dinner theatre

Yesterday was fun, although Rachel's little gums definitely seemed to be bothering her. She's been having terrible trouble going to sleep at nap time, even taking 2 hours to finally fall asleep this afternoon (at 3:55pm, I went in her room and retrieved the pacis she had ousted for the third time, and I vowed I would get her up if she didn't fall right asleep when I left).

After her second nap yesterday, we met Aunt KiKi, Cousin Tyler, and Carla (sans Koen, since he was taking a nap himself) at the mall nearby. There is an outdoor area there that has an in-sidewalk fountain, perfect for children to play. It was Carla's idea, and I worked myself up for it. As soon as Rachel woke up, I stripped her down and smeared her with sunblock, found her cutest diaper and a summery outfit, packed her swimmy shoes and sun hat, and we were off. I thought Rachel would be mesmerized by the water jumping up out of the ground. Tyler seemed to think it was fun, and Rachel and Tyler were mildly interested in each other, but Rachel preferred walking around greeting everyone who was sitting at the tables outside. We hung around the mall all night. Aunt KiKi shared some of her baked ziti with Rachel, and then we let the kiddos play in the indoor play area. Rachel has been timid on the playground in the past, but last night, she went for it. She climbed all over the fake rocks, and she laughed hysterically as Carla and I helped her go down the slides for the first time. All the equipment is made out of squishy-but-firm foam, which really came in handy when Rachel decided to run down one of the slides. She fell back and hit her head on the slide and tumbled the rest of the way down (these aren't big slides, mind you). Carla, Aunt KiKi, and I gasped, but Rachel laughed and got right up. Whew! She learned all this monkey business from her cousin Tyler!!

Today was busy in a fun kind of way. Since Rachel took over an hour to go to sleep for her 1.5-hour nap this morning, and two hours to go to sleep for her 1-hour nap this afternoon, I was able be fairly productive. It is sad, listening to her on the monitor, struggling to stay awake while wanting to go to sleep. More info below...

Shortly after Rachel woke up this morning, two men came to clean our living room carpet. Spots have been popping up everywhere, and it's been driving me crazy. I've tried to do spot treatments, but it hasn't worked. As soon as the crew came in, Rachel went straight over one man (the older one...she seems to prefer older, grandfatherly men) and gave his leg a big bear hug. He laughed [uncomfortably]. Conveniently, it was Rachel's lunch time, so I pulled her high chair right over to the edge of the living room so she could watch the show as she ate. It could not have worked out any better. Incidentally, the guys were really impressed with Jarrad's concrete countertops. It was fun to have a chance to brag on his hard work!

Aunt Mamber came over this afternoon for her usual Thursday visit. Rachel was in a good mood, as she has been lately post-dinnertime.

I have slept really well the past two nights, which is a change from the last couple of weeks. It is amazing how good sleep really affects the how good I feel and how productive I am.

Progress Report

	potty	diaper
peepee	4	7
poop	0	2

From Sunday until last night, Rachel had done nothing on the potty except one poopy (and that was only because I caught her when she was about to go). Last night, right before bed, she peepeed on the potty, and I could not have been more thrilled. Today, she peepeed some on the potty, although she was still mostly reluctant.

The most amazing thing, though, is that this child, who went about 10 weeks without pooping in her pants even one time, who I watched hold her poopy all the way home from the park one afternoon, who used to only average once a day, usually right before bedtime, has now started pooping in her diaper in her crib. I don't know how she can possibly be holding it for that, but there is no other explanation. Yesterday morning, she had two dirty diapers in her crib before she went to sleep for her morning nap, and one in the afternoon. This morning, I changed a wet diaper and then a dirty diaper before she went to sleep, and this afternoon was exactly the same routine. It is amazing!

cute moment

While Aunt Mamber was here tonight, we were playing in Rachel's room, and two of her stuffed animals were sitting side-by-side. Rachel pointed at them, said something forcefully in Rachel-language, and then she turned, and she sat on them, laughing a sinister sort of laugh.

non-toy toy of the day

Rachel did get a little wet from the water fountain at the mall, and she thought that was funny. Even funnier, though, was the disgusting, runny mud puddle in the natural area by our table. She was stomping in it, just like PopPop taught her to do, and she was having such a great time that I didn't stop her...but I did give her a good bath before bed last night.