Back to the rain! Tater Tot put on her big red rain boots and we took off first thing this morning to go puddle-stomping. We had such a good time! She was enthralled with the water cascading off of the rain gutters on our balcony and loved making huge splashes in the puddles by driveways. True to form, she threw a minor fit when it was time to go inside. I let her stay out for a good, long time this morning, though, so I didn’t feel bad when I hauled her tiny, wet behind inside to go take a nice, hot bath. We were drenched!

I’m so ready for this weather…

I also just have to say that, even with the occasional tantrum (okay, sometimes more than occasional), she is at such a fun age and I am so grateful to be able to stay at home with her. Not that it’s all fun and, as I mentioned yesterday, it makes a HUGE difference that she is taking 1 1/2 to 2 hour naps once a day. But most of the time we’re just havin’ a great time! She does this thing that makes me laugh and melts my heart every time. She presses her forehead and nose against my forehead and nose so our eyes are really, really close together and we’re basically cross-eyed looking at each other. It is so unbelievably cute that I can’t stand it!

On a totally unrelated note: Just Call Me “Sucker”! I was running with Taylor around our neighborhood this morning and I saw this wicker chair out with the trash a ways down our street. I might have passed this by but, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I’m fixing up the balcony outside Tater Tot’s room and trying to do it for free or low cost. Also, I’m just the BIGGEST SUCKER IN THE UNIVERSE for a renovation/rehab project. I like to take things that are old but still usable and rehab them. It’s actually more than a like. It’s kind of an obsession. So I checked it out and it looked pretty good. A little unraveling of the wicker around the bottom of the legs but otherwise not bad. Nothing a hot glue gun couldn’t remedy. Now for the real test: is it sturdy enough to hold the weight of my Mommy Butt? It was! There was minimal breakage to the wicker overall. So, after our run, I loaded The Tot in the truck and off we went to retrieve my treasure! Just now I checked to see how it would clean up/sand off and it looks like it’s do-able. The top layer of grime sands off pretty easily so I think I’m going to sand it down, stain it a honey color, and buy a cushion to match the chaise lounge cushion I bought. I love it when things come together!

Update: The Tot has added “turtle”, “roggie” (froggie), and “comb” to her spontaneous new words for the day! There were a couple more but I didn’t write them down. Everyone around here knows that if I don’t write it down it doesn’t happen.

Last week I bought her a cheapo electronic keyboard at WalMart because she loved the piano at The Grandparent’s house so much. When we were shopping for it, I put it up on the cart with her so she could bang on, I mean, play it (thank God for the volume control function!) and she accidentally started one of the demo songs. “DAN, DAN DAN!” she shouted at the top of her lungs while waving her arms frantically in the air. I about fell on the floor I was laughing so hard! I swear I just love this kid! She is the absolute best.

So go ahead, “DAN, DAN, DAN!” everybody! It’ll make ya’ feel good.

It took her the first third of the class to calm down. And I mean quit crying so loud that nobody could hear the instructor. I can’t say for sure but I could swear I got the evil eye from several of the parents of the calm, swim-class-loving children. Finally something that we did pleased her and she stopped crying. Phew. So we kicked around a bit with our rubber duckie toy in tow. She cried off and on during the whole class but by the end was enjoying herself. I just decided on the way home that two weeks of every day drama was too much for both of us. Add to that the fact that her nap schedule is in flux and it’s just too much. I want her to enjoy swim classes and it’s become obvious that she’s just not ready. She loves playing in the water at home but she just doesn’t want to deal with the pool yet. And that’s okay. It’s kind of a bummer because her friend Z is in this class but we’ll just have to see her another time. Sometimes I wonder if I’m the only Mommy that things just don’t seem to work out for.

So instead of having something to get out of the house on time for every day, we’re going to kick back and take our days as they come for the summer. I’m good with that. Maybe we’ll head to the beach tomorrow….that sounds good.

This brings me to a decision. She is signed up for two more sessions during the summer. I’m not sure I want to put her (and me!) through this all the way through July! I very much want her to love the water since The Daddy and I both surf and I want her to be “water-proofed”. Our lifestyle just demands it, I think. However, I also want to be sensitive to who this child is/will be. If she is not going to be a water-girl, then I need to respect that. Now, I think it’s waaaaay too early to know if she will eventually take to the water and love it like The Daddy and I do but I don’t want to force something on her that she is not ready for or doesn’t like yet at this point. It just feels crappy to feel like you’re subjecting your child (and everyone else in the pool) to a heinous experience.

So I will talk with The Daddy about it and see what we want to do. Tater Tot can be so happy-go-lucky and I very much like to see her that way. Not whiny and fussy and unhappy. There are many other ways for her to learn about frustration as a part of life without me doing it intentionally…

What we DID do today is go to a Halloween party.  The Tot had a good time and so did the Mommy.  Getting the costume on and keeping it on….well, that’s another story.