9/9/9 - Happy Birthday Mom!

Before I say anything further, I just want to say happy birthday to my wonderful mother who gets to celebrate her birthday on 9/9/9. She is indeed a very special lady whom I love dearly.

We enjoyed our Labor Day weekend which we capped off with a trip to Sea World on Monday with the in-laws. Thankfully it wasn't nearly as hot as it was when we were there on Father's Day. We only stay for about three or four hours but that's plenty enough. This time we went to the dolphin show and of course, had to wrap up with the Sesame Street show featuring Abby Cadabby. Calleigh has taken quite a liking to Abby ever since she saw the show for the first time. Aubree was a peach the whole visit and the nursing situation is very nice there. They have a big building just for baby needs. There is a room for diaper changing and then a room with three rockers for mothers to nurse. It has tinted glass so you can see out but no one can see in. So while Calleigh is busy going on all the rides, I'm right near by taking care of Aubree. It works out very well. In another section of the park, they have a private room with a baby changing table, rocker, microwave, and free bottled water for nursing mothers. As I've said before, Sea World beats Disney and I think this proves it. Oh, one other thing I wanted to mention about the day. For the first time, Calleigh rode on the merry-go-round without someone standing next to her. Duncan rode on a creature next to her instead.




On Sunday, we were thinking about going to the beach but it wasn't going to work out with going to First Watch for breakfast so Duncan ended up taking Calleigh to Downtown Disney. They had a good time and as soon as Calleigh got back she was telling me "Member (remember) that big dinosaur?" I told her that I didn't remember because I wasn't there and in fact, hadn't been to Downtown Disney since before she was born. She says to me "You HAVEN'T?" Her voice was so incredulous like she just could NOT believe I hadn't been there since then. It was funny. Please note that the boy and dogs she is looking at in this picture is made entirely of Legos. I think she's trying to figure that all out.

But back to Abby. So after the show at Sea World, Grandpa and Grandma bought an Abby stuffed animal for Calleigh and she was thrilled. She played with it the whole way home and of course, it went to bed with her that night. Yesterday Calleigh was being rough with Aubree so Duncan told her that if she hit Aubree, the doll house and Abby would be taken away. Calleigh responded by going over to her other toys and asking if they would be taken away. She says to Duncan, "The airplane will be gone?" As she goes through this, the punishment then doesn't seem to be too bad because it's like she is saying to us that she has all these toys left so big deal on Abby and the doll house. Today she started being rough with me and I told her if she hit me, Abby would be gone. Sure enough, a few minutes later, she gives me a little slap on the leg. I told her that was it, Abby was gone and I took her away and hid her in my closet. She did seem sad at this prospect so I was feeling good that it was a good punishment. I get back downstairs and Calleigh goes over to her doll house, stands next to it and says "Daddy said the doll house too." Boy, she doesn't miss anything. I then had to explain that it was the doll house if she hit Aubree but since I had only said Abby would go if she hit me, I wasn't taking the doll house. Somehow this whole punishment thing didn't seem like it worked out just right. Work in progress I guess!

Calleigh has unfortunately come down with a very runny nose as of yesterday. I have no idea what the incubation period is for a cold - - did she get this at Sea World - - but she appears to have one. What are the odds of it not spreading to any of the rest of us? Her poor little nose was a wreck this morning when she woke up. It was all crusty and I have no idea how she was even able to have a binky in her mouth because she couldn't have possibly been able to breath out of at least one of her nostrils last night. This afternoon she didn't nap. I don't know if was related to feeling bad from her cold but she was in her crib for two hours and didn't fall asleep. I had to make numerous trips up there because she would keep calling me and say she wanted to get out. I kept finding things to distract her but finally let her get up. Thankfully she fell asleep this evening without a problem.

I'm having a real challenge right now with her calling me Cor. I swear, every five seconds she's saying "Hey Cor..." This happened a while ago and I thought it has passed because I wasn't noticing it any more but the last few days it's gotten really bad. I told her today numerous times that my name is Mommy and that's what I want to be called. But she told me "I like Cor better." I'll just keep correcting her but hopefully this is a phase that will pass soon...

Yesterday we picked Aunt Sherrie up from the airport. Calleigh saw her and started crying. Which of course, is crazy because she loves Aunt Sherrie. I have really come to the realization that she often gets scared when she sees someone for the first time that she doesn't see very often. Within about 30 seconds of Aunt Sherrie getting into the van, Calleigh was chattering away like they were dear friends. "I'm okay" she says.

Poor Aubree has barely even gotten a mention in this whole entry so I'll say in closing that she is doing very well. Naps are still varying but that's okay. I will say that every morning, pretty much without fail, she's been waking up at about six so I go, put her binky back in, and she goes back to sleep. So that's good at least.
One new thing that she's been doing for a little while now I guess is reaching for objects. If I sit her in one of her bouncy seats, she'll reach out to grab some of the objects on the bar in front of her.

That's all for now. Football starts tomorrow night. Yay!