipped as she was) and tried to turn the water back on!! It was kinda funny – she has never reached for the faucets before so I don’t think she really understood. She did really want to help with the lotion part – for the third time today! She will have the softest skin in the USA at this rate. She is obsessed with the lotion bottle and likes me to put a small amount on her hands so she can apply it to her (really really) soft tummy, and feet and nose. Today – I was in for a treat!! I got the lotion on a q-tip on my legs – I was wearing capris.

Seriously – how long do the so-called terrible twos last?? Till she is three? I won’t last – I just won’t make it I tell you!

Hormonal or what?

This morning EFP was cranky from the getgo! I woke her and she was just in a crazy-bad mood all morning. Maybe its the weather I don't know - but she didn't improve much till I dropped her at the center. She was whiny but interested in what was going on. When I got home tonight - I was supposed to attend a workshop (sorry ladies) but she was cranked into high dudgeon and it was struggle just to get her to eat. Her teeth may be acting up again or she (definitely) has some ferocious gaseousness going on - but to be honest I was thinking she had a little jeckyl and hyde thing happening!! Crying hysterically one sec then giggling the next! I was going crazy!

For the last several evenings peace has prevailed here. She has calmly sat at the dinner table and eaten with a spoon and/or fork and not dropped so much as a morsel. The first night I thought it was a fluke - but then it kept happening. Last night she ate so well - I was just in awe! Then tonight - it was just a disaster. I mean it started out ok - I made parmesean chicken, broccoli and stringbeans. She loves all those things so this should have been easy. Well - at some point she decided she was not eating the string beans and went so far at to fling them off her fork, then she decided the chicken was for the cats - so you know where that went. Then finally the fork was thrown and I had to do the baby time out - I face her away from me for a few seconds. After that she calmed down and let me feed her - but then she went right back to her antics though screaming.... after we ate I took out the nice fresh fruit I got and she decided she wanted to eat fruit - but she had to pick it herself from the bowl - well that was fine till she shoved a whole grape in her mouth and I panicked till she swallowed it. Then (again alternating between crying and laughing) she threw watermelon (??!!) and melon all over and then dinner was over.

Putting her to bed was a little like herding the proverbial cats. She was so tired she bumped her head going up the stairs - and then did NOT want a clean diaper. I was getting more exasperated but I realized that she hadn't slept as well as I thought last night and so maybe she was uber-exhausted. Who knows!! Honestly the kids can really wear me out! At this point I am in for the evening - all my grand plans tossed aside and I am going to curl up with some vodka and wait for ER to come on. Please hope for better a day tomorrow!