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I’m not sure if I’m ready for this… The Tater Tot always loves to be “Naked Girl” and she does the funniest “Naked Dance” (her words). She was having fun doing the Naked Dance before bath time tonight when she says “Have to go potty”. She has said this a kazillion times before and we take her diaper off, sit her on the potty seat and play, talk, laugh, wait for virtually nothing. So I put her on the potty seat, played, talked, laughed, waited until she said “Done goin’ potty” like she always does. There is never anything in the potty seat when she is “Done goin’ potty”. Except for tonight. I look down and there is pee-pee in the potty seat! Oh Good Lord she has gone potty on the potty seat for the first time ever! I made such a ridiculous production about the pee-pee in the potty seat that I am sure that the neighbors for at least a half mile know that my child went in the potty for the first time. I was completely floored! Does this mean I have to start potty training? I’m not prepared! I haven’t really even thought much about it because she has been so ambivalent and seemed so not ready! I guess I’d better get ready. I don’t think she’s ready to do it all the time but I think that I need to start offering the potty seat at regular intervals. Good Lord, I don’t even know how to approach this yet. Guess I’d better do some research…quick!

I’ve been banished upstairs to “be sick”. The Daddy brought something home from work the other day and was home sick for two days. Tater Tot got some snots for a couple of days with no fever and no slowing down. She gave them to me. Unfortunately, they are slowing me down. So I am up in my room trying to type and read on the computer while sniffling, sneezing, and dripping from just about every orifice on my head. Oh, and while we’re at it, I hadn’t stopped bleeding from the LEEP yet and I think I’m starting my period. It’s not very fun to be me today. Luckily The Daddy is taking over the Tater Tot duties and some of the household ones even though he’s not 100% yet. Today it’s a game of “Who Feels Crappier” and the “winner” is me.

I don’t feel much like a winner. In fact, I wish I had been the loser in this game. I’d much rather be running around with The Tater Tot. Heck, I’d rather be cleaning the toilets than feeling like this! Tried Sudafed. Nothin’. Tried Actifed. Zippo. Zilch. No relief from symptoms. I hate putting extraneous drugs in my body so when I do, I expect them to work for heaven’s sake! What’s the point of putting them in there if they’re not going to relieve me?! So I drip. And sniffle and sneeze and wipe. And drain from my eyes. And abuse the skin on my nose with every use of the tissue. I’m just grateful my body held out for the weekend to get sick so that The Daddy is home…

Yes, it’s one of those days. It started out okay, except that I woke up a little later than usual. Unfortunately it wasn’t because I slept longer than usual, just because I got to bed later and slept crappier. Coffee helped. It always does. Tater Tot got up at the usual time and we went on our morning walk. That part was actually fun. Then on to grocery shopping, trying to find the best deals and hitting two different grocery stores. I was paying attention to my cell phone, of course, because the plumber was supposed to come between 9 and 1 today and they call when they’re 10 minutes out. Luckily we got our shopping done and put all the groceries away just as the plumber called and said he was on his way. Everything kinda goes down hill from there, unfortunately, although there is a bright spot, I guess. The minute the plumber gets here, Tater Tot cries. I’m not just talking about a little whimper, either. Screaming banshee crying. Tried to put her down with her blocks and trains which are her favorites right now so I could talk to the guy and it just got worse. But holding her and having her scream in my ear wasn’t much better. So we just screamed at each other, explaining the plumbing issue and what he was going to need to do to diagnose it. When I sat down with her and he was just in there doing his thing, she was fine but if he set one toe outside of the bathroom, screaming and crying resumed. Yeah, he was a big guy but I didn’t think he was that scary! Turns out that it’s not going to cost as much to repair as it could have, which is the bright spot. But he couldn’t finish the work today because he had other calls that his agency had scheduled for him. So he’s coming back on Friday. No big deal. By the time he got the diagnosis and estimate done, Tater Tot was asleep so I was grateful to not have to yell. I guess that’s another bright spot. I’m trying to remember to focus on the positive! Basically, I had enough time to shove a frozen chimichanga down my throat after talking to the plumber when I hear crying coming from the baby monitor. WHAT?! Only a 40 minute nap? Gak! Maybe she’s just crying out in her sleep like she sometimes does. No such luck. Wide awake and ready to be freaked out, apparently because she was Sensitive Girl for another hour after she woke up.

Let’s review: crappy night’s sleep, woke up late, the stress of trying to cut our grocery bill significantly,screaming child, an unexpected bill, and very little break during the day. Not the best day ever, so far. But not the worst, either. Just one of Those Days. If I can get the pot roast to turn out, maybe we still have a shot…wish me luck!

I didn’t think that I was going to be that person but I am. That person that, on January 1st makes a New Year’s Resolution to lose 10 pounds. And, yes, these are the same 10 pounds that I have been wanting to lose, talking about losing, and making half-hearted efforts to lose for a year and a half. Just the other day I said I wasn’t going to be that person. But today, it feels inevitable. I feel compelled to go through the ritual of making the resolution to lose weight. Do I really think I’ll be able to do it? Sure! Why not? If I didn’t believe at least a teeny-tiny bit that I would be able to do it, I wouldn’t even bother making the resolution.

Why start January 1st? Why not start today or tomorrow? Or even the next day. Well, I don’t have a good answer for that except “Why not start January 1st?”. It’s as good a day as any and it relieves some of the pressure until then. I feel more free to just eat rather than examine, analyze, measure and then eat. Talk about sucking all the fun out of food!

Until January 1st, I guess I’m going to make a plan. A plan that helps me get more organized so it’s not so easy to say “I’m too tired” or “I’ve got too many other things to do”. A plan that helps me keep my house clean, my chores done, fit exercise into my day, and get to bed on time. Good luck with that! I can’t remember the last time I got to bed “on time” and got enough sleep. I’m embarrassed to say what it was that I was watching that kept me up past my “bed time” last night. Let’s just say it was on MTV and it’s about people half my age! Vicarious living, I’m sure…

I’m hopeful. Convinced that I’ll succeed? Not entirely. But I’m almost convinced. Does that count for anything? Yeah, I didn’t think so. Oh well, I’ve got four days to convince myself…

Merry Christmas to you! This is the first Christmas that Tater Tot really understands the whole present-opening deal. She knows that “Santa came last night” but still doesn’t make the connection “How did Santa know I was at Gammaw and Gampaw’s?”. I’m not even sure she understands that Santa theoretically brought at least some of the presents. And I had to coax her into pulling on the wrapping paper to “help Mommy unwrap your presents”. But the reaction once the presents were unwrapped was priceless! Unfortunately, we were not coordinated enough to get the video function on our digital camera going to catch the arm-flapping, high-pitched-squealing goodness of The Tater Tot’s spontaneous reactions to all things Thomas and Yo Gabba Gabba. She petered out before we got to the stocking stuffers, though, so that’ll be a nice bonus for later today or tomorrow…

Luckily she doesn’t yet get impatient about opening presents so we didn’t have to get Gammaw, Gampaw and Uncle up super-duper early to open presents. That may change next year but for this year, I’m sure they appreciated it. The other interesting factor in the present-opening ritual was that she wanted to open each and every present and play with it before moving on to the next one! Not convenient but what can ‘ya do? It’s Christmas! Generally, it’s her day so…

Unfortunately, I did not have the foresight to edit Tater Tot’s toy box before Christmas so I have a daunting task ahead of me: finding spots for all the new merchandise and figuring out what toys can go and which stay. I wonder if The Container Store’s earnings jump significantly after Christmas?

I’m very stoked about my presents…several gift cards which means “shopping for free”! Gotta love that.

Every night until Christmas this month Tater Tot gets to open the next door on the advent calendar The Daddy bought to count down to Christmas. It’s a cute little green house-lookin’ thing with doors and cute little knobs that are just small enough to drive an adult crazy. I have relaxed my “no sugar” stance and every night we plant a teeny-tiny graham cracker cookie behind the door for the date. And every night The Daddy asks her “Which one are we going to open tonight?” She calls out some random number until we tell her the right one, at which time she screeches the appropriate number with a wonderfully cute trill at the end. For example: “Sixteeeeeeeeeen!” (Please imagine this at the highest pitch sound humans can uncomfortably hear). “And what do you think is behind the door?”, The Daddy asks. “I FINK DERE’S A COOKIE IN DERE!” Tater Tot will answer. “Are you sure?” The Mommy asks. “I FINK DERE’S A COOKIE IN DERE!”, she replies. Yep. She’s sure.

Sure enough, after dinner she’ll go over and open the door and there’s a cookie in there. And every night she is just as excited as the night before. What happens when Christmas is over and she still expects a cookie every night? I haven’t quite figured that out yet. But in the mean time I’m going to sit back and savor the pure joy that my daughter gets out of this simple holiday tradition. What are some of your holiday traditions?

These are just too cute! I was over at CrazyforBargains.com looking for cute Christmas pjs and look what I found!

The Grinch Green Striped Footed Blanket Sleeper for Baby and Toddler Boys

The Grinch Pink Max and Cindy Lou Who Footed Blanket Sleeper for Baby and Toddler Girls

Dr. Seuss Little Miss Who Pink Pajamas for Toddler Girls

The Grinch’s Dog Max Red Striped Footed Blanket Sleeper for Infant and Toddlers

The Grinch Green Striped Pajamas for Baby and Toddler Boys

How adorable are those? When I was growing up, we would open Christmas presents on Christmas Day but would beg and beg to open one gift on Christmas Eve. My parents would always give in and guess what the gift they allowed us to open always was? Yep. Pajamas. You’d think we’d learn! I’m thinking about starting the pajama tradition in our family, in part just because I love weird, quirky pajamas! And CrazyforBargains.com has just about any pajama you’re looking for. Characters? Got ‘em. Bunny (and every other imaginable animal) slippers ? Check. Silky soft plush robes. Yep.

If you’ve got little ones who bug the heck outta you to open “just one present, Mom” on Christmas Eve, get ‘em some cute Christmas pj’s they’ll not soon forget.

A recent exchange at our house during a lazy, playful afternoon:

Tater Tot: Pfffthhh! (fart)

The Mommy from across the room: “Tater Tot tooted! Oh my goodness! Did you toot?!”

Tater Tot: *Giggle, giggle* “Mommy tooted!” (Runs to The Mommy and collapses in a heap on the floor giggling)

The Mommy: “No you don’t! Don’t you blame your toots on The Mommy!”

Tater Tot: *Hee, hee* “Mommy tooted!”

The Mommy: “Did you learn that from The Daddy? Are you going to blame it on The Dog too?”

Tater Tot: “Doggie tooted!”

The Mommy: “Oh no! That wasn’t The Doggie, that was Tater Tot. And it was a stinky one! Peeeeezhyewwwww!”

Tater Tot: *Giggle, giggle. Squirm, squirm*

Farts are almost always funny at our house. Unless they are big man-sized ones that drive you out of the room. The Tot isn’t big enough or stinky enough for that yet. Thank God. In the mean time, it’s still cute. For now.

Either that, or I really need to go surfing. Evidence: while watching “Surf’s Up” (animated penguin surf movie), I welled up when he got a barrel at the end.

It is The Daddy’s Birthday Weekend, however, so I am putting off my desire to surf until next weekend to let him relax and do what he wants…

Off again we go to Gammaw and Gampaw’s house! This time as a part of advisory evacuations due to the wild fires in San Diego county, unfortunately. We got a precautionary evacuation phone call about 5:30 am Monday because of a small fire that had broken out just east of us and decided to watch and wait. The Daddy sent us off about 11 am because of poor air quality and to avoid the inevitable traffic if there were mandatory evacuations. So we packed up our stuff and headed on up the road to better air quality. The Daddy was going to stay behind to see what happened because we didn’t know how bad it would turn out and whether schools would be open the next day. It turns out that he followed us a couple of hours later. The schools closed for the week and our area remained a voluntary evacuation area for a couple of days. So we have had a nice couple of days with Gammaw and Gampaw. No hardship here! I’m grateful that we had a place to go. I see all of the families that ended up at Qualcomm stadium and think how stressful it must be for them. We have a bed to sleep in and 24 hour connection to multiple news outlets. I can’t imagine sitting there waiting for news and wondering whether our house was okay. Not to mention the logistics of keeping track of multiple little ones in a place that big! And how do you sleep in a situation like that? My heart goes out to everyone there. It’s overwhelming to think about how many people are displaced right now, not only in San Diego county but in all of Southern California.

I have to say that I was so grateful for that automated phone call Monday morning. As nervewracking as it was to get that call, it gave us time to think through all of the stuff that we might need to take with us. Things that I forgot about, The Daddy remembered. As I looked around, I realized that, as much of a pain as it would be to replace the “stuff”, it was almost all replaceable. Anything that I really wanted to save would fit in my car or The Daddy’s truck with room to spare. I can’t imagine, though, getting that “reverse 911″ phone call that says “Get out now!” with little or no warning. I know that I wouldn’t be able to think straight.

I know that the implications of this much destruction are beyond me right now. I know that I have absolutely no comprehension of what it will take to recover from this. I am just grateful that the weather and conditions have improved so that they could contain the fires that are left. I am grateful that it looks like things are on the downhill slide and that much of the county is out of danger.

We’re probably going to head back today which means I have to get creative about ways to tire The Tot out for nap time and bed time again since it’s not great for The Tot to be out in the smoky air… Indoor obstacle course anyone?