Sorry...

I know, I said Friday. And it's Sunday. I will update soon (tomorrow), but have to go to bed now. I'll explain! :)

Adalynn and her Dog

Tiffany has requested pictures of Adalynn playing with the dogs....Tiff, do you know how difficult this is? For example, Adalynn was tired the other day and was laying (literally, laying, with the sacred Mr. Wubbs, thumbs in her mouth, Banks as a body pillow...the whole nine yards) on Banks while he was comatose on the floor. I steathily crept around them and pulled out the camera. And the moment was broken. Pooh.

We have 2 canine inhabitants in this household, but only one of them really tolerates Adalynn well. The other one hangs out until food hits the floor, but when Adalynn gets down and chases him at Mach 5 he turns tail and runs for it.
So Rocky yells "Not It" every time Adalynn is around, and Banks takes the fall. Poor guy. And lately, he's been in some rough situations because of it.

In this instance Banks was, innocently enough, laying on his back playing with Rocky on the floor. See, he's smart enough to know that if he's Up and playing either Trav or I will put the kebash on their fun quite quickly. Our little smart cookie knows this too, and has figured out that if Banks is occupied playing with Rocky, he doesn't notice that Adalynn is often hanging on him too.

Until she tries to get off him, runs into the ottoman, knees him in the jimmy, and he suddenly decides to heave the little urchin away. In the meantime though, it makes for a good laugh.

Coming March 1 to a Meijer Near You...

Someone must have been looking out for me today, because I made my kitchen dirty. I haven't cooked lately, it's just too much effort, but today I thought would be a good day to break that habit. So I cooked. And baked. And made Jello. (that's not really cooking, is it? i don't think so.)

And in the end, my kitchen was a horrific mess.

But, it presented me with the perfect opportunity to try 2 new cleaning products from EcoStore USA; their "Naturally Antibacterial Spray Cleaner" and "Lemon Cream Cleanser". Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm fairly fanatical about ensuring that what we use in our house is safe for our babies. If they are a local company, Even Better! And this is. EcoStore is based in MI, and they list all the ingredients for each product, and their stuff is plant based. And one of my faves? When I recieved these two products, I realized that ALL of their packaging is earth-friendly too! My consience is clean.

Anyway, back to my ugly kitchen. I cleaned the counters, and my stove-top, using the Naturally Antibacterial Spray Cleaner.

It was awesome....I had dribbled honey in multiple spots while I was cooking, and it came right off without a fuss. Sweet! No odor, that I could tell (and I'm pregnant...I can tell...) I love that it is Antibacterial. I normally use a green cleaner, but it is so nice to find one that is green and antibacterial and works supremely well.

Onto my sink...

I hate it when my sink gets like this. All ucky and slimy and gross. So I took this fabulous Cream Cleanser to it, and the job was tackled with ease.

Moment of honesty: I usually use a vinegar mix to clean my sink. It's cheap, and natural. BUT, it smells like it's been cleaned with vinegar. The Cream Cleanser left a nice, easy, lemon smell. Not overbearing at all. And, as I found out, it's super concentrated, so you are getting your money worth (trust me, a little goes a long way...I had enough suds to fill a bathtub!).

Look at that, an easy clean and my lovely sparkling sink! The Cream Cleanser even took away some rust rings that our sink was tightly holding onto. And moments later, when Trav and I were contemplating how our power had just turned off, for no apparent reason, no ghastly storm was brewing outside or pummeling winds, I took a deep breath and smelled a clean, relaxing, lemony scent. And realized, that's my clean sink. Ahhhhhh......

Since I had such a lovely initial experience with these EcoStore USA products, I'm uber-excited that they will be sold at Meijer come March 1. No running to health food stores, just a one-stop pick me up! And rumor is, for you non-midwesterners, they may even be sold online with Meijer.

Gotta run. My chilli just exploded in the microwave. Guess I'll try the Spray Cleaner on that!

Our 'lil Genius Child

Conincidentally (or not?) we bring Adalynn to the same Pediatrician office that I went to when I was little. Different Dr (I went to school with this one's daughter), but seems as though we have history with all the docs there...the one I went to when I was little treated me for Spinal Meningitis. Travis went to school with another Dr's children, and Naomi now goes to this doctor. This morning at 9am, our appointment went alot like this:

"Hi Cara and Adalynn, how's it going?"

"Say 'hi' to the Dr.! It's going good." (Adalynn grins)

"Well, let's get her height and weight." I strip her down to her diaper and she gets measured and weighed.

"Looks like she is taller than all but 1% of other kids her age, and weighs more than 90%. But that's a perfect weight for her height. Good." (1 point for Adalynn)

"What words does she have now?"

"Quite a few. Let's see....Mama, Daddy, doggy, woof-woof, Kelsey, Patches, quack-quack, moo, ball, up, wa-wa, bottle, potty, pee-pee, poopy, Nana, Papa, Opa, Oma, Naomi, book, nigh-night, eat, shoe, sock, hi, bu-bye, all done....and that's all I can think of right now. Not all are perfectly clear, but she gets her point across pretty well."

"Wow, kids her age generally have 4-6words, so she's doing good. Is she eating good?" (2 points....and counting)

"Yea, as long as we don't feed her the same thing 2 days in a row. Let's see, she eats a lot of fruit, some veggies, loves cheese, and a lot of different textures and tastes. She's not a big sweets eater. She drinks about 16+ ounces of milk a day. She is 75% accomplished with a spoon and fork. She drinks out of a straw."

"That sounds good. She should be having 20 ounces of milk a day, but if she gets 16 and some cheese or yogurt that will bring her up to 20. How does she sleep? Naps?" (Man, oh man, she's on a roll!)

"She sleeps good in a toddler bed. She takes 1-2naps a day, generally 1 when she's away from home, 1-2 at home."

"This is the time when toddlers take 1-2 naps, transitioning down from 2 naps to 1. Very normal. Let me see her walk." I let her down. She walks to the door, then I call her back to me and she runs back. Doc laughs.

"I know, her legs are turned in a bit."

"Yup, they are. But they are turned in from the hip, and they'll keep straightening out until she's 6. It's normal and she looks good. So what shots are we doing today?" (Adalynn is on a delayed vaccine schedule.)

"I would like to wait on the MMR until she's 2. So I think that she would only have the HIB today."

"There's a shortage of HIB right now, so we actually aren't giving the 15month dose anyway. We can either substitute another one or she can do them at 18months. But I don't think she needs an 18 month well-child visit, I only do those if I have concerns about the child's development. But I have no concerns here, she's way ahead."

"We can wait. I'll bring her in for 18month shots." I didn't figure it would hurt for her to go to the Dr and NoT get a shot!

"Ok, Adalynn do you want a ducky?" He gives Adalynn a little rubber bath ducky. I shot her in the face with air and she laughed. Then she blew her nose in the duck.....ok....maybe not a genius baby yet!

"She has a great smile. See ya later!"

"Bu-bye!" (from Adalynn)

*

Sorry for you to have to hear that brag-fest...wait...no I'm not. I'm her mother, and I'm very proud of her. Way ahead....YOU GROW GIRL!!!! (just not too fast, k?)

Ha Ha Ha

These 3 pictures I recieved on my Blackberry from my lovingly loco husband and daughter at home cracked me up at work yesterday. Perhaps you'll get a chuckle too.

Starts off clean enough. (haha, get it?)

And it just goes downhill from there...