Nothing Gets Past Her Now

Well, I thought we would have a little more time before this began happening, but oh well - what can you do? Two months ago, the worst imaginable thing for Aviva was to swing. Now, that's all she wants to do. So Aviva & I met Neal at the baby park on Wednesday afternoon for a little swinging and a little sliding. Aviva & I were out and about and so we all just met at the park. Well, our trip to the baby park accidentally took us past a different park and about two blocks away, Aviva saw the swings at that park and starting pointing and screeching! I turned around to see what was wrong and she started smiling. She saw the swings and wanted to go play!

That night, I was changing her diaper (which has become more and more difficult as the days progress) and she saw her Little People lion next to her. A while ago, we taught her that a lion says "roar" by lifting our hand into a "claw" (original, I know) and extending our arm. Well, she picked up the lion and then just raised her hand into a claw. I don't think she has seen that lion toy in six months. What a smart baby! :)

Alright, I just had to brag. I don't do it often, but how could I resist? She's getting too smart for her own good.

Temper Tantrums Galore

Aviva has officially become a toddler - she has opinions and she loves to express them. Her favorite thing to do is swing (and swing, and swing, and swing) and every time we have to leave the park, she screams. And then all of the parents look over, expecting to see someone shoving skewers into her eyeballs, and then we have to smile and laugh and say "she just really hates to leave the park." Oh well!

She'll throw little temper tantrums if she's been sitting in the car for too long and she'll have little temper tantrums while sitting in her high chair if we don't get something for her fast enough or if we're trying to give her something she doesn't want to eat. It's kind of funny and Neal always says, "She gets it from you." Whatever!

We had a fun week-long trip to Philadelphia and the Jersey shore and my mom and niece will be here in two weeks! Time has definitely gone fast - we're going to go to New York for four days when they get here because Mercedes has never been and really, really wants to go. I remember being 17 and really wanting to go to New York as well. It didn't happen then, but finally happened when I was 22(ish). I'm sure it will be fun and the baby is staying home with Neal and his mom, so it will be nice to have a little trip without having to worry about her.

Then, it's on to our summer excursion! My mom is taking Aviva back with her when they leave and then Neal & I are going to drive out. We're going to be in Iowa for a few days and then all of us will fly out to Seattle to visit some friends for a few days. After that, we're going to drive to Oregon for a family wedding and will be there for another week. Then, it's back to Iowa and the 18 hour drive to Philadelphia. Oh boy! It will be a long trip! At least Neal does most of the driving on our trips - whew!

Life's A Beach

While hanging out in Philadelphia, we decided it would be fun to take a quick little trip to the shore house. So, here we are and even though it wasn't exactly the best day for the beach today, it was still fun. We're here until Wednesday and then it's back to Philadelphia to see Neal's sister & her family and to see Neal's parents and grandparents for a few more days before we head back home.

School starts a week from tomorrow; I'm taking Intro to Statistics and hopefully an Advanced Psych Seminar on Addictions. Those should be interesting classes, but most of all I'm excited for my Forensic Psychology class in the fall.

Today is a beautiful day, however & after Aviva wakes up from her nap, we're going to go to the playground a few blocks away and then to the beach!

Leanna & The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

It's just been one of those days. Ugh. First, Aviva woke up with the nastiest diaper in the entire world! Let's just say it was full from front to back with little room to spare - actually, there was no room to spare as things spilled up and over the back of her diaper and onto her onesie. Gross!

Breakfast was fine - we're trying to get Aviva to drink from a sippy cup/sports bottle for her milk rather than a bottle and she's doing very well. She's also getting more and more frustrated during the day that she can't walk as much as she wants to. For instance, she wants to walk to the kitchen, but she can't walk unless she's holding onto something and then she can't find anything to hold on to, so she gets upset. Soon enough, baby girl - soon enough.

I corralled the dog and the baby after breakfast and off we went on our walk. We drove a few miles away to one of our favorite walking trails and took off; of course, not before changing Aviva's diaper for the second time in less than one hour. Changing a poop diaper in the car is no fun! So anyway, we're on our walk and of course, we were LITERALLY at the farthest point from the car when it started to rain. And not just a light drizzle - a downpour! Aviva was fine because she was bundled up and under her super-huge BOB visor but the dog and I got drenched. I debated if I should start running just to get back to the car faster but then I figured that it would be better for me to get wet than to drop dead from a heart attack!

Also, despite the fact that I only have EXACTLY seven days until I'm eligible to get a new, free phone, they won't let me get it early. What a great way to show customer appreciation, AT&T! So alas, I must hang on to my broken phone (which totally got tossed into a puddle this morning while I was trying to put everyone into the car as fast as possible after the walk) for one more week. Oh well, I'll live.

And that is that. I think I'm going to go upstairs and take a nap. But maybe I'll watch something crappy on Bravo first.

Time Goes Too Quickly

Our friend Mark came to visit this weekend from North Carolina. There was a teaching conference in Boston that he flew in for and both Mark and Neal went. It was great to see him again and was sad to see him go. I told him that as soon as I get my new phone (May 21st - wahoo!), I'll be better about calling him. And everyone else for that matter - I don't know what it is - maybe working so many years where my main responsibility was being on the phone from 8am-5pm every day - has soured me on phone conversations. Ugh - I'm surprised people still call me because I'm bad at calling people back! :)

While Neal & Mark were in Boston, Aviva and I had a busy day. Friday morning we went to the zoo for a little while (just basically to see the elephants and the giraffes!), went to Kohl's, and then went to the fabric store. After Aviva's nap, we went to a little local shop and bought her some new shoes and then went to the baby park.

After Aviva's 15 minutes of swinging - which, she totally loves now! - she went down the slide a few times. After that, there was a push toy next to the slide that she was attracted to and she went over, stood up, and began to walk by herself!!! Well, by herself with the assistance of the toy - but still! I was so proud of her! She whizzed around the park for about 40 minutes and there I was, the silly mom who was clapping and cheering for her the entire time! Oh well! She took some spills but got right back up and kept on going. Hopefully she'll be walking on her own soon!

Ruh-Roh

So, I've been soooo good for the past three weeks. I've walked every single day (I logged 19.1 miles this week) and I think I've eaten more fruits and vegetables in the past three weeks than I have in the past three years. Who knew that I would like zucchini so much?!?

And then I had a bad day. Harumph. Well, really just a bad night and admittedly it wasn't really even that bad. But I caved. And I went to McDonalds. And had the 2 cheeseburger meal with fries. And a vanilla ice-cream cone. And some Ben & Jerry's ice-cream. And a few Milk Duds. Whoops!

Tomorrow it's back to the grindstone but for right now, I feel very, very gross! Alanis Morrisette said it best. "You live. You learn."