The Cat in the Hat Could Learn a Thing or Two

Unfortunately it is raining very hard today, and is supposed to continue raining all day. This makes for a rather dull day unless Mommy can come up with something fun to do in the house. Too bad Cat in the Hat isn't in the neighborhood.

I'm not too concerned, however, since Hadley finds things to do that are usually way beyond my comprehension. The other day she took the clips off my hot rollers, clipped them on her feet and legs, and told me she was going to go roller skating. Earlier last week this is what she was playing with:

And here is an explanation (I use that word loosely):

Hadley also loves to help clean, which I don't think is that strange for kids her age, but we still find it entertaining. Here she is helping Daddy clean the floors:

In the end of the video, you might hear Hadley say hi to the broom. She has taken to talking to objects such as brooms, toothbrushes, shoes, you get the idea. Jesse and I are the voices of these objects. It has come to the point where we can't read books to her unless someone or something else is reading. The other night I had to read a book in the voice of her small stool (I called it Mr. Stool and she corrected me and said that its name is Small Stool). During the story, Hadley interrupted me and said, "Um, wait. Small Stool can't read because he don't have no mouth."
"You're right." I said.
"And Small Stool doesn't have arms to turn the pages." she added.
"That's also true."
After a short pause to reflect on this, I began to finish the book and Hadley said, "No, no, no, Mommy. Small Stool is going to read it."

On Monday we had some friends over and Harper was happy to share her stuff with Chloe. Here they are hanging out together:

And a short video:

Small Victories

Yesterday Hadley, Harper and I took a walk to the Giant because we ran out of a few things that we needed for the day. I would've taken the car but Jesse took it into work and also, it was a gorgeous day yesterday so I thought it would be nice to get some fresh air.

The Giant is not far. It is a very easy walk from our condo. But it does add a new dimension when you are pushing a stroller with one kid and carrying another kid in the Bjorn. My main concern wasn't that I didn't have the strength to do this, but that the girls would stay happy for the duration of our errand. Luckily, both of them were happy campers. Here are a few pictures:

The sun is not in Hadley's eyes. She is being a pirate.


And here's Harper in the Bjorn:

So I felt pretty proud of myself for my little achievement. When we got home, Harper was getting pretty tired so I put her in the crib for a nap. Harper is a very good sleeper. We don't have to do half the things we did for Hadley to get her to sleep (this is not a poor reflection on Hadley, rather, on her parents as we had no clue how to get her to sleep). However, she loves being swaddled but is getting too strong to stay swaddled. So I am trying to get her to used to going to sleep without her blanket wrapped around her like a straight jacket. Yesterday she did it, and I'm so proud of her:

Is there anything cuter than chubby baby legs?

And while there were plenty of successes of the day, there was one huge complication.

Does this picture look familar? Well, the stupid things are back. They are always in the same spot,and I have no idea how they are getting in. This fellow was in between the glass and the screen so I didn't have to kill it. However, after I took the picture and turned my back on it, it was gone. I don't know where it went. I don't see how it could've gotten inside or outside. But I know it's waiting for me.

Elmo!

The rest of the week is simply going to be a disappointment after what happened yesterday. I took the girls to another "Mommy and Me" event in Rockville, and there, in the center of the town center, was Elmo. Not just someone's old stuffed animal, but a real, live, Elmo. He was taller than me.

I wondered what Hadley would do when confronted with a "live" version of what she sees on TV. I assumed she'd be scared, and of course I was underestimating my daughter. Not only was she not scared, but she was front and center trying to talk to him every chance she got. She was also trying to get all the other kids in on this joyous occasion. After she had a chance to actually hug him (she later corrected me and told me that Elmo hugged her), she gently pushed other toddlers towards Elmo, encouraging them to get in on the action.

You might remember in my other post about my "Mommy and Me" experience where I complained about moms taking pictures of the bunny rabbit and it being complete chaos because of their insistence that they get "just one more picture." Well yesterday, I became that mom.

Here's a close up of Elmo. He reminds me a little bit of Animal in the Muppet Movie when he explodes out of the building because he's so big. Geoff, don't be scared.

Hadley can hardly believe it.

About to get hugged:

Here she is after he hugged her. Look at that face.

This picture is of Elmo saying goodbye to the crowd. The lady on the left is his "bodyguard" if you will. She led him around and sort of spoke for him. She'd say things like, "Elmo needs to go now. He'll be back soon!" All the while the crowd is nonstop following him around clicking "just one more" picture, and kids are cooing, "Elmo! Elmo!" Hadley and I included.

It was a fantastic day. Later, while we were eating lunch, Hadley asked me where Elmo went. I told her that he needed to eat lunch and then go take a nap. To this she said, "No he isn't going to eat lunch and take a nap because he has a tail." Can't argue with that kind of logic.

100th Post

I think when TV shows hit their 100th episode there is a guest star on the show, or something really grand happens (Phoebe had triplets on "Friends" on the 100th episode), so it seems fitting to have a special guest or something grand happen on the 100th post of "Notes From Naptime." So in this post, you will get to meet Chloe, my friend Erika's little girl, who is about 3 weeks older than Harper. We met at the zoo yesterday and had a fun time walking around together.

Most of you know my complete fear of all animals and bugs, so you can imagine how nervous I was when I saw this:

I know the cow is behind a fence, but I don't think that could really stop it from an attack. I also know that you don't usually use the word "cow" and "attack" in the same sentence.

Here is a picture of Chloe and Harper both about ready for a nap:

Just another note on the length of Harper's legs - those jeans are for a baby that's 9 months old. They aren't scrunched up, that's where they end. I'm going to start calling her LeBron.

60-75-97

I was in Starbucks last Friday and the barista who likes to tell people he looks like Donald Faison was complaining about his mother. He said, "I swear, something happens to you when you become a mother." I wanted to say, "You're right! You look at stop signs and buses with a giddiness you never thought possible. You dump yourself into bed exhausted, and roll on top of a glue stick and wonder why and how it got there. You do things you never thought you would ever be able to do: like hold out your hand in front of your daughter's mouth so she can spit food into it, or change two poopy diapers in the back of your car while both girls are screaming bloody murder. So yea, Mr. Barista, something does happen to you when you become a mother. YOU happen." But I didn't say any of that because I go to this Starbucks just about every day and they usually have my drink waiting on the counter for me when I walk through the door and I didn't want to ruin the think I've got going on there.

The title of this entry is not the combination to my high school locker, but rather, Harper's sixth month measurements. Her head is in the 60%, her weight is 75%, and her length is a whopping 97% which we got a good chuckle out of. Our first daughter has a huge head, and our second has super long legs. You can see what I mean in this picture.

Note how Harper's legs are sort of bent and at a diagonal. Jesse had to lift the exersaucer to the next notch so she can support herself better.

I took these pictures of the girls because they were playing so well together. Hadley was playing with something else and when I put Harper in the exersaucer, Hadley pulled up her chair and sat right in front of her so they could play together. If you're wondering why Hadley has her hand in front of her eye like that it's because she's looking for pirates. That's all the explanation I can give you at this point.

Here are the girls in matching outfits sent by my mom. I love dressing them the same, and will do it for as long as they let me:

On Mother's Day weekend, we went to Georgetown to walk around. Here are a few pictures.

Me and the girls:

Hadley and Jesse looking at the Potomac:

Here they are kicking a ball around:

Harper and I watched Hadley and Jesse run around while we enjoyed our drinks. Hers is on the left.

Aaaaaaa, life is good!

New Tricks

Harper hasn't rolled over yet, and I think it's because she'd much rather do this:

And Hadley's new favorite game is to play catch....with herself. We start off throwing the ball back and forth but she finds that it's much more exciting if she throws it to no one and then runs after it. Harper loves watching Hadley do this:

It has been raining for days now, but last weekend it was beautiful and we took advantage of the weather by going to the zoo.

We got to see the chimpanzees walking across the tightrope on this trip. Here are a couple of pictures of them in action, and one of us admiring them:

Well, Geoff and Kellee are enthralled. I'm more interested in drinking my coffee, and Hadley's trying to figure out how she can hitch a ride on that motorized wheelchair.