Two Good Things About Today

Cooped up with a small one this winter? Need to get out of the house but can't walk to the playground like you did so many times this summer?

Enter GigiBar; SE 59th and Division.

Despite the word 'bar' in the title, this is not an alcoholic joint for small people. Rather a coffee bar with yummy espresso, bagels, sandwiches and chalkboards on the walls. And toys and books and pillows and a huge rug to play on.














A nice place for mommies and babies. Daddies too.













It's such a nice place that if you happen to leave your diaper bag on the roof of your car, a passer-by just might call the cafe to let the worker know so they can tell you. (Not that I would have any experience with that.)

And if you order and then realize you left your wallet in the car, they will gladly continue preparing your food while you head back out to find your money. (Again, no experience here.)
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Looking for some super soft slipper-type shoes to cover your child's unusual footwear? Added bonus if the slippers are so beloved by your child that he or she will cry buckets of tears when you take them off?

Enter Fred Meyer and a multitude of coupons.


















They practically paid me money to take these things home.

It's a big deal when you get to buy your baby her first pair of shoes that cost under $1000.

A Girl's Best Friend

Just working on her Christmas list...























...because like most girls, she likes anything that comes in a little blue box.

Preparations

Curious as to why Dad is on the roof (he's hanging Christmas lights):






































Reaping bad luck for the next 1,000 years, since I'm sure licking the ladder as well as walking under it is just not a good combination (if you're superstitious like that):

















Freaky weird photo of the day (taken by David) (Daphne weighs 23.8lbs):


















Running with a Christmas tree (she thinks her shirt has a snake on it):

I Think We're Still Full

Yes, the turkey we cooked yesterday was monstrous. My family wants to see photos, but I didn't take the time to take any good ones as my wimpy arms had a hard time moving the turkey anymore than I had to. It was a quick out of the cooler, into the roasting pan, and into the oven. Much like competing in a triathlon, I imagine, except with turkey lifting.


















But you can see how it looks like I was using a mini roasting pan, when I can assure you I was not.

Needless to say our leftover pile is quite large.

Our dinner was delish. Daphne's favorite part was the turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing and pumpkin pie. She ate a huge amount; I was half expecting her to have doubled in size over night. (She has been a bottomless pit the past few days.)


















Her turkey shirt was stunning and festive:


















David had to work last night, but he went in an hour early hoping to get off an hour early. Unfortunately there was an incident with two drunk cousins and a heavy bat, so he actually had to work 3 hours of overtime. Some people really know how to celebrate Thanksgiving.

We did go shopping this morning, but not until we took David to Starbucks and filled Daphne up on turkey and potato leftovers. (I don't know why she won't just smile for the camera.)


















We went to Target (where I saw a game of Memory that I think Daphne wants for Christmas...ahem), where it hardly seemed busy at all, and now Daph is napping and I am ready to wrap some Christmas presents. Did you know I'm almost done with my shopping? Because I am, and after today, I will almost be done with the wrapping, too.

Turkey

We're just having some lovely typical Daphne behavior in our house this Thanksgiving Day.

Our party hasn't started yet, but we know that once the guests get here she'll be happy as a clam.

The house smells great, though. Cooking 39.4lbs of turkey will do that for ya.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like You Know What

I've said it before, but we really like to let Thanksgiving have its time in the sun before we start in with the Christmas celebrations.

David bought a lantern a few months ago because he really wanted to make a post for it and stick it in our front yard. (This all ties together with paragraph number 1, I promise.) Yesterday morning he finally got the post in the ground and the lantern attached, and he said "this will look so great with snow on it."

It's like he can predict the future, because by last night...


















I know, it's a whole lot of nothing snow. Just enough to send the city into freak-out mode, which is typical anytime we have more than 17 snowflakes.

Daphne had already gone to bed when the snow started, and I value her sleep waaaaayy too much to get her up to watch the first snow. This morning she just looked mildly confused and very cold.




































(I need to figure something out for her little feet so that she can walk around in the snow. Her toes are exposed with her shoes and it just feels like an open invitation to frost bite if I send her out like that. I had an inspiration last night that maybe I could find some really soft suede-like boots that could slide over her KAFO's. Nothing that would give too much bulk that would make walking harder, but just something that would give an extra layer of protection. Boots are cool right now, so it seems like I could find something.)

Anyways, it does look mighty festive out there...and not the Thanksgiving kind of festive. More like hot chocolate and Christmas music festive.

I would maybe give in to the pressure if I didn't have the largest turkey of all time sitting on my kitchen counter right now. It was alive and happy just a few days ago, but my dad took care of getting it out of his barn and dead in my kitchen. The neck is really long and gross, and I'm not quite sure how to chop it off.

And I'm sure that just wiped all thoughts of a happy Christmas season right out of your head.

Things I Love

I love that Daphne wants to wear gloves all the time. I love that she calls them hands.


















I love that when I got the hiccups last night, Daph pretended like she had the hiccups right along with me. She also wanted 'more' at every break between, as if I could somehow control my spastic diaphragm (or whatever a hiccup is).

I love that when we're sitting on the couch reading books, she sits as close to me as humanly possible, and especially likes sitting with our faces cheek-to-cheek.

I love that when we're playing on the floor, she will almost always wiggle her little buns right onto my lap.

I love that she wants her baby or stuffed Lola dog to do whatever she is doing. Like at supper last night: Daph was in her high chair with a bib, spoon, and bowl, so her baby was sitting in a chair next to her with a bib, spoon and bowl.

I love that she thinks 'some' is an actual item. She will come up to me during the course of the day and say "Daphne have some?" and has no idea that I need to know: some what?

I love that she is big into role playing and imaginative play. The other day while I was changing her diaper she said "Daphne crying" and then screwed up her little face into an hysterical fake cry.

I love that when I was reading one of her farm books to her and I read about the clucking chicken, she thought I said clapping chicken. Now every time we get to that page she says "clapping chicken!" and starts clapping her hands.

I love that every time I wipe her nose, she takes the cloth to her baby and blows the baby's nose.

I love that one of her new favorite phrases is "Daphne do it!" Independence, baby.

I love that while Daphne honestly wasn't the best of babies, she does make a most excellent toddler.

I love that she makes it so easy to love her.

Indoor Activities

The weather seems to have officially turned cold, so we are focusing all our attentions on indoor activities these days.

Coffee is always a good outing for our little family. Daphne LOVES going to coffee, and now that she gets her own little coffee drink -a water cup with lid and straw- she makes a very good little coffee date. Before you go thinking that we must spend a load of money on coffee every month, let it be known that we are actually quite cheap. David and I usually get a grande or venti size and share, so $4 once or twice a week isn't so bad. And we hardly ever do anything else fancy that costs money, so see? Frugal.












Every so often we head down to the Clackamas Town Center where they have a little indoor play area. I'm sure it's disgusting and full of germs, but Daph loves it and I can sit on the sidelines with a friend or David and relax for a minute while she plays her heart out. And we kind of like germs, anyways. It's a bit of a drive, otherwise we would probably be there every other day.












Daph gets super excited as soon as we pull into Costco. Samples, anyone? I wish we could request our favorites, which would be craisins and cheese. Maybe the occasional meatball.


















Her expectations are so high now that she is aware of the world around her. She can quite clearly tell me exactly where she wants to go, and she always ends her questions with an emphatic "OK!" Like, "go daddy coffee? OK!" Then I dash her hopes by going somewhere boring like the post office. If the post office would consider samples, that would really help.

Too Early

I wonder if there is someone I can talk to about Daylight Savings? I'm sure it's fabulous for many people, but in our house it just means that Daphne was sleeping until 7-7:30 every morning, but since the time change has decided 6 A.M. is good.

6 A.M. is not good. Arizona does just fine with keeping their clocks the same, maybe I should move there.

So our day is an hour and half longer now, meaning we can accomplish so many more things (and I can capture every one of them on camera).

Daph can talk on her phone more. In this photo she is having a conversation about breakfast.


















She has ample time to cook up her owl.












And I can build an amazing box house for Daph to sit in and read her fashion magazines.




































I also did 3 loads of laundry, made pancakes from scratch, showered, cleaned the living room and Daphne's bedroom, all before David got up at 9:30.

Hooray for 6 A.M.

Such a Big Update

Blogging has been slow around here lately, mostly because our lives are pretty boring and not much has been happening that needs to be shouted from the rooftops.

There is so little to say, in fact, that I will share with you the fact that we bought a new chair for the family room.

I know, I hope you were sitting down for that one.

















The chair came in a big box that Daph likes to play in.












And that pretty much sums up our past week.

Hope your week was equally as entertaining.

A Perfect Family Outing

I feel like we don't get too much fog here, at least nothing like back home where it would get super thick late at night when I was driving and I would get nervous that a scary person would jump in front of my car and cause me to have a heart attack. Dark and foggy country roads are just the right place for scary people to do their scary stuff, if you know what I mean.

This morning we woke up to a beautiful foggy, fall morning, so we made a Starbucks run and went up to Rocky Butte, one of our favorite nearby park-like settings.

Pretty drive...













...to a pretty place.



















Daph showed her daredevil side by wanting to leap off the stone walls, but we kept her reigned in.

















































We tried to take a few family photos, and I love this photo where Daph spotted the unattended camera and escaped my arms to head straight for what she thinks is a great toy. The timer setting caught the moment perfectly.












A perfect morning for a perfect family outing.

Halloween 2010

Somebody loves dressing up.





































Somebody loves pumpkin guts.
































Somebody loves going door-to-door and getting free stuff.


















Somebody's definition of "going for a walk" has been forever changed.


















Somebody went 22 months not knowing what candy was.


















Somebody realized what she's been missing out on.