uh oh

Mary's new favorite word. Every time she drops something, throws something, or just feels like it...uh oh. So cute. She also likes to show you her belly button and look for yours. That sure is a nice size belly on that girl. Thanks Grandma P. for the belly button book. It's a super cute song on the cd, but it runs through our head like crazy. Don't worry, we'll play it for you lots when you come to visit.

We had a busy day today. We dropped Doug off at the airport for another trip. Hopefully this one will be short. Mary's been battling a cold, but it seems to be a quick one. Yesterday was the worst. Today, it's been a slightly runny nose, but she seems to be in good spirits and on the road to recovery. Yea! Doug and I worked like mad men trying not to let it spread and get us sick. So far so good. Double yea! Mary and I went for a long walk today in the stroller and played on the playground. I think I wore her out so much (that and the cold) that when I asked her if she wanted to go to bed at 7:30pm, she immediately ran to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Seriously, she was waiting for me to get there. How cute.

Oh! A funny...during Mary's bath, she suddenly stood up, peed, sat back down and resumed playing with her bath toys. I just shrugged. Better than when she pooped in the tub!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ah, so many things to be thankful for this year...a wonderful husband, a beautiful daughter, the opportunity to stay at home with her and watch her grow (thanks, Doug). We had a nice quiet Thanksgiving here with our neighbors. We stuffed ourselves full of turkey and all the trimmings. Even Dumas got to have a few morsels of turkey and then the tryptophan hit and she needed a nap on Mary's spare bed.

Saturday after Thanksgiving was the official "get ready for Christmas day". Up went the decorations and the tree. This was the tree we bought our first year together in Italy. It's held up really well. Last year, Mary was only 6 months old, so she pretty much sat where we placed her and didn't realize what was going on. This year, was very exciting. First, the boxes came down from the shelves. Then, she needed to read the directions to Daddy on how to put the tree together. What a big helper!

Then came the decorations. Mary was very excited about the tree skirt. She said she loves wearing skirts too.

Now, it's time for the ornaments. What a challenge finding all the non-breakable, non-heavy child proof ones. A quick moment of inattention and she had opened a package containing a glass ball and thrown it across the living room. Oops. Guess that one's going in the trash.

Here are a few of my favorites. What a fun day!

quiet + baby = trouble

Why is it whenever Mary is quiet, I can't relax and think "oh, she's being so good"? Nope, she's usually into something. This morning, I was checking e-mail and she was nice and quiet watching sesame street. I heard the nice pitter patter of baby feet coming to join me. She had her bowl of yogurt that she didn't finish at breakfast (that was left on the dining room table). "How cute! She's eating her yogurt." That's what I thought until I walked out in the living room. Yogurt spilled everywhere. Big glops all over the floor and the rug. My fault completely. I just shook my head and pulled out the rug cleaner...after I grabbed the camera, of course. The pictures don't do it justice.

Licking the bowl clean. It's hard to tell, but there are glops of yogurt on the rug behind her.

At least she wanted to help me clean up. Thanks, Mary.

34

Ah, 34. Where did all the years go? I like my 30's. It's a good age and I'm not one to get depressed about getting older. I do wonder at times how the years can go by so quickly. I am so blessed to have such a wonderful husband and daughter...and the cat's ok every once in a while. We went to Mel and Kaye's house for dinner. Yum! Thanks a lot ladies. We had a great time and the food was wonderful.

Mary and I took Doug to the beach on Saturday. It warmed back up to the mid 70's and felt great. We had a good time wandering around the shops in the area and playing in the sand.

Time to wash the sand off the feet.

An afternoon at the beach

Mary and I headed to Sunset beach after her afternoon nap. This week was cooler, but I hear the temp is coming back up this weekend. Sorry, Uncle Brian, there were "No Swimming" signs posted everywhere. The water was cool, but not cold. Mary had a good time getting her feet wet and of course, accidentally sat down. Note to self: always keep a spare outfit and a towel in the car.

My girly girl

Yesterday, Mary and I were looking at the sticker selection at the PX. She really likes them and I like how they keep her nice and quiet during church. Of course I was perusing the $.99 options and she goes and tears open a package of her liking. Guess we're buying that one. Then I looked at it. Could she have pick an uglier set? Oh, well. Hopefully it will keep her entertained.

This blog is dedicated to Grandpa Mesta. Mary loves her ketchup and can't understand why you don't. She says she'll eat yours when you come to visit.

The ketchup monster wanted to attack.

A nice weekend

Doug told me that I don't have to write on the blog everyday, so I have refrained to keep you from getting too bored. We have had a nice quiet weekend. Yesterday, we ran around doing errands on base, paying bills, dropping off dry cleaning, etc. We decided to try a different restaurant out in town for lunch. Sometimes it's too easy just to run to the food court on base, but I have to remind myself that we're in Japan and need to experience the local flavor. We drove until we saw a place that looked interesting (and open). I think it was part Korean and part Japanese, since they brought a big delicious bowl of kimchee to the table, but the menu had a lot of ramen. Doug had a big bowl of spicy ramen with ground beef (it had a delicious broth), I had regular ramen with slices of pork and bean sprouts, we split a plate of gyoza (dumplings) and Mary had lettuce fried rice (sounds weird, but yummy) and a big helping of my noodles. You can tell she's half Asian cause she loves her noodles and rice. The restaurant was packed with locals and a few Americans. We had a great lunch and a new experience.

This afternoon, we decided to play outdoors with Mary before the rain came. It was overcast, but nice and cool. Mary was having a great time on her playground and running in the grass. Now, she's sitting on the couch watching Baby Einstein with Doug and we're all thinking, "what a nice weekend".

Our peaceful sleeper

Ah, to be young again... I remember being in my 20's and realizing that I was groaning when I got out of bed. When did that happen? How can you be stiff and sore after sleeping all night? Last night we checked on Mary and this is how she was sleeping in bed. I thought, 1) how? and 2) wouldn't it be nice to sleep like that and not wake up with a crick in your neck? Ah, to be young again...well maybe not that young.

Ball number 2

The 233rd Marine Corps Ball. Last night was our first Marine Ball and I have to admit, they did a mighty fine job. Mel came and babysat again. Thanks, Mel. We owe you big time. With all these balls, what do you wear? Well, Aunt Peggy, do you remember this dress? I bought it 10 years ago when Doug and I came to visit the South Carolina Lathroms and you took me shopping. Sometimes it good to be a pack rat...and the same size.

Doug had a nice 4 day weekend for Veteran's Day and would you believe it rained 3 out of the 4? Yuck. By Tuesday, we were going stir crazy. Mary decided the only way to amuse herself was to torment the cat. Dumas actually thought she was smart by hiding in the laundry basket in our closet. However, Mary found her, dragged her out, down the hall and into the living room. Once again I say, poor Dumas.

Thank you to all the veterans out there. I am so proud to be an American and all your hard work and dedication is appreciated and respected. God bless.

It's over

Well, I think I can safely say that the weaning off the pacifier is over and done. Yea! Mary slept a good 1 1/2 hour nap yesterday without any crying and slept from 7:30pm to 6:45am and only woke once. This week, we also accomplished switching from 2 naps to 1 successfully. Ah, she's growing up so fast.

We bought her a new ball yesterday. This one fits through the basketball hoop I bought a few weeks ago. It also bounces very well. Mary pulled her socks up like that. What do you think...future NBA player? She's getting really good at throwing the ball (especially at the cat).

The light at the end of the tunnel

Oh, we can see the light and it's beautiful! Mary is weaning off the pacifier successfully. Yea! Yesterday's nap was a struggle. She slept for about 40 min then woke up screaming. Usually, if we pick her up it settles her right down. Nope, not this time. She continued to cry and cry. It didn't matter which of us were holding her, so we put her back in her crib to cry it off. After about 20 minutes of pure angry screaming, she fell back asleep and slept for another 1 1/2 hrs. We ended up waking her so she would be able to sleep at night. Amazingly, she went to bed without a fuss and slept from 7:30pm all the way to 6:50am! Hallelujah!

I've noticed that since we began this weaning process, Mary has been more pleasant during the day. She used to have cranky moments, but now it seems that she's always in a good mood. Maybe she's just growing up, maybe I'm too sleep deprived, maybe I'm blocking all the bad moments and remembering only the good. Who knows, I'm just happy, happy, happy. So, today is day 4 and the pacifier is becoming a distant memory.

Day 3

Day 3 wasn't so bad. Dare I say, we're starting to survive without the pacifier? Mary took a 1 1/2 hr nap and only cried for about 5 min. Yea! She also went to bed so easily. No crying, no whimpering, nothing. She made it to 4am without wondering where it was and then ended up waking for the day by 6:10am. Kinda early for the weekend, but Doug can help me today. Good news, no nosebleeds last night and I was able to finish putting Mary's room back in order yesterday. So everything is back to normal.

Doug took pity on the cat and gave her a mouse to play with. Unfortunately, Mary found it and thinks it's her toy. She loves carrying it around and shoving it in Dumas' face, but not actually giving it to her. Every once in a while Dumas gets lucky and grabs it. Here's a short video I took the other day. You can tell Doug changed her diaper, since he rarely ever finishes re-dressing her.

The tired 2

Exhausted, tired, sleepy. Poor Mary (and Mommy...ok, maybe Daddy too). Yesterday, Mary did really well in the morning. We went to the post office to check mail and then to the Exchange to shop. She never once whined for the pacifier in the car. Yea! I put her down for a nap at 12:45pm and she cried for about 20 min before settling down, but then woke up 45 min. later. That's all she would sleep. She cried and cried and cried until I gave up and picked her up. We spent the rest of the afternoon going through her clothes. I decided to reorganize, since I had some 3 mo clothes mixed in with 12 month and 6 month mixed with 3. It was kinda confusing. What a job. It looked like a tornado had come through her room. Mary had a great time jumping on all the clothes, not to mention pulling clothes off one pile and placing them on another one. The bed's still a wreck, but I was able to get most everything else re-situated and returned to proper storage. So the good thing about a completely exhausted baby is that when it came to bed time, she was more than ready. She didn't fuss one bit. She even fell asleep in the exact same position we put her in bed. That never happens. I was shocked to go check on her later and she was still on her back, the blanket on top of her and her stuffed animal in the crook of her arm. Unfortunately, the quiet evening gave way to a busy night. Poor Mary woke up at 1am with a bloody nose. It looked like tons to me, but this morning, I realize it wasn't. However, when I picked her up at 1am it was still running out her nose and in her mouth. I woke up Doug since I needed/wanted help/support. Unfortunately, she only wanted me and cried harder when he held her. So we rocked for a bit and then she went back to bed. She woke again at 4:40am and her nose was bleeding again. I cleaned her up and then we dosed on the couch together. Darn, bad time to make a mess of the bed in her room. This morning, she's as pleasant as can be. Happy, smiling, chasing the cat and eating popcorn. You would never know that we had a rough night, except for the rings under my eyes. Don't worry, she ate a whole container of yogurt and her milk for breakfast before I gave her the popcorn. So the baby's happy, the sheets and pj's are soaking, I'm downing the coffee and we start the 2nd day without the pacifier.

Day 1

We've decided to say "good-bye" to the good 'ole pacifiers. Ok, Doug and I have, but Mary's not so sure. Last night was the first night and frankly, it went much better than I had anticipated. She screamed her head off from 7:30pm to 8pm before finally falling asleep. She woke at 2:08am. Do I go in? Do I let her cry? I decided to go in and I held her for a few minutes and put her back down. She went right back to sleep without a peep. Woke up again at 4:58am. Again, I went in to reassure her and she quieted down, but as soon as I crawled back in bed, she cried again. This time, I let her cry and it lasted less than 5 min. Yea! Of course the dumb cat woke her up at 6:30am. Why couldn't we have chosen a quiet cat? I'll be curious how nap time goes today. I hear the weaning takes about a week.

You know, if it wasn't for this play group, I probably wouldn't have even thought of taking the pacifier away so quickly. However, at 16 months old, she's the only toddler of the group still using one. Peer pressure is an amazing thing. Besides it was starting to get out of hand. We usually only gave it to her at bedtime, but I had an "emergency" one in my purse and she would want that whenever she was in the car, in church, or just anytime she happened to see it. Not good. So, would I do it again if I had the chance? In a heartbeat. But then again, this is only day 1.