It is no secret that I have one precocious toddler. She is extremely opinionated, smart, and spirited. She's also very friendly, kind, giving, and tender. I welled up with tears yesterday when she was skipping along holding her daddy's hand pointing out all of the things she saw. That is something etched into memory and one of those moments where I'll hold forever. That's how I will remember toddler Mari. Brightly colored clothes, long, curly, and wild hair, a giant smile on her face, and her tiny body vibrating with energy, she is either jumping, skipping, dancing, or doing all of them.

Anyway, here lately, we've been having an issue with our bedtime routine. I think it has something to do with the holidays and being thrown off track. Regardless, we've all been suffering. Since it is the first full day back to the grind for us all, we were apprehensive the night before to her reaction. Similar to how it has been for the past several days, she's thrown a disastrous temper tantrum and Don and I are completely beside ourselves. At first, we thought she would pass out in her fit of rage. That has only happened once. The other times, she's stayed awake until long after we've gone to bed. We have relented and have allowed her to sleep with us. I don't mind now that we have a larger bed. It is actually nice having the whole family together. However, it would be nice to wake up and be held by my husband. :) Any tips or advice? For the record, we've never had a bedtime issue like this before. Not for this long. I figured we probably just need time to get into a routine.

Also, for those of you interested, I wanted to showcase some hits & misses with the gifts we received this year. I will do that in a separate post, complete with graphics.

Frock by Friday: Day 1

Well, the downloading of the pattern was easy. Heck, printing it off was pretty simple too! I started cutting away and was quickly reminded of kindergarten and cutting on straight lines. The entire time, I thought to myself, why am I not using my industrial cutting board or even my paper trimmer? 30 pages later, I was finished cutting. I'd managed to tape the first row rather easily, but it was the 4 other rows that gave me fits. Plus, all of that taping reminded me of the time that I broke the vase and attempted to put it all back together with scotch tape. Yes, there was a time that I truly believed that tape could fix anything, just as long as you had enough of it! ;)

Lucky for me, Don came in to save the day. Actually, he was in the middle of folding 100 newsletters and stuffing them in envelopes for the HOA. I begged him to trade me tasks. While he didn't want to really, I think he saw the despair in my eyes and handed over the folding and stuffing. My mind immediately took me over to those "Work from Home" ads where you just stuff mailers. Shortly thereafter, I dispelled that idea when my hand began to cramp around letter 53. No thanks! Just as I finished with 100, he was putting on the final piece of tape. Unfortunately, we didn't have any packing tape, otherwise, I would've used Jacki's idea. Definitely going to get some next time I'm out and about, especially since I have another pattern that I want to make that I downloaded from Burdastyle as well. (Totally excited about that one too, because the pattern was FREE and the gorgeous navy blue linen fabric cost me a whole $1.10 for 1 1/4 yards!) All in all, it took about three hours from start to finish with about a 20 minute break to play on the Internets and stretch out my hands.

This past weekend, we took the Subarbean to a nearby park to have her portrait taken. But Bianca, aren't y'all photographers? Why yes, but we wanted some images from another perspective, an outsider's view of our little one. We were very lucky that she captured her spirit beautifully! Also, she snapped a few of us as a family and the proofs were amazing! I'm unable to post those for another couple of weeks, so you're just gonna have to enjoy these as a teaser!

Now that you've had some cuteness, here's a hefty dose of mommyhood:
I'm back on the insomniac train, so last night when I finally caught my window of sleep at 1:30AM, I stopped by her room to check on her. This is my ritual. Always on the way to bed, I stop by to tuck her in, kiss her goodnight and turn off her night light. This time, when I lifted her blankie to cover her, it was saturated. Then I remembered the three glasses of water she'd inhaled just before bedtime. Of course! She's had a couple of these bed wetting accidents, all of which were preceded by mass amounts liquid intake prior to bedtime. So there we were, Don and I, tag-teaming it. I undressed her and wiped her down with a wet wipe and redressed her. Don took the blankets and sheets to the washer. Instead of remaking the bed, I opted to bring her back to ours to take advantage of some snuggle time. Plus, if I exerted the energy to make the bed, I knew I'd be wired for another hour or so and as it was, I needed rest. I gently placed her next to my pillow and she curled in. I came in behind her, whispering, I love you, cuddlebug, simultaneously tucking her in with my quilt. She nuzzled in the pillow and in her little voice, said, "thank you mommy. coddle, coddle" and let out a sleepy giggle. Seconds later she was fast asleep. Ever since she returned from her vacation, she's been calling me Mommy instead of Mama. I glanced over at the clock, 2AM. I'd have to be up in less than 5 hours, but holding my little one, it didn't matter. To trade sleep for moments like these, well, it's an easy no-brainer trade.

250: All she wants to do is dance, dance...

In a fresh scene straight out of Girls Just Want to Have Fun, Mari flung on her sparkly red shoes and launched herself out to the middle of the dance floor. Her tiny body reverberating with the boom-beat in the background. She loves to dance, dance, dance. In the last photo, you can see the first pair of shoes she was wearing. They were a little too slippery for my tastes and after her 2nd wipeout, I took them off. She's the one who insisted I put on her red shoes. I guess red shoes runs in her genes! :)

Anyway, it warmed my heart to see her dancing to the rhythm regardless if anyone else was around her dancing. She absolutely enjoys music and that is yet another thing that is in her genes!

250: Tomato Plants Repurposed

Last year, I attempted upside down hanging tomato plants. I yielded slightly less than a dozen. I think I would've gotten a better return, but we had a monster heat wave and I went out of town, forgetting to water my plants. Needless today, they were fried, and they weren't green. (get it? fried green tomatoes...
eh, lame, I know)

This year, Don continued the tradition and surprised me with them one afternoon. Not long after, he happily skirted into the house and whipped up Mari. Always up to be outside, she giddily kicked her feet, making slight baby squeals along the way. And then, she stopped and stared. There she was, perched quietly, but staring around intently protecting her domain. She seemed very regal atop our tomato plant. Who knew it was such a nice nest!

Several weeks went by. With each passing day, Mari insisted that we take her outside to see the birdie. Oh the meltdowns we would experience because she wanted to love on the bird. Hug and pet her. We tried to explain that she was nesting. We never saw that bird move from the nest. We had NO idea how many eggs were under there. Today, when I got home, Mari was lamenting that I didn't let her play beep-beep. I couldn't. Don immediately met me at the car and whisked her up, telling her he had a surprise. They tiptoed to the backyard and were greeted with these little guys. Aren't they amazing?!

I don't know where the mom had gone. Immediately I thought they needed something to eat. Because it is instinct, I headed for the kitchen to make them a snack. And then duh, they don't eat human food! I casually asked about the mom, to which Don responded, "She probably out hunting for food. They must be hungry!" Of course, why else would she leave them. Then he followed up with, "They're almost fledglings and soon they will fly away and leave the nest." With that I was upset, and so was Mari. She wanted to hold them in her hands and play with them.

250: FC Dallas

How blessed are we? Tonight we had the opportunity to go to the FC Dallas game to watch our favorite professional defender (#3) against the Seattle Sounders. It had been threatening storms all day, so we were unsure what to take with us. However, we knew that we weren't allowed an umbrella, so we packed the weatherproof blanket, Mari's raincoat, and a healthy dose of fun and giggles. Lucky for us, the weather held off for the entire game! Even better, Mari's mood was top notch for the entire game. The only hiccups occurred were during GOOOOOOAAAAALs. I guess the erupted sonic boom of happiness emanating from the crowd, along with the sirens actually emits riot-like decibels that freak out a toddler. I don't blame her. Being that tiny with such loud and instant noises can cause a temporary freak out. Nothing that some tight hugs and blue cotton candy can't fix, though.

While there, one of Mari's closest buddies came along. As soon as she saw him, she hollered out "Haaay-yen!" her tiny body vibrating in my arms. She was so excited to see a friend. She was equally as excited when she saw the pastel puffs of sugar in the distance. Oh yes friends, she knows what cotton candy is. She hasn't eaten any since the twins' birthday in October, but somehow that goodness has stuck with her. She happily munched away on it and Don proudly pointed out our blue tongues. She was intrigued because not only did we have blue tongues, but she had a blue tongue, and so did Toch! To her, it was truly remarkable that our pink tongues had somehow turned blue. She was more than disappointed when she insisted Kanene stick his tongue out and it wasn't blue. Just.A.Blank.Stare. How dare he not have a blue tongue!

Later, Lindsey enjoyed some nachos. Mari willingly exchanged some of her cotton candy and Lindsey was kind enough to share her cheese. :) Oh, and just to let you know, she'd already had her chihhh-kehhhn earlier. Also, tonight was the first night she practiced smiling for the camera when we said say cheese. I think we need a little more practice to get it right. At least she's no longer yelling NO, then running to a corner to hide. Progress folks, progress!

Don't you just love their matching pew-pew-pew-pew shirts? adorable!

And proof positive that I was there enjoying every bit of the blue cotton candy as everyone else.

Don and I love that our daughter loves sports. Then again, how could she not? At around 6 months, we took her to her first baseball game and just a week before that, we took her to see an FC Dallas game. Throw in a whole slew of other baseball games and college football games, and well, she's keen on that type of environment. It's so awesome to see her getting into the game and hollering to the field also. From here on out, only constructive criticism. No more cursing at the refs. EEEk!

250: Chihhh-kehhn

We have a tiny carnivore. Actually, she's not so much about the cow as she is about the bird. She loves her chicken. She likes chicken for breakfast, chicken for lunch, and chicken for dinner. She's even handed me an unfinished petit four for a bite of chicken. Crazy. Thinking about my pregnancy with Mari, I don't recall eating a whole lot of chicken, but when I think really hard, I think maybe I did. We wanted to avoid all of the added hormones in beef and I was limited to certain types of fish. Free range chickens were easy to come by.

With that said, we can pretty much get Mari to sit down and eat a healthy meal, so long as there is chicken. Tonight we had La Paloma. I get the flautas, Don gets a variety of the 99 cent tacos, and we get a side of their beans. Mari will typically eat half the side of beans. Except tonight, the beans were runnier than normal. Good because there might not have been as much lard in it (I know, I know), bad because it wasn't the texture Mari wanted. Not only did she not have her salsa (they like to make it REALLLLLY HOT), but she didn't have any chicken. After a bit of mild fussing, requesting chihhh-kehhn, I handed over my remaining chicken flauta. She was happily dipping it into her runny beans, peeling away the outer layer of fried tortilla, revealing the chicken. At the end of her meal, the chicken from the flauta had been consumed and she'd lathered on a healthy layer of beans into her hair and face. Mari must know a secret healing and rejuvenating quality of refried beans. ha!

She ♥'s chicken!

250: Mari Stick the Lunge

Lately, at Sias track night, Mari hasn't really wanted to ride in the stroller. She'd rather be out and about, running through the football field or exploring the sand pit. We try to get her to run on the track or around the track, but nah. Although, I must brag on her because two track nights ago, she ran 3, YES T-H-R-E-E!! laps around the track. It wasn't continuous, but still, that's 3/4 of a mile. Honestly, it's quite a feat and if I didn't think she couldn't handle it, I would've stopped her. 

Anyhow, tonight was only slightly different. We unloaded from the car and she refused to get in the car. Instead she wanted to walk. Not a big deal, we let her. Then, to get to the track, we have to walk around the tennis courts. She stopped by the creek to inspect the plethora of balls that had collected in the swampy, murky water. Then, she finally decided to head to the track. While we stepped foot onto the black sponge, Mari took off in a run. She's a fabulous runner. Anyway, she immediately turned on a dime and came back. 

Then, when she reached us again, she stopped and turned back around and started to do a full on lunge. Seriously, not just her little half baby lunges. She LUNGED. Her lunges schooled mine. I was an embarrassment. She whipped out five lunges, then proceeded to run again. She found a stick and each time Don passed her, she would pass him the stick like a baton. This happened until she was bored and immediately got lost in the sand pit used for long and triple jumpers. 

I hope those strong active legs will take her somewhere special some day. 

250: Mari Bakes

At the office, there were 17 bananas ripe, really ripe to the point they were probably going to be trashed. I asked if I could have them so I could make some banana bread. We had some unusually cool weather, so baking seemed fitting. It is Monday, and for the remaining Monday's of the school year, I get to pick up Mari from school since Don has continuing education hours to fulfill. It's fun!

Mari likes to play "beep-beep" as soon as we get home. Essentially, she likes to sit in the driver seat and move the steering wheel, honk the horn, and push all of the buttons. After a few minutes of playing we headed inside, but not before she carefully inspected a hairy and multi-colored fat caterpillar who was in the process of dying, while the industrious ants worked on what remained. Gross, but intriguing. I'm glad she noticed it before I stepped on it.

Anyway, we came inside and I encouraged her to wear her apron. I pulled up the chair to the counter and insisted that she load up the Ninja with the bananas. I then showed her how to push the button for it to blend the bananas with the butter and sugar. She took to it quickly and was very intrigued by the process. Later, I let her help me sift flour, which she was quite a natural! Then, she mixed together the walnuts and chocolate chips for that batch. I divided the mixture into 3 batches: plain, with walnuts, with walnuts and chocolate chips.

She was such a great helper and so eager to jump in with the cooking. I'll admit that I was a little choked up that she was so very good at it and not only that, but she enjoyed it too! After the bread was made (I also made some tiny bite sized ones too!), I allowed her a small indulgence after she ate a full dinner. She liked that too!

Today was a proud day!