Produce

here are my attempts to get a smiling picture of my precious girl by some pumpkins wearing her costume. unfortunately, we were all about the serious face.

The truth

ok, this is more like it! although it did take the boo some time to warm up to daddy's office, once she was comfortable, we all had a really nice time :)

and i know her daddy had a blast showing off his beautiful little girl :)
plus (warning: unsolicited mommy bragging) bailey and another little girl won the cutest costume prize for their age group!

Dude looks like a mommy.

Guest Posting Today: Bailey's daddy

This weekend Bailey's mommy went to play with some friends in Northwest Arkansas. Poor Bailey was left for 26 hours with just her old daddy.

I really think I have turned a corner, allow me to explain. Saturday morning, we got up and ate, got dressed (I was told that she matched and I did a good job, but I knew I could pull that off), and Bailey and I went to the mall. I will pause while those that know me well pick themselves up off the floor. . .

To top it off, I was carrying a Kate Spade diaper bag. I am now a man.

We played for a couple hours in the play area of the Willowbend Mall, and when Bailey came to tell me she was thirsty, I realized I had brought no liquids for the poor girl. We eventually headed to the food court, where I realized I had no bib, no high chair cover, no table topper, but a will to succeed. I did sanitize the little hands that had been crawling around the play area, and the paper towel bib said "no, he's not as good as Mommy, but we are making do". I did pack some grapes and blueberries to go along with the turkey sandwich we shared (60%-40%, no kidding).

Bailey also learned to drink from a grown-up straw at the food court, and Daddy learned that the straws in Baileys special cups are one-way straws for good reason (bits, Adam).

As we sat there eating, Bailey would wave at some of the passers-by, they would smile and gush, their body language screaming, "that poor, adorable little girl, her mommy must be out of town." Bailey also would dance in my lap as the music played in the food court, and I could not believe how lucky I was to spend the afternoon with such a beautiful little girl. We played some more after lunch and eventually got a 3 hour nap and were so happy to finally go get Mommy from the airport. (Purposefully skipped the story about Daddy letting a little girl play in the garage while he worked on the car seat, Mommy did not think that was cool.)

It was a good day with Daddy, but days are always better when Mommy is around.

Thanks for your time and allowing me to share my tale from the weekend,

Bailey's daddy

Grapes of wrath???????

well, only a few moments worth :)

bailey was mainly just shy at daddy's office, at first stopping every few feet to tear up or bow down in frustration. but when she warmed up, we all had a fun fun fun time at the office halloween festivities (fun pictures to come if blogger will let me)

Cousin Wylie's birthday party

oooooooooooh, bubbles!


aunt courtney, birthday girl wylie and cousin everson
fun with balls!

Spoon (how's that for a creative title)

bailey and i had the best time the other night as she was practicing her spoon skills with a delicious bowl of cream of wheat (she loves that stuff)! we both ended up with a huge, sticky mess, but it was paid for in giggles :)
gosh, i love this little girl!!!!!

oh, other eating related things to note. bailey has started signing for food. just this morning, the first thing she did when i went into her room was to put her little hand to her mouth over and over again. unbelievably cute!!! i gave up on the signing thing a while ago after months of doing it without any response. then, sometime last week, somebody mentioned that their child didn't start to sign until he could wave, so i thought i would give it another try. and, voila, the girl has started to give signing a try. now, if only i can remember to keep snacks on hand.......

also, bailey has been cutting her top two molars for a few weeks now. only part of one side has made it through and it seems to be taking forever. anyway, yesterday, she was crying while i was changing her diaper (i know, the nerve) and i noticed that a good part of her bottom left molar had cut through! which explains why she has been shoving her left hand in her mouth after every bite of yo baby yogurt for the past couple of weeks. and also why she has been having trouble settling down for naps or for the night. and perhaps why she was crabby enough to write me one of her letters the other day.

Testament of love

oh, the lengths i will go for my bailey bear. today, alone, i endured 2 things that i have spent most of my life avoiding at all costs for the wellbeing of my one and only child. the first one (and this one is a repeat of love from last year) is that i voluntarily got a flu shot. not for me, but for the girl. for years, i dodged this particularly painful bullet. even throughout all of my teaching and student teaching experiences, i decided to just risk being sick to save me from the dreaded needle. not now. now, i have to think of someone other than myself at all times. enter in the needle and the pain (which, to be honest, it wasn't all that bad. it's much more of a mental thing than a physical one).

the second demonstration of my love for bailey is pictured here. no, i am not deathly afraid of gyms or giant balls (ha!), but i am super self conscious about singing in public. however, bailey and i are enrolled in a class called gym dandies at the rec center where we play and sing together. it is really, really fun, but i do get anxious when it is my time to "sing" alone. it took me months to feel comfortable enough to sing at church. not to sing alone or anything, but to just sing when the other several hundred people are singing. so, to pay to go somewhere that includes solo singing 5 whole words is kinda a big step for me. for those that have known me for a long time, you understand how huge it is. but, the rest of the time is so so so much fun that it's definitely worth a few moments of dread and a few seconds of humiliation. you know, there isn't much out there i would do for my sweet little girl!

Dear Mommy

dear mommy,

much like you used to only write in your journal when you were upset as a child (oh, how many entries began with the phrase "i hate my brother"), i too, only write when i am mad. mainly when i'm mad at you. so, i guess you know where this is going.
okay, so, let's talk about the other day. when you made me spend all of that time in that room with the cold, hard floor and the big tall bowls that water pours into. you know, the one with the mirrors and that glass box that rains? in case you didn't hear my screaming protests, feel my hands clench tightly around your legs, see my head thrown back as if to ask the heavens why, oh why does she torture me so? and watch as my beautiful features dissolve into what is lovingly referred to as the ultimate sad face complete with complimentary daddy eyebrows, i wasn't happy. not one bit.
the toys? yeah, i saw them. so what. it's not like i was going to play with them or anything. i mean, you know, not when you want me to.
you were all that i wanted.
you, oh mommy, were all i needed.
couldn't you tell those were screams of love? love, mommy, love.
so, the next time you think you can get away with trying to brush your teeth and put all of that stuff on your face, think again. i will not allow such foolishness to go on. all attention must go to me and me alone. do those things on your own time, like when i take a nap.
much love,
bailey boo
p.s. apple pieces make me choke. stop giving them to me.

Galla-wheeee-a!

well, we had planned on meeting several friends at the arboretum today to take halloween pictures, but the weather did not cooperate. yes, since billy took my car to the carwash for the first time in months on sunday, we were due for some rain. so, off to the play area at the galleria we went!

bailey had a blast and so did i! we got to see sarah and camp, anne and penelope, kirsten and grayson, dax and erin, johanna and nora, and tara and kyle!
it was funny to watch how bailey responded to the (we'll just call them "active") crowd of kids from toddlers to preschoolers enjoy the play area. you know, i don't think the teacher in me will ever die. it took every ounce of self control i had not to interfer with the several squabbles i witnessed. i saw kids hit, punch and pull other kid's hair and then walk up to their adoring, smiling mothers as if nothing at all happened and skip off to enjoy a much deserved ice cream while the others sat in tears. i wanted to walk up and whisper (okay, use my stern teacher voice) "i saw you do that, now go and apologize", especially after i watched one little girl hide after ripping out a fistfull of her "friend's" hair. bailey stayed away from all of this, but i'm sure it's right around the corner. hopefully, she will not feel the overwhelming joy her father did at age 2. in his babybook, beside "notes on behavior in play with other children", his mom wrote "overbearing-pushes others around if they are smaller than he is." awesome.


overall, we had a great time and will definitely be back another rainy day :)

Merry Christmas Bailey!!!!!

oh, yeah!! it's been like christmas in october around here thanks to the just between friends sale! i found bailey some really cool stuff and i have to admit i had probably too much fun going through the racks of clothes and tables full of toys finding deals on nice things for my boo to try out. i think this wooden bead and wire thing is just super cute. two bead sections are caterpillars and the others are painted flowers.


one of my best deals was this fisher price toy. our neighbor has it too and it has plenty of activities to keep her entertained. it was in tip top shape and came with about 25 or 30 of the peek-a-blocks. most of them are sports themed but all of them are really cool.


and i was able to find what i was really looking for....this indoor plastic slide :)
bailey has been learning how to climb up the stairs and slide down on her own, but she still needs a little head support as she goes down. i got some video of it and i'll see if i can figure out how to post that too.

along with these items, bailey also got several other toys including a shapes sorter, an older version of this little people airplane, an older version of this sesame street pop-up toy, this dollhouse (which i now think isn't such a great deal, but oh well) with some accessories and a couple of other smaller items. not to mention the clothes i scored, alll from the gap, gymboree and oshkosh.

i signed up to work a shift, which i completed last night, in order to make the cut for the pre-sale. even after sorting through rack and racks and racks of unsold clothes for 4 1/2 straight hours, it was still totally worth it. hopefully, my mom will do this with me again in february :)

so, overall, i was more than pleased with my second just between friends experience and i think everyone else at this house was too!! let me know if you want to work a shift next time so we can sign up for the same one which would have made last night so so so much better, even though it really wasn't all that bad.

What's better than one balloon???

the answer, my friends, is FOUR balloons!! that's right, two in each hand. one balloon....please, that is so not quite 2 weeks ago. you haven't lived until you have mastered the art of collecting and carrying around FOUR lovely, bouncing balloons all around the house.



although bailey's birthday festivities are long gone, these balloons have lived on, providing bailey with minutes of proud delight sprinkled with a touch of frustration.
and, you may be asking yourself right now, what's even more impressive and F-U-N fun than holding FOUR balloons.....why, holding FOUR balloons while also holding a book!! oh, the joy!!!

and, oh the pain! although quite astounding, this small feat is particularly difficult. so challenging, in fact, that sometimes, you drop your book and then when you go to pick it up....oooops, a balloon is set free. and when you go to get that balloon, uh-oh, there goes your book. it quickly becomes a never-ending cycle of sadness.

well, i guess it's true, you can have too much of a good thing.

(i am sad to report that all of the balloons pictured here just recently had a bad run in with their arch nemesis, the scissors. i'm sorry, but it was time for them to go. please, no one tell bailey and let's just see if she notices)