Zoo Day

This Sunday we were just bumming around the house (you know, our usual M.O.), when I finally got cabin fever and had to get out. Seeing as how it actually wasn't freezing cold, we decided to brave the local zoo. Jody and I thought it might be fun for Taylor to see the animals in person since she gets such a kick out of them in books and videos.

First off, I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of our zoo. For a $3 admission I wasn't terribly optimistic, but for the price, I'd say we got a good amount of bang for our buck. Taylor laughed at the monkeys (imagine that), was mesmerized by the pythons (eeeew), and got to pet a donkey. All in all it was a lot of fun, but I want to do it again when it's a little warmer out, maybe then the animals will be a little more active. For the most part everyone but the monkeys was in "to hell with your $3, it's cold out here," mode. As usual, I'm terrible at taking pictures, plus there really wasn't much worth taking pictures of. Taylor insisted on being carried the entire time, and the super cool animals were all huddled in the corners of their cages. But I did get a couple of cute ones of her and Jody by the monkeys.

I swear, there really are monkeys in the "habitat" behind them. I just managed to snap right as they were all in a different area.

Ok, truthfully she was just shielding her eyes from the sun, but it turned out to be SUCH a sweet picture!

To the Moon Alice, To the Moon.......

Yesterday afternoon Jody and I said goodbye to one of our cats, Alice. I don't even know where to begin to write her eulogy, but after eleven years of loyalty, I feel I owe her at least this much.

Last week Alice began peeing on the walls and carpet, and considering that was very out of character for her I took her to the vet last Friday. After lots of head scratching and the collecting of several bodily fluids, the vet pretty much determined that she was in kidney failure brought on by diabetes. When I asked what treatment options were, the vet told me that sometimes cats responded well to insulin, but they were much harder to regulate than dogs. She couldn't really guarantee that insulin therapy would restore her quality of life, and she didn't really seem very hopeful that it would even work at all. So, Jody and I took the weekend to mull over what we wanted to do, and after lots of consideration we decided it was time to stop being selfish and do what was right for Alice.

It's very strange not to have her come jumping over the baby gate every time I start tinkering in the kitchen. And I kept waiting last night for her to crawl in bed with me and start breathing her death breath (she had some serious halitosis) in my face like she always did. I notice Cleo has been pacing the house looking for her, and keeps coming back to me as if to say, "Ok mom, where is she?" She was the best cat a family could ever hope for, she was kind, loving, and full of personality. And even though she pretty much decided she was Jody's cat (rather than mine) these past six years, I will always think of her as my ultimate partner in crime. We have had more adventures and mishaps than Thelma and Louise. She was always there with me through every up and down, and even though I was the first one to cuss her when she made me mad (and lord knows, that happened a lot with that stubborn-ass cat), I always have and always will love her.

Maybe I Already Have Two Children

Some nights I think Jody has more fun than the ordinary grown up man can have with his child. Not that I'm complaining, it's just funny to watch him be so goofy with Taylor.

A Tale of Two Thumpers

As most of you know, Taylor has had a little Thumper security blanket since she was about 2 months old. My step-mom Deanna bought it for her, and what was at first just a cute and soft toy soon became a major staple in our daughter's life. Around about 10 months old, Taylor definitely had a major attachment to him, and god forbid if he's MIA whenever she's hurt or it's time to go to sleep.

Now, any parent who's been through this whole attachment thing will tell you the most important thing you can have with a security item is a backup. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure the Disney Store just carried one of these damn blankets in the history of their being open, because I searched high and low (with zero luck I might add) for another just in case something were to happen to the original.

This Christmas I was whining to Deanna and my sister-in-law Anna Lisa about the fact that I'm pretty sure we own the only Thumper in existence (Guess who decided to start the laundry, with Thumper in the wash, too late one evening? Yeah, Taylor screamed non-stop until he finally came out of the dryer. It was one of the longest nights of my life, one that I have no desire whatsoever to repeat.). Now mind you, I have scoured the internet as much as I could stand to, but Anna Lisa took our little problem to heart and really did some searching. Within a week we had not one, but TWO shiny new backup Thumper blankets! Woo-hoo!

We made sure to keep OT (original Thumper) out of sight while making the introduction to NT (new Thumper), stupidly hoping she wouldn't know the difference. At first glance she greeted him with a happy, "Thumper!" Then, once she realized he felt weird (aka - much softer and not so wooled around), she held NT by her thumb and forefinger as if he were a rotten banana peel and immediately demanded for the real deal. We tried to convince her that this really was her Thumper, he'd just had a really good bath, but no dice. By bedtime the showdown was on, and Jody and I threw up our hands in defeat and went to get OT from the place where he'd last been spotted. And that folks, is where the real fun started.

He was gone. I had remembered exactly where he was, so that he could easily be located in case he was needed, and I'll be damned if he was there. Jody and I spent literally an entire hour tearing our house apart looking for OT, with absolutely no luck. Finally we had to admit defeat and put Taylor to bed with NT, and she was just going to have to cope. Fortunately, she managed ok.

For two whole days OT seemed to have just evaporated. There was no trace of him whatsoever. Then, yesterday morning as I opened my underwear drawer, I saw his ratty little eyes looking back up at me (Yes, I did change my underwear in that timeframe, and I bathed too. I hate folding laundry, and perhaps I was digging my fresh undies out of the dryer every day. Don't judge me.). Since we had gone two whole days without him, Jody and I made the executive decision to keep him hidden, only now he's stashed in our safe, safe from little hands that want to hide him in random drawers. We are also going to start a rotation with the two NT's in the hope that they'll both get all pitted out enough to where the three of them will match enough that she won't be able to tell which is which.

Just a litte side by side. NT is on the left, and ratty OT is on the right. The difference is waaaaay more perceptible in person than in photos, just trust me, he looks pretty ragged.

Left: soft and cuddly. Right: has been dragged, chewed, barfed on, etc.

First Doctor's Appointment

This past Friday we had our first doctor's appointment for this pregnancy (Yay!), which also means that I have survived the first trimester, and am officially 1/3 of the way through this beast. Everything looked good, we were able to hear our baby's heartbeat for the first time (After a LOT of searching. Little booger kept squirming away.), and it was 165 BPM. The only concern that was raised was from me, it seems as though I've gotten a lot bigger a lot faster this go-round. Right now, at 12 weeks, I'm about the size that I was at 16 weeks with Taylor. I know you get bigger faster with the second one, yadda-yadda, but just to be on the safe side my doctor went ahead and ordered an ultrasound just to make sure I'm not further along than we think. We'll go back for that on the 17th, so be on the lookout for those pics!

Random Updates

Life has continued its nice and boring pace here in the Robinson house (thank God), so as opposed to several fabulous updates, I'm just posting a big fat catch-all.

Taylor has continued her monkey climbing, and is now almost able to get ON TOP of the tool bench. Falling off the wooden chair and earning her first shiner has done nothing to discourage her climbing obsession, and she has fallen off of Jody's air tank several times in the past few days. Unfortunately, cause and effect doesn't seem to have fully engaged yet.

Move Dad, you're in my way!

And up she goes.....

This is the look I get when I call her out and tell her to get down. Kinda like, "What? I wasn't doing anything."

Also since Taylor has begun sleeping in her big girl bed we have had some learning curves as far as just how baby-proof our house is when she decides to roam around unsupervised. The other night Jody woke up to discover our child soaking wet up to her shoulder. The first instinct was panic, he was afraid she'd gotten into the toilet. Upon realizing the bathroom door was closed, he continued in his investigation only to find this in her bed:

Apparently Jody forgot to throw away his half-finished Coke from the night before, and a certain toddler I know just so happens to love fountain Cokes. Not wanting to disturb her sleeping daddy, Taylor very considerately took the drink back to her bed where she could finish off the remnants (And spill some of it on herself and her sheets, drinking from a styrofoam cup while laying down is pretty tricky.) in peace. I guess she was trying to ensure she got every last drop out of the cup, so she chewed a perfectly round little hole in the side afterward, just to make sure there was nothing the straw was missing. Needless to say, we've started doing a quick sweep of the house now before we go to bed just to be sure there's nothing out that can get her in trouble.

Who's a Big Girl?

This weekend we decided to start helping Taylor make some "big girl" transitions, with the intent that when the new baby comes this summer these changes will just be a part of her routine, and therefore less likely to cause any regressions. You know what they say about good intentions though.

First on the agenda was moving Miss Priss into her "big girl bed" and out of the crib. We were able to acquire a very gently used set of bunk beds (thanks again Stacy & Frank!), but decided to paint them white to make them a little more girly. If you've spoken to me at all in the last two weeks you know what a task this little paint job has turned out to be, and I swear now that these damn beds are going to be the death of us all. Fortunately, my dear hubby has persisted enough to at least get the bottom bunk finished (just one final coat remains to get the top bunk done), so that we could at least get started with swapping Taylor into her new bed. I have to admit, I was really nervous about the switch. I've heard so many horror stories from other parents of kids that just flat refused to sleep in a regular bed, plus the fact that she refuses to even consider laying down on any of the other beds in the house (Wrestle-Mania anyone?) made me all the more apprehensive. However, I was pleasantly surprised when after only about a two minute fit, complete with trying like hell to turn the bedroom doorknob, I heard her crawl back into bed and turn on her Glo-worm. Within minutes, there was not a peep.


Sprawled out on top of the covers. She still doesn't really like to sleep on the pillow or under the covers. Usually I find her spread eagle somewhere toward the middle or foot of the bed.


This bed ROCKS!!!!!

The only bad part was that I didn't think to open up her door that night when we went to bed. The next morning when I went to wake her up, I felt horrible when she was sitting in the floor in front of her door sucking her thumb and waiting patiently to be let out. Needless to say, I opened the door last night and this morning she came and met me as I was getting breakfast ready. I felt much better, and cleared my mind of any worries that the day before would scar her enough to cause her to become a juvenile delinquent in 15 years (Rest assured though, I'm sure Jody and I will manage to get that job done whether we like it or not!).

Our second task for this weekend was to at least attempt to begin potty training. I was fairly certain that Taylor is not really ready to go at it hard core, but a lot of people I know with kids around the same age have at least started making that introduction. I figured what the hell, it can't hurt, right? WRONG. After only two hours of trying to make "potty breaks" during which Taylor just did not want to sit on the potty because, duh, this kid just hates to be still for any length of time (I blame Jody's DNA for that one. I'm perfectly happy to sit in the same spot for an entire day and not even move an inch.), and three soaked pair of training pants, we called it quits. I decided that not only is Taylor not even close to ready (I'm pretty sure she doesn't have a clue when she's about to pee either.), but I don't think I really am either. I'm just not in a place where I have the energy or patience it's going to require to really work on this one.


Big girl undies! Five seconds later they were soaked and so was my carpet.

But hey, I figure we at least accomplished one of our transitions, and I'm pretty stoked about that one alone. We're still not 100% there during naptime, but by god when it's time to go to bed at night, we have had three successful nights in a row. I figure that's pretty good for an 18 month old.