Oh blissful day!

over the weekend, my almost 18 month old uttered her first sentence: "I LOVE YOU" actually, it sounded more like one giant word, "eylaahhyoo" but my hubby and I both knew what she meant.

okay, so she didn't say it on her own. and she's currently going through this parrot-like phase where she tries to mimic what you say. oh, alright, and yes, I said it first and she boomeranged it right back to me as best she could say it. but there it was. her first sentence. and what a sweet, lovely first sentence it was!

projectile vomit

the other night, my toddler daughter barfed....3 times: 9pm-ish, 10pm-ish, and 11:30pm-ish. and it wasn't just a yack-and-barf. it was full-on, projectile vomit. I saw pieces of macaroni from the mac & cheese that I packed for her lunch that day. and I saw recognizable bits of strawberries that she snacked on that evening. it was totally gross and for the time being, mama's having a moratorium on mac & cheese and strawberries. I'm not barring the baby from it, just me. I personally have lossed my appetite for m&c and strawberries... 2 of my favorite things. but hopefully it's just temporary.

I don't have OCD, but when there barf involved, it calls for immediate laundering. yup, I did 3 "loads" of laundry that night. 3 environmentally-unfriendly "loads" of laundry. and I say "loads" in quotes because I don't think that a 2-piece toddler pajama outfit, (1) pair of adult sweats, and (1) adult t-shirt makes for an environmentally-responsible load of laundry. they say to be kind to the environment and to conserve water and energy, you're suppose to only do full Loads of laundry. whoever came up with that green rule of thumb has got to be kidding me. there are exceptions to that rule, right?

the thing with barfing toddlers is that after the first projectile vomit, you convince yourself that it's done. that there can't possibly be another episode when so much stuff came out in the first place. clearly I was wrong in my judgement, 3 barfs later. but at the same time, even if you anticipate that there will be another barf incident, are you suppose to just let the soiled clothing from the earlier barf incident just sit around and possibly stain?

if you spray and wash or shout it out then let the garments sit around, does the stain remover lose its stain-fighting power?

Daylight Savings time...the good, the bad, the ugly

is it me, or does it seem easier to adjust to a 3+ hour time difference, like when you're traveling, than it is to adjust to the 1 hour "spring forward" that comes with the arrival of Daylight Savings Time?!?!

you really feel it the hardest on the first monday morning after the time adjustment. thankfully, those geniuses who've institutionalized the D.S.T. must have recognized that to adjust the clocks on a night before a weekday would essentially cause a severe, single-day downturn in the Gross Domestic Product of this country.

and I've always been baffled by Hawaii and Arizona and have wondered how they've managed to opt-out of D.S.T.? who do you have to know to make this happen for your state?!?!

as with all things that are imposed upon you, like D.S.T., there's the good, the bad and the ugly:

the good

after working a full day at work, it's great to come home and have time to play outside with my toddler while the sun is still up.

the bad

having a toddler and trying to get her to adjust to the new time is ridiculous. as many parenting books will tell you, it's very good for the child to have a schedule...the structure to their day actually is comforting to them since they come to know what to expect. spring forward the time by an hour and try getting your toddler up, fed, and dressed in time to get out the door to daycare, then to work without being an hour or so late. it's nothing short of impossible, particularly during the first week, post D.S.T. it's downright stressful!

the ugly

I was tickled when my toddler woke up near her usual time. she was even agreeable when it came to eating her breakfast, even though it was about an hour earlier than when she usually has breakfast. it was almost magical....we actually made it out the door at a reasonable time. and during the drive to daycare, she was in a happy mood, babbling with me ("mamaaa" "daddeeee" "hi") and telling me that a cow says "moooo" when I ask....it's the usual banter we have while driving in the car.

then it all took a turn. suddenly she was crying! this is very unusual, but then I thought, "she must be tired from the time adjustment." when we reached a red light, I turned and caught a glimpse of her tiny little hand, wet with regurgitated cream of wheat cereal! it was gross, but then I figured she just must have coughed up a little bit of her breakfast.

when we arrived at daycare and I walked around to get her out of the car I was horrified! it wasn't just a little spit up...she completely barfed her entire belly full of cream of wheat with mashed banana bits! it was everywhere! on her jacket. on her shirt. in the little fat fold under her neck. on the child seat. on the buckles of the child seat. EVERYWHERE! and the grosses part was that the barfed up cream of wheat looked exactly as it looked when it was in her little cereal bowl before she ate it. how am I gonna feed this to my child again without having flash backs to the barf situation?!?!

bottom line: I blame the barf situation on the D.S.T. I'm convinced that her stomach was a bit unsettled from eating an entire meal while still a bit sleepy. damn D.S.T.!

I think parents with little children should have the option of pulling a Hawaii/Arizona and opt out of it. Everyone else can work their 8a-5p jobs during D.S.T. but I'd just roll in at my usual time which would be equivolent to 9a-6p D.S.T. no one would even notice. if anything, the line at the coffee machine would be a bit shorter.

that's it! I guess I'll have to make the sacrifice and move to Hawaii!

Tiffanys

is it me, or are the prices at Tiffany going up? I was flipping through the delicious tiffany-blue catalog that came in the mail the other day and was going to dog-ear some pages to drop a few not-so-subtle hints to my hubby. after all, the day of grand love gestures is coming up (valentines day, of course). and why risk getting a new iron as a "token of his burning love" when I can get something cute in a little, tiffany-blue box, right?

Look, I'm not looking for a "push-present" caliber of a gift for V-day....I save my requests for sparkly things for big occasions, like birthing a baby or any wedding anniversary that's a multiple of 5. the way I see it, in the next couple of years, I'll either (A) have another baby and/or (B) we'll celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversay. I don't need to be greedy about it...there's definitely a sparkly gift in my near future.

So I thought for V-day, perhaps some silver jewelry from Tiffany would be perfect. In fact, I could really use a silver bracelet. But, looking through the catalog, I couldn't figure out why some bracelets costs near $500 and others $150 and a bunch in between. I don't get it. What marketing genius is in charge of their pricing strategy cuz it makes no sense! And, this one bracelet that I bought for one of my best friends for a significant birthday of hers was only $100 about 6 months ago, and is now $125! A 25% price increase in less than a year! Who does that?! And is there a run on silver all of a sudden?!?!

Then I started to think back and remember the pre-mortgage/marriage/baby days, when disposible income was plentiful. And on a whim, I'd pass through the Tiffany store and pick up a little something for self, just because. Those were the days. My ever-growing collection of all things fabulous yet frivolous. Tiffany. Gucci. Louis V. But then again, I hadn't found the love of my life at that time, not to mention that the initial infatuation of a newly purchased item from Tiffany, Gucci or Louis V. never lasted that long. (Well, maybe except a new bag from Louis V....I swear I still hear a choir of angels singing when I look at my favorite LV bag).

So maybe it IS just me. Yeah, the prices are going up (did I mention 25% on a simple, but elegant, silver bracelet). But I guess when you're north of 30 with a family and a mortgage, the allure of the tiffany-blue box just doesn't quite cut it anymore.

Sucked in again!

So I'm a day late in watching the 1st episode of the 2nd season of "Newport Harbor" on MTV. And now I'm completely conflicted. I'm heart-broken over the swift turn of events since we last left off. I don't want to watch this season. But now I have to know what went down.

I can't believe that silly Chrissy wasn't true to yummy Clay. But the worse part of it: she had an out. Over a romantical home-cooked dinner with Clay (and extra YUM points for him for knowing how to cook and actually cooking for his gal), Chrissy should've/could've 'fessed up about her daliances with shady dude, Billy from Santa Barbara (BfSB). They (Chrissy & Clay) were totally having a RDT (Relationship Defining Talk) over dinner, and she wimped out on coming clean about her flirtations and what not with BfSB.

And sweet, naive Clay still appeared to hold out some hope that it wasn't over for them... in spite of Chrissy's evasiveness about the status of their young romance.

Part of me can't blame her entirely. Clay's hot. Period. I'd want to hold on to him too.

But fast-forward to the scene of the party at Chrissy's parent's house in Newport. And her new friends/sorority sisters from S.B. - also known as The Instigators - had a surprise for Chrissy. They were in cahoots with BfSB who made a surprise appearance at the party! Clearly, they hadn't met or seen yummy Clay before 'cuz that BfSB doesn't come anywhere close to Clay's level of hotness. Had they seen or met Clay, The Instigators would swoon over him and not meddle and egg on Chrissy with Billy.

Unless.....MTV hired those "sorority sisters" for the sole purpose of instigating a love triangle among Chrissy-Clay-BfSB. Well, let's just say it wouldn't be the first time that an MTV "reality" show wasn't all "reality." [wink-wink]

Back to the situation..... That guy - BfSB - was so not cute. He had a shady vibe all over him. And foolish Chrissy started making out with him. What was she thinking?!?! Of course, it's gonna get back to Clay. And it did. Immediately. His buddy Grant spied the entire situation and didn't waste time hitting up Clay on his cell to give him the scoop.

You can practically hear the sound of yummy Clay's heart breaking! Aargh!

And so it goes. This sucks. I hate how this all went down. I wasn't expecting all this drama in the first episode. Spread it out a little, MTV. Oh, and the previews for next week: Not good for yummy Clay and Chrissy!

Stay tuned....

Perilous Daycare

For the second time in just a couple of weeks, I picked up my baby from daycare and found - to my horror - that her clothing was ruined with bleach splotches.

WTF??!?!?

The first time it happened, the care giver explained that they use diluted bleach spray to clean the diaper change table and it must not have been dried well before my baby was put on the table. Okay, I thought, s**t happens, especially when there's a room filled with active babies/toddlers playing and running amok. After all, my baby's been in daycare for just shy of a year now and this was the first time this happened. Chalk it up to a fluke. (oh, and never mind that the top that got ruined was totally cute and from grandma and from a very shi-shi store and this was the first time she wore the top. In the moment I was very salty, but when all is said and done, it's just a top that she'll outgrow in a couple of months anyways).

Fast forward to today, just a couple weeks after incident #1. This time, another relatively new article of clothing got ruined. Same situation. Now I'm fuming.

I completely understand the need to disinfect and to be vigilant about it too. Especially in a day care environment. My baby is cootie-free, of course. But the place is a virtual petrie dish of cooties, germs and other potentially bad things.

So here's my rant about the situation: Whatever bleach concoction they're using, it's not being managed with enough care. Clothing can be replaced. But to think that the bleach spray is strong enough to splotch her clothing is troubling (and I'm not talking about just a droplet spot here and there...it's a full on smudge splotch). What makes them think that my baby won't accidentally touch the wet bleach drizzle on the changing mat. Then later she'll be sticking her fingers in her mouth. Or feeding herself Cheerios. Sure, the caregivers are all protected, wearing rubber gloves when changing the diapers. But my child and the other children at that daycare are at risk.

I'm gonna have to call them out on this. It might get ugly. But I've got to protect my child. I may need to re-consider my daycare provider. This is not good!

Black Friday Bullies

I don't know what I was thinking. It's not like I ordinarily brave the madness on Black Friday's. But for reasons that I'm still mulling over, this year was different. Somehow, I deluded myself into thinking, "really...how bad can it be on BF? I can handle it...I'll just get there early."

Famous last words. And define "early"!

Afterall, I've managed to juggle my hectic life as (1) a new mom, (2) a relatively newlywed wife (and yes, in case you're wondering, marriage came first, before I got sperminated), and (3) an ambitious career woman....and I've lived to tell. Not to mention that (1) my child is healthy and blossoming (2) my husband still thinks I'm pretty cool and (3) I haven't gotten fired.......yet ;-/

So I braved the crowds and headed out on my bargain hunt on BF. Oh, and did I mention that I brought my 1-year old with me? (I know, what was I thinking....seriously! Someone needs to call CPS on me!)

When we got to the parking structure on the less frequented side of the mall, it was all too promising. Parking O'Plenty! And why wouldn't there be. It was not even 8am. But, evidently, in spite of the pseudo-mirage of plentiful parking, it was a complete mad house the moment I set foot inside the mall. All I could think when I stepped in was: "where the hell did all these people come from and where did they park!?!?"

Long story short, it was a miserable time that was best summed up by the woman who bullied her way into the elevator at Macys.

One thing you notice when you have kids is that there never seems to be enough elevators. Period. And you'll find that you mentally take note of where things are in the mall relative to the nearest lift.

On all days, not just on BF, I would suggest that elevator priority goes to the elderly, anyone who has a blue placard in their car, anyone with walkers/wheelchairs, anyone with a leg/ankle/foot in a cast/moon-boot/ace bandage, and people with strollers. I'm not saying that all others are relegated to the escalator or stairs. Just let these folks go first when there's a line for a lift, that's all.

So back to the BF Bully Lady at the elevators in Macys.

Me and my baby in her stroller, a woman in a wheelchair and her party all comforably filled the lift. Then here comes the BF Bully Lady who risks her arm by sticking it in the way of the slowly closing doors. At first glance, it all seemed okay. She appeared to have a stroller with her. Mind you, we were pretty full to begin with, and it was questionable whether another stroller would fit.

So we all scooched in a tad closer to each other to accommodate this woman who I call the BF Bully Lady and her stroller. But wait, here's the thing -- her stroller was piled high with bags and bags of loot from the Disney store. No baby in sight. Or horror of horrors - is her baby underneath all those bags??!!

After the door closes and we're all sardined inside the lift and people are bumping my baby's stroller (while she's trying to nap!), one of the women called her out: WHERE'S YOUR BABY?

And get this: BF Bully Lady says all snippity "are you kidding? there's no way I'd bring my baby here."

WHAAAAT??

First of all, if that's a back-handed comment directed at me, that was sooooo uncalled for.

And second of all, why not just liberate a shopping cart from Albertsons instead of using your stroller as a cart for you loot. That's just weird. It clearly required pre-meditation. And to top it off, your baby stroller is like your fast pass to the front of the line for the lift. No baby necessary. Details. Details.

The lesson: No more BF adventures for me. Viva online shopping!